If yesterday’s story of the 44th Rolex Middle Sea Race was the first multihull to finish, today’s is definitely monohull line honours. At 0152 CEST this morning, the fascinating race-long duel between Leopard 3 and Bullitt concluded.
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Cup Spy Oct 22: Italians sail as Kiwis tow
The Italian team LRPP rolled out their LEQ12 prototype at 11:40 and sailed out of Cagliari in a steady 12-16kt breeze. Emirates Team NZ had a towing session only in the early morning, presumably related to flight control systems…
The explosive increase in IMOCA performance
Anyone who has followed the growth of the IMOCA Class in recent years will be well aware that the boats are now going faster than ever before and that the advent of foils has produced a spectacular jump in performance…
Mini Transat: Downwind to the finish
Ninety solo skippers started the first stage of the 2023 Mini Transat, with Peter Gibbons-Neff (USA) sharing the experience of racing his 21-foot Mini Class boat from Les Sables d’Olonne in France to the Canary Islands. Following his Part One, Two, and Three reports, he details days 9-13 below:
As we sailed into the ninth day of this race, I crossed the halfway point of this 1,350 nm long leg of the Mini Transat. The A2 spinnaker was flying all night long and I was averaging over 7 kts on starboard tack. Unfortunately, I could not see any Minis on AIS throughout this night and into the early morning. While I was not trying to necessarily follow the groups route exactly, I could not tell if they had jibed over onto port yet or not. – Full report
Mother and daughter cross Atlantic Ocean
Amanda Shehab, 56 and daughter Megan Allpress, 26 have arrived into Uruguay having crossed the Atlantic Ocean together and ticking off the first major ocean crossing of the competition…
Translated 9 win the first leg of Ocean Globe Race
Translated 9 crossed the finish line of the first leg of the Ocean Globe Race at 4:00 a.m. yesterday in Cape Town, securing the 1st position overall ranking with a 2-day advantage over the second boat…
Don’t let them go to the chainsaw
The Cal 20 is an iconic Southern California one design class, and was an early design by Bill Lapworth who will be inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2023. The boat was designed to please:
• the yachtsman who want a spacious, seaworthy, low maintenance boat
• the man who races
• the family that day sails
• the family that likes a weekend cruise
• the sunbather who will enjoy the wide flat surface
• the man who would rather sail than maintain a boat
• the discriminating yachtsman who demands more boat for less money
The Cal 20 Class organization remains eager to encourage participation, which includes Class President Richard Welsh giving away free boats:
We have two boats available for free and each has participated in several past class championship regattas so both boats have been measured and are with thickened, faired keels. They are both in rough condition but if one is willing to put some work in, they will make great boats.
Hull #386 with its original stock blue decks & hull stripe, sits at King Harbor Yacht Club (Redondo Beach, CA) and belongs to Tony Gudish. It has been out sailing in the last year but needs some rigging updates, paint, and for the keel to have rust areas ground out and patched up along with some fiberglass work. Tony no longer uses the boat but would like to see it go to a new home for free. If interested please contact Paul Zambriski at pzambriski@gmail.com.
Hull #254 is also in Redondo Beach although it sits across the way at the AES power plant parking lot. This boat was owned in the 80s and 90s by Robin and Gail Hoeven out of Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club and they raced the boat quite extensively. Robin was going through a refit on the boat but after a while lost interest and then sold it to an individual in Redondo Beach. The keel and keel/hull fairing is in great shape and no rust appears. Robin used an air foil template to get the desired shape and if you had to have a professional do this it would be quite expensive. This boat is missing its mast but has most everything else. If interested, please contact Brian Lindquist at 310-920-2453.
Both these boats are diamonds in the rough and are fast according to several individuals who raced them in the past. Let’s not let them go to the chainsaw please!
stop eating the dock!
Helluva shot from one helluva storm in Germany.
