|

December 2005
Dawn
Patrol

We
love this cool dawn photo of what surely will be the clean
sweep Hobart winner
Wild Oats (first to finish, first in class, first overall
and a new elapsed time record), courtesy of Daniel
Forster.
12/29/05
|
Guest
Editorial
Shaken,
not Stirred
We'll
admit to being huge Seahorse Magazine fans, and that makes
our relationship with them all the much sweeter. Here for
the first time ever, the boys at the 'Horse have offered
online content otherwise not yet available. Given the various
controversies surrounding the new VO 70's, editor Andrew
Hurst gives you his opinion
on this and more. Enjoy.
12/29/05 |
Tipping
just fine, thank you
We
had heard a rumor about Wild oats keel not canting
towards the end of the Hobart race (Keelgate?,
below), but other reports say differently and this
picture certainly seems to verify that the canter
was working just fine!
Still
it is amazing how much she is heeling under just a headsail
and no doubt this had people speculating....
Another
great shot from Carlo Borlenghi/Rolex - thanks very much.
12/29/05 |
Wild
On!

Looking
stunning and also looking for a clean sweep, Wild
Oats powers their way to a record breaking first
to finish in the Sydney
to Hobart race. This beautiful shot courtesy
of Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex.
12/28/05 |
Bitter,
Party of One
Swallowing
what is no doubt a very bitter pill. Neville Crichton,
skipper of Alfa Romeo, who was beaten by sistership Wild
Oats to Hobart, had this to say afterwards:
Maybe
theyre smarter than I am. Maybe if we had had someone
we could have copied with a perfect boat we would have done
the same. I would rather they hadnt copied the boat
but theyve done it. Thats life unfortunately."
Hey
who wouldn't be pissed? Here is the full
story.
Photo
of AR from Andrea
Francolini
12/28/05
Yes,
we're still taking a couple days off, but we can't resist
getting some good stuff to you! |
Bad
Pirate

It
wouldn't appear that this VOR is going at all the
way that Paul Cayard thought it would. Here, Cayard
and the boys spin out during a jibe at the in-port
race in South Africa yesterday. Mr. Cayard, we'd
like you to meet Mr. Reality. He may no longer
be your best friend. This great photo from Thierry
Martinez.
12/27/05 |
Men
in Black

Hey,
its Hugo Boss - what the hell did you expect? Even
at the start of the Hobart ya gotta look good.
This shot from our pal Christophe
Launay.
12/26/05 |
I
Will Follow
But
not for long. Here Christophe
Launay shows how Wild Oats led Alfa Romeo out
of the harbor on their way to Hobart. However,
Alfa Romeo got past Wild Oats, and was building
a decent lead, one they are fully expected
to maintain. Oh, and though very early in the race,
AR is also leading on corrected time. Are they
going to simply crush the fleet in every way possible? Comments
here.
12/26/05 |
On
Holiday
We'll
actually be taking a day or two off this week - I'd say
we've earned it, wouldn't you? We'll be back in the saddle
soon.
For
those of you looking for the link to the radio broadcast
of the Hobart, we found that it actually was being run through
sailworld. What, we're supposed to drive traffic to that
prick's site? I don't think so.
12/26/05 |
Season's Greetings

If
this was a true anarchistic X-Mas card, it would be telling
Santa to get his fat ass on the rail! But in that very
same spirit, here's hoping you get all that you deserve
for the Holiday's from yer pals at SA.
23-Dec-2005 |
Anarchy
X-Mas

Pretty
cool, eh? Too bad it isn't ours! It is actually
the logo of a rather strange site, Santarchy.
Whatever. They probably think we're pretty strange
too.
12/22/05 |
Under
Build
We
See It
Okay,
we are starting to see a boat happen! All the
interior components of the new Flying Tiger
10M you are looking at are molds. There will
be no wood in the boat (except a little teak
trim). Everything is FRP vacuum. The deck is
being vacumbagged and should be out of the
mold on Friday. Progress, my friends.
12/22/05 |
White
Christmas

A
great shot of a Tornado from the Sydney International
Regatta. More superb work from Christophe
Launay.
12/21/05 |
From
Russia, With Love

Here is the new A-38
Express Cruiser, which is under construction
in St.Petersburg (Russia) and scheduled for launch
in May 2006. The boat is planned for a trial
race and cruise at the next Baltic Sprint Cup
2006. The completed boat with full specification
and carbon mast will cost about 150.000 euros
+ VAT. Very Interesting.
12/20/05 |
Caption
Contest

We haven't done one of these for awhile, and with Philippe Kahn
and Russell Coutts onboard here, you should have good times with
this one. Today's caption contest is sponsored by The Sailing
Pro Shop.Thanks to Thierry
Martinez for the photograph and have
fun.
12/19/05 |
The
New One to Beat?

