Around The World Of Sailing

Linky Sailing News

Racing Star Worlds 2004 & 1971. Hyeres

News Peyron's plans. Do you need an bigger alternator? Meg Galliard

Great Lakes Bridge Tender . HMS Detroit

College Sailing Wisco hosts MCSA dinghies.

1st boat in the moorings

Book Scout Look Out: Bibblecomb Held Prisoner

Author James L. Nelson reports, "Speaking of Biddlecomb, he continues to be held captive in the dank dungeons of Simon & Schuster. S&S does not seem interested in publishing more, but neither do they want to put them out of print, and until we can get the backlist we are not able to take the series elsewhere. So for all the readers who have asked if there will be more Isaac Biddlecomb books, the answer is, we sure hope so, and have every intention of getting him through the Revolution (we are as curious as anyone as to who wins the war) but for the immediate future Isaac in incommunicado."

This is bad news for naval fiction fans. In my opinion (& not just becuase my nameis also Isaac) Nelson's Revolution at Sea Series featuring Biddlecomb is one the finest run of historical novels ever. Superior to the better known but overated O'brien novels.

Nelson continues to write, working on the Civil War . I reccomend that work. Also, keep Biddlecomb's morale up by reading about him in titles like All the Brave Fellows.

New James L. Nelson Book

James L. Nelson’s latest book - and his first work of non-fiction, Reign of Iron is now available. Reign of Iron is the story of the conception, building, and battle of the ironclads Monitor and Merrimack (or Virginia as she was known in the Confederacy).

Reign of Iron is the most detailed account yet written of these ships, but the story is told with the pacing and entertaining qualities of a novel. So far, the reviews have been quite good:

Richly detailed and colorfully written, Reign of Iron is a pleasure to read and the most complete study of the subject in years.

Civil War Times Illustrated

Nelson, author of the Revolution at Sea series of age-of-sail adventure novels, knows how to narrate a naval crisis. The resulting blend of skillful storytelling and historical detail will please Civil War and naval engineering buffs alike.

Publisher’s Weekly

Peyron Comments & Makes Plans

Just a few days away from relaunching his maxi-catamaran Orange II (after four weeks of work on her), Bruno Peyron offers his congratulations to Geronimo on her arrival after a difficult trip. The Jules Verne Trophy record has been broken, but the absolute circumnavigation record (58 days, 9 hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds) still holds. Bruno Peyron explains, " We now have a clearly defined task ahead of us for the winter of 2004-2005: that is winning back the Jules Verne Trophy and trying to beat the absolute WSSRC record. The whole of the Orange II team is up for it and the countdown has already begun. Before that happens, I challenge the skippers and owners of Giant Cats this Summer to enter into a truly honourable fight, where fair play is the rule!

A new challenge has been launched...

"One of the lessons that has been learnt from Geronimo's difficult trip is certainly the deep frustration caused by attempting a record attempt in very different weather conditions from her virtual competitors, which clearly does not allow for a fair fight. The only way to eliminate this element of chance is to agree to a direct confrontation and therefore to accept a truly competitive race. I'm thus taking advantage of the finish of the circumnavigation by the latest Giant to throw down the gauntlet to all the G-Class boats, on the date of their choice and on the route they decide on, between the First of June and the 15th of August in Northern Europe or between the First and 30th of September in the Mediterranean. I hope that the first to accept this challenge will be one of the two fastest "Giants" in the world, so that this duel will live up to the high ambitions of these exceptional craft

From the Maxi to the Mini...

Moving away from news about the Orange II giant cat, 28 years after the first Mini transatlantic race, of which he was one of the pioneers, Bruno Peyron will set sail from Pornichet tomorrow morning for the Select 6.50 event, which marks the start of the 2004 Mini season. Named "Mini Explorer", the Pogo 2 boat will raise her Orange sails, tipping her hat to her elder sister, in the middle of a flotilla of 70 boats, all itching to start.

The aim, which has finally been admitted today, after being kept secret for several months, is now clear. Bruno Peyron intends to line up for the start of the 2007 Mini Transatlantic Race, which will mark the 30th anniversary of the event. "In 1975, I designed my first prototype for the 1977 Mini Transatlantic Race. Almost thirty years on, I still find the utmost pleasure in rediscovering the values, which lead you to love the sea. It's still a good idea from time to time to test oneself out again in various categories — and so I'm taking my leave from Orange II just for a weekend and I can't hide the joy I find in doing this!"

Geronimo is 2nd fastest

The 2004 round the world record season has concluded with the finish of the French trimaran Geronimo. She crossed the line today having circled the globe in 63 days 13 hours.

This is the second fastest circumnavigation under sail. Olivier de Kersauson and crew will once again will hold the Jules Verne Trophy. However, they failed by nearly a week to beat Cheyenne's world record of 58 days.

Finishing 19 hours faster than Orange saves some face for ODK and crew. Unlike last year they sailed fairly quickly from the Equator to the finish. Their leg time of 227 hours was .... hours faster than last year, but still second best by 38 hours to Cheyenne.

Round the world record sailing is a brutal bottom line business and Geronimo's second place finish is worthless in the speed, time and distance world of record breaking.

Geronimo Finishes

The Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran crossed the Jules Verne Trophy finish line at 13:17:26 GMT (15:17:26 local time) today, Thursday 29 April.

Geronimo and her crew therefore circled the globe in 63 days, 13 hours, 59 minutes and 46 seconds (subject to ratification by the WSSRC within the next 24 hours).

Geronimo crossed the line between Lizard Point and the Créac'h lighthouse in mid-channel, her time being monitored by radar and satellite rather than by sight from either of the lighthouses at the ends of the line.

Launch Season

This forest of masts is transformed into

launched boats by the Torresen Marine Service Department.

More photos in the Torresen Marine Photo Log

US SAILING Places Moratorium On International Grand Prix Rule Working Party

US SAILING has decided to place a moratorium on its participation with the International Grand Prix Working Party (RWP) to allow time for wider review of national opinion among U.S. offshore racing interests. In the meantime, the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) will continue the work to develop a new international handicap rule for Grand Prix racing boats.

The RWP was created to develop a new set of rules that would promote international competition at the Grand Prix level through encouragement of fast, fun and sea worthy offshore boats racing within narrow rating bands. US SAILING has met with the other stakeholders, the Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) and informed them of their decision.

"Launching a Grand Prix alternative Rule represents a major investment in resources and to ensure success we need to make the best assessment possible of the community it is meant to serve, from owners and builders to event organizers," said Janet Baxter, US SAILING President. "An appropriate mechanism for inviting, organizing and distilling grand prix opinion will help to define the development of a grand prix program that will suit U.S. sailors".

"Although the RWP did a fantastic job at surveying potential constituents, discussing all the issues of Grand Prix racing and formulating rule proposals there remain differences on key elements of such a rule," said Baxter. "In addition, U.S. interests in Grand Prix developments could be shared by a wider community than has provided formal input to the RWP."

Bruno Finzi, Chairman of ORC, continues to be enthusiastic about developing an international rule. "We appreciate the work and involvement of US SAILING to date and look forward to continuing working with them in the near future."

"We have received strong support from a number of countries and potential owners to develop a rule that will allow us to recreate the international yacht racing circuit and we shall continue to work towards this goal," comments Chris Little, Commodore of RORC. "We welcome the outcome of US SAILING's consultation and look forward to continuing working together towards the rule's creation."

No time limit has been set for the moratorium by US SAILING and they will continue to stay in close contact with the work of the joint RWP and keep that group advised of developments and U.S. opinion will be taken into account throughout all RWP developments.

The RWP is in the process of appointing a manager to co-ordinate the development of the rule, encourage potential owners to build boats to the new rule and create an international circuit of events.

A Technical Group under the independent Chairmanship of Andy Claughton, of the Wolfson Unit, is currently assessing the various technical options of the proposed rule and will report its recommendations in early May. The draft rule will be presented to interested parties, including designers, sailmakers and potential owners for their comments before the rule is finalized for publication before the end of the year.

Readers Write about Fossett

In lite of the fact that Steve Fossett is retiring from sailing a reader writes, "Will we see Cheyenne in the Mac Race this July, or was that last article just wishful thinking?"

Well, I don't know if it was wishful thinking but it was written on April 1st. Maybe impish thinking?

Looking Forward to Racing

My little console. Pole out. Pole in. Those were black and yellow.
Tack line which is white. Don't adjust the tack line.

Think. Then the halyard. Cleat on mast. Mystery caribener hanging from
boom. Don't use that when hoisting. Found that out on 1st race set.

Laps and cycles. You are within site of land. Around people, and boats.
A powerboat comes through. We suffer as we pound chop. Then our light
weight boat benefits from a following wake. We surft our way upwind.

Out pole. Kite comes out of bag. Pull tack line out. Hoist. Pull
fast. Explosive strength I guess. Better to take short pulls, or long
hand fulls? Balance upset by bouncing boat.

Ready for the take down. Blow pole. Smoke tack line. Wait for kite
to get to windward of boat. OK it's being blown back. Wait for it.
OK, smoke the halyard and hit the rail.

Skipper not afraid to do a port approach. Not afraid to be on the line.
Commit and go for it.

Up wind,downwind. Gybes and tacks. 2 lengths ahead from the start.

Tack from hike to sort of sitting on side deck. Single lifeline, didn't
see others wearing flotation. Scramble across the cockput. Not used
to bear feet. Yes, sandals would work. Hope the new windward side. Hike.

Scan and breath look for breeze. Are boats to right in more pressure
or are they just tender boats? Water shows breeze?

Eerie sunset ride home with spinnaker on a plane.

Jules Verne Daily Update

Geronimi is beyond Cheyenne's 58 day time for sailing around the world. The French Trimaran is now trying to finish her voyage under the 64 day time of Bruno Peyron's Orange, a face saving gesture at best.

This page shows the daily mileage of each boat, total miles sailed, average per day, projected overall time, the running total of miles for both boats, and the difference in miles for Cheyenn/Geronimo at comparable stages.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Wadlow/Spaulding 2nd at Hyeres . Match Race

News US Open 50 in England. Sledding on Alchemy. Piracy consultant. Sanderson's summer
Great Lakes Cutter commissioning

College Sailing NC State honored. South Atlantic Dinghy Champs won by Charleston with USF also qualifying.

Muskegon's under construction ferry terminal

1 More Day For Geronimo

The Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran changed tack this morning at the centre of the anticyclone off south-west Ireland, and has finally set her bows straight for the Jules Verne Trophy finish line. She is expected to cross the line tomorrow afternoon.

This change of tack is far from insignificant, since it is without doubt the final change of heading in a very long list. It's also the first time for a very long time that the boat has sailed with the wind coming from her left on a port tack. As the skipper explained at midday today: "It's like having to reformat your body, which has become so used to living on the starboard tack. Over and above the fatigue, the lads are having difficulty moving around - we're all a bit clumsy. It's bound to take a few hours for the helmsmen to recover their reflexes and our brains to cope with finding their way around the boat now that she's heeling the wrong way..."

The sea is coming from the northeast, as forecast, and must therefore be climbed wave by wave, since Geronimo's route is due east at the moment. It's hard to make good speed on such a cart track as this. Over the next few hours, the wind should freshen to between 30 and 35 knots and move round to the north, much closer to the direction of the waves. This rotation will also allow the trimaran to fill her sails and step on the gas a bit to cross the line on this same tack... otherwise they could find themselves close-hauled again, as they were on the approach to Cape Horn at 50°South all those days ago.

"We'll take stock of everything tomorrow. But it's a hard slog right to the end, and for now we're concentrating on what's left to do", concluded Olivier de Kersauson.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Bermuda Race Week. Star Worlds jury error

News Team NZL raises $. Cup boats back to Newport

Great Lakes Ontario ferry arrives. Gull problems

College Sailing St. Mary's wins Thompson Trophy

Look likea life jacket, eh? Actually it's an artists conception of one made of carved wood, titled 'Lifejacket and Hose Rack'. On Display at Calvin College's Devos Communication Center

Geronimo Projections

The position reported by Geronimo at 23:17 GMT on Tuesday 27 April (01:17 Wednesday, French time), Day 62 of her circumnavigation, put her 645 nautical miles from the Jules Verne Trophy finish line, between the Créac'h light (on the French island of Ushant) and the Lizard light (in Cornwall, England).

On her equivalent day (3 May 2002), the catamaran Orange was 959 nautical miles from this same virtual line, which was originally fixed in 1993 by the initiators of the Jules Verne Trophy.

The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran was therefore 314 nautical miles ahead of Bruno Peyron's crew, which is equivalent to 21 hours' sailing at an average of 15 knots.

All of which suggests that Geronimo will arrive off Ushant during the daylight hours of Thursday (Day 63) and will very probably beat the French catamaran to the line.

Nevertheless, she will not match the record for sailing crewed around the world via the 3 capes set by the catamaran Cheyenne on 5 April this year.

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 -1
Difference from last month +3
Difference from last year +6
Difference from long term average for April -17
Difference from Record High -49
Difference from Record Low +15
Forecast for 23 May 2004 +4

Click for information on other lakes.

Securing Your Boat

This article concludes our April theme series docking and
docklines. This article shows you how to secure your boat
either by tying to a post or a cleat.

When you come to a dock that features a horn cleat you will
want to use a cleat hitch. Start at the horn of the cleat
furthest from the load of the line. Start with a round turn
and then a figure 8 on the opposite horn. Finish with a
half hitch turned under to lock the line in place. This
simple method is all that is required. Extra raps around
the cleat add nothing while wasting time.

Two basic knots for tying to posts are the clove hitch and
the round turn and two half hitches.

The clove hitch can be used to secure a line to a post, or a
fender to a lifeline .

To tie it, make a loop around the piling, following with a
second loop that crosses over the first. Go around the
piling and tuck in the bitter end and the tighten.

The second knot is the
round turn and half hitches. This is a versatile knot that takes strain well and can be readily untied. To tie make a round turn around the
dock post, put the bitter end over the working part, then
throw in 2 half hitches and tighten.

Geronimo May Salvage One Record

Yesterday's average of 23.5 knots point-to-point reflects an excellent day's surfing of the kind for which Geronimo was designed and developed. The ability to skirt around the depression, pick up speed and get in front of it requires this potential for pure speed that only large multihulls can offer. This was only the second day of downwind sailing since New Zealand, and one that instantly created some smiles and good humour on deck. Today looks like being a slower day as the crew tries to make the jump to the anticyclone off Ireland, although tomorrow promises to be a tougher proposition altogether, with over 30 knots of headwind and a pretty rough sea.

With over 300 nautical miles in hand at the end of Day 61, the 11-man crew are beginning to take seriously the proposition that they could win the Jules Verne Trophy which slipped from their grasp last year between the Azores and Brittany, precisely where they have been racing today. There's no flat calm this year, but rather a collection of this and that; anticyclones and depressions wandering about the Atlantic at random. Their finish may be complex in terms of the number of weather systems and wind directions, but at least the whole picture is alive and moving, even if it's not in the right direction. Right down to the line, this voyage will have been an extraordinarily testing one for the boat, her crew and their nerve. Not only must all these stand up to the strain for a few hours more, but they must be managed perfectly against a clock that becomes more demanding with every hour.

Of Interest

I often send out emails under the Subject 'Of Interest'. Here's some items I've come across that are of interest to me and hopefully to you the rowing reporter reader.

Around the World in 80 days, the Movie. Why would a Disney movie based on a book by a dead French Author be of interest to sailors?

3 words-Jules Verne Trophy- and all the high speed sailing chaos and excitement it has brought!

While you are at it read Jules Verene's book, and Cam Lewis' Around the World in 79 days.

The Jules Verne Trophy

While winning the US Olympic trials Paul Cayard suffered a near dismasting. In a now famous incident he steeped another mast in under 20 minutes and sailed onto an olympic berth.

At the Star Worlds Cayard and Trinter's rig luck ran out. According to Cayard, "The boat rolled over to wind ward, the pole dug into the water, and our favorite rig snapped in half. We also destroyed the main and jib." A $ 5,000 mishap.

I suppose the good news is that this didn't cost Cayard a berth in the Olympics, and it occured before the Olympic regatta. Probably the best case scenario.

Paul Cayard and Phil Trinter after dismasting at the Star Worlds

College sailing has begun qualification for the spring championships: women's dinghy, co-ed dinghy and team racing. If any team looks certain to be strong at the championships it is Harvard. They are ranked # 2 in both the co-ed and women's rankings. This past weekend they won the NEISA women's championship. The # 1 ranked women's team Dartmouth was 5th. Last fall Harvard took 2 of the top 3 spots in the single handed championships and were 3rd in the Sloop championships . Oh, by the way, they won the dinghy and team race championships last spring.

From the Midwest Michigan State qualified for the women's nationals for the first time since the disco decad- the 1970's. They were led by B divsion skipper Laura Schmidt who has an Olympic campaign underway.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Baird takes Congressional Cup . Star Worlds. Days 1 & 2. Day 61 for Geronimo

News Lynn Stedman passes. Onbaord Cheyenne . Kevin Hall interview

Great Lakes Ferry proponent. Rochester ferry security. Port Huron Offshore 100

College Sailing Wisconsin and MSU qualify for women's nationals

Geronimo at Speed

Last night, the Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran hooked up with the southern edge of the depression, as forecast. It seems that weather forecasts for the North Atlantic are much more accurate than those for other less frequented waters... After a 60th day in which they covered 314 nautical miles across the southern section of the Azores High, the 11-man crew are now enjoying a rare day of surfing.

As the skipper confirmed by radio at 12:00 GMT today: "We're heading for southern Ireland under gennaker, and surfing well at between 23 and 27 knots. Geronimo isn't suffering at all in these excellent sea conditions and we can really press on without having too much concern over the state of the beam. It's fantastic to be able to helm the boat like this. It's been a month since we've been able to surf properly. A lot of us are on deck and the atmosphere is electric, it's something of a rebirth". Despite the fact that Geronimo keeps all non-biodegradable waste on board, she is still lighter by around one tonne of consumables after 60 days circling the globe, and is therefore much livelier - it's almost as if she has finally caught scent of home.

By midday today, she was no more than 1,300 sea miles from the line as the crow flies, but when we take account of her obligatory detour to 50° North, the total distance left to cover is more like 1,500 nautical miles, which will require her to average over 15 knots. It's certainly within the reach of these 11 Frenchmen as long as they have a little wind…

Baird Wins All American Congressional Cup Final

The 40th Congressional Cup had run out of time and Terry Hutchinson had run out of wind when Ed Baird came from behind on the last leg to win a sudden-death championship race by 1 minute 41 seconds Saturday.

Baird, at 46 the oldest competitor in the fleet, was the only semifinalist among Hutchinson, New Zealand's Gavin Brady and Australia's Peter Gilmour who hadn't won the event's traditional Crimson Blazer.

"Whenever you can win a Swedish Match Tour event, it’s fantastic," he said, "and to be able to climb over the group that's here and wind up on top is special."

The Congressional Cup is the only American stop on the eight-event 2003-04 SMT. Baird, from St. Petersburg, Fla., took the weakest round-robin record into the semifinals (11-7), but eliminated Brady (12-6), a two-time winner, 2-1.

Meanwhile, Gilmour (16-2) chose Hutchinson (12-6) as his semifinal opponent after the Annapolis, Md. sailor had warned, "I wouldn't pick us."

Sure enough, Gilmour was stunned, 2-1, downgrading the anticipated title showdown between himself and Brady to a sailoff for third place, won by Brady by 1 minute 15 seconds.

That was sailed five minutes ahead of the title match after the race committee announced that the scheduled best-of-three final was reduced to a single race because the Sailing Instructions said no race could be started after 1600 (4 p.m.) and it was already past 3 o'clock.

Also, the wind near the beach was the lightest it had been in the five days---3 to 6 knots with only momentary flirtations with 12---and when the decisive match started it soon became clear that the half-mile windward course was so badly skewed that the boats could sail between marks without tacking or jibing.

Hutchinson gained on a favorable wind shift immediately after the start and was able to tack on Baird's nose and lead by 53 seconds, 1:23 and 34 seconds at the three marks before sailing into the fateful leg. With half a mile to go for the title, he did a simple bear-away spinnaker set that took him left and into the lee of one of the oil islands in the Long Beach outer harbor.

Baird, seeing no profit in pursuing his opponent, did a jibe set and went to the right---and into whatever breeze remained on the course.

"I thought, 'We can either jibe here and maybe stay in the race or we can sail into what they've got and it will be nothing for us, too," Baird said.

It was the smartest move he made all week. Soon, down in the shadow of the island, Hutchinson's sails were sagging and his boat was dead in the water as Baird glided on a steady course to the finish.

Hutchinson said later, "We couldn't jibe. That breeze that Ed got never got to us. Trust me, I would have loved to jibe."

As Hutchinson crossed the finish line he and tactician Chris Larson summoned chief umpire Jack Lloyd for an animated discussion, then drifted over to talk to principal race officer Bobby Frazier. They thought the last race should have been abandoned because of "unfair" conditions.

"We're asking for the race to be thrown out and for our round-robin results to stand," Hutchinson said. "We beat Peter in the semis, so at that point we finished higher in the round-robin then Ed did, so we should be the winners. We don't want to be sore losers, but I don't feel justice was done in that race."

He added with a smile, " I'm not one to whine when I lose a race, [although] I used to be."

The umpires listened to the team's case presented by Larson and crew member Morgan Trubovich but let the result stand.

Baird said, "I feel sorry for Terry and his guys. They sailed well all week and were in a clearly advantaged position in that race. [But] they could have gone either way."

Frazier said, "If the time limit hadn't been there I would have abandoned the [championship] race and moved the course out three miles to where we had wind."

Gilmour said, "Why couldn't we have changed the Sailing Instructions to drop the time limit? All of us [sailors] would have agreed. We could have sailed until 7 o'clock. I think the only person happy is Ed."

Baird collected $6,000 of the $25,000 total purse for his first SMT victory, which put him in fifth place in the rankings behind Gilmour---still the leader with wins in two of four events, Sweden's Magnus Holmberg, Denmark's Jesper Radich and Brady.

Video highlights of each day's racing may be replayed on the Long Beach Yacht Club Web site, www.LBYC.org. Sportshow TV is producing a half-hour highlight video to be aired later by the Outdoor Life Network.

Saturday's results:

ROUND 18

Scott Dickson, Long Beach, Calif., def. Cameron Appleton, New Zealand, 1 minute 14r seconds.

Kelvin Harrap, New Zealand, d. Allan Coutts, New Zealand, 0:44.

Terry Hutchinson, Annapolis, Md., d. Mattias Rahm, Sweden, 1:04.

Jes Gram-Hansen, Denmark, d. Ed Baird, St. Petersburg, Fla., 0:03.

Peter Gilmour, Australia, d. Gavin Brady, New Zealand, 0:26.

Final round-robin standings: 1. Gilmour, 16-2; 2. tie between Hutchinson and Brady, 12-6; 4. Baird, 11-7; 5. tie between Gram-Hansen and Harrap, 10-8; 7. Dickson, 7-11; 8. tie between Appleton and Rahm, 6-12; 10. Coutts, 0-18.

SEMIFINALS

Baird d. Brady, 0:03; Brady d. Baird, 1:04; Baird d. Brady, DNF.

Hutchinson d. Gilmour, 0:52; Gilmour d. Hutchinson, 0:35; Hutchinson d. Gilmour, DNF.

PETIT FINAL

Brady ($3,000) d. Gilmour ($2,500), 1:15.

FINAL

Baird ($6,000) d. Hutchinson ($3,500), 1:41.

College Sailing: MCSA Women's Championship

MCSA Womens Championships
Univ of Notre Dame
April 24, 2004

Congratulations to the University of Wisconsin and Michigan State University who will represent the MCSA at the 2004 ICSA North American Womens Dinghy Championship.

