Out With The New

And the new boat arriving in Valencia. Thanks to Gilles Martin-Raget for the above photo.

02/28/06

Wiggly World

We had been following with some interest the rather insane looking track of the world famous Spencer designed Ragtime on the Dago to Puerto Vallarta race. Their course was very curious, and we were dying to put up their track, but then we see that they have mercifully decided to drop out of the race. Maybe they too got a look at whatthey had done! It probaly didn't help that they were hoplessly DFL.

Btw, it looks like the R/P 50 Blue Blazes is going to get the clean sweep. Thanks to Flagship Tracking for the image, click and follow along.

02/28/06

VOR

To The Rescue!

Just in case there is one of those keel failures....

The R/V Knorr is waiting (not really) for the VOR to pass by in the next 24-48 hours. The ship is operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic and the group of scientists on board are from Scripps Institute. This is the second science leg these scientists have been on down here in the Southern Ocean in the last six months.

In 2002, during the last Volvo Race, the ship was operating in the Atlantic off Guadalupe. In the middle of the night, Dejuice sailed by within a mile. Two other V60's passed by but they were unidentifiable.

Right now the Knorr is in Position: 57-30S, 97-30W. Over the next two days, the ship will head along a track of 060 degree true.

Maybe we'll get lucky and see one of the V70's.

A. Seamans

02/28/06

Launch Party

The 18's doing what they do best. See the JJ Giltinan report further down the page.

02/27/06

Here's My Boat!

No, not this one. This is hull #1 of the new Flying Tiger, and The Ed has hull #17 coming, hopefully late Summer. Woohoo!!! See more pics at our Flying Tiger forum.

02/23/06

SoCal

Movers and Shakers

Sailed in J/105's between yacht clubs, this regatta used to be and probably still is a Big Deal, and it looks like there are some shenanigans already. It seems SDYC has changed the date of the LC this year by moving it back one weekend. Word has it that the date was moved because Bill Hardesty had a commitment that weekend and was not going to race for SDYC. Guess SDYC only has one driver in the club these days??

They say Ullman was one of the reasons as well, but we’ve also heard that Dave is not too thrilled that it was being moved because he really did not want to do it this year, and was heard saying that in Key West. Funny how when two really important guys can’t make a weekend, that weekend can get suddenly moved. Never mind that it makes it a virtual nonstop racing calendar for a lot of guys from Ahmanson through Cal Cup… good times!

02/24/06

"I'm 18 and I like It"
-Alice Cooper

18's hauling ass (what else) in Sydney. Thanks to Thierry Martinez for the shot and be sure to read our exclusive JJ Giltinan 18 report further down the page.

02/23/06

Black Beauty

Pretty bitchin', eh? We thought so too. Here are a bunch more shots, and the designer of this, called a YSA-10. We don't know much more than that. Anybody?

02/22/06

Vidiot

Men of the Cloth
We have seen some great sailing videos that we've come across, but this one takes the cake for originality. We don't know who or why, but it is good. Sorry about the unintelligible lyrics. Enjoy.

02/22/06

Round Up Follow Up

The pic we ran yesterday (see Round Up below) is from a story, and here it is. thanks again to James Robinson Taylor.

Taking pictures at the windward mark, look what I found floating - what seems to be one of those phony IMS keels!

We didn't know where it had come from or what had happened, but then we found out it came from this boat, an ex-Spanish IMS 50 footer, but I don't have any other info - she just showed up at the last minute to race in the Winter Series, Riva di Traiano (a marina just south of Civitavecchia, Rome).

The problem was at the windward mark. The first boat, a Baltic 60 rounded the mark without a hitch and the third with chute already up looked like she had lost it (The Round Up photo), but actually had run aground! The mark shouldn't have been so close to shore (big balls up for the guy who set it - if you didn't do a jibe set straight off but hoisted and then jibed ASAP, you were on the rocks!). The boats that missed the shoals had checked their charts (as my buddy on the Baltic 60 told me with a malicious chortle). Sounds like 8 or 10 actually "touched" bottom. They finally took the mark away, total chaos...Another race in beautiful Italy!

02/22/06

Round Up?

