Around The World Of Sailing

Linky Sailing News

Racing Hobart prep. Vabre memories. Joyon and VDH updates

News Cup to be sailed in Valencia. Heart attack at Sea. No throwouts and remaining trials. ASTA Awards

Great Lakes Tall Ships aftermath

College Sailing Stanford's Haines 4th at Singles

32nd America's Cup Venue Announcement made at the President Wilson Hotel in Geneva: L to R Commodore Pierre Yves Firmenich, CEO ACManagement Michel Bonnefous, Louis Vuitton President Yves Carcelle and Ernesto Bertarelli.

College Sailing Report

This past weekend was the annual ICSA Singlehanded Championships. Lasers were sailed in seperate fleets for men and women.

Starting off with a win in the 1st race Old Dominion's Anna Tunnicliffe defended her women's single handed title in dominating fashion. Her eventual margin of victory was 27 points. She won 7 of 15 races. This compares to a 10 point win in 2002, with just a single race win. Harvard's Genny Tulloch was 2nd with fellow Crimson Sloane Develin 3rd.

Harvard's Vincent Porter was the top returning male, having finished 3rd in 2002. This, and his recent Olympic trial appearance, made him the favorite. Porter lived up to the billing, wining with a total of 74 points. His first win in race 6 put him in the lead to stay. Up to this point David Wright of Kings Point had led. Wright was the 2001 winner. 3rd was another Harvard sailor Clay Johnson. Interestingly Porter's total of 74 points was only 2 less than his 3rd place total in 2002. Of note, Porter is sophomore, Johnson just a freshman.

Combining the regattas, Harvard took 5 of the top 10 places. Best finish by an MCSA sailor was Michigan's Christina Falcone 11th in the women's competition.

This weekend the annual Timme Angsten regatta will be sailed in Chicago. 14th ranked Boston College is the defending champion.

Sail Cloth Choices

Much of this article is based on information from Brian Hancock's Maximum Sail Power.

Sails serve a lot of purposes. Due to this there are a variety of manufacturing methods and cloth options. An inland daysailor will have different needs than a grand prix offshore racer. This article discusses the different cloths that are available.

The types of sail cloth fall into certain categories. These categories are defined and then specifc fabrics are discussed.

Liquid Crystal Polymers- A liquid in which the molecules are oriented parallel to each other resulting in birefringence and interference patterns visible in polarizing light. The polymer is the high molecular weight structure embedded in the liquid.

Vectran-Fits in below techonra in strength and stretch. Has a higher cost than Kevloar or Spectra.

PBO- The worst in handling UV it is the best in resisting stretch. This product is used in top end, top price racing sails.

Carbon Fiber- A manufacturer calls it "an extreme performance laminate". In summation it is very good, very expensive and very fragile.

Aramids which are, "A manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming material is a long chain synthetic polyamide having at least 85% of its amide linkages (-NH-CO-) attached directly to two aromatic rings ."

Technora- Stronger than kevelar although a bit more stretchy. You'll recognize technora for it's black color. The black is the UV shield. Trivial but interesting: technora is 8 times as strong as steel.

Kevlar- The height of tech at one time, now a notch or two down from carbon fiber or PBO. Light weight and low stretch, used mainly in racing sails.

Woven Cloths

Nylon- Mainly used for Spinnakers. It's light weight but has problems with stretch.

Dacron/Polyester- Dupont originated Dacron and took sailmaking from using flax and cotton. This is a woven cloth. The cloth of choice for most sails.

Polyethelenes- A type of plastic.

Spectra- High strength, low stretch and resists UV well. Used successfully for applications such as the Vendee Globe and Around Alone.

Pentex- A low stretch version of Dacron, often used in laminates with other cloths. This is a polyethelene, as listed above.

If you're not a racing sailor, then the woven cloths maybe sufficient. If you're an offshore cruiser then you may want to look at some of the polyethelenes. The aramids and liquid crystal polymers will be of interest mainly to racing sailors. Further infomration can be gleaned by using the links below.

You can combine this cloth knowledge along wit specific manufcaturing techniques such as 3DL Fusion, Ultra and D4 for racers. If you are a cruiser products like Vision, Stackpack Passagemaker or Norlam maybe your sweet spot.

Links:
Sail Cloth information & Sailmaking Encyclopedia

Linky Sailing News

Racing Hellomoto a winner. Star report

News New Cup team. Trials winner writes. Sailing Hall of Fame?

Great Lakes Michigan beach monitoring. Christmas Schooner to be performed.

College Sailing Singles results Tunnicliffe a winner

Boating First Aid Primer

This article looks at the three most common types of injury that occur on sailboats. It also covers the most common injuries on other types of boats. Injury statistics are from the US Coast Guard. It then looks at treating each injury and what you will need on board your boat to do so.

On sailboats and boats in general, lacerations are the most frequent injury. Lacerations should be treated with clean gauze for pressure, roller bandages or elastic bandages in the next stage and then a wound closure device. You should also have rubber gloves to provide a barrier between aid giver and victim's blood.

Second on the sailboat injury list is head injuries. Sailboats do have booms which during an uncontrolled gybe can damage the head. Head wounds can be to the scalp, skull or brain. If a person suffers a head wound is not conscious they should be evacuated immediately. Sterile gauze type dressing should be used to control bleeding. You may clean the wound if it is to the scalp, but not if to the skull. Improper cleaning of a skull injury can lead to a brain infection.

Third is hypothermia. Hypothermia can occur if a person spends time sailing in wet or cold weather. Heat can be lost via conduction between a hot body and a wet deck. Convective heat loss can occur via wind chill. The third way to lose heat is via radiation. For instance, not wearing a hat can cause heat loss to radiate out of the head area. Evaporative heat loss occurs when perspiration occurs.

The other type of hypothermia is immersive, ie falling in the water. Both types are preventable. Heat loss hypothermia via dressing properly. For instance wear a hat, use clothing that is breathable to cut down on perspiration and wear wind proof clothes so the wind doesn't cut down your heat. Avoid immersive hypothermia via good seamanship, such as one hand for the ship, one for the sea. Consider wearing a safety harness and a PFD.

Should hypothermia occur, some simple steps can lead to rewarming. Replace wet clothes with dry. Give the person a hat to wear. Get them out of the wind. Then provide them with insulation such as a sleeping bag, give them hydration and slowly warm them. Applying too much heat too fast can lead to shock or burns.

Second on the power boat injury list is broken bones. They say speed kills and in this case speed breaks bones. If there's any reason to believe a bone is broken it should be splinted. When splinting immobilize the area above and below the suspected break. You'll need items such as blankets, triangle bandages etc. to make a splint. You may want to consider carrying a SAM splint onboard. This is ready made versatile splint.

Third on the power boat list is contusions, essentially a bruise. Here is a case that can be treated with RICE, aka rest, ice and elevation. When icing use a schedule of 20-40 minutes every 2/4 hours for 48 hours. Elevate the contusion above the level of the heart.