Regatta Highlights:
Saturday, nine races in each division were sailed in Notre Dame's 420s to complete a rotation. Courses were windward/leewards and modified olympics. Winds were 5-10 knots from the NE, shifting E and building throughout the day. Two protests were filed, with one withdrawn and another resulting in a DSQ. Iowa was penalized 20 pts per division for failing to sign their RP form. A special thanks to our Judges, George Griswold and Allan Teske. Also to Diamond Lake Yacht Club for the use of their facilities.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 TOT
1
Wisconsin A 1 5 3 1 2 2 1 2 1 18
B 1 3 4 7 1 7 8 2 2 35
2 10 17 25 28 37 46 50 53 53

2
MSU A 4 3 5 4 3 1 2 6 4 32
B 3 4 6 3 3 4 4 3 1 31
7 14 25 32 38 43 49 58 63 63

3
Michigan A 6 7 2 2 1 3 3 4 2 30
B 6 9 2 9 2 2 3 4 3 40
12 28 32 43 46 51 57 65 70 70

4
Northwestern A 2 2 4 3 6 5 5 3 3 33
B 4 1 3 2 8 8 6 6 4 42
6 9 16 21 35 48 59 68 75 75

5
Miami A 7 6 1 5 4 4 4 1 8 40
B 2 2 8 6 7 3 7 9 6 50
9 17 26 37 48 55 66 76 90 90

6
Notre Dame A 5 1 7 6 9 7 6 8 5 54
B 8 6 9 8 6 5 1 1 7 51
13 20 36 50 65 77 84 93 105 105

7
Minnesota A 3 4 6 9 5 6 7 7 6 53
B 7 5 5 4 9 6 DSQ 5 5 56
10 19 30 43 57 69 86 98 109 109

8
St Thomas A 9 8 9 7 7 9 8 5 7 69
B 5 8 1 1 5 9 2 8 9 48
14 30 40 48 60 78 88 101 117 117

9
Iowa A 8 9 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 96
B 9 7 7 5 4 1 5 7 8 73
17 33 48 61 73 82 96 112 129 169

A division = 9 Races

TOT
1. Wisconsin 18 Anne Porter 05 / Anna Bargren 07
2. Michigan 30 Christina Falcone 07 / Meredith Cochran 06
3. MSU 32 Mary Vorel 05 / Jamie Ziegler 04
4. Northwestern 33 Lindsey Duda 05 / Liz Snow 05
5. Miami 40 Jocelyn Pollak 07 / Anne Simiele 06
6. Minnesota 53 Jenny Wilson 06 / Sara Gross 05
7. Notre Dame 54 Katie Roney 04 / Katie Thompson 05
8. St Thomas 69 Danielle Lindaman 06 / Natalie Osdoba 06
9. Iowa 96 Lauren Trolley 05 / Lindsey Schneider 06

B division = 9 Races

TOT
1. MSU 31 Laura Schmidt 06 / Rebecca Wilson 06
2. Wisconsin 35 Kelly Ferron 06 / Christina Weber 04
3. Michigan 40 K Dewitt 07(1,2) C Delphin 06(3,4,5-9)/ E Burke
06(1-2) L Vandenbousche 07 (3456) K Dewitt(7-9)
4. Northwestern 42 Betsey Melson 05 / Mane Kyle 04
5. St Thomas 48 K Ballard 04 (1,2,5,6,8,9) L Allen 06 (3,4,7)
J Curell (1-6,9) K Ballard 04 (7) L Allen 06 (8)
6. Miami 50 Sarah Paisley 04 / Abby Heckler 07
7. Notre Dame 51 Kristen Braman 06 / Liz Ketterhagen 05
8. Minnesota 56 Carolyn Krech 06 / Anniki Lane 06
9. Iowa 73 Jenny Springsteen 04 /
Kristen Martin del Campo 04

College Sailing: Spring FuJ Regatta

University of Iowa
Spring FuJ Regatta
April 17-18 2004

Saturday
Conditions proved to be absolutely perfect at Lake MacBride with
temperatures hovering around 80-85 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We were blessed with great northeasterly wind starting around 10 mph and building
throughout the day to 15 mph. There were no protests or breakdowns filed on either Saturday or Sunday although one FJ sustained minor damage in a collision and another lost its mast after a pin failed in its side stay (fortunately
no one was hurt and the boat was re-rigged and raced again). Windward-leeward, triangle, and modified Olympic courses were sailed.

Sunday
Tired racers were greeted by 25 mph winds with gusts up to 40 mph out of the
south and cooler temperatures. 'A' fleet was able to finish 2 triangle
course races with numerous capsizes. After a disastrous rotation with capsized
boats drifting into the rocks and racers too tired to right their boats, race
committee cancelled competition for the remainder of the day.

On a lighter note: Congratulations to the University of Wisconsin KK
for a first place finish, Wisconsin Women for second place, and Marquette for
third place!

Congratulations to Wisconsin for winning (by default) the 1st annual
boat racing tournament and the University of Chicago for the Last Man
Standing award.

Final Results:
FUJ SPRING REGATTA 2004
IOWA
04/17/04 - 04/18/04

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TOT

1
Wisconsin KK A 1 1 3 1 3 3 4 1 17
B 1 2 2 2 2 3 6 3 21
2 5 10 13 18 24 34 38 38

2
Wiscowomen A 3 2 2 4 4 1 2 5 23
B 5 4 3 3 1 2 1 1 20
8 14 19 26 31 34 37 43 43

3
Marquette A 6 6 1 3 2 4 1 3 26
B 2 1 1 1 3 1 2 7 18
8 15 17 21 26 31 34 44 44

4
Iowa A 2 5 6 8 1 2 5 4 33
B 3 3 5 8 4 4 3 4 34
5 13 24 40 45 51 59 67 67

5
Minnesota A 4 3 4 5 5 5 3 2 31
B 4 5 4 5 5 6 5 2 36
8 16 24 34 44 55 63 67 67

6
St. Thomas A 5 4 7 6 7 8 6 7 50
B 6 7 DNF 10 8 7 4 6 59
11 22 40 56 71 86 96 109 109

7
Iowa2 A 9 8 5 2 6 6 7 9 52
B 7 8 9 7 6 10 10 8 65
16 32 46 55 67 83 100 117 117

8
Carlton A 7 7 8 7 10 7 8 6 60
B 8 9 8 6 9 8 8 9 65
15 31 47 60 79 94 110 125 125

9
Chicago A 8 9 9 9 8 10 9 8 70
B 10 6 7 9 10 5 9 5 61
18 33 49 67 85 100 118 131 131

10
Iowa State A 10 10 10 10 9 9 10 10 78
B 9 10 6 4 7 9 7 10 62

Linky Sailing News

Racing Congressional Cup
Transat AG2R.

News Fossett retires 180,000 Lasers. Star Worlds Preview. Sleep lessons

Great Lakes Employee owned shipping. Cutter collision investigation.

College Sailing This weekend Nationals Qualifiers: NEISA Women's @ Boston , MCSA Women's at Notre Dame

Transat News

IN BRIEF:

* TWO NEW FRENCH ENTRIES ADD TO THE TRANSAT LINE-UP TAKING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ENTRIES TO 40 BOATS...

* 12 ORMA 60 MULTIHULLS AND 18 IMOCA 60 MONOHULLS WILL CROSS THE START LINE ON 31ST MAY ALONG WITH 10 50-FOOTERS...A CONSIDERABLE INCREASE ON THE LAST EDITION

* 14 OF THE 40 COMPETITORS HAVE NOW QUALIFIED AS THE FIRST RACES OF THE SEASON APPROACH FOR THE ORMA AND IMOCA CLASSES...

Visit http://www.thetransat.com for further information

IN DETAIL:

The formidable line-up set to leave Plymouth Sound in The Transat on Bank Holiday Monday, 31st May 2004, has swelled by a further two boats this week in the form of Karen Leibovici's Open 60 Atlantica and Défi Vendéen, with André Jantet taking over the helm of this competitive Open 50 from regular skipper Jean-Francois Durand.

Including these two new additions, 40 boats are now entered in The Transat. The line-up now comprises twelve 60ft multihulls and eighteen Open 60s, compared to seven trimarans and nineteen Open 60s in the race's predecessor, the Europe 1 New Man STAR in 2000. While in the 50ft classes there are five multihulls and five monohulls, compared to two multis and seven monos four years ago. The tally of Open 50 monohulls is respectable this year considering there is still some doubt over the participation of the 50 foot monohull class in the Vendée Globe. Although, new skipper André Jantet will be hoping this class will become eligible to compete in the solo, non-stop round the world race starting on 7th November.

Karen Leibovici raises the tally of female competitors taking part in The Transat to three. As with Catherine Chabaud and Ellen MacArthur in the race four years ago, the Open 60 class will once again have two female skippers, although sailing two of the oldest Open 60s (1989 Anne/1991 Karen) they are unlikely to repeat MacArthur's class win on Kingfisher in 2000.

Leibovici cut her teeth in the Mini class winning the Mini Fastnet in 2001, finishing ninth in the Transat 6.50 Charentes Maritime-Bahia later that year. She is racing the 'red cigar', Jean-Luc van den Heede's famous yawl. This finished second in the 1993 Vendée Globe and was raced around the world four years later by Catherine Chabaud. Her opponent is racing a boat of a similar vintage. Sailmaker Anne Liardet has had a more lengthy if more sporadic career in single-handing having competed in both the Mini and Figaro classes, famously racing the 1990 Route du Rhum on a trimaran while pregnant with her second child. This time her Open 60 is the former Fleury Michon raced in the first two Vendée Globes by veteran single-hander Philippe Poupon and, subsequently, as UUNET that Philippe Monnet sailed solo, non-stop around the world westabout in record time in 2000.

This week has seen the qualifications continue in both the ORMA and IMOCA classes. Bonduelle and Norbert Sedlacek's Austria One have both been undergoing the IMOCA's class' extreme stability tests. One of these involves the boat (with its mast removed) being turned upside down while the skipper is inside. With the boat fully inverted, the skipper must show he can right the boat from inside. This is achieved on Open 60s with relative ease by gradually canting their keel.

To date 14 of the 40 competitors have successfully qualified for The Transat, the latest being Mike Golding's Open 60 Ecover, the ORMA multihulls of Philippe Monnet's Sopra Group and Marc Guillemot on Gitana X, and Jacques Bouchacourt's Open 50 OKAMI. At present Branec III, TIM, Great America II, Atlantica, Sodebo, Groupama, Gitana XI, Objectif 3, UUDS and VMI are attempting their qualifying passages.

Those not qualifying this week in the 60ft classes are preparing for their first races of the season. The inaugural 2004 Grand Prix for the ORMA multihulls starts on 30 April in La Trinite-sur-Mer. Eleven boats are entered including Yves Parlier's extraordinary new catamaran Médiatis Région Aquitaine, making her race debut. A week later on 9 May is the start of the Open 60's 1000 Mille de Calais offshore race. Twelve boats are currently entered in this including the brand new Marc Lombard Open 60s of Bonduelle and Sill.

SEVENTH EDITION : 1984

With 91 starters, the early stages of the race it was the catamarans Jet Services of Patrick Morvan and Gilles Gahinet’s 33 Export that dominated until they were forced to retire through damage to the hull and mast problems, respectively. But it was the capsizing of Philippe Jeantot (Credit Agricole) in the middle of the Atlantic that was to cause a controversial finish to the race. Philippe Poupon on the trimaran Fleury Michon VI was first to finish in Newport in 16 days, 11 hours and 55 minutes, but Yvon Fauconnier on Umupro Jardin V was declared the winner after standing-by Jeantot for 16 hours. His finish time of 16 days, 22 hours and 25 minutes were reduced by 16 hours to 16 days, 6 hours and 25 minutes. Philippe Poupon on hearing the news during the middle of his victory press conference, could not disguise his immense disappointment and broke down in tears.

Out of the top 10 finishers only two skippers were not French and the race was the first occasion multihulls finally proved themselves the undisputed champions of the ocean, with the first monohull, Warren Luhr's early generation Open 60 Thursday's Child, finishing 10th. All the top 10 skippers had completed the course in under 17 days. The race was truly becoming a transatlantic sprint.

Geronimo: Structural Problems

Concerns are mounting on board Geronimo following Olivier de Kersauson's assessment of the delamination in the trimaran's forward port beam. This is the beam that worked hardest in the Southern Ocean and was therefore subject to the greatest impact. The problem was first detected in the Doldrums and unfortunately "the cracking noise of delamination is increasing; it gets worse upwind, so since we're sailing at 60 degrees to the wind…. The other thing is that it's in a place where we can't get at it at sea… We're just hoping that it will hold and that we won't have to slow down".

Nevertheless, the 11 crewmembers have a little more to smile about today, having caught up with the current Jules Verne Trophy holder (Orange in 2002) since crossing the Equator. They have been making between 18 and 20 knots close-hauled through the trade winds and are now concentrating on the depressions that could finally allow them to route for Brittany and escape the homecoming promised by all the forecasting models… close-hauled all the way!

In the middle of the day, the Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran was west of the Cape Verde Islands and had covered over 23,000 sea miles since the start (as measured by adding together all the daily point-to-point distances).

Congressional Cup- Gilmour Strong Again

With five flights remaining to determine the semifinalists at the 40th Congressional Cup, today was moving day as skippers and crews jockeyed to be among the top four that will advance to Saturday’s concluding day at the event of the Swedish Match Tour.

After suffering two defeats yesterday, Peter Gilmour regained his form and the overall lead. His Pizza-La Sailing Team won all four matches today to leapfrog yesterday’s leader Gavin Brady. Sailing loose, the Australian skipper is at 11-2 and firmly in control of this event.

“Our boathandling is working for us,” said Gilmour, 44, who trailed in two races that he won. “When we’re behind we just look for the small gains.”

Brady, a two-time winner of the Congressional Cup, stumbled into second after losing two matches to the Nordic duo.

Brady and his Oracle BMW Racing crew lost their first match to Denmark’s Jes Gram-Hansen after leading for much of the race. They failed to cover Gram-Hansen on the run to the finish and lost by 14 seconds. They lost the next race to Sweden’s Mattias Rahm by 40 seconds.

Oracle BMW Racing’s tactician John Kostecki hardly seemed flustered by the happenings. “We didn’t sail well today, we weren’t very smooth. It’s alright to make mistakes in the round robins as long as you get into the semifinals,” Kostecki said.

Brady, Kostecki and crew have a 10-3 record, but 9.5 points due to a penalty yesterday from the on-water umpires.

American Ed Baird made the biggest move of the day. Baird and his Team Musto crew, including tactician Andy Horton, won all four matches and gained sole possession of third place, at 9-4, after being part of a four-way log jam for third yesterday.

“Two of the guys have sailed with me a lot before and three others haven’t,” said Baird. “It took a while to find our comfort level.”

After the top three there is a two-way tie for the fourth semifinal spot between American Terry Hutchinson, the 1992 Congressional Cup winner, and Gram-Hansen. Both skippers were 2-2 on the day, and are tied at 7-6 overall.

Kelvin Harrap (NZL) holds sixth with a 6-7 record, followed by Cameron Appleton (NZL), Mattias Rahm (SWE) and Scott Dickson (USA), who are tied at 5-8. Allan Coutts (NZL) rounds out the field.

Coutts is winless in 13 starts, but is keeping it all in perspective. “The guys are sailing great,” he said of his crew. “I let them down when I gave two races away at the start.”

With five flights scheduled for tomorrow, Hutchinson has the inside track on the fourth spot for the semis. His Team Annapolis Volvo holds the tiebreaker against Gram-Hansen after beating them twice in the round robins.

Hutchinson again lamented lost opportunities today, particularly one against Gilmour. Hutchinson controlled Gilmour in the pre-start of their Flight 10 match and led him toward the line.

Then he saw Gilmour, on his windward quarter, head up to start. Being nervous that Gilmour might gain an advantage, he also turned hard on the wind.

Both crews wound up starting early and had to dip back below the line to clear. Hutchinson turned his head toward the committee boat as he sailed back toward the line to watch for the signal that he was cleared to start.

Hutchinson saw Gilmour’s flag lowered, indicating his opponent was cleared to start, and also saw his flag start to come down. At that point he looked forward as he turned his Catalina 37 upwind.

What Hutchinson didn’t realize was that he hadn’t cleared. Although he saw his flag start to come down, it was re-hoisted due to an error on the committee boat. That forced Hutchinson to return below the line to start properly while Gilmour sailed away.

After losing by 41 seconds, Hutchinson protested to the umpires, claiming that he was materially prejudiced by the flag being lowered. “The race committee said it was halfway lowered,” Hutchinson said.

“We determined that he wasn’t prejudiced,” said Jack Lloyd, the chief umpire from New Zealand.

As with yesterday, the umpires were busy again today. But not nearly as exaggerated yesterday when they said they issued 16 penalties. In reality, it was six penalties. Turns out, one of the skippers played a joke on Lloyd, placing a 1 in front of the 6 on his notes before the press conference.

“We’re thinking of giving Gilly those 10 penalties tomorrow and Saturday,” Lloyd quipped, referring to practical jokester Gilmour.

Even if Gilmour is flagged for a legit penalty or two, he’s confident his crew would be able to overcome the deficits. Their slick maneuvers got him back into two races today in which they trailed.

“We snapped a quick jibe in against Kelvin at the windward mark which allowed us to win that match,” said Gilmour. “Then we hung in there with Cam and he eventually wilted.

“It reminded me of the opening round of the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2002,” Gilmour said, referring to the OneWorld Challenge when they opened challenger racing 8-0. “We probably weren’t the fastest boat but we had the slickest crew work. I like having the best crew work.”

Fossett Retires from Sailing

Two weeks after returning from his successful Round The World Sailing world record at the helm of his 125' maxi-catamaran Cheyenne, American skipper Steve Fossett announced today that he has decided to pull back from front line international speed sailing - after 11 years of spectacular record success - in order to focus on key 2004-2005 projects in aviation (altitude, speed and distance gliding plus the round the world solo airplane) as well as other new (as yet undisclosed) sporting projects on land and in the air. Cheyenne will be put up for sale.

"The round the world record has fulfilled my highest ambition in sailing" admitted Fossett Tuesday "and this just seems like the right time to stop.'"

His focused and committed approach has made him the greatest record-setter in the history of speed sailing with over two dozen total world and race records set. And 13 of the 22 current records listed as 'outright' in the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) record book (http://www.sailspeedrecords.com) are held by Fossett - including the amazing new RTW at 58 days 9 hours on the 125' maxi-cat Cheyenne - and the 2001 New York - UK TransAtlantic rocket ride of 4 days 17 hours (aboard the same boat, then known as PlayStation).

"It has been an exciting - and very fulfilling - 11 years. In the past we've defended our records by re-taking 4 of them when broken: the 24 Hours (twice), Round Britain & Ireland, and Isle of Wight - but I don't want to make a program of that. My mind is on aviation projects right now. I should sell Cheyenne to someone who wants to do the Oryx Cup RTW Race - or maybe even try to break some of our records."

Steve Fossett sailing record facts:

Current holder of 13 official Outright World Records plus 2 Singlehanded Records
Current holder of 9 major distance race records.

Records were set on 3 boats:

PlayStation 1998-2000 105' ; PlayStation / Cheyenne 2001-2004 125' catamaran
Lakota 60' trimaran
Stars & Stripes 60' catamaran

Only 7 of his records have ever been broken.

By comparison:

Bruno Peyron holds 2 Outright records:
Transpac Race Course
Pacific Ocean

Brian Thompson, Adrienne Cahalan & Helena Darvelid jointly hold 3 Outright records:
24 Hour
Antigua-Newport
Cowes-St. Malo

No one else holds more than one "Outright" world record.

Steve Fossett's Sailing Records

13 Outright World Records:

Round the World 58d 9h 32m 45s Feb-April 2004
TransAtlantic 4d 17h 28m 6s(25.78 kts) Oct 2001
Round Britain & Ireland 4d 16h 9m 36s Oct 2002
TransAt-Discovery Route 9d 13h 30m 18s Feb 2003
TransMed (Marseilles-Carthage) 18h 46m 48s May 2002
Fastnet Course 35h 17m 14s Mar 2002
Newport-Bermuda 1d 14h 35m 53s Jan 2000
Isle of Wight 2h 33m 55s Nov 2001
Round Ireland 44h 42m 20s Sep 1993
Hawaii-Japan 13d 20h 9m July-Aug 1995
Pacific Ocean East to West 16d 17h 21m Aug 1995
Miami-New York 2d 5h 54m 42s May 2001
Plymouth-LaRochelle 16h 41m 40s Apr 2002

2 Singlehanded World Records:

Pacific Ocean (Yokohama-SF)-World 20d 9h 52m Aug 1996
Newport-Bermuda-World 40h 51m 54s Jun 1999

9 Race Records:

Newport-Ensenada 6h 46m 40s 18.45 kts) Apr 1998
Chicago-Mackinac 18h 50m 32s Jul 1998
Swiftsure 14h 35m 29s May 1997
Long Beach-Cabo San Lucas 3d 2h 59m Nov 1995
Pineapple Cup (Ft Lauderdale-Montego Bay) 2s 20h 8m 5s Feb 1999
San Diego-Puerto Vallarta 62h 20m 11s Feb 1998
Round St. Martin (Heineken) 2h 4m 23s Mar 2003
Windjammers (SF-Santa Cruz) 4h 41m 2s Aug 1997

Singlehanded Race Record:

California-Hawaii
(Singlehanded Transpac) - Race 7d 22h 38m July 1998

Superceded World Records:

24 Hour Record 687.17 nm (28.63 kts) Oct 2001
24 Hour Record 580.23 nm (24.18 kts) Mar 1999
Pacific Ocean Record (Crewed) 16d 17h 21m 19s Aug 1995
Transpac 6d 16h 7m 16s July 1995
Round Britain & Ireland 5d 21h 5m 27s Oct 1994
Cowes-St. Malo 6h 21m 54s Dec 2001
Isle of Wight 3h 35m 38s Sep 1994

Linky Sailing News

Racing Transat AG2R. Congressional Cup Day 2. Geronimo goes on.

News Steve Flam. USA's 49er team

Great Lakes Slip reservations

College Sailing Dartmouth @ Dellenbaugh with Yale winning.

Congressional Cup Day 2- Brady Rallies

The sound of crunching fiberglass was a sour note in Gavin Brady's otherwise brilliant day Wednesday when he extended his win streak to eight by winning all four of his races and took over first place in the Long Beach Yacht Club's 40th Congressional Cup, the fourth event on the Swedish Match Tour.

A windward mark collision with fellow New Zealander Cameron Appleton---Kiwi vs. Kiwi---in the last round of the day was ruled a foul on Appleton because Brady was on starboard tack at the mark, while Appleton was on port. But after crossing the finish line 57 seconds in front Brady was informed by umpire John Standley that because, in the umpires' view, he didn't try to avoid the incident a half-point would be deducted from his score.

That left Brady, 30, a two-time winner of the event in 1996 and '97, with an 8-1 record halfway through the double round-robin but only 7.5 points, a half-point ahead of first-day leader Peter Gilmour of Australia. The '88 winner lost to Brady and Long Beach's Scott Dickson on a 2-2 day and stands 7-2. There is a four-way tie for third at 5-4.

"It's ludicrous," an angry Brady said at the dock. "Cameron never did anything to keep clear."

Standley, an Australian, agreed---but noted Rule C8.6 of the event's Sailing Instructions: "When the match umpires . . . decide that a boat has broken [Racing Rules of Sailing] 14 and damage results, they may, without a hearing, impose a penalty of half of one point."

Rule 14 requires even a right-of-way boat to avoid a collision if one seems imminent.

Appleton, 26, informed that Brady was upset about the ruling, said, "He should be---and rightly so. He caused the incident that didn't need to be caused."

Standley said, "If we had seen [Brady] let the main sail go to bear away or try in any other way to keep clear, he wouldn't have been penalized. But he tried to do nothing. He did not try to keep clear."

Brady said that to let Appleton pass in front would have, in Brady's mind, handed his opponent the lead because at the moment of decision he didn't know Appleton was about to receive a penalty.

Later, by chance, they were assigned adjacent seats on the dais at the press conference. Appleton, appearing subdued, said little other than "it was an interesting day," and Brady didn't comment further on the incident.

The bow of Brady's boat showed a three-inch nick where it put a superficial dent in Appleton's starboard gunwale 10 feet forward of the stern. Costs for repairs, if necessary, will come out one or both of their $2,500 damage deposits for use of the Long Beach Sailing Foundation's Catalina 37s.