Global Solo Challenge: triple departure
On Saturday, October 21, in A Coruña, amidst white clouds, layers of cumulus and cirrus, which adorned the sky like brushstrokes, the sun peeked out, providing a favorable omen for the departure of the three competitors…
Planet Sail Episode 27: Nowhere To Hide
SailGP’s fourth season is the busiest so far with 13 events around the world. And while the dominant Australians continue to lead the overall standings, recent results suggest that their reign is coming under increasing pressure…
Profile: Yacht Designer Gino Morrelli
“This just came in the mail,” says Gino Morrelli excitedly as he runs into the kitchen of his California home. In his hand is a booklet that may or may not grant him the International Proficiency Certificate (IPC) that is required to charter a bareboat in Croatia. “Now we can go on vacation in September!”
Morrelli, one half of the design power team Morrelli & Melvin, is one of the minds responsible for boats like the Rapido trimarans (read the Rapido 40 review here), multiple Leopards including the 47 PC and award-winning 38 and 44, HH catamarans, Invincible powerboats, the NACRA 17, and even the Windcat workboats that service offshore wind farms. If that weren’t enough, he also had a hand in designing for elite racers like America’s Cup campaigns and the maxi cat PlayStation during his career of four decades.
And still, he’s been sweating getting approval to run a European power cat for a week. Bureaucracy can be batty.
From Humble Beginnings
Gino Morrelli may be a top multihull designer today, but it wasn’t always bleeding edge technology and yacht design accolades. When he was young, his family moved from Texas to Southern California. They bought plans for and built a 33-foot Lock Crowther-designed plywood and epoxy trimaran, which was the boat that began Morrelli’s racing career. Self-taught in multihull design, he couldn’t have guessed the legacy he was starting.
Over the next 10 years, Morrelli launched and closed his first company building 18 square meter cats, and hung out in Hawaii after sailing there on a friend’s home-built 45-foot boat, just because there wasn’t much to do back home. The Hawaiian contacts he made during those years would stay with him for life…
Clipper Race: Five Scottish cross Atlantic Ocean
Five Race Crew from Scotland have just crossed Atlantic Ocean – the first major ocean crossing of the Clipper 2023-24 Race…
Whitbread Round the World Race 93-94 Official Film
By the 1993-94 edition, the Whitbread Round the World Race had already transformed from an adventure imbued with Corinthian spirit to a professional sport where food, bedding and clothing were being optimised for performance not comfort…
Classic Rolex Middle Sea Race unfolding
The 44th Rolex Middle Sea Race is now over 24 hours old, and the picture is starting to develop. The fleet has spread out over the course, with the front-running multihull well on the way to Favignana and the slowest monohull still parallel with Etna…
Cup Spy Oct 21: Kiwis and Swiss strike rare wind
Two of the six America’s Cup Challengers Alinghi Red Bull Racing and Emirates Team New Zealand, sailed on Saturday, experiencing a breeze from a direction that is unusual in Barcelona…
Tragedy in offshore race
Tragedy struck during the 2023 Coastal Classic, a 119nm race in New Zealand which started on October 20. The incident occurred at around 11:30pm when a crew member on board a competing yacht was hit by the boom, rendering them unconscious and necessitating immediate medical attention.
Coast Guard volunteers had been conducting a night-time training exercise in the area and were able to arrive to the yacht at shortly after 1:00 am, yet with a medical kit and defibrillator, the individual passed away.
Two other sailors sustained moderate injuries, according to the agency. The Coast Guard vessel accompanied the yacht back to Opua, arriving shortly before 4:00 am.
“Our thoughts and love are with the crew, and the family and friends of this person,” said Commodore Adrian Percival of the host New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club. “Words cannot express our sorrow.”
Source: 1news
Is anyone going to make paper charts?
PIC Coastal Classic: Melges 40 Clockwork wins
In the 41 years of PIC Coastal Classic history there are always many winners – but four winners stand out above them all: overall line and handicap winners in each of the monohull and keelboat fleets…
Not ready for steady flight
The 60-foot IMOCA has evolved into a high-flying offshore boat as sidefoils reduce displacement and increase speed. But foiling boats perform best with a balance of lift surfaces to provide steady flight, and that was the debate for the IMOCA Class:
It was at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Class where members voted on a revision of the one-design mast which aims to increase safety coefficients, possible new rules on engine size, limits to the number of sails carried during races and other technical measures and improvements.
But the biggest discussion point was on the issue of T-foils on rudders which would convert IMOCAs from skimming boats with foils to even faster fully flying ones.
