Saturday, December 29, 2007
All I want for X Mas is...
All I want for X-mas is…
All I want for X-mas is for the GGYC and SNG to mutually agree or disagree to race as decreed, by the Deed. Tis a season of jocosity.
Posturing aside, it is very clear that the legal challenge brought forth by the Golden Gate Yacht Club is binding and without any hint of mutual consent, Judge Herman Cahn will order the Society Nautique de Geneva to defend the America’s Cup on July 4th, 2008 or forfeit.
The GGYC meets all the criteria defined to fulfill its obligation as the Challenger of Record, according to the Deed of Gift. All the juxtaposing, by both sides, about dates in October or in May the following year is for naught. We care not, and neither does the Deed, about conflicting Formula One dates or cutting Alinghi a pass, by giving them the extra time to prepare and build a yacht to defend.
When the GGYC issued its challenge on July 11th and New York Supreme Court Judge Cahn affirmed the legality of it in his decision on November 27, there is nothing in the Deed that intimates that any other date, other than by mutual consent is possible. Therefore any subsequent discussion is mute.
Judge Cahn is being courteous in letting the sides extend arguments into his chambers on January the 14th. It is time for the honorable Judge to put his foot down and slam the door shut. He was very clear in his verdict; “the CNEV challenge is invalid, and the GGYC is the Challenger of Record pursuant to the Deed.” The races will start in July.
It is not the Supreme Court’s job to set dates, arbitrate positions and engage in the media subterfuge. Its expressed intent is to strictly interpret the provisions set forth by Deed of Gift as amended by George Schuyler in 1887. Which it has done.
SNG and America’s Cup Management Inc. (ACM) have fired their law firm; White & Case after they admirably tried to defend the indefensible. Alinghi President Ernesto Bertarelli apparently has reversed his decision of not appealing by hiring a new law firm that immediately and aggressively wrote a letter to Judge Cahn
After the verdict Bertarelli commented that; “we are disappointed that a technicality made the CNEV invalid and we are now looking forward to discussions with the GYYC to keep the America’s Cup functioning.”
Though technically Alinghi’s actions do not constitute an appeal they are definitely trying to buy themselves time before eventually submitting to the NY Supreme Court’s will.
In its letter, Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett seems to chastise the Court’s conclusions by lecturing the Judge about “dictating the schedule for a race” and “engages in an inappropriate level of court supervision.” The letter continues; “substantial dislocations which the court may not have fully appreciated at the time it issued the opinion”.
Again, much respect for the honorable judge, come January his holiday cheer will be muted and their will be no ambiguity in the tone of his demeanor when he orders the protocol of the Deed to be enforced next year, somewhere.
All this brings me back to all I want for X-mas and reminds me of the way the Royal Perth Yacht Club conducted itself with their defense in Fremantle, Western Australia. With honor.
All I want for X-mas is for the GGYC and SNG to mutually agree or disagree to race as decreed, by the Deed. Tis a season of jocosity.
Posturing aside, it is very clear that the legal challenge brought forth by the Golden Gate Yacht Club is binding and without any hint of mutual consent, Judge Herman Cahn will order the Society Nautique de Geneva to defend the America’s Cup on July 4th, 2008 or forfeit.
The GGYC meets all the criteria defined to fulfill its obligation as the Challenger of Record, according to the Deed of Gift. All the juxtaposing, by both sides, about dates in October or in May the following year is for naught. We care not, and neither does the Deed, about conflicting Formula One dates or cutting Alinghi a pass, by giving them the extra time to prepare and build a yacht to defend.
When the GGYC issued its challenge on July 11th and New York Supreme Court Judge Cahn affirmed the legality of it in his decision on November 27, there is nothing in the Deed that intimates that any other date, other than by mutual consent is possible. Therefore any subsequent discussion is mute.
Judge Cahn is being courteous in letting the sides extend arguments into his chambers on January the 14th. It is time for the honorable Judge to put his foot down and slam the door shut. He was very clear in his verdict; “the CNEV challenge is invalid, and the GGYC is the Challenger of Record pursuant to the Deed.” The races will start in July.