Chief umpire Jack Lloyd of New Zealand said Brady could have requested a hearing but decided to let the matter rest.

Aside from the incident, the event had a New Zealand North flavor for the day. No Kiwi except struggling Allen Coutts (0-9) did worse than break even. After Brady's 4-0, Kelvin Harrap was 3-1 and Appleton and Dickson, a New Zealand native, were 2-2.

Brady's brightest moment was his win over Gilmour by 24 seconds after starting with a penalty that he did not dispute.

"We were in a compromising position when we dialed up [in the pre-start sequence]," Brady said. "We had to give way and we were slow to do so, and we got a justly deserved penalty."

At the windward mark he schemed to erase the infraction "when we got [Gilmour] trapped."

Dialing up again, this time with Brady in the advantaged leeward position, Gilmour couldn't hold his bow into the wind, and as he bore away his jib touched Brady's boat---foul on Gilmour. From there it became an even sailboat race.

Gilmour said, "The tolerances are very fine if you make a mistake. We're very lucky to get away with a 2-2 score."

After 45 protests and 16 penalties in five races Tuesday, the pace of aggression accelerated with 40 protests and 15 penalties, plus Brady's half-point deduction, in only four races Wednesday.

The sea breeze built quickly from 8 knots to 14 through the afternoon, but principal race officer Bobby Frazier called off racing after four rounds because of a severe wind shift to the right, foretelling a possible Santa Ana condition of desert winds for the next day or two.

"The wind went from 220 to 280, and looking [west] toward Wilmington we could see it was coming out of the northeast," Frazier said.

That was fine with Coutts' crew.

"Our boys were commenting on the way in that we'd had a better day today," Coutts said. "I said, 'How do you figure that?'

" 'Well, we had five losses yesterday and only four today.' "

Geronimo Day 56

At 23:17 GMT on Wednesday 21 April, Day 56 of this Jules Verne Trophy record attempt, Geronimo was 1,416 nautical miles from her next waypoint at 35°N, 36°W.

On the equivalent day of her circumnavigation on 25 April 2002, Bruno Peyron and Orange were 1,589 nautical miles from this same virtual reference point.

Despite being 26 nautical miles behind Orange yesterday, Geronimo gained nearly 200 nautical miles on the Jules Verne Trophy holder during the day, to end it 173 nautical miles ahead of the catamaran.

On the other hand, the catamaran Cheyenne was 638 nautical miles southwest of Finisterre (Spain) on Day 56 of her record-setting circumnavigation and was therefore 1,660 nautical miles ahead of Orange. Given the fact that Bruno Peyron’s catamaran had to take a wide detour to the west in 2002, this distance is equivalent to 5 days’ sailing.

At this time, Steve Fossett and his crew were feeling the benefits of a depression centred, unusually, over the Azores, and southwesterly winds that were taking them straight towards their objective at high speed.

Tarangini now in Sri Lanka

The Indian Naval Ship Tarangini which visited Muskegon in August of 2003 is now in Sri Lanka nearing the end of her round the world voyage.

The Tarangini undocks prior to departing Muskegon.

B&Q in America

IN BRIEF:

-TRIMARAN ARRIVES SAFELY IN NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND AFTER SAILING HALF WAY AROUND THE GLOBE!

-AVERAGE SLEEP OF JUST OVER 3 HOURS PER 24, SINCE FALKLANDS HIGHLIGHTS THE STRESS OF MULTIHULL SAILING. “…THERE IS VERY LITTLE TIME TO RELAX…”

-TEAM ELLEN WILL ENTER RED MODE ON MAY 1ST, STANDBY FOR APPROPRIATE WEATHER WINDOW FOR TRANSATLANTIC RECORD ATTEMPT

-PLENTY LEARNT IN FIRST 15,000 MILES ONBOARD B&Q, BUT THE NEW TRIMARAN IS MEETING THE EXPECTATIONS OF ELLEN AND THE DESIGN TEAM

-MACARTHUR ACHIEVES NEW PERSONAL BESTS WITH <>

IN DETAIL:
It has been a 15000 mile delivery trip from Auckland, New Zealand to Newport, Rhode Island. Both Ellen and <> have been tested in many varying conditions, through the Southern Ocean and the Atlantic. It is the first time Ellen has been sailing solo since the Route Du Rhum in 2002, and she is stepping up to another level on board <>.

“Though physically demanding, she is a joy to sail, and I really am very pleased with how she performs in various conditions and under pilot. In big waves she is unbelievable - skimming over them, haring down them ­ seemingly never sticking her leeward float in and stopping. She is showing everyday what an amazing boat the team has built”

Sailing the new 75ft Nigel Iren’s designed trimaran has allowed Ellen to step up to a whole new challenge from her previous experiences on Kingfisher.

“Life is very different onboard <>, there is very little time to relax. All the time in the back of your mind is the fact that one mistake and the consequences could be really bad. On the monohull, you can make some mistakes, the boat can get laid flat and you have a good chance of coming out of ok. That margin doesn’t exist on the trimaran. That makes for a stressful time 24/7. Physically, as expected, manoeuvres are tough. Re-hoisting the mainsail for example is a 35 minute full on, exhausting grind. This is a new level of physical challenge for me. I am ready for this though, and I think we have made the right choices in terms of how big a boat I can manage on my own, any bigger would have been too much”

LIFE ON BOARD:
One of the hardest issues to manage in this environment is the rhythm of life on board. In order to keep to a consistent and productive rhythm the sailors must manage their sleep efficiently and be aware of when they are becoming sleep deprived. Ellen’s average sleep of just over 3 hours every 24, confirms that her ability to take short naps to recharge her energy is working again. Or several years Ellen has been a student of Dr. Claudio Stampi of the Chronobiology Research institute associated with Harvard University, their work on this project is ongoing.

“Life on board <> is good. She feels very much like my little home, and though I am looking forward finally to getting home and seeing my friends and family, I will also be sad to leave her waiting to go in New York. The good news is that she’ll be raring to go and hopefully we’ll be able to cross the Atlantic for our real homecoming together with a good turn of speed”

STANDBY MODES: WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

RED: No obvious weather window in sight, Ellen not necessarily with the trimaran
AMBER: 60 to 70% chance of departure in next 72 hours, Ellen with the trimaran in USA
GREEN: Intention to depart within 36 hours

Muskegon Ferry Terminal Construction Photos

Currently under construction is the Muskegon terminal and dock for the Lake Express ferry which begins service June 1st

Terminal Building

Ferry Dock

Underside of the dock with the Milwaukee Cllipper in the background

Close Up of the Front of the Terminal

Linky Sailing News

Racing Gilmour leads Congressional Cup . Geronimo trails all around

News Rock race

Great Lakes Ferry on the move

College Sailing URI wins Kennedy Cup. Michigan article

Muskegon's ferry terminal under construction

Docking: Questions and Answers

This article is written in question and answer format. The
questions are from participants at past Torresen Marine
Docking and Docklines seminars.

Question: What's a good way to prevent mistakes in the
docking process?

Answer: The use of a checklist prevents mistakes. Such
a checklist might read:

A. Bow Line Rigged
B. Stern Line Rigged
C. Spring Line Rigged- All cleated to boat, not just
looped over but run through the eye so they won't
come off and coiled and ready to throw.
D. 3 fenders over at correct height.

Question: How to determine prop walk?

Answer:

1. Stop Boat
2. Rudder amidships
3. Shift into reverse
4. RH Prop will pull stern to port
5. Really just know which way stern goes when you reverse

Question: How to handle different wind situations?

Answer: For a crosswind, recognize which way the wind will
push you. After determining this, steer into the wind so the
effect of the pushing wind is less.

In a tailwind situation, you'll tend to move faster.
You'll perhaps need to use less throttle. Also, an aft
leading spring line will serve as a second break in addition
to your reversing gear.

A headwind is perhaps the best for docking. It comes
over the bow and slows the boat. If heavy enough, you may
need to use more power to push the boat through the wind.

Question: Should I go slowly when docking?

Answer: Going slowly to avoid a hard hit against a dock
seems the logical answer. However, there is as much danger
in approaching a dock too slowly. For your rudder and keel
to aid the hull through the water you must have sufficient
speed. Just as when you sail in zephyrish conditions and the
boat won't respond to the helm, the same can happen if you
approach a dock under power at .5 knots. To take the
sometimes necessary evasive maneuvers you must have some
speed to control the boat. Remember, power and speed are
your friend!

Question: What advice do you have for docking in the current low water
climate?
Answer: For one, keep up on the current water depths. For
another, be aware of your boats location. Try to traverse
dredged channels and fairways. Most marinas are dredging
this spring. However, don't look for the entire basin to be
a uniform depth. When entering, unless told otherwise,
stick to the center where it is typically dug the deepest.
Stay to the center of the slip. This is dug deepest so your
keel can have depth to avoid grounding.

Question: What about Docking Bridles?

Answer: These are a series of ropes strung along the sides
and front of a slip. The restrain the boat during docking.
While these maybe an aid especially in short handed
docking, they can also have detrimental effects. If you
depend on the bridle at your home slip you may develop bad
habits and have trouble handling docking without one while
cruising. Increasing your skills is preferred to using a
bridle.

Geronimo Trails Both Marks

Geronimo finally crossed the Equator at 02:10 GMT this morning, bogged down in a very widespread and mobile Doldrums. It had therefore taken the grey trimaran 54 days, 2 hours and 52 minutes to re-cross this imaginary line between the two hemispheres. Now just under one day behind Orange's record (the catamaran crossed the Equator after 53 days, 4 hours and 49 minutes, but much further East), the next waypoint for comparing the three round-the-world times will be 35°N, 36°W. Cheyenne benefited greatly from a low pressure area over the Azores which allowed her to route directly for home, although she was, of course, not competing for the Jules Verne Trophy.

In his radio interview of this morning, the Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran skipper spoke of another rather surprising calculation he had made: that in all the distance covered from New Zealand to today's position, Geronimo had flown her gennakers for only 18 hours! That's less than one whole day, despite the fact that this is an attempt to sail around the world the "right" way, with (theoretically) following winds and not the "wrong" way as Jean-Luc Van Den Heede did with Adrien. In fact, Geronimo has done much more upwind sailing than downwind in this second half of her circumnavigation. Ever the fatalist, the skipper concluded that they were now prepared for anything. "The crew is doing everything to get home as quickly as possible, of course, but I simply can't tell you when! Last year, it took us a fortnight to get back from the Azores, so...". To win back the Jules Verne Trophy, the 11-man crew must cross the finish line before 07:54 GMT (09:54 French time) on 30 April.

Congressional Cup Day 1-Gilmour 5-0

Peter Gilmour seems bent on making the world of the Swedish Match Tour his own private pond. Already the winner of two of the first three events on the 2003-04 tour in Japan and Bermuda, the Australian veteran blew out of the gate with five wins in as many races on the first day of the 40th Congressional Cup Tuesday.

"It was fun to be back on the water," he said. "It was a beautiful day out there."

Easy for him to say. The first day's results ranged from his 5-0 perfecto, shadowed closely by New Zealand's Gavin Brady and Denmark's Jes Gram-Hansen at 4-1, to a windup round that saw two guys named Dickson and Coutts fighting each other to avoid the prospect of starting 0-5---Long Beach's Scott Dickson, younger brother of Chris, and New Zealand's Allen Coutts, nephew of Russell. Dickson won, salvaging a measure of local pride.

The standard Long Beach sea breeze was chilly for late April, but as it built from 7 to 15 knots through the afternoon Bobby Frazier's race committee snapped off five fast rounds with hardly a hiccup, leaving 13 rounds to sail leading into Saturday's best-of-three semifinals and finals. The course was a half-mile windward-leeward, twice around, with the Queen Mary a distant backdrop in the harbor.

While the first round proceeded mildly, noteworthy mainly for Gram-Hansen's 30-second win over Brady, the level of aggression soon accelerated to a flurry of red and yellow "Y" protest flags. Through the day there were 45 protests; 16 resulted in penalties by the umpires tracking the races, including a red flag against New Zealand's Kelvin Harrap (2-3) for a flagrant foul, meaning he had to do his penalty turn immediately.

"That's a lot more than I would have thought," said Jack Lloyd, the chief umpire from New Zealand.

Whether it foretold an outbreak of water rage for the week remained to be seen, but it was evident that the younger members of the diverse lineup weren't shy about asserting themselves.

Gilmour's Pizza-La team, for the most part, stayed above the fray, but after sweeping through Coutts, Terry Hutchinson, Harrap, New Zealand's Cameron Appleton and Sweden's Rahm, the skipper insisted his day wasn't as easy as it appeared.

"We had some interesting [as in mediocre] starts," he said. "Harrap was ahead of us and Appleton's spinnaker fell down, but we also were sailing very well around the race course."

Gilmour last sailed the Congressional Cup when he won it in 1988. In those days the event was run on the open ocean in borrowed Catalina 38s. The only other time he sailed a Catalina 37---the match-racing specialty boats built for the event in 1990---was in the World Match Racing Championship in 1996 as leader of the Pizza-La team.

The core of the team---Gilmour, Yasuhiro Yaji, Sofuku Kazuhiko, Alan Smith and Michael Mottl---has been together for nearly 10 years since Gilmour coached Nippon Challenge in the 1994-95 America's Cup at San Diego. Rod Dawson joined the team last year.

Gilmour, whose home is in Perth, seemed a bit surprised by their successful day. "We hadn't raced since the Nippon Cup," he said. "I spent the [Down Under] summer diving for lobsters and crayfish."

A dockside post-race interview with Yasuhiro was interrupted when Gilmour handed him a mobile phone. The Kyodo News syndicate was on the line. The team is big news in Japan.

"When we're in Japan we're always signing autographs," Gilmour said. "The Swedish Match results all go on TV over there. As a result, a lot of young Japanese sailors are interested in match racing."

Pizza-La, pronounced peetz-AH-lah, is the 900-outlet gourmet pizza chain owned by their sponsor, Hidenori Asano.

"He's been with us through three America's Cup campaigns," Gilmour said, "including [Seattle's] One World [in 2002-03]."

But none of the flag waging was by people ordering pizza. Several races turned on penalties. Brady took one when he fouled Gram-Hansen trying to escape a trap at the pin end of the starting line. Hutchinson took two pre-start penalties against Gilmour, although he still managed to make a contest of their match.

Racing starts at noon daily, conditions permitting. There is $25,000 in prize money, with $6,000 to the winning team.

Live radio commentary of the racing may be heard worldwide on www.KLBC.org or at 810 AM within a four-mile radius of the Belmont Pier spectator site. Video highlights of each day's racing may be replayed each evening on the club's Web site, www.LBYC.org.

Sportshow TV is producing a half-hour highlight video to be aired later by the Outdoor Life Network.

Round 1

Peter Gilmour, Australia, def. Allen Coutts, New Zealand, 0:50.

Kelvin Harrap, New Zealand, d. Mattias Rahm, Sweden, 0:50.

Jes Gram-Hansen, Denmark, d. Gavin Brady, New Zealand, 0:30.

Ed Baird, St. Petersburg, Fla., d. Scott Dickson, Long Beach, Calif., 0:16.

Terry Hutchinson, Annapolis, Md., d. Cameron Appleton, New Zealand, 0:25.

Brady d. Rahm, 40 seconds.

Gram-Hansen d. Dickson, 0:30.

Baird d. Coutts, 0:20.

Gilmour d. Hutchinson, 0:30.

Harrap d. Appleton, 0:03.

Gram-Hansen d. Coutts, 0:21.

Hutchinson d. Baird, 0:27.

Gilmour d. Harrap, 1:20.

Appleton d. Rahm 0:33.

Brady d. Dickson, 1:30.

Baird d. Harrap, 0:09.

Gilmour d. Appleton, 0:15.

Rahm d. Dickson, 0:09.

Brady d. Coutts, 0:05.

Hutchinson d. Gram-Hansen, no time (Gram-Hansen owed penalty).

Gilmour d. Rahm, 0:08.

Dickson d. Coutts, 0:28.

Brady d. Hutchinson, 0:19.

Gram-Hansen d. Harrap, 0:16.

Appleton d. Baird, 0:42.

Standings (after 5 of 18 rounds): 1. Gilmour, 5-0; 2. tie between Gram-Hansen and Brady, 4-1; 4. tie between Hutchinson and Baird, 3-2; 6. tie between Harrap and Appleton, 2-3; 8. tie between Rahm and Dickson, 1-4; 10. Coutts, 0-5.

Michigan Boating Numbers

Boating in Michigan was down in several ways in 2003. One, the number of accidents and fatalities dropped. Two, the number of boats registered was also down.

There were 220 boating accidents down from 228 in 2002. As recently as 1998 there were 514 accidents. Interestingly 1/4 of these accidents occur on the Great Lakes meaning the majority occur on the state's inland lakes.

There were 29 Michigan boating fatalities in 2003, 9 less than in 2002. The 38 deaths in 2002 were the most since 1998.

Less accidents and deaths are clearly a good thing.

What may not be a good thing is a decline in boating registrations. There were 957,454 registered boats. This is still the most of any state in the Union. This figure was down 4.7%. From 2002 to 2001, registrations were down .4%. Also, this is the 1st time since 1999 under 1 million boats have been registered in Michigan.

Two reasons for the decline in registered boats are the slow economy and low water levels. For sure there is good new on the water level front with Lake Michigan up 7 inches this spring.

Hopefully we'll have a boating season with more people on the water, yet the same level of safety.

Jules Verne Update another cropper for Geronimo

When Geronimo crossed the Equator heading south they were actually ahead of Cheyenne by 8 hours. Today they have crossed the Equator heading north and trail Cheyenne by 95 hours!

The majority of this time-47 hours- has been lost between Cape Horn and the Equator.

In general, Geronimo has been slower than Cheyenne although at times faster than her 2003 record attempt. On the way to the first of the Capes-Good Hope- Geronimo lost 7 hours to Cheyenne, but was faster than she was in 2003. She was also faster than her previous voyage to Cape Leeuwin, but that was 22 hours slower than Cheyenne. Across the Southern Ocean to Cape Horn Geronimo was slower than her previous time and over a day slower than Cheyenne.

Geronimo head man Olivier de Kersauson says, "I was looking at things on the chart table. Since the Macquaries at 54° South and 153° East - the islands between Tasmania and New Zealand - we've flown the gennaker for 18 hours." The idea of sailing around the world east about is that the winds are mainly favorable. Not so for Geronimo who once again will complete an around the world voyage sans record.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Geronimo at the Equator. Spaniards win 49er Worlds

News Costs stall Tall Ships. SA AC. Farr TP 52

Great Lakes Boatwatchers. Canadania scrapped

College Sailing Buckeye Invatational won by Northwestern. #1 Harvard wins Admirals Cup

College Sailing: Buckeye Invatational

Saturday - The first day of racing proved to be exceptional as the teams
sailed in 65 to 70 degree teperatures and winds of 10 to 18 out of the
S-SE. 8 races were completed. The day started with Windward-leeward
once around and changed to triangles as the winds built. There were 3
breakdowns filed Saturday. IUPUI received average points for 3A after
their jib block lost a ring ding. Purdue received average points for
race 5A when their hiking strap pulled from the hull. Denison received
average points for race 5B after a ring ding broke on the jib block.

Sunday - The weather continued to hold steady with sunny skies, 70
degree weather and winds of 12-15 again from the S-SE. The day started
with Windward-leeward once around and changed to triangles to starboard
as the winds built. There were three breakdown and redress filings
Sunday. IUPUI filed for redress when their boat was not rigged, due to
Kenyon not showing up to sail. They were given average points for race
9B. Michigan withdrew in race 10A after only doing a 360 and not
completely exonerating herself. Denison was awarded breakdown points
for race 11B after the shackle holding the jib block seperated.

Congratulations to all the sailors and to Northwestern for winning the
2004 Buckeye Invitational.

A division = 12 Races
B division = 12 Races
A B TOT

1. Northwestern 1 27 16 43
2. Michigan 21 26 47
3. Ohio 41 63 104
4. Purdue 63 42 105
5. Northwestern 2 57 51 108
6. IUPUI 57 85 142
7. John Carroll 93 61 154
8. Denison 89 82 171

A division = 12 Races
TOT
1. Michigan 21 Christina Falcone 07 All
Meredith Cochran 06 All
2. Northwestern 1 27 Aaron Lasher 05 All
Ashley Mote 05 All
3. Ohio 41 Eric Milliman 06 All
Kate Milligan 06 All
4. Northwestern 2 57 Ryan Whisner 05 All
Conaan Ugur 06 All
5. IUPUI 57 Chris Murray 04 All
Sam Fishback 05 All
6. Purdue 63 Carlos Rush 06 All
Matthew Lewis 07 All
7. Denison 89 Abigail Bacon 05 All
Tierney Davis 07/Kathryn Kramer
06/Meredith Helf
8. John Carroll 93 Pat Feeley 05 All
Bob Maxwell 06 All

B division = 12 Races
TOT
1. Northwestern 1 16 Brendon Keao 07 All
Asa Church 07 All
2. Michigan 26 Caitlin Delphin 06 All
Gabe Scherzer 07/Sally Jacquemin 06
(1-6,9-12/7,
3. Purdue 42 Sean Kennedy 06 All
Brittany Fleck 07 All
4. Northwestern 2 51 Eric Stack 05 All
Emily Alvarez 06 All
5. John Carroll 61 Matt Rask 05 All
Katy Lloyd 06 All
6. Ohio 63 Andy Mulford 06 All
Katie Kurp 06 All
7. Denison 82 Chris Beier 07/William Biiganti 05
(1-8/9-12)
Max Laventry 07 All
8. IUPUI 85 Therese Wacchter 06 All
Rebecca Dark 05 All

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
TOT
1
Northwestern 1 A 3 3 2 4 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2
27
B 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2
16
4 8 11 16 19 22 25 28 31 35 39 43
43

2
Michigan A 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 RAF 1 1
21
B 2 2 2 2 4 2 2 6 1 1 1 1
26
3 6 9 12 17 20 23 30 33 43 45 47
47

3
Ohio A 2 2 4 2 3 3 4 4 3 6 4 4
41
B 6 6 7 7 5 5 5 2 5 6 4 5
63
8 16 27 36 44 52 61 67 75 87 95 104
104

4
Purdue A 4 6 5 5 BKD 6 6 6 4 4 6 6
63
B 3 3 5 3 2 4 3 4 3 4 5 3
42
7 16 26 34 41 51 60 70 77 85 96 105
105

5
Northwestern 2 A 5 4 7 DNF 4 5 3 3 8 3 3 3
57
B 5 5 3 6 3 3 7 3 4 5 3 4
51
10 19 29 44 51 59 69 75 87 95 101 108
108

6
IUPUI A 7 5 3 3 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5
57
B 8 DNF BKD BYE 7 8 6 5 BKD BYE 7 7
85
15 29 39 49 61 73 84 94 106 118 130 142
142

7
John Carroll A 8 8 6 DNF DNS DNS 8 8 6 7 7 8
93
B 4 4 4 4 6 6 4 7 7 3 6 6
61
12 24 34 47 62 77 89 104 117 127 140 154
154

8
Denison A 6 7 DNS DNS 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 7
89
B 7 7 6 5 BKD 7 8 8 6 7 BKD BYE
82
13 27 42 56 70 84 99 114 127 142 157 171
171

WINNING TEAM : Northwestern 1
Aaron Lasher 05 All
Ashley Mote 05 All
Brendon Keao 07 All
Asa Church 07 All

Match Racing in the USA- Congressional Cup

Step aside, day sailors, because there will be some
serious match racing going on in the Long Beach Yacht Club's 40th
Congressional Cup Tuesday through Saturday.

It's the only American stop on the 2003-04 Swedish Match Tour currently led
by Australia's Peter Gilmour, one of the favorites. The America's Cup
veteran's strongest rivals appear to be two-time winner Gavin Brady, 2003
world match racing champion Ed Baird of St. Petersburg, Fla. and '92 winner
Terry Hutchinson, who called tactics for last year's winner, Ken Read, who
is not competing.

Brady, a New Zealander living in Annapolis, Md., is already designated as
helmsman for Oracle BMW's next America's Cup challenge. He is counting this
not only as "a tune-up for the new sailing season" with his new team but a
training step toward Valencia in 2007 because of the weapons of choice: the
sturdy Catalina 37s introduced in 1990.

