
About me
- I'm the Editor and Publisher of thedailysail.com. For my sins, I've been a yachting journalist since 1984 including stints as sailing correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and as Assistant Editor for 12 years at Yachting World magazine.Sail from:All overCountry:
My Blog Posts
-
Tuesday's racing at Rio 2016 was one of the best ever with a Laser contest to rival the Ainslie-Scheidt spate
17/08/2016 - 12:38 -
Sunday's racing saw Britain's Giles Scott securing Finn gold before even sailing the medal race. There was no wind and
10/08/2016 - 17:11 -
Congratulations to Jérémie Beyou and Maître CoQ who came out on top in the IMOCA Ocean Masters New
09/06/2016 - 00:23 -
The FAST40+ represents the most exciting development in UK keel boat sailing in years. See part 1 and part
18/04/2016 - 12:12 -
The JJ Giltinan Championship went to the wire with Lee Knapton’s team on Smeg claiming the effective 18ft skiff world
22/02/2016 - 10:46 -
Incredibly, two Olympic teams - Billy Besson and Marie Riou in the Nacra 17 and Peter Burling and Blair Tuke
15/02/2016 - 11:55 -
After Saturday's racing was canned at the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series in Bermuda through lack of wind (the
19/10/2015 - 09:36 -
Emirates Team New Zealand came through to secure the America’s Cup World Series in Gothenberg, while Sultanate of Oman beat
04/09/2015 - 10:11 -
Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week is underway. See the reports from day one and day two. A strong line-up
10/08/2015 - 09:03 -
Giovanni Belgrano’s Laurent Giles classic Whooper won the Round the Island Race’s Gold Roman Bowl. The Paprec-Team Concise MOD70
30/06/2015 - 09:50 -
Weymouth is bracing itself this week for its biggest Olympic sailing event since London 2012. Stephen Park tells us
07/06/2015 - 08:12 -
Leg seven of the Volvo Ocean Race sets sail from Newport to Lisbon on Sunday – see the latest
15/05/2015 - 12:22 -
Chris Draper tells us of life after Luna Rossa. The Volvo Ocean Race boats went through a significant tack
28/04/2015 - 09:59 -
With the change to a smaller AC boat and Luna Rossa pulling out, we look at the latest
09/04/2015 - 10:26 -
Team SCA won the Volvo Ocean Race’s Auckland In Port race. The start of leg 5 is currently under
16/03/2015 - 10:10 -
Leg four of the Volvo Ocean Race finished in Auckland with just eight minutes separating the lead trio. All six
02/03/2015 - 10:33 -
Congratulations to Gotta Love It 7 for yet another JJ Giltinan Trophy victory. The hotshots claimed 18ft skiffs’ unofficial world
23/02/2015 - 12:32 -
Congratulations to Ian Williams who over the weekend not only entered the record books by winning his fifth Match Racing
16/02/2015 - 11:50 -
The Volvo Ocean Race set sail from Sanya on Sunday. See our leg 4 preview and parts 1
09/02/2015 - 12:27 -
Giles Scott and Bryony Shaw claimed golds at the ISAF Sailing World Cup event in Miami with a day to
02/02/2015 - 10:52
Thanks for that James. I decided against visiting St Malo this time, so your pics and potted history are most welcome.
We hope Lionel is going to be okay. Allegedly being inside a capsized trimaran is a relatively tranquil place to be... But this, Joyon's capsize in 2011 - http://goo.gl/k7dGR4, and Spindrift (http://goo.gl/axaCiZ) and Virbac Paprec (http://goo.gl/IMUUlS), haven't done much for the safety record of 'supposedly safer' modern racing multihulls, either solo or fully crewed...
Odd, but predictable given this is ISAF...almost everyone I have spoken to seemed to think that Paul Larsen should have won this award. But really - how do you equate a Vendee Globe winner with a phenomenally successful 470 sailor/Olympic Gold medallist and someone who's just taken the world speed record through the roof?
Thanks for a bit of literary class Jerry - a welcome addiion to The Daily Sail!
