Commissioning of the boat will take place in March 2006, at the Team New Zealand facility in Auckland. Sail and Sea trials will take place there; before the boat is shipped to Italy to start the 2006 Med Cup series. The boat will be sailed by members of Team New Zealand AC Team, and will be helmed by Dean Barker, with Terry Hutchinson calling tactics.

This program will be collaboration between Quantum Sails and ETNZ. Dave Armitage (sail Coordinator), and Per Anderson, are part of the design team developing deck layout, rig geometry, and evolving the TP 52 sail program.

09/29/05

Cheaters Never....

In a follow up on a piece last week about the IFDS Worlds and the French guy getting caught with a boat that had lead glassed in the keel; It appears to be causing quite a stir. We hear that the boat was caught with the extra weight because of a "Tip" test - Heel the boat over and make sure it does what it is supposed to do" type of test. Well it failed and they drilled some holes in the bottom of the keel and.....What are these little metal shavings??? So he got a different boat that passed and won the regatta anyway. OK so the guy is a good sailor and fast too. But......

His win at the 2004 Athens Games is in question now because he sailed the questionable boat. They did not do the tip test in Athens but they did take all the lead plates out and weighed them. If they weighed in, everything is fine. I guess his plates weighted in fine. But...

The investigation is afoot and if they take his Gold medal away...US Sailor and Silver medallist Tom Brown will be awarded the Gold.

See even disabled sailing is not without a little controversy!

09/27/05

Alert

Another public service announcement from your friends at Sailing Anarchy.

Police today warned all men who frequent yacht clubs and dock parties to stay cautious when offered drinks by women. Females are using a date rape drug called "beer" to target unsuspecting men. This drug comes in liquid form and is available nearly everywhere. "Beer" is used by female predators to persuade helpless male victims to go home with them. Women need only persuade a man to consume a few of these "beers" and then ask him home for no-strings-attached sex, a simple approach that renders most men helpless.

After several "beers," men will have sex with even unattractive women. Often men awaken with only hazy memories of the night before, a horrible headache, and a vague feeling that something bad happened. Some really unfortunate men are even separated from their life's savings in a scam called "a relationship." In extreme cases, females have entrapped unsuspecting males into long-term servitude through a punishment called "marriage."

Apparently, men are much more susceptible to this scam once "beer" is administered. Forward this warning to every male you know. And if you, or some man you know, has fallen victim to this insidious "beer" and the predatory women who administer it. Rest assured: male support groups exist in every major city where you can discuss the ugly details of your encounter in an open and frank manner with similarly affected, like-minded guys. For the support group nearest you, look in the Yellow Pages under "Golf Courses."

9/25/05

"Timber!"

As if dropping the rig like that wasn't enough, they almost took out Prada in the process. Might want to steer a bit wider around these blokes....Thanks to Bertrand Coste for the shot.

09/23/05

SuperFly

How does an 11' small lightweight carbon singlehander with good performance potential sound? It sounds good enough to be under build right now at Phil's Foils. More to follow.....

09/23/05

Peaked

Yesterday we ran a rather sunny report of the ongoing Farr 40 NA's taking place in Chicago. And yes they have American Express as the title sponsor, and yes they have a boat here from Australia, but what they really have is only twelve boats - seven of which are from the home club. Twelve 40's for the NA's? That is weak. Sure, a number of reasons can be put forth as to why that is, but the result is still the same and that is a very low NA turnout for this once flourishing class. Every class peaks, and for sure this one has as well.

09/23/05

Katrina Aftermath

From an SA reader

Here are a couple of shots of The Orleans Marina and the Municipal Yacht Harbor. The Municipal Yacht harbor is the one that sustained such massive damage. The Orleans Marina, which is just across the park, came off far better These photos were shot about a week after the storm from the Black Hawk of Maj. Gen. Bill Caldwell, commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division. Caldwell is the guy in charge of all the active duty federal ground troops in the city, and reports to Gen. Honore, who's in charge of the military recovery effort.

09/23/05

Missing Update

Apparently the latest on the missing boat Moquini (see story) The latest news of the search for 'Moquini' is that a private charter flight has taken off to look for any sign of the vessel or crew. Click here for the latest.

09/23/05

Big Boat Bonanza

And a ton of love from Erik Simonson of H2OShots. Here are a couple of shots from Eric. But if you wanna see more then click the link below

More photos

22-Sep-2005

An MxRay sailor loses his rudder, can't buy a new one anywhere, and someone from the forums ("Captain Bastard") comes through for him and sends me a detailed tracing and digital pics to base the replacement on.

Hurray Phil's Foils & Composites

21-Sep-2005

Fast Faster Faster-er

This last weekend the guys from Class Action Racing came to Ventura with their Blokarts. While the wind could have been stronger we were still sailing faster than we would have been on the water. At least some of us were. I had my wife and son with me and they liked it so much they are really pressuring me to buy them one. I think I just might. The photo is my son Ryan getting it on. Dawg

20-Sep-2005

"Quick, Let's Jibe!"

