Sailing Anarchy

Optimist – Lake Garda Meeting – Riva ITA – Country Cup – Final results

As a prelude to the Optimist Lake Garda Meetings, the Nations Trophy was held with one representative per country racing. After three races, the local Alexis Demurtas ITA was the winner ahead of Caspar Ilgenstein GER and Henrik Puolakka FIN. The results of the North Americans and Caribbeans: CAY 8th, BER 10th, BAH 19th, ISV 20th, MEX 21th, USA 34th. 36 nations from 5 continents were present. — The ranking list. — The Optimist Meeting begins today with huge fleets as usual: 991 Juniores from 35 nations and 117 Cadetti (U12) will participate. — The event website.

the splice of life

Did you know that a well spliced rope will typically retain 90% of its strength?

Marlow Ropes is well-known for providing helpful education resources and advice for sailors, and this year, the leading rope manufacturer is pleased to launch a new and improved on-line collection of splicing tutorials.

From the advanced D2 (Dyneema®) Eye Splice to the intermediate Excel Taper and  beginner level Continuous Loop control line splice; Marlow will guide you step-by-step through a range of 11 splices, suitable for all types of sailor and for all abilities, allowing you to improve and master your seamanship skills to get your rigging ready for the start of the season.  

With over 150 years of combined splicing knowledge and experience, splicing is integral to Marlow’s product and service, with their splicing service available to trade and commercial customers for bespoke rope assemblies, slings and strops across the industrial, vehicle and working-at-height industries.  In the marine industry, Marlow works with leading rigging professionals and consults many of the world’s leading race teams (including the British, US and European sailing teams amongst others). 

The full splicing collection will be released over the start of the summer.  To view the first three films in the series, click here.  For hands-on splicing demonstrations and advice, find Marlow at boat shows and events across the UK & Europe, or enquire about attending one of their UK nationwide Rope-Shows at a sailing club near you.

shine it

A Swan 82 looking shiny during a refit in China. A full and lets say interesting story is soon to come…

woxi vision

Too funny! Jump in.

does this story have an ending?

The UK Laser Association has announced on its website that a « Club Edition » of the Laser has been introduced by LaserPerformance. This is presented as a « training boat  » that does not bear the World Sailing Building Plaque or a Sail Button.

The statement reads: « This is fine as a training boat but we feel it is important to clarify that these boats are not Class legal based on the Fundamental Rule within the Laser Class Rules. These boats will be ineligible to compete in any UKLA sanctioned events, broadly speaking but not exclusively, those advertised on the UKLA website.  Read on.

scotw

Aussie Elyse Ainsworth gives the thumbs up to going racing – credit Beau Outteridge – Genoa World Cup

flattered

So one of you Anarchists thought the new paint scheme on A4 was so cool, he did his own version for his B-32. Very cool bro, just don’t expect that thing to be as fast! – ed.

stoked

laser/not laser

the end is nigh

tusk

The General Administration of China Customs has seized 7.48 tons of elephant ivory – potentially the second biggest ivory seizure worldwide since detailed records were first compiled in 1989.

The seizure was made by the Huangpu Branch of China Customs in Guangdong Province and took place on March 30, just five days after Vietnam reported the seizure of 9.12 tons of ivory in Tien Sa Port in Da Nang. Both seizures, if officially confirmed, are larger than the 7.12 tons of ivory seized in Singapore in 2002, currently the biggest on record.

238 customs officers took part in the Guangdong Province operation, and 20 suspects have been detained from cities around the country, including Hefei, Nanjing, Beijing, Fuzhou and Qingdao.

The tusks were shipped from African countries labeled as wood. Last year, China’s General Administration of Customs introduced advanced detection equipment to improve the efficiency of its anti-smuggling work.

