Around The World Of Sailing

Rules and Regulations

Here are a few rules, regulations and a court case relevant to the boating world.

The National Park Service is updating rules for boating in national parks,
lake shores etc. Examples of where the rules might apply are Indiana Dunes
Lake Shore and Isle Royale Park. NPS boating rules had not been updated
since 1983.

Some of the proposed new rules are: a speed limit of 5 MPH in a no wake
zone regardless of sea conditions, a 5 MPH speed limit within 100 feet of a manually propelled craft or anchored vessel.

While these rules sound impressive they have limitations. Quoting them, "the NPS will enforce the laws and regulations of the United States Coast Guard and the state within whose exterior boundaries a park area or a portion thereof is located." In other words if there is an existing state rule it takes precedence over these NPS rules.

Of interest is the following being prohibited, "Operating a power-driven vessel on waters not accessible by road."

The regulations read that you can't operate above a flat wake speed within 100 feet of "Manually propelled, anchored or drifting vessel unless the park is located within a state specifying different conditions then that state law is adopted in lieu of this paragraph."

Since a sailing vessel is any vessel under sail, and power driven vessel means one propelled by machinery, manually powered would appear to mean canoe, rowboat, kayak etc.

So, frustrated light air sailors whose minimal mode of power is bounced from their sails by passing power boats will have to continue to look for relief.

Pending in the Michigan Legislature is an interesting bill pertaining to boating. House Bill 4140 would relieve "An owner of a nonmotorized livery boat is not liable for an injury to or the death of a user of the nonmotorized livery boat resulting from a risk inherent in the use or operation of a nonmotorized livery boat."

Inherent risks are said to include: Weather conditions, malfunction of equipment, except for equipment owned by the owner of a nonmotorized livery boat, and failure to use or wear a personal flotation device or to have lifesaving equipment available.

This bill does not pertain to sailing, but it's concept could. There are always risks and the responsible mariner will handle them best.

In Minnesota the Supreme Court has ruled that boats can be searched by conservation officers without probable cause. Fishing is a recreational activity which people voluntarily participate in and so have knowledge of regulations. Therefore they can be boarded and searched.

A contrary view is that this is simply a violation of the 4th amendment, just another lessening of privacy.

One Design Comeback Hobie 33

The Hobie 33 dates from the early 1980's. Rather than the beach cat Hobie
was known for at the time it was a slim mono hull ULDB design, developed
from the Santa Cruz 27.

From 1982 to 1986, 187 Hobie 33's were built. Like the more recent Melges 24 they had a lifting keel for easier trailering.

Now, Spartan Marine is once again producing Hobie 33's A new Hobie 33 goes for around $ 55,000.

Used boats are available from $ 15,000 to $ 25,000. However, used 33's tend to have been sailed hard and the interiors are typically trashed.

Hobie 33's are fast boats especially downwind, and have had success offshore in contests like Fort Lauderdale-Key West and the Chicago Mac. There is also a one design class.

A Million Good Causes: Friends of White River Light

In early September I wrote, "This has led me to form the following mantra. 'There's a million good causes....'. The mantra is incomplete in that there never seems enough, people, time or money for the myriad positive causes."

White River Light Station

The first of the million good volunteer causes pertains to White River Light Station.
White River light built in 1875, decommissioned in 1960 is still important
to folks 43 years later.

This year Friends of White River Light Station was formed. The group
is dedicated to preserving and restoring White River light and educating
visitors about Michigan's maritime heritage.

Top priority projects include: electrical system upgrade, enhancing the security system and establishing an endowment to help ensure protection of the light in perpetuity.

This will enhance a well known Muskegon county landmark. The Light Station
is owned by Fruitland Township and has been a museum since 1970. Facilities on the grounds include: light tower, keepers quarters, and oil building.

Artifact on Display at the Museum

In addition to the light station visitors can learn about important nautical items and concepts such as Frensel Lenses, navigation, compasses and more.

The Friends of White River is an embryonic group. Membership begins at $ 30 . The group's current volunteer needs are not great, but future projects will likely create a need.

A ship timber on display perhaps from a shipwreck?

Volunteering at a light house can be a great way to initiate people who are not familiar with the water, sailing, etc. into the ways of maritime culture.

Contact information for the group is as follows:
Friends of the White River Light Station
6199 Murray Road
Whitehall, MI 49461

The Light Station from the water

Linky Sailing News 30 September

Races Heartbreaker ties Canada's Cup .  Rolex Women's sails 3 races  Brit Match Racing.  Cat challenge.  Transat breakdowns

News  Worlds succeed Stamm's sponsor.  Israeli champion 

Great Lakes LM 340
  
College Sailing Dartmouth takes single-handed qualifier.  NEISA rankings.  MCSA Results

The Milwaukee Clipper sports a new paint job

 

 

New Zealander Leads Women's Rolex

Annapolis, Md. (September 29, 2003) - Today‘s big-wind action at US SAILING‘s Rolex International Women‘s Keelboat Championship offered thrills and spills for the 67 teams entered. Five-time regatta champion and five-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.) won the first two of three opening races, seemingly at ease in the 18-20 knot wind that had some teams struggling for control of their boats. In race three, however, three general recalls and a black-flag elimination of Alison along with other top competitors stirred the results and emotions of the nearly 300 women competing. What was misfortune for some was a windfall for others, especially Karleen Dixon (Auckland, New Zealand), whose solid finishes of 2-6-4 propelled her into the overall lead with 12 points. Mary Brigden (San Diego, Calif.) followed in second overall with 22 points on finishes of 15-4-3, while Paula Lewin (Paget, Bermuda) landed in third place with a 4-23-2.

"We were fast, we had good teamwork, and we always had good starts," said Dixon. "Sixty seven boats is a lot of boats. It was great practice for us today with all the general recalls."

A total of three recalls plagued race three, and one of those plus the final start imposed the black-flag penalty on 11 boats for starting prematurely.

"Two bullets and one bite; that is the summary of the day," said Alison, noting that after five races, a throwout will be allowed. "We were over the line in the third race, so that was the end of it, but we weren‘t alone."

Alison led at all marks of the two-lap windward-leeward course in race one. At one minute and a half before the second start, she fell backwards out of her boat. Managing to get back aboard, she had to trail the fleet for a while before finding a shift that carried her to the top mark in first position.

"It wasn‘t a straightforward day," said Alison. "The wind was shifty, with different pressure across the course. We worked hard to stay in phase and we had great speed."

An Annapolis team skippered by Lorie Stout won race three, after the wind lightened to 12-14 knots. Paula Lewin edged out San Diego‘s Mary Brigden by a hair at the finish to take second place in the race.

The Rolex International Women‘s Keelboat Championship continues tomorrow with two scheduled races and concludes Friday. Daily reports and photos are posted at www.race.annapolisyc.org/rolexkeelboats and www.regattanews.com. Additional regatta info, including live mark rounding positions and individual race finishes, are posted as they occur.

Note: Sarah Bukley's Lake Michigan team posted the following results on day 1: 35th, 18th and OCS

Tuesday Forecast

Day One, Top 10 provisional results after three races -- 66 Boats

Overall Position, Skipper/Team Name, Hometown, Race 1, Race 2, Race 3, Total
1. Karleen Dixon/The Lion Foundation, Auckland, New Zealand, 2-6-4, 12.00 points
2. Mary Brigden/Team San Diego, San Diego, Calif., USA, 15-4-3, 22.00
3. Paula Lewin, Paget, Bermuda 4-23-2, 29.00
4. Dominique Provoyeur/Team Orion, Cape Town, RSA, 13-9-7, 29.00
5. Kylie Jameson/Team Jameson, Auckland, New Zealand, 17-7-8, 32.00
6. Sally Barkow/Team Seven, Nashotah, Wisc., USA, 8-10-15, 33.00
7. Susan Meredith/Team Citizens First Financial, Annapolis, Md., USA 11-8-23, 42.00
8. Derby Anderson/Hoyas On the Half Shell, Annapolis, Md., USA, 19-12-12, 43.00
9. Kirsten Zillmann, Lakewood, Ohio, USA, 27-5-13, 45.00
10. Lorie Stout/Stougear, Annapolis, Md., USA, 18-27-1, 46.00

Heartbreaker Ties Canada's Cup

With a sweep of Monday's 2 race Heartbreaker has evened the Canada's Cup series at 3 races apiece. Better starting and superior heavy air boat speed were key to Heartbreaker's wins.

The races were sailed in winds ranging from 13 to 17 knots. Race 1 was a wire to wire win for Heartbreaker with a margin of 1:19.

Between races Defiant bowman Ian Smith was replaced due to injury. The second race was just as successful for Heartbreaker as they increased their margin to 1:51 and tied the series score at 3.

Another breezy day is forecast perhaps giving an advantage to the challenger Heartbreaker.

Everest Horizontal Floats

Just past midnight on Saturday, as the tide was ebbing along with our hopes of floating EVEREST on this tide cycle, the pushing, grinding and levering of a dozen people pushed EVEREST the final ten feet that she needed to clear the seawall that she had been trapped on since Hurricane Fabian. EVEREST is floating on a mooring just behind Ocean Sails in St. Georges, happy to be free of the land once again.

The final push came after one day of repair to the gashes and rents in the carbon skin of EVEREST and three solid days of work moving her closer and closer to the ocean. It was quite a process, moving this 21st century race boat back to the sea with old fashioned methods; levers, ramps, jacks and muscle. We got her onto two long, heavy planks, then jacked her keel onto a steel I-beam. Once she was on this "race track", we began to use two small bottle jacks to move her the twenty feet or so that she needed to travel to get back into the water. She hung up on rocks, blocks and old piles of steel, but we levered and jacked her over every obstacle. We needed the high tide to float her though, and were very close as the tide receeded Saturday morning. Unfortunately, at that point Jim Antrim, EVEREST's designer, who had flown all the way from California to help re-float the boat, had to return home. But he left us just a few feet short of the water.

Steve and Suzanne Hollis of Ocean Sails had called in the troops for this final push; neighbors, family and friends joined Steve, Suzanne, Paul LaVigne, Carl Soares, Errol Madden and I in the darkness as the tide came in. Our hopes rose with the tide and started receeding with it until that final push launched EVEREST into St. Georges harbor

Later today I will return home to Milwaukee, leaving EVEREST on her mooring here as I assemble the parts and funds needed for the next step; sailing her under jury rig back to Charleston Boatworks in South Carolina. That will have to wait until after the hurricane season season some time in November.

Special thanks must go to Steve and Suzanne Hollis, who organized this effort and made room in their home for Jim and I, to Paul LaVigne, who did much of the prep work, to Carl Soares, who brought not just help but a great attitude, to Jim Antrim, for his constant support and help, and to Tony and Joanie Driza, who made it possible for me to fly here. To all of those who were standing waist deep in the dark waters of St. Georges harbor, thanks as well.

EVEREST will sail again - soon!

Tim

Featured Boat 1972 Grampain 34

This week's featued boat is a 1972 Grampain 34. Recently the price on this listing has been reduced to $ 15,500.

This vessel is a center cockpit with a ketch rig. The center cockpit allows for a private owners cabin. The owner's cabin has a 6 foot 6 inch double berth with plenty of storage space.

Below the headroom is an ample 7 feet. Along with the private owners cabin there are dual heads.

Equipment includes a rebuilt Universal Atomic 4, a stern boarding ladder, roller furling, and asymetical spinaker.

The main cabin includes a 7 foot by 4 foot dinette, an 8 foot galley + an alcohol stove. Forward of the cabin are the 6 foot V berths.

Complete Specifications

Linky Sailing News 29 September

Races Reads team posts dominate win.  Canada's Cup Defiant 3 Heartbreaker 1 Championship of Champions Mini Transat 

News  Privacy case 

Great Lakes LM 340 Kids Class
 
College Sailing Tufts wins Hood Trophy.  Cal Maritime wins Shields

 

 

 

 

Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship Preview

Annapolis, Maryland, USA
Record Fleet of 67 Teams Set to Compete
Annapolis, Md. (September 26, 2003) ­ From September 29 to October 3 many of the world’s most accomplished female sailors as well as budding stars will be racing in Annapolis, Md. for US SAILING’s 2003 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship (Rolex IWKC). Only last week the entire downtown area of Annapolis was under more than six feet of water due to the tidal surge caused by Hurricane Isabel, but regatta host Annapolis Yacht Club and its citywide corps of volunteers rose to the challenge of returning the sailing venue to normal. The regatta, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, has attracted a record fleet of 67 international teams from as far away as New Zealand, Denmark, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Canada and South Africa, as well as from 17 U.S. states. A 10-race series is planned in International J/22 class keelboats on Chesapeake Bay, and at the end of five days of racing, the winning team will receive a Rolex timepiece.

With the debut of women’s keelboat racing at the 2004 Olympic Games, the Rolex IWKC has attracted top Yngling talent, including five-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year and five-time Rolex IWKC champion Betsy Alison (Newport, R.I.). She brings her world #1 ranked Yngling team members Lee Icyda and Suzy Leech. Dini Hall, who crewed for three of Alison’s Rolex IWKC winning teams, rounds out the foursome.

Alison skippered for the first seven Rolex events, took a year off in 1999 and crewed in 2001. "With our Yngling program in full gear, skippering a boat again myself is the logical thing to do," she said. "Since its inception in 1985, the Rolex IWKC has grown into a premier women‘s event on the international scene, and the sponsorship by Rolex is fabulous. If this year‘s event is anything close to what it has been in the past, then we‘re all in for a treat."

Other Notables

Among other notable sailors competing is the Annapolis team of Nancy Haberland, Dina Kowalyshyn, Karina Shelton, and Aimee Hess. Loaded with a wealth of sailing success on their resume, Shelton and Hess were two of the winning crew at the 2002 ISAF Women‘s World Match Race Championships. Haberland joined them in 2003, and together they won the 2003 Santa Maria Cup. Kowalyshyn was part of the winning team at the 2001 Rolex IWKC. Collectively, the team has won over 25 national, international, and world titles as both skipper and crew.

US Sailing Team member Carol Cronin (Jamestown, R.I.) returns to skipper an entry for a second time, having crewed on the winning team at the event in 1999. Cronin will sail with her Yngling team members Elizabeth Filter and Kate Fears. Linda Epstein, who has participated in years past, joins them.

Representing the "future of women‘s sailing" is 17-year-old Katie Schellie (Annapolis), who is the first Rolex Next Step graduate to skipper in the Rolex IWKC. The Rolex Next Step Program, established in 1997 to expose juniors (ages 12-16) to international women’s sailing in a mentoring atmosphere, will host 38 participants from around the country and overseas for a weekend at the opening of the regatta.