Those in favor of the change say it would be within the spirit of innovation that is a cornerstone of the IMOCA Class’s philosophy, that the change can be made simply and that it would greatly improve the level of comfort for skippers as they fly above the waves…
Cup Spy Oct 19: Rough-up in Barcelona
Alinghi Red Bull Racing was out for a session of three hours. The breeze forecast to increase later in the day, arrived early forcing the Swiss to stop training after one impressive sailing display. Luna Rossa sailed off Cagliari also in fresh winds.
Astounded by new foiling superyacht
Giant T-foils provide most of the stability for Baltic 111 Raven, a cruising yacht that’s likely to break speed records with its hydrofoils born of America’s Cup technology. Report by Toby Hodges for Yachting World:
Wow…! This foil-assisted, ultra-lightweight superyacht breaks new ground in many respects and Baltic says it is “one of the most extreme yachts” the yard has built in its 50-year history. Raven is designed to sail partly on her leeward chine, with giant T-foils providing the bulk of stability, plus some vertical lift, while a 9.3-tonne bulb at the end of a precision engineered 5m-deep fixed fin keel provides additional righting moment.
There have, of course, been many standout superyachts over the past few years, yet it’s still extraordinarily rare to come across a yacht like Raven. This 34m foiling beast blends virtually unprecedented performance potential with light displacement and a level of luxury that’s rarely encountered on such fast yachts. – Full report
holy s@#t!
Now that is some breeze! From the 2023 ILCA U-21 World Championships.
Building fire set by squatters
Since 1997, Scuttlebutt has been providing sailing news but there are plenty of Scuttlebutts – breweries, bars, coffee shops, and book stores. And for anyone driving through Louisiana on Interstate 10, there was also the Scuttlebutt Gentlemen’s Club in Slidell.
The building has been quiet since it closed a year ago, but has been back in the news when emergency services were required to extinguish a building fire set by squatters.
Known for its iconic pink establishment, and ‘follow me to the butt’ bumper stickers, the latest chapter occurred when a woman attempted to burn another’s clothing after they got into an argument…
why not?
Anarchist Chris sent us this rendering of something called a SailScow 37. A supposed “cruiser”, in this render it looks anything but a cruiser, and ffs, could they at least make the “people” look like they are at least sitting comfortably?
Besides that, it actually looks pretty bitchin’, and depending on where the price point is, we could see some success for this plywood-built scow.
Maxis set for the Rolex Middle Sea Race
The International Maxi Association’s 2023-24 Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge starts this Saturday with a huge, top quality maxi yacht line-up as part of the Royal Malta Yacht Club’s Rolex Middle Sea Race…
Hurricane intensitiy increasing
Observed increases in North Atlantic tropical cyclone peak intensification rates
2023 Rolex Middle Sea Race – The essential details
With the 44th Rolex Middle Sea Race starting on Saturday 21 October, it is little surprise that the Royal Malta Yacht Club is currently a hive of activity…
Up and down, inside-out SailGP
A criticism that is often levelled at Formula 1 motor racing is that it’s too predictable. One team, or more often, one driver, dominates the racing. At first glance, SailGP could be regarded in the same way….
Went out doing what he loved
It remains a mystery of what happened to three Americans who in April disappeared while en route from Mexico to San Diego, CA. Kerry O’Brien, Frank O’Brien, and William Gross, aboard the La Fitte 44 Ocean Bound, had left Mazatlán with plans to stop in Cabo San Lucas but they never arrived.
Six months later, without any answers, Gross’ daughter Melissa offers closure with this tribute. Her dad was a major volunteer for Challenged Sailors San Diego (CSSD) who assisted in keeping the fleet floating, and it was here where she did a memorial during a CSSD sailing day:
First and foremost, thank you for being here and taking the time to honor my dad, Bill. Challenged Sailors has been an integral part of my dad’s life for the last several years.
As many of you know, dad had a passion for sailing and a deep love of the ocean. At Challenged Sailors, he had a chance to share that passion and love with people who might not necessarily have had the opportunity to feel the wind on and salt spray on their face.
He was committed to the mission of this fantastic organization. Maybe sometimes a bit too passionate. I don’t think that man could work on a project without dropping a flurry of f-bombs.