Jérémie
Beyou, winner of the last Solitaire du Figaro with
Delta Dore (and reigning French solo Champion)
and his new Farr designed 60 to be built at JMV
in France (the yard that gave birth to Mari Cha
IV) for the next Vendée. Jérémie
works with Gilles Chiorri, appointed project manager
and former Figaro skipper and weather specialist
aboard Orange during the 2002 winning Jules Verne
Thanks as always to Jocelyn Blériot from Course
Au Large.
12/16/05 |
Another
Clue

Last week we showed you the interior rendering,
now here is the hull. This 30' is going in production
in January, and will be available for an amazingly
attractive price. We'll have the full story next
week!
12/16/05 |
Going
Once, Going Twice......
Not
sold! The (replica) schooner America was on the auction
block, yesterday, but the bidding, reported to be low key
and somewhat unenthusiastic, reached $1.6 mil, short of
the $2 mil reserve. Here is the official comment:
"America's
owners, the Hukka Trust, will take her to the America's Cup
in Valencia in 2007 as she did not meet her reserve at auction
today."
12/16/05 |
Winning Form?
Here
James Spithill and crew show the form that has them a 30
point lead over the fleet at the 2005
Corum Melges 24 World Championships.
Of course this is a rare mistake as their kite blew up,
forcing them to hustle to stay in the top group. Dave Ullman,
with SoCal hot shots Bill Hardestey and Erik Shampain onboard
remains very game with two bullets yesterday. Thanks to Thierry
Martinez for the shot.
12/16/05 |
No
Mid-Line Sag Here!

Granted,
the gun has already gone off, but clearly it is
crowded at the front of this fleet! This good shot
of the Melges
24 World Championships, with
James Spithill currently maintaining a slim lead
after eight races, is courtesy of Tim
Wilkes.
12/15/05 |
Home
Slice
Now
this is what a racing sailboat is supposed to be. Light,
powered up and purposeful! The boat is a 38 footer, mainly
built by a shipyard in Switzerland during the winter of
'04-'05. Myself (I'm a pilot and love aero and hydrodynamics)
and some friends were deeply involved in the construction
and design. The boat is unique and no plan to built another
one, so far. The mast is 18 meters high in carbon built
in Switzerland.
Sails
are D4. We sail with a crew of 8 for max performance and
all of us have been sailing since kids on different classes
with success. (470; Laser; Soling; etc.)
On
Lake Geneva we have our typical Swiss rating, called ACVL,
divided in 7 different classes. The formula (on an Excel
spread sheet) is "secret"... Miss Tfy has 1204
points and is on the maximum of class 2. We managed to win
6 races out of 9 for our first season, not bad, and of course
win the overall too!
Specs
of Miss Tfy :
LOA
37.7
Beam 10.9
Draft 8.4
Dspl 6,380 lbs (but we had to add 880 pounds of lead as ballast
to comply with rating).
Main 592 sq. feet
Genoa 484 sq. feet
Asy spy max 2367 sq. feet
No canting keel ( to much penalty by the class )
65% of weight in keel ( L size with flaps 7° )
There
is a sailing life beside Alinghi in Switzerland!
Regards,
Dominique
Valiton
12/15/05 |
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
This
is the Domestic Cruising Boat of the Year, as judged by
Cruising World magazine? We're sure the Morris
42 is a fine yacht, but a bit on the "been there,
seen that" side, isn't it? We suppose given the often
dull and conservative approach to cruising that is often
considered the status quo, we shouldn't be surprised that
this is the best they could come up with.
Perhpas
If they'd picked the 42 with the M in front of, then we'd
be down with that!
12/15/05 |
Preview?