Read on.

the win

This year’s DN Iceboat World Championships will remain in my memory for a very long time. I won the regatta using borrowed equipment. It’s unbelievable! The only part of the gear that was mine was a set of three sails from Ullman Sails. Read on.

li’l foil

Li’l Foil, that’s my rap name. – ed. More here.

ask and ye shall receive

It is topics like this that illustrate one of the better aspects of our Fabulous Forums…

It’s time for a cruising boat and I just stumbled on the C&C 34+. It seems to have several names, and several different options (Race/cruise/some combo of the two). I’m draft restricted for club storage so I’d be stuck with the shoal draft version. Is that a deal breaker for this boat? It seems to tic every box otherwise. Wife is dead set on a Jeanneau in the 34-38′ range which I’m fine with, but the C&C seems to be more/better boat for the money.

Anyone have experience with these things?

Any suggestions in the 33-38′ range that sails well, 6′ max draft and is comfortable for wife and toddler (easy companionway and decently comfortable cockpit)? 2 cabins, ability for below deck AP and swim platform are also high on the list. Sabre 34 Targa seemed a good option but maybe too slow? I’ll still be racing the big boats so will get my speed fix elsewhere, but I think I’d lose my shit if I were stuck going 5 knots in every direction… Budget in the 50K range I think.

Jump in and discuss.

Various Classes – Les Voiles de St-Barth – St-Barthélemy FRA – Day one

Perfect conditions prevailed yesterday at the start of the 10th anniversary edition of Les Voiles de St-Barth for the 66 entrants in nine classes racing around the west side of St-Barth on racecourses ranging from 24 to 36 nautical miles in 15u009620 knots of breeze. — Read the day one report with all details on the various classes and photos, and check-out the results. — The event website.— Racing is planned from April 15 to 20.

new non-rule

We all learn from our mistakes, but – regrettably – that doesn’t seem to stop us from making new ones.

Offshore buffs will remember the kerfuffle over the ‘protest that never was’ after last year’s Sydney-Hobart Race. The AIS (Automatic Identification System) on line-honours winner Wild Oats XI mysteriously stopped functioning just before the start. The published Sailing Instructions for the race were unequivocal:

Special Regulation 4.09(a): An AIS Transponder shall be carried and be switched on, such that it is receiving and transmitting.

Nevertheless, a Race Committee protest against WOXI wasn’t even considered. The jury never investigated because the protest had come in response to “a report from an interested party” (another competitor) – a threshold technicality.

But the issue didn’t die there. AIS is an important safety system for any craft operating offshore, especially at night. It is now a world maritime standard, and mandatory for entrants in most of the major blue water events.

The Notice of Race for the 2019 Sydney-Hobart was released yesterday by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and those of us with an interest in these matters wasted no time checking the comms sections, and the AIS rule in particular.

What did they find? Well, the Special Regulation 4.09(a) as quoted above is still there. But an extra sentence has been added:

“The failure of any station to receive a signal from a boat’s AIS Transponder shall not be subject to protest or grounds for redress (amends RRS 60.1 and 62.1(a) and RRS 63.1 shall not apply).”   

WHAAAT??? How else can anyone be sure a competitor’s AIS is switched on if not by receiving its signal?

The rule now seems to be saying that every yacht must have an operational AIS, but if nobody can receive its transmit signal then that’s perfectly OK. So what is the point of having an AIS requirement at all?

Admittedly, there have been occasional reports of reception issues with AIS but that hardly justifies disallowing any protest in cases where there’s a reasonable suspicion that a boat may have switched off their AIS transmit function for tactical reasons.

Unless I’m misreading this provision of the new Sydney-Hobart NoR, it looks awfully like the rule you have when you’re not having a rule.

