Wide Load

More shots of the Atomium 950. We think this is a great size for this type of classe boat and would love to see some momentum with them....

Blame Canada

It is not a big surprise that Chris Larson's "West Marine Rigging" won the 2009 Melges 24 World Championships. The almost entirely light-air regatta put a premium on understanding the current and great starts -  two things that Larson and crew did superbly - while negating the big-breeze speed advantage of the Italian boats. 

While Larson is certainly American, his crew are all maple leafers, something you don't see too often at the top of a World Championship leader board unless it's in Canada. Mike Wolfe, Richard Clarke, and Curtis Florence certainly worked hard for this one, and Larson's victory was so complete that crew could celebrate during the final race as they spectated from their bobbing boat.

A final interesting fact is about Larson's amateur rock star bowman Curtis Florence, an SA'er from the very beginning.  With this victory, Florence becomes the current World Champ in three international one-design classes: Farr 40 with Barking Mad; Mumm 30 with Optimum, and now Melges 24 with West Marine Rigging.  That's one hell of an amateur sailor.  Congrats to 'em all, and check out Florence's interview with Mr. Clean about his wife, his amateur status, and the event.  And check back this week for a full wrap-up of the entire Melges 24 Worlds along with links to all the coverage of the regatta.

on board

Big Steps

American Mini sailor Chris Tutmark breaks down his Transat onboard Mini Anarchy and beyond...

The Leg 2 prizegiving was a couple of nights ago so all that really remains is to finish getting the boat apart to be shipped back to France. It is somewhat hard to believe it has already been 7 days since I finished, the days have been a complete whirlwind; getting caught up on sleep, greeting friends who were finishing the race, trying to see a bit of Salvador, getting the boat cleaned up and taken apart and eating a fair bit. I did not really expect how fatigued I would be from the race as I found my attention span was completely wrecked and only now seems to be getting close to normal. Some of  this could be attributed to the weight I lost, am not sure how much but I know that most of my clothes now just hang on me.

This entire Mini/ TransAt experience has been absolutely amazing and I am so happy that that I took the leap and did it. As I basically jumped in with both feet and made it happen there have been a number of surprises along the way, both good and not so good. I did not expect how friendly almost everyone in the fleet would be,  that was truly a wonderful thing. I have made some new friends that I know I will have forever. The other big surprise came during leg 2 and unfortunately was not quite as good. It was the level of weather information collaboration that some competitors felt was acceptable. Coming to the south side of the Doldrums, there were some competitors who I could hear on the radio both exchanging weather data from where they were and collaborating on figuring out what it all meant.

After the doldrums, I pushed hard to catch back up to the people who had passed me and I was partially successful with this. The sailing was quite pleasant but not hugely exciting as it was mostly  fetching or slight cracked off jib reaching on port. We all slowly got lifted as we approached the NE  corner of Brazil with Fernando do Nororonh (sp) needing to be left to starboard. The major tactical question was how close to get to the shore as it allowed a freer sailing angle and less distance sailed but also was potentially lighter winds. I opted for between 45 and 60 miles off here which increased  to 80 after we went back to spinnakers when the wind freed. This was on the second to last night which was overcast with very little moon and winds  up into the mid 20s. The top number I saw on the knotmeter was 15.89 but it could have been higher as I had the averaging up fairly high to smooth out the pilot responses.

The final puzzle of the race was transitioning from the trade winds offshore into the land breeze. I did not play this quite as well as I could have since I ms-interpreted what was going on and sagged south along the transition line instead of punching straight through it. Adding to the challenge was that my batteries had not charged fully during the day and I was starting to get low voltage alarms from various instruments. Finally everything except the masthead tri-color shut down so I reverted to using my handheld GPS for the final 5 hours of the race. Not having a depth sounder was really the only thing I had wished I had since in the dark it was difficult to really tell how close to the beach I was getting and there were some offshore rocks to be avoided.

Picking out the finish line in the pre-dawn light with the city lights was also a little challenge but not too severe of one. Once across the line it was sails down and pick up the very slow tow into the harbor. Waiting for me on the dock was a cold beverage, some great fresh fruit, my girlfriend who I had not seen in two months and some of my other competitors. The picture that was in SA was about 4 minutes after I stepped onto the dock. A minute or so later I was in the water of the harbor along with a bunch of other folks. This was probably a good thing since I doubt I smelled very well, I do know that the coffee I was drinking the last night was coming out of my skin. Note to self: 10 spoonfuls of instant espresso might be too much in 16 ounces of water.

Would I consider doing this all again, absolutely!!! It was not easy or inexpensive but in the end I have learned so much about myself and hopefully become a better sailor too. In that I went from complete mini novice to TransAt veteran in less than six months in a little amazing for me to ponder but such is the way the program played out. Being the top American in the race is a great added bonus but not something I had even remotely thought about as a goal. With more time in the boat I likely could have moved up some places in the rankings.