Is
this a look at things to come? Here Alfa Romeo, put the
early wood to the new near sistership Wild Oats in the
Cruising Yacht Club's annual Big
Boat Challenge. AR has to be a big favorite to beat
everyone, including Oats to Hobart. Thanks very much to Christophe
Launay for the photograph.
12/14/05 |
Retarded
There
is nothing like a little ingenuity. And curious ideas sometimes
turn into breakthroughs. But sometimes you just have to
ask yourself, "What in the hell is wrong with
people?
12/14/05 |
Before...

After!
Amazing shots of the Macquarie
Speed Sailing Team (helmsman is Simon McKeon and copilot
(managing the sail/wing) Tim Daddo), having a major blow
out on their way to not setting a new speed record. They
did manage to hit 45.9 knots seconds before their rig
blew out. Bummer, but these guys will be back.Thanks
very much to Steb
Fisher Photography for the fantastic photos!
12/13/05 |
Better
Days
Look
what showed up here in San Diego - the huge maxi
cat Cheyenne (ex-Playstation). It has certainly
seen better days, and we wonder what it is doing
here. Anybody
know?
12/13/05 |
New
Feature
Dinghy
Anarchy
We
think there is a need for a universal forum
for small boat enthusiasts, so we created one
- Dinghy
Anarchy. We've been right about everything
else we've done, and we're sure this will be
too. We are also pleased to announce The
Hoot as new advertisers here at SA and
also the title sponsor of the new Dinghy Anarchy
forum. The Hoot has to be one of the coolest
new dinghies to come along in a long time,
and we think it is a perfect fit here. Welcome
them and enjoy the new forum - it is created
for you!
12/13/05 |
Heavy Lifting

Get a load of the massive keel ram and control center from inside
the brand new 98' R/P Wild Oats. We'll bet that won't be breaking
any time soon. Thanks to Andrea
Francolini for the shot.
12/12/05 |
AC
Hard
Core
This
photo is of a piece of the carbon-aluminum honeycomb
sandwich that is used for both hull and deck of
the new Oracle BMW AC boat under build as we speak.
The aluminum is slightly heavier than kitchen foil.
Light, strong and disposable. Word on the street
is that hull number one is getting close to being
done. Additionally, all of the metal bits are supposedly
being produced in Valencia where they have a machine
shop set up to be able to manufacture any part
at the drop of a hat (or rig). Stay tuned.
12/12/05 |
Show
Down?

Not
exactly. The two R/P maxi's Alfa Romeo and Wild
Oats got close, but did not face off today. They
were both coming towards each other, did a circle
and then both went in their own direction as they
get ready for the Hobart. We hope to have some
inside shots tomorrow or over the weekend. Thanks
as always to Andrea
Francolini for the shot!
12/08/05
|
Sneak
Peek
Option
Play

This is real. An unreal price. A 30' inspired by Sailing
Anarchy and it is not the Flying Tiger! Details coming soon...
12/09/05 |
A
Tale to Tell
Hi
- Regarding the fancy picture of kite-surfing (Below
- Ed), let me tell you a sad but true story: The best
friend of my son joined a training course for kite-surfing.
During that, a whirlwind (or small tornado) quickly appeared
and lifted him and a couple of others high up. He became
the unlucky one and was literally slung into the shore
rocks at very high speed, breaking his back, arm, a leg,
and badly injured his head. Due to lucky circumstances,
his life was saved, but he will now be tied to a wheelchair
for the rest of his life. So please PLEASE! Warn the happy
20-year olds and encourage them to use some kind of a foolproof
emergency release device for the kite!
Kind
regards,
Magnus
12/09/05 |
Being
for the Benefit of Mr. Kite