"With these boats, for an America's Cup team this is the best event to do,"
Brady said. "The boats are 37 feet but perform more like 45-footers. If you
make a mistake you pay for it for the next few minutes, like you do in the
America's Cup."

Others in the lineup are Scott Dickson, who qualified for the eighth time by
winning the Ficker Cup; Allan Coutts, Kelvin Harrap and Cameron Appleton of
New Zealand; Jes Gram-Hansen, Denmark, and Mattias Rahm, Sweden.

They'll sail a double round-robin of 18 races each to sort out a final four
for the weekend's best-of-three semifinals leading to the best-of-three
finals. A short windward-leeward course will be set in smooth water close to
Belmont Pier, well inside the breakwater. Each race will be twice around.

Racing will start at noon daily, conditions permitting. There is $25,000 in
prize money, with $6,000 to the winning team.

Live radio commentary of the racing may be heard worldwide on www.KLBC.org
or at 810 AM within a four-mile radius of the Belmont Pier spectator site.
Video highlights of each day's racing may be replayed each evening on the
club's Web site, www.LBYC.org.

Sportshow TV is producing a half-hour highlight video to be aired later by
the Outdoor Life Network.

The 2002-03 Swedish Match Tour is restarting after a five-month winter
hiatus. Gilmour, 44 and skipper of Team Pizza-La, has won two of the first
three events in Japan and Bermuda and was third in the Danish Open.

At 28, he was the Congressional Cup champion in 1988 a year after gaining
international prominence as the aggressive tactician and starting
helmsman---remember "Crash" Gilmour?---for Iain Murray on Kookaburra III in
the '86-87 America's Cup at Fremantle. Later he won three match racing world
championships in 1990, ’97 and ’98.

Brady, 30, was only 22 when he scored the first of his two Congressional Cup
wins back to back in '96 and '97, but that was before the birth of the
Swedish Match Tour. His best efforts on the SMT have been six second
places---including the last two Congressional Cups---although at times he
has seemed unstoppable.

Last year he set an event record by winning his first 14 races before
finishing the round robin with 16 wins and 2 losses, well ahead of the
fleet, but he lost to Read in the finals, 2-1.

This time Brady is sailing with other personnel from the restructured Oracle
BMW team led by Chris Dickson, including John Kostecki of San Francisco,
skipper of the victorious illbruck entry in the 2001-02 Volvo Ocean Race.
Others crew members are Brad Webb, Craig Monk and Ross Halcrow of New
Zealand and Mark Bradford of Australia---each a world-class professional.

Each crew must meet the maximum weight limit of 1,155 pounds. A couple of
teams had to strip down to shorts to make it.

Steve Flam, a local veteran sailing as tactician for Gram-Hansen, was last
to hit the scales and was told by weighmaster Molly McCloud that there was
room for only 178 3/4 pounds more. Flam, without his shirt and pants,
weighed 178 3/4 pounds.

Geronimo Crosses Equator

The Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran crossed the Equator at 02:10 GMT today, Tuesday 20 April 2004, 54 days, 2 hours and 52 minutes after Geronimo and her 11-man crew crossed the Jules Verne Trophy start line at 23:17 GMT on 25 February.

After ten days of storms and suffering in the South Pacific and over ten days of light winds in the South Atlantic, we can but hope that the northern hemisphere will be kinder to Olivier de Kersauson and his crew.

In the immediate future, the men on board Geronimo will be seeking to cross the Doldrums as quickly as possible. At 05:17 GMT today (Tuesday) their position was 00°38N, 30°15W and they were on a heading of 0° due north, making a true 9.5 knots in 8 knots of wind.

Ellen in the USA

* B&Q SKIPPER, ELLEN MACARTHUR, DOCKS SAFELY IN USA AFTER HER 6,500 MILE SOLO VOYAGE FROM THE FALKLANDS.

* INITIAL CHECKS OF THE BOAT SUGGEST B&Q HAS STOOD UP WELL TO THE TESTS OF THE DELIVERY FROM NEW ZEALAND

IN DETAIL:

Ellen MacArthur arrived in Newport Shipyard, Newport Rhode Island at 11am local time today (1600GMT). After sailing through some fog patches in 15knots of south westerly breeze, she was joined by her shore team to help navigate her the final 4 miles to the dock.

The decision for B&Q to arrive at Newport Rhode Island, rather than New York, was taken at the end of last week by MacArthur and her shore team, lead by tehcnical director, Neil Graham, to faciliate work to boat. B&Q will now undergo a series of checks to fully analyse the impact of the journey from New Zealand. The team will also work through the job list compiled by Ellen during her journey before going on standby for a possible transatlantic attempt.

A full update from Ellen on her first solo voyage on board 'B&Q' tomorrow, April 20th 2004.

Geronimo Reaches Doldrums

Despite previous optimistic forecasts, the Doldrums (or Intertropical Convergence Zone) have been well and truly in place across the route of Geronimo since this morning. This infamous area of calms has certainly shrunk, but less than was predicted and is spreading generously across the full width of the Atlantic. It is not exceptionally wide north to south, but the trade winds are very slack on both sides of the Equator. From 4°S to 4°N, the wind is 12 knots at best, all of which adds up to a new obstacle every bit as formidable as a large Doldrums. So, at almost every stage of this round-the-world attempt, the Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran has encountered the worst possible weather conditions.

The Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran was “well and truly in the Doldrums”, according to her router Pierre Lasnier, who went on to explain that shortly before this position fix, the trimaran had been struck by a major storm, combined with calms and a heavy rainstorm.

The conditions surrounding Geronimo at this time were quite typical of the extraordinarily variable weather contained in the intertropical convergence zone.

Nevertheless, Olivier de Kersauson and his crew were able to make headway at an actual 10.5 knots with only 8.2 knots of wind (which fell to just 1.5 knots at the start of last night).

Temperatures are still rising on board the trimaran, with an air temperature of 28.7°C (more like 40°C in the central cabin) and a sea temperature of 29°C.

The crew is consistently getting the absolute best out of the trimaran at every gust and oscillation of the wind, as can be seen from the Inmarsat data, which shows actual speeds that are consistently higher than the wind speed (12 knots with 8 knots of wind at 11:00). Absolute speed remains Geronimo's only weapon against her climatic bad luck.

Looking Back on Winter

No group anticipates summer more impatiently than sailors. They want summer, & they want it now. This desire I think sometimes exaggerates their perceptions of winter. There is no such thing as a mild or short winter for those who sail.

This winter, which meteorologists consider December to February, was a warm one with temperatures 1.13 degrees above normal. December and February were above normal.

January was the one true winter month with below normal temperatures, and above average snow. 47 inches of snow fell, a full foot above the norm. The other two months both saw less than one foot of snow fall.

Before the season the forecast has been for normal temperatures, and above normal snowfall.

So, when boats are launched Muskegon sailors will be exaggerating if they describe the past winter as a bad one.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Argentina wins Tornado worlds, USA 2nd. Francewins mens (US 56th) & 2000 Gold Medallist wins womens with USA 2nd. 49er worlds. Star Springs.

News Cayard's Olympic efforts. Ellen tri photos

Great Lakes Ontario ferry security & eta. Prep work. Circle tour. Michigan fatalities drop.

College Sailing Navy sailing. Yale sailing.

New Boats for The Transat

ALL EYES WILL BE ON THE NEW IMOCA 60 HARDWARE OF BONDUELLE & SILL COME THE TRANSAT START DAY ON 31ST MAY...

* SO FAR 10 ENTRIES HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THE RACE - LEAVING 29 OTHERS TO DO SO BEFORE THE QUALIFYING DEADLINE EXPIRES

* AFTER THE CONTROVERSY OF THE 1976 EDITION, THE 1980 RACE SAW VICTORY BY A TRUE CORINTHIAN ENTRY...

Visit http://www.thetransat.com for further information

IN DETAIL:

While the ORMA 60ft multihull class sole new boat will be Yves Parlier's radical catamaran, Médiatis Région Aquitaine, visitors to Plymouth prior to the 31st May start of The Transat will have more new hardware to see among the IMOCA monohulls.

Last week Jean le Cam's new Bonduelle was launched. One of only two people to have ever won the Solitaire du Figaro three times, le Cam has been campaigning a trimaran under the colours of his French tinned food manufacturer sponsor for the last three seasons. As a break from this he is competing in the Vendée Globe this November.

The new Bonduelle is one of two Open 60 sisterships to be constructed at JMV Industries in Cherbourg, the birthplace of other boats in The Transat such as Conrad Humphreys' HELLOMOTO and Charles Hedrich's Objectif 3. Bonduelle's sistership is to the new Sill of Roland Jourdain.

Designed by Marc Lombard the boats are an evolution of Jourdain's previous Sill (now Alex Thomson's AT Racing) and look dramatically different. Like the old Sill, they are fitted with a canting keel and a rotating wingmast but have a number of new features such as a chine (a hard edge) along the aft quarters of the hull and along the entirety of the deck. The deck design shows a marked difference with a smaller cockpit located further aft and a smaller cabintop. Their twin rudders are hung off the transom so that in the event of one being broken during a collision, it can be replaced with relative ease. Bonduelle will make her maiden voyage next week while the new Sill is due for launch within in the next two weeks. Both boats are due to take part in the 1000 Milles de Calais race starting on 9 May.

Another brand new boat in The Transat will be Artforms, the Owen Clarke designed Open 50 of American Kip Stone, a smaller version of Mike Golding's new Ecover and Mike Sanderson's Pindar AlphaGraphics. This will also have a canting keel, but a more conservative classic mast set-up. Currently Stone is delivering his boat back from Australia and is currently just to the south of the Azores. Stone's main competition and fellow American, Joe Harris, has announced this week that his boat is to be sponsored by commercial real estate group Wells Fargo.

Meanwhile, the qualifications continue. At present, only 10 of the 39 official entries so far have completed the single-handed qualification passage they must sail before they become an official entry in The Transat (1000 miles for the ORMA boats and 750 for other classes). This week Sergio Tacchini, Geant and Banque Covefi completed their 1000 mile qualifiers while Marc Guillemot on Gitana X, Mike Golding on Ecover and Roger Langevin on Branec III are due to depart imminently. The qualification deadline is end of April, excluding boats that competed in the 2003 Defi Atlantique or Transat Jacques Vabre who have the deadline extended to 15th May.

SIXTH EDITION : 1980

The 1980 OSTAR held a very different complexion compared to the race four years earlier. The upcry from the yachting establishment over the participation of Alain Colas' 236ft long 'ship' Club Mediterranée had nearly caused the race to be banned but a compromise was reached when the Royal Western Yacht Club imposed a 56ft maximum length limit. The new rules were not welcomed in France where many competitors chose to boycott the race in favour of a new single-handed transatlantic race, the Route du Rhum that would take place in 1982. However some notables chose to boycott the boycott, including round the world sailor Olivier de Kersauson and future America's Cup skipper Marc Pajot - he raced as an unofficial entry on Eric Tabarly new tri-foiler Paul Ricard (Tabarly was injured and unable to take part, whilst Pajot's entry was classified as unofficial as their qualifier had not been completed in time).

The race also saw for the first time the introduction of vessel 'tracking'. Each boat was fitted with an ARGOS beacon, which in theory could be interrogated by satellite providing the race organisers, media and general public with a bird's eye view of how the race was unfolding - a vast improvement over the sporadic position reporting that had taken place in previous races. However, this technology being in its infancy, many of the units suffered technical problems resulting in boats 'disappearing' during this race. Today, ARGOS is much more reliable and Collecte Localisation Satellite (CLS), a Technical Partner to The Transat, will be installing ARGOS MAR YX beacons to all the competing boats. Also, the boats primary use of a satellite communications device called Inmarsat C allows the boats to be tracked for the duration. Each C terminal is connected to a GPS allowing the race organisers or shore teams to 'poll' it from land, downloading not only the exact position accurate to a few metres but also the boat's course, speed and all manner of other data.

\The 1980 OSTAR was the last race to be won by a 'Corinthian' entry. The winner was the popular American publisher Phil Weld aboard his 51ft trimaran Moxie, setting a new course record of just under 18 days.

New Zealand Misses Olympic Tornado Berth

Aaron McIntosh and Mark Kennedy finished the Tornado World Championships sailed off Mallorca in 25th place, narrowly missing out on qualifying the Tornado class for New Zealand at the Olympic’s.

The pair went into the last day of racing just ahead of Brazil, who also needed to qualify. However a strong 20 knot breeze kicked in for the last race, which was not an ideal condition for McIntosh and Kennedy. They finished the regatta six points behind Brazil who were the 4th and last nation to qualify.

This marks a huge disappointment for the duo as they had achieved excellent results in 2 major international regattas prior to the worlds, with top 5 finishes. However it was always going to be a difficult ride for the pair at these Worlds with Kennedy troubled with serious sickness throughout the regatta.

"We really feel for the guys at present who have thrown so much at this from Aaron's bold switch from Boardsailing to Catamarans and all the hard work Mark and he put into training, development and financing the campaign."

"Yachting's Olympic qualification system is tough, like the Games it comes down to how you perform at one regatta and sadly this time for the guys they have narrowly missed out" comments Yachting New Zealand Chief Executive, Simon Wickham.

Winning the Tornado Worlds was Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola from Argentina.

Geronimo Near Equator

The fits and starts of the trade winds have finally taken a more consistent turn since last night. Since Geronimo remains a highly sensitive lightweight competitive sailing machine, she has greeted each blast of wind with accelerating high spirits.

These few hours of surfing towards the Doldrums should help put smiles on the faces of all 11 men on board, who have suffered a terrible second half to their round-the-world record attempt. In fact, they have covered 241 nautical miles in the last 12 hours, at an average speed of 20.15 knots: a performance much more consistent with the statistics for this area of the Atlantic. By midday today, it had brought the Capgemini and Schneider Electric trimaran to within 500 nautical miles of the Equator.

According to all the forecasters, the Doldrums promise to leave only a small area of calms behind to trouble the all-French crew. If it keeps its word, the Equator could be crossed tomorrow, leaving Geronimo free to throw all her energies into attacking the North Atlantic. However, there still remains the potential problem of no depression over the Azores, which means that the final straight-line dash for home will be upwind, involving, as usual, twice the distance and three times the trouble.

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 -2
Difference from last month +3
Difference from last year +7
Difference from long term average for April -17
Difference from Record High -49
Difference from Record Low +15
Forecast for 16 May 2004 +4

Click for information on other lakes.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Tornado Worlds 49er Worlds . Men's and Women's Mistral Worlds . Star Western Hemisphere's.

News World Rankings. Mirabella sails.. John Bertrand's sailing plans.

Great Lakes Toronto Ferry news. Michigan Lighthouse Progress

College Sailing Navy hosts Kennedy Cup.

Geronimo Out Does Wind

The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran was timed this morning by Inmarsat at over 19 knots, with almost 16 knots of wind. Does this finally mean the end of nothingness?

The crewmembers immediately tempered the enthusiasm expressed by observers: it seems that the permanent trade winds have indeed begun to be felt by Geronimo, but only intermittently, since this morning’s 11 a.m. fix showed only a true 9 knots of wind. But even that would have allowed them to bear away a little and break out the gennakers. The 11-man crew now hopes to reach the Equator on Monday, depending on the position of the Doldrums, which are taking their time to shrink.

Geronimo's Day 50 Report

On Day 50 of her Jules Verne Trophy attempt, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran covered 252.33 nautical miles point-to-point, at an average speed of 10.51 knots.

At 23:17 GMT on Thursday 15 April, Geronimo's GPS reported a position of 20°47S, 38°57 W off Vitoria in Brazil and on the same latitude as Trinidad. At the time of this position fix, the trimaran was making a true speed of 9.9 knots on a northerly heading with an east-northeasterly wind of 13 knots.

On day 50 of her 2002 circumnavigation, the current Jules Verne Trophy holder Orange had reached 26°27S, 15°42W and was preparing to cross the Tropic of Capricorn the following day (Geronimo crossed this latitude today). Bruno Peyron and his crew had covered 254 nautical miles at an average of 10.58 knots in the previous 24 hours.

On Day 50 of her record-setting voyage (05:10 GMT on 28 March this year), the catamaran Cheyenne's position was 00°41S, 29°56W, very close to crossing the Equator. Steve Fossett and his crew had covered 542.92 nautical miles at an average speed of 22.62 knots during the day.

"In these waters, Cheyenne had the advantage of a fortunate subtropical depression between 40°S and 30°S which gave her a real slingshot along her direct route. The transition between 27°S and 23°S was neither good nor bad, but after that, things were good or better than good for the remainder of their voyage", commented Geronimo's router Pierre Lasnier when asked about the difference between the conditions available to the trimaran and her recent twin

Wells Fargo to Sponsor Solo Sailor

BOSTON – April 15, 2004 – Wells Fargo announced today that accomplished sailor Joe Harris will be at the helm of the Wells Fargo-American Pioneer in this summer's Transat race from Plymouth, England to Boston, Mass. The Transat is a brutal, 3,000-mile single-handed sailing race across the chilly North Atlantic. Harris will set sail on May 31 and expects to finish the race in mid-June.

"We are proud to sponsor Joe Harris and have him at the helm of the Wells Fargo-American Pioneer," said Douglas Novitch, vice president of Wells Fargo's Real Estate Group. "He has the spirit of an American pioneer - innovation, perseverance and courage - qualities that make him an excellent choice to navigate the Wells Fargo-American Pioneer."

The Wells Fargo companies sponsoring Joe Harris and his Open-50 racing yacht include Wells Fargo Real Estate Group, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Eastdil, Financial Risk Management, Wells Capital Management and US Corporate.

"I am honored by the support and enthusiasm that Wells Fargo has chosen to commit," said Harris. "This is proof that the pioneering spirit of Wells Fargo from 1852 continues to be a priority in everything they do."

Previewing the 2004 Chicago Mac

This year the Chicago to Mackinac race will start on July 24th. It follows the Port Huron Mac beginning July 17th. This will be the 98th sailing of the Mac race.

This year the Mac races will be dark - literally. With the full moon on July 2nd, by the time sailors are standing night watches during the Port Huron Mac they will do so under a dim new moon. For the Chi-Mac the moon will be at it's first quarter, but will set right around 11:58 Chicago time on the 25th. This will make for a race course that is potentially lit only by starlight.

For the second year the Americap II rating system will be used. As is always the case with handicapping rules, Americap has received mixed reviews.

There may be a separate section for 'sprit boats'. This proposed section would include boats like J125's, but not the J105's which should have their own one design section.

As has generally been the case there should be several boats capable of breaking elapsed time records. There will once again be a Windquest capable of line honors. The DeVos family has purchased Zephryus, a Max Z 86. Unlike the new Pyewacket, this boat does not have a canting keel. As Zephryus this boat set the record in the Pineapple Cup race to Montego Bay.

Additional record breaking potential racerers are expected to be in attendance. Genuine Risk, a 90 footer that uses canting keel twin foil technology. Alchemy will return from California. Trader, the first Great Lakes based Transpac 52, should also be on the line.

These modern boats are beginning to make a bit of a mockery of the 333 mile course. In 1969, which was a light air race, the first boat finished in 60 hours. Last year Alchemy came from California and needed less than 24 hours to complete the course in similar conditions.

Still for most boats the race will include 2 nights on the water. The course takes the boats from one end of Lake Michigan to the other and often from one side to the other. The course includes cityscapes, sand dunes, islands, light houses, the Mackinac bridge, and plenty of blue Lake Michigan water.

Lone Canadian Sailor Chooses Designer

Veteran Ocean Racer Derek Hatfield and Spirit of Canada Ocean Challenges announce Merfyn Owen and Owen Clarke LLP as the designers for the new Open 60 Spirit of Canada to take on the world in 2006.

Derek Hatfield, Skipper of Spirit of Canada and Managing Director of Spirit of Canada Ocean Challenges comments on Owen Clarke Designs; “the Owen Clarke Open 60 designs are recognized as being at the leading edge of these high performance Open 60 racing machines. A proven professional design track record is what is required to be competitive in the next race around the world. We have taken a great deal of time to consider all aspects of other designs and we look forward to working with Merfyn Owen to design and build the lightest, simplest and the most powerful boat for the start line of the 5-Oceans in 2006. With Owen Clarke designing the new boat, we feel we have partnered with the best design team possible to prepare for this epic challenge.”

The Open 60 is a very specialized racing machine, designed and built for one reason only, to race around the world as fast as possible against the best Open 60 teams. Owen Clarke has been involved in the development of this legendary class of racing sailboat for over a decade. Their previously designed boats include podium finishers Kingfisher (Ellen MacArthur), Pindar (Emma Richards, formerly Hexagon) and Ecover (Mike Golding).

Merfyn Owen had this to say about the partnership with Spirit of Canada Ocean Challenges, “teamwork, experience and professionalism are qualities that we share with Derek and Owen Clarke Design are looking forward to designing the best possible boat for Derek to be competitive in the 5-Oceans Race in 2006”.

The Spirit of Canada Ocean Challenges Team is now actively seeking partners and sponsors to join in the quest for representation at this high level of competition. The IMOCA Open 60 Class events are conducted worldwide and are effective marketing platforms reaching an audience of millions. The Spirit of Canada Ocean Challenges project is unique in that it is a 4-year sponsorship program of building, training and racing that involves marketing and advertising opportunities around the world.

EDITOR’S NOTES:

In 2003, Derek Hatfield was the sole Canadian and 1 of only 10 international competitors to finish the grueling 5 leg round the world race formerly known as the Around Alone. To enter the Around Alone Derek built an Open 40 specifically designed for the race.

There were tremendous accomplishments throughout the race but the major challenge occurred in the fourth leg of the race off infamous Cape Horn. Here, after fighting 60 foot waves during a day long Southern Ocean gale, a vertical breaking wave pitch-poled Spirit of Canada. Derek was thrown off the deck into the frigid Southern Ocean water and then scooped up again as the boat righted itself. Devastated, Derek motored Spirit of Canada to a small port in Argentina. Over the next five weeks, with the help of friends and sponsors, Derek worked to repair the boat and get back onto the racecourse. With a new mast, new sails and electronics, Spirit of Canada was once again racing. On May 31st 2003, after racing for almost eight months, Derek arrived in Newport - the finish line - to a hero’s welcome, as hundreds of people came out to pay homage to a man who just wouldn’t quit. Courage, determination, persistence and passion paid off, Hatfield finished an amazing 3rd place in Class
II.

Owen Clarke Design's first Open 60 was Kingfisher in 1999 which they designed with Rob Humphreys Yacht Design. Their next boat in 2001 was Hexagon (now Pindar), which raced in the last Around Alone. The latest design is Ecover for British sailor Mike Golding which is currently being prepared for the Vendee Globe 2004. The new Spirit of Canada will be based on Ecover, the tank testing work carried out for that program resulted in a significantly different hull form and sailing characteristics from either of the two earlier 60's. Spirit of Canada will be based on a hull design that has evolved some distance from Kingfisher, but nevertheless borrows intellectual property that is made available under license that Owen Clarke Design has with Rob Humphreys. It's an acknowledged fact that without the work undertaken together on Kingfisher, the Owen Clarke Open 60 design would not have moved forward to the point where it is today.

The 5-Oceans is acknowledged as the longest, hardest event for an individual in any sport. It is a single-handed around the world ocean race that spans 8 months and 28,700 nautical miles of grueling competition. These athletes are an elite group of men and women who call on huge reserves of self-reliance, courage and stamina to pass through some of the most remote and dangerous places on Earth, pushing themselves and today’s hi-tech Open 60’s. These boats are considered the Formula One’s of sailing - 60 feet long and built from carbon fiber using the latest composite technology. They are designed to be as light and as fast as possible but strong enough to withstand the worst the world’s oceans can throw at them.

The 5-Oceans occurs every four years. The next race in September 2006 will be the sixth running of the event and will be composed of 5 legs, each scored grand prix style. This multi-leg structure provides more leverage opportunities for sponsors, more peaks of excitement and drama for media and race followers plus a much more international fleet of competing skippers.

