Classification society DNV issued an Approval in Principle (AiP) for a unique, three-wing rig designed to provide wind propulsion to large ocean-going ships. According to UK-based Windship Technology, the patented design can produce the power required to sail an 80,000 dwt ship on the main long transoceanic routes…

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Map of the Trans-Isthmus Corridor (Map by Shannon Cain Tumino/)

A proposed Trans-Isthmus Corridor project across Mexico would connect the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean by rail and highway, which could serve as an alternative to the Panama Canal. When completed, cruisers could potentially haul out and truck their boat the relatively short distance from one side of the isthmus to the other. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is urging approval to build transportation along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Nearly 190 miles across, the isthmus is the narrowest landmass in Mexico…

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Spurred on, no doubt, by the continuing extraordinary demand for sailboats of all sizes, the catamaran industry has made a point of not letting the events of the past year stop it from continuing to innovate. If you’re in search of the perfect boat for relaxing on the hook, look no further than these three new cruisers. You may be surprised at how well they do when its breeze-on as well!

Leopard 42

With their new Leopard 42, South Africa’s Robertson and Caine, and Simonis Voogd Design have created a follow-up to their successful Leopard 40 that features an attractive new angular aesthetic coupled with additional entertainment areas in the form of a coachroof lounge and larger cabins. In a nice touch, the elevated lounge can be accessed via a set of steps to port, meaning guests won’t have to intrude on the helm area to starboard. Stepped hulls help reduce wetted surface area, while blunt ends maximize sailing length. An overlapping genoa and the option of a powerful square-top main serve to keep the boat moving when things go light. The boat is also available through The Moorings as the Moorings 4200…

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“Sailing seems like a really bad idea.”

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The Norwegian startup Wind Catching Systems has a novel concept for deploying floating offshore wind power at scale. Floating wind offers the promise of access to the steadier, more powerful winds in waters further offshore, but it is currently more expensive to install and maintain than conventional bottom-fixed turbine technology.

In partnership with Norwegian contractor Aibel AS and the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), Wind Catching Systems plans to commercialize an entirely new approach to floating offshore wind. Their patented design is a towering multi-turbine platform fitted with small turbines of about one megawatt each. If built out, this gigantic platform would generate the same energy as a conventional wind farm five times as large (by acreage). Each unit would be able to produce enough power to run 80,000 homes.

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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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