To get to this point has been a huge effort and there have been a lot of folks who have helped me make this happen and I need to recognize them. So, in no particular order, the folks I want to thank are:

• my family, especially my sister and her family for helping out with my house and mail while I was gone.
• all the friends who gave me rides to and from the airport, not having to deal with shuttles was really a great bonus.
• Tom Milne and all the folks as Remote Medical (www.remotemedical.com) They did my medical kit and provided me with some great first aid training. Fortunately none of which I needed to put to use but it was still great to have.
• Carl Sutter and everyone at Fisheries Supply (www.fisheriessupply.com) for helping out with some equipment and always wanting to hear about how things were going.
• Jonathan McKee for almost too much to list. He was always available to answer my questions and provide advice that I know helped me avoid a number of missteps along the way.
• Sylvain Pontu at Demi-Cle in Locmiquelic (www.Demi-Cle.com) for looking after my boat in France and helping me make sure I had all the required equipment on the boat.
• Isabelle and Alexi at Grand Pavois for being willing to take the time to explain things in English when I did not understand the French and being sure I had answers to all my questions.
• Anabelle and Sandrine at Classe Mini (www.Classemini.com) for truly making me feel a part of the mini family from the very start. Anabelle also helped with translating weather and race briefings at events which was incredibly helpful.
• Probably the biggest thank you needs to go to Kevin McMeel. Kevin did weather forecasts for me for both legs and they were amazing. Easy to understand even in a heavily fatigued daze and very accurate. On leg 2, Kevin had recommended going fairly far East and close to the African coast between the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands, I started this way but ultimately chickened out and this was likely my biggest tactical blunder. I was worried the shift would continue to the East and not provide an escape, ultimately the shift came and it would have worked out just the way it was forecast. In addition to Kevin, I was getting weather info from Ken Campbell and the folks at Commanders. They did a great job as well and as both sets of information usually agreed it made things a bit simpler for me.
• Scot and Clean at SA for their support, kind words and being the best source of information on the TransAt for readers in North America.
• Last but by no means least is my girlfriend, April. She has helped me in some many ways it is difficult to imagine I could have made this all happen without her.

So what´s next? The boat is for sale and presently the plan is for it to go back to Lorient and be put up for the winter. I have spoken to a few folks who are interested in the boat but as yet, no one has decided they want to buy it. If it does not sell by next season, I will race the boat. I head home to Seattle in a few days and am really looking forward to being home for a while and will get back to work on other people´s boats. Many of my customers, in addition to sending me notes of congratulations, have also asked me to contact them when I am home so I think my job list will get filled quickly. Thank you to all of them for that loyalty!!

I did brielfy entertain thoughts of bringing my boat to the US but at present I will learn more racing it in France, also PHRF does not really know what to do with a Mini so racing it in that system is rather tough. I want to do what I can to help support Mini/shorthanded racing in North America and hope that it does continue to grow. I think North American sailors can continue to improve racing Minis in Europe but it will take a lot of work and some fundamental mind set changes. One of the biggest will be a change of attitude and to accept that racing in Europe we are guests, that things are done differently and that the system is what it is.Also looking beyond petty rivalries will be a big step, the sailors from countries work together to train, and work on their boats.  The Italians and the Spanish were both very good about this. For me, I hope to be in La Rochelle in 2011 at least as a spectator and possibly as a competitor.

scotw

Kitty Cat

Admittedly not much of a vid, but we Cat Chimney is having a great time driving a canting keel boat in New Zealand. She is from Lloyd Harbor, NY and is a chemical engineering major at the University of Auckland, when she's not studying she races Laser radials. Check out the smile! Sailor Chick of the Week submission from anarchist Ed..

race report

Clear Ahead

This morning when I read the article on Sailing Anarchy about China Cup I resolved to not write an article after the after race party – sorry I failed just a short and hectic day later. I was amused that our erstwhile editor entitled my piece ‘China Daze’, yesterday maybe but today definitely not.

The day dawned with 8-10 but forecast to strengthen – NICE. Our inexperienced but learning – and fast – crew headed out to the racecourse and some good racing instead of chasing the committee boat around looking for wind. We decided to stay out of the trouble that was the scrum at the committee boat going instead for clear air and speed at the sacrifice of the few metres we would gain by mixing it.

We started mid-line with another boat just bow forward and to leeward – great start. Imagine our surprise then, when over the VHF our number was one of those OCS – surprise as our bow-person, yes it was a girl, couldn’t see the committee boat for all the sails crowded round it and I (from the helm) could see the pin clearly behind the boat to leeward. However rules is rules!

50 metres to leeward we were still being called OCS so we radio’d the committee boat informing them of a protest and started the race with the next class – fully 5 minutes behind the fleet. To say I was ‘boggled’ is an understatement. We kept our heads up however and eventually finished 24 of 30 which considering the start we gave the rest we were happy.

Race two was pretty uneventful and pretty uninspiring with a 23/30. In race 3 of the day the breeze was up with one of my crew noting one or two boats with number 3 up instead of the number 1. Nah – hell or bust said I – boy it was going to be hard work.

Harder than we thought as we approached the start line in the vanguard position only to see two bargers charging in with no rights at all. With a boat 1 beam to leeward and an inner distance mark maybe half a boat to windward we rightly thought we had nailed the start.

With crew legs dangling over the side and 3.5 tonnes of Beneteau rapidly approaching it was not the most comfortable place to be in, to leeward was a yacht sponsored by Yachtfinders it was rock and a hard place time.

Thankfully the Yachtfinders guys spotted out predicament and allowed us to slip down otherwise there was a real possibility of the sound of splintering fibreglass filling the air. Up went the flag again – twice in one day, a precedent for myself, sure I have been to the room before but a repeat visit on the same day was a bit much.

As soon as we could we flicked over onto port in the growing breeze, now touching 10-12 knots and tried to get out of the way. Hard work as the breeze grew and the white horses started to appear and I had a crew of newbies on board.

Newbies who, although they were not a finely tuned racing machine and needed, at times, lots of shouting at – or at least got lots of shouting whether they needed it or not – performed at a level that surprised even themselves, let alone me. Sure there were mistakes but each manoeuvre was successfully completed, perhaps not at the speed I wanted but for all the shouting their heads never went down and for that I was proud of them.