Uh, no. Try aground. And it happened right after they rounded the weather mark! We'll have this amazing story tomorrow. Thanks to James Robinson Taylor for the fabulous shot.

02/2106

Somewhat Less Boss

Straight from Alex Thomson Racing this morning:

At approximately 23h30 GMT on the night of Sunday 19th / Monday 20th February 2006, Alex Thomson, skipper and owner of HUGO BOSS, called his shore crew to inform them that HUGO BOSS had just been dismasted with himself and 4 crew members onboard. HUGO BOSS was sailing on a broad reach in 25 knots of wind with one reef and the solent.

Nobody was injured in the incident, and within a few short hours the boat was sailing under jury rig. Preliminary investigations by Alex and boat captain Simon Clarke, suggest there is only minor additional damage and the boat is now making reasonable speed, heading for South America. Alex has plenty of water and provisions on board and the yacht is now expected to reach Chile in 10-15 days.

At the time of the dismasting HUGO BOSS was at the end of the second week of a Southern Ocean crossing from Melbourne to Uruguay, en route to continue its corporate programme for sponsor Hugo Boss in the USA. The boat is currently 1800 miles from land and since the initial call Alex has been in regular contact with the shore crew, and the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Falmouth and the Chilean Coast Guard have been alerted.

02/21/06

Strange is as Strange Does

What do we know, but proas just seem flat out weird. Not to everyone apparently. The first 2 professionally built harryproas have been launched. 15m/50' long and weighing 2 and 3 tonnes respectively. The light boat is Blind Date (pictured), built to take blind people sailing in Holland. Both boats have full cruising interiors, covered cockpits for 8 people and 2 huge large double bunks.T. Both boats are timber/E glass/epoxy with carbon rigs and beams. There is information, pictures and a video of Rare Bird, and more of Blind Date as well.

02/21/06

Booby Prize

The chronicles of John Podmajerky have been made abundantly clear here at SA. The story is essentially that he sued a crewmember and a yacht club to get his name on a trophy for a race of which he was not the listed skipper. Read the complaint here. A real swell guy. Somehow, he managed to win the Great Lakes Mumm 30 trophy this year. Pod is something less than well liked in the Mumm class, and looks like the gremlins got to the trophy en route to Pod. Note the Free JOD banner taped to the rigging inside the case. Imagine the look on Pod's face after opening the box (shipped COD) to find this? Take a look at the wrapping paper - Hahahaha! I'm sure there will be a lawsuit. Good times.

01/21/06

Majestic

Now that is a sailing sight that only a place like the pacific Northwest here on the left coast can bring. Wow. A beautiful shot from Sean Trew and click here for a nice Local Knowledge report.

02/20/06

Hello, Goodbye

After a short previous leg and an even shorter "pit stop", the boys are out of town, (sans movistar, see below), heading to Rio de Janeiro, via the Southern Ocean. This leg should be incredible, and hopefully not for the reasons that are lurking in the back of everybody's mind. Here Cap'n Cayard pushes his way out of the gate in front, but in this race, he never seems to stay there. Despite the gear failures, his race so far surely must be considered a failure as well. He'll need to win a leg or two to salvage what has so far been an under performance.

Thanks once again to Jon Nash for the superb shooting.

02/19/06

By a Nose

A great shot of the incredibly close finish between ABN AMRO ONE and movistar in the VOR, with movistar getting a hard fought win by 9 seconds, Read skipper Bouwe Bekking's comments below. Oh and be sure to check out Ericsson's interesting rule manipulation....Thanks to Thierry Martinez for the great shot.

02/17/06

Bad Movie

The keel of leg 3 winner movistar showing the damaged parts of the keel wedges that fair the keel aperture and the sliding “bomb doors”. Not good, and they are taking the two hour penalty for receiving outside assistance. Ouch, See our forum for the latest! Picture courtesy the VOR.

02/16/06

Ice Ice Baby

An A Skeeter hauling ass at ISA's (International Skeeter Associations World Championship) in Burlington Vermont. Top speeds in this class exceed 140 MPH!! Here is a an interesting DN ice boat tale for your entertainment. Enjoy.