Or Not. A Bendy Toy showing just how wrong it can go at the Big Boat Series Presented By Rolex. We've all been in these death rolls (is there a worse feeling than the realization that you're about to be really screwed?), but here it got worse. Thanks to Chuck Lantz for the great shots. Click here for a bunch more.

09/19/05

Size Does Not Matter

Blowing 40 is an ordeal for any boat, but the tough IOM's can tough it out, as evidenced by this shot of series leader Graham Bantock at the IOM Worlds being held in Australia.

The yanks are finding a good fleet and brutal conditions tough going, with top US sailor Steve Landeau in 31st after 6 races. Here is what it looks like in a 40 knot puff! Thanks to Nick Lindsley for the great shots.

09/19/05

Can't Buy Me Love

No, no, no,, no. Nor a win at the 12 Meter World Championships either as Edgar Cato sailing KZ 5 had 7 bullets in 9 races to dominate the "Grand Prix" Class. Here, a 2nd place Mr. Koch has a familiar expression. We are all mourning his loss. Nice shot courtesy of TWJ Thornton

09/19/05

The Ed Blows

That headline is not exactly news, but this time as in blow-kart. Your Ed stepped up and got his very own brand new blokart land sailor! I liked the idea of doing a different form of sailing with something that would be easy to transport, use and store. It is all that. Mine was delivered by the boys at Class Action Racing, they gave a thorough tutorial, and off I went to the Strand in Coronado this weekend. There was about ten knots of breeze - enough to scoot around at I would guess 20-25 mph. No, that is not me in the picture, but these things are a total blast and in fact I brought a friend who is not a racer, and liked it so much he wants to buy one. Check them out and see what they're all about.

09/19/05

FogDog

Here is the 90' Genuine Risk getting led around the course by Morning Glory at the first day of the Big Boat Series Presented By Rolex. GR - so much money spent, so many races lost....

Perhaps the most surprising in IRC A so far is the aged TP 52 Flash beating P. Kahn's new Pegasus around the course boat for boat in race #1. Good times.

Photo courtesy of Erik "Giambi" Simonson

09/16/05

Back in the Day

Sixteen of the venerable 12 meters are having their World Championships held by NYYC. Hissar (KZ 5) won the first race in the "Grand Prix" division, while Courageous won the "Modern" division. Very cool to see some history back in action. The great photo is courtesy of Dan Nerney.

09/16/05

One Minute Brother

Sometimes, that's all a brother needs. Here is a quickie of a Thompson 650 ripping it up in Vancouver. That is good times.

Btw, this little rocket happens to be for sale in our classifieds. More good times.

09/16/05

Outtie

Your faithful Ed is out of here next week. I'm taking my annual downhill mountain bike vacation at Mammoth Mountain. I do however have my new laptop with me at the cozy condo so it should be pretty much monkey business as usual around here.

Late,

Ed

09/16/05

Speed Dial

The Volvo 70 Ericsson at speed during a recent photo shoot off Cape Finisterre. Smoking right along! Thanks to Rick Tomlinson.

09/15/05

Pinner

We came across this new project and thought we'd give you an advance peek. Modern construction, rig and foils on an updated double ender. Ya gotta love it.

09/15/05

J/24 Worlds

A gaggle of J/24s - 55 in fact - are having at it at the 2005 J/24 Worlds being held in Weymouth. After six races it is very close with yank Max Skelly just a point out of first. We'll try to get some inside dope if we can.

Thanks to Fluid Fotos for this shot.

09/15/05

Man vs. Nature: Nature Wins

This is just one of those odd stories that just makes you know what a weird little world we live in sometimes.

09/15/05

Hero to Zero

A while back we featured the 4-time consecutive J/30 National Champion Zephyr based out of New Orleans. The boat is as good a program as can be found, but sometimes things just don't turn out the way they should.

Sadly as the a victim of Hurricane Katrina, Zephyr has surely seen better days. Anybody know whether she can be salvaged?

09/15/05

J/Gantic, II

Here's a follow-up shot of the J/65 sailing during sea trials. Jeez, J/Boats should be paying us for all this press, shouldn't they? Speaking of press, we hear that some of the big glossies are all pissed off that we featured the 65 before they did. Waa waa.....

09/15/04

J/Gantic

Here is the first look at the brand new J/65. This is hull #1 here in Dago. Project manager David Lake and long time friend John Craig gave me the tour and the boat really looks good. They are in the middle of getting ready for the delivery to Hawaii, so I didn't get many shots, but trust me, it is nice! Keep in mind that this biggie is a cruiser first and foremost, although it is thought that hull #2 may be raced. The fit, finish and the hull fairness look to be very, very nice. I thought the boat looked good with a nice sheer, long low house, and certainly would seem to appeal to that market segment that wishes to spend around $2 million for a the biggest J ever. I wonder how big that market is? - Ed.