Schellie was so motivated by her Next Step experience at the 2001 regatta that she immediately joined the Severn High School Sailing Team. Her coach has allowed her to practice after school in a J/22 rather than the school‘s 420s. "I know we could finish last," said Schellie, "but we‘re going to have so much fun and learn so much that I just can‘t wait." Sailing with Schellie will be Ally Gambarani, Lesley Sutherland and Kim Thomas.

The "Hot Flash" team from Minnesota ­ Carol Pine, Jan Nielsen, Jan Rupert and Terry Jewett ­ is made up of a diverse group of accomplished women sailors who, as their name implies, all are over the age of 50. With their program, which has put them in the national media spotlight, the team aims to accomplish three goals: to transform the way women over 50 see themselves and their potential; to inspire women over 50 to pursue their passions; and to challenge stereotypes applied to mature women.

Foreign Teams

Foreign teams are eager to take on what has become an American stronghold in women’s keelboat sailing.

Jane Moon and her Cayman Islands team of Pam McDonough, Lindsey Macfee and a yet-to-be named crewmember return for the fourth year. "We are not sure how we will fare at this event," said Moon, who finished fourth at the J/22 U.S. national championship. "Our regular fourth crew member is out of action due to recent knee surgery and I haven‘t done much sailing in 2003 due to the birth of my third daughter in July. However, we are looking forward to the regatta and will definitely have a great time in Annapolis again."

Two-time Olympian Paula Lewin has represented Bermuda in the Rolex IWKC before and this will be her second showing as skipper. Since the 2001 event, she has launched a Yngling campaign and will represent Bermuda at the 2004 Games in Athens.

South African Dominique Provoyeur and her crew of Tania Coetzee, Penny Alison, Lucy Norton come from Cape Town. Provoyeur, Coetzee and Alison have sailed together for the last year and a half and finished eighth in the 2002 ISAF Worlds in France.

New Zealand is represented by three teams. Amber West and crew Sally Garrett, Raynor Smeal and Merran Walbridge have been among the top-ranked women’s teams in New Zealand and have won many national titles among them. West was the 2002 New Zealand National Women’s Keelboat Champion, and her toughest competition may come from the current New Zealand National Champions Karleen Dixon, Jenny Egnot and Paula Satherthwaite. The third team is skippered by Kylie Jameson and has as its crewmembers Melinda Erkelens, Stephanie Wondolleck and Patricia Caticchio. Jameson was the second-place skipper at the 2003 New Zealand Women‘s Keelboat Nationals and second at the New Zealand Match Racing Nationals.

Opening Ceremonies are set for City Dock in Annapolis on Sunday, Sept. 28.

For more information: www.race.annapolisyc.org/rolexkeelboats or www.ussailing.org.

Defiant Leads Canada's Cup 3-1

The Canada's Cup Match race is underway. It's a rematch of the 2001 series as the defender Defiant from Toronto matches off against Heartbreaker the challenger from Holland. Through 4 races Defiant looks solid.

Race 1: Winds 20 knots and up. Defiant takes early lead, then extends as Heartbtreaker blows out a spinnaker. Defiant takes 1-0 lead by 3:14

Race 2: Winds down a bit to 15 knots. Defiant squeaks out win # 2 by 2 seconds, score Defiant 2 Heartbreaker 0

Race 3: Sunday's 1st race went to Defiant by 2:50 in 15 knot winds. Heartbreaker has a bad jib hoist that saw their jib get in the water, slowing the boat/damaging the jib.

Race 4: Sunday's second race was Hearbreaker's 1st win, by a margin of 15 seconds. Winds were 10-12 knots.

This is Not a Hurricane

This has been circulated on the Internet as Hurricane Isabel. It's not!

Rather it's a photo taken on the Great Lakes from the deck of a 1000 foot freighter.

To confirm that it's a Great Lakes freighter visit this picture and note the similarities in deck layout.

Everest Horizontal Update

Yes, another tropical storm is heading our way! I am writing from the sail loft of Steve and Suzanne Hollis; Ocean Sails in Bermuda. Jim Antrim, the deisgner of EVEREST HORIZONTAL, is with me, having flown from California to help assess the damage to the boat and help to plan getting her back in the water. This storm is unlikely to do the damage that Hurrican Fabian wrought on the island and on EVEREST, but the rain is complicating work.

The damamge is not trivial. There are various gouges and rents in the carbon skin of the boat. The worst is on the starboard side of the boat, where she originally went on shore. A large section of the boat is damaged, from the waterline all the way around the curve of the deck. Over the past two days, Jim and I have ground out the damaged parts of the boat, cleaned them up and filled them. Today we will fit planks underneath the boat and jack up the keel in preparation for refloating her. The plan is for TENACIOUS, the same boat that we went out and found EVEREST with, to pull her off the rocks near high tide. Now that the holes are all filled, it will be safe to do this. We'll probably tear up the port side a bit in doing this, but she will be afloat.

It is incredibly hard to see EVEREST in such a state. But even on shore, her size and power are evident. Jim assures me that the damages is all repairable. My plan remains the same as it was before the hurricane; in November, after hurricane season, I will erect a jury rig and sail her back to the US. There is no quit in EVEREST; there will not be any quit in me either.

Wish us luck. The photo below shows me glassing the hull in a rising tide. The next photos will be of EVEREST floating again.

Tim Kent

Linky Sailing News

Races Read dominates Etchells worlds.  Rolex Women's  Mumm 30 worlds 

News  Peter Craig Mari Cha 4 pix AII Zana New Pindar 

Great Lakes Canada's Cup Practice and schedule 
 
College Sailing Navy News

More Transpac 52's like Rosebud to be built

 

 

Team Cowes Qualifies

Team Cowes (Sam Davies and Nick Moloney) have qualified their Open 60 ex-Kingfisher for the Jacques Vabre Transat. Teamate Ellen Macarthur will sail with Alain Gautier on Fancia.

Confident Cruising Seminar

Fresh from rounding Cape Horn, Lin and Larry Pardey have recently
discovered the center of the North American continent. This respected
cruising duo has agreed to make two presentations in Minneapolis for
snow-bound Midwestern sailors the weekend of Feb. 7 and 8, 2004,
sponsored by Good Old Boat magazine. The two-day series consists of a
full-day seminar on Saturday, Feb. 7, with attendance limited to 150
persons, and a shorter slide presentation on Sunday, Feb. 8, geared
toward a larger audience. Rounding out the Sunday session are speakers
Jim and Connie Grant of Sailrite and Minneapolis sailor, Bruce Pappas,
who spent the summer delivering his boat up the East Coast from Florida
through the Great Lakes.

The weekend event will be held at the Radisson Hotel and Conference
Center in Plymouth, Minn., a northwest Minneapolis suburb. Reservations
can be made by calling Good Old Boat magazine, 763-420-8923.

The Pardeys' full-day seminar, "Priorities for Confident Cruising,"
focuses on preparing skipper and crew for the realities of affordable
cruising as well as choosing a boat you can afford or upgrading the one
you have. The afternoon of this session is broken into two sections.
Larry will discuss gear maintenance, engine service, and tips about
rigging, spares, tools, and upgrades. Lin will discuss paperwork and
financial planning for cruising.

To encourage individual participation, the Pardeys have requested that
this session be limited to 150 participants. The Saturday, Feb. 7,
session begins with seminar check-in at 8:30 a.m. and continues through
5 p.m. Tickets for this program are $90 per person or $165 per couple.
This includes morning rolls and beverages and a deli buffet lunch.
Reservations must be made in advance. No tickets will be sold at the
door. Limited seating demands that reservations be made on a
first-come, first-served basis by calling Good Old Boat (763-420-8923
during normal business hours) and reserving available seats with a Visa
or MasterCard. There will be a $20 cancellation fee for those canceling
less than 30 days prior to the event.

The afternoon session on Sunday, Feb. 8, runs from noon to 5 p.m. It
begins with Sailrite founders, Jim and Connie Grant, making their
informative presentation, "Sail Repair and Canvaswork." Fresh from the
school of hard knocks and other "learning opportunities," Bruce Pappas
will follow with "The Joys and Perils of Delivering Your Own Boat."
While delivering his Panda 40, Bruce earned some valuable experience
which he'll share in a slide presentation. The Pardeys' slide
presentation, "Voyaging, Why We Do It," will conclude the day's events.
The focus of this hour-and-a-half presentation is the Pardeys' memories
of 38 years spent cruising more than 175,000 miles on Seraffyn and
Taleisin.

Cost of the entire Sunday afternoon session is $20. Advance
reservations are suggested but not required. Sailors may attend one or
both of the sessions on Saturday and Sunday. For those from out of
town, hotel reservations are available at the Radisson Hotel at a
special group rate of $79 for single or double occupancy. To reserve a
room, call the Radisson at: 763-559-6600. Ask for the Good Old Boat
rate. Please make reservations by Jan. 16 to get the discount.

Linky Sailing News 25 September

Races Italy takes 470 Men's title, Lima wins Laser. US: Lovell/Ogltree 9th Tornados, Mendenblatt 5th Laser, Wadlow/Spaulding 8th in 49er.  Britain 5 medals, Australia and France 3, Greece, Norway, Israel, USA 2. Olympic Qualification Update.   Etchells Worlds NZL qualifiers

News  Tall Ship match race.  Cat Challenge Around Alone TV Coutts

Great Lakes LM 340 Marriage 
 
College Sailing Stanford Ocean College Open.  Tufts hosts/defends Hood Trophy

 

 

 

 

Boat Smart

Sailboats vulnerable near a heavy weather shore

By Senior Chief Tom Rau, Coast Guard Lake Michigan

Many sailboaters enjoy the best of both worlds motor and sail. A sweet option made even sweeter by the Navigation Rules that require powerboats to give way to sailboats except when a sailboat is overtaking a power boat. These sweet options, however, can turn bitter for a sailboater when battling a heavy weather shore with an overweight and under-powered, single-hull sail boat.

Many single-hull sailboats carry Atomic Four, 30-horse power engines or similar type, low horse power engines. Sailboats can carry more power; however, will it increase speed? Maybe? A sailboat’s speed limitations are a function of hull water displacement not horse power. Moving through the water a single-hull sailboat will displace a volume of water equal to the hull weight and its load.

Sailboats by design are heavy. The force wind exerts on sails must be counter balanced below the surface usually in the form of ballast, a heavy mass placed on the bottom of the keel. A sailboat’s ballast may be as much as half of the boat’s over all weight displacement. To move ahead it must displace a volume of water equal to its total weight. Regardless of how much power it might have available it is restricted by opposing displacement forces. It would be like a track star running in water chest deep alongside me. He might out distance me but not by much since we both must displace a volume of water equal to our weight in order to move forward.

Displacement power limitations can be even greater when a sailboat encounters high seas and strong winds, an environment many sailors prefer. If they didn’t, I suspect they would be skippering a cabin cruiser with potted palm trees and similar deck adornments. Even less adventurous rag sailors, may encounter unforeseen heavy seas, and should the engine fail when operating near a heavy weather shore- oh my.

Hopefully, the rag sailor possesses the skills to fix the engine casualty. That’s not to suggest sailboaters lack mechanical skills or neglect their motors, or that powerboaters are mechanical wizards with finely tuned motors. Nonsense. What I believe separates power from sail during a mechanical failure is when the incident occurs.

Powerboaters normally experience mechanical problems in mild weather and calm seas. Why? Well, most powerboaters avoid heavy weather; they hate fishing in rough seas; and they tend to race back to port when the horizon lights up. Well, most do.

On the other hand, mechanical mishaps can unexpectedly visit sailboaters in conditions most power boaters avoid. Unlike power boaters who are often afforded time to handle engine problems in open water and mild conditions, a sailboater may face a rapidly ticking clock in a close-quarter emergency while under elemental siege.

Hopefully, an experienced sailor would head to open water before winds and sea drive the boat aground. Hopefully too, an experienced sailor would shorten sail and reef the main long before nearing a windward shore, but maybe not…. I would also hope an experienced sailor would test the engine before approaching a heavy weather shore. But not all sailboaters share the same experience level, but even then an experienced sailor could fall prey to a heavy- weather shore.

Disabled sailboats have a high drift rate. A sailboat’s bow tends to quarter into or ride broadside to the wind. A sailboat heaving in heavy surf with its underbelly, rudder and keel exposed can be stressful enough to watch. But, imagine the stress level of those struggling below deck in a compact engine space that is difficult to access, even under the best conditions, and absolutely daunting under the worse. And then to be slammed about with tools in hand, could overwhelm even the best mechanic.

Even under power, a sailboat may enter sand bars that run nearly the full length of Lake Michigan’s eastern shore. Unable to power out of these traps, sand bars could rip off a rudder in a heart beat. So what’s the good news?

Pay heed to my Cousin Jimmy’s advice- when under siege run to open water. Jimmy owns a boat maintenance and delivery operation in Santa Barbara, California that he has run for over 35 years. When he speaks hardcore sailors listen. I’ve made a number of yacht deliveries with Jimmy. I recall clipping along in a 48-foot C&C sloop in 10-12 foot running seas along the California coast south of San Francisco. We discussed pulling into Monterey, but Jimmy decided not to. “I can’t understand why sailors attempt to make port in high seas. They should run to open water,” he said.

Ike Stephenson, a veteran Lake Michigan sailor, mirrored cousin Jimmy’s advice: “A safe port might be nearby, but is it safe getting there.” Nevertheless, it can be tempting to run to one of Lake Michigan’s many ports. For those who do elect to make port in heavy weather, the following precautions should be taken.

♦ Make ready the anchor. Don’t wait. Make sure the anchor system (rode) is together and lease, no surprises like missing shackles or pins. Many sail boaters, for ballast reasons, stow the anchor in one compartment and the rode in another.

♦ Start the engine well before nearing port.

♦ Reef the main or run bare if necessary.

♦ Don lifejackets or survival suits with visual distress signals and strobe lights.

♦ Call the Coast Guard and advise them of your situation, and notify the Coast Guard when you safely reach port.

♦ If unfamiliar with the port of entry, consult a navigation chart. At night make sure you understand the light characteristics of aids to navigation on pier heads and seawalls. To confuse them may find you moored sooner than planned. Also, have ready a hand-held search light.

Still cousin Jimmy’s and Ike’s boat smart advice should be consider foremost: run to open water for although a safe port might be nearby it might not be safe getting there. Pay heed- boat smart.

Cape Horners

Cape Horners

This sentence in a recent Outside Magazine article got my interst, "Thus,
it's been impossible to qualify for full membership in the AICH since 1 A.M.
on July 11, 1949."

What is the AICH? How can something have no new members for 54 years?

The AICH is the Amicale Internationale des Captitaines au Long Cours Cap-Horniers. Orginally just for captains, it eventually included any sailor
who had rounded Cape Horn on a commerical sailing vessel. Since the last
rounding occured in 1949, there have been no new commerical sailing members.