We were all brought up with the magic of OSTAR with propper heros that sailed crazy boats. Its what got me into boat design, so fond memeories of the past and a glass raised to the present day competitors who have similar challanges as they make landfall. Adrain Thompson.
Congratulations Guo!! A fine achievement - Well done!!
We send Best Wishes to you and to your family.
Marcia and John Walker (Green Dragon)
James,
Great article! A really good look into Open 60 SOA technology. How about one on the systems of choice for navigation/communication?
Larry, GunsmokeOffshore
An incredible story which I very much enjoyed to read...I congratulate all who participated in the sea crossing with their effort. It must have been very tough conditions at times and when you think how the original members of the Shackleton party endured , survived and succeeded, then one can only say "hat-off"... I do hope that the climbing party will arrive at their destination although, according the the latest news, same is still doubtful..Anyhow, the effort is made...It shows again that at times nature is stronger than man's efforts to conquere same, and this must be especially true in the Antarctic of which South Georgia surely is part of...thanks for letting me share, Peter Carp in Switzerland
note: if some of the members of this expedition finally get to Grytviken and visit Shackleton's grave, they should look into the lovely little Norwegian church there and say a prayer in memory to all who who lived and died there...I have visited there early l996, it is a very special place...which made a deep impression on me........
The fourth from bottom pic. is a classic - what an amazing performance. What do you do after this when you're only 29?
Maybe this is, in fact, a case of "Force Majeur", a concept widely recognized in law and applicable in certain circumstances in interpreting behaviour. If so , it would seem that the Jury should reconsider its position. Richard T
Unfortunately, it is difficult to see how the Race Committee or Jury could have reached a different conclusion. Bernard is widely and rightly respected for his skill, tenacity and good humour. It appears that without his honesty, neither the Committee nor Jury would be considering the case. At this desperately difficult time for Bernard we should salute him and hope that he can find the strength to return for a fifth attempt. Richard Tolkien
My Macs are pre Intel. Can we have a less high tech video!!
And being a Sailrocket fan has been a wonderful exercise in patience, also!
Some hollow logs make a Bermuda Dinghy look underrigged...
LC Island Blossom
LC Island Bird
'Glide' from the 1860's, surely deserves some megabucks?
logcanoeglide.org/
Libya Gulf Record Attempt:
Hope this works, haven't done this speedsailing stuff before...
How current is the 'Current Poll'? Choice #1: Exceedingly. Choice #2: On par with Saif's PHD thesis from LSE ...
Sam Davies informs us that because the supposed 40 knot winds are to the west of a depression that is rapidly dissipating, it is hard to tell exactly how strong they will be come Sunday night/Monday morning
- 72 x 60 ft2 CATAMARAN
- 3'000 sq.ft ONE-SLOT WINGSAIL
- MINIMUM WEIGHT = 15'000 lbs = 6.8 T
- SAN FRANCISCO BAY
- SEPTEMBER 2013
I think the issue here is why allow powered winches in the first place? It is said that they add to innovation in the sailing world as many think that "man-power" is one of the current limitations in terms of boat speed - if they were mandated we would see bigger and badder offshore boats (think Dogzilla in an offshore guise). You could on the other hand argue that they prevent an "arms race" for records.
However Mari Cha IV was innovative (mainly in its rig configuration and sheer size) and didn't use powered winches. And it wasn't cheap...
Cammas all alone on G3, was one subject in a French article a couple of days ago...
He'd given it some consideration as they made their way up the Atlantic toward the Jules Verne finish, and his main thought was: 'Fortunately, it's only going to last for about 8 days."
They've got a shorter mast planned, smaller sail area, and different deck gear including leg-driven winch arrangement.
Cammas also said that he tried solo-reefing during the transport home from Brest to L'Orient, and was so exhausted by it he needed to go to bed afterwards.
He said the boat has some advantages to 60-footers, not being as uppity and therefor allowing easier skippering - except for during maneuvers; during the transitions and any sail handling he risked being at a disadvantage.
http://www.sports.fr/cmc//voile/201012/cammas-refaire-de-la-regate_27624...
No comparison really, but here in the TDS forum, although it might be looking like a solitary posting from the outside; it is becoming surprisingly crowded!