09/14/05

Lotta Yacht

A good perspective of just how big some of these new maxis really are.This one, Narida, is a Wally 105'. Incredible really. Another beautiful shot, this from the Maxi Worlds, from Max Ranchi.

09/13/05

Winners

Our last caption contest generated these three winners, each of who will receive a new SA visor. As always that was fun and thanks for playing along. E-mail The Ed to get your swag.

1st - Crew uniforms, $3,800
Canting mechanism, $160,000
Sails, $495,000
Finding the missing cotter pin before you leave the dock, priceless. Bedford.

2nd - Retractable mast, now that's cool. Young84

3rd - The guys at SA are going to love this! Cardewskian.

09/13/05

Countach?

If you needed any further proof that power boaters are wacky, here it is. Nothing like patterning your new power boat after a car that has been out of production for 16 years. Really like the spoiler!

09/13/05

Cat Scratch Fever

A pretty cool 9 minute viddy of some beach catamarans and their tribulations in some surf, breeze and waves. Guys are nuts....

09/12/05

Props

Hey Sailing Anarchy,

Another successful classified ad on Sailing Anarchy. Our Soverel 33 "Sun Chaser" was sold during the last week. We had the boat listed with a local broker for a year. Contacts with potential buyers had evaporated to none, until we put the ad in Sailing Anarchy. During July and August, right after I placed the ad with SA, I received a ton of interest in the Soverel. The broker was able to hook a buyer. Thanks guys!

09/12/05

TP Tipping

The dumber states (the ones in red) here in the US have a particularly inane form of entertainment known as Cow Tipping. It is where inbred bush supporters sneak up on unsuspecting cows and push them over. It is almost always accompanied by alcohol, bad country music, a truck with a gun rack, and the hillbilly victory yell of "yee haw." Might this particular brand of 'merican stupidity be spreading to the yachting world? No, you Euros may rest easy.....

The weather in Mallorca has reached the familiar end of summer transition and so we see quite some storm activity. The last couple of days have been punctuated by thunderstorms and rain squalls and yesterday one such squall blasted through the waterfront with 40 to 50 Kt. gusts and heavy rain and this boat was one of the casualties. Plenty of other carnage in local marinas as fenders and mooring lines were put to the test.

A very promising Corinthian effort in the hot TP 52 class will likely have to wait for a new boat to continue. That's the story!

09/09/05

A Real Pirate Ship!

None of that wimpy stuff. This is what a real pirate ship looks like! Right, Paul? At least he has the moustache...This fun work sent to us by our friend Aaron at PhotoSails.

09/09/05

TP Sale!

Well not exactly, but a couple here for sale of interest - notably Atalanti XV (TP52 Farr, Gen 3) which goes on the market for $1 mil next Monday This one seems really strange as Andreadis keeps all his boats. The curse of Cayard, perhaps? Regardless this one is a turnkey for someone who wants to get in, at the top right away.

The other is Light Wave (TP52 Davidson/Cookson) which hits the market also on Monday for $500K...but we hear somewhere in the low 400's would get it. Seems almost cheap!

09/09/05

Bruiser Cruiser

It seems the 85 ft. racer/cruiser Farr designed Roma has beaten Skandia to the top mark in all three races so far at the Maxi Worlds. If as Grant Wharinton says "Generally the big boat kills it" when comparing his new VO70 to the maxi, perhaps his 70 must not be very special either... ?

09/09/05

We heard that the winner in the 2.4 class, at weigh in, was found to be too heavy. Apparently hiding lead in his keel, covered up with fiberglass at the bottom of the keel. They told him he could not use that boat. He sailed someone else's and won the regatta anyway. Interesting thought though.....we hear he used the same boat in Athens. Things that make you go Hmmm?

Only one US sailor, Nick Scandone of Costa Mesa, CA. was there. He started off slow but moved up to 6th place out of 37 entrants. Way to go Nick.

09/08/05

After consistent 16-20 knot boat speeds, and three suicidal round-downs, my steering self destructed, and my pathetic standby would not work in those conditions. I was towed 30 miles in a nasty sea-state, and consider myself a disgrace to the sport.

09/08/05

We are hearing that some of the initial America's Cup
TV ratings don't look very good. Apparently the numbers
for Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden don't look good at all.

What - people aren't buying the Act?

It is also a fact that the official AC shop has
barely any customers. At the beginning it was open
without break from early in the morning till late in
the evening. Since its opening hours have been severely shortened. What - people aren't buying the clothes?

But take a closer look a the picture. Is ACM selling
Football shirts now?

"I'm sorry that overpriced slick BMW/Oracle polo shirt doesn't interest you sir. May I interest you in an irrelevant football jersey instead?"

09/07/05