Although the 1903 defender of the America’s Cup, Reliance, was deemed a “racing freak”—the boat pushed design rules to their limit and couldn’t be beaten, at least in very specific conditions—designer Nat Herreshoff was nonetheless onto something. A century later, purpose-built boats have become a staple in the world of speed records, whether they be race records, course records or outright records. Among these records are a few that eclipse all others in terms of prestige: the Outright, Nautical Mile, 24-Hour, Transatlantic and Circumnavigation Records. Each of these records is currently held by a multihull, some more unusual than others, but all representing the absolute cutting edge of design development. Here’s a brief history of the ultra-fast and how we got here.

Outright (500m) Record

Current record holder: Vestas Sailrocket 2 with an average speed of 65.5 knots

The Outright Record is a 500-meter speed test that is notable for the cutting-edge (and sometimes strange) designs that have won it over the years. Some of the more recent designs have even faced criticism about whether they’re technically sailing at all. However, the World Sailing Speed Record Council, which monitors many of the major records, considers a craft eligible if it fits broad criteria, like using exclusively wind and water to influence speed, having at least one person onboard and sailing on liquid water not ice…

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You can capture the beauty of Baja with a fleet of new friends. © 2022 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Richard

There’s no better day than today to sign up for Baja Ha-Ha XXVIII, the 750-mile cruisers’ rally between San Diego and Cabo San Lucas that starts on October 31. Over 10,000 sailors have done the Ha-Ha. If you’re not one of them, today is the day you might want to make that commitment to adventure and become one of them.

What’s in it for you? Sailing that gets better and warmer by the day. Two weeks of life immersed in nature that feels like two months. Escape from humdrum reality. Numerous unusual social events. And friends, tons of new sailing friends. Here’s what the Grand Poobah has to say about the cruise south:

“It’s often cool and overcast for the first 300 miles. But once boats pass Isla Cedros, the climatic border between northern and southern Baja, the skies tend to clear and it’s time for shorts and T-shirts.

“Usually it’s a close reach to the Coronado Islands to start the Ha-Ha, after which it’s possible to carry spinnakers. And who would want to sail upwind anyway? Sometimes the wind goes light, so it’s nice that the Ha-Ha is a rally and boats have the option of motoring as much as they want.

“After two or three days of sailing, the calm waters of Turtle Bay, with room for 1,000 anchored boats, are a welcome refuge. The locals, about 1,500 of them, are always eager for the arrival of the Ha-Ha fleet, as it’s sort of like their New Year’s Eve. Garbage, ice, fuel, rides to the beach … the locals will take care of you.”

Sign up today at www.baja-haha.com, where you’ll also find the Notice of the Rally.

The post 2022 Baja Ha-Ha Sign-Ups Start at Noon Today! appeared first on Latitude38.

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Sparcraft: Specializing in the design, engineering and manufacture of masts, booms and rigging systems of the highest quality for over 50 years.

The post Sparcraft America For Quality Replacement Masts and Spars appeared first on Latitude38.

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Even the dome of light glowing above the city behind us had disappeared as if swallowed in a gulp by Noah’s whale. The moon was absent. Not a star twinkled overhead. The night was so dark we could have been floating in a pot of black ink. The only artificial lights to be seen were those of the fore and aft running lights and the barely illuminated compass on the cabintrunk. Bioluminescent microorganisms stirred by our passing, shone faintly in our wake. Waves hissed as they swept past underneath us, lifting our stout, New England-made 30ft cutter, Kluane, (an Athabaska name meaning “big fish”) to heights impossible to judge in the dark. The troughs we slid down into seemed bottomless.

Less than two hours had passed since we’d weighed anchor a little after 0300 in South Florida’s Palm Beach inlet. Already we were in the Gulf Stream. This was the first ocean crossing for my wife and me, and our anxiety level was high. All was black with no demarcation between sky and water. Ahead was only darkness.

We are creatures of the light. Dark frightens, disorients, distorts. Few comforting words are said about it. The dark and our inexperience magnified every worry. Our anxieties increased by orders of magnitude.

A halyard jammed. In the dark, it couldn’t be freed. We had no choice but to lash the mainsail to the mast still halfway up. A freighter charged down on us. We crossed its stern, rocking in its wake. A quarter-mile is too close, especially after dark. The Loran (soon to be replaced by GPS, thank goodness!) crashed. Below, trying to reprogram it, I became seasick to the point of incapacity. I ceded all authority to my wife. “Sit down in the corner, and don’t get sick in the cockpit,” was her command…

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I have taken a look at some of the Naval architects, the designers behind the current list of boats entered in the Global Solo Challenge. I appreciate that the final start list is yet to be completed and that some sailors are yet to decide on which boat to use, so I have concentrated on some of the more well-known and revered designers. This article is about Groupe Finot & Finot-Conq.