Record Sailors

There are currently two experienced French sailors attempting to set around the world sailing records. Francis Joyon is attempting to set the record for fastest solo circumnavigation. Jean Luc Van Den Heede is making another atttempt at the solo circumnavigation record against the prevailing winds.

Joyon will sail west to east or with the prevailing winds. Van Den Heede will sail east to west or against the winds.

Van Den Heede (known as VDH) is sailing a purpose built 25 meter Aluminium monohull. Joyon is sailing the 27 meter trimaran formerly known as Sport Elec. As Sport Elec the boat once held the Jules Verne record for fastest boat around the world.

VDH crosses the equator

VDH has attempted this record course three times previously. Previous attempts have ended after striking a floating object, having keel problems and dismasting.

This is Joyon's first attempt at the record and 1st circumnavigation. He does hold the single handed record for the east to west trans atlantic.

Joyon on board

Joyon is aiming for the time of 93 days 3 hours set by Michel Desjoyeaux in winning the last Vendee Globe. VDH is trying to break Phillipe Monnet's record of 151 days 19 hours.

Who has the better chance to be a record setter? Joyon is sailing a boat that once circumnaviated in 71 days, albeit with a crew of 6. VDH is sailing a boat that has already failed twice on the same course.

So, maybe VDH is due to make, law of averages and all. While that maybe so I'll take the proven record for speed of the big trimaran over VDH's monohull which must again sail the wrong way.

Featured Brokerage Schock 35

'Intrepid' is a good club racer or cruiser. She's a Schock 35, a member of an active offshore one design class. Both the hull and bottom finish have been updated. Hull with awlgrip and bottom with epoxy barrier coat and VC 17. Both jobs were done in 1995.

The sail inventory is sufficient for club racing.

The interior features generous amounts of wood which nicely accents the interior. Overall this Schock 35 is a nice clean boat.

Contact the Torresen Marine Sales Dept. for more information.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Farr invatational results. Gilmour wins Nippon Cup

News Records: Joyon off solo on former Jules Verne record holder. VDH crosses the equator, Geronimo retires. Peter Holmberg signs. Coutts wanted radical. Fremantle & 5 oceans. Skip Novak on The Race. Owen interview

Great Lakes Muskegon Milwaukee ferry being built and staffed.

College Sailing Porter and Tunnifcliffe win singles.

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Francis Joyon off solo on a boat that once held the crewed round the world record.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Farr regatta. Nippon Cup.

News Geronimo record update. AC website

Great Lakes Fitzgerald presentation. Wisco wrecks. Christmas Schooner review. West Michigan Winter Forecast

College Sailing Anna Tunnicliffe is Women's Singles defending champion. Portland State has a team.

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Torresen Marine customer Virago is leading the Rolex Farr OD Invatational

Winter Weather Outlook

The National Weather Service is predicting normal temperatures with above normal snowfall for the upcoming 2003-2004 winter. A normal winter in Muskegon sees 56 days where the high temperature does not reach freezing and 8 feet 10 inches of snow falls.

2/3rds of the way through November temperatures are + 1.2 degrees. They've ranged from a low of 20 degrees up to 63.

Rain fall is already well above normal 5.3 inches having fallen in a month that averages 2 inches.

Long range forecasts are not always accurate. Last year forecasters called for an above average winter temperature-wise. While December was above normal in temperature, January and February were not. For the winter temperatures were .6 degrees below normal.

Water Level Update

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

Reference Point- Measurements in Inches

Difference from Chart Datum -6
Difference from last month 0
Difference from last year -6
Difference from long term average for November -22
Difference from Record High -59
Difference from Record Low +9
Forecast for 14 December 2003 -2

Click for information on other lakes.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Nippon Cup. Rolex Farr Fleet racing

News GIS Day. 470 Report. Yuck says Schwab. Geronimo update

Great Lakes Priorities

College Sailing Harvard report. Olympic trialist Vincent Porter is top returning finisher for mens singles.

Nick Moloney and Sam Davies arrive in Brazil finishing the Jacques Vabre.

Master and Commander Notes

Master and Commander the movie based on the sailing/naval novels of Patrick O'Brian opened this past Friday. Is it a success? It was the #2 movie at the box office, behind Elf but ahead of the latest Matrix. Box office success will be a major determing factor if there will be a sequel.

The film is particularly good at showing us the world of the 19th century seaman. How loud things were and how chaos reigned when under attack. The display of how crowded the ships and crew were at any time shows particuarly well.

Russel Crowe does a fine job playing Captain Aubrey. I had no trouble believe his performance. Crowe appears stout, perhaps even pudgy matching my impression of Aubrey from the novels. He's also particuarly fine in the in-cabin drinking scenes. What a contrast in roles from playing mentally ill scientist John Nash in a Beautiful Mind.

One of my wishes came true. Killick the foul tempered, which that he often mutters, servant did toast cheese. Twice at that!

Another visual point- the upsweep of the bow sprit. In the movie Aubrey uses this to gain height in looking for the enemy. Was this more commonly used than the mast heads? My impression is that the mast head was more used.

According to the producers Russell Crowe, "became adept at climbing the rigging to the tops." If so they didn't show this much.

Early in the movie when the Surprise builds a small model ship and casts if off showing navigation lights is an example of how Lord Cochrane was a source for the books and now the movie.

Onto things that were not as well done. An opening graphic said the battlefield had now become the sea. If you get the impression that the French and English began naval warfare, not true. They began years before and continued for many after 1805.

Two technical aspects didn't appeal to me. One was the use of shots taken low on the water which seemed to try to show the speed of the ship. These struck me as not working in harmony with the movement of the ship.

Much of the movie was shot in the 6 1/2 acre water tank where Titanic was shot. While this is state of the art, the seas produced by it just don't look authentic to me. When storms were portrayed the seas looked more like ones you'd see when a storm was over- lumpy and slow moving.

On a character note Barret Bonden Captain Aubrey's coxswain was in the movie, but under developed. I always enjoyed his interplay with Aubrey in the books but he serves only as helmsman in the film. Maybe in another film Bonden can get his captain's gig and row Aubrey into a cutting out action.

The print media has produced several impressions of the movie. One in the New York times was pretty harsh.

It does point out that in the book the enemy was American, in the movie French. Yes probably a marketing move, but this is Hollywood after all.

There are two points made re plot. One is how did the Acheron find the Surprise sans GPS, etc. In the movie it's assumed that spies gave away the Surprise's course. This satisfied me but not this Timesman.

He then makes the point that at the movie's end it's rather implausable that the French crew would be duped by the disguise of the Surprise as a whale. After all there had been a weeks long chase, wouldn' they know the enemy regardless of disguise by this point? This I am more prone to agree with.

Columnist Charles Krauthammer says, ""Master and Commander'' might be considered the most dramatic and brilliant naval documentary ever made. It should be on the reading (viewing) list of every college course on the history of naval warfare." While true I'm sure this list is pretty short. Further since naval warfare via wood sailing ships is well over 100 years a thing of the past, we can only admire but not really critique reality and authenticity.

