Sommaire pour July 2015 de SAIL

With the 2016 Rio Olympics just 12 months away, the action is heating up on the waters off Brazil as teams from around the world practice and hone their skills. Unfortunately, while the sailors are doing their best to prepare for the event, the same cannot be said about Olympic organizers in Rio, as they have recently said they will not be able to clean up Guanabara Bay as well as they had promised. For more on the situation, and how the U.S. team is handling it, turn to “Rio’s Polluted Playing Field,” on page 18.…

Fernandina Beach is not just at the opposite end of Florida from Miami, it’s about as different from Miami as you can imagine. I’ve yet to see a Maserati or Ferrari on the streets of Fernandina, but what the city lacks in glitz and glamor is more than made up for by what it does have—a healthy dose of Florida as it once was—charming, friendly and not all touristy-tacky. When you come upon Fernandina Beach, you’ll see freighters loading beside gantries and shrimpers at their docks. You’ll see some local boats, and farther down at the Fernandina Beach Municipal Marina, there are local “head boats” offering sailing tours, power tours and deep-sea fishing. You’ll also see plenty of boats anchored out, with yet more on mooring balls. When you step…

It’s ironic that foiling America’s Cup catamarans fly above surface chop, as the waters surrounding the 35th America’s Cup are anything but calm. As SAIL reported in February, AC35 will be held in Bermuda—much to the disappointment of many sailors—but the storm has intensified, with two of the world’s most respected professional sailing teams, Luna Rossa Challenge and Emirates Team New Zealand, either withdrawing or requesting arbitration, and the plans for the AC62 class yachts being usurped by largely one design foiling catamarans that are believed to be 48ft LOA. Here, the careful Cup student queries: “But isn’t Luna Rossa Challenge the Challenger of Record for AC35?” Gold stars awarded: Luna Rossa’s withdrawal stems from a majorityrule vote—called by the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) and supported by the Defender,…

HISTORIC HOMECOMING The Transat 2016 race will return to Plymouth, England—site of the start of the historic 1960 OSTAR transatlantic race (now The Transat)—for its May 8, 2016 start. The Transat 2016 is open to Class 40 monohulls, Multi 50s multihulls, IMOCA 60 monohulls, as well as the Ultimes (51ft to 105ft multihulls), and will bring the fleet across 2,800 miles of North Atlantic brine, a course that typically takes eight to 19 days and that usually involves “crisp” upwind conditions. For more on the race, visit thetransat.com.…

For the past 40 years Chuck Paine has sailed a classic Herreshoff 12½ named Petunia and has always proclaimed to any who will listen that she is the best boat ever conceived by mortal man. Not that he didn’t have some complaints: Petunia, he’ll tell you, is a bit overweight, a tad undercanvassed, a bear to trailer, can’t sail under main alone and is inclined to sink when filled with water. So, what’s a veteran naval architect to do? Is it possible to improve upon perfection? At the very least, Paine knew he could address his own particular complaints, and so set out to build a better Petunia, which in turn became the Paine 14, winner of a 2014 SAIL Best Boats award in the daysailer category. Compared to Nat…

Every sailboat is at heart a racing boat, and every sailor should do a little racing, simply because it will make you a better sailor. This is why renowned naval architect and yachtsman Uffa Fox, in his classic work According to Uffa, admonished beginners to get out racing as soon as possible, because: “Once you race every fault is pointed out in the way other boats sail away from you, and when you do anything well this too is revealed as you start sailing away from the rest of the fleet.” Beyond that, sailboat racing is also deeply satisfying, if for no other reason than you absolutely, positively, cannot use your engine, which can be a pain, but means that when you’ve reached the finish you’ve done so through your…

• If you are sailing in a spinnaker class but do not have a spinnaker pole, you can use a piece of line attached to a foredeck cleat and the bow pulpit as a makeshift tack line. Attaching the line to both the cleat and the pulpit will allow you to pay out or take in line more easily if you need to adjust the tack height while under sail. • Get some padding to put on your boat’s lifelines, it will be a welcome bit of comfort for the members of your crew who will be hiking out on the rails. • Secure everything belowdecks. A run around the racecourse will have you heeling, pitching and tacking more than usual, so make sure that when you get back to…

You’re watching the weather, you see the announcement and your heart sinks— your boat is in the path of an oncoming hurricane. What do you do? Head to the boat, throw off the lines and find a hurricane hole where you can weather the storm? Maybe you don’t have time, and the only option is to haul the boat. Or maybe you think you’re fine on the dock, and your choice is to double up the dock lines and hope for the best. Preparing for a hurricane is something many sailors have to deal with, particularly on the East and Gulf Coasts, but what is the best technique? We caught up with Beth Leonard, Assistant Vice President and Director of Technical Services at BoatUS, to talk about mistakes she has…