– Anarchist David

that was quick

Click on the pic for what happens next…

Melges 24, J/70, var. classes – Charleston Race Week – Charleston SC, USA – Final results, Spectacular closing Day on Charleston Harbor

Charleston Race Week concluded in spectacular fashion with strong winds producing exciting action and several classes being decided during the last race. Skipper Travis Weisleder USA rallied to victory in Melges 24 class , which attracted 37 entries. Joel Ronning and his Catapult crew secured a surprisingly convincing victory in J/70 class, largest of the regatta with 56 boats. The high-performance M32 catamarans made a spectacular debut at the Race Week, completing 13 races in just two days with Don Wilson and his team on top 16 points ahead of Ryan DeVos and Hakan Svensson SWE another 2 points behind on 3rd. — See all results and read the final report.

boring

Yes, here is the god damn A4 again. Jeez, you’d think I’d be tired of posting pics of it, but no, I’m not. I’m sure you’re not either – haha! That’s us finishing while winning Class 2 of the SDYC Opening Day Race. We ended up 3rd overall and not only did we sail well, we were fast and most amazingly, smart too. Props to my peeps for keeping the wheels from falling off! Pic thanks to Da-Woody.

There is another reason I posted this because I want to hear from y’all on a race that you won or are stoked about. Tell us the story, send in a pic, and be famous. – ed

journey

For a while now the Ed & I have been mulling over the idea of a regular book review slot on Sailing Anarchy. It came about when I mentioned that I have over 1,000 books on sailing and the sea split roughly half/half hard copy and digital covering pretty much all genres.

Some, in fact many are still in print but some I am afraid are long since out of print but I was amazed how many are searchable either with Google or remarkably through Amazon searches which link not a huge number of second hand sellers.

I thought I’d start off with a double header of two books, telling real stories, both of a Kiwi slant. In some ways quite different treatments and in other ways remarkably similar.

The first is called “Journey” by Pippa Blake and starts with her reaction both initially and over the subsequent months of the news that her husband, Sir Peter Blake had been murdered in the Amazon. It then goes on to give a very personal record of their lives together through multiple Whitbread campaigns, the ENZA Jules Verne record attempts and the America’s Cup. A moving and from my own recollections of seeing them together a completely honest of account. An true example of the saying ‘Behind every great man there is a woman’.

I picked this one up in an excellent bookshop in Auckland and may require a little searching for. If you are a guy, once you have a copy watch out, it is one you’re your wife is likely to pick up and enjoy also but give her a box of tissues for when she reads it.

The other book is also real life. It too starts with a disaster but not as serious a loss of life. It starts with Team New Zealand losing an 8-1 lead to Oracle in AC34. Written by Richard Gladwell (editor for another site but we will forgive him on that) it details – and I mean details the climb back out of the abyss after it all went wrong in San Francisco.

Appropriately called “Lone Wolf” it documents the story that saw Emirates Team New Zealand not only hold it together (and at times they were days from shutting the doors for keeps) through the financial challenges the delays to protocol, timings and venues, what it meant to the team to lose Auckland as a venue for some of the preliminaries both as a showcase and of course financially – the whole deal. If I had a criticism of the book it is that there are too many pictures of foiling catamarans in it but hey – that’s what the story is all wrapped around.

Written in a diary like format I doubt if it could have been written in a more ‘blow by blow’ manner.

I was captivated by it, then again I am an America’s Cup fan. It is still available I understand although it may take a bit of a search. Published by Mower it is a dangerous book, easy to not notice how long you have been turning pages.

As we go forward many of the books reviewed will be easier to find, track down or purchase on line. I have to admit most of mine have come from a UK online specialist bookstore. These first two might take a little more searching but I can assure you they are both well worth it.

Edit: I don’t believe it, the wife has pinched my copy of Lone Wolf already! – Shanghai Sailor

reinventing the wheel?

Once the exclusive preserve of the mega yachts the benefits of captive winch technology are now becoming available to (us) mere mortals…

Out of sight and out of mind perhaps, but a new generation of captive reel winches is evidence of a hidden revolution below decks. Market leaders Harken have raised the bar in this field with an electrically powered range that is proving popular aboard boats that you might never expect to have them.

But while big boats have driven much of the development in this area, this new wave of modern winch design, along with the application of new technology, is feeding development in other areas of the sport. The new range of innovative winches has provided a catalyst for change elsewhere. Harken has recently supplied several electric captive winches for boats in the 55- 80ft range, a marked departure from conventional thinking where the weight, size and power requirements of a hydraulically driven system would generally point towards larger boats.

