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We don't know the terms of the deal, but we've worked with Tidetech before and hope it works out well for them. From the press release... Tactical racing oceanographic data specialist Tidetech has been recruited to provide oceanographic data and tidal modelling to the 34th America’s Cup. Tidetech has agreed to supply a licence to use its San Francisco 100m v5 model from June 2011 to September 2013. The tidal model created for the San Francisco Bay area has been developed with the America’s Cup in mind but is available to anyone who needs accurate tidal stream data for that location. Tidal models are constructed using detailed bathymetric data (depths) and knowledge of local tidal harmonics. Complex calculations and mathematical analyses are then used to calculate how water moves from one part of the model area to another. The data is subsequently converted into a visual representation either in GRIB format, downloaded to onboard navigation software, or in a set of downloadable images.  ...

We haven't done one of the for awhile and this seemed like a good one. Our friends at West Marine have $50.00 gift cards for the three best captions. Here's ours: "Can you call the Farr office and make sure they wanted this much internal ballast?" Have fun! And thanks to anarchist Tim for the shot - check out his journal......

The 2011 US Trimaran National Championship was sailed last week out of the Pensacola Beach Yacht Club in Pensacola Beach, Florida. The fleet was comprised of two groups. Twenty (20) Corsair and Farrier design trimarans raced with class and PHRF scoring for class and overall awards and ten (10) Weta trimarans raced as a one design class for their southeast championship. The PHRF fleet completed six races over four scheduled days of racing. Two were point to point distance races and the remainder were W/L buoy races. The Weta fleet raced the same format but were able to complete two more buoy races than the PHRF fleet. Conditions were great for the event with sunny skies, comfortable temperatures, two days of racing in 8-15 knots and one day in 4-8 knots. Racing on Day 3 was cancelled after a strong cold front pushed through with 22-25 knot winds even though almost right after the cancellation, the winds moderated to a perfect 12-18 knots! In the PHRF fleet, there were several classes scored: PHRF A, PHRF B, Dash 750/Sprint 750, F-27, and overall. Randy Smyth won PHRF A with his F-25C, John Achim won PHRF B with his F-27, BobHodges won the Corsair Sprint 750/Dash 750 class on his Sprint 750, and John Achim also won the F-27 class. In the overall scoring, Randy Smyth took first followed by Bob Hodges, Don Wigston (Dash 750), Cliff Farrah (Sprint 750), and Tom Reese (C-28R). In the Weta class, there was a two way battle all week between Jim Leonard from Birmingham, AL and Weta designer Chris Kitchen who had traveled to the event from New Zealand. The two finished the series tied and Jim won the overall on the tie-breaker. It was the first time Kitchen had been beaten in a regatta and the...

These pictures are from a spectacular wipeout that occurred at the leeward gate at the Spring Dinghy Championships, held at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club in Victoria, BC. The club recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the issuing of their Royal Warrant. This was such a big deal, that a local brewery even brewed a special beer just for the occasion!  - Anarchist John  ...

Lia Ditton has a few questions for round-the-world cruising couple Gillian and Graeme Mulcahy, who did the Indian Ocean/Red Sea passage at the time when the 58ft sailboat ‘Quest,’ was seized by pirates and her crew shot dead. Image courtesy of Gillian and Graeme. SA: Were you acquainted with the US sailboat ‘Quest’ or her crew? She was a breakaway from Blue Water Rallies – was that a rally you considered following? How many Red Sea rallies are there! GM: We met the couple from ‘Quest’ very briefly, in the Sand bar one happy hour in Ai Chalong in Phuket.  We know of one other Blue Water boat ‘Spirit of Nina’ who did complete the sail down the Gulf and up the Red Sea, unlike all the others who opted to have their boats shipped to Turkey. They did it with a small group of yachts that got together in Salallah. We also met some of the Vasco de Gama Rally but don’t know what happened to them – they were due to depart from Mumbai, which was far from our preferred route. Blue Water, V de G and TTT (Thailand to Turkey) are the only formal ones we know. We had never considered the Blue Water rally because of cost and being too fast. SA: Did this news provoke discussions of any kind, perhaps as to whether it was safe to continue? GM: The ‘Quest’ incident and later kidnapping of ‘ING’ happened after we had left Uligan so we therefore had to continue. Most of us felt that if these incidences had happened before we left then we would have taken the South Africa route. SA: What factors influenced you to choose one rally over another? GM: Although not rally joiners in general, we considered the passage down the...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVrif_09zwE&feature=player_embedded A little Blokart action from the 2011 North American blokart Sailing Championships at Ivanpah. ...