As Nigel says, installing an ultrasonic antifouling system is an easy project. The various systems may differ internally and in detail, but each has a black box that houses the electronics and one or more transducers. The former must be connected to power and mounted in some semi-accessible location. The latter must be bonded to the hull skin. The jump from one to two transducers comes at the 32ft boatlength mark for Sonihull. Below 32ft, the transducer should be installed about two-thirds of the way aft, as close as possible to the boat’s centerline. On bigger boats, the transducers should be at the onethird and two-thirds marks. The Sonihull transducers are screwed into mounting rings that must be bonded to a flat surface. I had a problem finding suitable surfaces…

For Michigan sailors and “old goats” from the Mackinac race, they’ll certainly know that The Pink Pony on Mackinac Island has had its share of rum spilled on its floors. Always a great place to catch up after the race or see who’s in town. — Chris Landauer, Thousand Oaks, CA Check out The Pink Pony Lounge, a frequently visited watering hole for sailors in the Chicago Yacht Club’s Race to Mackinac Island and the Bells Beer Bayview Port Huron to Mackinac race—both races have tested world class and weekend racers alike for nearly 100 years. The closest bar to the harbor, The Pink Pony is iconic to all Great Lakes sailing enthusiasts and the occasional guests who come test their skills in the tricky waters of Lake Michigan and…

Have you ever noticed how when something goes wrong on a boat, you often must contort and maneuver your body into inaccessible cramped places to fix it? Defying all logical positions and possibilities, you make your body do things you never thought possible. You become a pliable bending machine that can go upside down in a heartbeat, swivel your head like the possessed girl in The Exorcist, balance over a dark abyss as you try to retrieve that tiny little screw in the bottom of the bilge. See it now? This is boat yoga. Unless you have a marine carpenter, mechanical and electrical engineer, handyman and maid on board, a Master Boat Yoga Guru must toil away fixing the never-ending list of broken stuff in a process I call “mental…

The UK-built, Holman & Pye-designed Rustler 36 started life in 1980 as a development of the earlier Rustler 31—Kim Holman’s evolution of the sea-kindly Stella, which was itself a derivative of the legendary Folkboat. Although Rustler also currently builds a 24, 33, 42 and 44, the classic R36 (only recently arrived in the United States) remains in great demand as it fills a requirement for which few modern boatyards cater these days—a heavier, full-keel cruiser designed for the express purpose of crossing oceans in comfort and style. With that in mind, the boat’s cockpit has a high bridgedeck to protect the companionway from the risk of flooding, while teak handholds ensure an easy descent belowdecks. Similarly, the U-shaped galley has everything conveniently to hand, enabling the cook to reach the…

1. Practice: Good sailhandling doesn’t just happen: it takes practice. In preparation for your first big race, take the crew out and throw in a bunch of gybes, tacks and mark roundings. You might be surprised at how quickly you get better. It can also be a lot of fun! 2. Lose weight/windage: Emptying your water tanks and leaving things like cockpit grills, dodgers and seat cushions on the dock will not only make you faster, but clear the decks for fast crew work. 3. Telltales: Whether made of yarn or nylon, telltales along the luff of the jib and the leech of the main are vital for effective beating; same thing with some bits of yarn flying from your shrouds on a reach. 4. Service your deck gear: Winches,…

In 1980, long-time SAIL magazine contributor Herb Payson published the book Blown Away, a kind of compilation of the adventures he and his wife, Nancy, had experienced over the years aboard their 36ft ketch Sea Foam. Today, Payson’s cruising friends Lin and Larry Pardey have created a new 35thanniversary edition of the classic text, which remains as fresh and entertaining as when it first came off the presses. The following excerpt opens with Payson and company approaching the Tuamotus, Les îles Dangereuses, as the treacherous archipelago is also known, with nothing but a sextant to guide them. It was my watch. I could barely make out the towering blackness of the thunderheads against the inky sky, and it was only during flashes of lightning that I could see the shadow…

At the top of Michigan’s “mitten,” where the state’s two peninsulas meet, lie the scenic Straits of Mackinac, the narrows separating Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Sprinkled across the strait’s Lake Huron side are a number of lovely, forested islands. Prettiest of all is historic Mackinac Island, a popular summer tourist destination. Bound for Mackinac, I’ve sailed my Westsail 32, Antares, up Lake Huron and approach the straits late on a sunny afternoon. My route will take me up the shipping lanes between the Michigan mainland and Bois Blanc Island. It’s not a particularly dangerous passage, but there are plenty of places to find rocky trouble, and I’ll be busy navigating safely through it all night long. The blood red sun sets through low haze and although I look (as…

