October 2006
Trick or
Treat? Well, surely no treat, so we're going with trick. The Ed received this today, but surely it applies to many of us. Good times! Recognize this character? I'll venture a guess that you've sailed with him. Perhaps more often than you'd like to admit. He seems like an ordinary enough guy, down at the dock or up there in the yacht club. But when he lays his hands on the wheel and the start sequence has begun, something happens. Some kind of horrible transformation occurs that turns this ordinary ego-centric-America's-Cup-skipper-wannabe into a kind of fright-night-bad-attitude-ball-buster who's perception is badly distorted. He approaches a mark rounding like it has some kind of life-or-death implication. Where, you had better get that chute trimmed, blow the jib halyard and ease that backstay, now! While he putters off to Timbuktu at 60 degrees apparent. On this All Hallows Eve, I propose we take a moment to pay tribute to those puffy faces with their inflated sense of importance and retarded social skills (you won't know who you are) for helping the rest of us know and appreciate how not to do unto others. It is through your example that so many of us have learned to truly know and understand the pure joy of the silent maneuver, with only the sounds of fresh jokes to defile the breeze that blows across the deck. Thank you for supporting our Jones, as we support those who Jones with us. That we may all look forward to that day when the bow of our boat busts up into the back of that next wave and the digits smoke the speedo. That is were we can all scream in unison for what really matters in this sport. Have a Happy Halloween! 10/31/06 |
Gray Tones The big tri Groupama and her flock of fans at the start of the Route du Rhum off St. Malo. Thierry Martinez took this cool shot. 10/31/06 |
| Route
du Rhum PRB is SOL  The
supposed orange hot brand new Farr designed Open 60 PRB unfortunately
broke its rig in three place just one night into the
race. Skipper Vincent Riou was attempting to get a tow
to Brittany. A quick and unfortunate end to their chance of
winning, but might it be the
magazine cover curse, first created by Sports Illustrated
and now this time courtesy of the newest edition of Sailing
World?On a much more sober note, and a follow up to yesterday's report that Jeremie Beyou on Delta Dore had dropped out due to his wife's health problems, we learned today that she gave birth to a still born child. How very sad and we feel terrible for Jeremie and his wife. 10/31/06 |
Up and
Away Thomas Coville and his 60 ft. trimaran Sodebo at the start of the Route du Rhum. The fleet is progressing slowly in light air, and sadly Jeremie Beyou sailing his Open 60 Delta Dore has retired from the race due to health problems with his wife. Thanks to Gilles Martin-Raget for the great shots. 10/30/06. |
Fast Some pictures just illustrate speed.and this one of 470 sailors Anderson-Mitterling & Hughes at the Olympic Pre-Trials hosted by the US Sailing Center in Long Beach does just that. Nice work from GTS Photos. 10/30/06 |
|
And
the Twins... 10/27/06 |
| Money
Shot Deer Caught in the Bow Lights!  We recently sailed in a race from St Simon Island GA to Ameilia Island FL with my 70 year old father, brother in law and brother last weekend. We won the race. Check the photo's out 1, 2. In the middle of a 60 feet deep channel between two islands separated by about two miles was a six point buck swimming at about three knots. Dale Steinkamp 10/27/06 |
Fly Tri Hydroptère, the radical 60' hydrofoil trimaran hauling ass. For those who haven't seen it, it is a pretty fascinating thing. Take a look at the "shock absorber" foils. 10/26/06 |
| 5
Oceans 5 Down You can now add Unai Basurko as another entrant who has pulled out (sail and mast issues) for repairs from the Velux 5 Oceans race. Robin Knox-Johnston is also heading for repairs after reporting that he was rolled. Take a look at this video of race leader Bernard Stamm as he battles the brutal conditions. Two things jump out - the boat is going very slow - no doubt in survival mode, and look how difficult it is to do things like even get a sail ready...these guys are tough. Stay up to date with this and other sailing news right here! 10/26/06 |
| Mini