Ian Thomson organiser of the Australian "Save Our Seas Ocean Racing" campaign and his hand selected crew were scheduled to sail around Australia to raise awareness for the cause onboard Brindabella, Australia's most famous racing Maxi yacht on the 11th May. The Sailing Campaign and attempt to break the World Sailing Speed Record for the fastest monohull Around Australia while raising awareness of the destruction of plastic bags has been withdrawn from the Save Our Seas Ocean Racing Circumnavigation of Australia campaign. In a statement and posting on the SOS International facebook page, Thomson claims "the attempt has been put on hold due to unforeseen logistical issues", yet we hear there was trouble in the camp amongst crew with owner Brindabella owner Jim Cooney withdrawing from the effort.  ...

They said it could not be done. Combine an AC 34 event featuring Oracle Racing’s Tom Ehman with the undisputed best sailing party in New York City all for a good cause? Impossible? I give you Hudson River Community Sailing’s 4th Annual Dark ‘n’ Stormy Benefit with an exclusive pre-event featuring an AC 34 update by Tom Ehman from Oracle Racing. Kick off the sailing season properly with fellow sailors as well as HRCS enthusiasts from all over the northeast on May 11th and support the great work that HRCS does providing maritime education to the community at large and more specifically teaching math and science to underprivileged youth through sailing. The main benefit will be held on the Frying Pan Bar and Restaurant located right on the Hudson River in New York City at 26th Street and the pre-event will be held right across the street. Tom has been generous enough to donate his time for the HRCS cause and you don’t want to miss this unique opportunity to hear from such a distinguished individual in the sailing world. Drinks for both events provided by Goslings, Izze Soda, Brooklyn Brewery, Ribera Wines, and Grand Touring Vodka. Taj Weekes and Adowa will provide smooth reggae tunes for great dancing all night long. For more information on HRCS, go to www.hudsonsailing.org where you can also purchase tickets to both the pre-event and main benefit. This is one event you do not want to miss!  If you can't make it, donate to the cause.  - Alex Baum.  ...

485 boats showed up for a breezy Tour de Belle-Ile,led by the 77-foot maxi tri Gitana 11 ,who broke the record in 2 hours and 42 minutes with Seb Josse at the helm, (Whoa, girl!) but nearly was overtaken at the end by Lionel Lemanchois on the super-fast Irens Multi 50 trimaran Prince De Bretagne. Check out the full Launay gallery here, and you can find results from the Tour here. Photos thanks to Christophe Launay.  ...

Despite the last minute politicking of ISAF’s Executive Committee to ignore the well-researched recommendations of the Events Committee, the ISAF Council successfully passed the recommended slate of events for the 2016 Rio games.  All the keelboats are out, a new mixed multihull is in (read the debate on what to use here), as is a women’s skiff (hot) and some trials to be held to see if the boards will be kite or sail powered. Kudos to the Council for doing the right thing, though the Executive’s attempted coup has once again knocked their credibility to the curb.  UK dinghy fanatic and journo Andy Rice has been a scathing critic of the shenanigans in St. Petersburg, and you can read a great summary on what’s wrong with them (along with an unlikely hero of the vote) at his Sailjuice blog. The full slate of events and press release are here, while the debate is heating up here.  ...