In addtion to a continuation of this series Maine author James L. Nelson had signed a contract to begin working on screen plays based on the first two Isaac Biddlecomb books, By Force of Arms and The Maddest Idea. The producer who took the option produced the most recent Terminator movie. Nelson feels the success of Pirates of the Carribean and the Hornblower movies may lead to more nautical/sailing film.

Finally US News reports that President Bush watched the film in preparation for this British trip.

Review of Maximum Sail Power

We continue to look at sails with a review of a new book Maximum Sail Power by Brian Hancock (Nomad Press, 2003) 353 Pages $ 44.95. Hancock does an excellent job of covering many aspects of sails from purchasing, cloth, technology and repair. This book will make an excellent pre purchase education. Next week we'll look at the types of cloth modern sails are made of.

Maybe you've repaired a sail? Perhaps even while underway. Have you repaired a sail while aloft in a bosuns chair? Not just slapped sticky back on the sail, but sewed with needle and thread? That's one of the experiences Brian Hancock has to draw on in Maximum Sail Power.

Hancock sets up his book around a hypothetical visit to the sailmkaer. This first chapter is a little uneven. He says "old fashioned service is gone, unless of course you're spending upwards of fifty thousands dollars." I'd take issue with this. There are many small lofts that while carrying brand names such as UK, North etc. are really one man gangs. These folks earn their money via commission and will provide wonderful in-person service.

There are two other strong points made in his first chapter. One is that boat information is extremely important if you having a sail built. Coming from someone who works in the industry, the more information you can provide about your boat's model, engine model, etc. the better things will go for you.

Also he makes the point that "an educated customer is a sailmaker's best customer." Here, here!

Will reading this book make you an educated sail buyer? Yes, and in several ways.

One item that you can learn about is the cloth that sails are made of. I've ready many an article and book on just how to adjust trim, but few that tell you as much about cloth as this book does.

First the individual fabrics such as dacron, kevlar and pbo are covered. The next chapter then covers how modern fabrics are made into sail cloth. There are several types of weaving and laminating and even cuben fiber which is literally a trade secret.

Often utilized are case studies. Hancock lays out the needs of certain folks. One example has to do with high latitude sailing, the other with the Cape to Rio race. I don't know how helpful these will be to the average sailor.

The book is thorough and covers all aspects of the sail wardrobe. There's an entire chapter on storm sails. One point well made is that you should get your trysail and storm jib out of the bag and fit them. Much easier to do this before the storm than during!

The working staysail gets a lot of positive ink. While this can be a useful sail, again I'm not sure how this will benefit of a lot of the sailors I am familiar with. They tend towards use of a sole roller furling headsail. I don't see many folks who are primarily daysailors adding a working staysail to their Catalina 30. Practical advice but for a limited audience probably reflecting the many ocean passages Hancock has done.

There's even a chapter on repairs and repair kits. While using the book as an on the job reference I found that it lacks information on sail cleaning. This is a popular question from my customers.

Maximum Sail Power may not rise to the level of masterpiece, but it does fill the bill as a reference work that's better written and more interesting than most.

Jacques Vabre Wrap

Currently 19 boats have finished the Jacques Vabre. This includes thirteen 60 foot trimarans and six of the 60 foot monohulls. Of note, only one 60 foot trimaran failed to finish. TIM DNF'd due to structural failire. There were several 60 foot monohulls that did not finish. These included Ojectif 3 due to dismasting, and Pindar to flooding, and loss of electronics. This is quite a comeback in reliability for the trimarans.

Groupama was the trimaran winner and the only of the top 3 tri's I picked correctly. This continues Groupama's almost permanant stay at the top this season.

2nd was Belgacom, like Groupama, carrying an all French crew. They were followed by Sergio Tacchini the top co-ed crew in the race, with Sailor of the Year Candidate Karen Fauconnier as skipper.

Karen Fauconnier arrives in Brazil

My other podium picks, Foncia and Sobedo, had troubled races. Foncia had sail and rigging problems, while Sobedo hit a mystery object and also had to pit stop.

The 60 foot monohulls were led across the line by Virbac in it's first major race. Virbac is the first Open 60 from the Farr design office and it showed a high level of speed and reliability.

Second was Sill in it's 3rd Jacques Vabre. It was sailed by the multi-national team of Roland Jourdain and Alex Thompson who will take over Sill while Jourdain builds a new boat. In 1999 Sill was 4th, and in 2001 1st.

Third was Ecover another new boat in it's 1st race. She led early in the race before suffering a number of new boat teething troubles such as broken steering wheels, chafed halyards and sail damage. While near Virbac she appeared faster, especially upwind. For skipper Mike Golding this was his 3rd straight Jacques Vabre podium after a 3rd in 1999 and a 2nd in 2001.

Thompson and Golding at the Finish

My predictions were better in the monohulls. I correctly predicted Sill 2nd and Ecover 3rd. My winning selection Team Cowes ended up in 6th, the worst finish for the boat best known as Kingfisher.

Three British Skippers: Ellen Macarthur finished 9th, Sam Davies 6th and Emma Richards did not finish.

Who is the top designer in Open 60 monohulls? This is always a contested claim. At one point Finot was the clear leader. They did not have a podium boat this year. Rather there was one each for Farr, Lombard and Owen.

Once again the upcoming Vendee Globe has the appearances of being highly competitive.

The trimaran fleet has upped it's reputation for reliability and as shown by
Banque Populaire's 613 miles in 24 hours speed has not been compromised.

Coming up there will be a return solo race serving as a Vendee Globe qualfier. Next summer comes another Transat this one from Plymouth to Boston, formerly the OSTAR now known at The Transat.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Star Schoonmaker Cup . Barking Mad takes Farr 40 Match racing. Jacques Vabre Team Cowes 6th.

News Cup to Spain? Ecover success despite problems. Mckee Mini aftermath. Too many events?. Bermuda sloop

Great Lakes Great Lakes from Space. Benefits of clean up. Bay City dredging.

College Sailing New England dominates.

Jourdain and Thompson cross the line 2nd on Sill

College Sailing Report

Weekend Winners: Dartmouth @ ACC Dinghies. Brown @ ACC Women's.

Team of the Week Dartmouth 1st @ Dinghies, 2nd at Women's

Sailors of the Week Chris Ashley '04 & Edward Young '061st A Division at ACC Dinghies.

This weekend: Eckerd hosts singlehanded championships

Signal Methods/Illumination

This is part of a series of articles on the subject of sailing safety. The articles will attempt to combine different ideas on safety from sources such as the Red Cross, personal experience, computer programming and other outdoor pursuits.

If you get in a situation where rescue or evacuation becomes necessary, having proper illumination is crucial. The 10 essentials list has illumination on it.

Part of the Coast Guard's required equipment list is flares. Typically, flares are pyrotechnic. They ignite and burn for a certain length of time and then must be disposed of and replaced.