We finished on the water 24(OCS); 23 (best forget that one) and a 14 in the strong breeze = good on the lads for not giving up and letting their heads go down. So it was that on arriving at the dock protest forms had to be obtained and completed, not for one room appearance but for two.

For what I expected the visits couldn’t be simpler. In P1, a race committee representative agreed there was a an error. Negotiations for redress were then entered into. When I explained the error meant we had to start with the next class the jury quickly offered average points which we were happy to accept as I felt that justice would be best served in this manner.

The second visit to the room was a simple case of barging and the jury had been in a motor boat just 50m away to that one two went our way with very little fuss. I wonder what tomorrow will bring – I don’t entirely know but the forecast does say a hell of a lot of wind – goody! Photos by Carlo Borlenghi.

coming

Mini Minis

Racing in the 2009 2.4mR World Championships begins Monday in the Caloosahatchee River at Fort Myers, Florida. Forty-five competitors will take part in the event, hosted by the Edison Sailing Center. The World Championship comes on the heels of last week's 2009 2.4mR National Championships in the same location, providing competitors a "tune-up" for the Worlds.

In the three day National competition, after eight races, only a four-point spread separated the top three finishers: Terry Schmitter of the Netherlands in first place, Hans Aukland of Sweden in second and Peter Norlin of Sweden in third. This week's 2009 2.4mR World Championship is scheduled for five days of racing, ending Friday.

Results, photos, videos and blog are here.

big pimpin'

Chillin'

From our friends at Open Sailing...

For many of us winter is just around the corner and the 2009 sailing season will soon become a distant memory. Of course for others the season never ends. Here in Southern California we are lucky enough to be able to sail year around. However, we’re not selfish and we want to share some of that season with you. Open Sailing is offering a special Winter Delivery Program. All you have to do is place an order for your new Open 5.70 before the end of 2009 and you’ll get the following:

• Save $1000 – a new Open 5.70 with trailer and sails for $29,990.
• Free storage for your new boat for January, February & March in sunny sailable Southern California.
• Unlimited access to your boat – you can spend as much time in SoCal as you’d like.
• Free entry into the Champagne Series Regatta, the SCYA Midwinters Regatta and the SCCYC Les Storrs Regatta.
• A free day of coaching on the water with a member of the Open Sailing Team to get you up to speed on your new Open 5.70.

Check out these great deals and more.

m24 worlds

Fantastillasara

It's Saturday morning of the 2009 Melges 24 Worlds, the last day of this six-day regatta, and all I can think is; "Today might be the day." Today might be the one day of the regatta that gives us conditions worthy of a World Championship. But then again, I said that about Tuesday. And Wednesday. I mean, what the hell is going on out here? I'm going to have to dig out my Captain Planet ring from the 90's and call up the power Wind to try to do some good over here on the Chesapeake. I wonder where my boy Jose is with the Heart ring, because we could use some of that, too. 

You know things are slow when one of the highlights of your week is going for a yacht in no breeze. Carlo Vroon and his crew on the Netherlands boat Gelikt let me step on board after the racing on Thursday, and we drifted around playing games and having a good time. I never knew you could play Tag on a 24 foot boat, but it's pretty much the greatest idea ever, now that I've done it. I don't think I stopped laughing the entire time I was on board, which was good for me considering we've had so much going on this week and I've definitely been a little lost in the sauce. At least November starts tomorrow, which means that MY BIRTHDAY is coming soon, and if anyone was wondering, I would like a Melges 24, a pair of Kaenon UPD's from Point Loma Outfitting, a tiki hut on a no-name island somewhere, a date with Petey Crawford, a Velocitek Speedpuck, world peace, a bullmastiff named Kuma, and a nap. I don't think I've ever slept as little in a week as I have as part of OTWA.  Oh, and I like Heather Evans' cakes, too. 

Back to talking about the weather, despite plenty of missteps (including mistakenly firing off a four-shot salvo from the starting cannon 4 minutes after the starting gun yesterday), the RC have somehow managed to get nine races off in this sorry excuse for breeze. Whether they should have gotten all nine off is for smarter people than me to decide.   But we'll need three races today if the full 12-race schedule is to be filled, and hopefully they'll go for quality, not quantity, and we can get back here in time to get our our Halloween costumes on. You guys might want to stay tuned today for mine...

Speaking of Halloween, HAVE YOU GUYS HEARD ABOUT OUR PARTY TONIGHT?!?!?! We're having it here in Annapolis at a hot new place downtown called Level. It starts at 10PM, ends whenever they throw us out (2PM?) and the address is on West Street...Number 69.  Not kidding. We have great prizes to give away for the best costumes, including stickers, shirts, and a Velocitek - but only for those wearing costumes - so definitely be creative about it. I want to laugh so hard tonight that my Sailing Anarchy exclusive cocktail comes out of my nose. Did we mention FREE BEER?

On the water, this one is not quite over, but it's going to be a long road for Rufo Bressani or Gabi Zandona to overcome Chris Larson's 15-point lead.  Larson's got a 12 for a throwout,  so if there was only one race today he wouldn't even need to go out there.  But there will definitely be more than that, and as we've seen anything can happen here, so it's going to be a blast to watch.  There's plenty of drama too, with Nicola Celon filing a questionable protest against Uka Uka that was proven a total joke on a video replay, a Blu Moon team that is mathematically gone but threw two bullets up yesterday and made it look easy, and a Quantum Racing team that is firing on all cylinders finally. 

