Please don’t think I am trying to take Mozzy’s thunder at all but he doesn’t often come on here to voice his opinion, which in this case I completely agree with.

The SailGP version of the RRS changes 18.1 but doesn’t change the definition of Mark Room.

GBR allowed more than sufficient room for JPN to a) sail to the mark (she was on the other side the course approaching the mark and b) when JPN actually reaches the point where they would tack to round the mark – all the Mark Room they are entitled to – GBR is sailing a course at 90 degrees to JPN and is not even yet in the zone…

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Sailing is a remarkably safe activity, despite the potentially dangerous environment in which it takes place. This is undoubtedly due to the safety-conscious attitude of most skippers and their crews. Nonetheless, even the best sailors can still get in trouble when and where they least expect it.

When I was a young Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Yachtmaster instructor, one of the standing orders for all the sea school’s staff was to either have a preventer rigged or the mainsail furled, or be sure and sit next to whoever was at the helm when sailing downwind. My employer clearly recognized the danger of an accidental jibe, both to his reputation and livelihood.

It’s an approach that has served me well over the years and one none of us should ever forget. A blow from the boom or mainsheet in an accidental jibe is one the most common causes of serious injury while sailing. A crash jibe in heavy weather is also an almost certain recipe for damaging the boat or rig.

The classic solution is a line led forward from the boom to stop it crashing across from one side of the boat other: hence the name “jibe preventer.” This should be as much part of the standard package of a boat’s running rigging as the mainsheet. Sadly, this is rarely the case.

A preventer should run from the aft end of the boom, outside the shrouds, forward to the bow and then back again to the cockpit where it can be easily adjusted. It’s often tempting to attach the preventer to the midpoint of the boom. However, doing so runs the risk a broken boom or gooseneck.

Even worse is taking a preventer from the middle of the boom to the toerail, as the line acts downward, markedly increasing loads compared to one that’s led to the bow. Granted, many have successfully used this arrangement for thousands of miles. However, the risk of significant damage is so great I would never do so.

A preventer should also never be made fast on the foredeck. In order to be free to luff up or jibe to avoid collisions, it must be possible to adjust the line from the cockpit. It’s also important to be able to safely ease a preventer when it’s under load. If it can’t be taken to a convenient winch, a mooring cleat of the kind that allows a rope to be eased with a single turn will suffice…

Photos by Rupert Holmes

June 2021

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The good news is that we’re out in front, the bad news is, well, take a quick peek behind!

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Some guy, somewhere, put this thing on some rocks. That’s all we know.

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A couple of months after Emirates Team New Zealand announced it would begin offering up hosting rights for its defense of the America’s Cup to the highest bidder, it’s looking less and less likely the 37^th Cup will be staged in the Kiwi team’s home waters of Auckland, New Zealand.

Not only that, but ETNZ CEO Grant Dalton is sounding increasingly comfortable with the idea of holding the event elsewhere, justifying the decision by saying team needs the money if it’s to be competitive.

As Dalton put it in a recent statement: “I’ve heard it said that: ‘Emirates Team New Zealand would be better losing the 37th America’s Cup in New Zealand than winning it offshore.’ Of course, these are comments that come from outside the team, and one expects from people with some sort of vested interest. I still find it astonishing that anyone would expect such a team as ours to set themselves up to lose.”

Fair enough, but as I commented in a recent editorial, the downside to winning at any cost—never mind the fans and government that helped you establish your winning ways in the first place—is that things may reach a point where the sailing public no longer gives a damn.

As for Dalton’s astonishment at the fact there are those among us who are less than thrilled at the idea of offering up the 37^th Cup to the highest bidder if missing the days when the America’s Cup remained, however imperfectly, a “friendly competition between nations” makes me a person “with some sort of vested interest,” so be it…

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Following the devastating 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard has deployed assets to evacuate the wounded and provide relief.

On Sunday, Coast Guard helicopter aircrews began transporting medical personnel and supplies from Port-au-Prince, Haiti to Jérémie Airport in the southwestern corner of the country. As response and recovery operations continue, these air assets have been making return flights to evacuate injured citizens to medical facilities in Port-au-Prince. The aircrews have also been transporting urban search and response teams to areas with collapsed buildings. Read on.

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The members of the Australian Etchells Association have rejected a resolution pressed heavily by the Association that Mould 11 boats, which do not presently hold measurement certificates, be allowed to race in Australia if not overseas in the coming year.

So, the fighting between Mould 9 owners whose boats have measurement certificates and the Association looks set to continue. But many of the earlier arguments of the Association are starting to fail, with now talk of rectification of Mould 11 hulls or speed bumps on the hulls to equalize performance.