Groupe Finot & Finot-Conq
Jean Marie Finot is a Frenchman, who became passionate about design and architecture after seeing the French rebuilding efforts following the devastation suffered by his home region, the mountainous Vosges region, during World War II.

Indeed Finot reports that he was first interested in architecture and building houses rather than Naval Architecture, which he went on to think of as a hobby rather than a serious profession…

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Turkish and Indonesian authorities are reporting the remarkable rescue of a captain 66 hours after he went overboard from a large bulk carrier in the Java Sea. Other than sunburns and possibly some dehydration, the captain is in good health and preparations are underway to bring him home to Turkey.

The crew aboard the bulk carrier Quorn (178,000 dwt) reportedly discovered that the captain, Erhan Seçkal (age 40) was missing on May 2 and immediately began a search of the ship. They could not locate him in his cabin or in the common areas. Crew members told the rescue services that they believed the captain might have gone overboard as they could not locate him anywhere on the 958-foot vessel. They threw lift jackets into the sea and began a search in an area approximately 30 miles north of Bali.

Read on.

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As much as we love IOR, it is sometimes flat-out embarrassing how ridiculous some of the boats looked. Here is your Ridiculous Boat of the Week photo.

Do you have a shot of boat that looks particularly ridiculous? Send in a good one, and we’ll send you an SA polyester shirt if we publish it!

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The 52 Super Series is widely considered one of the top circuits in the world for monohulls, and in this era of rapid change, the TP52—or TransPacific 52—has managed to stay the series’ boat of choice for 10 years. Not only that, but as the class marks its 20th anniversary the boats it has produced remain as relevant today as the year they first came out.

The Super Series was born in 2012 when class sponsorship from Audi and the MedCup circuit ended, leaving owners in Europe without racing opportunities. Veteran U.S. sailor Doug DeVos, the Roemmers family and Niklas Zennström all conspired to keep the class alive, because for them, the boats were the perfect combination of technology, speed, power and reasonably sized crews—not to mention they’re great to sail. To this day, the 52 Super Series is primarily a regatta of boatowners. They’re the ones who sustain it, the ones for whom the two fundamental pillars of sailing fast and having fun remain the same as ever…

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Apparently, this is the result of hitting a log. Musta been a helluva log. Was Amber Heard in the vicinity?

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While on a passage from Casais, Portugal back to their base in Gosport (UK) the amazing Infiniti 52, Tulikettu hit an Unidentified Floating Object (UFO). This happened on April 18th with the EPIRB activated just after midnight on the 20th which suggests that initially it was hoped to limp the boat to safety.

Ten hours later the delivery crew of 4 was rescued by a tanker that had diverted to assist.

For the last 7 days a salvage tug supported by a spotter plane has searched the area to no avail so it must be assumed that the virtually brand new boat has been lost at sea.

A shame when any yacht is lost in this manner but this boat fitted with Hugh Welbourn’s revolutionary DSS foil had already shown so much promise in its short life…

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The sometimes acrimonious dispute in Australia over the eligibility of two-handed offshore racing yachts using autopilots has reached a significant turning point.

SA readers will remember that after a two-handed division was established for the 2020 Sydney-Hobart Race pressure from some influential skippers of conventionally crewed yachts saw the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia amend its Notice of Race to exclude the two-handers from the overall and existing divisional prizes…

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The fog of uncertainty around the fate of the supermaxi formerly known as Comanche is clearing – somewhat.

This much we know: the 100-footer has been chartered, with an option to buy, from “someone in Singapore” by Sydney businessman John ‘Herman’ Winning. (He is known by that nickname to differentiate from his father, also named John Winning, who is also a dedicated racing sailor.)

The fact that no one seems able, as yet, to confirm the identity of the Singaporean owner is a trifle mysterious. It certainly would appear to be a convenient arrangement in relation to the recent ban by World Sailing on any boat with Russian connections. But maybe that’s just a coincidence.

Phone camera snaps from the Caribbean indicate that the boat’s name has already been changed from Comanche to Andoo. Andoo? Well, Andoo is the name of the Down Under business founded and run by ‘Herman’ Winning. It advertises itself as “The home of feel-good living” and sells furniture, homewares and appliances. He also races an 18-foot skiff under that name…

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