Despite our great friend and production dude extraordinaire Aaron Siegler having to leave early to attend his grandfather's funeral we WILL be live out there on an Eastport 32, and it's definitely going to be something to watch.  So check it out live, and go to the OTW forum to see all the highlights from the last five days and all the pics and recorded video today.

Anyway, I'm not going to recap yesterday - just check out the Day 5 thread or watch both races starting here (press 'next clip' to skip ahead). And remember that once again, we've outdone ourselves with the OTW Anarchy Cocktail Hour, which saw 5 of the hottest sailor chicks around sitting at the aforementioned new bar/restaurant throwing back drinks and answering questions from the hottest sailing photographer around, Meredith Block.  Check it out here. 

We love you, Aaron.

-KB

race report

China Daze

It’s been a long time since I have done so much motoring in 2 days on a racing boat.

Fist off, yesterday morning we motored form Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club base at Causeway Bay to the start line for the China Cup off Steep Island to the east of the Hong Kong SAR, that was 1 and a half hours. 30 Beneteau 40.7s and assisted IRC boats, the largest of which was Jelik 3, a sister of Pyewacket and assorted HK Handicap boats.

The line was set fair by the PRO but the Beneteaus were a little eager, in fact too many of  them for the race officer to catch were a little eager and the two additional hoots  meant we had to go to the back of the queue to try again.

At the second attempt we were off for what was to turn out to be a long beat in about 8-10 knots of breeze and a 2m swell.

It was going to be a long way to Dawa Wan (Bay) and the finish line off Longcheer Yacht Club in Shenzhen. Longer than we would know as the wind started to shut down as we approached the turn into the bay.

Fortunately the race officer, Russ had taken a race around the corner and having found just 2 knots decided to shorten off the coast. The last 500m though was very frustrating with boat on almost identical tracks on different tacks.

What looked like being a bottom third finish was nicely elevated to exactly mid fleet with a 16/30 by being on the right side and in the last 200m we passed 5 boats.

Then on with the iron topsail for another hour plus to the marina.

There, because we had come from Hong Kong to PR China we had to pass through immigration which had been set up especially for the event, a unique experience as the officials checked our passports with many of us sucking on a bottle of the free beer supplied by one of the sponsors. Can you imagine getting away with that at Kennedy or LAX – and they say China has npo freedoms – Ha!

After a good night sleep it was back on the shuttle bus to the marina and some round the cans racing – Oh no it wasn’t.

The wind gods refused to play ball at all and after about an hour in the one spot the committee boat guys thought they saw the wind in a different part of the pay – off they charged.

In their wake were almost 50 racing yachts giving chase. They only caught up when the committee boat stopped where they thought there might be enough wind for a start but rather suspiciously they didn’t drop their anchor.

Many, many more minutes putt-putting around and off went the committee boat again, it was starting to look like a guided tour round Dawa Bay. Again nothing but there was breeze a bit further north so off went the committee boat again and this time when it stopped the anchor chain rattled down into the water and the two mark boats headed off hopefully, one to windward an the other to lay the pin.

But it was not to be. Russ Parker the PRO and his team had tried valiantly for almost 4 hours to find a big enough patch of stable breeze for us yachties to go and play and though no fault of his there was really nothing to find.

So we motored back to the marina – at least we had plenty energy left for the beach party put on by the organisers, complete with hi tech sound and light show and some half decent DJ’s.

Only damage this day was one of the Beijing Sailing Team went over the ankle and was stretchered off the pontoons although I can happily report seeing him at the beach party later without the aid for a stick – anything for the attention of some pretty girls.

Tough to drag the team away early but we have a long day with 3 scheduled races tomorrow to make up for today.

Shanghai Sailor

ac breaking

No Rudder

BMWO won another legal round, this time getting a favorable ruling on the issue of whether their rudder needs to be included when measuring load waterline. Justice Shirley Kornreich of the New York State Supreme Court ruled that it did not.

The GGYC's Russell Coutts' statement: Our position that rudders should not be included in the Load Water-Line has been supported by the New York Supreme Court. We welcome this decision. We also totally support the Court’s initiative to resolve the remaining issues with input from experts who are previous America’s Cup jurors and able to bring their experience to bear on sailing and technical matters. Justice Kornreich has asked Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) and the defender, Société Nautique de Geneve (SNG), to nominate three persons to attend a hearing of the New York Supreme Court next Wednesday, November 4.

Each side will nominate one former juror who, in turn, will select the third. Their combined testimony will help determine:

• the use of moveable water ballast in the measurement of LWL
• whether it is safe to race off Valencia, Spain, in February 2010 (the date of the 33rd Match) • whether racing and other rules can be changed after the Notice of Race is issued
• the timing of the International Jury being empanelled for an America’s Cup Match
• and whether the agreement between the International Sailing Federation and SNG leaves this Jury unencumbered to be independent and objective

These issues go right to the heart of what we have advocated all along: fair rules and fair play. This is a significant step towards getting the America’s Cup back on track. Click here for the decision. Also, jump in the thread.

clean report

Bottom's Up

I don't know why I still dive boats in the morning. I don't need to, I don't want to, but for some reason, I do. The worst part of it is that the four boats I'm diving here are at the far ends of the docking area, so I have to swim about a quarter mile total in nasty-ass Annapolis Harbor sludge. But polluted as it is, it feels better than the mixture of Team Barbarian supplied Jager bombs and stale cigarette smoke that I woke up with this morning. Plus, I get to clean my less-funded friends' boats for free and it's hardly an extra 4 minutes; maybe they'll go faster today.