New to the market are flares based on laser technology. These flares have a burn time of up to 72 hours and take just 2 AA batteries. The laser can be visible up to 20 miles.

In addtion the laser flare can be used to illuminate reflective material on buoys and personal gear like PFD's. For night sailing you can use the device to look at sail trim.

Currently these flares are not USCG approved. So, to meet regs you must carry appropriate pyrotechnic flares. In this case getting ahead of the curve and adding laser flares is a good safety measure and is "heartily encouraged by the Coast Guard."

Safety Submissions

Safety harnesses and knives enhance safety and make great holiday gifts for sailors.

Note: The knife rule change was approved, the safety harness change was rejected at the 2003 ISAF Annaula Meeting.

At the recent ISAF Meeting there were two interesting propsals pertaining to safety. One concerning knives as required safety equipment was submitted by the Royal Yachting Association. The other safety harnesses submitted by the Federazione Italiana Vela.

The knife submission asks that knives be requied on all boats regardless of ORC category, that they be allowed to be stowed on deck or in the cockpit and that wording about lanyards be cleared up.

I agree with this statement, "A cockpit knife is equally necessary on a monohull and equally necessary in all categories." Currently the knife requirement is only for multihulls.

I also agree that stowage of the knife should be either in cockpit or on deck. In many cases deck layout may dictate the best place.

The wording change says that the knife shall be securely restrained. I would take issue with this. It is appropriate that a knife and many onboard tools have a lanyard. The term securely restrained is not clear, while a lanyard is well defined. Also, how many sailors would think that duct taping the knife in the sheath would be securely restraining.

In general though I support this change and hope that it is passed.

The submission in regards to safety harnesses reads, "That the requirement for safety harnesses, at least for 50% of the crew, be extended to Category 4 races." Category 4 races are defined as, "Short races, close to shore in relatively warm or protected waters normally held in daylight." The submission notes that sudden weather changes can have crew working on deck where a harness would be an appropriate precaution.

I suppose this submission is a step in the right direction. Perhaps the 50% number was selected for political palitability.

On this one I'll come down, as in don't require anyone to have harnesses, or require that 100% of crew have access to harnesses. I hope this did not pass.
Whether to wear the harness or not is another question entirely......

Featured Brokerage O'day 31

Misty II is a roomier than normal 31 foot cruising boat. There's room for the whole family.

The roomy V-berth.

This boat is set up for coastal cruising. Equipment includes auto pilot, 75 amp alternator, and more.

Companionway

Misty II has been lightly used and is a fresh water boat.

Misty II in prime, relaxing cruising waters.

Contact the Torresen Marine Sales Dept. for more information.

Future Mac Race Dates

A lot of Great Lakes sailors and the sailor's families plan their summer around the dates of the Chicago and Port Huron Mackinac races. Courtesy of Bayview Yacht Club here are the planned Mac dates through 2014.

If you don't have this crib sheet on hand, remember that Port Huron is 1st in even numbered years, Chicago 1st in odd numbered years.

Future Mac Dates

Torresen Marine Photo Log

Torresen Marine has added a photo log to our website.

The photo log will serve as a visual report on what is happening at Torresen Marine, in Muskegon, along the lake, on the race course and more.

For instance Torresen Marine has a new boat lift, and we saw part of the Lunar eclipse.

Enjoy the photo log and as always we welcome your comments and contributions.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Virbac takes Jacques Vabre monohulls, Sill 2nd, Ecover 3rd.
Farr 40 Match racing.

News Olympic drop race dropped. 229 hours for Geronimo to break Playstation's Discovery Route record.

Great Lakes Lake level history

College Sailing Timme Angsten to be sailed in 420's. West Coast Report

Jean-Pierre Dick & Nicolas Abiven winners of the Open 60 monohulls aboard Virbac

ISAF Recognizes One Design Classes

At the ISAF Annual Meeting three classes were granted Provisional ISAF Recognised Status.

The Formula Experience wind surfing class.

The Hobie Dragoon catamaran aimed at junior sailors.

The Nacra F18 performance catamaran.

Links for this article provided by Intersail

Olympic Trials Wrap Up

The first portion of Olympic trial regattas to select the 2004 US Sailing team is complete. Most of the classes had clear winners and sometimes dominating winners.

In the Laser classMendeblatt won with races to spare.

Foerster and Burnham dominated the Men's 470 trials clinching with several races remaining.

Lanee Beashel dominated the Womens Mistral scoring all 1st place finishes. while Peter Wells won the Mens Mistral.

The Europe, Finn, 49er, Tornado and Yngling will have their trials at various locations in Florida in February.

The Star class will be the final class to hold trials in March.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Results: Jacques Vabre Trimarans 1. Groupama 2. Belgacom 3. Sergio Tacchini. Olympic Trial WinnersLaser Mark Mendeblatt. 470 Men & Women won by Foerster/Burnham and Mcdowell/Kinsolving. Beashel wins Womens Mistral Wells Mens Mistral. US Womens Match Race Champs. Jacques Vabre monos: Virbac leads, Sill duels Ecover . A Cat NA's

News Mini project announced. No Olympic throwouts. ISAF annual meeting.

Great Lakes Seeking shelter from the gale. Low water effects
College Sailing Hawaii wins North/South, Dartmouth wins ACC dinghies. Brown wins ACC women's.

Muskegon Inner and Outer Lights in the Fog on Sunday.

Olympic Trials Report

Racing resumed in the first portion of the Olympic Trials for sailing. A total of seven athletes will gain spots in the 2004 Olympics at the conclusion of these trials.

Heading the dominance list is Lanee Beashel who has now won all 10 races in the women's Mistral fleet.

Mistrals Women's Results

Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham had another perfect day score-wise winning another pair of races. They've won 7 of 8 races and lead by 15 points.

Katie Mcdowell and Elisabeth Kingsolving broke a tie in the women's 470 fleet also wining two races. They lead by 4 points over Clark/Meganthaler. This is the closest fleet.

Peter Wells and Ben Barger each won a race, and posted a 2nd for the day. This keeps Wells in the lead by 7 points over Barger.

Mistral Men's Results

Mark Mendeblatt posted a pair of 2nds which helped increase his lead to 16 points over Brad Funk who finished 3rd in both races.

470 and Laser Results.

Racing in all classes will conclude this Sunday.

Sailors Need Gifts, Too

Sailors need holiday gifts yes they do. Maybe not slippers, ties or mistle toe.

A calendar to mark their sailing days on, or,

A simulator to practice upon.

Torresen Marine stocks A sail for their Sunfish

or any other gift for which a sailor may wish.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Olympic Trials. Laser, 470 Men and Women. Mistral Men and Women .

Nick Moloney drives Team Cowes under Doldrum clouds

Jacques Vabre: Monohull movers Ecover now 2nd, Team Cowes 4th. Tris: Groupama crosses equator . US womens match racing

News Master and Commander reviews Ebert, Film threat , CSM, & NY Times Farr regatta includes match racing. Nippon Cup players. AC bid take.