Most of you know the Bill of now – a retired machinist who could fix just about anything. I wanted to share with you about his life on the water. Dad lived on Laneki Beach for several years in his youth. He spent his days on the beach, in the water, and climbing the hills behind his house. Here he fell in love with the Polynesian culture and the water.
My grandparents and dad returned to St. Louis, MO in the early-mid 60s where dad finished school. He then moved to San Diego in 1970. Here he rekindled his relationship with the sea, taking a job as a commercial diver and sailing on the weekends.
For 11 years, he was on or in the water as much as he possibly could be. Sailing the bay, Southern California, and Northern Baja coasts. He was a spear fisherman who would joke that he was definitely part of the problem that led to the ban on abalone fishing.
After two kids, my mom and dad decided to move back to St. Louis to raise the kids around family. He spent 13 years away from the ocean, but we were never far from water. We boated on lakes and rivers every summer. Dad went cave diving and spelunking. He is even attributed to the discovery of a massive cave in Jefferson County, MO. He and one other were the first humans to ever step on that ground.
My family returned to San Diego in 1994 and one of the first things we did was go sailing. Us three kids were hooked. In the early 2000s dad, me, and my siblings joined Harbor Island Sailing Club. Together we would sail whenever we had the chance. Dad instilled that passion for sailing and love of the ocean into his kids.
I got it the worst and can recall hour of conversations with my dad talking of sailing the world. We would pull out maps to look at all the places we wanted to go. The places we wanted to dive. It was always the South Pacific and always we were going to go by sailboat. I grew up hearing about the South Pacific and the Polynesian culture, yet another fascination my dad instilled in me.
When my life turned sideways in 2016, and I learned the hard way that tomorrow isn’t promised, my dad was an important key to convincing my husband to get rid of everything we owned, buy a sailboat, and sail the world. All three of us moved to Plan B on November 1, 2019. But like all the best sailing plans they went astray. It kept turning into “next year” and here we are, almost four years later.
But Dad took every opportunity to sail, so when the call came to crew on a sailboat from Mexico back to San Diego, he took it. No one could have stopped him. There are plenty of ‘what ifs’ and of course the ultimate question of what happened. We will probably never have the answer to that question. However, me and my family take solace in the fact that dad went out doing what he loved and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
SEA-FEVER
by John Masefield
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
Sunfish US Masters Championship
The 2023 Sunfish US Masters Championship was held in breezy conditions on October 14-15 on Long Island Sound at Niantic, CT. Fifty-one competitors, age 40-83 completed eight races with Paul-Jon Patin (Master division for ages 50-59) claiming the overall win with five bullets, including all four races on the last day.
Runner-up was Amanda Callahan (Apprentice Master for ages 40-49), posting scores of 3-17-4-4 on day two when gusts reached the high 20s on several occasions. Callahan is the female US representative to the 2023 Pan Am Games in Chile (the first time there will be a dedicated women’s fleet the Pan Ams). Doug Kaukeinen, also a Master, finished third, tying with Amanda, but losing on countback.
Details: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=16242
Final results (Top 10 of 51; 8 races, 1 discard)
1. Paul-Jon Patin – 3 – 3 – 1 – [9] – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 ; 11
2. Amanda Callahan – 1 – 2 – 2 – 7 – 3 – [17] – 4 – 4 ; 23
3. Doug Kaukeinen – 2 – [8] – 8 – 3 – 2 – 4 – 2 – 2 ; 23
4. Dominic Simonetti – 4 – 5 – 3 – 5 – 11 – [19] – 6 – 6 ; 40
5. Hank Saurage – [14] – 1 – 6 – 10 – 6 – 2 – 13 – 3 ; 41
6. Hal Gilreath – 7 – 7 – 4 – 2 – 7 – 6 – 8 – [9] ; 41
7. Rob Hallawell – 19 – 4 – [27] – 6 – 5 – 3 – 3 – 5 ; 45
8. John Eckart – 5 – [38] – 18 – 1 – 4 – 13 – 18 – 7 ; 66
9. Lee Montes – 13 – 14 – 5 – 11 – [21] – 9 – 9 – 8 ; 69
10. Cesar Brea – 9 – 9 – 10 – 13 – 14 – 12 – [15] – 15 ; 82
Family Dynamic
While racing a Lightning, the author Prudence Brown Lev wonders if a father-daughter relationship can be strengthened at sea:
Haul hard! Cleat that halyard and watch the luff.”
