Around the World of Sailing

2 October 2002

Event News: Louis Vuitton Cup Begins
Available on line at:
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/oc/1002/ms.htm

The challenger selection trials for the America's Cup,
officially known as the Louis Vuitton Cup, are underway.
There has been one day of racing and one day where racing
was postponed. Considering the wind range for racing is 7
to 22 knots postponements are likely to be frequent.

Day 1 results were as follows. Team Dennis Conner won the
closest race by 20 seconds over Great Britain. Oracle edged
Prada by :42 seconds with Larry Ellison on board. Alinghi
ended up 4:48 ahead of Le Defi which drew protestors from
Greenpeace and One World walloped Mascalzone Latino by over
5 minutes. Victory Challenge sat out the 1st day.

The current forecast for the Huraki Gulf is winds up to 35
knots. If this is close to accurate the teams will have a
second consecutive postponement.

Races in this round robin are worth 1 point to each race
winner. No boats will be eliminated, and many teams are
using the 1st of their 2 boats. This stamps the race
preliminary and makes any conclusions drawn tenuous at best.

Links:
LV Cup Official Site
http://www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com
Standings
http://www.louisvuittoncup.yahoo.com/section56.html
Ellison to Compete
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-amcup01oct01,0,4511580.story?coll=sfla-sports-headlines
Alinghi Race 1
http://www.alinghi.com/lvc/consult/modules/module55/html/comments_alinghi_eng.html
Protestors
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/273/sports/Greenpeace_protesters_target_F:.shtml
Mascalzone Latino
http://www.Mascalzonelatino.com

Theme Article: Winterizing/Haulout # 1
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/oc/1002/ms.htm

Winterizing Your Fresh (internal) Water Cooled Inboard Engine
by Gordon Torresen

This is to give general guidelines for the winterization of
inboard engines that have internal, heat exchanger type
cooling systems. Variations will become evident for
different brands of engines, the principals will be the
same. Engines do not freeze. It is the water within the
engine and peripherals that freezes and causes damage. To
preclude freeze damage you must either eliminate the water
or make it so that it will not freeze.

Good steps to follow:

1) Check the specific gravity of the internal coolant.
Antifreeze checkers are widely available, and very cheap.
Depending upon your location, be assured that the freeze
protection is adequate. If protection is marginal, either
drain some off and add 100% new or change the whole lot.
Antifreeze should be changed every three to five years,
according to Yanmar and the AF makers.

2) Shut off the sea water intake sea cock, if the boat is in
the water.

3) Take the hose off the seacock and put it into a jug of
environmentally friendly antifreeze. It is sometimes easier
to remove the hose at the pump and use a different hose into
the jug.

4) Start the engine and run it until the antifreeze comes
out the exhaust.

5) Reinstall the hose to the seacock.

6) Reopen the seacock after the boat is hauled. If the boat
is to be left in the water, the seacock may require
winterizing, again depending on the severity of your winter.

If you are not located where winterizing is required, read
this through and purr.

It is highly recommended that if the lube oil needs to be
changed that it be done prior to lay-up so that fresh oil is
coating the innards of the engine. If fuel filters are in
the plan do them first. Then start the engine to check the
fuel filters and warm the engine to facilitate the oil
change.

Links:
Diesel Engine Forum
http://forums.sailboatspecialists.com/

Event News: Around Alone Leg 1 Class Winners
Available on line at:
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/oc/1002/ms.htm

All of the Open 60's of Class I have finished, while just one
Class II boat has finished Around Alone's first ever Trans
Atlantic leg.

Bernard Stamm was the first boat to finish and Class I
winner. Stamm finished Leg 1 in Torbay England Thursday
afternoon. Stamm finished the leg without power saying, "I
am very tired from steering my boat by hand." Stamm's
victory is worth 10 point to the 9 that Frenchman Thiery
Dubois received for 2nd by finishing early Friday. A Leg 1
win is no guarantee. 4 years ago Mike Golding won leg 1 and
did not finish the race. 3rd in Class was Patrick De
Radigues sailing Garnier.

Brad Van Liew sailing Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America scored
a most impressive victory in Class II. He finished early
Monday edging his nearest competitor by 500 miles! Van Liew's
effort is the most professional in Class II and it shows.
Spirit of Canada will be the first Open 40 to finish and
will take 2nd in class II. Latest reports had the 40 footer
80 miles from the finish. Currently Great Lakes sailor Tim
Kent holds 3rd place and is 134 miles from England.

The Leg 2 restart is October 13th with Cape Town the next
port.

Links:
Positions Chart
http://www.aroundalone.com/raceviewer/position_chart/
Stamm finishes
http://www.aroundalone.com/raceviewer/archive/20020926/2580.html
Van Liew Finish
http://www.aroundalone.com/raceviewer/archive/20020930/2634.html
Tim Kent Report
http://www.everesthorizontal.com/news.html

News: Boat Smart
Available on line at:
http://www.torresen.com/news/atwos/2002/oc/1002/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.