Great Lakes Highlander Sea Layup. Storm report

Highlander Sea on Muskegon Lake

College Sailing ODU hosts and defends AC Women's

The Spare Sails Question

Earlier in the Jacques Vabre transat the 60 foot trimaran Foncia made a pit stop. Among other things Alain Gautier and Ellen Macarthur picked up a new sail. Such stops are common.

This sparked curiosity. Why wouldn't a boat carry sufficient spare sails? The boats are a known fragile commodity, and it would seem prudent when crossing the Atlantic to expect some damage, wouldn't it?

I fired off to queries to get an answer to why the lack of spare sails. From Offshore Challenges I received the following response, "It's weight - if they took a spare they would build a lighter sail, and expect it to break!
And space is a premium on board although 60' long and over 60' wide they really don't have very much storage space."

Another answer went as follows: "They will carry some spare sails, but not all, so spare spinnakers, gennakers, as those tend to be more likely to blow, but not often the staysail. "

And it's not always possible to stop. Mary Ambler who is media manager for the Jacques Vabre commented, "It is certainly an important strategy as you can see in the mono race right now as Ecover only has 1 spinnaker left for the second half of the race after blowing two kites, whereas the leading 2 boats
have between 2 - 3 on board."

I still believe that it would be better off to start with a spare for each sail.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Jacques Vabre Mono report. Tris: Belgacom, Sergio Techinni and Geant bunched up. Mike Golding thoughts.

News World Sailors of the Year. Vote for the Torresen Marine Sailors of the Year New Transat. A sail home.

Great Lakes A view of Toronto . Wreckhunt.

College Sailing Tufts report. St. Mary's defends Atlantic Coast Dinghies USCSB hosts North/South.

Ecover at Speed!
Image © Mike Golding

A Gale of November

Muskegon and Lake Michigan are currently experiencing an official gale. The Beaufort Scale says you have gale conditions when winds reach 28 knots.

Looking at weather observations taken near the Muskegon Channel pier head Muskegon officially hit gale status at 5 PM on Wednesday when winds of 33 knots were recorded. At 1800 with 35 knot winds, it became a fresh gale. At 7 PM 43 knots winds brought it into the whole gale category. It stayed this way until 1 AM. At 2 AM wind was 40 knots down to a fresh gale. The 5 AM reading was 36 knots meaning winds were still blowing a fresh gale.

The highest gust recorded was 53.4 knots. This occured from midnight to 1 AM.

At the South Lake Michigan buoy conditions have been more moderate. With a top reading of 38.9 conditions never passed a fresh gale. Peak gust was 50.5 knots recorded during the 10 PM hour.

The National Weather Service has a high wind warning in affect for Muskegon and most of West Michigan. It is in affect until noon.

The Open Water forecast is headed 'gale warning in effect'. In addition to the wind 15-20 foot waves are noted. Wave heights at the South Lake Michigan Buoy have been 11 to 15 feet.

World Sailors of the Year

Russell Coutts (SUI) and Siren Sundby Receive Sailing’s Top Award

12 November 2003 - Tonight in Barcelona, Spain, the International Sailing Federation announced Russell COUTTS (SUI) and Siren SUNDBY (NOR) as the winners of the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2003, in recognition of outstanding sailing achievement during the period September 2002 through to September 2003.

Record breaking America’s Cup skipper Russell COUTTS was honoured in respect of his victory as skipper of Alinghi in the 2003 America’s Cup. With the victory, Russell became the all time winning skipper in the America’s Cup Match. He won 14 races without a loss, adding the five wins of 2003 to the nine he earned with Team New Zealand in the 1995 and 2000 campaigns, surpassing Dennis Conner for total victories and Charlie Barr for most without a loss. His third consecutive America’s Cup victory ties him with Harold VANDERBILT and Charlie BARR. Alinghi also became the only syndicate to have won the America’s Cup on it’s first attempt.

Winning and Coutts go hand in hand. From his early days competing at the ISAF Youth Worlds, to winning medals at the Olympic Games and sailing on the world match racing circuit, Coutts has always been on top.

On being presented with the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year trophy by SAR La Infanta Cristina Duquesa de Palma, Russell commented:
“It is a great pleasure and an honour for me to be awarded with the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award trophy. I would like to extend this victory to all the members of Team Alinghi, who have also earned this award.

“May it be, rather than an achievement, a source of inspiration for the younger generation of sailors.

Russell went on to say:
“A new era is starting for the America’s Cup, The involvement of new companies in our sport, as well as the efforts to make it more attractive and accessible, will take our sport to a new level. It is a great thing for all of us and I’m proud to be part of it.

Siren SUNDBY of Norway was awarded the female trophy for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2003 in recognition of her successes in the Europe Class.

At just 20 years of age, Siren has reached the top of her discipline, surpassing the rest of the fleet to claim many Championship titles over the past twelve months. The pinnacle being the 2003 ISAF World Championship in Cadiz, which she won with a race to spare having sat in a medal position from the outset.

Opening the nomination period with a Silver Medal at the 2002 Europe Class World Championship, Siren sailed outstandingly through the year placing first in all but three of the ISAF Graded events she entered, and never finishing outside the top three in the remainder.

Siren has been amongst the world’s top ten ranked Europe sailors since last year, with her upwards climb sealed in May 2003 as she broke into the top three, before claiming the world’s number one slot in August, briefly dropping to two in September, and reclaiming pole position in October 2003.

On receiving the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award from His Majesty King Constantine, ISAF President of Honour, Siren SUNDBY commented:
“This is a fantastic honour and a great factor of motivation and inspiration, I am overwhelmed!

The awards presentation was hosted by renowned sailor Paul CAYARD (USA), and attended by more than four hundred guests, including international sailors and prominent personalities from the sailing world.

The other nominees for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year awards were:

Male
Darren Bundock and John Forbes (AUS)
Russell Coutts (SUI)
Neville Crichton (NZL)
Augie Diaz (USA)
Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks (GBR)
Gal Fridman (ISR)
Torben Grael (BRA)
Gustavo Lima (POR)
Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL)
Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau (FRA)
Gabrio Zandona and Andrea Trani (ITA)

Female
Betsy Alison, Suzy Leech and Lee Icyda (USA)
Adrienne Cahalan (AUS)
Lee Korsiz (ISR)
Malin Millbourn, Linda Yström, Åsa Aronsson and Kim Kulstad (SWE)
Siren Sundby (NOR)
Hannah Swett, Joan Touchette and Melissa Purdy (USA)

Water Level Update

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

Reference Point- Measurements in Inches

Difference from Chart Datum -6
Difference from last month -1
Difference from last year -7
Difference from long term average for November -22
Difference from Record High -60
Difference from Record Low +8
Forecast for 7 December 2003 -2

Click for information on other lakes.