02/16/06

VOR

9 Seconds!
That is the margin that movistar beat ABN AMRO One by to win leg 3 of the VOR. That is impressive as hell for movistar and has to be depressing as hell for One, as they had a pretty commanding lead through much of this leg. Might we have a race on our hands? However, movistar did suffer some damage and will very likely take a two hour penalty during the pit stop. See our forum for the latest pics!

Look for an SA exclusive update from movistar skipper Bouwe Bekking very soon...Picture courtesy the VOR.

02/16/06

Wake n' Break
We posted some interesting pictures of the Schock 40 Schockazulu losing its keel last weekend here in Dago. There has been much speculation about how it happened and here is what we hear: Apparently they were racing in SD Bay, hit a pretty big wake from one of the big tourist boats (which actually can stop you if you hit them wrong), and they heard a loud crack. Within second the boat tipped over and they ended up in the drink. The boat and rig are okay, but the keel likely fell off because of a broken weld or welds. Tom Schock was in town to see it, and now we'll see what fun happens within the owner/builder/insurance triangle. Good times.

02/16/06

18 Foot Skiff, Hell Yea!!

We will be running daily updates/photos from Sydney from Graeme Oliver, Bowman on Team SELS/Sailing Anarchy.

Picking out teams to dominate the JJ’s has always been a tough task, made even harder this year with an influx of fast visitors to Sydney, but here goes ………

02/16/06

WebWorld

Banned in DC

Well, at least San Diego. One of you anarchists sent the following:

Do you realize the SA site in unavailable on the standard San Diego public library Internet computers? And perhaps libraries nationwide? In order to access the site, the librarian has to "unfilter" the 'puter. Did you ever think your brainchild would be so corruptive?

Cheers!

02/16/06

Super Fly

Moth World Champion Rohan Veal displaying the form that separates him from the pack. World class photographer Thierry Martinez shot Rohan sailing at Black Rock Yacht Club near Melbourne.

Interestingly, while in Melbourne, Sebastien Josse (skipper of ABN AMRO 2) sailed Rohan's Moth, and became nuts about the thing, to the extent that he actually bought the boat (Veal's getting a new one - or a few, we don't exactly know). Seb also said he'd be competing in the 2007 Moth Worlds (serious)!

02/15/06

Splashed

Perry Ferry
Robert Perry, known for his cruisers (although not exclusively!), clearly has made this, his latest design, a modern looking, and no doubt modern performing yacht. 59', made by Westerly here in SoCal, this is what cruiser wet dreams are made of.

02/15/06

Vidiot

Are You High?

Under the theory that a number of sailors are idiots, we present you example No. 367. Assuming everyone lived, one can only hope that these people are no longer in the sport. Bad times.

02/15/06

18's

Ready

We will be running updates from Graeme Oliver as he competes in the worlds. Here is a quick update. Ed.

For those of you that haven't been here before, do it !!! this place is like heaven, hot, good food, good booze friendly people, what more could you want.Boat got here in one piece, although it was 2 days late, such is life, we went surfing on Bondi Beach instead!

Practice race is on Friday, have lined up against some of the other top teams, and we seem to be somewhere near the pace.

Later,

Graeme Oliver
18' Skiff SELS

02/15/06

Fish Eye

This is what the 18' skiff Fisher and Paykel (skipper Andrew Cuddihy) looks like from photographer Christophe Launay's very unique view. The Ssangyong 2006 JJ Giltinan World Trophy Championship starts this week.

02/14/06

Belly Up

The Schock 40 Shockazulu, with something clearly not right. There are more pics in the forum. Bad times.

02/13/06

WebWorld

Kiss the Wet Ass Good-bye

One of the more interesting sites, The Wet Ass Chronicles, is going away. A true kick in the ass, too bad they couldn't keep it going. Here's Tim Zimmerman's farewell:

Hate to say it, but after two-and-a-half years of trying to keep up with this website, I am burned out, cooked, done, finito. Well, not really, but I just don't have the time anymore to do this thing properly, and I'd rather not just mail it in. Plus, it's time to head in a new direction and develop other novel means of wasting time while amusing myself. Thanks to all the loyal readers and tipsters. There are plenty of other blogs out there now bringing you the latest in extreme adventure and video, so keep on clicking. It was fun while it lasted. Have a nice life...