Read on.

300 footer

Actually, only 288′,  but why the hell not? More here

Class 40 – Défi Atlantique – Leg 2 – Day 5 – Luciani ITA still leading in the Bay of Biscay calms

Pietro Luciani ITA and his team are still in front of the fleet now reduced on 10 Class 40s, but Aymeric Chappellier FRA new on 2nd has shortened the backlog on 8nm. The calms over the Bay of Biscay Bay are decelerating the boats and the gaps are decreasing. 173nm were left to the finish in La Rochelle FRA this morning UTC. The race tracker and the daily news.

join the evolution

In the last decade Evolution Sails has grown from a small go-it-alone loft in New Zealand to an internationally recognized brand with an expanding network of franchise lofts in major markets, a proprietary membrane plant supplying an extensive list of independent lofts and a healthy stronghold in its target market.

‘It has been a phenomenal ride,’ says founder and owner Rodney Keenan, who began sailmaking in 1991 with Lidgard Sails and then worked with Doyle and Qantum.

‘Evolution Sails has been recording annual growth between 20-30 per cent. We have lofts in New Zealand, Australia, the US, Italy, Norway, Spain and Canada and we are continuing discussions about more franchises coming on board. We frequently have new groups coming to see what we are doing with a view to signing up.’

Read on.

what is it?

Look at all that wood! What is it?

looking ahead…

We’ll grant you this came in as a pr piece, but thought you might enjoy it…

After his incredible victory in the 2018 Route du Rhum, this year, Francis Joyon will be tackling some very different challenges, most of which are brand new. After a tour in the Mediterranean in the spring, he will begin his 2019-2020 IDEC SPORT ASIAN TOUR with a programme including two famous records (The Mauritius record between Port-Louis in Brittany and Mauritius and the Clipper Route between Hong Kong and London), as well as four new courses in the China Sea for which he will set the reference time with a crew. H

is faithful trimaran, IDEC SPORT underwent a major refit during the winter with this in mind to ensure her reliability. The maxi-trimaran was relaunched on Friday 5th April in Vannes before heading back to her home port of La Trinité-sur-Mer. We met up with the record-breaker aboard his boat… Read on.

double decker

It was a BIG day – with little wind. A typical scenario for a late Spring day in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The crew of the McConaghy 50 catamaran were excited to hoist the sails on their new boat for the very first time…

psycho tiller

Thanks to Psycho Tiller in the Fabulous Forums…

The new do everything, 32-33 ft racer cruiser, shorthanded, weapon of mass fun market just became a little more crowded with the first JPK 1030 splashing yesterday.  Interesting to me how the JPK 1030, J/99, Sunfast 3300, Ofcet 32, Figaro, and probably a couple others (Pogo?) seem to have all emerged around the same time.  Coincidence?  Result of secret spy intel amongst designers and builders?  Just a response to the growing market for shorthanded ocean racers?  Will MacGregor come out with a new motor sailor of the same genre? 

The JPK 1030 gets my vote but I’m biased.  I seriously considered ordering a 1030 a while ago but found a used 1080 that didn’t require waiting 2 years.  Will be interesting to see how the 1030 does in the Spi Ouest France in a couple weeks.  The first JPK 1030 just splashed yesterday, not much time to get it dialed in but I’m sure JP will get her figured out and moving fast.

Jump on in…

ac/dc

One of the better names we’ve seen in a while. This is one of a new arrival of we think up to five of the extreme 40’s  racing down under. These guys are behind it, which, without us knowing all that much,  seems very cool to us.

water works

That’s a lot of something going on, just what exactly we’re not sure! Results from the Sardinha Cup.

new/old kids on the block

There’s a great big gap right in the middle of the multihull market and Groupe Bénéteau has launched a whole new brand to fill it. With its allnew Excess catamarans, the world’s biggest boatbuilder is forging a sporty, modern and youthful brand identity, offering a new generation of multihull sailors an alternative to what has become, in effect, a binary choice between skittish, hull-flying racing machines on one hand and sedate holiday cruisers on the other. The first boats are in build at the time of writing and two models, the 39ft Excess 12 and the 49ft Excess 15, are set to make their boat show début at Cannes this September.