Man American sailor Alex MeVay, competing in his first Classe Mini Race in Europe, delivered an impressive debut performance in his six year old Pogo 1 production Mini. Racing in the 300 nm solo Mini Barcelona, Alex finished 10th overall out of a fleet of 32, 3rd out of 15 in production boats, and finished ahead of half the protos. Way to go Alex! Here's a short report: The last 50 miles back to Barcelona were unbefuckinglievable, surfing at 8-12 kts. with 25-35 kts. of wind in the middle of the night. I finished 3rd of 15 production boats (got silver!), and beat about half the protos. After 45 hours of racing, I was only 3 minutes behind a few of the best protos. It seems to have been the best finish people have seen from a Pogo 1 in a while. Definitely good street cred for me and Genasun. One guy calls me "ET". So,
the next two weeks will be bitcharse, getting the boat to the 10/26/06 |
Big and
Small Hard to be both, but in this picture the relatively big Alfa Romeo looks relatively small on their way to line honors in the Rolex Middle Sea Race against Maximus and Morning Glory. Read the story. Photo courtesy Alfa Romeo Maxi Yacht. 10/25/06 |
| We
Get Letters MF So last week we shared some rumors we had heard from a pretty solid source about the awfully big Maltese Falcon. We received a few e-mails confirming at least one of them, and then yesterday we got the following e-mail from Tom Perkins, the owner of the MF: SailingAnarachy Editors Your speculations about the yacht Maltese Falcon are simply preposterous. I wish you doom and unmitigated failure. Sincerely, |
For Real Bernard Stamm hangs tough in big breeze and huge seas in the Velux 5 Oceans single-handed race around the world. Mike Golding, Alex Thomson and Unai Basurko have all pulled out to make repairs. At this rate.....Join the discussion. Picture courtesy onEdition Velux 5 Oceans 2006 . 10/24/06 |
Workin'
It The sailor formerly known as Boy George, George Szabo, is all growed up and a major player in the Star class. His win at the Olympic Pre-trials this past week in Marina de Rey, CA only solidified that. It didn't hurt that he is particularly quick in the light. Good job George and new crew Mark Strube. Thanks to Pat Reynolds for the shot. 10/24/06 |
| Community Sailor/Terrorist? We saw this from last week and were kind of shocked at first, but then thought about how easy it is to see just how pissed of and passionate some people can get over things like, in this case, the environment. The story involves a Corinthian Yacht Club member in the Seattle area who has been charged with being a part of an arson in a 2001 firebombing at the University of Washington and admitted to belonging to ELF and participating in the attack. We'd hate to see what happened to anybody who fouled her on the race course... Here's the story. 10/24/06 |
| Where
Are They Now? Bill Koch, in many ways most unfortunately, will forever be associated with America's Cup history. A rich "yachtie" who essentially bought his win, may not be that different from many scoundrels past and present, but he had a personality that many just didn't like. After a number of family squabbles both personal and professional, Koch has been a bit out of the sporting limelight - until we stumbled across this. Whatever. 10/24/06 |
5
to Go The Velux 5 Oceans single-handed race around the world got underway Sunday in Bilbao, Spain . Here Kojiro Shiraishi and the Spirit of Yukoh gives an idea of what a task lies ahead to mange these boats in this race. Huge. This and a lot of other great shots from the start are courtesy of Thierry Martinez. Be sure to see our on site report below. 10/23/06 |
Not
Mellow Yellow Interiors are often after thoughts for many of us, but this one struck our fancy. Bright, open, and plenty of seating. Yes, it's a race boat - do you know which one? 10/23/06 |
Cat Nip Click on this photo and look at that poor cat! This accident happened in Hamilton Harbour, Hamilton, Ontario. Hit or miss? We understand no one was hurt...Thanks to Geg and Mike Dale for the shots. 10/20/06 |
Ed and the Cruiser Most
of you know that I bought a Flying Tiger 10M (pictured) to
do a little racing in, but I wasn't quite happy with that,
so I just bought a cruiser to go along with it. It is an older
classic, fully refurbished and really well done. I took delivery
today, and I thought that for a big cruiser, it handled really
nice. It actually has some pace too. Good
times!10/20/06 |
