SAIL.SailMagazine

© Erik Simonson

From halfway around the world comes the clearest account yet of the Artemis crash.

This story also makes it very clear just how much pain Andrew Simpson’s crewmates are feeling, having had the boat collapse “like a taco shell” and having tried but failed to free their “Bart” who was sandwiched in the wreckage. Alive and struggling when they got to him. But.

No rest for the weary. I went to bed last night at 7pm, knowing full well that we’d be up again at 2 the next morning to cover the early morning shift. That’s how it goes when we have boats coming in one after another and have to be there on the dock to greet that. No matter how tired you are though, it’s pretty invigorating greeting crews on the dock who have just completed an ocean passage. They’re always thrilled to be there and provide a little boost of energy with their excitement.

To:      All residents of s/v Papillon
From:  Amy Schaefer
CC:     Any interested parties
Date:   May 10, 2013
Re:      Land-Visit Policies and Procedures
Comments:

When it’s my people.

ABClocal/KGO

Written by Ben Ellison on May 9, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub

Okay, busy day for Andy & Mia today on SAILfeed! We just got the official word from the main office in Cowes that the World Cruising Club is expanding the ARC Rally, something Mia and I have enjoyed working on for the past four years. Here's the official press release...

Note: I wrote this about a week ago in Tortola, during the ARC Europe / Atlantic Cup start week. It was a nice evening.

I’m back in my element now. After four long days being social and cheerful, I find myself a bit exhausted. Mia doesn’t understand this. Introverts (and I classify myself as one), find it physically tiring to be in social situations. Some more than others, of course (so I’ve read). I’m there now. Don’t get me wrong, I lovethese events, wouldn’t be doing anything different. But being introverted, it takes a real effort to be social, and all of the time. It wipes me out.

So now, here I am. Cold shower to clean off the grit and sweat from the Caribbean sun. A hot cup of strong coffee that we packed along with us. Music playing in the background (always Moby’s ambient music when I write, at least since Australia in 2005). And my computer screen darkened except for the white Word document I have open currently. I’m basically talking to myself when I write like this. But that's easy. There is only me here.

Anyway. This is eventually going to morph into my next Spinsheet article, but it hasn’t quite gotten there yet. I like to start these out simply as a stream of consciousness to get my fingers moving and get me in the mood to write. That takes time as well, that shift. The shift from being outgoing and social all day to come back to this, thinking about what I’m going to put down on the page.

There is always a connection to the Chesapeake in some way with these articles, and this idea provides several in fact, even though it takes place farther afield. That’s what I love about writing for Spinsheet. One of the things anyway. That I can usually choose my topic and write from the heart. I find they’re my best articles, or at least my favorite, even if the subjects sometimes aren’t so professional.

The local team in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, American Youth Sailing Force, explored the edge over the weekend, and peeked (and peaked) over—

See capsize and recovery from every point of view

This comes via Scuttlebutt. And, oh man, I would have enjoyed watching it. You gotta love Dalton.

"Mate, what the hell went wrong?"

That was all Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton needed to say kick off a heated debate with Sir Russell Coutts when the two yachting adversaries squared off in a charity dinner last night...

Coutts got off to a rather tame start, opening with a video detailing Oracle's struggles and triumphs over the past 12 months.

Dalton chose another tack with his introductory video, playing an interview with Larry Ellison in 2010, in which the Oracle owner made all sorts of bold promises - most of which have not eventuated. The move hit a raw nerve with Coutts, who later leapt to the defence of his boss, warning "he'll get to hear about this".

In the video Ellison claimed there would be many as 16 challengers, with "more international teams than ever before" and pegged the cost of competing at just $2m-$4m.

He also promised the design rule would be simplified and the boats would be cheap to engineer - they would not be going back to the complex wingsail technology like that which was seen in Oracle's trimaran, which won the deed of gift challenge in 2010 - a point that was met with derisive laughter from the audience.

"Mate, what the hell went wrong?" Dalton asked when the video wrapped up.

C'mon, Team New Zealand! Let's bring a little excitement back to the Cup: post that video to your YouTube channel! Until you do, I guess I have to run with this:

This is one of the most common questions I get from land folks.  It is usually accompanied by a wide-eyed look and a shake of the head, as though we wake up every morning in our floating prison cell, wondering how to fill the dark and heavy hours until lights-out.

You'll have to excuse our absence on SAILfeed in the past week. It's been full-on getting the Atlantic Cup and ARC Europe rallies underway here in Tortola. But it's been a blast too, and now the fleet is finally at sea! I wrote this press release just now to announce the departure. To follow the fleet, head on over to worldcruising.com. On Wednesday, Mia and I head to Bermuda, where the fun continues! After sailing in ARC Europe last year on Kinship, it's fun to be on the organizing side this year. Enjoy!

Thirty yachts hailing from twelve different nations took the start at noon today in the ARC Europe and Atlantic Cup Cruising Rallies. The 2013 editions of each event marks the first occasion in which both fleets took the same starting line, and will compete together in two classes en route to Bermuda.

Written by Ben Ellison on May 3, 2013 for Panbo, The Marine Electronics Hub

Our first couple of nights after leaving La Paz we had strong coromuel winds, but after getting just another twenty miles or so north the nights have been silent. No swell—the beauty of the east coast of Baja—and not a ripple on the water. You can’t sleep better than that.

Today we motored an hour north to Puerto Escondido—it is time to fill up the water tanks, do some laundry, and stock up some fresh fruit.

We moved on up to Bahia Candeleros today where we had promised the kids the most awesome kid pool ever. Silly stupid parents—never promise anything to kids.

After anchoring the dinghy in the shallows we waded ashore in front of the all-inclusive resort that had welcomed all cruisers with open arms last year. Up the stairs we went on a beeline for the pool. At the top of the stairs a security guard walked towards us and I got that sinking feeling.

“Hola. Have you been here before?” he asked.

Taken aback—happily—I replied, “Yes, last year.”

“Bienvenidos.” Welcome.

With seven more boats, this picture would have been complete

Hallelujah, the Vega Carina was approaching Barbados from Trinidad as of late Wednesday, presumably with The Container aboard and its contents of seven 5O5s, masts and sails for another dozen or more boats, and international juror Vicki Gilmour’s rule book.

All right, so this was a little awkward.

The family we offered the clothes to came out in their boat this afternoon. We invited them aboard and we all sat up front and played with the car and some toys for a little bit.

Cool. Nice little boy, friendly mother and I had a nice chat with the dad and a friend of theirs. We gave them the bag of clothes and as they were pulling away the dad asked me again, “Langostas?”

Sure, we’ll take some lobster.