New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

You hopefully got to see Ruben's RUSHMOORE surfing to Hanalei with no one at the helm.

Here is the other end of the spectrum: The fully crewed Santa Cruz 70 OEX surfing to Cabo in last April's Corona del Mar to Cabo San Lucas Race. For reference, the true wind is 26-32 knots and the boat is averaging 16.6 knots. The driver, pro-sailor Benny Mitchell, is one of the best in the business. Note the hatchboards are in place. And the smooth and minimal wheel movement, much appreciated by the boys below in their bunks. At 20 knots if you jerk the wheel, things begin to fly about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyS2slzBTTo&feature=plcp

[BobJ]

Well you did say "averaging" 16.6 - but you had my 30-footer going faster than that on the way to Monterey last year.

I still get a grin thinking about that ride!

[sleddog]

The navigator of OEX in the above video just advised they were averaging 20.6 knots, not 16.6 as reported earlier.

I have vivid memories of racing onboard BobJ's RAGTIME as we ran into Monterey Bay, at night, in 25 knots of wind. And successfully jibed as we flew past another racer that was spun out and on its side. Thanks, Bob!

[sleddog]

A bunch of us sailors were sitting around, watching last evening's election returns. I mentioned WILDFLOWER was at Berkeley Marina and how shoal the nearby mudflats were at low tide. There's even the “Berkeley Reef,” a sandbar that reveals only on minus tides, providing an island for fleet wedding parties wearing gumboots.

Joe reminded me how he grew up in Berkeley, and how in the 50's he and friend Jeff would hang out on the local mudflats nearby to the Albany dumps (now the Albany Bulb East Shore State Park). As 10 year olds, they were aspiring taxidermists and hunted Bay rats using “mud shoes” and Whamo slingshots. For ammo they dug .38 caliber slugs from the local police firing range.

The “mudshoes” were simply four feet of 2x6 with a one foot of 2x4 nailed on top and an old pair of shoes nailed to the 2x4s. They drilled holes through the 2x6 “shoes” to help break the suction, and roamed the mudflats.

One day, well out on the Flats, Joe and Jeff got themselves a large rat, “dead but not quite.” But the incoming tide caught them and they couldn't break the suction and had to abandon the mudshoes and return barefooted.

“The rat we took home and put out of its misery with a deadly combination of pesticides from Jeff's dad's garden shed and food from the kitchen, and were able to send it to off to happy rat Nirvana. Our subsequent dissection and stuffing left a lot to be desired and the final product looked more like a genetic combination of an Armadillo and a Warthog that someone had inflated with a tire pump.”

“It probably was not such a brilliant idea to place it in the desk of a girl I never really cared for in high school,” mused Joe.

Local archeologists and historians take note: there may be strange shoes out “there.”

Jeff is now one of the country's most respected wildlife photographers. http://www.jfoottphotography.com/index.php

[sleddog]

It's great to see our friend Jim Kellam (HAULBACK) honeymooning with his bride Janet on the Baja Ha Ha. Congrats, Jim and Janet!
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/...9#.UJ3osYboqSo

[Libations Too]

Hi Skip, it was great to see you on the Bay today! My wife Anne took these photos...

[sleddog]

Anne and Richard,

Thanks for the photos! It's fun to see what one's boat looks like from an off the boat perspective. The last three photos have us head to wind as we attempt to roll up the loose luffed genoa in favor of our small jib that hanks on the headstay. It was a nce day on the Bay. Winds veered NW at 6-12 knots, with a strong ebb. We set the spinny running back from Pt. Blunt. A couple of harbor porpoise appeared.

I was talking with neighbor Bill aboard his Corsair 31 tri EMMA. Interesting to hear he didn't start sailing until age 70. Bill says his Vivid bottom paint ablates nicely at 17 knots boat speed. I wish.

EMMA races with a BAMA rating of 60. He doesn't carry a spinnaker because they ding him 54 seconds/mile, to 6. Makes sense to me.

[sleddog]

Though I'm not one for video games, I had to see what the shouting was about. Parallel to the start of the Vendee Globe singlehanded race around the world non-stop is the Virtual Vendee Race. I registered, and noted I was "racing" against 242,000 mostly French.

The Virtual Vendee is free to enter. But, you quickly learn, it is seductive and costs to be competitive. Up to 20 Euros buys you an auto pilot, a crew that automatically changes to the right sails at the right time, a routing system, and a full suit of "Pro" sails covering all wind angles. Without these extras, you are like me, sailing with one hand tied behind your back, one jib, one spinny, and have to rely on the wind forecasts to set your boat up in the right place on the right course. Even more fun is waking up at night, find you have been passed by 20,000 "boats," and that due to a windshift, you are now sailing downwind with your jib up. Or upwind with your spinny up. This is slow, and why I find myself currently, off the coast of Portugal, some 220 miles behind the leaders.

The Virtual Race is pretty darn realistic, and lets you also race against the remaining 18 competitors on the water. I represent SAFRAN, but fortunately my virtual keel did not fall off like the real SAFRAN's titanium keel did a few hours after the start. Also, I can jibe with one click of the keyboard, while those boys(and one girl) spend up to half an hour pulling a jibe off.

You quickly learn that downwind, the best Wind Angle is 140-145 degrees anytime the wind is over 15 knots. The Virtual Fleet is splitting right now: about 100,000 are heading west into a low, while another 100,000 are running down the coast, headed for Africa. Many did not exit the Bay of Biscay, and ran aground instead. Nope, there is no Virtual Vessel Assist.

The French take their sailing pretty seriously. The first Yank is in 2,464 position. My virtual boat, "SLEDCAT" currently lies in 68,040 position, making 14.1 knots in 17.3 knots of wind on the port jibe. If anyone else is "racing," would love to hear your comments. http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/

[sleddog]

62 knots. The new top speed for a sailboat, set Monday by Vestas Sail Rocket 2 in Namibia. Its record run spooked the flamingos right off the beach.

Pretty cool boat, if that's what it is. Part windsurfer, part hydrofoil dragster, with a wing mast. Note to self: this is a one way craft, and must be towed back to the start line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dokkk...2WCjyPkG0WvO2w

[AlanH]

62 knots. The new top speed for a sailboat, set Monday by Vestas Sail Rocket 2 in Namibia. Its record run spooked the flamingos right off the beach.

Pretty cool boat, if that's what it is. Part windsurfer, part hyrdofoil dragster, with a wing mast. Note to self: this is a one way craft, and must be towed back to the start line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dokkk...2WCjyPkG0WvO2w

One of my now-out-of-touch CrossPac organizer friends is partners in a similar
Aussie craft that does runs in MacQuarie Bay. The video is pretty amazing, they've been up to 55+ knots.