We hope to have Tim do something with us. We'll let you know...

02/14/06

Blast Off

Big breeze is propelling the VOR boys down the track at big speeds. To the surprise of exactly no one, ABN AMRO One is once again at the pointy end of the fleet, just ahead of movistar, who always seems to be in the lead at some point in the race. Might they actually be there at the end of this leg?

Thanks to Jon Nash for this great shot. Here's a couple more 2, 3, from Jon for your entertainment purposes.

02/13/06

Can't Cant

Certainly not when you're upside down, missing your canting keel. Such is the reported fate of Shockazulu, a Shock 40 seen floating upside down in San Diego bay Sunday. Pics soon, we hope.

21/13/06

All Systems Go?

We'll see, won't we? There are many hyper-aware sailors on Brasil, Ericsson, moviestar and Pirates, to be sure. Are the odds about to leave that cluster and catch up with the ABN's? This leg from Melbourne to Wellington is considered a sprint, and the boys are expected to arrive in Wellington around the 15th of February. The fleet will then depart for Rio de Janeiro on the 19th of this month. .We'll see, won't we?

Thanks again to Rick Tomlinson for the shot.

02/12/06

Night Moves

The VO 70 Ericsson doing some offshore sailing in Melbourne. Out here, nobody is over early, but apparently they still are in the minds of some. Despite some compelling video evidence, (see Over?, below), an international jury threw out Ericsson’s request for redress after being called over early in Saturday’s In Port race. Looks to us like they got screwed. Perhaps these guys are operating under a dark cloud. Literally.

Thanks to Rick Tomlinson for this super cool onboard photograph.

02/10/06

J's Away

"My posse's gettin' big - and my posse's gettin' bigger" - The Beastie Boys

The upcoming Sailing Anarchy J/24 Nationals to be held in Houston, Texas, are blowing up! It is looking like at least 70 boats are going to be there - this may be one of the biggest J/24 regattas in years - maybe bigger than the 25th anniversary in Newport? Get with it.

Oh and speaking of getting with it, get to Tampa for the J/24 Mid-Winters and grab the very first Sailing Anarchy J/24 Drinking Cups. These are just the first in a long line of swag celebrating the Sailing Anarchy J24 Nationals in Houston.

02/10/06

Dinghy Anarchy

This picture seems to define it! The full story next week, but in the meantime be sure to visit our new-ish Dinghy Anarchy forum, sponsored by Hoot.

02/10/06

Birth

Hull No. 1 of the Flying Tiger 10M is hatched! Those of us with boats on order are smiling today! More pics and discussion in our FT forum.

02/09/06

School

Portland Sate University Frostbite Team Race at Willamette Sailing Club Portland Oregon on the Willamette River, lots of current, some wind, some big shifts, some real lulls, a little sun and a decent rain shower now and then.., Thanks to Sean Trew for the great shot.

02/09/06

Work

The 18's in Frisco. They are work. Fun, but work. Thanks to Photoboy for the shot.

02/09/06

Theme

A known fact is that we do things a bit different around here, so the first one to post the band and song that inspired the above photo titles wins some SA swag! Have fun. Btw, we understand the gravity of the Moquini situation, and are not disrespecting it. Death is a part of life, and our views on all of it are surely somewhat out of the mainstream. We will always hold a special thought for all those involved with Moquini.

02/09/06

Average White Boat?

Who knows, but we do know we haven't seen a white AC boat in a while. Just a thought, but if this boat was American, would it be called The United Illegal Internet Wiretap Team USA? Just asking..

Thanks to Valencia Sailing for the nice shot.

02/08/06

Over?
Now, we're no experts on when someone is over early or not, although we are world-class second guessers. And let us restate our credentials on that point: Ericsson, who was called back for being over early at the start of the in-port race in Melbourne, does not appear to be anywhere near over early. Now Brasil might be another story. Jeez, only 7 boats and they can't even get that right? No wonder Ericsson was pissed! Follow the story at our Seahorse magazine sponsored VOR forum!

This good pic courtesy of Regatta.nu. Thanks fellas.