‘The market is a broad spectrum with high-performance boats at one end and comfortable cruisers, which are optimised for charter use, at the other,’ says Bruno Belmont, the product designer for Excess Catamarans. ‘About 90 per cent of the market – including our own very successful brand, Lagoon – is clustered tightly together at the comfort end of the spectrum. There are some well-established niche brands at the performance end, but there is a big gap in the centre.’

Read on.

confused

We like this from our Fabulous Forums, brought to you by Marlow Ropes…

I am a bit embarrassed to ask but here goes.

I went to J school a number of years ago and went out on a J-80, put up asym and I let the tack out (not alot) my instructor said “no tack must hard down on the bowsprit”. But then I see lots of photos with tack eased. It seems to me it must be a point sail thing but I see tack out at about 100 degrees and tack out a deepish.

I can guess that for higher angle when “reaching” tack down may be correct and let it out to float sail in deeper conditions but why dis this guy tell me this I don’t get it. Got a comment?

RS:X-Windsurfer – European & European Youth Championship 2019 – El Arenal ESP – Day 2, NorAms down in the fleets

Louis Giard FRA is the new leader in the RS:X men windsurfers 5 points ahead of Pierre Le Coq FRA. Kiran Badloe NED is on 3rd. Pedro Pascual USA on 50th is qualified for the Goldfleet, Ignacio Berenguer MEX on 74th continues the Championship in the Silverfleet. — In the Womens, the Olympic Champion Charline Picon FRA moved on top ahead of Drihan ISR and Yue Tan CHN on the ranks 2 and 3. Farrah Hall USA is 63rd. — In the RS:X Youth, the Israeli keep on dominating. In the Boys, Vardimon Tomer ISR is in front of a quartet with Quartett Liam Segev ISR, Yun Pouliquen FRA, Fabien Pianazza FRA and Roi Hillel ISR at equal points. Alexander Temko USA is 62nd. — In Girls, Natasa Lappa CYP is now first followed by Maya Nadler ISR and Naama Gazit ISR. — Light winds prevailed keeping the fleets waiting on the water during long periods. Nevertheless, men and women fleets could complete 2, youth fleets 3 races. — All ranking lists and the daily news.

still out there…

It’s hard to believe, but this race is just not over.  At this rate, they’ll start the next one before the last boat finishes…

As Tapio Lehtinen, the last of the Golden Globe race skippers, crossed the Equator on Tuesday to start the last part of his solo circumnavigation back to Les Sables d’Olonne, plans are now well advanced for the GGR prize-giving celebrations in the Vendee port over the Easter Weekend 19 – 22nd April.

The Finnish skipper who has been slowed by increasing barnacle growth on his Gaia 36 Asteria since crossing the Indian Ocean last October will miss the party – he is not expected to reach the finish line until late May at the earliest – but will join the other skippers via a satellite phone link.

Despite his extended time at sea, Tapio has plenty of food on board and has retained his sense of humour. On April 1, The Finn alerted Race HQ that he had met up with a boatload of girls in mid-Atlantic who, braving shark attacks, had dived over to rid Asteria of her barnacle growth. His Facebook post caught more than a few, some questioning whether this was outside assistance. More here.

RC44 – Montenegro Cup – Porto Montenegro – Day 1 – Team CEEREF SLO ahead of Team Nika RUS after two races

Team CEEREF of Igor Lah SLO with Adrian Stead GBR as tactician has taken the overall lead with the day ranks 1 and 3. Team Nika of Vladimir Prosikhin RUS with Tom Slingsby AUS new on tactics follows one point behind. The first event of the now called 44Cup began in Porto Montenegro yesterday in pouring rain and instable winds. — The results and the daily news. — As in previous years, the amateur owner drivers are joined by some of the Worlds best sailors, competing in some of the most beautiful and diverse sailing venues around the world.