It was smoother sailing in Naples on the second day of racing. Winds were blowing at 8 to 12 knots and the water was flat. Team NZ are in the lead , but although Captain Dean Barker considered his boys were 'slick in all the maneuvres' and the 'boat speed felt good', Team Coach Rod Davis says the crew has more work to do to get more speed out of their AC45 catamaran. "We still are not 100 percent satisfied with our upwind speed, so there is a big push to improve on that front. We know where we want to go, so now we need to make it happen," Davis said. "All and all, a good solid day; not perfect but solid." Note: The new AC72 is bigger & faster than the AC 45, so when the Cup racing starts it should be an impressive show.
0 Comments
Unusual call for help from the anchorage of Las Brisas. African bees swarmed a catamaran in the anchorage homing in on the wind vane! It is thought that the hum of the vane attracted them. Apparently the vane was knocking them down but they just kept buzzing the vane. Bee bodies were flying and no doubt that did nothing to improve the mood of these dangerous creatures.
Startled owners sought help against the deadly multitude. Normally in Panama, one calls the Bomberos - Fire Brigade - for assistance. As the boat was anchored off shore, that added a challenge. How to get the Bomberos on site! Our advice: Try the Bomberos, but if that proves too difficult - just sit it out. When African bees move in a swarm they are looking for a place to nest - like a tree hollow. There was a strong chance that the bees would eventually move of their own volition. The solution: Somehow the owners were able to obtain a spray of soap and water and disposed of them themselves. Sounds dangerous. We wait for more details! This may not be yachting, but when we travel mosquitos and malaria are a threat in many parts of the world, so this is worth a post. New Zealand has come up with a new drug for malaria and it was tested her in Panama on owl monkeys. For more, check out: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/6709345/Kiwis-in-malaria-breakthrough
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120326-slippery-ships-and-cramped-canals
I saw something like this when I was in Costa Rica in 1976. I met a drunken American engineer who explained the golf ball theory. This worked on the principal of dragging air along with the dimples in the golf ball. This gave the golf ball less resistance, greater range & speed. In his case, he plus the US Army Corp of Engineers had indented the hulls of a 25ft Piver Trimaran with a small ball peen hammer giving a dimpled affect. He claimed a 15% increase in speed under engine or sailing and less fuel being used motoring. No proof. I wanted to try it, but could never find any one with a boat I could take a hammer too. Now, 36 years later, air bubbling has turned up! Just in - sketch done by Mark Meyers, who was the possible artist of another sketch of Valkyrien with a square rig!. It shows the square sail rig that was planned for Valkyrien when she was restored in Hawaii. Valkyrien´s "spreaders" are actually "crosstrees" and were built for square sails. The sketch shows the planned rig - the triangular Foresail, Fore Topsail and Fore Topgallant. Valkyrien has waited a long time for the square sails but when she goes on the water in the Bay of Panama as a Sail Training Tall Ship, she will boast a square rig. Tall Ships brings back memories of the Pamir a 4 masted barque built in Germany as a cargo ship in 1905. She was a familiar sight in Wellington harbour for many years and I remember seeing her sail into the Harbour when I w. I just found this tale of how she sank in the Atlantic with a loss of 80 lives. http://www.caphorniers.cl/Pamir/Pamir.htm
First steps are being taken to form a Panamanian Sail Training Organisation - associate of the Sail Training International Organisation. - http://www.sailtraininginternational.org/home - As we get started on setting up Sail Training in Panama - Vela de Formación -
Check it out and Get Involved! Competitors in the Volvo Ocean Round The World race have left Auckland on the treacherous Southern Ocean leg of the race - 6,705 nautical miles to Brazil around Cape Horn.
Most are battling heavy sea conditions off Great Barrier Island, but one has had to turn back for repairs with a damaged bulk head. Team New Zealand skipper, Tony Rae, on Camper is suffering from broken ribs, but is hoping to pick up points on the down wind run. Meantime, there are questions on the design of Camper from Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton. This is the Kiwi Team NZ's first foray into the great race and they are keen to extend their winning performance and prove their ability in Ocean Racing. Windy Wellington - the City of Gales - is now challenging the City of Sails up North, as a place to learn to sail! Wellington harbour and Cook Strait are being promoted as the ideal place to train for tough Southern Ocean racing. As Wellingtonions we back that. Wellingtonians sail in tough conditions much of the time. In the early 70's, James and Michael Blunt raced in heavy seas of Paremata despite the coast road being closed to traffic. Their moment of chagrin came as they headed to cross the finish line first. The finish line marker boat up anchored and took off! A few years later, James and Colin Ketterwell won the Winter Sailing series in the mid 1970's on a Nolex 22. On a round the harbour race in heavy winds and no visibility they crossed the finish line in front of Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club to find they were the only competitors to finish! All had turned back when the race was cancelled due to lack of visibility, strong winds and heavy seas - but the poor visibility had prevented their seeing the cancellation flag. They were awarded the race.
Warwick Collins Universal Hull is an innovation in hull design. This fuses together two classic hull types (the long, thin, easily-driven hull and the beamy commodious hull) in a form which yields the chief virtues of both types of hull. The two hulls are joined above the waterline by a ledge which also acts as a spray ledge. The resulting shape is easily driven because of the long, thin underwater shape but enjoys the accommodation space (above the waterline) of a beamy hull.
|
Archives
April 2020
Categories
All
|