| VOR So Much For The Afterglow So not even worldwide name recognition, direct branding, an incredible amount of press, and as the crown jewel, a dominant overall win can't get ABN AMRO back for the 2008/9 Volvo Ocean Race. For an event that struggled mightily to get enough entries for the last event, this can't come as the most positive development. Maybe they can just offer to fund even more programs for the next race... Jan Berent Heukensfeldt Jansen, Managing Director of TEAM ABN AMRO commented: “The Volvo Ocean Race has been a great marketing platform for us and its impact will continue long into the future. We entered the Volvo Ocean Race as a three year, one-off campaign to meet specific objectives, promoting the unity and strength of the ABN AMRO brand to a global audience. We did everything we could to win the race, and with a combination of teamwork and professionalism TEAM ABN AMRO traveled the world reflecting all that the bank stands for. The results of the campaign confirm that all our objectives have been met, which is largely thanks to the outstanding effort made by the large number of people involved. The Volvo Ocean Race is a unique event with a global following, and one which we are very proud to have been part of.” Comments? 10/19/06 |
| New
Feature The Tactician In a few days, we'll be launching our newest feature here at SA, The Tactician. We have struck a deal with Star sailor Andy Horton to share his insights into various aspects of the tactics that go into a race. We like Andy because he is obviously good, he has written for us before and we liked it, and he brings a fresh perspective to the sport. Plus we'll be giving Andy some questions from you, so if you've got one, send it in now and we'll start to develop this feature into something good. That's how we roll. 10/19/08 |
| Match
Game A Beating? Well he's got some stones for entering, but look for money man Larry Ellison to get a good beat down at the first Allianz Cup Presented by Oracle, Stage 5 of the 2006-’07 World Match Racing Tour. It will be held Oct. 25-29 at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco and we are wondering if, much like Montgomery Burns, will Ellison "win" at his own company sponsored events? We're kidding, of course, but some speculation might be that should Ellison manage to show decently at this event, would he then put his cold hands on the wheel during the AC? Whatever, this will be fun to watch! Comments? 10/19/06 |
|
Contest
Winners Rocket
Men 2nd
Place "Salesman on demo sail: "Unlike a J24,
the Rocket does not sink" WunHungLo. |
Them Bones A hot new rocket to be, being built in an undisclosed location. A cool photo, but further details will have to wait! 10/18/06 |
| Another
Press Release We Wouldn't Run We pretty much stay away from press releases, and for a number of reasons, mostly because they are boring and uninteresting. This one is good though. Come on all you poseurs, Impress all your other non AC sailor friends and get in line to get a pair of overpriced Alinghi skis! AMERICA'S CUP CONSORTIUM, STÖCKLI ANNOUNCE NEW SKI Sailors and skiers are often one-in-the-same, and a new ski reinforces the connections between the two sports. Alinghi, defender of the 32nd America's Cup, launched a limited edition ski in Zermatt, Switzerland. The launch is the pinnacle of a project between Alinghi, Stöckli and Dominique Perret, "Freerider of the Century." Stöckli has been working closely with both Perret and Ernesto Bertarelli, a good friend of his, to produce a limited edition, high-end, freeride ski, tailored for powder on and off-piste. There are several passionate skiers within the America's Cup sailing team members. Pierre-Yves Jorand, the sailing coach, was a European Champion speed skier with a top speed of 225km/h. And Francine Moreillon, an Alinghi media officer, has three World Champion extreme skier titles. Beni Stöckli, CEO of Stöckli Skis, said of the parallels between Alinghi and Stöckli: "We both represent similar values: passion, high-end technology and team spirit and these are reflected in the development of the Alinghi freeride ski." 10/18/06 |
Then And
Now A Hinkley 41 next to a Brenta 38. Just like it, only different. Thanks to anarchist Lorenzo for the shot. Here is the 38 sailing - we bet there is a just a slight speed difference, too. Btw, one hears that 15 of the 38's have been sold so far... 10/17/06 |
Alone
Again A
Hungarian man, Áron Méder age 26, started his sailing
voyage around the world last month from Koper, Slovenia. He is
sailing alone in his 20 year old Carina (19ft boat, been prepared
for the journey by Áron himself). Now he is about south
of Sicily. He's also got a website where
you can find some photos and his positions as well as his log book.