Anyway, I'm not going to recap yesterday - just check out the thread or watch the full race here (press 'next clip' to skip ahead), or watch Petey's vid above. But you definitely should check out the best live OTWA 'Cocktail Hour' we've ever done - yesterday's 40-minute show with tacticians (and SA junkies) Jonathan McKee, Bora Gulari, Dave Sliom, Diderich Bulter, Mark Ivey, Morgan Reeser, and Steve Hunt. Liz and the folks at EYC let us set up inside the big tent on huge leather couches holding our beers, and it was a great place to relax and talk about racing.

Which was far better than actually doing it, at least for most of the fleet yesterday, with an abortion of a race 7 in which 24 boats were called OCS, a bunch were not called OCS but were, and 5 boats never came back, unable to hear their numbers in the tumult of the broadcast of so many numbers. Those OCS boats include some of the real contenders here, and it's a shame to see their World Title hopes dashed because a RC feels a need to bang off a race. But that's Annapolis; if you wait for anything approaching fair sailing conditions, you might just never sail.

Our big announcements are more fun than much of the racing we've seen so far; the first is our live broadcast of tonight's OTW Anarchy Cocktail Hour, which will feature the top Melges 24 sailor chicks on camera with questions asked by Mer. We all know you need to be damned good to succeed on a top boat in this fleet, but why is it that these damned good M24 sailor chicks tend to be so beautiful, fun, and witty, too? We'll have Sarah Curran (WTF), Genny Tulloch and Jane Delashmutt (Simplicity), Meredith Allen (Uka Uka), Natalie Jade Ray (Millewa Miluna), and of course Amy Ironmonger, from Quantum Racing. We'll start at 6 PM, so be sure to tune in, and remember that the Justin.TV chat screen is where you can ask any questions you want of our lovely and accomplished panel.

Our second announcement is part of our first; we're doing the Cocktail Hour from a very cool tapas style bar/restaurant in downtown Annapolis that just opened last night, and the reason we're hosting it there is to introduce people to the place we're hosting the Sailing Anarchy Ultimate Halloween Party after the awards party in Eastport. We know there are five regattas going on in Annapolis this weekend, and we figured it would be nice to buy a keg and some drinks for all the Anarchists in the area from 10 PM to whenever. There'll be a special entrance to the second floor of the restaurant, which we've rented out for the night. We'll have signature drink specials (Anarchy Punch?) as well as a great DJ spinning on two turntables for all the girls to get their groove on. We don't go anywhere without free shit to give out, but you'll have to come in costume to be eligible for a Velocitek, Point Loma Outfitting/Patagonia, or RBS Batten prizes. They're SWEET.

The place is so new it doesn't even have a website, but it's at 69 (that's right) West Street, walking distance from City Dock.

Alright, off to the office.

Slim Shady

We jump on projects like this and here's what it is...

4 years ago the sailing machine ”Lunne” was presented at the Gothenburg Boat Show. Now it is time for the sophisticated follow-up ”Tejst”.

Concept
Tejst (Black Guillemot) was designed with multi-purpose use in mind. The clients’ wishes were for a fast, easily operated, habitable boat that also could be raced. Further more this boat should be single-handed, trail able and with a minimum of maintenance. The design should appeal to younger as well as older sailors. To full fill these demands the solution became to design the boat according to the newly revised D-Canoe rule. The sailing canoes have always been innovative and fast boats. In Sweden about 170 boats are built to the D-rule and about 300 to the E-rule. However this is the first time for a series production of a D-canoe.

Result
During 2008 four boats were built. The tests prove that the boats could, with margin, fulfil the customers’ expectations. This is how Gustav von Heine, 70, expressed himself after the first seasons trails “During the summer I was out sailing about 40 times. This is not about nostalgia…. Tejst is a wonderfully boat, which both the experienced racing sailor and the “just for fun” sailor can enjoy”.

Performance
The hull is slender and easily driven, the chine facilitate planning. The rig with carbon fibre spars is efficient and powerful. 13 sqm sail area for a displacement of just 360 kilos is fair. To achieve a good righting moment there are 180 kilos of ballast, 150 kilos internal and 30 kilos in the centreboard. Add to this the effect of the hiking boards and you get a really stiff boat. Tesjt has shown itself to be not just stiff it is also really fast, manoeuvrable and well balanced.

Comfort
You can stand in the cockpit when hoisting the mainsail. There is a furling jib with the mechanism below deck. The jib is self-tacking thanks to the deck-sweeping “Hoyt boom”. The cockpit is spacious and could easily accommodate two persons. All trim lines are within easy reach. The centreboard is retractable and the rudder is collapsible which gives a depth of just 16 cm. Besides you can reach places where no one else dare to go, the centrebord function makes the boat easy to get on to a trailer.

Company
Both Lunne and Tejst are designed and built by Sörvik Båt & Trä in Gothenburg/Sweden. Sörvik Båt & Trä have a long experience of High-tech building as well as traditional building methods. We are now looking for dealers. Contact and more info: Pelle Fälth Tel. +46 31 760 29 16, pelle@lunne.se, www.lunne.se

viddy

Tracks

Kiwi wunderkids Peter Burling and Blair Tuke are about to head over to Australia to do some training with the current 49er World Champions Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen. 

