Sailing Anarchy

market disruptors?

The new J/99, built by J Composites in France, is J Boats’ answer to extensive customer demand for a smaller ‘adventure racer.’ True to this globally successful brand’s fundamental philosophy, it has an allround performance hull, rather than a boxy, hard-chined body with squat, Open-style stern sections like so many boats on the racecourse today.

The 32.6′ J/99 is equipped with a powerful, easily controlled keelstepped rig, which optimises the boat’s reaching and downwind sail configurations. As a result, the J/99 is designed to plane in 17+ knots of breeze, but won’t drag extra wetted surface in light airs. It is designed to be IRC/ORC rating friendly, not too far from the successful J/97 but longer on the waterline with less overhang. The trial certificate for boat number one, which we sailed at the turn of the year on the Solent in seven to 10 knots of chilly breeze, comes in at 1.015, comparing favourably in between the JPK 1010 (about 1.006) and the Jeanneau SunFast 3600 (around 1.040).

Read on

i got a hat

Don’t know how y’all feel about trophies, but I like them, and I like them to be half-way decent. Pickle dish, acrylic triangle, or something more creative. I think they represent a job well done when sailing well enough to get one, and I think they should be something good enough to put on display, in some fashion.

So when trophies were handed out this past Saturday by the host club, the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA) decided that hats would be good enough. Of course we had a dismal turnout for the SD event, but either way, SCYA deemed that hats would suffice. A hat? Actually two hats which makes it four short of one for each of our crew.

And not just any hats; the cheapest, lamest hats with bad embroidery. Why not just give out MAGA hats? They would be no worse than these.

Now I get that SCYA likely doesn’t have much money, but jeez, is that the best that they can do? – ed.

the return of lia

I have known Lia Ditton for 14 years, during which time we followed her offshore sailing efforts, often wrote for SA, and she even raced with me on the Original Anarchy!

How cool is it then to know that Lia is going to race with us on A4 this weekend in dago! Super excited to see her again and I hope I don’t suck too much while racing…!

Since most of Lia’s photos are of her rowing, I grabbed this sailing shot from of a nubile Lia at the helm of an Antrim trimaran from FitWild.

Discuss, if you wish.

america’s cup anarchy

Of course that is the name of our wild AC Anarchy Forum, and it is where many of you go to roam about all things AC.

We are quite proud to announce that Southern Spars is the new title sponsor for the forum for 2019. Of course their products are superb and we truly appreciate their support!

67 years ago…

On Feb. 18, 1952, four men risked their lives in a howling nor’easter off Cape Cod to save 32 mariners on the shipwrecked tanker Pendleton. They brought all but one to safety in a wooden motorboat designed to hold no more than 16 people.

They were four Coast Guardsmen at the Chatham Lifeboat Station who volunteered to try to make what seemed to be an impossible rescue. They faced freezing temperatures and 60-foot waves in the hopes of reaching the Pendleton, an oil tanker that had snapped in two during the fierce storm. All received the Gold Lifesaving Medal, the Coast Guard’s highest honor, for “extreme and heroic daring.”

The Coast Guard called it the greatest rescue by a small boat in its history. The four men were called heroes. They shrugged it off and said they were just doing their job.  Jump in the thread.

still the best game in town?

The challenge for the 2019 52 Super Series title promises to be the most open since the circuit started in Barcelona in May 2012. Quantum Racing, so long the grand prix circuit’s benchmark team, are making their biggest ever set of changes to their crew line-up.

Vladimir Lyubomirov’s Russian-flagged Bronenosec return armed with the only new-build boat this season, and a winter of fine-tuning and optimisation to seven of the nine boats that were new for 2018 (Luna Rossa is for sale and Onda has recently changed hands) will only ensure that racing is tighter than ever. Read on.

creep found guilty

David Hopkins, a San Diego sailor who once tried to race a Tripp 40 in the double handed race to Hawaii (but was denied as one of the sailors was blind), had been arrested and charged with one count each of attempting to use a minor to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, attempting to coerce or entice a minor, traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and transferring of obscene material to a minor, has been found guilty by a federal jury.  Read on.

mass opti attack

Bitchin shot from the Palamos Optimist Trophy. More here.

just do it!

So the reasons that this is cool are obvious. But what makes the Dago offer even better is that you get to race against the Ed as he is chartering a 21 for the Nood event!!

Over the next two months RS are excited to offer two exciting RS21 charter opportunities for the San Diego NOOD Regatta and Charleston Race Week.

The RS21 is the newest model from RS Sailing, the world’s largest small sailboat manufacturer with a mission to get more people sailing. The RS21 provides a high stability hull, user-friendly rig and well-balanced helm for between two and four people to race. Not only is the RS21 a pleasure to sail, RS Sailing dramatically reduced the carbon footprint associated with production of the boat by building a hull made from eco-friendly materials.

Sailing World editor, Dave Reed, expressed his enthusiasm towards the introduction of an RS21 fleet at the NOOD Regattas “As a boat that’s designed and built for fleet racing, match racing or team racing, it’s a perfect fit for our regattas. The charter and coaching concept is an excellent and economical way for teams to come and race, to learn and experience a truly modern keelboat.”