Hope you can read Hungarian!. We admire his fortitude for this
obvious uphill battle, but...10/17/06 |
Get
On Up! Check out the little dude rip it up! This is Dan Ricker sailing his ACC's at Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club (Beach Haven, NJ) .They were out on Oct. 8th as sustained winds of 28 knots postponed racing on Saturday. So the photo is of that fun day off. The kids that went out to practice in front of the club and this is the fun they had!. 265 boats were in the championship fleet and the racing was great, but as much fun was had by these kids on their day off. Check out the smile that this ride generated - priceless! Mike OBrien 10/16/06 |
| SA
Community $46,070.00 That is the total amount the SA community has raised through our Hans Horroveots Memorial Fund to donate to Han's wife Petra and her two young children. Considering that almost all the donations were modest amounts made by you, the reader, we are both pleased with and proud of your efforts to help. I'll be doing a bank transfer to Petra's account this week, and Petra has said she'd like to write a few words to you all, so look for something here soon. Again, thank you people who stepped up and gave - you have all done something good. And every now and then, we like to do that. -Ed. 10/16/06 |
That
Dawg Wil Hunt Gotta admit we're pretty damn proud of SA's very own Dave Trude (Dawg) as he races his new 2.4R in the pre-trials regatta at Newport RI. He finished mid fleet, but was reported to have good speed. This is a very big deal for Dave and we have to thank Jim Gluek from Quantum Sails and Hamish Mathew from Gul for their generous support of Dave's effort. And much thanks to BJ Porter for his help and this great photo. Go get 'em, Dawg! Discussion and more pics in our forum. 10/13/06 |
Old vs
New. Old Wins. At least this on this cross. Gotta love this shot from the The Superyacht Cup 2006 in Palma de Mallorca. 17 big dudes are going at it in some nice sailing conditions. Here Windrose of Amsterdam looks quite nice! 10/13/06 |
Cross Training Training in Brittany for 2006 Route du Rhum which will start on Sunday 29th October 2006 in St Malo is Steve Ravussin (SUI) at the helm of the trimaran Orange Project. This great helicopter shot from Thierry Martinez. 10/12/06 |
Down Under Has there ever been a better picture? We'll have the full story this week, but in the meantime, how's about we do a little caption contest? This one is brought to you by Rocket Boats and have fun! 10/11/06 |
| SA Sun Shined We assume that most of you know that we don't cover everything, many times because we just don't know about a particular event. Here is one we knew nothing about, but the reader didn't know that... On that note, don't hesitate to send us anything that you think may be of interest. Never forget that this site in many way is all about you. Hey Ed - I know that you guys don't like the Sunfish, based on some comments I see on the forums, but the world championships just wrapped up in Charleston, SC and I didn't hear a word from you guys. Come on. You may think the Sunfish is a toy but there are a lot of good sailors out there competing in them. While boats like the Star are in the Olympics, the Sunfish is still a class in the Pan Am Games. Most of us dingy sailors have sailed this boat some time in our lives and a lot return after a number of years. The class is generally a group of very nice people as opposed to certain classes I have experienced. As a simple boat a premium is placed on the sailor and not the technology. I guess you think SA is too "edgy" for the poor little Sunfish. Too bad. Rum Runner 10/11/06 |
Big
Boys 10/10/06 |
Where's
Waldo? The complexity of the Maltese Falcon rigs, thanks to Chris Savage. Did you find Waldo? 10/06/06 |
