New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

Gamayun recently asked what made MERLIN so special....As many know, MERLIN epitomized the unofficial theme of Santa Cruz boatbuilding's "Fast is Fun" motto. ULDB's (UltraLightDisplacementBoats), aka "sleds," were being built in half a dozen local boat shops, and MERLIN, at 66 feet, was the biggest and fastest of them all, setting the TransPac Race elapsed time record in 1977 (the year she was launched) that stood for 20 years.



It's hard to not have MERLIN flashbacks from those years. There weren't many mono-hulls that regularly went 20 knots back then. Bill Lee would appear in his Wizard outfit whenever a new boat would come down from the chicken coop to get launched, usually on a Friday afternoon when most of the Harbor locals and workers would join the party.

MERLIN has always been a "people's boat" and the more the merrier. In Santa Cruz, a Wednesday Night Race crew of 35 to 45 aboard MERLIN was not uncommon, and if Bill didn’t cast off promptly at 5:30 p.m., more would have climbed aboard. Bill would sip brandy in the main cabin and watch the passing action through the large cabin windows. From the aft cabin, a bunk the full width of the boat, people drifted in and out, experiencing a contact high as purple smoke wafted out the transom ports. One of the favorite activities for guests was to climb into the narrow bow of MERLIN and position their backs on one side of the hull and their knees on the other. Going to weather, the bow would flex and pant, compressing you gently in a fetal hug known as the "Cosmic Squeeze.“

The Coast Guard didn't know what to make of these shenanigans, and would judiciously count each crew leaving MERLIN after every Wednesday night race. Bill Lee knew what was coming next, and would be asked to show a lifejacket for each crew counted. Just as certainly, Bill would pull out five or six large sailbags from the forepeak, and empty dozens of lifejackets on the dock to be counted.

Before the 1977 TransPac, race safety inspector Hayes McClellan wanted all the requirements meticulously adhered to by the new rogue boat from Santa Cruz. As Hayes went down his list, he stopped at the motoring requirement. "OK, I want to see this boat motor at 8 knots," he boomed in his deep, authoritative voice. Dave Wahle, MERLIN's bosun and professional garbage man, cast off the docklines and, with Hayes aboard, roared down Santa Cruz Harbor at 8 knots, backwards. Santa Cruz Harbor's winter sandbar blocked the entrance, so when MERLIN reached the end of the harbor, Dave spun the wheel. MERLIN turned on a dime, nearly throwing Hayes overboard. They then motored triumphantly, with the whole Harbor watching, back to MERLIN's slip, again at 8 knots in reverse. Hayes quickly checked off the rest of the safety items and bemusedly fled this craziness.”

During those years, it seemed everyone in Santa Cruz claimed they had sailed on MERLIN at one time or another. That was probably true, as in one local election. Bill Lee, without campaigning, got more votes as Port Commissioner (for which he still serves) than the newly elected Mayor.

[red roo]

Well, well, well. Stanford University was just gifted four new Ideal 18 keelboats for match racing. These beauties were designed by Bruce Kirby, who also designed the Laser, the Sonar and the San Juan 24. Check out the name on this one. Appropriately numbered too.

While attending Stanford, Sleddog was one of just a handful of sailors in the nation to receive the prestigious award of Intercollegiate All-American Sailor.

[Philpott]

What a pretty little boat, and how appropriate that its photograph should appear under this thread's title. Universities have libraries or courtyards and scholarships named in memory of alumni. And now, at Stanford, there is a Legacy Boat named after a single-handed sailor of significant renown. Very excellent.

[Philpott]

Anyway, we're clogging up Skip's thread.

Last time I enquired, Skip's thread got 500 hits per day.

[BobJ]

Since I brought up the subject of the Alameda Marina Development, I took the liberty of moving those posts over to a new thread under Shorthanded Sailing.

[pogen]

Last time I enquired, Skip's thread got 500 hits per day.

The whole forum serves up about 500 threadviews/day. I suppose a lot of them are coming here.

