In sailing, numbers are ephemeral. One second, VMG is up; the next its down. Crews battle for gains that are won and lost in heartbeats: The New York Stock Exchange can be more stable (now) than the parade of numbers dancing across the truth display situated under the boom. But it’s these cycles of feast or famine that make sailing an intellectual game, and that’s why so many
By David SchmidtGetting here isnt easy. For some, it involves a multi-leg prop-job hop from a major airport to a local airport to the tiny airstrip known as Key West. For me, it involved a hair-raising journey on a jet-powered CRJ that managed to land on a very short runway, one rear wheel in contact with Planet Earth before the side winds relented, full contact was made,
Francis Joyon completed his solo round-the-world voyage in 57 days, 13 hours 34 minutes, smashing Ellen MacArthur’s existing record by 14 days. The IDEC trimaran crossed the finish line off Brest on Sunday, January 20 at 00:39:58 French time, making Joyon for a second time the fastest solo yachtsman around the world. For more, follow the link to Kimball Livingston’s blog entry on
Volvo Ocean Race makes confirmed stopover in Indian city of KochiBy David SchmidtRickshaws, chai, incense, street vendors, sacred cows, sardhus, ashrams, and Volvo Open 70s? Indeed, the worlds highest-tech monohulls might seem oddly juxtaposed with Indias more iconic symbols, but it is confirmed: The Indian city of Kochi (in the state of Kerala) will host the second
If you race sailboats in the U.S., you have no doubt witnessed a parade of rating-rule acronyms in the past decade: IMS, Americap, PHRF. Now theres a new contender in the alphabet-soup rating-rule game. IRC has been used widely in the U.K. and Europe for years, but it was introduced in the U.S. only a couple of years ago. So far the transition has been fairly smooth, with almost 600 IRC
By Kimball LivingstonI’ve lost track of how many times I’ve walked onto the deck of a raceboat full of strangers and walked off with a new set of friends. It tells me something about the game. Or about the people who play the game. Or something.Of course it’s easy to make friends when you share an interest, but there’s more here than you get out of birding with
By Kimball Livingston Stall: In a shed, a division for one animal. No. Simply, no. Stall: In sports, to play worse or more slowly than one is capable of. Yeah, but in this deal, no. Stall: Any pretext to prevent or delay action. Okay, that fits. Stall: In aerodynamics, a
Watch video of the Avanti ripping it up at 19+ knots in Block Island Sound.(May take several minutes to download.) Clip 1 | Clip 2Hey David, do you have a life-insurance policy? Ken Read asks, poking his head through the companionway of the Volvo Open 70 Puma Avanti as we pound
The Portimo Global Ocean Racethe worlds first Solo-Double Racehas officially published their Notice of Race, the official document that governs next years solo/doublehanded round-the-world ocean race. Publishing our Notice of Race is a defining moment for us and for our competitors who can now move their campaigns forward with the utmost confidence, said Race Director Josh Hall. The NOR
If youve ever tried to sail a beam-reach course with a kite up on standard spinnaker-pole rigged boat, you have undoubtedly had to deal with the difficulty of tight sheeting angles on the guy when the pole is eased forward to the forestay. Traditionally, this is alleviated with reaching struts. While these work well, they represent another spar that must be clipped in place (usually to either
The schedule for the PRADA Cup has been revealed as a multitiered extravaganza featuring over a month of racing, stretching from January 15 through February
A Superbowl is a Superbowl, and a World Series is a World Series. Sure, the names of the players and the teams change from year-to-year,
Over the next few weeks, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team, the New York Yacht Club’s American Magic effort and INEOS Team UK will all battle
Emirates Team New Zealand Defender, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Though pulling off an event like the America’s Cup during a global pandemic was never
The past year has been a strange and tragic one, to say the least. A funny thing happened, though, on the way to everybody just
The first five Vendée Globe boats have passed Cape Horn and are beginning the final leg through the Atlantic, back to Les Sables d’Olonne, while
I am writing this a few days before Christmas in the awful Plague Year of 2020 and am marveling at the great Double Alignment. Can
Sportscar builders say, “Speed costs, how fast do you want to go?” This is also true of boats. And if you can foot the bill,
After 45 years with Catalina Yachts, including four decades as chief yacht designer and executive vice-president, Gerry Douglas says he will be retiring in 2021.
Our Nautor’s Swan 59, Icebear, was as close to Bermuda as we were going to get on our passage south to the BVI from the
