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Around the World of Sailing

12 June  2002

Event News: Volvo Ocean Race Concludes
Available on line at:
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/ju/0612/ms.htm

The final leg a short 220-mile sprint saw overall winner
illbruck finish strong, Djuice pull off a last gasp win, the
best finish for the all women crew and the contest for 3rd
end at anchor.

illbruck entered her home sponsors country 2nd. This was
more than sufficient to further pad their lead. Djuice
ended the race on a high note by stripping the boat of three
crew and excelling in the light conditions to win. The
women of Amer Sports Too had their best finish in 4th, ahead
of their male team maters on Amer Sports One. However, for
Grant Dalton's group this finish was enough for 3rd overall.

When Amer's 3rd place competitors went to the west of Anholt
Island they had leverage on Dalton and crew. News Corp's
Peter Isler describes the situation they encountered: "Worse
than that, the GPS told us that we were actually sailing
away from the mark necessitating the call for the anchor.
For two hours we battled a knot and a quarter of foul tide
without enough wind to make forward progress - anchor firmly
in the mud." With that Amer Sports had 3rd overall. Assa
Abloy finished this leg 3rd and race 2nd overall.

Below find links to ATWOS' coverage of the VOR on a leg by
leg basis. In the online version of this article is a table
summarizing the success of ATWOS' predictions, overall
finishing order and each boats best result.

To the end this edition of the VOR had an extremely
competitive feel. It may have lacked the drama you can get in
solo around the world racing or the mind-blowing miles of
maxi cats circling the race, but as an on the water event it
was the closest ever.

Links:
Preview
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2001/se/0919/ms.htm
Leg 1
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2001/oc/1031/ms.htm
Leg 2
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2001/de/1205/ms.htm
Leg 3 Part 1
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/ja/0102/ms.htm
Leg 3 Finish
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/ja/0109/ms.htm
Leg 4
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/fe/0220/ms.htm
Leg 5
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/ma/0327/ms.htm
Leg 6 
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/ap/0424/ms.htm
Leg 7
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/my/0515/ms.htm
Leg 8
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/my/0529/ms.htm
Leg 9
http://www.rowingreporter.com/linky/#10

illbruck's spoils: Fighting Finish trophy for 1st overall, Waterford Crystal Trophy for 2nd in leg 9 and Roaring Forties Trophy for the best aggregate score for the two Southern Ocean legs.
Credit: © Rick Tomlinson

John Kostecki and 1st overall trophy
Credit: ©Rick Tomlinson

2nd overall Assa Abloy arrives in Kiel
Credit: ©Rick Tomlinson

Grant Dalton and 3rd place trophy
Credit: ©Rick Tomlinson

4th place Tyco afterguard at start of Leg 9

5th place Bart and News Corp at Leg 9 start

6th place Djuice celebrates final leg win
Credit: © Jon Nash/djuice dragons

7th place SEB and specatator fleet start of Leg 9
Credit: ©Oskar Kihlborg Team SEB

8th place Amer Sports Too beats Amer Sports One on the final leg
Credit: ©Rick Tomlinson

Theme Article: Anchoring- Types Part I
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/ju/0612/ms.htm


Type: Horizontal Claw
Comments: Similar to North Sea oil platform anchors. Works 
well with bow roller. Not great with soft bottoms. 
Example: http://www.lewmar.com/webcat/features/anchors.html

Type: Bruce Anchor
Comments: Strong, reliable and versatile. Needs a roller, 
trouble with soft bottoms. Less scope needed, easy to 
break out.
Example: http://www.bruceanchor.co.uk/cast.htm

Spade Anchor
Comments: Sharp points and edges help in setting. 
Example: http://www.spade-anchor.com/Site%20anglais/US/default_US.html

Next week we will consider anchor rhodes- the cordage and
chain that connect the anchor on the bottom to your boat.

Event News: College Dinghy Champs/Sailor of the Year
Available on line at:
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/ju/0612/ms.htm

By 7 points the St. Marys Seahawks are the 2002 collegiate
co-ed dinghy champions. They beat Harvard, with home team
Hawaii 3rd.

St. Mary's strength was their B division team of Brent Jensen
and Galen Largay which beat Harvard's duo by 6 points. St.
Mary's B team won 4 straight races (#'s 7 to 10). This
streak was a sign for St. Mary's which trailed by 17 points
after Day 1. Their 10th in race 5 was their last double
digit finish. 

A division was won by Hawaii freshman Bryan Lake with crew
Jennifer Warnock. This duo was strong throughout with only
one finish below 10th- an 11th in race 16.

Upon conclusion of the final championship of the 01-02
season, both team and sailor of the year awards were
finalized. Harvard wins the Fowle Trophy as top collegiate
sailing school. Their team won the Sloop and Team Racing
Championships along with their narrow miss in the Dinghy
Championships.

Harvard's Sean Doyle was named the college sailor of the
year. He finished 5th at the Single Handed nationals, was
the skipper of the sloop championship winning team, sailed
on the team race champions and placed 3rd in A division at
the Dinghy nationals. Marcus Egan of Charleston who was 4th
in A division and Brad Funk who was 5th were also considered
for the award.