For modern day sailors membership in the AICH is still possible. Sailors from events such as Around Alone, the Jules Verne and the Volvo Ocean race can become 'yacht members'.

Once this had been determined the British and French Cape Horners split.
The British section wished to continue on as a 'yacht member' organization.
The AICH wished to follow the intentions of the original 1937 constitution.
This stated that when commerical Cape Horners could no longer muster for a meeting the AICH flag would be lowered and they AICH would cease to exist.

In May of 2003 in St.Malo France the AICH did disband forever. The British section now known as The International Association of Cape Horners will
continue on.

Current qualification for IACH membership starts with the following, "The Horn rounding must be part of a non-stop passage of at least 3000 nautical miles and shall pass through fifty degrees south in both Pacific (or Indian) and Atlantic Oceans." This rules out a charter voyage.

No matter that you can now qualify by rounding on a Race class cat, an Open 50 or 60 or soon a new Volvo Open 70. None of us will ever have the chance to round on the Pamir, Flying Cloud or Cutty Sark and so it's appropriate the AICH flag has been lowered.

Ben Ainslie

Ben Ainslie won his 6th world championship yesterday in Spain. The titles have come in 3 different classes. This is his 2nd consecutive Finn Gold Cup championship which signifies the classes World Champion.

If Ainslie is not familiar to American's he should be. He's a 2 time
medalist in the Laser, plus a 2 time world sailor of the year.

Ainslie won this title in dramatic fashion. He suffered a bad start and
rounded the initial mark in 23rd. He picked up 10 places downwind,
then moved to 5th upwind and picked off 2 more boats to finish 3rd and
clinch the title.

He's the 5th sailor to win back to back Finn Gold Cup titles. This list included Paul Elvstrom in 1958 and 1959 and American Cam Lewis in 1979-1980. Of the 5 double Gold Cup winners only one, Elvstrom, went
onto win an Olympic medal.

In 2004 Ainslie will aim for his 3rd Olympic medal to add to his 2000 Gold
and 1996 Silver.

He's had success in Athens winning his 2003 Finn Gold Cup in Athens and has
won the 2002 and 2003 Olympic Test Events.

Here's a full list of Ainslie's world titles

1993 Laser Radial
1995 World Youth Champion
1998 Laser World Champion
1999 Laser World Champion
2002 Finn Gold Cup
2003 Finn Gold Cup

For certain Ainslie will be a candidate for Torresen Sailing Site's 2003 Sailor of the Year.

Linky Sailing News

Races Read in the lead at Etchells Worlds Worlds Ainslie repeats and  wins Finns , Brits take 49ers. Scheidt takes Laser lead .  Greeks wrap up women's 470, while men's 470 is tied. Aussies lead Tornado

News  50 knots.  Mirabella V NZL Marine Senators Cup Richards deal Etchells Weight 

Great Lakes Clean up results Dryer nears Frankfort MI
 
College Sailing Charleston wins Open Eckerd 2nd

 

 

 

 

Water Level Update

Water Level Update

Below you'll find water level info that pertains
to Lake Michigan and Huron.

Reference Point

Difference from Chart Datum -3
Difference from last month -3
Difference from last year -12
Difference from long term average for September -24
Difference from Record High -57
Difference from Record Low +7
Forecast for 19 October 2003 -3

For information on other lakes see:
http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/index.cfm?chn_id=1400

Ferry Splashes

Staten Island Ferry

A unique ship recently splashed into the Great Lakes. This past Saturday
the Staten Island Ferry Guy V. Molinari was launched into the Menmominee
River by Marinette Marine.

This 310 foot ship with 70 foot beam will eventually carry up to 4,400
passengers at 18.2 MPH. All without turning around!

The three ferries of which this is the first to have propellers and wheel houses
on both the bow and the stern. This so the ferries lose no time turning
around.

70,000 passengers a day ride this ferry route with a view of the Statue of Liberty.
The trip is 25 minutes one way with service on a 365/24/7 basis. There is
no fee for passengers. Named after Guy Molinari who as Staten Island borough president had the passenger fare waved, other ferry's will be launched in April and October of 2004. The Molinari will enter service on 4 June of next year.

Epoxy Techniques

Epoxy Part IV

Epoxy Techniques

Mixing

Mixing begins with dispensing. Most epoxy makers provide pump systems that disgorge the correct amount of epoxy. Although both pumps are used, they are calibrated differently so the correct amount of resin and hardener is dispensed.

Dispense the materials into a plastic, metal or non wax paper container.

You then need to mix the ingredients for at least a minute. The cooler
the temperature the longer the mixing period.

Ensure that your mixing stick moves beyond the main part of the epoxy.
Scrape the stick along the sides and bottoms of the container to esnure
a thorough mixing.

Wetting Out

This is the epoxy user's term for covering your working surface with epoxy.
When you wet out you use only epoxy/resin, no fillers etc.

You can begin wetting out by using a foam roller. Then even out the coverage
with a plastic spreader. You can use a disposable brush for smaller/harder
to reach areas.

Bonding
This is a two step process of which wetting out is the 1st part. Once you
have completed wetting out you can then begin adding fillers. The filler
should make the mixture thick enough to fill the gap. By having a thicker
epoxy you ensure that epoxy is in contact with all surfaces.

Once this is done move onto clamping. Moderately clamp the surfaces together
so a small amount of epoxy is squeezed out. Too much pressure and you
remove nescessary epoxy. Then remove any excess epoxy and wait for
the chemical cure to occur.

Note: If you you are new to epoxy it's a good idea to use epoxy on a test area before completinga full scale project. This will allow you to learn without the consequences of a full scale repair job.

Next month's theme articles will cover haul out.

Installment IV of....

Installment IV of: "when I learned about the below incident I thought of things
like the 'Darwin Awards', Rescue 911, Stupid Human tricks
etc. Rather than create another snappy title, we'll just go
to the facts."

Who: 3 people used a cell phone to summon help.

What: 2 were out on the water in a raft consisting of 2 55 gallon drums
and a sheet of plywood. When the duo was rescued they informed the Coast
Guard a 3rd person was on the water searching for them in a canoe. The canoeist was found hanging onto his overturned canoe, hypothermic but alive. The gentlemen on the raft were sitting in lawn chairs.

When: September 18, 2003

Where: Cleveland Harbor

Why: Do people do these things?

College Sailing Report

College Sailing Report 23 September

Harvard was the co-ed dinghy champion this spring and was ranked # 1 entering the fall season. Harvard's clean win at the Nevins Trophy simply added to evidence of their quality. In this three division regatta they won both of the double handed divisions while their C division Laser sailor was 3rd.

Their A division team of Caldwell Potts (New Orleans/Senior) and Laura Schubert (Bronx NY/Junior) earned sailor of the week honors. At the Nevins
Trophy they won 6 of the 10 A division races including a 5 race winning streak.

Harvard also was successful at the Mrs. Hurst women's regatta. However,
host Dartmouth did take 1st with defending women's dinghy champion Tufts 2nd.
2nd places in both divisions gave Dartmouth a 25 point margin.

In addition to it's sailors taking sailors of the week Harvard's 1st at Nevins and 3rd at Mrs. Hurst gives them the team of the week title.

There was a 3rd major regatta the Hatch Brown. This was won by MIT sailing on their home waters. This is a good win for MIT which was not ranked in the Top 20 as they beat teams such as St. Mary's and Brown ranked 14th and 6th respectively.

This weekend Tufts will host and defend it's title at the Hood Trophy.

The Midwest will hold it's Sloop Championships in Flying Scots at Detroit Yacht Club, while Iowa hosts the Davis Cup.

Linky Sailing News 23 September

Races Read and Conner top Etchells Worlds Worlds GBR leads Tornado, 49er and Finn. Portugal leads Lasers, Mendenblatt 4th, past sailors of the year lead women's 470  while Italian duo leads men's 470

News  Tide Power Biodegradable bags AC plans 

Great Lakes  Invasive Species Winter trends Jim reaches Manistee Erie drilling ban
 
College Sailing  Harvard wins Nevins Trophy.  Yale Report Dartmouth wins Mrs. Hurst

Coastal Cleanup 2003 Report

The 2003 International Coastal Clean Up took place Saturday September 20th. Volunteers dedicated 3 hours to removing debris from beaches and coast line.

Muskegon County volunteers collected 35 bags of garbage, which weighed 502 pounds. Cigarette Butts were as per usual the most numerous item. Because of this the Lake Michigan Federation has proposed a smoking ban on beaches. During the 3 hour cleanup volunteers pick up 10,000 cigarette butts per hour!

Another noticeable item in 2003 was plastic water bottles. In Michigan unlike soda pop bottles, water bottles do not carry a refundable 10 cent deposit.

The lack of the deposit may be why water bottles seemed to out number soda bottles by at least 5 to 1. If water bottles were added to the deposit bill it's estimated that 152 million bottles would be added. No question such an addition would help clean up Michigan's valuable beaches.

For 2003 I participated in cleaning up Muskegon's Heritage Landing. This is different than in the past when I cleaned beaches along Lake Michigan.

A number of activities occur at Heritage Landing including festivals, concerts and day to day use as a park. It's also a popular spot for fishing and picnicking.

While cleaning up at Heritage Landing trash from all of these activities was found. Included were items such as: bait containers and Frisbees. From Heritage Landing's industrial past there were 55 gallon drums. Also there were several car tires dumped near the waters edge. While the setting of Heritage Landing was different items found were not radically different.

It should be noted that Heritage landing hosted thousands of people this summer and overall the site was extremely clean. Kudos to the site crews and volunteers who contributed to this.

Perhaps the strangest item found during the clean up was a shoe shine kit from Manistee's Little River Casino. A harbinger of casinos to come....?

Once again I was left to think that the items picked up were brought by someone else. The simplest solution is to dispose of any items you bring to the beach with you. In other words pack it in and then pack it out, don't leave it for Coast Cleanup day!

Trash From the Heritage Landing Clean Up

Canada's Cup Preview

In 2001 the Canada's Cup was sailed in Farr 40's with challenger Defiant
taking the Cup from Heartbreaker 7 races to 5. Beginning 27 September
the same boats will rematch with the challenger and defender rolls reversed. Also new is that Heartbreaker will sail for Holland MI's Macatawa Bay Yacht Club. If Heartbreaker prevails look for Canada's Cup racing on Lake Michigan in 2005.

Heartbreaker is once again led by skipper Robert Hughes. This time
John Kostecki Volvo Ocean Race winning skipper, and now with Oracle Racing
will serve as tactician. Having competed in the Moet Cup Kostecki should
be up to snuff on high level match racing. Hughes has the majority of his
crew returning including sail maker Wally Cross as main trimmer.

The defender Defiant has almost exactly the same crew as 2001. Skipper Terry Mclaughlin is an Olympic medalist. He'll be aided by Andy Horton who is part Ed Baird's Match Race World Championship team. Also on board will be Geoff Moore best known for his J 24 accomplishments.

Heartbreaker was this season's Farr 40 Great Lakes Champion winning the
Chicago NOODS and Verve Cup. In early August Heartbreaker conducted a period of two boat testing with sailors such as James Spithill participating.

Defiant swept Honour 7-0 in the defender's trials. In August Terry Mclaughlin and other Team Defiant crew won the Knickerbocker Cup match racing event. Amongst others they defeated Andy Green who served as starting helmsman for Great Britain's America's Cup team.

If the boats were in a fleet race situation I wouldn't hesitate to
say Heartbreaker would take it. However, Canada's Cup is match racing and I
see Defiant retaining the Cup for the Royal Canadian Yacht Club.

Linky Sailing News 22 September

Races Oracle wins Moet Cup. Review & Analysis.  Worlds Gold for Swett et al. in Yngling.  Rohart/Rambeau win Stars, Cayard 8th.  USA qualifies in Mistral Boards.  GBR leads Tornados and Finns.  Italy and Greece leads 470s.   Etchells Worlds

News  Red Cross Quiet Lakes 

Great Lakes  Cleanup.  Cali cleanup LM 340 Staten Island Ferry 
 
College Sailing  MIT wins Hatch Brown NEISA rankings

Results of the 2003 Coastal Cleanup at Muskegon's Heritage Landing

 

 

Moet Cup Analysis

After a total of 12 races over 5 day Oracle racing was the winner of both the Owner and Pro Driver series portions of the Moet Cup. Racing took place on spectator friendly San Francisco Bay. Organizers received high marks for the quality of races and for involving both water and land based spectators.

Alinghi sailed the America's Cup winner SUI 64 but without skipper Russell
Coutts. Oracle sailed USA 76 with new helmsman Gavin Brady.

Oracle put more emphasis on the regatta two boat training before hand and debuting new sailor such as John Kostecki and Russ Halcrow. Considering neither boat will compete in the next Cup the long term significance of the results is minimal. Short term probably a good mark of confidence for the regenerating Oracle team.

After the event Alinghi principal Ernesto Bertarelli said: "There's no substitute for preparation and training. Larry and Chris demonstrated that this week."

Alinghi too has made changes. According to Russell Coutts, "[we] have nine new sailors of which we've hired four or five at this point." As the defender Alighni will have to prepare in house so they are attempting to develop two teams that are capable of giving each other a fantastic level of competition." in the words of Coutts. Having won as both defender and challenger one can assume Coutts is knowledgeable in his planning.

Links:
Oracle Wins
Friday's Racing
Report ">Conclusion

Oracle Wins Moet Cup

Blue skies and a huge spectator fleet - mega yachts, cruise ships, row boats, tall ships, windsurfers - graced the Bay for the final day of the Moet Cup, a 6-day regatta between Alinghi and Oracle. The regatta involved both a pro driver and an owner driver series. After six days of extremely close racing, Alinghi conceded both the pro driver and owner driver series to Oracle.

If you must have one funny guy on board an America's Cup Class boat, it doesn't get any better than San Francisco's own comic Robin Williams, famous for movies such as Good Morning Vietnam, Mrs Doubtfire and Patch Adams. Rounding out an absolutely perfect week of America's Cup Class yacht racing, Williams sailed as 17th man on board Alinghi in race 4 of the owner driver series today. "It was a very exciting race and Alinghi won which was just great," said Williams, noting that this was his first time yacht racing. Jokes aside, and there were plenty of them with Williams on board, Ernesto Bertarelli helmed his team to take the race four from Larry Ellison and Oracle in the owner driver series.

Race One - owner driver
An aggressive start by both boats as they approached the line early, having to stall along the line before crossing. Oracle on starboard tacked away first and headed off to the right toward Alcatraz while Alinghi headed to the left. Although separated, the boats held even positions for a close battle along the city front shore. Oracle with a 2 ½ boat length lead at the windward mark broke it's spinnaker pole rounding, giving Alinghi an opportunity to roll past, take the lead and win by 24 seconds.