Jacques Vabre Report

As the teams begin talk of crossing the Doldrums, each division has a boat with a firm lead. The Farr designed Open 60 Virbac is 155 miles up in the mono's, while Groupama leads by 80 in the tris. Both have well over 1500 miles left plus an equitorial crossing left so victory is far from definite.

Groupama is a defending champion and skipper Franck Cammas a past winner as is crew Frank Proffit.

Virbac is a new boat with a crew that is Jacques Vabre rookies.

Best performing co-ed team is the mutli national pairing of Karen Fauconnier and Foxall 3rd in the tris.

Predictions wise I have Groupama correctly in 1st and Sill in the proper spot 2nd.

Tough times for a pair of experienced British skippers. A poor performance for Ellen Macarthur aboard Foncia. She writes, "well what more can i say about our last few days other than terrible." Mike Golding's Ecover lost the mono lead with problems including a broken steering wheel, a chafed halyard and destroyed sails.

People are suffering too. Team Cowes Sam Davies reports, "my hands have swollen up and my fingers are locked into a permanent gripping position from holding the tiller! My hands and shoulders really ache and I'm taking some anti-inflammatory pills to stop the swelling....i have raided the first aid kit for anti-inflammatory painkillers, so things should improve from now on. "

Regardless of boat condition or personal status, many are probably having thoughts like this from Alex Thomson "We know where we want to cross the Doldrums, and think it will be an easy passage through."

The Doldrums should present a chance for some of the world class sailors to make needed gains. It'll be worth watching this race unfold which has a history of close finishes.

Sill's Alex Thompson and Roland ' Bilo' Jourdain

Olympic Trials Report

All of the fleets currently sailing to win a berth in the 2004 Olympics have reached their first planned lay day. All have completed at least 5 races, so worst scores have been discarded clarifying point totals. With no racing today we'll look at each fleets leader from most to least secure.

Mistral Women's: You can't be anymore secure than Lanee Butler Beashel who has 8 wins in 8 races. Frankly her opponents aren't world class and she should continue to win easily.

Laser: This fleet looked like it has the most competitors with a chance to win. Mark Mendenblatt has won the last 2 races and holds a 12 point lead over Zach Riley. Others, such as Brad Funk and Andrew Campbell, have won races, but haven't been as consistent as Mendenblatt. Mendenblatt looks good but with the biggest fleet, a mistake could cost points and places quickly.

470 Men: The veteran team of Foerester and Burnham have a 6 point lead winning 5 of 6 races. Expect more of the same.

Mistral Men: Peter Wells has a 7 point lead over Ben Barger. Wells has won 5 races to Barger's 2. Wells looks solid.

470 Women's: This fleet has a tie for 1st after 6 races. Clark/Mergenthaler, winners of races 5 & 6, are tied with Mcdowell/Kingsolving winners of race 1 & 2. Maxwell and Morgan have won a race and are 4 points back. A case can be made for any of these three teams winning.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Virbac and Groupama continue to lead. Team Cowes almost has collision. Ecover faces off with Sill. Foerster/Burnham maintain 470 mens lead. After Clark/Mergenthaler's 2 wins a tie in women's 470's. Mendenblatt grows Laser lead. Mistral Butler-Beashel and Wells maintain leads.

News Mistral sailor profiles. Edwards deal. MOB solution
Great Lakes Christmas Schooner Musical. Barge to be built in Toledo.

College Sailing Sloop report. Harvard maintains #1 rankings. Stanford report

Featured Brokerage S2 9.1

This is a fast competitive club racer with a good rating. She is well equipped for one design or club racing.

Sling Shot has a standard rig with Tuff Luff Head Stay. Her sail inventory includes North 3DL sails and North Spinnakers.

The seller has recently had the keel plate modified, mast partners repaired and the mast tie down repaired. Work was done by Torresen Marine.

The interior shows very well.

The boat is stored inside and is easily viewable. Contact the Torresen Marine Sales Dept. for more information.

What CD Would You Choose?

Sam Davies closed out a report from Team Cowes this way, "My hands and shoulders really ache and I'm taking some anti-inflammatory pills to stop the swelling. But, hey, life's good just gotta pick the right CD for my watch!

As she helms Team Cowes across the Atlantic she listened to music via CD/headphones.

If you were going to spend a stint helming Team Cowes,
what CD you would consider the correct one?

I'd chose Exile on Main Street myself
as I don't think I'd be workin' for the boss night and day.

Let us know your pick below.......

Book Scouts Look Out: Extraordinary Seaman

A chance visit to Ebay's maritime non fiction section netted Extraordinary Seaman by J.P.W. Mallalieu. The three initial name is a tip that the author is English. The title is not as indicative.

There have been many, and continue to be many, extraordinary seamen. In this case the seaman in question is Captain Lord Cochrane, tenth Earl of Dundonald. Cochrane had a short, successful career with the British Navy early in the 1800's. Political and legal entanglements ended this phase. He then served in the Chilean and Brazilian navies, while those countries liberated themselves. He's considered the father of the Brazillian navy. Later he was able to regain his comission in the British Navy.

Mallalieu's book is a mid-length survey of these parts of Cochrane's life. While the book is not scholarly, it's enjoyable. It's a popular history with a lot of cliche'd made-up dialogue. All in all a quick and happy time was had for $ 3.95 plus shipping.

It turned out to be good preperation for the upcoming Master and Commander movie. Early in his carreer Cochrane commanded the Speedy. That period dovetails nicely with O'Brian's Master and Commander novel. Later while in the Brazilian navy Cochrane led Portugeese forces on a chase similar to that of Far Side of the World. I now have some knowledge of the sources that the O'Brian novels were based on as I prepare to watch the movie.

If you seeking out this book, it's not in print and you'll have to hit the second hand market. I'd suggest ABE books.

Mallalieu's treatment of Cochrane has whetted my appetite. I've put Cochrane's own Autobigraphy of a Seaman on my to read list.

Thoughts on Knots

If you can't tie good knots, tie lots of them. Have you ever stopped to think that one of the reasons this may be said is sometimes a hitch or bend will do the job in place of a knot. Technically, a hitch by any other name is not a knot and a sheet bend isn't a knot either.

A knot is actually formed in the line itself. Two of the most common knots are the figure 8 and the bowline. The figure 8 is often tied in the end of sheet lines so the bitter end of the sheet doesn't run through a turning block. The bowline is really the sailors all purpose knot. Commonly used on the end of docklines or sheet lines. Add to your knotting ability with Ashley's stopper knot.

Rather than tying a knot, why not throw in a hitch. When attaching a dock line to a post, a clove hitch or half hitch is better than a bowline. There's no other knot you could learn that sounds more salty and seamanlike than the marlinspike hitch.

There comes a time when you need to tie lines together. Now's the time to bend! Use a sheet bend to join pieces of line. Learn the water knot (webbing bend) so you can join lengths of webbing together.

On a related topic I recently had a discussion about the difference between rope and line. I suggested that rope is cordage in a state that doesn't yet give a defined use. Once you buy some rope, splice a shackle on and use it to hoist your spinnaker, it's a line.