Derek Hatfield will take on the world a second time as he sets out to win the 5-Oceans and follow on from his inspiring podium performance in the 2002-2003 “Around Alone” Race.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Mistral Worlds Women/Men. Tornado Worlds. 49er Worlds. Sail problems for Geronimo

News Scholarship winner. AC sponsorship bid. Congressional Cup. Biodiesel

Great Lakes Toledo Harbor Light Troubles. Oldest Shipwreck.

College Sailing URI hosts, Hobart/Willaim Smith defends Moody Trophy.

Loose Pen

The following was published in Yachting New Zeland's Keelboat Quarterly. Wherever you are when reading this, what new racing boats are coming to your home waters? Let us know.

Joy, new boats being launched. What is happening? Could the drought of new race boats be over? First came Akatea a supped up version of the old Cookson
39’ with an extra meter aloft carbon, of course, and masthead gear including a carbon prod for genakers and bulbed keel for an even greater righting moment.
This might read like an advert but you go for a sail in any condition you like and try to wipe the smile off your face in the bar afterwards. Did I mention no runners and non-overlapping headsails? Though you have probably noticed this already.

Of late I have had to pinch myself as I could swear I am seeing double, could this be a second new boat? Surely not in New Zealand! Akatea owned by Peter Geary of Cookson boats and former Jessie James owner, Hamish Milne, owns
Moody Blue. To both these guys I take my hat off, may you both enjoy the benefits of owning a state of the art machine that will always be a joy to sail and sail on.

I like most am looking forward to the new Bakewell- White Z39 being launched. As the winner of Yachting New Zealand’s One-Design Competition we can expect
some great racing between these and the Cookson 39’s.

There is also a rumour that we may see two Farr 40’s arrive next year to add even more spice to an already building fleet of 40 footers.

For those who like to look back at the fleet from the front or maybe watch the rest finish while driving home in your car, there’s some keen interest in the new
Cookson 50’ being built at present with a full race or cruising option available. No doubt the name High Five will appear once more.

So what are the rest of you doing? I see a lot of boats on the market with a view to an upgrade. Let me name a few Bullrush, Lova’luck, Sea Hawk, Sure Thing, Georgia and the list goes on. I hear rumours that a competitive 40’ class is where it’s at - only time will tell. But I am encouraged when I go sailing and watch these two new boats go hammer and tong with each other from pillar to post.

If you have heard another rumour regarding another New Zealand maxi being commissioned, you are correct. The jungle drums tell me of a 30 metre Elliott
designed sloop with a canting keel. All and all, there is some positive momentum for our race fleet.

Whatever is causing it, long may it continue and please feel free to join in.
I must also mention the strong fleets of One Design such as the Young 88 that are having some of the best fleet racing going at present with talk of another
production run of new 88’s being built shortly.

Can you believe the Farr 10.20 has had its 21st birthday this year? It seems like only yesterday when this new One Design lined up against the old Stewart 34’ for the first battle.

Loose Pen Len takes his hat off to all the new owners and owners to be throughout the classes. Without you, the vast amount of talent that is coming through could not progress to the heady heights of their predecessors.
Without you, there would be no Coutt’s, Dickson’s and Dodson’s et al. You are what makes New Zealand yachting strong and at the forefront of design and innovation.

Congressional Cup Preview

Terry Hutchinson is one of three former winners competing in the Long Beach Yacht Club's 40th Congressional Cup next Tuesday through Saturday, along with Australia's Peter Gilmour and New Zealand's Gavin Brady. All three have found a good living in sailboat racing and, Hutchinson says, they can thank Gary Jobson for that.

Jobson, the sport's most respected international TV commentator and author,
won't be in Long Beach, as planned. For his contributions to the sport, he
was scheduled to receive an honorary Crimson Blazer emblematic of victory in
the prestigious match racing event but was forced to cancel because of
recurring health problems in his year-old battle with lymphoma.

Jobson wrote in an e-mail, "You can't imagine how disappointed I am to miss
the Long Beach event. I was really touched that LBYC thought of me. This
most recent setback has been the toughest of the past year because it was
unexpected. I'm now working with a physical therapist to get walking again.
What a tough road. But I fully intend to recover."

In Jobson's absence, Bill Dalessi, himself an honorary recipient as one of
the founders of the Congressional Cup, will receive the blazer for him
during the Skippers Dinner Monday night.

Hutchinson won his in 1992 and, as tactician for Ken Read last year, helped
the winner into another. Jobson, 54, competed in the Congressional Cup in
the late 70s and 80s and never won as a skipper but, Hutchinson said, is
more deserving of a jacket than some who did. They grew up in the same town:
Annapolis, Md.

"We're feeling the benefits now of the impact he has had on our sport,"
Hutchinson said of Jobson. "He's always been a mentor for me. Every
professional sailor has him to thank in some way . . . paving the way to be
a professional sailor, to put it on TV and to show ESPN that this was a
viable sport to market."

For example, Hutchinson leads Team Annapolis Volvo, reflecting his
sponsorship.

It started with the spectacular 1986-87 America's Cup at Fremantle, Western
Australia, where Jobson was the lead TV commentator for ESPN. Gilmour was
tactician and starting helmsman for defender Australia II. The event also
launched him onto a successful career that bore immediate fruit when he won
the Congressional Cup a year later. Brady, the winner in '96 and '97, and
Hutchinson were of the next generation.

"It's amazing how much the game has evolved," Hutchinson said. "It's a lot
more aggressive."

Hutchinson, now 35, didn't lack aggression when he won 12 years ago, but he
says he's more prudent about applying it now.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "Three kids will do that to you. The best guys are
aggressive when they need to be, but they never lose sight of the big
picture, which is to win the start and sail the boat well. It's a matter of
[knowing] when to be aggressive and when to back off and not lose the race
trying to go for the kill."

Hutchinson, who was with Paul Cayard's AmericaOne and Dennis Conner's Stars
& Stripes in the last two America's Cups, has been practicing at home in
Annapolis with three other Congressional Cup entries: Brady, who has made
his home there for several years; Ed Baird of St. Petersburg, Fla. and
Kelvin Harrap of New Zealand.

Although Hutchinson felt he might be "rusty," he and his crew know how to
win. Four of his five crew members were in the Congressional Cup finals last
year. Tactician Chris Larson and Skip Baxter sailed with Brady, while
Hutchinson, Morgan Trubovich and Andrew Scott were with Read. Greg Gendell
is the fifth crew member.

Others in the lineup are local contender Scott Dickson, Long Beach; Allan
Coutts and Cameron Appleton of New Zealand; Jes Gram-Hansen, Denmark, and Mattias Rahm, Sweden.

Geronimo down to Gennakers Only

The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran continues her laborious return through the Atlantic close-hauled. Her inability to hug the coast of Brazil too closely because of a counter current is also losing her precious sea miles every day. She must also make headway to the East at all costs if she is to release her full potential in the trade winds under gennaker. As they wait, the gennakers are still in the sail locker, like skis slung over a skier’s shoulder, as the crew uses the staysail like a pair of crampons to climb the slope. Everyone is looking forward to the descent, so let’s just hope it happens soon.

It still seems likely that the Doldrums will shrink dramatically towards the end of this week, which would be good news. At the moment, the Doldrums cover an area larger than France. “The trade winds are weak, gusting only to ten knots. On the other hand, if they were stronger, we’d arrive at the Doldrums too early... So perhaps nature knows best after all!”

Notes: Geronimo's solent jib blew out in 12 knots of wind. Geronimo's 1st round the world record attempt this season was aborted due to problems with sails.

New Sailing Magazine Launched

Boston, MA (PRIMEDIA Inc. (NYSE: PRM) the leading targeted media company, today announced the launch of BoatWorks for the Hands-On Sailor, a practical do-it-yourself boat restoration and maintenance guide for the sailing enthusiast. Produced by the editors of SAIL, the new magazine arrives on newsstands today at a cover price of $4.99 and will be published quarterly.

The 132-page premiere issue is packed with practical articles covering maintenance ideas for all areas of a boat--sails and rigging, painting and varnishing, engines, systems, electrics and electronics, structural repairs as well as notes about enjoying the cruising life. The magazine also includes lavish step-by-step photographs and drawings so readers get explicit instructions on ways to upgrade and improve their fiberglass boats. More than 70,000 copies will be distributed via newsstands.

The premiere issue of BoatWorks includes the following features:

The Layman's Guide to Inspecting, Selecting and Rejecting Older Sails

How-to Install New Diesel Engines
How-to Service Your Own Winches
Repairing and Restoring Overhead Decks
Learning the Difference Between an Electrical Short and an Open Circuit and How to Troubleshoot the Problems They Create

"We're catering to a market segment full of sailing enthusiasts who are buying used boats and spending a lot of time, money and dedication in restoring them to their earlier states of grandeur," said Publisher Eric Cressy. "BoatWorks is an extension of SAIL, providing readers with expert advice and tips about boat commissioning, maintenance, and upkeep in a more in-depth and extensive way. Our goal is to make readers' sailing safer, easier and more fun."

BoatWorks rounds out PRIMEDIA's editorial coverage of the entire sailing market. While SAIL celebrates all aspects of sailing for both racers and cruisers, and the Sailboat Buyers Guide reaches a unique market of sailors who are in the market to buy a new boat or equipment, BoatWorks will reach those with previously-owned boats who are avidly working to restore them to their original condition and splendor.

"Our editorial mission at SAIL is to recruit all kinds of sailors, educate them, excite them, develop their sailing skills, inspire them and keep them forever vested in the sport," said SAIL Editor Peter Nielsen. "BoatWorks will continue to feed that passion by fulfilling the need for a hands-on, practical guide written by seasoned sailors and experts that truly love and appreciate the craftsmanship that makes each boat unique."

For more information or to order a copy, go to sailmag.com and click on SAIL Store or call (800) 838-8130.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Mistral Worlds Men & Women. Tornado Worlds. 49er worlds. Geronimo off Brazil

News Ellen announces 1st record attempt . Trinter makes Olympics. Sill for Sale

Great Lakes Steel being eaten. Handling error in ferry accident. More ferry developments.

College Sailing USC wins St. Francis Invite

Ellen Decides on 1st Solo Record Attempt

IN BRIEF:

* ELEN MACARTHUR TO HEAD DIRECT TO NEW YORK FOR FIRST RECORD ATTEMPT ON BOARD THE NEW B&Q TRIMARAN...

* MACARTHUR TO MAKE ATTEMPT ON THE SOLO WEST-EAST TRANSATLANTIC RECORD ON HER NEW RACING MACHINE..."THOUGH PHYSICALLY DEMANDING, SHE IS A JOY TO SAIL, AND I REALLY AM VERY PLEASED WITH HOW SHE PERFORMS..."

Visit http://www.teamellen.com

IN DETAIL:

After crossing the Equator on Thursday last week, Ellen MacArthur has made the decision to sail direct to New York for her first solo record attempt - the west-east transatlantic record currently held by Laurent Bourgnon of just over 7 days. Barring any major problems and the subject to the right weather window, Ellen hopes to take B&Q on her first record attempt during May.

Her 14000 mile solo delivery trip on board the new 75-foot B&Q trimaran which started from New Zealand 39 days ago, has been a great proving ground for the performance of the trimaran. So far the Nigel-Irens designed trimaran is exceeding expectation both in its performance and handling. "Though physically demanding, she is a joy to sail, and I really am very pleased with how she performs, under pilot, and in various conditions. In big waves she is unbelievable - skimming over them, haring down them..."

The journey began when B&Q left the shores of Sydney where she was launched on 8th January to sail to New Zealand for a full boat testing period. MacArthur then sailed from Auckland (NZ) to the Falkland Islands with her delivery crew of Loik Gallon and Mark Thomas. B&Q's performance in the Southern Ocean was not only reassuring but also revealed the boat's potential in the big sea conditions. The next major test was for MacArthur to handle the 75-foot trimaran on her own. And the result is so far, so good! B&Q can be hard work for one person, especially in the varying conditions of the Atlantic, as the trimaran needs instant trimming to keep her moving at her optimum speed. Tired but exultant, MacArthur is happy to go direct to New York in anticipation of her first solo record attempt.

B&Q is due to arrive in New York early next week (week commencing 19.4.04). The shore team will be in New York to meet Ellen and start on the preparation work for the record attempt whilst looking at possible weather windows for a departure from early May.

FROM ELLEN ON BOARD B&Q:

"Well it's fantastic to be out here and it's great to be sailing solo again. Our delivery trip so far has been great, though a little slow due to a real lack of wind along the Brazilian coast. What should have taken a couple of days sailing has actually taken more than four.

Last night was wonderful sailing - the sea was pretty flat, there wasn't a drop of spray onboard and we were averaging 17 knots... Wind was around the 13 knot mark, and the moon so bright above us that you could have read a book in it's light! Nice though it is, there is a very real feeling that a record attempt is unlikely to hold much of this 'peaceful' sailing, so right now Iam trying to make the most of it, and really 'test' the boat at various moments. One of those unfortunately lead to another ascent of the mast (which seems to be my trademark) when the lashing at the head of the genoa chafed and broke under load. We live and learn, but I am glad that I've climbed the mast, and had a lack of wind on this trip - let's hope that's one thing ticked off the list.

Though physically demanding, she is a joy to sail, and I really am very pleased with how she performs, under pilot, and in various conditions. In big waves she is unbelievable - skimming over them, haring down them - then seemingly never sticking her leeward float in and stopping.

Though there is without doubt a list of work to undertake, I am happy enough with the boats current state to attempt a transatlantic record attempt on our way home to Europe. Hence our first port of call in the northern hemisphere is looking like New York - unless I have a major failure in the next week or so.

I am really excited about undertaking the record - and looking forward to many more miles under our three hulls.. all being well at record breaking pace!"

ellen
x

WSSRC RECORD DETAILS
The West East Transatlantic Record ­ Ambrose Lighthouse (NY, USA) to Lizard Point (Cornwall, UK)
Skipper: Laurent Bourgnon
Time: 7 days, 2 hours, 34 mins, 42 sec
Av speed: 17.15knots
Distance: 2925 miles
Boat: 60ft trimaran, Primagaz
Date: June 1994

Geronimo Near Brazil

The 11-man crew have finally succeeded in crossing the 30°South parallel, off the coast of Brazil, and have passed the anticyclone now covering the Atlantic at this point. Their next objective is to reach the permanent trade winds as quickly as possible, although these do not seem very active at the moment. Much attention is also being paid to the Doldrums, the extent of which looks worrying between now and Friday, although they are forecast to disappear almost entirely after that. This strange area of nothingness expands and contracts like a breathing lung, but since Geronimo suffered from an expanded Doldrums on her southward passage, she should, statistically at least, have a better experience on this return leg.

The loss of their solent means that the crew must avoid sailing close-hauled and search for better angles to the wind that will allow them to use their still-serviceable gennakers. Since this morning, these large downwind sails have allowed Geronimo to travel faster than the wind speed after a night spent tacking upwind under staysail alone... If the Doldrums really have shrunk to nothing by the end of the week, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric crew may find themselves clocking up fast days of surfing driven by the trade winds - something they have not been able to do since the Indian Ocean.

Fender Info Bits

Fenders serve as a cushion betwwen your boat, and it's gel coat or painted sides and the dock. Proper use will prevent damage. This article gives basic information on selection and use of fenders.

Types- Most fenders are inflated plastic badders. A few are made of soft foam.

A. Round: Made of PVC. Generally have 2 eyes so fenders
can be hung horizontally or vertically.

B. Flat: Puncture proof less likely to roll out of place.
Other uses such as cushions, knee pads when working etc.

Fender Size Guide

Round Buoys
to 25 feet 9" diameter
20-35 11.5"
30-45 15.5"
40-55 18.5"

Hole Through the Middle Fenders
20-30 Feet HTM 1 or 6" diameter
25-40 Feet HTM 2 or 8" diameter
30-45 Feet HTM 2 or 8" diameter
40-60 Feet HTM 3 or 10" Diameter

Proper Inflation: Fenders can be reinflated with a bicycle
type air pump. If no air gauge aim for a moderately firm
fender with some give to it.

Extras when cruising: It's a always a good idea to allocate
storage space for fenders when taking a cruise. You can't
predict your docking configuration and plenty of fenders and
a fender board will allow proper docking.

Securing Fenders: Use stanchion base, deck cleat or toe
rail. Don't use lifelines as this will break lifelines. A clove hitch
is a good way to attach fender to boat.

# of Fenders: Minimum of 3. 1 at the point of maximum beam,
then 1 each fore and 1 aft of maximum beam.

Rafting- Place your fenders at point of greatest contact
which is generally the point of max beam. Bunch 3 fenders
at maximum beam, then 1 fore and 1 aft for further
protection.

There are also special fenders made for rafting
situations.

Fender boards are of particular use when you are tying up
to pilings. A horizontal or vertical tie may not work. A
fender board bridges the gap and keeps the fenders in place.
These can be made from a 2 X 4 and some padding.

Lifelines by Mail

Torresen Marine is beginning a new service that combines the company's sailing and internet expertise. Through Sailboat Hardware.com online customers can now order lifelines online.

Lifelines are a part of your boat that either work and you don't notice them, or fail causing you to fall overboard and face the consequences. If you notice wear in your life line wires or fittings, or just feel it's time for a confidence boosting upgrade Torresen Marine can now build quality lifelines for you no matter the location. online .

Our lifelines by mail service gives you two ways to place your order. One option is that you simply send your lifelines to us and we use them as a template for duplication. The other option we call sefmeasuremant . Our website guides you through a 5 step process that collects information such as lifeline configuration, gate configuration, measurements and wire type. Torresen Marine riggers then use this data to construct new lifelines.

Whatever method you choose, we use only the best materials and processes so you can trust the results.

Geronimo tacks to the equator

The multihulls involved in our double comparison reported the following distances from the Equator at 30°W on Day 47 of their round-the-world voyages via the 3 capes.

At 23:17 GMT on 12 April 2004, Geronimo was 2,096 nautical miles from the point where the line separating the hemispheres meets 30°W.

On the equivalent day in 2002 (18 April), Bruno Peyron and his crew on board Orange were 2,272 nautical miles away from the same point.

The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran was therefore 176 miles ahead of the Jules Verne Trophy holder on Day 47; 50 miles more than the day before.

On their Day 47, Steve Fossett and his crew had brought Cheyenne to within 1,331 miles of the Equator at 30°W. This longitude is generally considered by mariners to be the easiest point at which to cross the Doldrums.

Geronimo was therefore 765 miles behind the latest round-the-world record, compared with 767 the previous day. Olivier de Kersauson and his crew were therefore able to contain the advance of the giant catamaran Cheyenne, despite conditions that kept them tacking all day.

"We've been tacking every 20-25 minutes for the last 10 hours", said the skipper yesterday. And we all know how much strain these manoeuvres put on the crew, the sails and the boat.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Mistral Worlds Men & Women. Aussie 3 peaks. Tacking tri. Tornado Worlds

News Barker's Olympics. Fuel Cell Boat
Great Lakes Drilling ban. Ferry news. Touring Lake Michigan.

College Sailing Dartmouth wins Duplin Trophy

Book Scout Look Out: Know Your Ships

Know Your Ships the annual guide to commercial shipping on the Great Lakes is now available. For $ 14.95 you get a full color fact packed reference useful in many ways.

This year the 'cover ship' is the Michipcoten originally launched in 1952. One of the things you can quickly learn that this is the 2nd ship to be named Michipocoten. Another vessel of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company from 1964-1972.

The two new ferries that will be on the great lakes have Know Your Ships Entires. The Lake Express shows a length of 192 feet and a beam of 57. The Spirit of Ontario will measure 284' and 78' respectively. Alphabetically Lake Express is listed before the Lake Michigan Car ferry service.

There is a ship named after the Rowing Reporter's home port. A 75 foot tug boat owned by King Company of Holland is named Muskegon.

The Rowing Reporter's former home town of Menominee has a pair of namesakes. One is a 107 tugboat from Avon Ohio, the other a 503 foot salt water ship.

There are listings for all 3 Mackinac Island ferry lines: Arnold Transit's ferries range from the Beaver built in 1952 to the Straits Express built in 1995. Shepler's newest and oldest ferries are 1986 and 1959 respectively. The Star Line has the newest fleet with ships built from 1979 to 1993.

Other ferry lines included are the Washington Island Ferry line which launched a new ship in 2003, and the City of Toronto with a ferry dating to 1910.

Interspersed are color photographs of ships new and old, commercial and military.

Towards the back of the book I discovered another event that occurs on April 15th. If you look at the Plimsoll Mark on the side of a Great Lakes Ship, the 'I' signifies the Intermediate load line which is in effect 1-15 April and also 1-31 October. Load lines vary according to the time of year. I did not know that before I checked out Know Your Ships.

If you live in an active port like Muskegon or just want to know which freighter is passing you...is that the 1004 foot Mesabi Miner or the 1013 foot Paul R. Tregurtha? Know Your Ships will add to your enjoyment of time on or near the water.

Peyron Prediction

Recently read the March 2004 issue of Yachting World magazine which had an article on Bruno Peyron's Orange II.

Towards the end Peyron is quoted as follows: "In future, I think the record could be under 60 days, but not this year."

Since then Cheyenne has completed her round the world voyage in 58 days.

In 2000, I predicted a 59 day round trip.

Next season Peyron will have no choice but to surpass the conjecture of his prediction and the reality of Cheyenne's voyage.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Geronimo trails. Record for Skandia. Lovell/Ogletree 1st @ Princess Sofia.

News AC news. Design info for sale. Cheyenne's sole female. On board Cheyenne

Great Lakes Ontario ferry delayed. Water up. Sub moving. Cleveland shipping

College Sailing Harvard wins Boston Dinghy Cup.

New Zealand Sailors In Spain

New Zealand sailors Alesha Thorpe and her crew of Michelle Vinsen and Karen Lambert finished the last day of racing at the Princess Sofia Trophy in Spain on a high note taking out the silver medal in the 30 strong fleet of Yngling sailors - the women's keelboat class for the 2004 Olympics.

The final day of racing was held in 12-14 knot breezes, allowing all classes to get in as many races as possible.

Thorpe and her crew must be happy with this result, after their rivals Sharon Ferris and her crew won the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta in January. This top 3 result will mean the olympic selection trials in this class could be a fight down to the last race, with both teams showing the ability to take out podium finishes at major regattas.

In the other olympic classes, results didn't change significantly across most classes with the majority of sailors now looking ahead to their next major regatta, in many cases World Championships in May.

One crew to make a big jump was Tornado sailors Aaron McIntosh and Mark Kennedy who jumped up 10 places in the last day to 17th overall. This regatta was the perfect build up to the Tornado World Championships which will begin at the same venue in just a few days.
At these upcoming World Championships, sailors will fight it out for the 4 possible remaining olympic spots - with New Zealand one of the countries yet to qualify. McIntosh and Kennedy not only have to gain a spot for New Zealand, they also have to achieve the requirements to satisfy New Zealand's nomination process for olympic selection. The regatta will be held from the 10th - 17th April with racing due to start in the next couple of days.

The New Zealand final results were:

Yngling
Alesha Thorpe/Michelle Vinsen/Karen Lambert - 2nd
Sharon Ferris/Joanna White/Kylie Jamieson - 5th

Europe
Sarah Macky - 8th

Laser
Hamish Pepper - 7th

Finn
Dean Barker - 11th
Clifton Webb - 16th
Peter Fox - 22nd

470 Women
Shelley Hesson/Linda Dickson - 16th
Melinda Henshaw/Jan Shearer - 22nd

470 Men
Andrew Brown/Jamie Hunt - 18th

Tornado
Aaron McIntosh/Mark Kennedy - 17th

Geronimo Waits

The Cap The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran left the roaring forties behind last night as she continued close-hauled on a virtually direct course. Temperatures are rising spectacularly and are currently just under 17°C. The South Atlantic is not particularly well suited to covering long distances at the moment. A fairly northerly depression is generating a south-westerly air flow, but it’s too close to Africa.

Further north and to the west lies the region of high pressure that Geronimo is now trying to skirt around to the left and which is slowing her down. There is no better option to the right, nothing is moving in the middle and the left is mediocre at best. But at least Day 45 has allowed the 11-man crew to maintain their lead over Orange as they await the arrival of better conditions.