Race Two - pro driver
Race seven to determine the winner of the Moet Cup, Oracle took an early and substantial lead off the start in a steady 18 knots of breeze. With not much difference between the two sides of the course due to a tide change, Alinghi chose to stay close to Oracle. Alinghi initiated a tacking duel lasting some 12 tacks through the middle of the course as the teams headed to the top mark with Oracle in a controlling position 27 seconds ahead of Alinghi. SUI-64, showing better downwind speed than USA-76 all week, gained 8 seconds to round the leeward mark just 19 seconds behind Oracle but not enough to pass the American team. Oracle won by 32 seconds to take the Moet Cup.

Race Three - owner driver
Starting in 20 knots of breeze for the final race in this series, Ernesto Bertarelli drove SUI-64 across the start with not an inch to spare after an aggressive pre-start sequence that resulted in Alinghi being flagged a windward leeward penalty. The boats immediately split off the line with Oracle heading to the right. With the breeze lightening up toward the top mark and tide flooding, the teams had shifty winds to manouever on the beat. Oracle's experience on the Bay paid off royally as they played the shifts, taking a substantial lead to win the race by 1:22 after Alinghi took a penalty turn.

QUOTES:

Ernesto Bertarelli: "There's no substitute for preparation and training. Larry and Chris demonstrated that this week. They had a plan to win and they executed that plan. I think the biggest problem for us was miscommunication. But we've had a great week and I'm absolutely looking forward to new regattas next year."

Jochen Schuemann: "It was really good to be able to come here. We enjoyed the sailing and even the losing because the racing was close enough to get excited. The short course meant that the boats were close but along with the conditions that were new to us made the racing very challenging."

Pro Regatta, 20 September

Race 7 Alinghi: 0 - Oracle: 1 Delta: 32 seconds

Overall Ranking
Alinghi: 3 - Oracle: 4

Owner Driver Regatta, 20 September
Race 4
Alinghi: 1 - Oracle: 0 Delta: 24 seconds

Overall Ranking
Alinghi: 2 - Oracle: 3 Delta: 1:22

Moet Cup Friday September 19

There was plenty of drama at the MOËT CUP on Friday, as ALINGHI and ORACLE BMW Racing split races in the Pro-Driver series. That means the seventh and final race, scheduled for Saturday, will determine the winner of the MOËT CUP.

Unfortunately, racing had to be abandoned in the Owner-Driver series on Friday, when a container ship steamed past on the downwind leg of the race course, dramatically interfering with the race boats. Larry Ellison’s ORACLE BMW Racing team saw its lead evaporate when it was forced to luff behind the ship to lay the leeward mark. The Race Committee took action immediately, abandoning the race.

The city of San Francisco is embracing the MOËT CUP, as evidenced by the steadily increasing spectator fleet, and the growing crowds in the hospitality village and along the sea wall. The weather continued to provide perfect racing conditions, with bright, sunny skies, and strong 15-20 knot winds.

The MOËT CUP concludes on Saturday, with match-point to be sailed in both the Pro-Driver and the Owner-Driver divisions.

MOËT CUP ­ Pro-Driver Series ­ Race Four of Seven (re-sail)

ALINGHI (SUI-64) beats ORACLE BMW Racing (USA-76) ­ Delta 0:25
(ALINGHI LEADS 3-2 AFTER FIVE RACES SAILED)

The Swiss ALINGHI team took full advantage of the re-sail for race four of the Pro-Driver series, and put the pressure firmly on the ORACLE BMW Racing team.

ORACLE BMW skipper Chris Dickson and helmsman Gavin Brady appeared to have ALINGHI skipper Jochen Schuemann on the ropes in the pre-start, when ALINGHI stalled after the dial-up. With the Swiss boat stuck head to wind, and with little steerage, Brady circled around and took aim with starboard tack rights, not once, but twice. But in both instances, the Umpires judged that ALINGHI was just able to stay clear, and no penalty was assessed.

Schuemann finally was able to regain control of SUI-64, and as the boats powered up for the start line, his timing was near perfect, and he crossed the line at the gun, a few yards ahead and to leeward of USA-76.

Schuemann and the ALINGHI trimmers then worked their magic, slowly squeezing up to the American boat, and after a few minutes, ORACLE BMW was forced to tack away. When the boats converged again, ALINGHI held a slim lead that it was able to protect around the top mark.

Although ORACLE BMW was in a good position to attack the Swiss boat on the run, it was never able to find a passing lane. Sailing a shorter, three-leg course, ALINGHI was able to protect the rest of the way home, to win by 25-seconds.

The ORACLE BMW Racing team was now charged with winning the remaining two races of the Pro series, if it was to secure a series win and the MOËT CUP, on home waters.

MOËT CUP ­ Owner-Driver Series ­ Race Four of Five

Racing abandoned (to be re-sailed) due to commercial traffic
(ORACLE BMW RACING LEADS 2-1 AFTER THREE RACES)

MOËT CUP ­ Pro-Driver Series ­ Race Six of Seven

ORACLE BMW Racing (USA-76) beats ALINGHI (SUI-64) ­ Delta 0:30
(SERIES TIED 3-3 AFTER SIX RACES SAILED)

This was a match the ORACLE BMW Racing team had to win, and Larry Ellison’s men responded, sailing a strong race, and evening the Pro-Driver series for the MOËT CUP.

Both boats crossed the starting line on starboard tack, with speed, with ALINGHI to windward, and ORACLE BMW Racing close up to leeward. The Swiss boat couldn’t stay in that position and tacked away, with USA-76 quickly following suit. The boats drag-raced out towards Alcatraz Island, on a long port tack, and when they crossed again, ORACLE BMW skipper Chris Dickson held a slim lead.The Americans tacked to cover ALINGHI, and Swiss skipper Jochen Schuemann tacked away to break cover. But USA-76 tacked as well, and over the next 10-minutes, the boats engaged in slow, downspeed tacks, as Schuemann tried to break away.

ORACLE BMW eventually relented, allowing ALINGHI to split to the middle of the course and this was where the race was won. The boats separated by over 1000 yards, and when they converged again at the top mark, the ORACLE BMW Racing team led by 39-seconds.

ALINGHI could do nothing to close this deficit, and the two teams will sail one more race in the Pro-Driver series to determine the winner of the MOËT CUP.

Quotes of the Day:

David Brooke (ORACLE BMW Racing) on his team’s close call with a container ship: We were trying to get everything up early and get ready for whatever was going to happen, but I believe the spinnaker was very close to getting caught on the back of the ship…it was quite funny because we were all trying to wave the ship past us. It was strange to turn around and see ten people trying to wave the ship, ‘cmon, cmon’!!

Simon Daubney (ALINGHI) on how the container ship affected the race: If we’d been in touch with the San Francisco Maritime Authority we couldn’t have timed that ship coming through any better than it did. We needed something like that to go our way! It all just came together and we couldn’t believe our luck!

Gavin Brady (ORACLE BMW Racing) on the close racing: It was a big day for us today…it feels good to be able to go out tomorrow and put it all on the line. I think that couldn’t be a better final.

Matt Jones (Race Committee) on having to abandon a race when a container ship crossed the race course: Sometimes it just happens that the racers and the ships come together. That ship did not appear to be able to go north of Alcatraz, it came south, in the inbound lanes. If he had been just a little bit earlier, or a little bit later, we would have been fine, but it just happened that the sailors came around the mark, at the same time he came into the Bay and he was there, a big black wall, preventing them from getting down to the mark.

Simon Daubney (ALINGHI) on the series being so close: The sailing is to a very high standard, the crew work on both boats, and the positioning, no matter who is driving is second to none. They’re a tough team and we’ve had some really close races.

Francesco Rapetti (ALINGHI) on the physical exertion of sailing on San Francisco Bay: In this wind condition and when you’re doing more than one race…with three races, and three starts, it’s very tiring.

Linky Sailing News September 19

Linky Sailing News September 19

Races Worlds Bronze for Galliard.  Worlds Results: Star, Tornado Guck/Farrar 9th, 49er Wadlow/Spaulding 10th, Lima leads Lasers.  Foerester/Burnham solid in 470's.  Dane leads Finns.  Swett's team leads Ynglings Moet Cup 2 for Alighni Mini Manuard wins Leg 1 

News  NPS Boating Rules & Regulations.  USCG sinks ship OBX 

Great Lakes  Richardson Trophy.  PJ donation CG to clean up 
 
College Sailing  Yale plans Brown defends Hatch Brown @ MIT

 

 

 

 

Winning Day for Alighni

We all thoroughly enjoyed the racing today

A decision was made on Thursday morning by the Race Committee of the Moet Cup to re-sail Race 4 of the pro driver series as a result of problems in Wednesday’s pre-start sequence resulting in the score sitting at 2-1 for Oracle.

With two races down in both the pro driver and owner driver regattas, the pressure dial was turned up high for the crew on board SUI-64 today. Alinghi came through with a performance reminiscent of Auckland together with some risky decision making by the afterguard to give the spectators the most exciting race of the regatta to date - lead changes, penalties and huge separations. Typical of the pattern this week, a light breeze came in about 1:30pm and the first race was underway at about 2pm in 15 knots, with the breeze building to about 20 knots later in the day.

Race One ­ pro driver

In a flood tide, light breeze and with starboard advantage, Alinghi finally got a first start, crossing in front of Oracle by a boat length. Both boats headed out to the right to get underneath Alcatraz and a loose tacking duel ensued with Alinghi in the lead. With less current to factor in today, conditions were a little more weighted to a wind focus and Alinghi quickly made the decision to tack over to the city front shore. Oracle stayed out to the right and a huge separation followed for a good portion of the first beat with both boats experiencing quite different tide and wind conditions. The risk did not pay off for Alinghi; when the boats converged approaching the top mark Oracle crossed just in front of SUI-64 and rounded ten seconds ahead. Immediately Alinghi’s kite was up they began to aggressively pursue Oracle, putting in the first jibe. Alinghi seemed a little quicker and successfully rolled Oracle to gain back a small lead. Neck and neck, Oracle luffed Al!
inghi on an overlap, at the same time the spinnaker of USA-76 hit Alinghi’s rigging, giving Oracle a penalty. Alinghi took the race 41 seconds ahead of Oracle.

Race Two ­ owner driver
On a winning streak today, Ernesto Bertarelli helmed Alinghi to their first win in the owner driver series against Larry Ellison and Oracle. The first start of this race, won by Alinghi, was cancelled due to shipping traffic. A second start got underway soon after on a short course of just four legs. Alinghi, appearing to be back in their Auckland groove, controlled the race with confidence, gaining on the downwind legs as they have done consistently all week. Alinghi crossed the finish a solid 35 seconds ahead of Oracle.

QUOTES:

Brad Butterworth, tactician: “I decided to go to the city front because of the current. It was probably a mistake by me. We probably should have kept with Oracle. Jochen warned me to beware because they are locals.”

Jochen Schuemann, helmsman: “It was the most exciting race that we have had so far. We had two lead changes, penalties, good breeze ­ match racing doesn’t get any better. We all thoroughly enjoyed the racing today.”

Pro Regatta, 18 September
Alinghi: 1 ­ Oracle: 0 Delta: 41 seconds

Overall Ranking
Alinghi: 2 ­ Oracle: 2

Owner Driver Regatta
Alinghi: 1­ Oracle: 0 Delta: 35 seconds

Overall Ranking
Alinghi: 1 ­ Oracle: 2

2 for Alinghi

The Swiss ALINGHI team put on a clutch performance on Thursday, winning an exhilarating race over the ORACLE BMW Racing team, in the Pro-Driver series. The contest was a thriller, with two lead changes, and a penalty. It all made for exciting race viewing in perfect conditions ­ bright sunshine, and a moderate 12 ­ 15 knot westerly on San Francisco Bay. The local crowd took advantage, and there was a large spectator fleet, in addition to the thousands watching from shore.

Thursday had dawned with the decision that Race Four of the Pro-Driver series at the MOËT CUP had been abandoned and would be re-sailed, with the agreement of all the participants. ALINGHI, who had been trailing 3-1, after Wednesday’s races, now entered play on Thursday down just 2-1 and with an opportunity to even the score.

The situation was even more dire in the Owner-Driver series, where ALINGHI trailed 2-0. But Ernesto Bertarelli sailed a strong race, and led his Swiss team to its second win of the day.

It is now Larry Ellison’s team that is on the back foot, and the ORACLE BMW Racing squad will be sure to be ready on Friday.

MOËT CUP ­ Pro-Driver Series ­ Race Five of Seven
(with Race Four to be re-sailed)

ALINGHI (SUI-64) beats ORACLE BMW Racing (USA-76) ­ Delta 0:41

ALINGHI took control of this race in the pre-start. ALINGHI skipper Jochen Schuemann used his starboard tack advantage to force a dial-up. After the traditional circling and jockeying for position, ALINGHI and ORACLE BMW set up their run for the start line on starboard tack with Schuemann to windward, ORACLE BMW helmsman Gavin Brady to leeward, and time to kill. Both boats luffed to lose time, and Brady eventually decided to tack and duck behind ALINGHI. But he didn’t have enough time to return to full speed, and the start gun fired with Schuemann racing across the line, a full length ahead and to leeward of the American boat.

ALINGHI used this start line advantage to build a nice lead, midway through the race. On the second beat, Schuemann elected not to cover, and Brady, and ORACLE BMW skipper Chris Dickson, made him pay. Separating by over 1300-metres, Dickson found stronger wind on the right in the middle of the Bay, and as ALINGHI sailed up the shoreline, ORACLE BMW steamed past to lead by just 10-seconds around the top mark.

But on the final run, ALINGHI set itself up well, gybing first inside ORACLE BMW. When Dickson gybed, the Swiss team was able to roll over the American boat and make a pass. As Dickson and Brady tried to re-gain position from behind and to leeward, they came too close and when their spinnaker touched the mainsail on ALINGHI the Umpires assessed a penalty.

Schuemann was able to round the leeward mark with a slim lead, and covered loosely up the short beat to the finish. After completing a penalty turn just before the finish line, ORACLE BMW crossed 41-seconds behind.

MOËT CUP ­ Owner-Driver Series ­ Race Three of Five

ALINGHI beats ORACLE BMW Racing ­ Delta 0:35

There was a false start in this race, with racing abandoned in a close contest just after the start due to a miscommunication between race officials.

When the race re-started, the boats lined up for the start line with ORACLE BMW Racing owner Larry Ellison to leeward, and ALINGHI owner Ernesto Bertarelli powered up slightly to windward. Ellison luffed his counterpart aggressively, but Bertarelli stayed clear, and started close to windward, both boats on starboard tack.