The Merriam Webster dictionary backs me up. Rope is defined as "a large stout cord of strands of fibers or wire twisted or braided together" while a line is, "rope used on shipboard."

SOTY Update

Voting for the Torresen Marine Sailors of the Year Continues. The leaders continue to be Brad Van Liew and Hannah Swett.

You can cast your votes and enter a drawing to win a 2004 Ultimate Sailing Calendar.
We'll make sure it's there by Christmas.

1999 Male Sailor of the Year Giovanni Soldini has dropped out of the Jacques Vabre. 2003 Female Sailor of the Year Candidate Karen Fauconnier is 3rd in the Open 60 trimaran class in the Jacques Vabre.

Olympic Trials Thru 3 Days

Ben Barger of St. Petersburg Florida was the story of the US Olympic sailing trials on Monday. Barger won both of the days races to move up to 2nd. Peter Wells scored a 3rd and a 2nd and remains in 1st. Barger moved past Kevin Jewett into 2nd.

The women's Mistral trials remain a one women show as Lanee Butler Beashel won two more races and has an 8 point lead over Taylor Duch.

In Texas there was not a raceable breeze so the 470 teams and Laser sailors did not complete any races.

All classes are scheduled to race today.

Linky Sailing News

Racing More Mistral wins for Butler. Wells' Mistral lead is 4 points. No racing for 470 or Laser trials. Jacques Vabre sees Geant move up in trimarans, Virbac continue to lead mono hulls. Open 50 report. Ecover is back. Berlin match race.

News Bourgnon joins K Challenge. Team NZL. NZL SOTY. Big Cat News. Article on Blake wins.

Great Lakes Duluth Marine Traffic. Grain trade off. Hollyhock arrives.

College Sailing Dartmouth 4th at Sloops, Charleston 5th

Scientific Sailmaking

This article was provided by Jim Frisinger of Bluffton Bay Sails, a North Sails dealer. Jim recommends the article for people who are thinking of buying new sails.

SCIENTIFIC SAILMAKING
Peter Mahr, President, North Cloth

Without a doubt, the number one feature cruising sailors look forin sails is durability. Yet durability is one of the least quantified elements in sail performance. Predicting durability is a tough challenge because sails are subjected to so many different forms of abuse, from mother nature and from their owners. Nonetheless, the most common question we hear from recreational sailors is “How long will my sails last?” Here, we’ll try to provide some answers.

Perhaps the most significant contributor to the lifespan of a sail is sailcloth. In racing sails it can mean the difference between winning and losing. In cruising sails it can mean as much or more.

While racing sailcloth has undergone a revolution over the last 10 - 15 years, cruising sailcloth has as well; taking the best ideas developed for racing and adapting them for a different task. Not only are today’s woven polyester fabrics more stable and stretch resistant than ever, cruisers can also choose from lighter, stronger polyester/mylar laminates and ultra durable high performance Spectra laminates that combine superior performance and long sail life. Today’s cruising sail has a lot more racing heritage than most sailors realize!

Whether it’s a traditional woven polyester, polyester/Mylar laminate or high-performance Spectra laminate, quality counts in any discussion of durability. Well engineered, well made sail fabrics last far longer than bargain brands. For that reason, the most economical sails to own are most often those made with “the good stuff.” Before your choose your next cruising sail, look closely at the cloth.

The longevity question

The best way to measure sail longevity is not in years of ownership, but in hours of use. Racers log hours on their sails to track the aerodynamic life of their sails (how long the designed shape will last)… recreational sailors should do the same. How many hours should you expect out of a cruising sail? Here are some clues:

Most charter fleets expect 2 - 3 years of use from basic woven polyester sails, which translates to about 1500 - 2500 hours of varied duty, typically including a high flogging quotient. Charter sails used 2,000 hours or more are typically considered “shot.”

The best way to measure sail longevity is not in years of ownership, but in hours of use. Racers log hours on their sails to track the aerodynamic life of their sails (how long the designed shape will last)… recreational sailors should do the same.

An important point: There is a big difference between a sail’s “ultimate life” — when it starts to fall apart — and its “performance life”— when it loses its shape to a point that it could benefit from recutting or replacement for optimum performance. Performance life is always shorter than ultimate life.

The record-setting ocean multihull Commodore Explorer used her FULLBATTEN
Spectra/Dyneema mainsail for 80 days, 24 hours a day, for 1,920 hard hours of use, and the sail still had performance life left.

If you assume a typical sailing season might be 30 days sailing 5 hours per day for a total of 150 hours, you might calculate that an average cruising sailor can expect 10+ years of use out of a premium polyester cruising sail.

From here, there are other factors to take into account:
Quality. We’ve all seen sails with 50 - 100 hours of use that are a mass of wrinkles, even with careful use. Low quality cloth may look comparable to “the good stuff” at first, but will break down much faster. Seams stitched properly with UV resistant thread, well designed patches and batten pockets, chafe protection, leech and foot cords all affect sail longevity.

A look at the cost/useful life of various types of sail cloth

Maintenance. Small problems left unattended become big ones later. Regular service helps sails last longer, just as it does with your automobile’s engine. Unusual conditions. If you sail in southern latitudes and don’t cover your sails, UV degradation can be significantly accelerated. Leaving a sail up and flogging in a squall for 30 minutes can equal 50 hours of “normal” sailing. Consistently flying a sail over its designed wind range can also age a sail well before its time. The life expectancy of a well-maintained airplane engine is about 1,800 hours. For an automobile engine...2,000+ hours. Many cruising sailors will probably be surprised to know that the life expectancy of their “wind
engine” is in the same range.

From On Board Team Cowes

As usual, Offshore Challenges is doing an oustanding job reporting and explaining short handed racing. Below are excerpts from reports Team Cowes co-skippers have filed.

Nick Moloney: "We are sailing with everything up...main, spinnaker, stay sail and our new 'water sail'... Little invention of ours that we kind of dreamed up on the Whitbread but never did, so thought we'd give it go this time. It only cost about 60 euros but it's a weapon! It basically attaches to the bottom of the boom and goes down to the aft quarter on deck in line with the rest of mainsail. You need 11-12+ knots of true wind speed and a good broad angle so its the first opportunity we've had to use it."

Sam Davies: "Just come down below, having done a perfect four hours helming in amazing conditions - full moon, a few clouds, flat water, 10-15 kts wind. Upwind, just creaming along easily at 9 knots, fantastic steering, listening to music on my personal cd player (avril lavigne.) beautiful, beautiful, - better than chocolate!"

Nick Moloney: "I had to make the peel [change] into a new set of thermal gear otherwise I think the smell was getting so bad Sam was going to jump off!"

Sam Davies: "I had a very scary moment today though - i discovered that my tea bags (russian earl grey) had been soaked through and they were all ruined. Disaster for a girl who drinks tea like i do. Luckily, i remembered that i had secreted an emergency set of tea bags and i even remembered where i had put them (in a safe place of course.) so, panic over."