With one month to go before the first race of the San Diego NOOD Regatta, 15-17 March, there are still opportunities to book a charter boat via the RS Sailing store website for $2,500.00 per boat. This will also include one day of training on the 14 March.

Charlseton Race Week, 11-14 April, is the premier multi-class sailing regatta in America and offers three days of excellent competition, evening debriefs and parties. You can now enter with an early registration discount and book your RS21 charter boat via the RS Sailing store website for $2,500.00 per boat. This will also include on day of training on the 10 April.

This is a great opportunity for sailors to experience world-class racing in a rewarding and exciting environment with the RS21.

waist deep in the promised land

Imagine your favorite pillow.
White and fluffy and as soft as a baby lamb’s coat. Rolling contours envelope the surface creating a personal palace for your head to sink into.

Now imagine the same landscape but instead of a pillow, it’s a wide open winter wonderland of snow covered meadows, subtle valleys and endless terrain. You are just a spec on it’s surface.

Instead of your head sinking in, you’re able to effortless glide across the terrain, riding in and out of valleys, across ridges and floating over streams below.

This is snow kiting.
No waiting in lift lines.
No over priced lift tickets.
Just you, the kite and a pair of skis or snowboard.
Happiness can be found at the end of a kite.

This years mid winter adventure took me to the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming- east of Yellowstone National Park for the 2019 Snowkite Masters. It was a gathering of like minded kiters from the Rocky Mountains & East and West coasts at North America’s premiere snow kite lodge- Wyoming High Country lodge.

Snow kiting combines the best of snowboarding, sking and kiting. It allows you to ride practically anywhere- up and down the mountain, across powder filled meadows, rolling terrain, gullies and ridges. You can glide down the face of the mountain as the updraft provides continuous lift for the kite. You can ride for miles in any direction exploring endless powder.

However, it ain’t as easy as it sounds.

Just getting there and setting up in the cold weather can be a feat

Huffing around to set up kites and snow gear with 5 layers of clothes on and an harness at 9500′ elevation takes it toll. So does postholing through the powder to get set up.

I’m not gonna lie. It was cold. -20 wind chill.
2 base layers, wool sweater, 2 downs & a shell + 2 kite mares on my first afternoon out left me wondering what the hell I was doing.

For the full adventure, check Steve’s blog here.

sail fu

We tried watching a couple races of the barely talked about Sail GP Series and found it almost unwatchable. How they manage to take these fairly quick cats and make the racing so uninteresting is a mystery Perhaps its much like F1 racing – the cars get separated very quickly, with little wheel to wheel combat, often almost no passing, with the races ending up as snoozers for fans.

This was that. We think they should race these things in 15 knots of breeze at a minimum. How the hell else are fans going to get stoked to see a bit of a racing spectacle? Why is NASCAR so much better than F-1? Because there are 40 cars, running wheel to wheel. F-1 has 21 cars spread out by minutes in some races.

So if you can’t have wheel to wheel, or hull to hull, then you’ve got to turn these things loose in breeze. Otherwise, you are saddled with something that is just not very compelling.  – ed.

Jump in the thread here.

what is it?

SailGP. Ever heard of it?  I didn’t think so but get ready to hear a lot more about it in the next few months. In my opinion it’s the most exciting sailing event to come around in decades. If you enjoyed the last America’s Cup in Bermuda then you are going to love SailGP.  It’s the America’s Cup on steroids and the first race is set to take place this Friday in Sydney, Australia.

Larry Elisson, after taking a bit of a drumming in the last America’s Cup at the hands of Team New Zealand, seems to have decided to create his own event which I am sure he believes will be more exciting than the Cup races. He purchased all the existing AC 50 catamarans and have refitted them to be One Design. Word has it that he turbo-charged them as well but I have no specific details about that.

They were already pretty turbo-charged. Elisson, along with Russel Coutts, his long time right hand man in all things sailing related, came up with the idea of fleet racing these boats. From their website. “SailGP was created to engage and excite global sports fans year-round in a supercharged, fast-paced version of sailing aimed at increasing its mainstream popularity, introducing the next generation to the sport and creating a career path for extraordinary athletes.”

I thought that it was pretty extraordinary to watch just two boat duke it out in Bermuda but imagine six of them on the same race course closing at speeds approaching 80 miles an hour. The format works like this. For each race, teams will be scored from 10 points for a win, through to five points for sixth place. Then, for the final race of each event, only the top two teams will face each other.

The winner of the last race will win the event overall for that venue and the points will be carried forward and accumulated until the final showdown in Marseille in September. And the big news is, for sailing at least, there is a purse of one million dollars to be taken home by the overall winner.

There are six teams; United States, Australia, Japan, Great Britain, France and China and among the skippers there are four olympic champions and seven America’s Cup winners. There is no shortage of talent and ego’s aside they will all be gunning hard to win this inaugural series. Skippers are Dylan Fletcher (UK), Rome Kirby (USA), Billy Besson (France), Phil Robertson (China), Tom Slingsby (Australia) and Nathan Outteridge (Japan).