Ellison was able to force ALINGHI to tack with two hard luffs after the start and Bertarelli claimed the right hand side of the course for the start of the leg.

The boats switched sides when ALINGHI was forced to tack by Alcatraz Island, and Bertarelli then worked up the shoreline, in front of the crowds lining the shore. Ellison enjoyed good wind in the middle of the course, but when the boats converged again, ALINGHI carried a 19-second lead around the top mark.

With this race being sailed on the short, three-leg, course, the ORACLE BMW Racing team couldn’t find a passing opportunity, and Bertarelli and his ALINGHI team, won its first race in the Owner-Driver series. ORACLE BMW now leads 2 ­1 in the five race series.

Quotes of the Day:

John Kostecki on why his ORACLE BMW Racing team was penalized in the first race today: From what I hear, our spinnaker touched the backstay on ALINGHI and we had to give them room to keep clear.

Murray Jones on what ALINGHI did overnight to come out winning today at MOËT CUP: Let’s see, we came in and had a couple of beers, which helped us relax a bit. But really, we got our timing right on the starts today and that was difference. It’s a fine line, and today we did a great job on all the starts.

Juan Vila (ALINGHI) on figuring out the local conditions: Well it took us a while to figure it out, but we’re getting better at it. But we still have some things to learn, it’s very tricky. Every day can be different.

Jamie Gale on the perception of yachting as a sport: Where I grew up in New Zealand it’s not an elitist sport at all, it’s every man and his boat gets out and goes sailing…people are making great efforts to change that perception and I think events like this which are run in places like the harbor here, which is very spectator friendly, is good to promote the sport. You’ll never have the popularity of some other professional sports, but I think that it’s good that for people who do follow sailing that they can come and watch America’s Cup level yachting.

Torresen Marine Seeks Marine Carpenter

Marine Carpenter needed for year round work.

Established sailing oriented service yard seeking marine carpenter. We are currently looking for someone with experience to fill a
lead position for a variety of projects. The postion is year round.
Experience required. Salary commensurate with experience

You may send resumes or employment inquiries to:
Kathleen Torresen
Torresen Marine, Inc.
3126 Lake Shore Drive
Muskegon, Michigan 49441
or email to: kathleen @ torresen.com

August 2003 Muskegon Weather Report

August 2003 Weather In Muskegon The first two months of summer in Muskegon were not all that special. August did it's best to make up for this.

Temperatures were 3.9 degrees above normal, despite the fact it never hit 90°. Guess the high temps were just right. Further this is the first time that Muskegon has had above normal temperatures since December of 2002!.

The monthly high of 89 degrees was recorded on both the 16th and the 28th. The monthly low came on the 30th measured at 51°. Toward's the end of August temperatures were frequently in the 50's proving a tinge of the coming fall..

In addition to the warm temperatures Muskegon was had no cloudy days in August. 24 were considered clear, with 7 partly cloudy. We'll pay for this come winter..

There was 2.22 inches of rain in August well below the norm of 3.77 inches. .99 inches fell on August 8th making it the rainiest day of the month. The rain coincided with the first day of the Muskegon Tall Ships event..

The wind averaged 7.2 knots, .2 below the norm. Windiest day was the 21st which showed an average of 15.9 knots. Least windy day was a week earlier at 2.9 knots..

The warm August brings the month to date temperature up to -.35 degrees. Muskegon could still end up with a below normal temperature average for 2003..

September holds out hope that there could be one more 90 degree day. Temperatures will usually dip near but now below the freezing mark. September is Muskegon's wettest month with approximately 5" the normal rain fall..

September 18th Update: To date temperatures are +2.2 degrees. There have been 12 straight days with above normal temperatures.

Linky Sailing News September 18

Races  More wins for Oracle at Moet Cup.  Worlds:  Europe has a winner.  Godefroid leads Finns.  Percy and  Mitchell lead Stars.  Cayard/Trinter top Americans. Manaurd leads Minis, and Sayer 

News  New Ensigns.  Leiter Trophy Winner

Great Lakes  LM 340.  Toronto to be hit by Hurricane?
 
College Sailing Kings Point hosts and defends Nevins Trophy

Ellison Leads @ Moet Cup

ORACLE BMW won its third consecutive race to take a 3-1 lead in the seven-race series. September 17, 2003 ­ San Francisco, CA ­ Larry Ellison, the ORACLE BMW Racing team owner, showed that his practice sessions over the past month were well worth the time as he sailed a very strong race on Wednesday, to beat ALINGHI, and take a 2-0 lead in the Owner-Driver series at the MOËT CUP.

The America’s Cup winning ALINGHI team found no relief in the Pro-Driver race either, as ORACLE BMW won its third consecutive race to take a 3-1 lead in the seven-race series.

The weather conditions were spectacular once again on San Francisco Bay, and the local sailing fans responded with a 70-boat strong spectator fleet, and big crowds lining the sea wall and breakwaters along the race course.

Racing for the MOËT CUP continues on Thursday afternoon, with two races scheduled, one in each of the Pro-Driver and Owner-Driver series.

MOËT CUP ­ Owner-Driver Series ­ Race Two of Five

ORACLE BMW Racing (USA-76) beats ALINGHI (SUI-64) ­ Delta 0:38

Larry Ellison won the start over Ernesto Bertarelli and never looked back, converting a three-second advantage over the start line into a dominant lead.

Ellison led ALINGHI back towards the start line, and was in a strong position, just to leeward of SUI-64. He luffed hard, closing the gap, and forced Bertarelli to respond. As the ALINGHI boat slowed, head to wind, Ellison put his bow down and accelerated to the start line. Although both boats were late, it was the American who crossed the line first.

Both skippers looked to escape the strong flood current by tacking up in the lee of Alcatraz Island. With his start line lead, Ellison was able to cover ALINGHI at every turn, and although Bertarelli tried to escape by throwing in 11-tacks in the one-mile beat to the Island, the ORACLE BMW Racing team didn’t let him escape.

The boats sailed past Alcatraz and then held a long tack in towards the city. Again, Ellison stayed with Bertarelli, and led him around the top mark by 36-seconds, the biggest lead to this point of the MOËT CUP.

The ALINGHI team couldn’t find any passing opportunities for the rest of the race, and were forced to follow USA-76 around the course. But that didn’t stop the sailors from thrilling the crowd assembled on shore, as both boats tacked in towards the shoreline. At one point, the spectators at Fort Mason could nearly step off the pier, and land on deck.

MOËT CUP ­ Pro Driver Series ­ Race Four of Seven

ORACLE BMW Racing beats ALINGHI ­ Delta 0:40

After a short postponement of the first start sequence, racing started in a 15-20 knot westerly, and both teams immediately engaged in the traditional dial-up. With limited passing lanes on this race course, the importance of a good start can not be overstated, and both skippers were anxious to get across the line first.

After a long time spent head-to-wind, ORACLE BMW helmsman Gavin Brady broke away first, with ALINGHI in close pursuit. The teams began circling downwind of the Committee Boat. As they broke for the line, ALINGHI skipper Jochen Schuemann caught the American team on a close starboard-port incident, but Brady was able to tack quickly, and come out ahead and to leeward with the teams racing for the start line.

As the gun fired, the ORACLE BMW crew was slightly ahead, and to leeward, and as both boats tacked, USA-76 settled into a strong controlling position, slightly ahead and upwind of SUI-64. ALINGHI tried to escape, but the ORACLE BMW team held cover and led into the top mark by 22-seconds.

ALINGHI continued its trend of making gains downwind, and closed up on the first run, but the Swiss team never found a passing lane in this race, and fell by 40-seconds to ORACLE BMW.

With the win, skipper Chris Dickson’s ORACLE BMW Racing team takes a 3-1 lead in the Pro-Driver series for the MOËT CUP.

Quotes of the Day:
Chris Dickson (ORACLE BMW Racing) on the action close to the shoreline: We were sailing up the city front in one of the races today…and I think we may have scraped two or three people off the pier! There were some big eyes and some people taking steps back. I think we went about 10-feet from the pier and then ALINGHI went about 10-inches from the pier. So my suggestion for people would be, if they’re on the city front, be careful. They don’t need to come to us, we’re coming to them!

Warwick Fleury (ALINGHI) on why his team has lost four races this week: It’s probably a little bit of everything. ORACLE BMW have done a great job of preparation and that just shows that yacht racing is all about preparation. I wouldn’t say that our crew changes are any part of it. We’ve been sailing with a few new people and that’s working out really well. The racing is close, and in some of the races it’s a one-way track where if you get behind, it’s very hard to get back. But we’re battling out there, and in the next couple of days I’m sure we’ll win some races.

Chris Dickson on whether Larry Ellison was enjoying the MOËT CUP: If Larry could have his way, there’d be a MOËT CUP every week in San Francisco.

Craig Monk (ORACLE BMW Racing) on what it’s like being with his new team: I was with TNZ for ten years and that’s probably the team that everyone’s striving to be like. OneWorld was a two year stint and we never quite got there. We had a lot of battles off the water, and that held us back a bit. This team is very, very new, and I’m enjoying my time here, and all of our sailing on the Bay here for the last six week. I think that’s about the 200th time we’ve been out on the Bay so we know it pretty well.

Christian Karcher on what ALINGHI has to do to win: We just need to be on the start line tomorrow, ready to fight again. I said to Warwick earlier, ‘we will win a couple of races tomorrow.” I’m sure of it.

Warwick Fleury, confronted with the fact that many ALINGHI sailors will be over 45-years old at the next America’s Cup: There’s no substitute for experience! I don’t feel that old.

Terry Anderlini of the Treasure Island Sailing Center, on seeing the action his race management volunteers have planned for at the MOËT CUP: Just seeing all the great racing here on San Francisco Bay. This is the first time we’ve had this kind of Cup racing here, it’s been an historic event and just being a part of it is a real thrill. What we’ve seen has been spectacular and everyone on the race committee boats is getting a real charge from it, as well as working hard.

More Losses for Alinghi

Alinghi down 3-1 to Oracle in pro driver regatta

Picture perfect conditions welcomed day 3 of the Moet Cup, warm temperatures with a sunny blue sky, light breeze of 15 knots and flat water greeting the hundreds of shoreline spectators. On board Alinghi were several crew changes as Pieter Van Nieuwenhuyzen replaced injured bowman Bernard Labro for both races while Yan Gouniot stepped in for Warwick Fleury in Race 2. Labro suffered a broken rib during racing earlier in the week. Special guest on board SUI-64 was Loick Peyron, a world-class French sailor who is organizing a new French America’s Cup challenger team with Bertrand Pace called Team France.

Race One ­ owner driver

In a show of confidence and well-honed local knowledge, Larry Ellison dominated once again in race two of five in the owner driver regatta. Ernesto Bertarelli took the helm of SUI-64 for just his third time sailing on San Francisco Bay against Ellison today. Oracle played very aggressively in pre-start manouevers as they fought to claim the right side however both teams were well behind the line at the gun. Oracle, to leeward, crossed three seconds ahead of Alinghi and a port tack drag race to the Alcatraz cone ensued. Both teams crossed back to the relief of the city front shore, with Alinghi displaying aggressive tactics and giving spectators an incredible close show as they tacked to within a boat length of buildings lining the shore. Oracle made no mistakes that would have enabled Alinghi to find a passing lane, finishing 40 seconds ahead.

Race Two ­ pro driver
With Jochen Schuemann behind the Alinghi helm and Gavin Brady steering USA-76, the fourth race of seven in the pro driver regatta saw two starts as shipping traffic sailed through the race course on the first start. With the breeze at 18 knots, Alinghi crossed the start a length behind Oracle and both boats set off on port toward Alcatraz. The third beat saw the teams side by side as they dueled up the city front, Alinghi making very small gains, working hard on forward speed. Alinghi put up a good fight in an attempt to close the gap with very aggressive douses coming into the leeward mark to maximize the downwind run, consistently making gains on the downwind legs but not enough to make a difference to their position. Oracle crossed the finish 40 seconds ahead of Alinghi.

QUOTES:

Ernesto Bertarelli, navigator: “Losing is a good therapy. It teaches us to be stronger as a team for the future.”

Warwick Fleury, trimmer: “Oracle are doing a great job. They have done their preparation and it shows. We’ve had some crew changes and have been sailing with a few new people that has been working out well. I am sure we’ll win some races in the next few days.”

Christian Karcher, trimmer: “I spent the Cup and a lot of time on crutches. This is the first time I’ve been sailing in six months. I’m sailing back with the team in a perfect place to sail so I’m feeling great.”

Loick Peyron: “It’s the first time in the history of the Cup that the chairman of one team sails on board another team. Alinghi has understood that we must open up the game.”

Pro Regatta, 17 September
Alinghi: 0 ­ Oracle: 1 Delta: 40 seconds

Overall Ranking
Alinghi: 1 ­ Oracle: 3

Owner Driver Regatta
Alinghi: 0 ­ Oracle: 1

Overall Ranking
Alinghi: 0 ­ Oracle: 2

Everest Horizontal Update

One year ago....

was Sunday, September 15th; the start of the Around Alone Race. I am sending this update out today for a couple of reasons. One is that today is the anniversary of that start, another is because I wanted to provide a further update on the plight of EVEREST HORIZONTAL .

One year ago, I was emotionally spent as the gun fired for the start of Around Alone. The previous six months had been like an insane roller coaster ride - things going well, things appearing hopeless, things going well again. That roller coaster ride would continue all the way around the world; the continuing autopilot problem on Leg 1 was hard, but the great reach up from the Azores was fantastic. On Leg 2, all of Class 2 was driven into port by a huge storm, but we garnered our first 2nd place finish that leg. Leg 3 brought the infamously smokey diesel and a total electical failure - just finishing that leg was a victory. Leg 4 saw us lose our headstay just 1,000 miles into the leg - but we rounded Cape Horn, the sailor's Everest! Leg 5 brought us a crazed storm just 200 miles from the finish, but also was our most competitive leg. All the way around the world, it was all of you who made this happen; the hats and t-shirt you bought, the e-mails of support, the donations - without you, I never would have made it.

Needless to say, with the capsize of EVEREST HORIZONTAL on the return leg of the Bermuda 1-2, the roller coaster is still in operation. After abandoning the boat, recovering her was a wonderful high; we had her back in Bermuda - minus her rig and with her electronics destroyed, but clean and proud, ready for a refit .