Nick Moloney at the helm, watersail flying
Image © Offshore Challenges

Olympic Trials Thru 2 Days

After two days of racing several of the US Olympic trials have clear leaders. Both the men's and women's 470 trials have teams that have won all 3 races sailed. Leading the 470 men's class is the team of Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham. They have a 3 point lead over 2nd place. The women's trials are led by Katie Mcdowell and Elisabeth Kinsolving 4 points ahead of Clark/Mergenthaler.

The women's Mistral trials also have a sailor in a dominant postion. Lanee Butler Beashel has won all 4 races sailed.

Racing in all classes will continue on Monday and Tuesday with Wednesday a day off. After a class has completed 5 races 1 score can be discarded with a 2nd throw out after 12 races. This will have an affect as the series moves ahead.

As expected the Laser trials are proving most competitive. Different sailors have won all 3 races. Despite not yet winning a race Mark Mendenblatt's line of 2/4/4 puts him 6 points ahead of Brad Funk the race 3 winner. 2000 US reprsenative John Myrdal won race 2, while Clay Johnson won race 1.

The Men's Mistral trials are closer. Peter Wells has won 3 of 4 races, but also posted a 5th. This means that Kevin Jewett is just a point back after 4 races.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Ecover has problems, Virbac now leads JV monohulls. Sill now 2nd. Team Cowes 4thGroupama leading tris. Foncia has pit stopped .
Olympic Trials: Laser . 470 Mens and Womens , Mistral Men, Mistral Women.

News Van Den Heede is off. Design news. Sydney Hobart.

Great Lakes Fitzgerald anniversary Fitzgerald painter.

College Sailing Kings Point wins sloops.

Moon over Muskegon during Saturday's Lunar Eclipse

Olympic Trials Preview Laser

With the first set of Olympic trials beginning on Saturday November 6th the Laser appears to have the highest number of sailors with a chance to win. At the recent World Championships the USA had 6 sailors in the top 100. Each of these competitors has a case to be the USA's representative.

Top US Sailor at the worlds was Mark Mendenblatt in 4th. He won the 4th race. He missed the 2003 Pretrials due to America's Cup involvement.

Winner of those pretrials was Ben Richardson of Massachussets. He was 84th at the worlds with a top finish of 9th in race 3. Richardson recently won a medal for a rescue while sailing his Laser.

Andrew Lewis was 3rd at the pretrials and copped a 4th in race 3 of the worlds, ending up 63rd.

Sixty-seventh at the worlds was Andrew Campbell currently a collegiate sailor. His pretrials postion was 4th. In 2002 he was the Youth World Champion.

Zach Riley was 57th at the worlds, winning race 10.

Brad Funk sailed collegiately for Old Dominion. He was 5th at the pretrials and 95th at the worlds.

Another sailor with a shot is Kurt Taulbee who won race 11 at the worlds finishing 99th.

Also competing is John Myrdal who represented the US in the Laser in 2000.

In the 2000 trials Myrdal narrowly defeated Mendenblatt. This time Mendenblatt's experience and recent performance make him the favorite. I will go against this and take the youth of Andrew Campbell.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Jacques Vabre: Monos turn downhill, Ecover stays in front . Tris split. Trouble for Soldini

News VDH is off. KWRW entries. Boats of the Year.

Great Lakes More snow? Not this winter.

College Sailing This weekend Stanford Invite

An indifferent snow outlook for this winter.

Olympic Trials Preview Mistral

There is one class for sailboards in the Olympic Games. Solo men and women sailors compete on Mistral Sailboards. The trials will be held starting Saturday 8 November at the US Sailing Center in Florida.

The women's fleet has a clear favorite in 33 year old Lanee Butler Beashal a 3 time Olympian and Pan Am Games medallist. Beashel won last year's pre trials and placed 25th at the 2003 class worlds.

Lanee Butler Beashal

Beashel will have comeption from 5 other women. Her toughest opponent should be Taylor Cameron Duch age 24. She was 3rd at last years pre trials and 49th at the worlds.

Considering Beashel's experience and recent success she is the absolute favorite in this competition.

The men's competition looks more competitive. Peter Wells has the best recent record 45th at the worlds and pre trials winner.

Peter Wells

Ben Barger was 2nd at the pre trials and 10 spots behind Wells at the worlds.

Kevin Jewett was 3rd in the pre trials and 68th at the worlds. He's a midwestern native and was an All American at St. Mary's College.

Kevin Jewett

Wells must be considered the favorite but should receive stout competioin from Barger and Jewett.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Jacques Vabre leaders . Belgacom and Ecover . Nick Moloney: "still in survival suits and cannot wait to get out of it." Pit Stops. Foncia 3rd.

News Pindars problems. AC database.

Great Lakes Defoe ships. New cutter. Seminars.

College Sailing Wisco and Northwestern will reprsent MCSA at Sloops.

Image from Team Cowes webcam

Olympic Trials Preview 470

Beginning Saturday on Galveston Bay the Houston Yacht Club will host Olympic trials for men's and women's teams in the 470. The winning team for each gender will represent the US at the Athens Olympics. However, the USA must still secure a spot in the women's 470 class at next year's world championships.

Rounding at the 2003 470 Nationals

Favorites in the mens 470 class are the veteran team of Paul Foerester and Kevin Burnham. . Foerester is a 2 time Olympic Medallist. They were 2nd at last year's pretrials and 15th at the recent world championships. Skipper Steven Hunt won last year's pretrials, but has since switched crews. He was 54th at the world championships. The team of Mark Ivey and Harold Cromwell was 52nd at the worlds and 3rd at last year's pretrials.

It would be an upset if Burnham and Foerester were not the winners of the Olympic berth.

The winner of the women's 470 berth seems more uncertain. Katie Mcdowell and Isabell Kingsolving were the top team at the worlds finishing 28th. They also won last year's pretrials at the same venue.

Second at the pretrials were Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler. They finished 45th at the worlds. Clark sailed the 2000 trials in the Europe singlehander.

Erin Maxwell and Jen Morgan were 3rd at the pretrials and 38th at the worlds. Both sailed collegiately at Dartmouth and competed in the trials prior to the 2000 games.

Maxwell and Morgan after US Nationals

The three teams above who actively campaigned will be challenged by a pair of teams skippered by past Olympic medallists.

Courtenay Dey will team with Linda Wennerstrom. Dey won a 1996 bronze in the Europe. Dey also represented the US in the Europe class in 2000. Just as now she was not active in regatta sailing prior to the trials.

1992 470 women's gold medallist Allison Jolley will be joined by crew Susan Reischmann.

Neither sailed well in the recent US Nationals .

In the women's 470 I will chose the experienced and active team of Erin Maxwell and Jen Morgan. Recent reports show them sailing well.

We will preview the Mistral board sailing trials on Thursday with the Laser look ahead on Friday.

College Sailing Report

Weekend Winners: Harvard wins Schell T