02/08/06

Clean Machine
Yeah we know, we've all gotten so jaded that yet another new TP 52 now elicits a collective yawn. But there is no denying how sweet these fuckers are, and the brand new Judel/Vrolijk Mean Machine looks particularly good here. Note the tiller, which now at least looks long enough now, but that is still a big boy to muscle around with a stick.

By the way, this is the 19th Mean Machine, now that is dedication to the game, my friends.

02/08/06

Deal of the Week?

Everyone wants a deal, right? Might this slightly banged up, but otherwise new 2006 Bendy Toy 36.7 be just the ticket? We'll bet it is for someone.

02/08/06

That's Art, Right?

Of course it is, you idiot! It is Nancy Rubins' latest work on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego at La Jolla. Hey, where are the damn sailboats?

02/07/06

New Build

Hit the Niche
This is the Farr Performance 42, an IRC design under construction at Jim Bett's new shop in Anacortes, WA. The Farr guys seem pleased to have Jim building this boat, as he does turn out a quality product and will likely do a great job with this limited production project.

Hull #1 is under way and is on track to be launched June 1st in Chicago, IL. There are supposedly a few more buyers lined up and hope to be launching more summer/fall 2006.

A very similar version of this design is also under construction in Australia at Austral Yachts; the Farr 42 Cruiser/Racer. Not to confuse the readers too much, the 2 boats share the same hull and rig plan with slightly different decks and specs. Comments?

02/07/06

Where Are They Now?

Back in the '80's and 90's, there was a San Diego sailor named Burt Benjamin who had a N/M 55 called Lone Star. The program was a pretty good one, and Burt was a player on the local scene. Like a lot of guys, he got remarried, sold the boat, bought some clunker, and was not heard from. We understand that his wife went on some sort of major spending spree, he ran out of money, was booted out of both SDYC and SWYC, and has not been heard from since. Anybody?

02/07/06

What HaveYou Got?

Whatever you think you have, you most assuredly don't have what he's got. He, is the 83-year-old John Walker from Sydney, Australia. Here is an update from the last Sydney to Hobart Race (sorry about the quality, it's from a waterproof throwaway) snapped by crew member Felicity Nelson halfway across Bass Strait. It's blowing dogs off chains and John is still on the helm of his Peterson 34, with two reefs and #4 headsail. He is, as they say, a legend. Thanks to James Nixon for the shot - an inspiration for many of us.

02/06/06

Edgy

Yet another shot of a new big boat project under way (see Purple Haze below). We are going to be running a number of articles on the project, detailing the concept, build and final product. This is going to be fun!

02/06/06

"I've Got it..."

Or does he? Thanks to GTS Photos for this fun action!

02/03/06

I am God Rod

Way back in Rod Davis' early So Cal sailing career, some people used to refer to him as "I am god Rod". Looks like he is something less than that to Yachting New Zealand, as he is no longer their Olympic Director. Quit or let go, we don't yet know, but we'll dig around and see if there's some dirt.

02/03/06

Leaded or Unleaded?

Did they miscalculate the weights on the new R/P 66 Stark Raving Mad? No, but they must have forgotten their tide charts. D'oh!

02/03/06

Purple Haze

This might be one of the more intriguing projects we've seen in a while. It is real, and real interesting. Convention is hucked and chances are being taken. We'll take you there - stay tuned.

02/03/06

Chine On

Last month we ran an article and drawings of a new 40' chine being built for a SoCal owner. Here now is another, this one just completed. We'll give you more next week.

02/03/06

Gear Queer

Boyz In The Hood
Yet another way to wear the colors - the brand new SA hooded sweatshirt! Made by Lee, a 50/50 blend and the perfect weight for that busy, on the go kinda guy. Works for slackers too. We only have about 50 of these things in stock, so if you want one, get on up and get in. We've revamped our gear page so buying things should be a bit easier too.

Victory!

Well, of sorts. USA 570 (Maddog 570, Plano, Krista, and the family Clean) finish KWRW race 5 in 43rd (of 60). No hiking necessary. Click pic1 and pic 2 to see them getting close. Thanks to Steve Dodge from Ocean Planet, for the photos.

2/2/06