This thing is like a Volvo Open 70 except it doesnt have a canting keel and its systems are more refined, says veteran bowman Jerry Kirby as Numbers, Dan Meyerss newly splashed Judel/Vrolijk 66, hits a big wave and jostles the crew, most of whom are stationed near the stern to keep the bow up. All around us are choppy seas; the true-wind instrument reads 18 to 21 knots, and our
We all want our boats to be more stable, but how can this be accomplished? The conventional solution is to hang more ballast off a deeper keel. Think more progressively, and youre talking about water ballasting, which, while effective, also adds extra weight. Go sci-fi, and youre canting your keel to windwardwhich is very effective, but is complicated, accident-prone, and still depends on
You gotta be kidding me! exclaims a muscle-bound member of the crew of Leopard, a brand-new Farr-designed, British-owned 100-foot Super-Maxi, from our observation post aboard her tender. The RCs set the finishing line just off that reef. Leopards doing 15 knots, easy. Theres not much time to gybe, get that kite down, and head up. Seated around me are other
So, you want to campaign a Volvo Open 70. The 200809 Volvo Ocean Race (VOR), a fully crewed around-the-world marathon, started on October 4, 2008, in Alicante, Spain, so you’re out of luck unless your time frame is far downstream. As in, the next race. When the time comes, you could model yourself this way: You could start by buying the VO70 that holds the monohull 24-hour distance record
There is sadly little detailand of course, everything waits for official ratificationbut there is every reason to believe that we have a new sailing speed record of 49.84 knots set by an American, Rob Douglas, with a kite. Douglas is a windsurfer who took to kites only in June. There has been a lot of speculation that kiting development would overtake the lead of windsurfers in
Scott Young of the Austin Yacht Club, deep in the heart of Texas, scored an unprecedented sixth Mallory Cup win over the weekend on San Francisco Bay. With crew John Morran, Doug Kern, and Mike Haggerty, Young claimed the US Men’s Sailing Championship with solid finishes in the fleet of 11 borrowed J/24s. Second was the Mobile, Alabama team of Ken Kleinschrodt, David Bolyard, Michael Mark, and
September 15, 2008Theres a saying in sailboat racing that if theres wind, then everyone is happy. Its safe to say that the competitors in the Rolex Big Boat Series were ecstatic with todays conditions of 8-10 knots in the morning, building to 15+ knots by early afternoon for the regattas final race known as the Bay Tour. The St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC) Race Committee sent the 10
Despite a light wind start to the third day of racing at Rolex Big Boat Series, the St. Francis Yacht Club’s race committee completed two races for the 1,000-plus sailors competing. The wind built to a suitable 6-8 knots while racers waited on San Francisco Bay for the 11am start of race one. However by mid-day the wind picked up to the more typical 15-18 knot range and with a
September 12, 2008Although the grey fogged-over conditions around the St. Francis Yacht Club seemed to deter spectators from gathering along the shore, building 10-15 knot breezes on San Francisco Bay were the only thing on the minds of competitors in the 111-boat fleet racing in the Rolex Big Boat Series. Principal Race Officers Kevin Reeds (Annapolis, MD) and Jim Taylor (San Francisco)
Thirty years after the first Singlehanded Transpacific Race, theres a grassroots, run-what-you-brung, lets-celebrate-life spirit still thriving in West Coast shorthanded sailing. You wont find any French celebrity sailors with million-euro budgets. Nobodys out to beat the world; theyre out to beat their friends. But if youre thinking pushover, you havent met those friends. Lets pick just
A few months ago we took a look at the development and attraction of doublehanded racing (Two to Tango, June/July 2020). Hopefully, that served to
How you approach offshore sailing is key to the success of each passage. In addition, some of the most valuable, even crucial attitudes and skills
Plastic waste—in the form of everything from plastic soda bottles to abandoned fishing nets—constitutes a major threat to the health of the world’s oceans. Giving
The Marblehead to Halifax race that was scheduled for this summer has been canceled due to continuing Covid concerns. Organizers at the Boston Yacht Club
Athletes Daniela Moroz, CJ Perez and Paul Campbell-James have been added to The United States’ SailGP lineup. Also joining the team will be head coach
Although two-thirds of the U.S. boating population lives along the Eastern Seaboard, there are many hardy and enthusiastic cruising sailors on the “left coast” as
The first cruising couple I ever met who was sailing an aluminum boat told me an interesting story. They were French—of course. They’d been anchored
A weather forecast—like an old-school dead-reckoning plot—will decrease in certainty with the passage of time. Over the past five years of arranging offshore charters aboard
In October of 2018, Randall Reeves departed for a second attempt at what he called his “Figure 8 Voyage,” a solo circumnavigation of both the
We were sailing in the Indian Ocean from the Seychelles Islands to Madagascar on my brother’s plywood-built 40ft trimaran, Romany Road, a 1,000-mile voyage. It