Gernonimo's South American Tour

The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran covered 370 nautical miles yesterday, at an average point-to-point speed of 15.42 knots. In fact, it was the second half of the day that proved to be fairly slow, as a result of Geronimo arriving a little too early in the vicinity of a high pressure region. This anticyclone had been forecast to move progressively eastwards, pushed by the enormous depression now centred over the Pacific coast of South America. For information, a weather system is generating over 95 knots of wind and raising truly horrendous seas in the waters Geronimo was negotiating just a few days ago.

But this is a long way from the Andes. There was very little wind last night and just the beginnings of a timid north-westerly during the morning. The decision was made to attack this high pressure region from the West on a fairly direct track, which although costing hours of upwind sailing, was the shortest route. The easterly route would have been more satisfactory in terms of miles per day, but presented two major drawbacks: a 25% longer route and the risk of becoming caught up in the anticyclone if, as all the weather models predict, it decides to visit St. Helena. Well, if you’re going to sail around the world against the wind, you might as well go the whole hog…

Geronimo's Course: Due North

Due North.

The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran is heading due north at an average speed of over 18 knots. An area of high pressure that has slowed the 11-man French crew a little today should move off east this evening. Temperatures are climbing visibly, the data transmission and navigation systems are coming back to life and bodies are mending. It's as if, having been on the defensive for so long, Geronimo is finally stretching out.

Now 144 nautical miles ahead of the Jules Verne Trophy holder, but 546 miles behind the new record time set by Cheyenne, the task looks immense and a lot of luck will be required. As they wait for that luck, which has so far eluded the Bretons, they will have no choice but to sail even faster, more consistently and on an even shorter course. The good weather forecasts were slightly over-optimistic yesterday evening, but the position had stabilised by this morning.

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 -2
Difference from last month +3
Difference from last year +6
Difference from long term average for April -18
Difference from Record High -50
Difference from Record Low +14
Forecast for 9 May 2004 +4

Click for information on other lakes.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Princess Sofia. Geronimo progressing. Brit Laser trials

News Royal Match Racing. Cup News

Great Lakes New cutter. Tall Ships Manitowoc

College Sailing This weekend Team Racing @ Tufts & Yale

Geronimo Progressing

In his radio interview earlier today, Olivier de Kersauson spoke about Geronimo's return to her normal level of performance:

"We hoisted a lot of sail an hour ago and we're making good headway... The sea is friendly, it's calm and we have 30 knots of wind. There's still a big swell, but we're surfing at 28 to 29 knots - it's great".

Olivier's words were confirmed by an intermediate fix taken at 13:17 GMT today, which showed the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran's position to be 51°56S, 63°10W. At that time, Geronimo was making a spot actual speed of 26.2 knots.

The helmsman was following a true heading of 20° (north-north-east), which confirms what the skipper told us less than two hours previously: "It's over (the Southern Ocean). We're going north, we're going north in latitude... but we need to get north. We need some warmer temperatures. All the way through the south, we've been scrambling upwind…".

Welcome back to the world of high-speed surfing, gentlemen.

To beat Cheyenne's record Olivier de Kersauson & have to maintain a daily average of 445 nautical miles/day.

More @ Michigan City Boat Show

Boating Industry
Thursday April 8, 2004

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. – More docks are being added and the floor plan revised to accommodate the continued growth of the Michigan City In-Water Boat Show, to be held Aug. 26-29, show organizers said in a statement today.

The 20-percent increase in dock space is needed to meet demand in both the power and sailboat sectors, according to show manager and founder Norm Schultz.

“This year the demand for space on the sailboat dock, coupled with two 80-foot powerboats already signed to exhibit, makes adding the extra 50 docks – or 500-feet worth – an absolute necessity,” said Schultz. “The public knows that Michigan City is the only boat show in the Midwest with a real comprehensive sailing fleet. As sail dealers see the jammed sailboat dock and hear Sail America call our Discover Sailing event one the most successful they’ve ever seen, they want to capitalize on our audience by exhibiting in our show.”

The event, which will this year celebrate its 25th birthday, will showcase over 200 exhibitors, according to organizers. They said they will also revise its layout on land to keep things interesting for attendees.

“Our research tells us that the No. 1 reason people attend a boat show is to see what’s new, if your floor plan and exhibitors’ locations never change, people feel they’re seeing the same old show,” Schultz said. “People won’t spend their time and money year after year to see what they perceive as an old show.”

Cheyenne Record Official

WSSR Newsletter No 60

The WSSR Council announces the ratification of the following record:

RECORD: Round the World, non stop, crewed, any type.
The Outright record.

Yacht: Cheyenne

Sailed by: Steve Fossett and a crew of 12

Dates: 7th February to 5th April 2004

Elapsed Time: 58 days 9 hours 32 minutes 45 seconds

Average speed: 15. 52 kts

Team Gitana News

- With just one month to go before the first of the season’s Grand Prix, the Gitana Team « Squared » is increasing its chances of achieving its aim of having two multihulls flying the colours of the Baron Benjamin de Rothschild in the top places of the ORMA overall rankings at the end of the six races on the 2004 calendar. In the first chapter of this ambitious route book, for Gitana XI, this has meant spending the last two weeks calibrating performance under sail and for Gitana X, back in the water, this means her first sail today at the end of the afternoon.

Gitana XI – A boat which has matured
As Marc Guillemot and his X-team sail for the first time on Gitana X today, after having put their multihull back into the water, the XI sailing team is running a battery of tests on the sails, appendages, rigging and fittings off La Trinité sur Mer and throughout this week in Port la Forêt, in the company of the other trimarans on the 2004 circuit.

After a winter lay-up of three months in the shed, the first trials on Gitana XI are matching the crew’s expectations. Over the past two weeks or so, several outings to fine tune a number of details and speeds tests, some of which were run alongside Banque Covefi in the last week of March, instill confidence in the Team, which feels that they are in possession of a winning machine.

After four sessions in perfect weather, a steady wind and a calm sea, the tests on Gitana XI demonstrate that she is perfectly balanced at the helm. Early analysis tends to suggest that her current configuration gives her better performance in offshore races rather than in Grand Prix. What has struck the crew most of all, has been the boat’s speed and velocity together with great stability at the helm. Over the past fortnight, Gitana XI’s wardrobe has been given the once over. This first series of trials with the sails has turned out to be very positive indeed as only the odd detail with regard to cut here and there needs any attention.

Gitana XI is looking good for both boat and crew, the latter having undergone a recent reshuffle.

Changes in the crew of Gitana XI

Lionel Lemonchois will not be taking part in this page of Gitana’s history. He has decided to withdraw from the Gitana Team after more than three years of flawless service at the head of Gitana X, in a context which was often difficult and thankless. Lionel has planned his departure with discretion by recruiting a talented co-helmsman a few weeks ago for Gitana XI, in the shape and form of Fred Le Peutrec, one of the « finest helms in the kingdom » and former skipper of the trimaran Bayer. Fred, whose background is in Olympic sailing, will be taking over the helm of the XI along with the sailing team put together by Lionel for the 2004 season.

Another change has occurred with the arrival of the young Breton sailor, Yann Elies, bringing crew numbers for the XI up to 11. At the age of 29, the guy who Loïck Peyron readily says « it is better to sail with him than against him » has a list of achievements which could be much envied in the world of ocean racing, the high point no doubt being that he is co-holder of the Jules Verne Trophy on the maxi catamaran Orange I. Mariner like his father and grandfather before him, Yann quite simply has the sea in his genes. He started sailing on Optimists off Saint-Brieuc on Brittany’s northern coast, before moving onto Olympic dinghy sailing. By the time he was 18, he had discovered offshore sailing and spurred on by the first Vendée Globe, decided to make sailing his career. He finished training spending 4 years as master sailmaker before launching out to sail competitively. Eight years later, he is one of the most sought-after yachtsmen around and a much-feared competitor on the solo circuit.

Portrait of Frédéric Le Peutrec

Born in Paris on June 20th , 1965, Fred lives with his wife and two children in Séné in the Morbihan region, not far from La Trinité sur Mer. When the family dinghy was replaced by a sports catamaran, he became an unconditional supporter of multihulls. Fred is fascinated by the sensations procured when sliding over the water, intoxicated by speed, loves precision in trimming and playing with the limits of these machines. To such an extent in fact that he gave up his architectural studies to devote himself entirely to competition. From 1988, he clocked up three successive Tornado preparation programs for the Olympics (89-92, 93-96, 97-2000). In 1996, he finished 6th in the Atlanta Games alongside Franck Citeau. Along with this background on small high-performance catamarans, Frédéric experienced what it was like to sail ocean-racing multis early on, thanks to old « sea dogs », by the likes of Philippe Poupon, Jean Maurel, Marc Guillemot, Grant Dalton, Bruno Peyron and Loïck Peyron. Sought after for his abilities as a tactician and remarkable skill at the helm, Frédéric crewed on Allianz Via (1992), Harris Wilson (1993), Explorer (1995), Fujicolor II (1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999), Explorer (1999), Biscuits La Trinitaine (2000), and Club Med (2000 and 2001). Back from his victorious RTW voyage in The Race, Jean Maurel, Project Manager of the then new Bayer CropScience trimaran called upon him to skipper the Irens-design multi. After two years on the ORMA circuit, the chemical-pharmaceutical group decided to withdraw from yacht sponsorship leaving Frédéric available to contribute his rich experience to the crew of Gitana XI.

First confrontation at sea for the crews of the ORMA circuit

From Friday 9th to Monday 11th April, most of the ORMA multihulls sailors will be racing in La Trinité sur Mer on the occasion of the Spi Ouest France. For the past two years, several teams have taken part in regular training sessions on Open 7.50’s, a 7m 50 monohull sailed by a crew of 5. These races are hard fought battles and enable the crews to perfect their maneuvering skills and to put their fitness to the test. Both of the Gitana Teams are entered on the list of 20 or so competitors who will be racing off La Trinité sur Mer for 4 days in this classic Easter weekend series. This racing will be an excellent preliminary to the first event on the ORMA calendar scheduled for April 29th.

Americans Prepare for Transat

IN BRIEF:

* A STRONG CONTINGENT OF AMERICAN SKIPPERS ARE LOOKING FOR VICTORY IN THE 50-FOOT CLASSES, AS WELL AS REALISING SOME LONG-HELD DREAMS...

* US SKIPPER JOE HARRIS HAS JUST QUALIFIED AND KIWI SKIPPER, MIKE SANDERSON, ON PINDAR ALPHAGRAPHICS IS EXPECTED TO FINISH HIS QUALIFICATION IMMINENTLY...

* A LOOK AT THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE RACE IN 1976 - 125 STARTERS, THE LARGEST ENTRY EVER IN THE 236FT CLUB MEDITERRANEE AND GALE FORCE CONDITIONS...

Visit http://www.thetransat.com for further information

No race across the North Atlantic would be complete without some US competitors. While on this occasion there are no American teams in the big monohull or multihull classes, there is a strong contingent among the 50 footers.

Rich Wilson, from Rockport, MA, is no stranger to this race having campaigned the 35ft trimaran Curtana in the C-STAR, the Carlsberg-sponsored event in 1988. Five years later Wilson, a former maths teacher, founded Ocean Challenge and a new learning concept called sitesALIVE. "The premise was simple: kids love adventure and they love computers; once they are hooked by the real-time adventure of online learning, teachers can use this format to make a multitude of subjects come alive," says Wilson. A severe asthma sufferer since the age of one, Wilson has nevertheless pursued his sailing goals while managing a potentially life-threatening condition. Dealing with this major health issue and other health topics will form part of the educational programmes.

The same year Wilson bought his 53ft trimaran Great American II in which he has subsequently completed several long distance passages attempting to break 19th century Clipper ship records. These include San Francisco to New York via the Horn in 1993. In 2002 Wilson and veteran ocean racer Bill Biewenga beat the 1855-56 time of the American clipper Mandarin from Boston to Melbourne. Wilson followed this up last year with a return trip breaking the 154 year old passage record of the Sea Witch from Shanghai to New York. As with his records Wilson will be using The Transat as material to feed his sitesALIVE education program.

American competitors Kip Stone and Joe Harris are strong contenders in the Open 50 monohulls. Kip Stone's Artforms is a brand new state of the art design by Owen-Clarke, built by McConaghys north of Sydney. Stone is in the process of delivering Artforms from Australia to the UK. Following this half circumnavigation, Stone will not only be very familiar with his vessel but will have hopefully shaken any bugs out of the boat.

Meanwhile another Boston resident, Joe Harris (44) has purchased the former Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America and renamed her Gryphon Solo. This Groupe Finot design has competed in the Around Alone twice - first as Mike Garside's Magellan Alpha, finishing second in class, and four years later won every leg of the single-handed round the world race in the hands of Brad Van Liew. In The Transat four years ago, she finished second in class with Alex Thomson at the helm.

Harris is Chief Financial Officer of New Boston Fund, a $1.5 billion real estate investment and development company and has competed in eight Newport-Bermuda races and two Bermuda One-Two solo races. He ultimately wants to take her around the world in the 2006-7 5-Oceans Race (the new name for Around Alone) and is using The Transat as a stepping stone up to this. "The Transat is the Granddaddy of all solo races," he explains. "I am thrilled to be an official entry and am looking forward to lining up against some of the top solo sailors in the world. I am training intensely for every aspect of the race." Harris has just completed his 750 mile qualifier having notified the Race Committee at 1200hrs today.

Among other Transat news this week, Fred le Peutrec has taken over from Lionel Lemonchois as skipper of the new Gitana XI in the Baron Rothschild's two boat trimaran team. Le Peutrec is a former Tornado Olympian, sailed around the world with Grant Dalton on Club Med and has most recently skippered the Bayer CropScience 60ft trimaran.

The qualifications for The Transat must be completed by 30 April (or 15 May for those who raced in last year's Transat Jacques Vabre or Le Defi Atlantique). Mike Sanderson sailing the 60ft monohull Pindar AlphaGraphics, is expected to complete his qualification imminently. ORMA skipper Steve Ravussin (Banque Covefi) is mid-qualifier and Michel Desjoyeaux (Geant) is due to start his 1000 mile qualifier tomorrow morning.

FIFTH EDITION : 1976

By 1976 the OSTAR had reached its zenith with more than 300 applicants and more than 125 boats reaching the start line of what would go down in the history books as one of the great ocean races of all time. The event was won for the second occasion by Eric Tabarly, this time single-handedly sailing his Whitbread maxi Pen Duick VI usually crewed by 18. As if this was not challenging enough, the North Atlantic that year was in a turbulent mood, throwing five gales in the path of the competitors - two of the gales had winds exceeding force 9. Tabarly once again experienced autopilot failure as he had in the 1964 race. Completely exhausted he briefly turned his boat about for France, before thinking better of it and resumed the race. Tabarly's second win, possibly his finest hour, created another media sensation in France and propelled him from sailing hero to legend.

The most talked about boat in this race was the entry of 1972 winner Alain Colas. Jean-Yves Terlain's participation aboard the 128ft three-masted monohull Vendredi 13 in the previous race had clearly left an impression on Colas. The larger a boat is the faster it goes, and for the 1976 race Colas took this principle to the extreme with a larger version of Vendredi 13, the 236ft long four-masted, Club Mediterranée.

How could one man sail a boat so big? In fact Club Mediterranée had roller furling fitted to all her sails. She was also the first boat in the race ever to use satellite navigation to locate her position (in this pre-GPS age everyone else had to use a sextant). During the race Colas experienced major problems with his halyards and was forced to put into Newfoundland to make repairs. He ultimately crossed the line second behind Tabarly but a time penalty dropped him back to fifth overall.

J Boat Ranger

J-Class Ranger: Reborn and On the Move
by Scott Zebny of North Sails' Fort Lauderdale sail loft

Built in Denmark at Danish Yachts to the original 1937 Sparkman & Stephens -designed hull lines, the 135-foot reborn Ranger was launched and sea trials were completed in January of this year. Much was said back in the 1930’s about the fact that the English challengers had to sail all of the way across the Atlantic in order to compete with the American defenders and because of this their boats were at a disadvantage. The modern Ranger’s very first voyage was to sail from Skaagen Denmark, a small village at the Northern tip of Denmark, down through the North Sea, through the Bay of Biscay, and onward to Antigua in January—brrrr! When Ranger left Denmark there was snow on deck and it was blowing a gale, but the trip went great and she is now blasting around in the warm waters of the Caribbean.

Ranger’s racing debut will come in the St. Barth’s Bucket—which promises to be a blustery tradewind romp—followed by the Antigua Classic Regatta, a classic gathering in every sense of the word. Brad Butterworth, Peter Holmberg, and a group from the Alinghi America’s Cup team will make up the core of her racing crew They can’t wait to race such a beautiful piece of America’s Cup history.

Ranger’s sail inventory consists of cruising sails made with North’s Gatorback Carbon Spectra sailcloth and racing sails made from 3DL™ 960L (AC Carbon/Aramid blend) together with five Gradient spinnakers. While the boat was built as close to the original as possible, the spar and sails feature the best of today’s technology.

For a tender Ranger has the spectacular 159-foot sloop Georgia—an amazing sight in her own right. Georgia was launched in 1999 and has been seen in all corners of the world with her 200-foot-tall mast. If you’re in the Caribbean keep an eye out on the horizon for these two beautiful boats out for a daysail….they'll be hard to miss!

It was 30 years ago today

Southampton, UK, April 9, 2004 --. Great Britain II crossed the finishing line to complete the first Whitbread Round The World Race 30 years ago today, at 1330 GMT on April 9, 1974. She had been 144 days at sea, and at that time, it was a record for a round the world passage under sail.

The new Volvo Open 70s are predicted to race around the 31,000 nm course in 2005-06 in just 103 days, achieving over 500 miles in a 24-hour period and reaching top speeds of over 40 knots in extreme conditions.

The Volvo Ocean Race will start with an in port race in Sanxenxo, Galicia, on November 5, 2005. The start of leg one, the first offshore leg, will be from Vigo, on November 12, 2005.

American VOR Team

Pinnacle Race Management Group (PRMG), a U.S.-based syndicate, is pleased to formally announce the inclusion of Volvo veteran and US sailor Chris Larson. Larson joins PRMG as skipper for their bid to race in the 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race.

PRMG grew out of the long-standing relationship between Offshore Race Management, a turnkey sportive services management and operations group, and BI Worldwide, award-winning global leaders in marketing, media and event management solutions. Together they produced the Team Tyco campaign in the last Volvo Ocean Race, and are looking to capitalize on their past successes to deliver definitive results for their sponsor partners.

PRMG Syndicate Director, Michael Castania comments, "In a nut shell we are a "no compromise" affiliation focused on delivering results. Chris’ inclusion signals a significant milestone in our team preparation and fund raising efforts. We‘ve spent the last 18 months searching for the most talented and most capable people. Everyone involved with PRMG on the water and ashore have a proven record specific to the Volvo Ocean Race and the demanding expectations of this global event."

PRMG President, Jeff Rider, mirrors Castania’s origin of focus, "PRMG was designed with results in mind. In every facet of our campaign, that's what we're all about. And that’s what sponsors want. With our roster of assets in place, we're poised for victory in every aspect of what we do. This is because of our powerhouse interdisciplinary team that understands both the competitive nature of business and sport."

Being that the past two races have been won by U.S. skippers on foreign-flagged boats, PRMG’s aim this time around is to have a U.S. skipper on a U.S.-flagged boat. “This is why Chris Larson was a natural choice. He brings a strong understanding of what is expected and has the leadership skills to deliver results," said Castania.

"It is an impressive team, definitely capable of winning the race," says Glenn Bourke, CEO of Volvo Ocean Race.

Larson goes on to say, “I've been working with the group for the past 10 months and I'm 100% confident PRMG has the correct model for winning the next VOR. We are a group of dedicated individuals who are the best in our respective fields that know what it takes to make the event a successful one. Sailing is poised solidly as a professional sport, and corporate sponsors can be assured our campaign will be an opportunity to meet their marketing needs in a seamless way. With today’s public focused on adventure and reality, I can’t think of a better way to satisfy that appetite than a grueling, death-defying, high-tech, record-breaking race around the world.”

Rounding out Larson’s prowess on the water, PRMG has also brought in four-time Volvo Veteran and acclaimed sail designer Grant Spanhake of North Sails to develop the sail inventory. "Being involved with PRMG for the Volvo Ocean Race is a "no brainer." The combination of expertise existing, under one roof and the professional approach should make it a winning combination, I'm proud to be part of it. "

The PRMG yacht will be designed by Farr Yacht Design, and built by Goetz Custom Yachts. Hall Spars will design and build the mast, and Harken will provide the hardware and accessories. "The choice of key suppliers we've associated with reflects our "No Compromise" philosophy. We have worked with all of them in the past, and a strong bond of respect exists. In my opinion, they are the "go to" people. In this very compressed time period it is comforting to know that the design, construction, mast/sail package and hardware elements are all in place. We couldn't be in better hands,” said Castania.

Russell Bowler of Farr Yacht Design comments, "PRMG has structured a solid management framework that will yield benefits to the program when activity gets more intense. We have had good long standing relationships with Mike Castania, Chris Larson and other key members of their campaign team and we are confident that high quality decisions will continue to be made by this group and look forward to a great project." Bill Goggins of Harken Yacht Equipment mirrors Bowler’s confidence, "Having worked with winning syndicates in previous grand prix events like the Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup, we understand the level of professionalism, organization and ability to provide ROI to sponsors that makes a winner. Such success comes not only from winning races, but bringing their sponsors to the pinnacle with them. PRMG can bring you there."

"It's through all of our unique relationships that PRMG draws its strength and singles itself above the throng," said Castania. Larson mirrored Castania’s confidence by stating, “The only way I would commit to doing another ‘round the world race is to do it with a team that has the know-how, resources and shared commitment to make it a success in every facet of the campaign. Frankly, PRMG is that team.” "We know what it takes to get it done because we've been there before,” said Rider.

Pinnacle Race Management Group (PRMG) produces one-of-a-kind sponsorship and sports marketing opportunities for blue chip global clients to maximize business results and increase their brand’s share of mind with their internal and external audiences by participating in The 2005-2006 Volvo Ocean Race. Through their unique, end-to-end menu of customized sports marketing solutions, Sponsors’ specific business goals and objectives are positioned and leveraged in a way that will drive three years of continual, consistent and clutter-free global brand exposure due to their participation in the world’s fifth largest sporting event.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Geronimo rounds Cape Horn. GBR trials for Laser. Olympic Classes: Princess Sofia

News Calais 1000 miler. Spring to do's .

Great Lakes Lake Erie Levels. Lake Michigan basin.

College Sailing St. Mary's now # 1

Geronimo Rounds Cape Horn

At 15:45 GMT (17:45 French time) Wednesday, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran passed the famous rock that symbolises the exit from the Pacific and the seas of the Southern Ocean. Geronimo reached this waypoint after 41 Days, 16 Hours and 27 Minutes at sea, which is 10 hours ahead of the current Jules Verne Trophy holder (Bruno Peyron), but 48 hours behind the new round-the-world record holder.

Olivier de Kersauson and his 10-man crew have had an appalling Pacific crossing marked by deep and powerful depressions, confused and dangerous seas and whole days of fighting against winds of over 50 knots. Even the final approach to the Horn demanded three days of upwind slog, just as if they were sailing around the world the "wrong" way.

Geronimo conquered Cape Leeuwin nearly 2 days, 19 hours ahead of Orange's 2002 time, so the Pacific has really slowed the trimaran's progress, closing uncompromisingly into a pitiless southern winter.

Now the Atlantic opens ahead of the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran; its southern half looks tough, but with following winds. Remember that this leg of last year's attempt proved catastrophic, with an almost total absence of wind.

The crew fervently hopes that they have done all the hard work this time round, and can look forward to a rather better welcome from the Atlantic

Cup Meetings

18 America's Cup Teams concluded a three-day session of organisational meetings in Valencia, Spain, on Wednesday, with a clear vision of how the 32nd America's Cup would proceed.

Michel Bonnefous, the CEO of AC Management, the organiser of the 32nd America's Cup, closed the three-day workshop of meetings with the observation that America's Cup racing would begin on the 5th September, 2004.