Emirates Team New Zealand stunned the sailing world in 2012 by “foiling” its wingsail-powered AC72 catamaran. Now Gunboat founder, Peter Johnstone, owner Eduardo Perez and the Timbalero III team made sailing history by foiling Perez’s new Gunboat G4 performance “cruiser” at this year’s Les Voiles de St. Barth. While ETNZ’s AC72 was a purpose-built Cup boat, Timbalero III carries a comfortable interior, but this didn’t stop the orange cat from repeatedly exploring the 30-plus knot range. Unfortunately for the Timbalero III team, what Johnstone refers to as a “combination of nine different factors” caused them to capsize and then promptly turtle on the last day of racing. Fortunately, the vessel and all crewmembers were fine. As Johnstone wrote in a Facebook post about the adventure, “The fridge managed to keep…

We’ve never been early adopters when it comes to technology. (We only recently started using electronic charts.) However, we surprised ourselves when we recently purchased the new and comparatively untested Iridium GO! portable satellite Wi-Fi hotspot system. For the past five years of cruising aboard Ceilydh, our 40ft catamaran, we’ve used a combination of an SSB, Pactor III modem and Sailmail to access weather and stay in touch while underway. The combination had its frustrations, with propagation varying dramatically depending on our location and the time of day, but on the whole it covered our needs. However, this changed when we were planning our voyage across the Indian Ocean. While traveling in Southeast Asia we began having more and more trouble connecting to a Sailmail station. Worse yet, as we…

There is a school of thought that holds that designing a boat requires making a series of compromises. Veteran Kiwi naval architect Roger Hill, however, would have you believe the key is not so much compromise as it is balance, and he makes a strong case for this approach in his new (and aptly named) Balance 451 performance cruiser. CONSTRUCTION At first blush, the most striking features of the Balance 451 are its slim hulls, contoured cabintrunk and—above all else—an aggressive pair of wave-piercing bows that serve to both increase waterline length and reduce pitching. However, closer inspection reveals that the Balance 451’s commitment to performance is much more than skin deep. Although nearly 4ft longer than her predecessor and close cousin, the Balance 421, the 451 comes in at…

In a past life when I was working as crew for America’s Cup Charters in Newport, Rhode Island, sailing tourists around Narragansett Bay for up to 10 hours a day, the captain on one boat told me my sunglasses, well, sucked, and that if I didn’t want to cause permanent damage to my eyes I had to upgrade. So I ponied up for a pair of polarized sunglasses (my first pair ever) and never looked back. It might sound trivial or vain, but wearing a quality pair of sunglasses changes your sailing experience. But what exactly makes a good pair of sailing sunglasses? We reached out to some of the top brands in the industry to get their take. WHAT’S IN A LENS? First, look at the lens material—mainly glass…

Although it’s the Key West Race Weeks and Volvo Ocean Races that get the lion’s share of the yachting press’s attention, low-key races abound, pretty much anywhere there’s a decent number of sailboats. To find them, try visiting the websites of your local yacht club or PHRF committee. Another great way to get involved is by visiting your local community sailing center. They will inevitably have racing programs in addition to their basic learn-to-sail courses. Here are a few regattas to try out if you’re looking to get into racing. Boston Harbor Islands Regatta Now in its 10th year, this pursuit races takes place in September and sends dozens of boat of all types and sizes on a serpentine course around some of the many islands in Boston’s outer harbor.…

As with many things, change comes slowly in the marine world, sometimes imperceptibly slowly, and we only notice how much things have changed when we look at an old photograph. That’s what happened to me. I was trolling through my photo archives when I noticed a photo of a cruising boat, rail down, lugging a low-clewed overlapping genoa sailing upwind in a seaway. It reminded me of sailing in the days of the IOR rule, when 150 percent genoas were the name of the game, and we were bound and determined to use them no matter the conditions. How things have changed! The IOR Rule has been relegated to the history books (thankfully), and the need to lug oversized sails around is also slowly becoming a thing of the past,…

Over the decades I have experimented with a number of different antifouling products and approaches. These have almost always been disappointing, and as a result I have invariably defaulted to the highest copper content antifouling paint that I can find, with my favorite being Pettit’s Trinidad. (It has 75-percent cuprous oxide content in the red paint; the blue is lower.) Unfortunately, the paint is shockingly expensive (the list price is over $400 a gallon, although it can often be found at something around $250 a gallon) and increasingly environmentally unacceptable. The search for a viable alternative continues. This past year we installed an ultrasonic antifouling system. There are at least four manufacturers jumping into this technology— Sonihull, UltraSonic, Ultra-SoniTec and CMS SonicShield. Our system comes from Sonihull, a UK-based company…