To rest up before big trip they decided to take a break from their normal training and race their 49er 130 miles along the coast of New Zealand against the 100ft supermaxi Alfa Romeo in the HSBC Coastal Classic.  Their Velocitek SpeedPuck captured this track for the epic nine and a half hour kite ride from Auckland to Russell.  See if you can spot the pitchpoles... Peter says there are four."

race report

Devo

The finishing positions in the Devoti-One International Regatta on Lake Garda remained uncertain until the competitors had drifted across the line of the final race. With the grand finale race counting for triple points, Andrea Gianmarini’s speed in the dying breeze off the Torbole shore proved decisive, as his race victory converted to overall victory in the regatta.

It was a similar story for Alberto Ferrari who seized the advantage when two of the series leaders fell into a windless hole just metres from the finish. Ferrari screeched - or rather ghosted - past local Olympic Star sailor Silvio Santoni and British visitor Andy Rice who had gone into the final race level-pegging for the lead. In the end Santoni and Rice were relegated to third and fourth overall.

The regatta was a first test for the weight equalisation of the D-1 boat, with Gianmarini and Ferrari both weighing in at just under 80kg while Santoni and Rice were 94kg and 88kg respectively. The gennaker requires sailors to hike out downwind in any more than 6 knots of breeze, meaning the lightweights don’t generate much of a speed advantage while upwind the wider wings keep them in the hunt alongside the heavyweights. British competitor Adrian Brunton was the heaviest competitor at 102kg, and he won one of the lightest races of the weekend, although he too fell victim to the vagaries of the final run in the all-important triple points race.

With 20 sailors having competed in Torbole this past weekend, class founder and builder Luca Devoti anticipates fleets of 40 to 50 boats for the five-regatta Tour of Italy series being planned for 2010. “Sailors are responding well to the boat and to the format. Fewer races means you don’t have to be Superman to win in the D-1 class, and I’m really pleased by the spirit of fun that people have shown here in Torbole. This winter we will be hard at work building and selling more boats throughout Europe, and we are just about to ship our first boats to the USA, so the D-1 looks set for worldwide popularity.”

For more information about anything to do with the Devoti-One, contact info@devoti-one.com

community

How It's Made

When we see things like this, it makes us know what good things can be done when people put their energies together. This is the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center and they are expanding their facility and growing their community sailing outreach programs. The growth of our sport can only really happen if endeavors like this happen. Bill Mosher, Sales & Marketing Director at Forespar is a mover of this particular effort, and applaud all involved. At SA, we are working with some industry leaders to see how we can help grow the sport in some new and inventive ways. As always, stay tuned...

the biz

How It's Made

It is no surprise to long-time readers that for a number of reasons, we are not big fans of North Sails, and they are not exactly fans of ours. However there is a TV show that might be a fairly interesting look at their 3DL making facility. "How It's Made" will feature a look inside the North Sails 3DL manufacturing facility in Minden, Nevada, and will air October 30, at 9 PM Eastern Time.

local knowledge

The Cult

We are so late with this, but wanted to get it up as not only is the Laser 28 a cool little boat, it is almost cultish in terms of its' owner's enthusiasm. We dig it.

There's been some really good racing the last couple weeks in the Laser 28 Class. The Canadian Championships were held in Magog on September 18-19 with 21 boats and the North American Championships were held in Montreal on September 26-27 with 14 boats.

Colibri successfully defended both titles again this year. Have a look at the results page to see all the scoring. Photos - Laser 28 2009 Canadian Championship. Thanks to Uncapped Superhero for the love.

SDOTW

From anarchist John: "I snapped this photo shortly after finishing the log Distance Pursuit Race of the Great Pumpkin Regatta put on by Richmond Yacht Club. As this crew shows, we were in perfect sun tanning conditions for the trip home."

You sort of know this was inevitable, right? While it may or may not become a regular feature, here is, ahem, this week's Sailor Dude Of The Week. And of course, now let's have some of you chicks send in your submissions for SDOTW. This should be fun!

Up Cup

I read with interest about One Design racing and the struggle to keep it alive. Here in China, starting this coming Friday the China Cup has a significant One Design happening. 30 Beneteau 40.7 will take to the startline off Hong Kong’s Steep Island for the passage race to Longcheer Yacht Club, Shenzhen. When the fleet gets there they will enjoy 2 days of windward – leeward racing and a round the island race.

Race management will be under the experienced eye of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club race officer’s team led by Russ Parker. The fleet is a combination of international teams including Team GBR who were the 2006 British Champions in the class and a South African team peppered with world champions and other sailors of note and local teams, some making a return to the event or owning their own 40.7 and some literally thrown together with less than 10 days to go to the event.

While the Beneteau 40.7 may be considered an aging design with even the building of new boats discontinued the prospect of thirty identical 40 footers with crews of such mixed ability on a start line does get the juices flowing. Not a continuous One Design series but another small piece in the growing jigsaw that is the Chinese Sailing Scene. Little by little the regattas get a little less rare and keenness to compete grows.

For example in China Cup itself last year a number of the 40.7 were made available to local teams for free as they hadn’t been taken up. With this in mind some teams held off this year hoping for a similar offer only to find all boats had been successfully chartered. - Shanghai Sailor

The Dark Side

Seems perfect, given Halloween is right around the corner...
Every year in our club we hold a season-ending regatta. There's a prize for the first boat to arrive, but also another for the best mockery. For the fourth consecutive year, this prize was won by the crew Florean-Ciapessoni. This year they assembled this boat from an old 420 hull and other spare parts, then they painted it black.... and they called it "The Dark Side." - Anarchist Carlo.

J/120 Sinks - Update

We've heard from two sources that the J/120 J/World, sailing in the Baja Ha skippered by our friend Wayne Zittel has sunk today somewhere off of Ensenada. All on board are thought to have escaped to a liferaft but we don't know anything else. Anybody?