However, in my line of work, when the way forward is difficult or murky, thankfully someone usually asks the “Forrest Gump” question. That is the simple question that ignores all that has gone before and cuts through to the very basis of the controversy…

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A detour off the racecourse on Lake Mead leads the team to the north side of the Hoover Dam. (Michael Hanson/)

“Anyone got the time?” says Jim Rosaschi as we maneuver his Capri 30, Blue By You, toward the northern side of the Hoover Damn on Lake Mead. It’s only 9:56 a.m., but Jim’s boat partner, Glenn Frank, doesn’t hesitate with a reply.

“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” he says.

Out on the main lake, a grand total of three boats bob around waiting for wind on day two of Nevada YC’s season championship. The previous day saw no races completed due to lack of wind, and with an equally dismal forecast for today, we decided to forgo racing and take a tour of the Hoover Dam instead. As we sail down the channel toward the damn, a strange canyon-effect generates the only wind on the lake. We cruise along in 6 knots of breeze and marvel at the 1.7-billion-year-old rockfaces towering above our mainsail. About 120 feet up, the high-water mark for Lake Mead has washed the rockfaces clean of their sediments. The reservoir hasn’t been at full capacity since 1983, and like the lake itself, the racing scene here also has its highs and lows…

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Turns out it takes more than a pandemic to keep sailors, naval architects and boatbuilders down. It wasn’t fair, but there’s no denying some parts of the global economy fared better than others this past year, and among the lucky ones was the marine industry. Not that it was all smooth sailing. Supply and workplace issues certainly put a crimp in productivity, as was evident in the fewer number of entries in last year’s Best Boats contest. However, the industry has since come roaring back, and the result is a Best Boats class of 2022 that’s as healthy as we have seen in years: replete with everything from borderline production megayachts to a fun new batch of daysailers and pocket cruisers and even a pair of high-tech scows for the foiling crowd. Boat shows are also back, which means not only being able to renew old acquaintances but also being able to (hopefully) get aboard as many boats as you want without all that social distancing. If you’ve never been to a boat show before, now’s the time to check one out. Same thing if you’ve been dreaming all these years of buying a new boat. If there’s nothing else we’ve learned over the course of the pandemic, it’s that there’s no time like the present. As always, SAIL’s Best Boats panel will be fanning out throughout the upcoming boat-show season in search of its favorite new designs. Look for its selection of winners in our January issue…

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As Rambler 88 rounded the Fastnet Rock they took a hard left and left the Fastnet Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) to Starboard.

Unfortunately not only was the TSS an obstruction, it was also a mark of the course. This is allowed – see Racing Rules of Sailing Rule 19.

From the tracker replay, Rambler 88 very clearly avoids the TSS as an obstruction so no cause for alarm or protest there. However, the TSS was ALSO a mark of the course as per the Rolex Fastnet Race 2021 Sailing Instructions Appendices. It had to be left to port.

From the tracker is it clear that Rambler virtually gybed at the mark (The Fastnet Rock) and left the next mark (the TSS) to Starboard and therefore DID NOT SAIL THE COURSE…

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The philosophy and delivery of the DSS Infiniti 52 was always going to ask a lot of the builders and engineers involved in this dramatic new build. And some of the solutions which they identified are genuinely fascinating

When setting out with the Infiniti 52 to redefine a marketplace that has been dominated for so long by one class, albeit with a very different design brief (windward-leeward in defined wind strengths versus offshore rocket to take on all conditions, all over the world at all angles and strengths of wind, day and night under three rating systems) it is important to not only have design DNA but also the highest level of technical strength, not just in composites, but in systems and fit-out…

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An interesting look at the origins of Topanga Yacht Club, such as it was…

In 1924, the Los Angeles Athletic Club bought Topanga Beach with the intention of building a yacht harbor.  To promote the cause, British actor Captain Vesey O’Davoren (1888-1989) founded the Topanga Yacht Club in 1928.

He proudly claimed descent from two English Prime Ministers, William Pitt (1708-1778) and “Iron Duke” Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), as well as a family of medieval Irish scholars. His title, Captain, came from serving in the British Royal Air Force during World War I, where he was injured several times, including by a mustard gas attack that left him voiceless.

He did not live at Topanga Beach. Hardly any of the club’s members did.

Topanga was simply a preferred shelter for small boat owners before the bay had marinas or breakwaters. Read on, thanks to The Malibu Times.

Bizarre title inspiration thanks to Dr. Demento.

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We kid, we know t’s not fun! But it is part of the game. This is the S&S 63 Reganut on the first day of the Fastnet. This incredible pic thanks to Kurt Arrigo…

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