Spambots from all over the place seem to have found it is a comfortable, relaxing address during their time off. I'm having to elbow my way through them, to get from one forum to the next!
They don't drink, or smoke, or have any sense of humor - they show a deplorable lack of interest in the America's Cup, if I may say so - and were it not for the fact that it is a Catholic holiday I'd be inclined to send them away with the password to that Italian sailing forum, where everyone's address is displayed 'in flagrante'.
For the time being I can still escape down to the 'private forums', where things are less hectic... but if you don't hear from me in a few days it is likely because they have become so numerous as to physically block all the exits...
Didn't know you could twin-wire a C-Class Cat!
Hope it all goes well - this could be better than the big AC :-)
it looks like crew is in a position under the tramp while the boat is sailing?
Interesting... I remember sitting in on the press conference at the end of the 2005-06 race where Glenn announced the 2008-09 route. Whilst the final stopovers were not announced in detail until later on, the teams had more to go to sponsors with earlier than this time. If the route is finalised, stop drip feeding it out so you get more press releases in, and let teams know the route so that they can go to sponsors with something definite. Too much talk and not enough action.
And this is me replying to Alex....
You could have a solo offshore slam (which MichDes has) of Solitaire du Figaro, Artemis Transat, Route du Rhum and Vendee Globe
A doublehanded offshore slam - Transat Jacques Vabre, Figaro's Transat AG2R and the Barcelona World Race.
The 600 miler slam - Sydney Hobart, Fastnet, Middle Sea, Caribbean 600, Newport-Bermuda (you could also include Transpac and Round Gotland).
The grand grand slam really must be Olympic gold, America's Cup win, Volvo win and Vendee Globe win. Whoever did that would truly warrant our undivided attention.
Hi David - solo round the world in multihulls is about the only thing which hasn't been done so far, so I reckon it is a case of 'when, not if'. You just need the appropriate fearless Ravussin or Bourgnon brother...
As to why Banque Populaire - haven't left. I know they have gone Code Green recently and then bailed out. I guess they just haven't seen the exact conditions they want. These records are getting very hard - Sodebo, you will remember spent most of the summer in NY and then never had the right weather window...
If any of the BR crew are reading this - perhaps you could add some more explanation on this.
Frankly in the end it probably doesn't matter what the defender/challengers decide, whether it is a billionaires' fest or merely a millionaires' one. The America's Cup has always proven to have its own momentum, thankfully with the occasional rogue element to bring it back on track.
As to the profiting out of the Cup then, as you say 'to the victor go the spoils'. However in my view it is an acceptable, perhaps even integral, part of the Cup's complex political process for a team to attempt to try and skew the event in their favour if it is with the aim of winning on the water. It is a step too far to do this for their own, or worse still, their team principal's own financial gain.
I wish
I had known that
I needed to use tags to place paras
...and couldn't edit the comment once posted
:(
Much as I admire skippers like Joyon and Coville and Cammas it must be true that a tired singlehander is more likely to come to grief in a big multi.
We know that skippers on the Vendee Globe report knockdowns from which they recover, this would be "game over" in a multi.
I'm not sure I really see the point of really large boats being singlehanded, it's almost a pointless macho display.
And singlehanding unnecessarily limits the number of sailors that could be taking part, two handed has always made more sense to me.
Having said that I think Francis Joyon is the greatest offshore sailor. His singlehanded RTW time will stand for a long time imho.
Design does of course play a part, I think the Irens designs are inherently safer.
David Bains
I am alone in thinking this was a bit of a mismatch!?
OBMW was wider with a spaceage wing and a truly brilliant helmsman keeping the giant tri one one hull for hours.
Nearly 40yrs of racing trimaran development made the Alinghi cat look slow, despite the speeds being attained by both boats!
Do we have any idea what boats will contest AC34?
No doubt I'll get used to the new site!
David Bains
I can't see it being such a far fetched idea with Vincenzo Onorato (Mascalzone Latino, 3 time Farr 40 World Champ and COR) and Torben Tornquist (Artemist, Medcup and TP World Champions 2007) involved in the Cup...Larry better brush up on his driving skills!