The
edge, and how to cut it. This photo taken in Frisco
of evening kiteboard racing - 16 boards on the line,
upwind start, 20 - 25 knots of wind. Oh to be 20
again! Thanks to DM for the smokin' shot.
12/08/05 |
Under
Build
It's
On!
A
shot of the new Robert Perry designed, Chinese
built Flying Tiger 10M under construction.
This is the boat that is going to revolutionize
the racing sailboat building industry, and
with 70 confirmed orders and counting, the
momentum for this boat continues to build.
You may or may not know that The Editor here
has hull #17 on order. Join
the discussion.
12/08/05 |
People
of Persistence:
A Journey Beyond Disibility
Featuring:
Urban
Miyares
President, Disabled Businesspersons Association,
Co-founder of Challenged America
| WHEN: |
Thursday,
December 8, 2005 12:00 P.M. to 2:30 P.M. |
| WHERE: |
National
Press Club
First Amendment Lounge
529 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20045 |
| WHAT: |
Speaker,
Lunch and Displays |
This
past summer, Urban Miyares and a small crew of fellow sailors
competed in the 2005 Trans-Pacific yacht race. While all but
one member of the Challenged
America crew was disabled, the team finished 4th in a class
of able-bodied sailors and in the top third overall. Using new
sailing technologies developed in part by students at San Diego
State University, the crew overcame many obstacles to complete
the 2,225-mile trek. Mr. Miyares will tell the story of his journey
and the people and events that made it possible.
San
Diego State University professor Karen May-Newman and two
students will be in attendance along with a display featuring
some of the prototype equipment that they designed for
the yacht, the B'Quest.
Urban
Miyares, a Presidential Point of Light recipient, is a nationally
recognized blind and multi-disabled Vietnam veteran, inspirational
speaker and lecturer, entrepreneur, published writer and
newspaper columnist, inventor and patent holder, media personality,
and world-class athlete.
National Science
Foundation |
Reader
Response
Et
tu, Brute?
Our
lone e-mail response to the picture below, sent by one happy
reader!
Bad
karma yourself, you arrogant prick.
The
fact that things like this make me smile surely indicates
there is something wrong with me. - Ed.
12/08/05 |
Bad
Karma?

Yeah,
we know its Hollywood, where all is fake, but maybe
having Island of the Dead as your home port
might not be such a good idea? And hey, where the
hell is everybody? Where's Loof? Is there some
sort of curse?
12/07/05 |
In the Day
Here
is a nice response to the Doug Peterson owned Caulkins
50 picture we ran yesterday. -Ed.
I felt
very nostalgic to see the "Cathleen" on your site
today. My Aunt Nancy Whitcomb, a lifelong San Diego resident
was good friends with Joe Jessop Jr. whose father, Joe Jessop,
Sr. owned the Cathleen for many years. When I was a "young"
lad of 10 or 12 (I am 44 now), my family would visit my aunt
in San Diego for Christmas. During those visits, Joe, Sr.,
would take my brother, parents, and aunt out for a wonderful,
day-after-Christmas sail to Coronado Bay and back. Joe ran
a first class cruise all of the whole way. Since then, I have
raced dinghies One-design keelboats and sportboats , R/C models,
Swan's and larger custom boats offshore and won a couple of
national championships along the way. There is a healthy dose
of team racing in there, along with some Swedish Match Tour
Gold Cup racing last fall in Bermuda., and it was those early
cruises on the Cathleen that hooked me into sailing and its
enjoyment..
Thank
you for the memories,
Doug Lynn
12/07/05 |
New
More
BendyToy
Well
from this angle the new Beneteau 34.7 doesn't
look too bad - pretty nice actually. Truthfully
all of the newer point sevens look pretty nice
- considering what they are - big, voluminous
racer/cruisers. There is clearly a market for
them and this one should sell equally if not
better than the others. Thoughts?
12/07/05 |
D'oh!

Yesterday we sadly shared
the story about Bruce Nelson running a Nelson boat aground
in the Hot Rum Series so thoroughly they had to quit,
but here it looks like Nelson isn't the only dummy.
That's "Airwaves",
a Frer's 50 (very) hard aground near Ballast Point during
that second race a couple of weeks ago. See the guys on
the boom trying to rock it off the sand? Didn't work. They
had to wait for Vessel Assist. Ironically the boat is for
sale and one of the features in the ad is a "new deep
IMS keel". Ya think they didn't tell the helmsman
about this improvement? Tip o' the hat to George Hody and
an SA visor is your reward!
12/07/05 |
Back
for More
SA
family member Bruce
Schwab announced today his plans to put together an
American entry in the 2008 Vendee Globe. Schwab said "My
goal is to build upon the success of our 2004 OceanPlanet
Vendee sailing and educational platform and form a new
American team for 2008. With either me or an up-and-coming
American sailor at the helm, we plan to earn a podium finish."
The
focal point of the campaign is an all new Open 60 racing
yacht named OceanPlanet II, to be built in Maine. The design/research
process will begin in early 2006 and construction by midsummer.
Conversations with an American design team and Maine boat
builders are in progress. Bruce is a good guy, hard working
and obviously very dedicated to this mission. It would be
sweet to see him pull this off in a way he couldn't with
his previous effort.
12/07/05
|
Hot?