[sleddog]

Having lived aboard and worked in the area bounded by the proposed
Alameda Marina Development, I am dismayed, and encourage any and all who can attend the informational meeting tonight at 7 pm at the Island Yacht Club to do so.

Please note the thread concerning the Alameda Marina Master Plan has been moved to "Shorthanded Sailing."

[chautauqua]

Soooo appropriate!!!! Congrats Skip.

[sleddog]

Solo sailors at sea are not a very talkative bunch. Who you gonna talk to, the dog?

But put a bunch of experts on the same boat with the destination being downwind to Hawaii, and the conversation will be heated, never ending, and argumentative about the best course to sail to get there the fastest.

Nothing ruins a conversation faster than to be dogmatic, and as navigator, post a easy-to-read, laminated table of SPEED INCREASE needed to offset DEGREES OFF COURSE. This table can be taped on the aft side of the cabin for all to see, especially the driver and the trimmer.

The trig formula to derive the table is del V = V * (( cos(X)/cos(XX)) – 1.0)

Or send me an e-mail, and if you are nice, I will send the table. Laminated might cost extra. This table of raw data should be in the briefcase of every navigator, especially sailing to Hawaii.

The table makes some assumptions we are likely familiar with. For best speed, you never want to steer exactly at the mark. The wind is almost never steady in speed or direction. You sail up in the lulls, and down in the puffs. 10 degrees off desired course is trivial because all you need is to increase speed from 6.0 to 6.1 knots to offset a 10 degree course change. Similarly, an increase in speed from 6 knots on course, to 6.4 knots when sailing 20 degrees high, or low, of course, more than makes up for the extra distance.

So get the spinnaker up, put the pole on the headstay, and go fast.

The Table of SPEED INCREASE vs.DISTANCE OFF COURSE tells you what course to sail to get closet to the mark the fastest. It doesn't matter if your boat is an ultra light, multi-hull, or leadmine.

Some will argue: "Oh, I have a routing program that will tell me what course to sail." Maybe so, if you trust the routing program not to lead you off the edge of the World and into the Doldrums of the Pacific High.

Meanwhile, I'm back talking with the dog.

[sleddog]

Happens all the time. If you've never had the heart stopping experience of rounding Blackaller buoy in good breeze and current while a fleet of boats racing in a different regatta sponsored by a different yacht club rounds Blackaller in the opposite direction, I can't recommend the experience for the faint of heart or weak in hull and rigging insurance.

A slightly different situation was recently presented to one of our SSS members while racing out of Richmond YC around Angel and Alcatraz Islands Their boat encountered two other boats racing out of San Francisco YC, and headed to a different mark. The situation that developed was one of the SFYC boats, sailing downwind on port tack, collided with the other, downwind on starboard tack, causing substantial damage. The nearby RYC racer was protested, and a hearing was held at SFYC, eventually absolving the RYC racer.

I can't speak to the circumstances. What I find unusual is the scenario where boats in one race can protest boats in another race, on another course, out of a different yacht club.

We all agree (I think) that a racing boat without right-of-way must stay clear of a non-racer with right-of-way. Hailing "I'm racing" doesn't mean a hill of beans if you are obligated to keep clear under the International and Inland Navigation Rules for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS).

Those rules are simple to remember, much clearer than the Racing Rules of Sailing: Whenever two sailing vessels approach each other where a risk of collision exists, Port keeps clear of Starboard, Leeward stays clear of Windward, and Overtaking stays clear of Overtaken.

But what if boats in different races, out of different yacht clubs, meet? It could get ugly, especially if one fleet is rounding a mark or downwind gate the other fleet is not. My interpretation, for lack of written guidance in the Racing Rules of Sailing, is that in this situation, the COLREGS Right of Way Rules would be in effect, not the Racing Rules of Sailing. I.E., an inside boat on port tack can't tell a starboard tack boat in a different race to get out of the way because "I'm rounding a mark."

I could be wrong, and would encourage anyone who sees it differently to respond.