"The exciting milestone today is that we are now less than five months away from the Marseille Louis Vuitton Act 1 of the 32nd America's Cup. It is tremendous to think that there will be America's Cup racing in such a short time," Bonnefous said.

For the past three days, AC Management has been in discussions with 18 America's Cup Teams, representing nine countries, about a variety of topics relating to the sport, marketing, and logistical aspects of the 32nd America's Cup.

"We wanted to take this opportunity to give the Teams preparing for the 32nd America's Cup an update on the progress achieved so far, and an overview on what the 32nd America's Cup will look like," Bonnefous explained. "Of equal importance, we wanted to open a dialogue with the Teams, to listen to their input, and to collect feedback from them, our most important stakeholders."

Bonnefous was joined at the press conference by José Salinas, the CEO of Valencia 2007, and Dyer Jones, the Regatta Director of the 32nd America's Cup, along with the Defender, Alinghi, and the two official Challengers, Oracle BMW Racing and the Clan Des Team.

Salinas explained the massive transformation scheduled for the Port of Valencia, in order to prepare for the America's Cup. Work will begin shortly, and the Port will be ready to accommodate Teams as of the Valencia Louis Vuitton Acts in October. Team bases will be available for occupation from Spring 2005.

"All of the services related to relocation, immigration, work permits, taxes, etc. have been outlined and detailed to the Teams present," Salinas said. "Valencia 2007 and ACM will continue working hand in hand to develop the best possible infrastructure for the 32nd America's Cup."

Regatta Director Dyer Jones spoke about the sports programme for 2004 and beyond, and gave details about the Meteorological Data System (MDS) a shared weather data system that will make the weather over a small portion of the Mediterranean Sea the most analysed 'microclimate' in the world.

"The MDS programme is a tremendous step forward for the Teams, and will result in really significant cost savings for them. In the past, many teams would each spend well over 1.5-million to obtain essentially the same data," Jones explained. "We will soon begin the process of gathering and then distributing to the participants meteorological data so that over the coming months and years each team will have a huge amount of analytical data from which to make decisions regarding the designs of their boats and the conditions under which they will be sailing."

This consolidated weather data programme was just one of many initiatives discussed at the Teams meetings this week at the Palacio de Congresos in Valencia.

"On behalf of ACM, I would like to publicly thank all of the Teams along with our partners, Louis Vuitton and Endesa, for their energy, their input and their enthusiasm for what we are trying to accomplish," Bonnefous concluded. "We know that the 32nd America's Cup is a partnership that cannot succeed without them.

SORC Changes

The Southern Ocean Racing Conference - a Florida corporation
known to racing sailors around the world as "SORC" - has announced that it
has reached an agreement with Peter Craig and his Premiere Racing
organization, which will step in and produce the Miami event beginning in
March 2005. The Marblehead, MA based company has built Terra Nova Trading
Key West into the top annual keel boat event in North America and one of
the elite race weeks on the international racing calendar.

"SORC has had an remarkable run," said spokesman Bob Meagher. "However, the business of regatta management has changed over the years and it's become too much for the clubs to handle themselves. Premiere Racing is a proven event management company - the best in the business. They are capable of taking this Miami regatta to another level, which is good for racing
sailors, the performance sailing industry and our sport. We're very pleased
that the legacy of ACURA SORC will live on."

The consortium of five Yacht Clubs was formally established in 1941,
founding a series of five point-to-point races that included stops in
Nassau, Key West and Havana, Cuba during the first "Southern Circuit". Over
the years the SORC has been a condensed history of American ocean racing
with the circuit ultimately growing to 6 races spread over 4 weeks. It's
popularity would peak in 1973, before changes in offshore racing designs
and increasing demands on the leisure time led to waning interest in
distance racing. The current popular format of an intense week of windward/leeward day racing off Miami Beach made its debut in 1990. Acura has been the title sponsor at SORC since 1999.

The Miami Beach Marina will remain the Official Site for this mixed-class
event (One Design / PHRF / IMS). Premiere Racing is in the process of
polling boat owners, class organizations and the industry to determine the
ideal racing dates going forward. The Thursday to Sunday racing format will
continue with the 2005 regatta dates to be announced later this month.
Information and details on the Miami regatta will be posted on the Premiere
Racing web site: www.Premiere-Racing.com.

"I first raced in SORC back in 1982 and was back again to compete this
year," said Premiere Racing's Peter Craig. "This legendary event has played
a meaningful role in our sport over the years. Going forward, we're
committed to growing this Miami based regatta and delivering high quality
to our clients, both on the water and shoreside."

The early response from boat owners and one design classes has been very
positive. "I'm excited about this news for what it provides one design
classes," said Mumm 30 owner and Class President Nelson Stephenson.
"Announcing two Premiere Racing events should create an excellent Winter
schedule for visiting overseas owners as well as the many North American
owners who travel south for the winter season. A Premiere Racing event
means the highest quality racing and shoreside activities along with their
commitment to resolve important logistical issues for trailered boats."

"Key West Race Week presented some serious logistical challenges for the
Melges 24 class which Premiere Racing resolved, enabling us to have a
60-boat fleet every year - I'm confident they can do the same in Miami,"
said Harry Melges. "Miami Beach is a popular venue and will be great for
our class."

"There are some obvious synergies with our Key West event," said Craig.
"Premiere Racing will capitalize on these as we turn our immediate
attention to 3 critical issues - professional race management, attracting
more top level one design and PHRF competitors and resolving all boat and
class logistics issues. Two of the very best Principal Race Officers in the
business, Dave Brennan and Ken Legler, will ensure the race committee work
is up to our Key West Race Week standards."

To be or Not To Be: Geronimo Responds to Cheyenne

That's the question of the day. In completing his round-the-world voyage in 58 days, 9 hours, 32 minutes and 39 seconds off Ushant on 5 April 2004, Steve Fossett and the crew of the maxi-catamaran Cheyenne have become the new crewed non-stop round-the-world record holders. However, the Jules Verne Trophy remains the property of Bruno Peyron (Orange), with the time of 64 days, 8 hours, 37 minutes and 24 seconds he set in 2002.

And there's the rub. The Californian billionaire and former trader decided that he would not compete for the Jules Verne Trophy on the basis that: "he couldn't see why he should have to pay €30,000 to sail around the world".

It was, of course, his absolute right to do so. The sea belongs to no one and to everyone. In the view of Titouan Lamazou, one of the Jules Verne Trophy founders, the only flat note is that: "a fortnight before Cheyenne crossed the finish line, Fossett's shore team were in almost constant contact with Florence Arthaud (another co-founder) and me to try and hammer out a compromise that would allow them to qualify for the Trophy en route. It was impossible for us to agree to that, because the spirit of the Jules Verne is not about money! It's a shame for Fossett that he won't have his name engraved on the trophy, but it doesn't detract one bit from his achievement".

Despite having saluted the achievement of Cheyenne's crew, Bruno Peyron refused to congratulate Fossett on his arrival back in Plymouth and is quoted as saying: "because I don't want to support his attitude".

The person most concerned by this debatable (some might say lamentable) behaviour is, of course, Olivier de Kersauson, who has asked for nothing from anyone. Still at sea with his peerless crew, he is battling like the very devil in an attempt to get Geronimo round Cape Horn in apocalyptic wind and sea conditions.

Before his departure, Olivier had tried in vain for several weeks to convince Fossett to bring his voyage back inside the Jules Verne Trophy rules. The arguments were simple enough. The late Sir Peter Blake, Sir Robin Knox Johnston, Ellen MacArthur MBE, Tracy Edwards, Bruno Peyron and Olivier de Kersauson were all happy to subscribe to this simple concept: "To complete a circumnavigation of the world leaving the three capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn) to port and cover a minimum of 21,600 nautical miles, leaving from and returning to an imaginary line between the Lizard Point in England and Ushant in France". As Geronimo's skipper put it: "these are simple rules that anyone can understand and one sheet of paper is more than enough to write them out".

Note: For this reason Cheyenne started and finished her record attempt from a line between Ushant and Le Stiff lighthouse on the French island of Ushant, rather than le Créac'h which is used for the all the Jules Verne attempts. Le Stiff is three miles to the east of le Créac'h so effectively Cheyenne sailed six miles more than should would have needed to on a Jules Verne Trophy attempt.

So there are now two benchmark times for the same round-the-world route.

"To be or not to be" my dear Fossett, because freedom will never have a price!

Olin Stephens wins Sportsmanship Award

US SAILING has named Olin J. Stephens (Hanover, NH) winner of the W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. National Sportsmanship Trophy, the organization’s national sportsmanship award presented annually. The trophy will be presented to Stephens at the 75th anniversary celebration this summer of Sparkman & Stephens, a yacht design and brokerage firm of which Stephens is a co-founder. While Stephens was nominated for the award after a specific instance in which he demonstrated fine sportsmanship behavior, his true dedication to the sport is legendary throughout the sailing community.

Olin Stephens was nominated for the award by fellow racer Bob Scott
(Castine, ME) who learned a cherished lesson in sportsmanship from Stephens.
The morning of the start of the 2001 Castine Classic Yacht Race, Scott
shared his racing strategy with Stephens: Scott had re-registered his boat,
a New York 32 named Falcon, to race in the non-spinnaker category after
learning from weather reports that his boat would have the advantage in that
category, as opposed to the spinnaker category in which he had originally
registered. Stephens warned Scott that such behavior wasn’t sportsmanlike.
“You are trying to manipulate results by putting an experienced yacht and
crew in a category reserved for legitimate non-spinnaker boats,” said
Stephens. Scott followed Stephens’ advise and requested to be placed back in
the category in which he had originally registered.

Scott didn’t win the race that day and the race committee later informed
Scott that he would have won if he had raced in the non-spinnaker class.
“Racing with this extraordinary man is a lesson in sportsmanship,” wrote
Scott when nominating Stephens for the award.

“Stephens’ career in the upper echelons of sailing was well know to US
SAILING before receiving the nomination,” said Dean Cady, chairman of US
SAILING’s Sportsmanship Committee. “He sets a great example for other
sailors to follow.”

Sportsmanship is difficult to define but easily recognizable. The high
standards exemplified by the true sportsperson are vital to the health of
sailing, which is why each year US SAILING honors nominees for the
prestigious W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Trophy. This award honors those people
who are outstanding examples of dedication and graciousness in the sport of
sailing, and for sharing these talents with others. Nominees include sailors
who have performed a single exemplary act or who have consistently
exemplified the finest tradition of the sport both on and off the water,
through instruction and encouragement of others.

Cheyenne the aftermath

Cheyenne with skipper Steve Fossett and a multi national crew has set a new record for fastest round the world voyage under sail.

In the immediate aftermath of this accomplishment two items are of note. One, is the sheer speed of the American designed, New Zealand built catamaran. The other is the reaction of some, including several French sailors.

In terms of sheer speed Cheyenne is the first to go around the world under 60 days. Explorer was the first under 80 and Orange under 70.

There have been 5 holders of the around the world record. Cheyenne's 6 day improvement is the second greatest after Orange's 7 day betterment in 2002.

All in all since Explorer's 79 day trip in 1994, Cheyenne's mark is a 36% improvement.

The other boats that have been fastest around the world have held the Jules Verne Trophy, inspired by the story Around the World in 80 days.

The Jules Verne organizers do charge an entry fee which Steve Fossett chose not to pay. Therefore they will not recognize his record. The homepage of the French trimaran Geronimo now shows a Jules Verne record and a WSSRC record.

Well technically Geronimo could beat Orange's mark and take the Jules Verne trophy while leaving Cheyenne with the faster time and the WSSRC mark. Such a situation has led to comparisons with boxing and it's multiple title holders. Fair enough.

Bruno Peyron made this catty comment, "I regret that this new record circumnavigation time was not placed within the reference of the Jules Verne Trophy. It is a pity that individualism and various personal concerns lead to situations that are harmful to the public interest and lead to a certain amount of confusion for the general public."

Sorry, Bruno but as to confusion there won't be much. Cheyenne circled the only planet we have in 58 days and set a record (defined as the greatest attainment).

Now it's up to you to work up Orange II beat 58 days and for the third time be fastest around the world. Meanwhile congratulations to Cheyenne, may the wind be at Geronimo's back and here's to more high speed round the world sailing!

Docking: Docklines

Realistically many boats are at the dock 5 or 6 days per week. Often times you are too far away to monitor it closely during a storm. For these reasons you should always chose quality docklines and moor your boat properly. It's an important, if not glamorous, investment.

An appropriate dockline has two qualities strength and elasticity. This rules out sheet lines, ski ropes, clotheslines and other assorted cordage which lack these qualities.

The best type of dockline is referred to as 3-strand. This is made of three strands of twisted nylon. Along with good strength nylon is sufficiently elastic for a dockline. A 3-strand nylon dockline 30 feet in length can be expected to have up to 3 feet of stretch in it. This allows the docklines to move with the boat.

Once you have the proper material we can move onto sizing. A rule is 1/8" per 9 feet of boat. This equates to 3/8" for a 20 footer, 1/2" for a 35 footer, 5/8" for a 50 footer and so on. Assuming the line will fit on your mooring cleats, a size bigger can't hurt and may get you through a storm.

After you have sized your dock lines, you need to buy the proper length. An easy way to get a set of lines with great utility is to buy them all roughly the length of your boat. This allows each line to be a bow, stern or spring line.

A more precise standard for length is 2/3 the length of your boat for bow and stern lines, and equal to the length for spring lines.

Once on board start by attaching the dockline to a cleat in a proper way. At the boat end take the eye splice and put it through the eye of the mooring cleat and then around the horns. At the dock end use a proper cleat hitch with a round turn, loop and a locking half hitch.

Additionally the lines should be coiled and ready to be thrown or passed ashore. A line coiled to be thrown will be split in two, with a small coil being thrown first and then a larger coil being released once the first coil is in the air.

Your boat should have a minimum of 2 bow and 2 stern lines. Bow and stern lines run diagonally from bow and stern mooring cleats. Think of them as your four corner lines. They keep the boat away from the dock and cut down side to side motion.

Bow and stern lines ideally leave the boat at about 45 degrees. This, depending on the length of the boat and slip, is seldom attainable. The bow and stern lines primary function is to keep the boat from moving too far sideways.

Spring lines keep fore and aft motion down. Ideally you will have a spring line running from the forward part of the boat aft to a dock or a post. Your other spring line will run from the aft part of the boat forward to the dock.

Spring lines can keep a boat from pushing forward towards the dock or aft out of the slip. They can also help steady a boat with a wind over the bow.

They should be as long as possible and as close to parallel to the boat as possible. The spring lines should be trying to turn the boat into predictable waves. If those waves are expected to impinge on the boat's port bow, for example, the spring line from the back of the boat to the dock at the front of the boat should be on the starboard side.

Line chafe should be considered. The further away from a wear point, such as a fair lead, the attaching point (cleat) is, the greater the wear at that point because of the stretch between. Chafe gear can be installed and secured to the lines at the wear points. Wear points and cleats should be a smooth as possible to reduce line damage.

Another dock line accessory is a rubber line snubber. These are installed between the boat and dock. They are a rubber piece which the line wraps around to reduce the load and stretch on the line.

With the right type of line, properly attached to boat and dock, in the right positions on your boat you will take good care of the boat the majority of the time- when tied to the dock.

Links: Samson 3 Strand http://www.samsonrope.com/home/general/all3-3s-proset-nylon.cfm?ProdNum=137

This article from Torresen Marine's SailBase

Linky Sailing News

Racing Geronimo nearing Cape Horn. Ainslie rolling. Cheyenne's builder. USA Olympians racing in Spain.

News Oryx Cup. Team Adventure seeking sponsor. Pindar picking star. Hawaii sailing.

Great Lakes Ferry need repairing. Barge Building

Geronimo 250 to go to the Horn

At 23:17 GMT on Tuesday 6 April (01:17 Wednesday 7, French time), Geronimo’s position on Day 41 was estimated at 58°41S, 75°05W.

At the end of their 41st day at sea, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric crew had covered 304.05 nautical miles point-to-point in 24 hours, at an average speed of 12.7 knots.

The long-awaited opportunity of rounding Cape Horn has been a long time coming for the crew as they remain exposed to the polar chill and forced to suffer interminable hours of upwind sailing in very chaotic seas into a 25-knot south-easterly. Everyone on board and ashore is waiting with great impatience for this blocking wind to swing around to the south.

The Horn, which clearly has yet to decide the precise time at which it will let Olivier de Kersauson and his crew past, was still some 250 nautical miles ahead of the grey trimaran at the time of this position fix.

Ellen Climbs the Mast

CLIMBING THE MAST...
Tuesday, 06 April 2004

IN BRIEF

*ELLEN CLIMBS THE MAST IN ORDER TO REPAIR DAMAGED GENOA...

IN DETAIL
Early on Sunday evening, Ellen was disturbed by a loud sound from above deck. She dicovered that the genoa had detached itself from the mast. Approximately four hours of preparations, repairs and a very high mast climb later and the job was finished. Ellen and B&Q at 0600 GMT were approximately on a position of 13 44:34S 035 55:80W .

FROM ELLEN ON BOARD B&Q:

"It had been a hot night, difficult to sleep - so I decided to spend an evening 'in' you know, watch a film, bring out the dorito's.... It seemed like a great idea so I pulled out a dvd, curled up at the head of my bunk trying to maintain as much of my body as possible in the light, but cool arflow from the hatch - and relaxed.

'The Shipping News' was the only film I have left onboard and not seen - so I fired up the surround sound stereo system (yes really!) and played the movie. There were though a few unwelcome disturbances - like the wind strength jumping from 9 to 20 knots in all of about 3 seconds - but with a few scenes rewound I made it through the movie and quite enjoyed it. The real moment came just half an hour later, as payback I think for decision to relax.

The top of the genoa (biggest sail on a roller forward) came away from the top
of the mast, and thus fell, as if someone had tugged so hard on the poor thing that it concertinered down the forestay. But unfortunately, rather than just 're-hoist' on a conventional craft - we have to really complicate things - by lashing the sail to the top of the mast - i.e. after lowering the sail. You then:
a) hoist it using another halyard - which involves being in two places at once to hoist - and zip the sail up the stay...
b) once the sail is in place - you have to physically climb (almost to the top, well 2 meters to be exact) then lash the sail back onto the stay hoping that you have hoisted it to the correct height.

In the end ot took two hours of preparations doing some small sail repairs, and hoisting the abseiling line up the mast so as I stood a chance of descent without breaking every bone in my body. That was interesting as in the process of hoisting two lines up the mast together there must have been 50 twists between them - outdoing any maypole action I ever saw as a child! Then preparing everything from spare lashings, to spare sail ties, a knife, to the abseiling kit (a real issue if you forget that!), finally I was ready as ever, at which point the wind piped up to 18 knots and the hulls started slamming in the waves, perfect!

Once prepared I went about hoisting the genoa on the gennaker halyard (just another rope which luckily goes to the masthead) which was the difficult job. I remembered to put a retrieval line on the halyard (thank goodness) then bit by bit hoisted the genoa - unfortunately breaking the zip (after just a third!). The whole front of the sail actually zips onto the stay - without this you're really in trouble. I had little trouble finding a new zip - but more trouble threading it on to a sail 30 meters long! Eventually with the zip repaired and the sail up - it was time to climb..

The climb actually went well, taking little over one hour in total, the view was spectacular - though I couldn't see the coast of Brazil and I managed to come back down with minimal bruises. 30 meters is a long way to climb, and I was very grateful I had practiced it in Auckland.

All this whilst sailing directly to the Brazilian coast - downwind - away from where I want to go which is 'upwind!'. So, I'm now drinking lots - as I must have looked like a prune on descent, and will try and get the sleep that missed out on because i was stupid enough to watch the last cinema showing!"

Gryphon Solo

American Sailor to Tackle North Atlantic Solo and then the World
Joe Harris Launches Solo Campaign for The Transat and 5-Oceans with Winning Open-50

BOSTON, MA (April 6, 2004) – As the snow melts off the streets in Boston, many corporate executives dream of uncovering their boats and setting sail instead of setting their next meeting. One such executive—Joe Harris—stepped closer to realizing his dream of sailing solo around the world when he announced his entry today in The Transat Race—a demanding solo voyage across the chilly North Atlantic this summer. Harris also intends to compete in the 5-Oceans Race of 2006-7 (previously called Around Alone).

“The Transat is the Granddaddy of all solo races,” said Harris. “I am thrilled to be an official entry and am looking forward to lining up against some of the top solo sailors in the world. I am training intensely for every aspect of the race.”

Harris has purchased the Open-50 race boat previously sailed by Brad Van Liew in the Around Alone race of 2002-3. Although the boat is now six years old, she is a proven thoroughbred, having excelled in two solo circumnavigations, and boasting a world speed record and a first-place finish on her resume. The boat was built of carbon fiber with a Nomex core in 1997 by JMV in France and designed by Groupe Finot.

In addition to preparing the boat, Harris has to prepare himself for the challenges of sleep deprivation, ongoing weather analyses, engine and electronics repair, navigation, and solitude. Preparation and planning are the keys to success for a solo sailor, and Joe Harris is no stranger to these traits. He is the Chief Financial Officer of New Boston Fund, a $1.5 billion real estate investment and development company. Says Harris, “in our business, we take calculated risks every day. The key is eliminating or mitigating as many risks as possible to maximize your chances of success.” Now, Harris will apply these principles to weather systems and navigation, rather than real estate and financial returns.

An accomplished sailor who has campaigned a series of boats along the Eastern Seaboard over the last 15 years, including entries in eight Newport-Bermuda Races and two Bermuda One-Two solo races, Harris is a relatively new player on the professional sailing scene. Nonetheless, he has attracted an impressive group of sponsors, including his own employer New Boston Fund. Other sponsors include Goulston & Storrs, Iridium, Raymarine, and AlpineAire. Representatives of these sponsors say that they have been attracted to the laser-like focus Harris and his team of professionals have exhibited in their preparation of the boat he has christened Gryphon Solo. And Harris is fully aware that in the end it will be just himself and the boat facing the extreme conditions of the North Atlantic in the early Spring.

“We believe in Joe as a businessman, a sailor and friend,” said Goulston & Storrs Partner Jordan Krasnow. “Many of us here at Goulston & Storrs have done business with Joe over the last 15 years – on both sides of the negotiating table –and have admired Joe’s ability to get difficult deals done with professionalism and a sense of humor.”

The Transat race (previously called the OSTAR) begins on May 31 in Plymouth, England and finishes in Boston, MA in mid-June, 2004. The racecourse is 3,000 miles and crosses the rugged North Atlantic with prevailing upwind conditions, fog, chilly temperatures, and the threat of icebergs over much of the route. The finish will be hosted by the Boston Harbor Hotel at Rowes Wharf. Stay tuned at www.gryphonsolo.com.

About Joe Harris & Gryphon Solo

Joe Harris, 44, is an accomplished businessman and experienced sailor who has set his sites on competing in several professional offshore races including the 5-Oceans, a solo race around the globe previously known as Around Alone and the BOC Challenge before that. Harris founded his Gryphon Solo campaign in 2003 with the assistance of a strong support team, including Whitbread veteran Brian Hancock, public relations professional Wendy Demuth, shore team manager Brian Harris, and solo sailor Brad Van Liew as an offshore sailing coach with Meaghan Van Liew as a sponsorship consultant.

College Sailing: Big 10 Team Race Regatta

The University of Michigan sailing team would like to express its thanks
to all the teams that came out this weekend to brave the chilly Michigan
spring and help us to put on a great regatta. We'd also like to thank
everyone who came out and helped us put on a successful, safe weekend.

Congratulations to the winning team from Northwestern, and all the other
great competitors:

Team
Wins
Losses
Total Points
Northwestern
12
2
120
Wisconsin
11
3
123
Michigan
10
4
138
Minnesota
5
9
154

Notre Dame
4
4
82
Ohio State
3
5
90
Marquette
1
7
98
Iowa
1
7
100
Ohio University
1
7
110

Conditions:
Saturday:
Wind: 8-15 knots
Temp: 50's
Saturday's conditions were beautiful. The day couldn't have been better
for team racing. 36 races were sailed before the conditions went bad as
a cold front rolled in.