Why
yes indeed! Here is Doug Peterson's Caulkins 50 getting
ready to finish first overall in the SDYC
Hot Rum Series finale last Sunday. Nicely done.
Something
less than nice was big SA fan Bruce Nelson's brilliant
call onboard his 43' IMS design Vim. We hear they tried
to go inside a piling that is pretty much verboten and
ran aground so hard they had to start the motor to get
off. There was some complaining about one boat taking them
up and one claiming water, but also heard onboard Vim was "well
we've been in here before" from the know-it-all designer.
Good times.
Photo
from our friend Da-Woody.
12/06/05 |
VOR
Flicked
Adrienne
Cahalan was sacked as navigator from Brasil One yesterday.
This from the VOR website:
Cahalan
was called into the managements office yesterday and
told by Alan Adler, Brasil 1s sailing manager that
her services would not be required for the remainder of the
race, citing her lack of experience in the Southern Ocean
and her lack of fluency in Portuguese, the crew language,
for terminating her contract. Ouch.
Plus
one hears that Freddy Loof is done with Cayard and the pirates
and is heading back to the comfy confines of the Star.
12/06/05 |
What's in
Your Backyard?

The
barbecue, the kid's bikes, jacuzzi, maybe a pool,
but probably not this!
12/05/05 |
Swedish
Match
Gilly
Again
Peter
Gilmour has certainly found his niche, hasn't
he? He chalked up another match race win, this
one the inaugural Monsoon Cup, the 50th event
of the Swedish
Match Tour, advertisers here at SA. Gilmour
won the thing by defeating Russell Coutts 2-1
in the final, for Gilmour's 9th Swedish Match
Tour win.
12/05/05 |
Tie
Your Mother Down

The
boys on ABN Amro One tie their first place VOR Juan
K (that doesn't roll off the tongue very easy,
or often, for that matter) designed VO 70 down
after arriving at Cape Town. The young guns on
Amro Two finished a mere four hours later. An impressive
showing that may or may not hold up depending upon
whether the rest of the fleet can actually finish
a leg. Plus light air is not going to be kind to
the ABN twins as their performance in the light
is reported to be unimpressive..
Speaking
of unimpressive, apparently with the pressure really on
(Cayard wound up even tighter than normal must not exactly
be a day at the beach for the crew), the Pirates have erected
a shed to hide the boat from all view. It is highly guarded
and they are letting no one in while the angle grinders
are spinning day and night. Perhaps they are fabricating
a new runway?
12/02/05 |
From the
Troops
I
am part of the shore crew for the VO 70 movistar. Yes it
is true that without the Spanish AC team's help, along
with our shore crew and two of our dedicated sailors in
Xabi and Pepe, the repair to the VO 70 movistar would have
taken far longer and we all greatly appreciate all their
efforts.
As
a shore crew member we take an unsung role in this traveling
circus, and I feel these guys deserve a great deal more credit
and thanks for the sacrifices they have made. I would like
to give the lion's share of the thanks to our boat builders,
Wade, Pete, Ben and Andy and our project manager Fred. With
the dedication they have for this great adventure we now
have every chance of winning this sprint around the planet.
Thanks
to you guys,
Seppo!
12/02/05 |
Big
City

A
neat shot from GTS photos from the Timme Angston
Regatta. It is the Midwest fall champs as well
as an Intersectional held at Chicago Yacht Club,
won by Boston College. If you love good dinghy
action, check out GTS' very cool new 2006
calendars. Order now for Christmas!
12/02/05 |
"She Floats! But..."

Actually
there is no but - this is a new open 60 built for Unai
Basurko in Australia by Jarkan and designed by Andy Dovell
The yacht has been built for doing the BOC and the Vendee,
and yes she is floating a bit funny - Christophe
Launay took this creative picture during the IMOCA
righting test. Interestingly, this hull design was taken
fron Kanga Birtles (Jarkan owner) original design for his
open 60, which Sean Langman purchased. Sean modified the
design of what is now called AAPT with the assistance of
Andy Dovell. these two hulls are essentially the same (Sean's & Unai's)
except Sean's has water ballast
& has a 6 foot sugar scoop on the back, and Unai's
has a canting keel. Tip o' the hat to Anarchist Merrill
for the info.
12/01/05 |
|