6:41 AM -

Hey All -

Thanks for all the good thoughts. Yes, the boat has sunk but everyone is safe and sound.

The boat was heading south in the Baja-Ha-Ha with two instructors (Eugenie and Barry) and three students on our annual cruise south to our Puerto Vallarta location. They put into Ensenada briefly for some minor repairs (a loose wire in the wiring harness seems to have been the culprit), then headed back out Tuesday morning. I got an email from them in the evening reporting that all was fine and they were making good time. They made the scheduled roll call in the AM.

Here is what I know from the brief conversations I have had with the crew: about 10am, they came across a pod of whales. Their behavior was described as 'erratic.' One or more of the whales struck the boat repeatedly, and the boat began taking on water at a rapid pace. It sounds like, not surprisingly, most of the damage was around the rudder. They made an attempt to bail the boat and get a distress call out on SSB, but it was clear that the boat was a loss. They activated the EPIRB, boarded the liferaft, and the boat was reportedly gone within 7 minutes of the strike. As I understand it, the boat did not capsize in any way.

I was in contact with the the USCG from the time the EPIRB went off. They did an absolutely stellar job. Within four hours, they reported that they had safely lifted all five sailors into the helicopter and were returning to San Diego. Eugenie has a bruised hand, but there were no other injuries. I personally am in shock... this is the stuff you read about but you think will never really happen. You can make all the preparations in the world, load boat with experienced sailors, and still have unexpected consequences. A bit humbling, to be sure. We all need to remember that when we go sailing, we really go to sea in every sense.

I know we will get a good debrief from the crew, and we'll be sure to post more info and some 'lessons learned,' but I am tremendously relieved that everyone is safe. All of us here at J World are in deep gratitude to the folks of the USCG. Man, they run a great operation. Here's the video of the rescue.

Anyway, that's the latest report from here... we can put to rest the questions of keels and structural failure and all that... the boat was a great boat. She was hull #9, the ex-Gannett, ex-Crosswave, now known simply as "J World." We sailed her some 10,000+ open ocean miles per year, and raced her in San Francisco and Mexico, not to mention subjecting her to all the abuses that students can dish out, and she took it in stride.

Anyway, thanks again to all of you out there for the support...

All the best,

Wayne Zittel
J World Performance Sailing School
San Francisco Bay | Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Weary At The Worlds, II

After 1 hour of sleep, 9 hours on the water, and 5 hours on interviews and general producer-type duties, I'm spent, and just have almost nothing left for this front page piece - see Petey's Day 3 Highlight Reel for more on this - it'll make you laugh..

Suffice to say that our old pals on Joe Fly have moved into the lead by one point over local Chris Larson with his all-Canadian crew, but the fleet is piled up on points and the slightest misstep can change everything.

Fortunately, Katie is young and can carry both our weight.  Please be sure to check out the live feed starting at 1030 EST, and today is the beginning of the Velocitek contest, so use the Day 4 thread to register your pick of the top 3 spots for the Worlds - winner will get a brand new Velocitek Speedpuck (you can see pics of this great product in the Day 3 thread)

Thanks again to Latis Yachting Solutions, Velocitek,  Point Loma Outfitting, Ullman Sails Newport Beach, Saving Sailing, RBS Battens, Ocean Sailing Academy, Eastport Yachts, Charleston Harbor Access, and Justin.TV for making this coverage possible.

Katie Report

Well it was a beautiful day for us out here in Annapolis today, but it's too bad I can't say the same on behalf of the competitors in the Melges 24 fleet. It might have been sunny and relatively warm ... but the wind was where, exactly?

To the Northwest, apparently. After sitting out on the course for an hour plus, RC finally dropped the AP flag, and we moved into sequence to start our third day at the Melges 24 Worlds. 

Here are the things we did while waiting for the races to kick off: Fix stuff. Program stuff. Untangle stuff. Set up stuff. Plan stuff. Talk about stuff. Drink stuff. Take pictures of stuff. Talk to other boats about stuff. Talk on the phone about stuff. Joke about stuff. Film stuff. Look for stuff. Write stuff. Drink more stuff. And I challenged Petey to a dance-off but he didn't accept. I would have won, though. 

Anyways, the racing finally got off, and despite the wind sucking at life, the RC was able to get two races in for the day. Chiefly, I really need to talk about something called fleet inversion. In day 3, we saw some of the weirdest stuff. There were a lot of positions gained and lost on every leg, with teams starting aggressively and not quite staying that way, and the other way around. Teams like Quantum were able to progressively make their way up in the standings on each leg, gradually moving from the 20's to an 8th place finish in the 1st race of the day, and then from mid-fleet to 13th to 7th in the last race. Talk about a climb. 

There were plenty of other position reversals, and we got all of it on video for you to watch. We put everything up in short clips so it is easy to load and watch when you have a couple of free minutes at the links Clean posted above. 

With over a thousand people watching the live feed simulataneously at times and over ten thousand hits on the Day 3 thread, we were very engouraged to keep up the tough work of providing live video, recorded video, commentary and photos that people were beating us up about earlier in the week.  So thanks for that, and personally, I'm still learning how to do this - By the moon and the stars, for better or worse ... oh wait, that was something completely different .... 

Much Love
Katie

Photo by Meredith Block.

race report

Geraldton Classic

From Paul Eldrid at Evolution Sails.