Then we were dealt another blow - another trip on the roller coaster. Hurricane Fabian swept over Bermuda, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake - and EVEREST HORIZONTAL was not spared. At the height of the storm, her mooring lines parted and she was driven onto the rocks in St. Georges Harbor (photos below). We did not return to the Atlantic Ocean three times to search for and then recover this valiant boat to let her languish on the rocks . Thanks to a donated plane ticket, I will be heading to Bermuda next week to patch her up. EVEREST designer Jim Antrim is joining me there to assess the work ahead; EVEREST is badly damaged but - thankfully - not destroyed. I must get her back to the U.S. to prepare her for a refit .

At the lowest point of the Around Alone Race, I never imagined that we would find ourselves in this sad shape. If you would like to help us get EVEREST back to Charleston Boatworks, you can help by buying some of the great EVEREST HORIZONTAL gear we have in stock or making a donation on our website www.everesthorizontal.com. Or just send some of your good wishes our way - they mean more than you know .

I'll update again from Bermuda next week.

Tim

Coastal Cleanup

Coastal Cleanup This Saturday will see the annual International Coastal 
Cleanup. Volunteers will clean beaches from 9 AM to Noon. 
To become involved in Michigan call 1-866-850-0745 or send an 
e-mail to: jmorton@lakemichigan.org. 
For more information visit 
http://www.coastalcleanup.org/index.cfm
Online you can see a photo gallery of the types of items one 
can expect to find while giving back to the beaches we all 
enjoy by donating some time to Coastal Cleanup.

---

Trouble on Lake Michigan

Post Labor Day Troubles for boaters on Eastern Lake Michigan.

Although it's past Labor Day, boaters have far from given up
on season 2003 and adventures of sorts continue.

Earlier this week a 41-foot houseboat grounded between
Ludington and Manistee. The boat ended up 100 yards off the
beach of the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness area.

After 1100 miles the couple had joined one of 2 groups of
boaters - transferring from the group that hasn't run aground
to the group that has.

Points out the importance of proper charts and a good visual
lookout. Along the shore you can typically spot shallow
areas by changes in water color.

The good news for them that the area they grounded in is all
sand, unlike Lake Huron which is rocky from being on the
wrong side of the glacier.

Further north a fisherman was found after being adrift for
64 hours. His boat became disabled after he could not
restart his engine. He was spotted by a Canadian Coast
Guard plane participating in the search. The Coast Guard
deployed 3 aircraft and 5 boats in the search.

Can't help but point out that a sailboat without an engine
still has sails...

Seriously, land travelers have developed the '10 essentials'.
Included are water, extra food and clothing. Even though
you maybe just be planning the proverbial 3 hour cruise,
some of these essentials like a gallon or two of water,
granola bars and a set of thermal underwear could help out
if you're unavoidably detained....

Historic Ships: The Gypsy Moths

Gypsy Moth IV is an historic ship as she was used by Francis
Chichester on his 226 day 1 stop circumnavigation in 1966-
1967.

Historic Ships: Gypsy Moth IV Sadness and Happiness

Introduction
Recently the British Magazine Yachting Monthly has announced
plans to once again circumnavigate using Gypsy Moth IV.
Gypsy Moth IV is an historic ship as she was used by Francis
Chichester on his 226 day 1 stop circumnavigation in 1966-
1967.

Since then Gypsy Moth IV has not sailed. Gypsy Moth IV
resides in Greenwich England near the famed clipper ship
Cutty Sark.

One might wonder why such a seemingly worthy vessel would
not be sailed again. Simply put, despite sailing around the
world solo, Francis Chichester did not like the boat.

From her first trial Chichester was not happy. After being
noticeably tender in the Solvent Chichester said "the thought
of what she would do in the huge Southern Ocean seas put ice
in my blood." Even after modifications "she was better, but
still horribly tender." One reason for the tenderness was a
main mast that was 162 pounds overweight.

After the historic voyage Chichester was not at all kind to
his ride saying, "Gipsy Moth IV has no sentimental value for
me at all. She is cantankerous and difficult and needs a
crew of three - a man to navigate, an elephant to move the
tiller and a 3'6" (1.1m) chimpanzee with arms 8' (2.4m) long
to get about below and work some of the gear."

Chichester later built Gypsy Moth V. While sailing GM V in
the 1972 trans Atlantic race Chichester, weakened by cancer
near his spine, he had to abandon the race. During
operations to put a crew aboard the Gypsy Moth, the French
weather ship doing the transport ran down an American
cruising boat killing seven. Two months later Chichester
passed away.

Gypsy Moth V continued on sailing races such as the Round
Britain and east to west Trans At.

In 1982 she was charter for the first Around Alone race.
Lone sailor Desmond Hampton ran GMV aground on Gabo Isalnd
after failing to wake from a nap. Hampton knew GMV was
doomed so he did his best to salvage what gear he could. He
was assisted by the light keeper from Gabo Island.

Links:
Gabo Island Light
GM V

Weekly Water Level Update

Below you'll find water level info for Lake Michigan and Huron.

Below you'll find water level info that pertains
to Lake Michigan and Huron.

Reference Point

Difference from Chart Datum -4
Difference from last month -4
Difference from last year -12
Difference from long term average for September -24
Difference from Record High -57
Difference from Record Low +7
Forecast for 12 October 2003 -2

For information on other lakes see:http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/index.cfm?chn_id=1400

Ellen Macarthur Report

Ellen Macarthur and her Offshore Challenges team are in an
active period.

Ellen Macarthur and her Offshore Challenges team are in an
active period preparing for several upcoming projects.

One, the 75 foot catamaran that Macarthur will use for solo
record breaking is 75% complete. The trimaran will be
launched January 8th in Sydney.

Meanwhile, Kingfisher, the Open 60 Macarthur sailed in the
Vendee Globe, will compete in the Transat Jacques Vabre with
Nick Moloney and Sam Davies on board. Kingfisher is now
known at Team Cowes.

Finally, Macarthur has been at the Moet Cup in San Francisco.
On Day 1 she sailed as a guest aboard Oracle and on Day 2
sailing on Alighni with a brief stint at the helm during the
pre start.

Tri Report
Tri Construction Web Cam
Team Cowes Sailing

College Sailing Report

The second weekend of the fall college sailing season saw a
pair of regattas on the east coast and an opener for the
Midwest.

Kings Point was the winner of the Pine Trophy sailed in
J22's. Despite not posting a win until the final race they
edged Hobart/William Smith by 5 points.

The Captain Hurst Bowl hosted by Dartmouth was won by
Harvard.

The Midwest season opened with the Fall Fury regatta at
Wisconsin. Despite closing out the regattas with a pair of
1sts Minnesota was the winner by 2 points. Once again
'Sota and 'Sconsin appear to be the class of the MCSA.

Sailors of the Week: Skipper Zach Coelius '04 + crew Jenny
Wilson '06, Mark Dunsworth '06 & Kelly J Nichols '04 who won
the Fall Fury B Division with 18 points winning 7 of 11
races.

Team of the Week: Dartmouth the 4th ranked team finished 3rd
at the Hurst Bowl and 4th at the Pine Trophy.

The coming weekend will see the Nevins Trophy at Kings
Point, Hatch Brown at Boston,

Pine Trophy
Fall Fury
Hurst Bowl
Dartmouth Report
Minnesota Sailing

Americas Cup Winner Sails the Moet Cup

Alighni is racing Oracle, a challenger finalist in the past
Cup cycle.

Usually racing of an America's Cup boat occurs strictly in
the year the Cup is contested. Currently this tradition is
being put to rest on San Francisco Bay as current cup holder
Alighni is racing Oracle, a challenger finalist in the past
Cup cycle.

The IACC sloops are sailing the Moet Cup, which has two
phases. One is an owner/driver series with owners
Bertarelli and Ellison at the wheel. The other has Gavin
Brady driving Oracle and Jochen Schumann wheeling SUI 64.

To date Oracle has taken 3 of 4 races. Alinghi won the first
of the pro driver races by 26 seconds with Oracle's deltas
ranging from 24 to 27 seconds.

The racing is being held literally along the shoreline.
Spectators have good views via eyeball and video monitors to
supplement their enjoyment.

Oracle has a number of new faces on board including San
Francisco native John Kostecki. Alighni is being skippered
by Jochen Schuman rather than Russell Coutts in attempt to
add depth to their team. All in all Oracle probably has
higher expectation than does Alighni. Still it's good to
see this unique event!

Oracle
Alinghi
Day 1
Day 2
Up Close AC

Linky Sailing News September 17

Linky Sailing News September 17

Races Moet Cup in person, and an Oracle sweep.  Worlds:  Europe, Yngling (Swett and team fairing well), Star- Percy/Mitchell win twice, best US finish by Reynolds/Liljerdahl 2nd in Race 3 

News  Speed Sailing.  Golding co-skipper Jacques Vabre 

Great Lakes  LM 340 GL Caucus.  Levin on restoration.  Underwater Cleanup.  Battle of  Erie and the Brig Niagra 
 
College Sailing  Minnesota wins Fall Fury

 

 

 

 

Recent Boat fires send life-saving messages

Boat Smart, keep it cool before it can turn hot By Chief Tom Rau

August 23, Frankfort, Michigan, Saturday mid afternoon An urgent boat fire call over VHF-FM Channel 10, from the Frankfort Municipal Marina cut short my conversation with Coast Guardsman Kevin Cook, Station Frankfort. Within minutes, a Coast Guard boat crew aboard a 30-foot rescue boat arrived at the marina to find a 34-foot Tiarra power boat engulfed in flames.

On shore fire fighters scrambled together fire hoses to fight the inferno. Concerns over a possible fuel tank ignition concerned the fire fighters. Police, sheriff and Coast Guard personnel cordoned off the area as a large crowd gathered. Firefighters beat down flames that threatened to spread to nearby moorings. The heat curled fishing poles standing in rod holders on the stern of a 23-foot fishing boat moored adjacent to the Tiarra

The cause of the fire remains under investigation; however, fire officials suspect an electrical malfunction may have sparked the fire.

Marina fires offer an imposing threat to nearby boats, especially if moored downwind to flames. It’s recommended If docked downwind, release mooring lines and set your boat into open water, but do so only if out of reach of flames. One can always replace a boat but never a life.

Boat fires often strike with little or no warning as a boating couple recently discovered.

On August 1, 2003 a 23-foot power boat with four people aboard caught fire at Arcadia’s Veterans Memorial Marina shortly after departing the fuel dock. The blast blew out the cabin windows, propelled a cooler and other gear into the lake and knocked the eye glasses off a woman standing near the engine hatch.

According to Ron Stoops, an Arcadia Township volunteer fire fighter the fuel vent line had deteriorated dripping fuel into the bilges, which ignited as the operator attempted to restart the boat a third time after it had stalled moments after leaving the fuel dock. The operator knocked down flames welling atop the fuel tank with a fire extinguisher. “If not for that fire extinguisher it could’ve been a disaster,” said Mr. Stoops. Remarkably, two of the four people aboard only suffered minor burns.

Mr. Stoops, who owns Acadia Marina and later repaired the fuel line, offered the following advice: “The surest defense against boat fires is preventive maintenance.” He suggests that boaters often check fuel lines for deterioration and hose clamps around fuel fittings. Engine vibration and jarring can work clamps loose.

This also holds true regarding engine ventilation discharge hoses. During vessel inspections I would occasionally discover a discharge hose that had separated from the hull fitting. I advise boaters after turning on their engine blowers to place a hand over the outside exhaust port, to feel for air discharge. Hearing the blower is one thing, feeling air discharging another.

A prudent boater before starting a gasoline driven motor should open engine hatches and check for fuel in the bilges and apply the surest of fuel vapor sensors- their noses.

As for large boats one aspect of the Frankfort boat fire that readily caught my attention was a woman standing along side me on the marina knoll writhing in anguish with hands pressed against her cheeks praying that no one was on the boat. I suspected she had a connection with the boat, but there was little I could do to abate her fears.

Fortunately, her fears proved to be nothing more. In her anguish, however, there lay a message: if someone was in the forward section of the boat could have they escaped through an overhead hatch? When we arrived on scene, flames and boiling black smoke consumed the aft section of the 34-foot Tiarra. No one forward of the cockpit had a chance escaping from the forward cabin. Their only hope would be through a forward overhead hatch- if it worked.

And that could be a big if… For whatever reasons, and there are many, overhead hatches may not open. Boaters should frequently check these escape hatches to assure they open. Also, familiarize crew members on their use. During a fast spreading boat fire a quick escape is your only defense against highly toxic fumes generated by petroleum based materials so common to pleasure boat interiors.

Of utmost, the forward defense against fire is a smoke alarm system that will announce a fire in the making whether in the bilges or above deck. Boaters should often check alarm systems; boat vibrations and motion may effect a malfunction. Also, check engine spaces for fire sources like deteriorating fuel lines, loose clamps, and fuel in the bilges.

Boat Smart, keep it cool before it can turn hot.

Note: Chief Rau is currently conducting research into the effectivness of safety harnesses and what actually happens should you fall over board while wearing one. If you have personal experience of falling overboard while wearing a harness please email Chief Rau at trau@jackpine.com

New Precision 23

In stock at Torresen Marine is a 2003 Precision 23.

In stock at Torresen Marine is a 2003 Precision 23. The
boat includes a trailer, roller-furling genoa, sail cover
and porta potti.

The Precision 23 is an excellent, conventionally designed,
trailerable cruiser. A centerboard allows a minimum draft of
under 2 feet significantly increasing your cruising choices.
The interior is clean without an internal compression post
to compromise space.

For under $ 30,000 you can purchase a new Precision 23 get
up to speed this fall and be ready ahead of schedule for
2004.

Oracle bmw racing takes the lead in heavy conditions at the moët cup

It was a reversal of fortunes on day two of the Pro-Driver series at the MOËT CUP on Tuesday. Larry Ellison's ORACLE BMW Racing team won both of the races on San Francisco Bay and jumped to a 2 ­1 lead in the seven-race series.

Skipper Chris Dickson’s squad took full advantage of its local knowledge to win the first race of the day and give new recruit Gavin Brady his first win at the wheel for the American team.

The MOËT CUP continued to provide spectacular viewing opportunities Tuesday, with the best action coming up the final short beat to the finish, in the first race of the day, when ALINGHI sailed in close to shore, tacking just yards off the breakwater at the Aquatic Park.

Crowds lined the sea wall, and filled the bleachers set up outside the host Golden Gate Yacht Club to enjoy the sight of these two giant America’s Cup Class boats dueling on San Francisco Bay.

Racing for the MOËT CUP continues on Wednesday afternoon, with two races scheduled, one in each of the Pro-Driver and Owner Driver series.

MOËT CUP ­ Pro Driver Series ­ Race Two of Seven

ORACLE BMW Racing (USA-76) beats ALINGHI (SUI-64) ­ Delta 0:27

It was windy at the start of the race, with a strong 20-knot westerly challenging the race crews, and ensuring that the pre-start ritual was relatively mild compared to the standard set on Monday.