Dad’s nautical commands were the soundtrack of my adolescence. But at 21, I wasn’t a kid anymore, and my mandatory crewing days on the Lightning were over. I had returned to the family cottage on Wellesley Island in upstate New York for Labor Day weekend and much-needed R&R from a demanding newspaper job in Manhattan. Dad had other plans for me, and on race day, I found myself back on board.
“Pay attention,” he ordered.
“I am.” But I wasn’t. I was waving to friends on shore when the Committee boat’s hand-held horn announced the midday start of the final race for Thousand Island Park’s Regatta Cup. – Full report
Ultrasound hull protection
More Gostosa wins J/80 North Americans
The 2023 J/80 North American Championship took place on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, one of the most picturesque lakes in New England and the White Mountains…
Final Clipper Race Teams arrive in Punta Del Este
After a tricky run into Punta del Este, with the second half of the fleet getting stuck in a troublesome wind hole just off the coast of Uruguay, the final teams have now docked in the marina and are enjoying some well-deserved celebrations and rest…
USA wins Spain Sail Grand Prix
After Jimmy Spithill’s USA Team narrowly advanced out of the qualifying stage at Spain Sail Grand Prix, they clobbered Denmark and Australia in the winner-take-all final to claim the fifth event of the season on October 14-15 in Cádiz, Spain.
With the USA team including new flight controller Taylor Canfield on day one, Canfield had to watch on day two as lighter winds reduced the crew to four, but it is in the non-foiling conditions that Spithill has proven dangerous, and it was that scenario in which they claimed the third slot in the finals.
Denmark and reigning champion Australia had dominated the qualifiers, and they got off the line in that order with USA trailing with a pre-start penalty. “Nothing pretty about that start – it was 100 percent my fault,” said Spithill. “I didn’t see the boundary.”
But opportunity came after the teams rounded the first mark in that order…
Whitbread Round the World Race 89-90 Official Film
The 1989-90 Whitbread Round the World Race was a true classic, ending in a clean sweep of all six legs by Peter Blake and the crew of Steinlager 2. Behind Blake, Grant Dalton’s Fisher & Paykel NZ and Pierre Fehlmann’s Merit completed the top three…
easy ease
Big Pimpin’
Ronstan’s new Orbit Winch makes easing sheets and halyards a lot easier
Winches for operating sails have been around for roughly 50 to 60 years, and they still look more or less the same. Even technically, winches operate basically the same way they did when Grandpa was in his prime. So what’s the big deal, when Ronstan now launches their new Orbit Winch?
‘Well, a lot of things’, says Thomas Galster, content manager at Ronstan. ‘More than anything, for most of our customers it’s the QuickTrim feature. Every sailor knows the endless procedure of making minor trim changes. Especially with jib sheets, but it could be a halyard or basically any trim line. When the line needs to be tightened, it’s easy enough – just take a turn or two on the winch handle.
But easing is a bit more time-consuming: You need to remove the handle, take the line off the top, ease the line and then put everything back. In most styles of sailing this has to be done with short intervals. So making that part easier would make a real difference. And this is exactly what we have done with the new Orbit Winch: All you have to do is use one hand to rotate the self-tailing top, and now you can just ease the line out as needed with your other hand. You don’t have to take the handle off or even remove the line from the jaws.’
More here.
Cup Spy Oct 13: Swiss sail on Black Friday
On Black Friday, October 13th, Alinghi Red Bull Racing team had a blistering five hour sailing session putting their AC75 through its paces in a building breeze…
Australia on hunt for first Season 4 win in Cadiz
After an exhilarating first day of racing at the Spain Sail Grand Prix, Tom Slingsby and the Australia SailGP Team are in hot pursuit of their first win in Season 4, finishing the first day of racing in pole position…
‘A tough day but we will come back fighting’
The Spain Sail Grand Prix kicked off in Cadiz with a win for the home team but a tough day for Emirates GBR SailGP Team.
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