And They're...Done The Star Worlds concluded today with at least something resembling Frisco breeze. Congrats to Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams who won the thing overall. Here are the top ten and we hope to have a final report from our boys Andy Horton and Brad Nichol who ended up fourth. That's second place finisher Robert Scheidt (8127) poked out in this shot from GTS Photos. 10/06/07 |
| Contest Time - Update! Our friends at Annapolis Performance Sailing are at the (ironically enough) Annapolis Boat Show and each day they are going to snap a shot, and award a prize to the first person to identify what it is. They also want you to know that they are having their annual boat show sale of 15% everything including our deeply discounted sale rack. So be sure to stop by and check them out.  Oh yeah, be sure to play the SA card when you see them, who knows what that might get you! Okay here is today's shot. It might not be easy, but the winner gets one. Have fun. We have a winner - congrats to Matt Kopecki who nearly instantly guessed what the mystery photo was. Click here to see what it turned out to be. We'll be doing another one of these tomorrow for more swag - stay tuned! 10/06/06 |
First Blood The brand new Swan 42 shot today off Newport by Peter McGowan. Looks good to us. 10/06/06 |
Chilly Here's some recent cold weather sailing in Michigan. We'll have the story and more pics Monday. 10/05/06 |
Looking
Better  Here is one of the early Flying Tigers in China actually looking reasonably well sailed for once. Most of the pictures seen so far show the boats horribly trimmed and sailed, and here one starts to get a sense that there is hope! (the leeward boat is mostly what we've been seeing so far...) We'll have an interesting report on sailing the boats with some more pics soon. 10/05/05 |
There's
One in Every Crowd The membership of New Orleans Yacht Club would like to say that Sailing Anarchy is the tits for sponsoring our latest Wednesday Night Beercan Races. With boats competing from NOYC and the three other destroyed New Orleans clubs for this five-week series, SA's sponsorship absolutely made all of us booze and sail with even more defiance in the face of all the ongoing carnage. The winds were typically light for late August and early September, but the day after the one-year anniversary of the storm, we were heavy with wind. Many of our fleet continues to race with battle scars, however on the brighter side of things it seems as if the fleet rebuilds a little bit each week. We had about 25 racing each evening, down from a weekly pre-storm average of 50… but we're getting there. And don't forget that New Orleans sailors are running around and kicking ass everywhere, from Team Zephyr in the J/30 North Americans to Decision up at American Yacht Club Fall Series. Cheers and wish y'all were here. Troy FYI
- If any SA'ers would like to give us a hand, we've set up
a fund to rebuild our Junior Sailing Program. Visit www.renewnola.org to
make a tax deductible donation and get a cool Renew New Orleans
bracelet at the same time. Be sure to put NOLA JUNIOR SAILING
in the comment form. Thanks! |
What Is
It? We liked this one. First one to give us the who what and where gets one of our SA belts. Have fun. 10/03/06 |
| New 40 The Hard Way?  LC40
N°3: Bryan Cooke, Auckland, New Zealand, start
building the third LC40’. This down-under distinctive
feature is to reach the OSR Category 0 rules, that
is “for races where yachts must be completely
self-sufficient for very extended periods of time,
capable of withstanding heavy storms and prepared to
meet serious emergencies without the expectation of
outside assistance.”Bryan intend to enter the GOC in 2007: The Global Ocean Challenge, solo/double multi-stop circumnavigation race, is a new initiative launched by sailors Josh Hall and Brian Hancock. François
LUCAS |
The Light and
the Dark Simply a gorgeous shot taken in the Pacific Northwest from our friend Sean Trew. 10/02/06 |