The 220 Nautical Mile Fremantle to Geraldton race was held in challenging conditions with winds gusting to 35 knots from the south and a confused sea. Frank Saraceni’s new Bakewell-White 11m Alfresco bolted after rounding Rottnest Island and setting a course North to Geraldton. Much smaller than her larger rivals, Alfresco pushed hard all afternoon and night to emerge at the front of the pack at day break.

Dave Walling and Vern Williamson’s Farr 40 IRC The Next Factor was in hot pursuit, with Trevor Taylor’s Martin 49 Optimus Prime holding a long way offshore, Tony Mitchell’s Farr 47 Sled staying inshore and Phil Child’s Farr 49 Knee Deep close behind in the middle, with Davidson 50 Finistere in proximity. With all boats on the red line and doing speeds in the 20’s, all were inside the record time until the breeze backed off approaching sunrise.

As the breeze shut down, the smaller boats behind fell from contention and the race was well and truly on for Line Honours and corrected time. In one of the biggest surprises and closest finishes in history, the little 36’ Alfresco raced down the channel in Geraldton Harbour leading overall, with The Next Factor only minutes behind and certain to take IRC Honours, followed by Sled. Alfresco, The Next Factor and Sled all had new sails by Evolution for the race.

Representing Evolution at the race were Paul Eldrid. Rees Howell , Ben Gardiner, Emily Pettersson (WA) and Rodney Keenan & Timn Slatter (NZ). Alfresco . Line HonoursWinner. Bernie Kaaks Image The Next Factor . IRC& YAHWinner.

Bernie Kaaks Image For Frank Saraceni it was vindication for his new little boat and his decision to build a state of the art, new generation boat that would meet the depth restrictions in his home waters of the Swan River and Fremantle, instead of building a larger but reduced draft boat. For Dave Walling and Vern Williamson’s The Next Factor is was another important win on their quest to win back to back Western Australian Offshore Championships and the coveted Siska Trophy. TonyMitchell was estatic with his new Sled and to lead his more seasoned, bigger rivals home, although later withdrawing due to an unfortunate mark rounding issue after 200miles of racingg inside Geraldton Harbour. The return race starts this Friday at 0930, and in what looks to be a much more sobering return race, teams can expect stiff S – SW winds up to 30 knots and cold nights. The race can be followed here.

ac

Best Option?

From Coutts & GGYC...

Valencia is the best option to get the America’s Cup back on track as soon as possible. This is what sailing fans from around the world are waiting for. Both BMW ORACLE Racing and Alinghi still have bases in the Port America’s Cup. The infrastructure created to the specification of the Swiss defender is in place, available and ready to recreate the atmosphere of the previous America’s Cup in 2007.

Last week Cristobal Grau, Director of Sport for Valencia City, said it would only take a few weeks to have Valencia back in action. Today the Mayor of Valencia, Rita Barbera, said her city would welcome the Cup back with open arms. In her ruling at the New York Supreme Court on Tuesday, Justice Shirley Kornreich confirmed the primacy of the governing Deed of Gift document for the America’s Cup. This means that Société Nautique de Geneve (SNG) must choose a Deed-compliant location. Although Valencia is in the Northern Hemisphere, it is possible to hold the 33rd Match there in February because both SNG and Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) had agreed to it by mutual consent. Read on.

on board

DFL

From our mates on the Class 40 Keysource in the Solidaire Chocolat...

Well, we're in week 2 now, 7 retirements from the 24 starters and we find ourselves DFL. Our decision to come South certainly has yet to pay, the weather we'd seen hasn't materialised and we're haemoraghing miles like it's going out of fashion. Still, we're in 17th out of 24 and we can't finish any lower than that - we have to ignore our position in the fleet and really put the hammer down to pick up some places. The other two boats who've headed south - Axa Atout and Adriatech - are a couple of hundred miles in front and they're our targets.

Currently stuck in (another) hole and beating upwind in what I would guess is about 4 knots of pressure. However the suns just rising over North Africa and the sky is stunning. Racing aside we've already had a great experience, from lots of dolphins to flying fish, sea turtles and the most amazing dawns/dusks and night skies (I counted 6 shooting stars two nights ago) Putting everything we can into getting past the Canaries and into some decent easterly flow which should hopefully carry us at pace towards the next mark of the course - the gate at St Barts. I hesitate to say trades as with all the lows crossing the North Atlantic it's not exactly trade wind conditions and we're having to head very south to get into them.

On board the only problem had been the electronics, we've sailed most of the race with no weather data and only one B&G display working - however the only reliable info is the boat speed and the course/speed over ground (though I should give depth the benefit of the doubt!) - our AIS is faulty, our tricolour broken, our active echo and satellite comms upsetting each other as well. These are not excuses for our performance to date, all our running rigging and sails are ok and our back-up Raymarine pilot working fantastically (only works on heading though). I think when we get to Mexico we're going to have to work out why all the electrical issues - whether the kit is crap or whether the guys installing it all are useless.....

Have been trying not to think too much about the boys up North (we're 850 miles behind the leader and I reckon that will rise to 1,000 before we start getting some decent miles to the mark) though hats off to them. They've been sailing in appalling conditions day after day and getting their boats through it in one piece whilst still going fast, particular big ups to the amateurs racing up there, the lads on Orbis and the guys on Palanad and Plan des Enfants. There aren't many of us all amateur crews racing, most of the boats have at least one pro on board and it's great to see them slogging it out with some of the true legends of short handed offshore racing. Today's mission is to make some decent progress towards the Canaries - they're just over 100 miles away now - and grab some miles on the boys in front. Thanks to everyone for all of the support - more here.