A group of protesters seeking to highlight their concerns that Australia is not doing enough to combat climate change is disrupting the coal operations in and around the Port of Newcastle, the world’s largest coal exporting facility. Calling their organization Blockade Australia, they are entering their second week of ongoing random demonstrations and actions disrupting the train lines and now one of the loading operations in the port.

The Port of Newcastle located on the southeast coast of Australia and coal mining are among the largest industries in Australia, both fueling domestic industry and providing a significant source of export income to the country. The coal trade is estimated to contribute more than A$26 billion (US$19 billion) annually to the economy. The port currently handles 4,400 ship movements and 164 million tons of cargo annually. Read on.

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Not content with just changing the world of racing instrumentation with the Atlas 2, the team at Vakaros has set out to change the way you race.

It’s big news, and it’s called RaceSense. RaceSense builds on the powerful hardware in the Atlas 2 to create a virtual racecourse and share it wirelessly with other nearby sailors. It runs the start, enforces penalties, boundaries, gates, and scores the finish. All you have to do is race. You can say goodbye to general recalls and black flag starts thanks to centimeter-accurate fully automatic OCS calls at the start line.

Optional boundaries and penalties help keep boats close, and scoring is built right in, so you’ll know how you did the moment you cross the finish line. Seems it took the brand new state-of-the-art hardware to pull this off, and that is what the Atlas 2 brings to the table. From the state-of-the-art sensors, LEDs and sound, to the long-range wireless mesh networking, no other device in the world is capable of pulling this off…

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There are few restorations as nice as this sweet little ride.  Owned by Ballard Sails’ Alex Simanis, the boat is a custom “Pt Bonita 27” designed and built by a guy named Dave Sutter. He built the boat in the mid, late 80’s…

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A couple of weeks ago we received a letter from Dave Butler, son of legendary boat builder, Frank Butler. Today, November 15, is the first anniversary of Frank Butler’s passing, and Dave wrote to share some memories of his dad, the founder of Catalina Yachts.

“Over the past year my mom, sisters, brothers and myself have read so many articles written in your publications and online. Our family has appreciated all the great stories and would like to say thank you to all those people and everyone that supported dad.”

Dave and his mother and siblings got together to write down some of their memories of the West Coast boat-building icon. As you can imagine, a man like Frank would have amassed many achievements and therefore leave many tales for his children to share. We don’t have room for all of them, so here are some highlights from what the family wrote.

Frank Butler grew up in Glendale, California. He was a hard working gunsmith and a machinist. In 1962 Frank decided to buy a 21’ Victory sail boat to spend more time with his family. After placing a deposit and ordering his new boat, he found out that the boat-builder was having financial difficulty and was not planning on building his boat. So, one day after work Frank stopped by the shop, where they were to build his boat, and explained to some of the employees who he was. He pointed to one of the boats and told them that would be his boat. They said no it was not his boat, but some doctor’s boat. Frank explained that his boat was in production and he was going to help them build it. Frank would not take no for an answer and so he jumped right in and started working on his new boat.

Every day after work, he stopped by and continued working on his new boat with the employees. The employees told the owner about this guy “Frank” and what was going on. The owner stopped by to talk to Frank. He explained his financial problems and shared that he would soon be closing his business. He asked Frank if he would like to buy his business. Frank went home and talked to his wife, Jean, about this offer.

Frank began building boats, and with changes in design and production his business began to flourish. He began to design and build new boats of many different sizes. The yachting industry took note, and in 2013 Frank was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame…

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Great shot from Arkema in the TJV. While not doing very well, we like the photo! Photo Copyright : Quentin Vlamynck / Arkema Sport. Track here.

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When <em>Totem</em>’s steering chain broke, I knew where to find the problem and fashioned a repair using a length of Dyneema. (Courtesy Jamie Gifford/)

Imagine: You’re on a ­passage. Stronger than usual Caribbean trades push up a raucous sea. It’s wet, very sporty sailing. Not alarming, but a white-knuckled grip on the dodger frame suggests that’s not too far off. Then, bang! Only simple observations register. The mast is up, sails are drawing, and there’s no jarring impact from hitting something. And there’s confusion. A sound loud enough to pierce this wind must be bad. What you do next is your path forward. How do you prepare for a good outcome?

This very scenario happened to us on Totem while tearing along a remote stretch of Colombia on the way to the San Blas Islands of Panama. The first seconds were tense and fuzzy—no apparent change, but what was about to? Then movement: The wheel was free-wheeling. Totem carved a whitewater path over a wave. We were still on course while the helm was adrift. Then came instant clarity. I understood the problem, risks and solution. I’d imagined it many times before…

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RS400s at Harken RS End of Seasons Regatta at Rutland SC 6-7 Nov 21. Photo by Tim Olin.

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I’ve often written in boat reviews over the years that pretty much any boat sails well in 15 knots of breeze (typically as a word of explanation as to why sail trials done in drifting conditions are as relevant as those done in a small gale). However, it recently occurred to me there is an exception to this rule, and that is aboard a performance trimaran like the Corsair 880…

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Two-time winner of the Silverrudder Hans Genthe explains his radical new doublehanded raceboat concept

Aeolos Yachts is addicted to scientific approaches. The base for our yacht design is market research and competitor analysis to understand the customer benefits. Aeolos does not design boats which suit everyone. We build boats which are perfect for a certain target group and which can be produced economically.’

The Aeolos P30 design
Hundreds of hours of optimisation result in a highly optimised shape. Our team tested various modifications of the hull with more rocker and/or more volume in the midsection with different fins and rudders. For all variations, we checked the influence on the rating…

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<em>Pyewacket 70</em> boat captain Mark Callahan keeps an eye on the horizon while 11th Hour Racing co-skipper Mark ­Towill keeps the turbocharged Volvo 70 at pace. (Peter Isler/)

Close your eyes and imagine a 2,200-mile ocean race where you start out going upwind in light air. Not very exciting—yet. But within a few hours, you transition to a few hundred miles of brisk and sometimes rough close reaching across a chilly ocean under gray skies. Not fun—yet. Then, over the course of half a day, you go through the boat’s entire reaching sail arsenal until the wind is aft and you are surfing downwind in 18-knot trade winds for days. Now it’s getting good.

But wait—it gets better…

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