Both boats hit the line with speed on port tack, with ALINGHI slightly to weather.
But the Swiss team couldn’t gain enough separation to hold its position there, and was eventually forced to tack away to clear its wind. When the boats converged again moments later, the first cross went to USA-76 by one boat length.

Brady, with local sailors John Kostecki and Larry Ellison among the afterguard on USA-76, kept pushing ALINGHI skipper Jochen Schuemann further to the left side of the race course, forcing SUI-64 to sail in damaging current, while ORACLE BMW Racing picked up a nice boost just off Alcatraz Island.

From there, Brady and skipper Chris Dickson were able to protect their lead, rounding the top mark in lighter breeze, and with a 22-second lead.

Both boats gybed around the weather mark, and in contrast to Monday, this time it was USA-76 that was the faster boat on the run, stretching to a 25-second advantage.

It was a long port tack up each of the beats in this race, with a lot of south in the generally westerly wind, and that limited the options for Schuemann, and tactician Brad Butterworth on Alinghi, as they tried in vain to find a passing lane.

MOËT CUP ­ Pro Driver Series ­ Race Three of Seven

ORACLE BMW Racing beats ALINGHI ­ Delta 0:24

ALINGHI skipper Jochen Schuemann squandered his starboard tack advantage during the pre-start of race three, when his late entry into the start box allowed Gavin Brady to cross ahead and avoid the dial up. Both boats sailed very deep to leeward of the line but didn’t engage too aggressively until just moments before the start, after ALINGHI was forced to tack by a broken jib sheet, and Brady sensed an opportunity to pressure his opponent.

With Schuemann and Brady pressing on the speed in the strong wind, both boats were a fraction of a second early for the start gun and had to return and re-start. The American boat immediately dove back to the line, and gybed, barely maintaining control to restart. ALINGHI was slower to return and found itself re-starting nearly four-lengths back of ORACLE BMW Racing.

The re-start saw ALINGHI sail far to the left side of the course, while Brady took USA-76 to the right, and out of the current behind Alcatraz Island. The split was big, well over a mile, and when the boats finally converged again, ORACLE BMW Racing was well ahead.

The boats tacked up the shoreline, right in front of the host Golden Gate Yacht Club, and the crowds lining the seawall. USA-76 rounded with a 24-second lead, and despite ALINGHI closing the gap on both runs, the American team was able to extend on the beats and win by a safe margin.

Quotes of the Day:

Ross Halcrow (ORACLE BMW Racing) on sailing in the strong wind on San Francisco Bay:In 22 knots of wind, with Young America, we couldn’t sail in that, we’d break and sink. So it’s pretty exciting to be sailing here with ORACLE BMW on these great, solid boats and being able to sheet on and sit down there to leeward, getting covered in water without worrying about what’s going to break next.

Curtis Blewett (ALINGHI) on losing three out of four races this week:
We’ve been sailing together for a long time. It’s not like we’re going to go and have a big, intense, meeting tonight. We’re here to do our best in the event and we’ve all been together for a couple of years now and we’re pretty comfortable with each other. So we’ll continue to try and figure out what side of the course we want off the line, and what the tides are doing, and we’ll just carry on as normal.

Gavin Brady (ORACLE BMW Racing) on helming in the pre-start in 25 knots of wind:One of the things that has helped a lot is that the technology in the sail battens has come a long way. In these sort of conditions, we would almost certainly have broken every batten in the mainsail in the gybe that we pulled off (to re-start). We’ve got a slightly smaller mainsail, which helps as well, so there’s less load on the battens. So a lot of that is coming from the technology, which is letting us push the boats a lot harder. But that was about as aggressive as you could get away with.

Josh Belsky (ALINGHI) on why Russell Coutts isn’t sailing this week:
What you have to do is to look towards the future a bit. We are not, as a team, going to have the benefit of racing against eight, nine or ten teams in a Louis Vuitton Challenger series. We have to develop, in-house, two incredibly strong ‘A’ teams, so that you could pick any one guy, and rotate him onto either boat, with either helmsman, and still be successful. We’ve got to try and generate the best possible in-house match racing that we can. So we’re trying to bring our whole group to that level. There are going to be quite a few of these regattas in the future and there’s no guarantee that you’re going to see Russell Coutts driving.

Alinghi passes up two tough races to Oracle

A small craft weather advisory announced earlier in the day for San Francisco Bay suggested racing may not happen

Sharing the exhilarating conditions out on San Francisco Bay on Team Alinghi today as guest on board SUI-64 was the highly talented yachtswoman Ellen McArthur, sharing her skills as a helmsperson with skipper Jochen Schuemann in pre-start manoeuvers. A strong breeze and flood conditions set the scene for today’s Moet Cup pro driver races. A small craft weather advisory announced earlier in the day for San Francisco Bay suggested racing may not happen but a first start got underway just before 2pm in 18 knots of breeze which built to 25 knots during Race 2. Combined with a strong flood tide, conditions were very challenging.

Race One
An aggressive start by Oracle with starboard advantage saw Alinghi trail the American team for the duration of the race by only several boat lengths with the final delta just 27 seconds and as narrow as 20 seconds at the fourth mark. The Bay offered up a one-sided race course as both teams hugged Alcatraz on one side or the city front on the other to avoid the strong currents. With Oracle controlling the favored right side from the outset and making no mistakes, there were few opportunities for Alinghi to outmanouever Oracle.

Race Two
Alinghi blew a jib line on approach to the start that forced them to tack away and do a speedy line replacement, disrupting their start. Then, adding insult to injury, both Alinghi and Oracle were over the start line early. Unfortunately, with USA-76 between SUI-64 and the committee boat, the Alinghi crew was unable to see both yellow and blue flags raised, giving Oracle bonus time to get back to the line and restart. The boats immediately separated off the start, Alinghi headed directly over the city front while Oracle went for the core hiding behind Alcatraz. With the heavy wind and tide change it was difficult to judge which part of the course would pay off. Once committed to the city front Alinghi found it tough to break out to the right, particularly with Oracle fiercely protecting that side. Alinghi found good speed on the downwind legs, putting up an aggressive show on the roundings and picking up good time. With nothing to lose on the final beat to the finish,!
Alinghi initiated a tacking duel with USA-76 to crossing 24 seconds behind the American team.

QUOTES:

Brad Butterworth, tactician: “If you can’t get control from the start, it is almost impossible to pass on this Bay. We only have one option ­ wait until our opponent makes a mistake. But Oracle is making very few.”

Curtis Blewett, sewerman: “On this course the legs are very short which makes my work very busy. The spinnaker is up and then it’s down again, then the jib has to go up and then it’s down again ­ there’s hardly time to breathe.”

Ellen McArthur: “It was very different but just great. I’m really impressed with the atmosphere on board Alinghi ­ it’s very nice. I got to steer for two tacks before the pre-start which was really exciting. It looks easier from the outside but once you’re on the boat you can see how complicated it is on an America’s Cup boat.”

Pro Regatta, 16 September
Alinghi: 0 ­ Oracle: 2 Delta: 27 seconds then 24 seconds

Overall Ranking
Alinghi: 1 ­ Oracle: 3

Owner/driver regatta ­ no race today
Overall Ranking
Alinghi: 0 ­ Oracle: 1

Visit our Internet site at

Hurricane Isabel Weather Info

This storm has received pretty good advanced notice, with words such as 'supercane' being used.

This storm has received pretty good advanced notice, with words such as 'supercane' being used.

One good way to watch from a distance maybe the web cam at Cape Haterras

For weather observations near the Hurricane see

Epoxy Fillers

Last week's article looked at how resin and hardener are mixed and chemically react to form epoxy. The epoxy formed is useful, but can't do all jobs. Typically unfilled epoxy is too thin to fill gaps or serve for fairing and filleting.

To enhance the epoxy there are a number of fillers. These include thixtropic fillers, bulking fillers, fiborous fillers and pigments.

Thixotropic substances are those that will flow when under stress. When not under stress, they do not flow. This makes them easy to spread, i.e. flowing under stress. When spread they then retain shape.

Bulking fillers are putty like and include microballoons.

Items such as chopped glass fibers and plastic mini fibers can be added to epoxy to increase strength.

Pigment fillers can be used to alter the epoxy's hardness, tint the color, or as exterior coatings.

Michigan produced West System epoxy has a number of fillers which show how the general categories above are applied.

If you are using epoxy to laminate they make their 403 microfibers filler, which helps the epoxy, fill gaps.

If you are bonding hardware with epoxy the correct filler is the 404 High Density filler. This is well suited for bonding differing materials.

If your project calls for filleting, which is adding epoxy to concave or angled corners, use product 405 Filleting blend. This thickens the epoxy for use on the non level surfaces.

Filler 407 Low Density is best suited when you will be fairing or sanding the epoxy.

Other fillers include 406 Colloidal Silica, which can be used to stop epoxy from sagging and 410 Microlight which is smooth and good for applications where detailed sanding will occur.

Anchorage Cup

The last major regatta of the West Michigan sailing calendar,
the Anchorage Cup, was sailed this past weekend. Conditions
were moderate winds from the south.

John Nedeau's Windancer was the first to complete the Grand
Haven to Holland course. Her elapsed time was 2 hours 50
minutes. However on corrected time the NM 43 Wild Oats
edged her fellow NM design by 4+ minutes. Finishing 2nd
overall was the venerable IOR design Gauntlet.

Other section winners were: Lickety Split Hobie 33, Encore
S2 10.3, Spectra S2 9.1 and Silent Partner Bremer 25.

Tops in the Jib and Main fleet were a pair of S2 7.9's with
Second Wind beating Old Blue Eyes by under a minute.

Rebecca a Catalina 30 won the Sliver course race by 7
minutes.

With the conclusion of the Anchorage Cup only club racing
remains for West Michigan sailors.

Silver Course Results
http://www.anchoragecup.com/2003/anc_silver03.html
Spinnaker Results
http://www.anchoragecup.com/2003/anc_spin03.html
JAM Results
http://www.anchoragecup.com/2003/anc_jibmain03.html

Cough CPR

I've seem some recent reports on a technique called 'Cough
CPR'. Cough CPR is the idea that people going into cardiac
arrest could cough vigorously and save their life. This is a
seemingly attractive idea.

I've seem some recent reports on a technique called 'Cough
CPR'. Cough CPR is the idea that people going into cardiac
arrest could cough vigorously and save their life. This is a
seemingly attractive idea.

According to the Red Cross however it's not as useful as it
seems. They state, "its [Cough CPR] use is limited to
clinical situations in which the patient has a cardiac
monitor, the arrest is recognized before loss of
consciousness, and the patient can cough forcefully."

The full Red Cross response is at
http://chapters.redcross.org/nh/nashua/coughcpr.html.
The AHA's information is at
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4535
Suffice it to say that unless your boat is equipped with
a cardiac monitor you can ignore Cough CPR.

British Coast Guard Changes/Mobile Phones as Safety Units

Recently the British Coast Guard announced a change in the
way they monitor VHF Channel 16. Traditionally the British
had been alone in monitoring Channel 16 via a headset watch.

Recently the British Coast Guard announced a change in the
way they monitor VHF Channel 16. Traditionally the British
had been alone in monitoring Channel 16 via a headset watch.

However developments such as satellite communications,
digital selective calling, and mobile phones makes a
headset watch impractical. With so many communications
options British Coast Guard personnel can't wear head phones
and hope to do their job.

Although mobile phones are one of things that caused the
change the British do state that "mobile phones cannot be
totally relied upon when at sea for distress and other
emergency calls."

This is something that the US Coast Guard agrees with
stating, "cellular phones are a generally reliable secondary
means of contacting the Coast Guard." Since mobile phones
are point to point, other mariners who maybe able to assist
can't hear the call.

Looking at some Coast Guard guide lines for cellular phone
emergency calls give you an idea of what to know about your
phone if you plan to use it in lieu of a VHF radio. The
Coast Guard will want to know the number, carrier, if you
are on roam, what your phones wattage is, antenna height
from waterline, and battery strength and whether you have
an alternative power source. In a Marine Assistance Request
Broadcast the cellular # will be part of the broadcast
information.

Of course all that can be avoided by having a working VHF
radio so you can contact the VHF-FM distress network which
provides coverage of 1 watt singles 20 nautical miles out to
sea around the US.

Going forward, the Coast Guards Rescue 21 project will add
features such as: position localization within 2 degrees,
digital voice recording so unclear messages can be heard,
and DSC ready.

One final note on emergency communications. Current cell
phones come with a GPS chip that works with the E911 system.
The chips are supposed to provide the user/phones location
within a 160 to 330 foot area.

Such a feature makes a mobile phone more valuable to a
distressed boater, but doesn't bring it to the level of
utility of a VHF radio.

Warren Zevon

Musician Warren Zevon passed away this week at age 56. Zevon
was a favorite of mine. One of his most famous lyrics was
"Send lawyers, guns and money The sh*t has hit the fan."
Anyone that's been captain of a racing boat, and lived the
high tension situation of a Mac season, or sailed through a
gale should appreciate this. Zevon also penned this lyric,
"I'll sleep when I'm dead."

2003 Anchorage Cup

The last major regatta of the West Michigan sailing calendar,
the Anchorage Cup, was sailed this past weekend. Conditions
were moderate winds from the south.

John Nedeau's Windancer was the first to complete the Grand
Haven to Holland course. Her elapsed time was 2 hours 50
minutes. However on corrected time the NM 43 Wild Oats
edged her fellow NM design by 4+ minutes. Finishing 2nd
overall was the venerable IOR design Gauntlet.

Other section winners were: Lickety Split Hobie 33, Encore
S2 10.3, Spectra S2 9.1 and Silent Partner Bremer 25.

Tops in the Jib and Main fleet were a pair of S2 7.9's with
Second Wind beating Old Blue Eyes by under a minute.

Rebecca a Catalina 30 won the Sliver course race by 7
minutes.

With the conclusion of the Anchorage Cup only club racing
remains for West Michigan sailors.

Silver Course Results
Spinnaker Results
JAM Results

Lake Michigan and Huron Water Levels

Below you'll find water level info that pertains
to Lake Michigan and Huron.

Reference Point

Difference from Chart Datum -2
Difference from last month -3
Difference from last year -11
Difference from long term average for September -22
Difference from Record High -55
Difference from Record Low +9
Forecast for 5 October 2003 -2

For information on other lakes see:
http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/index.cfm?chn_id=1400

Volvo Open 70

In just over 2 years the next Volvo Ocean race will start
from Europe. The fleet will head around the world in boats
designed to the new Volvo Open 70 rule.

Boats will be just over 70 feet long with a beam ranging
from 15 to 18 feet. 100 foot+ masts will carry up to 7265
square feet of sail.