Links:
Dinghy Championship
http://www.collegesailing.org/2002/dinghy.htm
All Americans
http://www.collegesailing.org/00awards/02allamer.htm
Hawaii Sailing
http://www.collegesailing.org/2002/women.htm
St. Mary's Sailing
http://www.collegesailing.org/2002/women.htm
Harvard Sailing
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~sailing/
Bryan Lake
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu/Player/player.html?pid=16&aid=4933
Sean Doyle
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~sailing/sailors.htm

News: Boat Smart
Available on line at:
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/ju/0612/ms.htm

Boat Smart is a weekly column written by Chief Tom Rau,
Group Grand Haven, U.S. Coast Guard and appears in a number
of newspapers. Chief Rau has been writing and promoting safe
boating since 1986. Many of his columns are taken from real
life experiences from Station St. Joseph/South Haven, where
Chief Rau is currently serving.

How to bag small boat navigation

By Senior Chief Tom Rau, Coast 
Guard Group Grand Haven, MI 

My Coast Guard specialty is navigation. I've performed
navigation aboard 378-foot cutters to 82-foot patrol boats
to buoy tenders to vintage World War Two cutters before
LORAN-C and GPS systems beamed shipboard navigation into
the 21st Century. I've even navigated by celestial
navigation, seeking the moon, sun and stars as my guides
when sextants and azimuth circles were as common on the
bridge as GPS and satellite guided radar navigation are
today.

Sound impressive? I use to believe so until I began
navigating aboard Coast Guard small rescue boats on Lake
Michigan, which ranged in length from 44-foot motor life
boats to a 21-foot inflatables. Small boats lack the working
area, navigational instruments and comforts afforded larger
cutters. Just unfolding a chart aboard a small boat is like
opening a newspaper in a stiff breeze. Add to that a
pitching, sea sprayed deck and even simple hand tasks can be
overwhelming.

When the Coast Guard assigned me the awesome responsibility
of conducting search and rescue on Lake Michigan, I had to
discover a way to bring my navigational experiences learned
aboard large Coast Guard cutters on the high seas to small
boat operations so I could effectively deal with Lake
Michigan's unique search and rescue challenges.

After performing numerous search and-rescue missions aboard
Coast Guard small boats, my experiences ended up in a simple
hand bag that Coast Guard aircrews carry. My flight bag
carries more than just navigation gear, it houses survival
tools as well. The flight bag measures: 15" W X 11" H. Oh,
has it held up over the years, often under brutal
conditions. Let's look at its contents, which will also
provide me the opportunity to make it ready for the 2002
boating season.

Pen Size Flashlight. The bag holds not one but two pen size
flashlights, and I noticed both need fresh batteries.
Flashlights are critical to night navigation. A flashlight
allows you to read charts or other navigation information
like "Light Lists" and "Coast Pilots". With a flash light,
you can read emergency phone numbers, and locate gear on the
boat. In the event you loose a compass light, which I have,
a flashlight can light the way. Flashlights attract
attention, provide a guiding beam through dark harbor mouths
and river channels and aid in locating anchorage buoys. A
flashlight allows you to read function keys on navigation
equipment like a depth finder, radio, GPS and cell phone.
Not all these components carry night illumination keys and
even those that do can be difficult to read. I found night
illumination so important, I would stand down the rescue
boat until a faulty searchlight was repaired.

Information Book. I would be absolutely lost without it.
Years ago, Chief Todd Reed of Station Ludington, introduced
me to a 8" X 5" "Flight Crew Check List". It's a plastic
covered folder with protective water-proof inserts that
Coast Guard pilots use. Five stainless steel rings hold
together the small hand held water-proof folder, which
facilitates flipping its plastic inserts. Flipping through
it, I see a list of typed waypoints for major landmarks like
pier heads and breakwaters; simple GPS instructions for
programming and selecting waypoints; emergency phone numbers
for Coast Guard stations, sheriff, and fire department
numbers; Coast Guard command numbers; local marina phone
numbers, and a trouble-shoot insert for engine and
electronics. Let's see, what else does the bag contain?

Navigation Instruments The bag holds a set of dividers to
measure distance on a chart, and a Weems & Plath Parallel
Plotter to lay down chart course lines. The bag also holds a
Weems & Plath nautical slide rule. I also carry my own
hand-held GPS as a back up. That's it for navigational
instruments.

Navigation Charts Few conditions challenge me more on small
boat than dealing with cumbersome charts. When you unfold
one on a open boat even in a light breeze - adios chart.
Solution, use a legal sized 14" X "8" clipboard which
snuggly fits into the "Nav Bag". Cut the chart down to
clipboard size. The clip secures the chart against unruly
winds. I can also clip writing paper over the charts to
record useful information like waypoints or marine radio
traffic. If possible, always, write down information passed
over the marine radio or cell phone. Being jerked about on a
small boat can quickly cloud the memory.

Miscellaneous, There is nothing miscellaneous about these
items the least of which is sun tan lotion. The benefits of
sun tan lotion or the lack there of are obvious. Other small
but important items include: a whistle, a knife, and reading
glasses. I carry two sets, as backup. Let's see what else
the bag offers? Light bulbs and fuses and the
trouble-shooting guide in the "Flight Crew Information Book"
will guide me step by step in replacing parts like fuses and
other small-boat trouble-shooting challenges. Oh, I almost
over looked the GPS instruction book, which I carry in the
event the GPS takes on a mind of its own, or I forget how to
read its mind.

All this may seem like a lot of stuff but remember, but it's
all contained in a small flight bag that validates the old
adage: it's not size that manners but content. Boat Smart-
bag your own. For information on flight bags go to the
internet and search under flight bags.

Links:
Boat Smart
http://www.boatsmart.net/