Coast Guard rescue challenges aircrew

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

When Lon Bruck, 65, his wife Vivian, 61, and their
three-year-old Cocker Spaniel, Nick, departed Harrisville,
Michigan mid day on September 4, 2002, aboard their 30-foot
Bayliner, they had no idea that within hours they would end
up in the belly of a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter.

"When we departed Harrisville, southerly winds caused us
little concern," said Bruck. However, as they headed north
on Lake Huron towards Presque Isle, Michigan, the winds
shifted to the northwest. By the time the Brucks reached
Thunder Bay, the winds funneling through the Straights of
Mackinac had whipped the lake into seven footers with an
occasional eight to ten footer according to Bruck.

For the experienced captain, it offered a challenge but one
he felt the 30-foot Bayliner could handle, until… "We began
taken on water near Thunder Bay," said Bruck. "I thought it
was coming from the engine compartment, but soon discovered
the water was coming from the forward cabin. My poor wife
and dog were huddled under the galley table." As the bow
dipped into the seas it lifted the prop out of the water and
the helm grew more sluggish. He knew then he needed help.

Bruck, hailed 'Mayday" over Channel 16 VHF-FM, the
International hailing and distress frequency. At 1:31 p.m.
Coast Guard Group Sault Ste Marie picked up the Mayday call
along with his GPS coordinates. Group Sault directed him to
don life jackets, which they had already done, including one
for the dog. Later he said: "Life jackets are more important
than that stupid boat. If it goes down, what good is it
then?"

Group Sault radio diverted a Coast Guard helicopter from
another case. At the time, the helicopter was 19 miles from
the Bayliner. "When I arrived the boat's bow was digging
into the seas" said Lieutenant Chuck Webb, the Coast Guard
pilot. An island lay two miles away but Webb scrubbed the
option. Reaching it would place the unstable craft
broadside to the seas. As if reading the pilot's mind,
Bruck requested an airlift.

While hovering over the target the helicopter's rotor roar
stifled radio communications. "It forced us to fly two to
three miles away to communicate hoisting instructions," said
Webb. "He had lots of fishing gear on the stern" The
fishing poles and down riggers posed a serious threat to the
aircraft, should the gear get sucked up into the rotor
blades or become fouled in the hoist cable.

Even from three miles away, Webb found the communications
difficult. "It was frustrating; he didn't understand the
need to remove the gear." His copilot, Lieutenant Greg
Torgersen worked the radio with Group Sault and with a
nearby freighter, in the event they needed their assistance.
Meanwhile, he kept a sharp eye on the fuel gauge as the
aircraft guzzled up fuel.

Group Sault radio relayed the pilot's concerns to the
captain. "He finally removed the gear except for fishing
net. We were reaching a fuel critical point in the mission.
We had to go in net or not."

As Webb hovered towards the boat his flight mechanic (mec),
Louis Bishop began calling out distances. Once over the
boat, Webb could not see it. At that point, the flight mec
directs the pilot with terse left, right, forward, back
directions while the pilot maintains a set altitude. Webb
held position by using waves as a reference point, while
occasionally glancing at his radar altimeter. Dropping a
basket onto a heaving five-by-ten foot stern, in 7-10 foot
seas, with 30-knot wind gusts buffeting the aircraft,
demanded precise communications between the fight mec and
pilot.

"I watched the basket swigging downward and glanced over and
saw the fish net. I grabbed it and chucked it overboard,"
said Bruck. He sent his wife up first along with dog Nick
who relieved his anxiety all the way up and in the aircraft.
What dog wouldn't while swinging in a wire basket under a
deafening rotary blast while being peppered by water
pellets?

The husband then followed, although with less ado. When
they landed at the airport in Alpena, Mrs. Bruck fell into
shock. Coast Guard rescue swimmer Matt Fetzner, who is also
an EMT, treated her for shock until an ambulance arrived.
Later, Mr. Bruck said his wife didn't recall being hoisted
up.

Bruck believes the seas snapped loose his bow anchor, which
smashed through a port window on the forward bulkhead. The
bilge pump couldn't keep up with the water inflow. Later a
Coast Guard auxiliary boat out of Alpena attempted to take
the boat in tow, but high seas forced them to turn it over
to a commercial tow.

Lieutenant Webb had nothing but praise for the Brucks.
"They did a lot of right things. They didn't panic. They
called the Coast Guard on the first sign of trouble. They
provided an exact GPS location. They were all wearing life
jackets including the dog. And they monitored our radio
traffic with Group Sault radio, which helped overcome the
poor communications between our aircraft and their boat."

To get this story, I requested that Lieutenant Webb, hoist
me off a 22-foot Coast Guard Auxiliary boat on Lake Michigan
and airlift me to a nearby airport where he and his flight
crew, Lieutenant Commander Chris Day, and Chief Brian Buck,
could brief me on the case. Soon into the brief, I realized
there were two stories here: the actual rescue story and a
story about Coast Guard air rescues in general.

We discussed practical measure to take for anyone who might
find themselves stranded and at odds with the maritime
environment and in need of assistance. Next week's column
will address these issues. Until then, Boat Smart and don't
miss their advice- it comes from the top.

Note; Other Coast Guard Boat Smart stories can be found on
the web at www.boatsmart.net includes Great Lakes weather
and water temperatures

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