Sunday:
Wind: 15-25 knots and gusty
Temp: 30's to 40's
Sunday's conditions were very cold and gusty. After discussion with the
competitors, it was decided that conditions were too cold and
unpredictable to sail the consolation bracket, so only the Final Four
bracket was completed. 12 races were finished by about 1:30PM.

Copies of the detailed race results in spreadsheet form are available
upon request.

Thanks again to all our great competitors and race committee.

College Sailing: April Fools Regatta

April Fools Regatta Miami University April 3-4, 2004

Saturday: Sunny with temperatures almost 60 degrees. Wind out of the northwest 8-12 with a few gusts higher. Only 4 races completed in each division after a late start, many capsizes resulting in masts stuck in the mud, and having to end the day early after the crash boat motor quit running.

Sunday morning started out cloudy and cold with temperatures in the low 30's with snow showers. The sun eventually came out and 6 races were completed in each division with wind out of the northwest at 8-14, gusting to 16-17.

Congratulations to the winning team from Northwestern, and thanks to all the teams who attended and everyone who helped out.

April Fool's Regatta
Miami University
April 3-4, 2004

3:51 PM 4-4-04

REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS:

A division = 10 Races
B division = 10 Races
A B TOT

1. Northwestern 34 22 56
2. Wisconsin 35 28 63
3. Ohio U 20 44 64
4. Miami 38 40 78
5. Hope 1 39 43 82
6. Notre Dame 2 69 56 125
7. Michigan 58 73 131
8. Notre Dame 1 78 66 144
9. Hope 2 89 93 182
10. John Carrol 92 100 192
11. Denison 116 105 221

A division = 10 Races
TOT
1. Ohio U 20
2. Northwestern 34
3. Wisconsin 35
4. Miami 38
5. Hope 1 39
6. Michigan 58
7. Notre Dame 2 69
8. Notre Dame 1 78
9. Hope 2 89
10. John Carrol 92
11. Denison 116

B division = 10 Races
TOT
1. Northwestern 22
2. Wisconsin 28
3. Miami 40
4. Hope 1 43
5. Ohio U 44
6. Notre Dame 2 56
7. Notre Dame 1 66
8. Michigan 73
9. Hope 2 93
10. John Carrol 100
11. Denison 105

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TOT
1
Northwestern A 1 7 7 4 5 4 1 1 2 2 34
B 4 1 3 2 3 3 1 1 1 3 22
5 13 23 29 37 44 46 48 51 56 56

2
Wisconsin A 2 5 3 2 2 2 2 5 5 7 35
B 1 2 2 3 4 6 2 2 4 2 28
3 10 15 20 26 34 38 45 54 63 63

3
Ohio U A 4 1 1 1 1 3 4 3 1 1 20
B 3 4 4 5 1 5 8 6 3 5 44
7 12 17 23 25 33 45 54 58 64 64

4
Miami A 5 3 4 3 4 1 6 4 4 4 38
B 9 9 1 1 2 1 6 8 2 1 40
14 26 31 35 41 43 55 67 73 78 78

5
Hope 1 A 3 2 6 5 7 5 3 2 3 3 39
B 2 3 5 7 5 4 3 5 5 4 43
5 10 21 33 45 54 60 67 75 82 82

6
Notre Dame 2 A 6 8 5 7 3 7 7 6 8 DNF 69
B 6 6 8 6 6 2 4 4 6 8 56
12 26 39 52 61 70 81 91 105 125 125

7
Michigan A 7 4 2 6 6 10 5 7 6 5 58
B 10 7 7 8 7 7 5 7 8 7 73
17 28 37 51 64 81 91 105 119 131 131

8
Notre Dame 1 A 9 6 8 8 8 8 10 8 7 6 78
B 5 5 6 4 8 8 DSQ 3 9 6 66
14 25 39 51 67 83 105 116 132 144 144

9
Hope 2 A 8 9 9 9 9 9 8 10 9 9 89
B 8 10 DNF DNS 9 9 7 10 7 9 93
16 35 56 77 95 113 128 148 164 182 182

10
John Carrol A 10 10 10 10 10 6 9 9 10 8 92
B 11 11 10 10 10 10 9 9 RDG RDG 100
21 42 62 82 102 118 136 154 174 192 192

11
Denison A 11 11 11 11 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 116
B 7 8 9 9 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 105
18 37 57 77 101 125 149 173 197 221 221

WINNING TEAM : Northwestern

Linky Sailing News

Racing Fossett has plans. Navigators view. The welcome. Brit Laser trials. Geronimo progressing.

News Finish photos. Aussie Olympians.

Great Lakes Snow raising waters.

College Sailing April Fools Regatta.

Ready for early season sailing on Spring Lake

Geronimo Fights Her Way to The Horn

At 23:17 GMT on Monday 5 April (01:17 Tuesday 6 April, French time), the 40th day of her Jules Verne Trophy record attempt, Geronimo’s position was 59°07S, 84°52W.

The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran had covered 264.58 nautical miles point-to-point in the previous 24 hours, at an average speed of 11.02 knots.

The long days continue for Olivier de Kersauson and his crew as they wait for a passage to open up and allow them past Cape Horn.

The trimaran has been making slow progress upwind into around 15 knots of easterly ever since the second half of Day 38 – that’s nearly two full days by the time this article was published.

The low temperature option now being followed by the trimaran has been taken to minimise the exposure of crew and boat to the meteorological turmoil raging to their north.

The 59°07S latitude reached by Geronimo today is probably one of the most southerly ever recorded for this section of the course, especially when you consider that the latitude of Cape Horn is 56°S.

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 -3
Difference from last month +4
Difference from last year +7
Difference from long term average for April -19
Difference from Record High -50
Difference from Record Low +13
Forecast for 2 May 2004 +5

Click for information on other lakes.

Round the World Record for Cheyenne

By a margin of 5 days 23 hours 4 minutes 39 seconds Cheyenne has compelted the fastest round the world sailing voyage. Total time for the voyage was 58 days 9 hours 32 minutes 45 seconds. On 4 of the 6 segments Cheyenne set the fastest time.

It's been a good season for round the world record setters. With Jean Luc Van Den Heede and his solo wrong way record it was a question of when, not if. Francis Joyon surprised with a new solo record.

Cheyenne had two competitors. Orange II had 2 failed attempts, while Geronimo is approaching Cape Horn, but trailing Cheyenne.

In addition to speed Cheyenne's voyage will be remembered for the three crises, half the # Nixon once wrote about.

First the forestay repair. Second, came the mid air mast track repair and then the main beam pin repair.

For Steve Fossett this record is added to the Trans Atlantic sailing record and accomplishments in other areas.

For French sailor Jacques Vincent it is the 2nd time he has held the fastest around the world record. He was on Explorer when they set the initial record of 79 days in 1993. This voyage was his 7th trip around the world.

The remainder of the crew was multi national. Crew hailed from: Britain, Ireland, Spain, France, Australia and New Zealand

For the maxi cat formerly known as Playstation which began setting records soon after launch, this makes up for a DNF in The Race.

It was once written about the Clipper Ship Witch of the Wave, "They say she's bound to sail too fast. That a man on deck can't catch the mast." The same can now be said of Cheyenne first boat to sail around the world in under 60 days.

Cheyenne Sets Record

WSSR Newsletter No 59.

Subject to WSSR ratification, there is a new Round the World record:

Steve Fossett in Cheyenne.

Time: 58 days 9 hours32 minutes 45 seconds

Margin over the existing record held by Bruno Peyron is:

5 days 23 hours 4 minutes 39 seconds
Cheyenne's record by segment

Flashback: Playstation's 1st record

On March 31, 1999 the catamaran then known as Playstation (now as Cheyenne) set her first record. Here is the report we ran.

Playstation attains 1st record
Steve Fossett's 105 foot catamaran Playstation
has broken the first record of her career.
Playstation now holds the record for distance sailed
in a 24 hour period. Playstation sailed 580 miles in
24 hours an average of 24.17.
Playstation left Auckland New Zealand on
Thursday the 25th to attempt to beat the 24 hour
record. Fossett and an 8-man crew planned to begin
near Great Barrier Island 50 miles east of Auckland.
However, the first attempt ended prematurely.
With winds of 25 to 30 knots the crew was in the
process of putting a reef in. During this process
co-skipper Ben Wright lost his balance on the boom.
During this his little finger became caught in a block.
The top of Wright's finger was torn to the bone.
Playstation returned to Auckland where Wright headed
to the hospital for finger surgery.
The second record attempt began at 0600 GMT
the 26th. Sailing in a 25 knot northeasterly
Playstation averaged 25.4 knots for the 1st 6 hours.
At 21 hours the average was 23.8 knots. In the 24th
hour Playstation put 34 miles under her hulls to make
sure of the record.

Linky Sailing News

Racing 202 miles remaining for Cheyenne . Geronimo makes gains. Britiish Olympic Trials

News Coutts/Cayard inspect Malta. Team GBR. Keeping fit.

Great Lakes Sub needs drydocking

College Sailing Sunk N' Bucket won by Purdue. Harvard wins Dinghy Cup.

It's still early for sailing on Muskegon Lake. Not so for fishing!

Geronimo Day 39

At 23:17 GMT on Sunday 4 April, after 39 days at sea, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric crew were 855 nautical miles south west of Cape Horn.

On the equivalent day in 2002, the current Jules Verne record holder Orange was 1,549 nautical miles from the Horn, after completing a second consecutive day of over 600 sea miles.

Bruno Peyron’s maxi-catamaran was able to complete her crossing of the South Pacific in excellent surfing conditions, thanks to a sustained westerly air flow.

In other words, quite the opposite of the conditions the Pacific is now offering Olivier de Kersauson and his crew.

Geronimo is now 694 nautical miles ahead of the Jules Verne Trophy record.

Cheyenne to Finish Today 202 Miles to Go

Summary: 'Micro depression' Sunday delays Cheyenne drive to line by several hours 294 miles run over past 24 hours (12.25 kts avg) Latest estimate to cross finish line 1500 GMT Monday - (approx 58 days 10 hours) Arrival home in Plymouth late Monday evening

An unexpected 'micro-depression' Sunday afternoon through early Monday morning slowed skipper Steve Fossett and the crew of Cheyenne on their drive for the finish line for several hours, but by 0510 GMT this morning as they ended their 58th day on the Round The World Sailing record attempt they were back up to over 21 kts boatspeed, with a fresh westerly wind blowing from the West.

Yesterday's 294 mile total (12.25 kts avg speed) has left them 208 miles from their starting point - a N-S line drawn from Le Stiff lighthouse on the island of Ouessant (Ushant) and the Cornish landmark known as 'The Lizard'. Estimated time across the line at Ouessant is now 1500 GMT - or approx 58 days, 10 hours from their 7 February start.

Ken Campbell of Commanders Weather Corp advised this morning:
"They are out of the last sticky spot. I estimate they will finish around 1500 GMT - they should accelerate from here to the finish."

Parlier Qualifies

'One man, one boat, the sea...The Transat...established in 1960 as the OSTAR'

IN BRIEF:

* YVES PARLIER QUALIFIES HIS RADICAL CATAMRAN FOR THE TRANSAT, AVERAGING 20 KNOTS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF HIS QUALIFIER...A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME

* DOMINIQUE DEMACHY ALSO QUALIFIES HIS 50FT MULTIHULL THIS WEEK, FRANCK YVES ESCOFFIER IS MID-QUALIFIER BUT KARINE FAUCONNIER TURNS BACK...

* THE TRANSAT WILL BE THE LAST CHANCE SALOON FOR SOME OPEN 60 SKIPPERS TO QUALIFY FOR THE ALL-IMPORTANT VENDEE GLOBE...

IN DETAIL:

Many of the skippers in The Transat's Open 60 class will have more on their agenda than just reaching Boston in first place. Crucially The Transat is the last opportunity for many to qualify for November's Vendée Globe challenge and while their competitive juices may be flowing, these skippers will also understand the importance of having to reach the finish line in one piece.

Jean Le Cam's brand new Marc Lombard Open 60 designs Bonduelle launched this month falls into this category as does Jean-Pierre Dick's new Virbac, which despite winning last year's Transat Jacques Vabre was dismasted during the Defi Atlantique and failed to complete the race inside the time limit.

Other Open 60s who must finish the Transat to get their spot on the Vendée start line include Charles Hedrich's Objectif 3, Norbert Sedlakec on Austria One, Conrad Humphreys on Motorola (formerly Mike Golding's Ecover) and Herve Laurent on UUDS.

The pressure is slightly less on former Vendée Globe competitors Roland Jourdain on the new Sill, sistership to Bonduelle, and Marc Thiercelin who is sailing his new boat Pro-Form (the former Tiscali/Whirlpool). Under the existing Notice of Race, Jourdain and Thiercelin can still qualify for the Vendée Globe by completing a 2500 mile solo passage by 20 September 2004 if they fail to finish The Transat. However, the new Vendée Globe organisers announced this week will be issuing a new Notice of Race so things could still change.

However, many have already qualified and will be using the race to test their craft prior to sailing them around the world. Those who completed Le Defi Atlantique single-handed race between Salvador de Bahia, Brazil and La Rochelle last year will have already qualified for the Vendée Globe. These include Alex Thomson's AT Racing, Mike Golding's new Ecover, Anne Liardet's Gonnagitcha, Vincent Riou on PRB, Nick Moloney on Skandia and Sebastien Josse's VMI.

Swiss ocean racing veteran Dominique Wavre sailed the last Vendée Globe on board his present boat and therefore automatically qualifies to sail in it again. A similar story for Around Alone winner Bernard Stamm sailing Cheminées Poujoulat-Armor Lux.

Mike Sanderson on Pindar AlphaGraphics is the only competitor in the Open 60 division not competing in the Vendée Globe this autumn.

Meanwhile the qualifications continue. This week Dominique Demachy on his 50ft multihull Gifi completed his, as did Yves Parlier who arrived back in his home port of Arcachon on Thursday aboard his radical new 60ft catamaran Médiatis Région Aquitaine. For the first 500 miles Parlier averaged 20 knots, an indication of the potential of his new twin masted vessel.

Parlier's innovative boat

Karine Fauconnier, daughter of 1984 winner Yvon Fauconnier, set out on her qualifier this week, but returned prematurely to sort out some technical problems on her 60ft trimaran Sergio Tacchini. Franck Yves Escoffier is currently in the middle of his qualifier while Mike Sanderson plans to leave on Monday (5 April).

The monohull 50ft class has lost one of its competitors, when Italian Simon Accati Sheard on board the Berret/Racoupeau-designed Tredici retired due to lack of funds.

FOURTH EDITION : 1972

Eric Tabarly's Pen Duick IV had retired from the 1968 race, but in the intervening years prior to the 1972 OSTAR she had been tested and developed and then sold to former crewman Alain Colas, another icon of early French single-handed sailing.

In contrast to the 1968 race the North Atlantic threw up only one brief gale in 1972 and it was perhaps due to the light conditions and skill of her skipper that Colas was able to steer his 67ft trimaran across the line first in the remarkable time of 20 days and 13 hours - five days faster than Geoffrey Williams' four years earlier.

With Colas' victory and other multihulls taking third, fifth and sixth places, the future of ocean going racing catamarans and trimarans was sealed. With the exception of the 1976 race, all the subsequent single-handed transatlantic races have been won by multihulls and today they are now the undisputed champions of the ocean.

Developed by the pioneering Tabarly, Pen Duick IV was a boat well ahead of her time, despite her aluminium construction and beams that appeared to have been made from scaffolding. Tabarly had been inspired to commission her after sailing on board Derek Kelsall's trimaran Toria, winner of the first two-handed Round Britain and Ireland race in 1966. With no keel for ballast, a racing multihull's light weight requires less power to drive it and is therefore easier for the single-hander to manage. Rigged as a ketch, Pen Duick IV was originally fitted with rotating masts to improve the flow of air over her mainsails - a prelude to the rotating wingmasts now standard on all modern trimarans.

As for Colas this same boat would take him around the world single-handed and into the history books the following year. Tragically, while competing in the first Route du Rhum in 1978, both boat and skipper were lost for reasons unknown.

The Race Goes to Court

The Race Event has commenced legal proceedings in France against the British sailor Tracy Edwards, and the legal entities involved in the organisation of her round the world sailing events, Maiden Ocean Racing Qatar Ltd, Maiden Ocean Racing Ltd and Maiden Two Ltd. The Race Event is seeking damages for passing off and use of TRE know how in respect of her round the world projects for 2005 and 2006. The first hearing took place on 19th February 2004.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Cheyenne expecting a Monday Finish. Geronimo trailing.

News Finding of Nelson's ship. Parlier qualifies. Sailing in Dubai.

Great Lakes Badger's impact. Tall Ships returning to Wisconsin

College Sailing Wisconsin defending Big 10 team race champion.

Geronimo Day 36

Geronimo’s position at the end of her 36th day at sea (23:17 GMT on Thursday 1 April) puts her 2140 nautical miles from Cape Horn.

On Day 36 of her record-setting voyage in 2002, the current Jules Verne Trophy record holder Orange was still 3144.31 nautical miles from the “Hard Cape”.

On this basis, the Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran was 1004 sea miles ahead of the record set by Bruno Peyron and his crew two years ago.

This lead, which had reduced over recent days (it was 785 nautical miles yesterday at the Day 35 position fix), is now re-establishing itself thanks to the southerly option adopted by Olivier de Kersauson and the south-westerly wind that has been helping Geronimo and her crew since 15:00 GMT yesterday, which was actually dawn in their part of the world.

Cheyenne aims for the Finish

Thursday 1 April 2004 - 1710 GMT - 1832 miles SW of Ouessant, France: Another excellent day of running N and now NE covering 234 miles (at an average speed of 19.5 kts) has left skipper Steve Fossett and his crew aboard the 125' maxi-catamaran Cheyenne only 1832 miles from their Round The World record attempt destination - the official finish line at Ouessant, France. They remain some 4-1/2 days ahead of the 2002 RTW record position of Orange I.

There are excellent weather prospects for the coming 4 days and Cheyenne and crew are still hoping to maintain a high average speed and reach the Ouessant-Lizard record line on Monday, April 5th.

Navigator Adrienne Cahalan on the weather to carry them home:
"Overnight we have seen the wind change from a signature trade wind ENE to a lifting ESE - which enables us to turn the corner NE and point at the finish. We are lined up now between a low pressure system to our west at 28N 45W and a high pressure located to the our east near 27N 30W.

Our intention once we are into SE winds at the leading edge of the front (which is happening right now) is to turn NE and head toward the finish line."
(see story below for Adrienne's complete report)

3 weeks behind Cheyenne, the 114' French trimaran Geronimo under the hand of former RTW record-holder (from 1997) Olivier de Kersauson continued their crossing of the Pacific on their own 2004 RTW attempt, reporting tonight that they had been able to push again deeper to the South after a move North earlier in the week to escape horrendous early winter conditions. At 15:18 GMT today, 35 days 16 hrs from the start, they were approx 800 miles ahead of Orange I's 2002 pace, but 1195 miles behind the 2004 position of Steve Fossett and Cheyenne at the same time.

We watch their progress with great interest.

Fossett Coming to Lake Michigan

Steve Fossett will not stop his quest for sailing records when he finishes his current around the world voyage. Fossett whose home town is Chicago will once again compete in the Chicago to Mackinac race. In 1998 sailing Stars and Stripes he set the outright record of 18 hours, 50 minutes.

In 2004 Fossett will bring his world record breaking maxi multi hull Cheyenne to Lake Michigan for the first time. It will be the first fresh water record attempt for this boat.

In a unique twist Fossett and his catamaran will be foolish enought to compete against an automobile that will drive from Chicago to Mackinac City. The automobile will be a Lexus LX 470 SUV, filled to its 8 person capacity and towing a trailer.

Expected travel time for the automobile is 9.5 hours to Mackinaw City. Once there, the 8 person team will take the ferry to Mackinac Island. Once aboard the ferry the trip will take another 16 minutes for a total time of 9.75 hours.

Cheyenne averaged 25.78 knots in setting the west to east trans atlantic record in October 2001. If she was to sail the 333 mile Mackinac course at this pace her elapsed time would be just under 13 hours.

Since the automobile has the advantage of predictable highway conditions, and since the Mackainac winners are determined on a handicap basis Cheyenne will receive a time allowance from the Lexus. The allowance will be 4 hours.

This special handicap system will be known as the Ameri-ABS or Ameri Automobile Sailboat speed equivalent system. It is hoped that the ABS system will allow more auto v. sailboat races, and lead to a potential NASCAR/America's Cup tie in.

Cheyenne will tune up for her Mackinac effort by racing the Queens Cup course against the new Lake Express ferry. This race will be on a first to finish basis. Fossett is confident his catamaran can make the 66 mile trip in under the 2.5 hours that the ferry will take to make the trip.

From onboard Cheyenne in the North Atlantic Fossett said, "I expect to make a fool out of Lake Michigan."

April Events from History

Nautical related events that have occured in April From the World Almanac Newsletter

April 06 1896 After a lapse of 1,500 years, the first modern Olympic Games open in Athens, Greece....In 2004 the games return to Athens

April 15 1912 The luxury liner Titanic, which hit an iceberg the night before, sinks in the early morning hours; more than 1,500 die

16 1947 Nearly 600 are killed after an explosion on the nitrate-laden freighter Grandcamp at Texas City, TX.

17 1524 Explorer Giovanni Verrazano discovers New York harbor.

March 2004 Weather Report

With temperatures 5 degrees above normal March 2004 was the warmest month in Muskegon since last December when temperatures were 4.6° above norm. The high temperature for the month was 73 on the 28th, while on the 13th the monthly low of 12 was recorded. The high on the 28th established a new record high for the date. Historically this was the 7th warmest March on record.

March was rainier than normal with 4.75 inches falling, 2.39 above normal. 1.37 inches of this fell on the 5th, which was a record for that day. It was a heavy, gusty and rattling rain which puddled and pooled. Overall March 2004 was the 5th wettest ever in Muskegon.

2.4 inches of snow fell, 8.7 less than the average. Snowiest day was the 12th when a mere .9 inches fell.

With 5 days considered clear Muskegon received about as much sun as expected, as the norm for March is also 5 days. The April norm is one full week of clear days.

The wind was 1.3 knots above normal. The average wind speed was 11.5, compared to the norm of 10.2 knots. Windiest day was the 14th at 19.7 knots, while the least wind day was the 18th at 4.6.

Linky Sailing News

Racing Fossett going for 58 days. Geronimo sailing on. Star Euros.

News Michiganders sail off. Modeling

Great Lakes Ferry gala in planning. Ice Coverage.

College Sailing Harvard defending Boston Dinghy Cup

Geronimo Heading for the Horn

At 23:18 GMT on Wednesday 31 March (the end of her 35th day at sea), Geronimo was 2,600 nautical miles from Cape Horn. On the equivalent day of her 2002 attempt, the current Jules Verne Trophy record holder Orange still had 3,385 nautical miles to go before reaching the most famous of the 3 capes required under the Trophy rules. The Cap Gemini and Schneider Electric trimaran is therefore 785 nautical miles ahead of the record set by Bruno Peyron and his crew in 2002.

Cheyenne Day 54- 483 miles

Thursday 1 April 2004 - 0510 GMT - 1100 nm W/SW of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Islas Canarias (Es): End of Day 54 on their official Round The World Record attempt saw Steve Fossett and team cross the Tropic of Cancer northbound and shift their N/NW course back towards N as the wind clocks to the SE - after a strong 483 nm (a 20 kt average) in steady East tradewinds throughout Wednesday.

Now with just over 2000 nm remaining minimum course distance back to the official start-finish line at Ouessant, Cheyenne holds a lead of 4-1/2 days over the RTW record-setting course of Orange I from 2002.

Wednesday's on-board highlights included boat-builder-in-residence Mike Beasley's beautifully engineered repair to the pin for the starboard bushing on the forward beam (see stories and photos below).

Weather outlook for the next 4 days is good - and Fossett and crew are hoping to cross the finish line at Ouessant Monday afternoon - before proceeding to their UK base at Plymouth Devon.