The first event starts this Friday in Sydney, Australia with the iconic Opera House as a backdrop. It’s fitting that Sydney was chosen for the first series since for decades Sydney has been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries with fast sailboats. I have witnesses firsthand a fleet of Sydney Harbor 18-foot skiffs blasting around the harbor and it’s pretty intense. I can only imagine what it’s going to be like with these new boats now named the F50’s screeching around the harbor. As local favorite Tom Slingsby noted at the press conference, “Sydney Harbor can suddenly become very small when you are traveling at 50 knots.” No kidding.

From Australia the series moves on to San Francisco in May, New York in June, Cowes on the Isle of Wight in August finishing in Marseille in September. While I love the history and pageantry of the America’s Cup I think that this kind of sailing event will eclipse the AC in terms of interest from the public. Time will tell. Let’s just wait and see how the first series goes but if anyone has deep enough pockets to make the event a success Mr Oracle certainly does. – Brian Hancock.

In the United States
CBSSN: Delayed broadcast
15 Feb 12-2am ET .
15/16 Feb 11pm-1am ET
SailGP APP: Live multi-view video and data
Facebook: Live host broadcast
SOURCE: https://sailgp.com/watch/

sorry ass san diego

Last weekend there was a promise of the Flying Tiger 10 “fleet” racing in the south bay for two days – the best racing area in all of Dago, but only three boats signed up, one of which could sail one day, so there was no race. A4 could only do one day as well.

This weekend is the SCYA Midwinter regatta out of SWYC  for PHRF boats, only one day, Saturday. Would you care to venture how many total PHRF boats are registered? How does four total (now six! – ed) sound?  And A4 is one of them. With three days before the regatta, only four god damn boats are signed up.

I have suggested that perhaps with even a few more entries, we can all race together in one class, and do it inside the bay, as it is projected to blow 16-18 and given SWYC’s often poor R/C work in the ocean, the bay would be a much easier venue.

Come on people, sign up and let’s have a fun day on the breezy bay!

new rules

Hey this is pretty interesting. The Ed here will be skippering one of the new RS 21’s at the San Diego Noods…

RS Sailing are excited to introduce an open sailmaker format for the RS21 class racing.

The concept of the RS21 began with the key focus to keep the boat affordable and open to a broad range of customers using the one-design ethos. Sails can be an expensive part of any boat ownership and in the interest of keeping costs down, RS Sailing have ordinarily provided all sails for our boats. Historically, the open sailmaker format often leads to large increases in the cost of purchasing sails which this concept hopes to address.

Alex Newton-Southon, RS Sailing CEO – Design & Technologies explains, “At RS Sailing we understand that sailmakers are extremely influential and an important part of the community. From the independents to the big brands, we want to engage and welcome their involvement with the RS21 class.

The ‘Open Sail Maker’ concept will not change the goal of the class, which is to keep ownership of the RS21 affordable but more importantly to preserve the one-design ethos RS Sailing has always built into RS boats and sails.

To achieve this, RS Sailing has decided on the RSD format with open manufacture, allowing a limited number of minor changes within strict class rules and using a specific set material.

RS Sailing have worked with Dimension-Polyant, the world-leading manufacturer in sail laminates to develop a unique sail material for strength and reliability. The unique material is open to any licenced RS21 sailmaker to purchase either directly through Dimension-Polyant or through RS sailing at a fixed cost.

RS Sailing will grant a licence to any sailmakers who are interested in being a part of the RS21 movement. Read on.

love lesson

This funniness is thanks to Sarah Steenland.

this one?

London, UK – World Sailing drives hard on the Offshore Mixed Keelboat. As reported by Fare Vela, some of the world’s major construction sites, including real giants, are very interested in the project of the new Olympic class for Marseille 2024, the nautical headquarters of the Paris Games.

The lawsuit on the Olympic sailing monopolies, which has arrived in the European Commission’s Anti-Trust offices, will take 12-18 months, so the possible consequences, with the opening scenario of the Olympic class market to more producers , will not necessarily take place before the end of the current Olympic cycle.

Read on, thanks to Farevela.

the answer?

There has been a significant amount of hype and hyperbole about the development of headsails without furling torque-cables, and, like most good ideas, this concept has been around for a while. At North Sails their designers began working on this concept with Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand during the 34th America’s Cup, when radical boat designs placed extreme loads on the 3Di headsails.

The design and engineering challenge was to deliver a solution where headsail loads were redistributed from the torque cable/headstay and shared with the sail. Known within the North offices as Load Sharing Technology this feature, when paired with a 3Di Helix Luff, is North Sails’ answer to what others may call the cable-less headsail concept. Read on.

boom science

Why does my roller-furling boom look like it does! There’ve been fascinating benefits to Anna being shortlisted for the global 2019 Classic Boat Award: You get a lot of comments from around the globe. Great questions, from the over 200,000 that we estimate have seenAnna’s nomination, have come from Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, as well as France Germany and the Netherlands. We figure, why not answer a few: Namely, why does Anna’s boom look like it does. The world wants to know! Read on.