70 feet proved to be a sweet spot for cost vs. size. The
VOR 60's were felt to have reached their maximum potential.
It's expected that the 70's will be 20 days faster around
the world. Canting keels will be featured and daggerboards
and canards are possible.

Links News Story
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/pages/news/news27.htm
Q&A
http://www.volvooceanrace.org/pages/racinginfo/info.htm#QA

College Sailing Starts

Labor day is a sign for many things, including the beginning
of the fall college sailing season. During the fall season
the Single Handed and Sloop National championships are
decided. The fall season concludes with the Timme Angsten
regatta in Chicago which serves as an unofficial fall
national championship. 9 teams will travel to Chicago to
sail against 8 teams from the Midwest.

Labor day is a sign for many things, including the beginning
of the fall college sailing season. During the fall season
the Single Handed and Sloop National championships are
decided. The fall season concludes with the Timme Angsten
regatta in Chicago which serves as an unofficial fall
national championship. 9 teams will travel to Chicago to
sail against 8 teams from the Midwest.

This past weekend Yale hosted the first major intersectional
regatta, the Harry Anderson Trophy. 24 teams competed.

The winning team was Washington College in upset fashion for
their obscure program. Washington's sailors were 2nd in
both divisions. Washington was ranked 11th entering the
regatta. # 7 ranked Tufts finished 2nd, with # 1 ranked
Harvard, defending dinghy champions, 3rd. Dartmouth ranked
4th, finished 6th.

Performance of the regatta was posted by Harvard's Caldwell
Potts with crew Laura Schuber and Diana Rodin. They won 4
of 10 A division races, finished out of the top 10 only once
and had a 23-point margin!

This weekend will see the Pine Trophy at Coast Guard
(Hobart/William Smith Defending champion), The Captain Hurst
with Dartmouth host and defending champion, and the Fall
Fury at Wisconsin which is also the defender.

Fall Schedule
http://www.collegesailing.org/00intersx/index.shtml
Harry Anderson Schedule
http://www.sailingworld.com/sw_article.php?articleID=2006
Results
http://www.collegesailing.org/00intersx/f03/harrya.htm
Washington Wins
http://athletics.washcoll.edu/sailing/releases/03anderson.html
Preseason Rankings
http://www.sailingworld.com/sw_article.php?articleID=1998

Epoxy/Hardeners

This week we'll look at how the resin and hardener combine to
make epoxy and how you can use different hardeners for
different conditions.

This week we'll look at how the resin and hardener combine to
make epoxy and how you can use different hardeners for
different conditions.

Resins used in marine epoxies are low viscosity. Typically
they are modified by epoxy companies for their use on boats.
Chemically they are biphenyl, or they combine 2 phenols and
1 Acetate.

The resin is mixed with a hardener, which is composed of
polyamines. Chemically, and order wise, these are similar to
ammonia.

The reaction between resin and hardener is exothermic. This
means it gives off heat, meaning that the warmer the
conditions the faster the reaction. Another way to think of
the reaction is as follows: epoxy that is mixed thickly
and is used in warm conditions cures fast, while a thin
mixture of epoxy in cold conditions cures slowly.

Looking at West System epoxy products we see 4 hardeners
that can be mixed with their resin.

205 hardener is the standard hardener, best for epoxy jobs done
at room temperature.

Their 206 hardener has a lower viscosity. This means it
cures slower than 205 and is a good choice for jobs where
the job is an extended one. 206 has a pot life of 20-25
minutes while 205's pot life is 9-12 minutes.

209 is an extra slow hardener for working in warm
conditions. It has twice the pot life of 206 hardener.

207 hardener is a special use product. If you want a clear,
natural wood finish you should use 207.

Most companies, including West System, produce their resins
and epoxy in a way so that they are easily mixed. Typically
when purchasing resin and hardener you can buy a set of pumps.
These pumps are calibrated so that one pump of resin and one
of hardener automatically produce the appropriate mixture.

Future articles will cover fillers and epoxy techniques.

Epoxy Part I

This month's series of theme articles will look at epoxy and some of it's
uses on boats.

Epoxy is a 2 part material consisting of a resin and a hardener. When the resin is mixed with hardener a solid plastic is produced from a liquid starting stage. Additionally a filler can be used to make the epoxy thicker or to produce a desired characteristic.

Epoxy has many uses both on boats and in other applications. On boats epoxy can be used for small fiberglass repairs, both cored and solid fiberglass repair, and rudder and keel repairs. Gaining knowledge of epoxy will also allow you do perform tasks such as bonding bricks and repairing toilet tanks.

Repair kits are an excellent item to keep onboard and can be purchased in the Torresen Marine Online Store at
Future articles will look at hardeners, fillers and epoxy techniques.

Be Always Aware

Once the Tall Ships left Muskegon I stepped away from the marine and sailing business. It continued right on without me.

One way to learn what happened is to check out the Coast Guard's operational summaries. During that period the Coast Guard air lifted a freighter crew, a 200 foot barge sank, a swimmer was rescued by Station Muksegon, two bodies from an 8 foot sailing boat were found, Station Grand Haven rescued a person in the water, a non life jacket wearing 52 year old male drowner off Sebewaing, MI, a diver who eventually died was air lifted from South Manitou Island, a more appropriately equipped person (they had radio, personal flotation device and flares) was rescued after their boat sank near Port Sheldon, two other PFD wearers survived 18 hours in the water after their boat capszied, while a person wearing a blue shirt/PFD was hard to find and perished.

Impressions: Lots of activites, danger, some death. The Coast Guard earning their budget. Wearing the proper gear can be essential, a literal life and death situation. Many people enjoyed their time on or near the water.

Look to Rowing Reporter for more safety related news, analysis and articles.

Coast Guard Operation Summaries

Historic Ships

Another idea for this space perculated to top of mind postion after I saw the Nina visiting Ludington. Nina visited Muskegon in 2001, and participated in some of the 2003 Great Lakes Tall Ships events.

We know the Nina best from the original ship's participation in Christopher Columbus' 1492 ocean blue voyage. After this the original Nina sailed on a variety of voyages up to 1501.

History is filled with famous ships such as Endurance, Victory, Cutty Sark, Yorktown, Enterprise etc. As the Nina is known for the 1492 voyage the Victory is known for having been commanded by Admiral Nelson. However, Victory had other commanders such as Admiral Kempenfelt in 1781, and after her historic role in the Battle of Trafalgar was an active warship for 7 further years.

The idea that ships have an active career both before and after what we know them for will serve as theme for a series of Rowing Reporter pieces this winter. The northern winter should give time and perspective to look at the full story of famous ships.

A Million Good Causes

A recent lengthy holiday gave me time to think about improving what happens in this space. When not working I'll often volunteer for different tasks and casuses. Once you get known as a volunteer, it seems as though your chance to help out only increases.

This has led me to form the following mantra. 'There's a million good causes....'. The mantra is incomplete in that there never seems enough, people, time or money for the myriad positve causes.

I've been involved in several volunteer causes that are water related. These groups include the Big Sable Lightkeepers Assoication, Red Cross, Lake Michigan Federation and Coastal Clean Up.

Going forward I'd like to use Rowing Reporter space to help publicze good causes that are water/marine/sailing related. As long as they pertain to these aspects and need volunteer involvement they are eligible to appear in the Rowing Reporter.

Some examples might inclyude: junior sailing, scientic education, make a wish type groups etc.

Just email your parts of the million good causes to ike@torresen.com. Read this space regularly to learn about ways you can become involved.

In Which I Go Kayaking

In Which I go Kayaking

What happens when a sailor who goes by the moniker Rowing Reporter goes
Kayaking? Well besides tipping over the kayak a lot of good things.

I made my kayaking debut on Hamlin Lake in late August. Despite being a man made, inland lake, Hamlin Lake was firece for my kayaking debut both in wind and wave departments.

The kayak I rented was something like this one. Not exactly a high seas machine.

I hopped in placed the boat in the water, plopped down, and dipped my paddle. Off I glided.

Immdeadiately I noted two things. One, sitting facing forward while paddling seemed more intuitive than rowing while facing backward. Two, my small, low to the water kayak was absolutely wind sensitive.

My sailorly instincts kicked in and I began judging my course by wind. Takes those waves at a quartering angle. Look for areas with less wind to make for easier paddling, rather than more wind for better paddling. Then I headed into shallow water, where the waves broke. Bad move it seemed to me!

Eventually I turned around. I had been paddling into the wind. Foolishly I turned my canoes stern to the waves. As I went through the turn one of the nasty Hamlin Lake wavelets knocked me over. Felt pretty much like the sensation from capszing a sailboat.

Now that I've kayaked it's time to take the next step and try a sailing kayak.

Weekly Water Level Update

Below you'll find water level info that pertains to Lake Michigan and Huron.

Reference Point

Difference from Chart Datum -1
Difference from last month -2
Difference from last year -12
Difference from long term average for September -24
Difference from Record High -55
Difference from Record Low +9
Forecast for 29 September 2003 -2

More Information

1997 Hunter 340

This week's featured boat is a 1997 Hunter 340. Boat includes Yanmar Diesel, dodger, lazy jacks, + equipped for cable.

S2 7.9 Nationals

The S2 7.9 class' annual championship was dominated by the Boston/Bremer/Boston team sailing Frequent Flyer. Their winning margin
was 16 points and they did not have to sail the final race. 5 different boats posted 1st place finishes.

The Windjammers Yacht Club and M&M Yacht club hosted the regatta on the waters of the Bay of Green Bay off Menominee MI.

Results

Boat Smart by Chief Tom Rau

Recent Boat fires send life-saving messages

August 23, Frankfort, Michigan, Saturday mid afternoon An urgent boat fire call over VHF-FM Channel 10, from the Frankfort Municipal Marina cut short my conversation with Coast Guardsman Kevin Cook, Station Frankfort. Within minutes, a Coast Guard boat crew aboard a 30-foot rescue boat arrived at the marina to find a 34-foot Tiarra power boat engulfed in flames.

On shore fire fighters scrambled together fire hoses to fight the inferno. Concerns over a possible fuel tank ignition concerned the fire fighters. Police, sheriff and Coast Guard personnel cordoned off the area as a large crowd gathered. Firefighters beat down flames that threatened to spread to nearby moorings. The heat curled fishing poles standing in rod holders on the stern of a 23-foot fishing boat moored adjacent to the Tiarra

The cause of the fire remains under investigation; however, fire officials suspect an electrical malfunction may have sparked the fire.

Marina fires offer an imposing threat to nearby boats, especially if moored downwind to flames. It’s recommended If docked downwind, release mooring lines and set your boat into open water, but do so only if out of reach of flames. One can always replace a boat but never a life.

Boat fires often strike with little or no warning as a boating couple recently discovered.

On August 1, 2003 a 23-foot power boat with four people aboard caught fire at Arcadia’s Veterans Memorial Marina shortly after departing the fuel dock. The blast blew out the cabin windows, propelled a cooler and other gear into the lake and knocked the eye glasses off a woman standing near the engine hatch.

According to Ron Stoops, an Arcadia Township volunteer fire fighter the fuel vent line had deteriorated dripping fuel into the bilges, which ignited as the operator attempted to restart the boat a third time after it had stalled moments after leaving the fuel dock. The operator knocked down flames welling atop the fuel tank with a fire extinguisher. “If not for that fire extinguisher it could’ve been a disaster,” said Mr. Stoops. Remarkably, two of the four people aboard only suffered minor burns.

Mr. Stoops, who owns Acadia Marina and later repaired the fuel line, offered the following advice: “The surest defense against boat fires is preventive maintenance.” He suggests that boaters often check fuel lines for deterioration and hose clamps around fuel fittings. Engine vibration and jarring can work clamps loose.

This also holds true regarding engine ventilation discharge hoses. During vessel inspections I would occasionally discover a discharge hose that had separated from the hull fitting. I advise boaters after turning on their engine blowers to place a hand over the outside exhaust port, to feel for air discharge. Hearing the blower is one thing, feeling air discharging another.

A prudent boater before starting a gasoline driven motor should open engine hatches and check for fuel in the bilges and apply the surest of fuel vapor sensors- their noses.

As for large boats one aspect of the Frankfort boat fire that readily caught my attention was a woman standing along side me on the marina knoll writhing in anguish with hands pressed against her cheeks praying that no one was on the boat. I suspected she had a connection with the boat, but there was little I could do to abate her fears.

Fortunately, her fears proved to be nothing more. In her anguish, however, there lay a message: if someone was in the forward section of the boat could have they escaped through an overhead hatch? When we arrived on scene, flames and boiling black smoke consumed the aft section of the 34-foot Tiarra. No one forward of the cockpit had a chance escaping from the forward cabin. Their only hope would be through a forward overhead hatch- if it worked.

And that could be a big if… For whatever reasons, and there are many, overhead hatches may not open. Boaters should frequently check these escape hatches to assure they open. Also, familiarize crew members on their use. During a fast spreading boat fire a quick escape is your only defense against highly toxic fumes generated by petroleum based materials so common to pleasure boat interiors.

Of utmost, the forward defense against fire is a smoke alarm system that will announce a fire in the making whether in the bilges or above deck. Boaters should often check alarm systems; boat vibrations and motion may effect a malfunction. Also, check engine spaces for fire sources like deteriorating fuel lines, loose clamps, and fuel in the bilges.

Boat Smart, keep it cool before it can turn hot.

Note: Chief Rau is currently conducting research into the effectivness of safety harnesses and what actually happens should you fall over board while wearing one. If you have personal experience of falling overboard while wearing a harness please email Chief Rau at trau@jackpine.com

2003 Governors Cup

The Muskegon Yacht Club hosted it's annual Governor's Cup regatta on Lake
Michigan over Labor Day weekend. Boats sailing in the spinnaker class completed 5 races, while the jib and main fleet sailed 2 races while viying for the Lieutenant Governors Cup.

The winner of the Governors Cup was Hippy Chick a One Design 35, by a single
point over the Kaufman 45 Gauntlet. 3rd on overall points was John
Neadeau's Windancer a Nelson Marek 68. Windancer won Race 1, the J 125 Erleichda Race 2, Gauntlet Race's 3 and 4 with Hippy Chick 1st in Race 5.

Class B was won by Brian Torresen's Melges 24. Torresen edged fellow Melges
24 skipper Scott Miller by 4 points.

The Class C winner was the Soverel 30 Wings winning a tiebreaker from the
J30 Hallel. The tiebreaking race ended up being race 1 when Wings was 5th and Hellel 6th.

Winner of the Lieutenant Governors Cup was the C&C 110 Kvivik owned by Kent
Krive who was 1st in both races.

Muskegon Yacht Club sailors still have the fall series and a JY15 regatta to contest.