It is not the Supreme Court’s job to set dates, arbitrate positions and engage in the media subterfuge. Its expressed intent is to strictly interpret the provisions set forth by Deed of Gift as amended by George Schuyler in 1887. Which it has done.
SNG and America’s Cup Management Inc. (ACM) have fired their law firm; White & Case after they admirably tried to defend the indefensible. Alinghi President Ernesto Bertarelli apparently has reversed his decision of not appealing by hiring a new law firm that immediately and aggressively wrote a letter to Judge Cahn
After the verdict Bertarelli commented that; “we are disappointed that a technicality made the CNEV invalid and we are now looking forward to discussions with the GYYC to keep the America’s Cup functioning.”
Though technically Alinghi’s actions do not constitute an appeal they are definitely trying to buy themselves time before eventually submitting to the NY Supreme Court’s will.
In its letter, Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett seems to chastise the Court’s conclusions by lecturing the Judge about “dictating the schedule for a race” and “engages in an inappropriate level of court supervision.” The letter continues; “substantial dislocations which the court may not have fully appreciated at the time it issued the opinion”.
Again, much respect for the honorable judge, come January his holiday cheer will be muted and their will be no ambiguity in the tone of his demeanor when he orders the protocol of the Deed to be enforced next year, somewhere.
All this brings me back to all I want for X-mas and reminds me of the way the Royal Perth Yacht Club conducted itself with their defense in Fremantle, Western Australia. With honor.
The Story of the Story
The Story about the Story
“Twas the Night before Christmas…”
By Mark Wharton Reid
Twas the night before Christmas, when all thru the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. Well, not quite, there has been a stir of late, and an unfortunate one at that.
The controversy in question is over the authorship of the 18th Century children’s poem, "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" or as it is more popularly known, “The Night before Christmas.”
Originally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) of New York City, the origin of the poem is being challenged by the descendents of Major Henry Livingston.
Mary Van Deusen from Boston, MA, with much media fanfare has resurrected long dormant claims that her ancestor, Livingston, (1748-1828) of Poughkeepsie, NY wrote the poem around 1808.
Van Deusen brought in English Professor Don Foster of Vassar College, a self described literary sleuth, to authenticate her aspersions to Moore's authorship of the poem. Foster, whose book "Author Unknown" also unmasked Joe Klein, as the heretofore anonymous writer of the novel: "Primary Colors".
Van Duesen claims the original copy of the poem was destroyed by fire in Livingston’s daughter’s home in Kaskaskia, Wisconsin in 1859. Van Deusen contends that an early draft; or a version of the poem, made its way to the Moore homestead. Dr. Moore, a renowned literati, could have come across it and at some point touched it up a bit, making it his own
Livingston was the father of 12 children. He fought in the Revolutionary War, was a surveyor, justice of the peace and a farmer. Most of his poetry was lighthearted and fun loving in its nature. The fact is, that with all the clamor and fanfare over the release of the poem “Night before Christmas” in 1823; he never acknowledged the work was his. Poughkeepsie is just a stone’s throw away from Troy in upstate New York. Livingston died in 1828.
Moore was the only son of the Reverend Benjamin and Charity Clarke Moore. At the age of 19, Clement graduated at the top of his class from Columbia University. While there he studied oriental languages and enjoyed playing the violin. As a young man he compiled the first English translation of the Hebrew Lexicon; edited notes on John Deur’s scholarly work “Third Satire of the Juvenal” and organized drawings for the construction of St. Peter’s Church.
He was quite politically active in New York, writing an inflammatory article entitled "Observations" in which he reacted to Thomas Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia" accusing him of "subverting religion and establishing a false philosophy". Moore donated land from his Chelsea Homestead in 1821 for the construction of the General Theological Seminary. At the seminary, he was a professor of Greek & Oriental literature.
In addition to being a prominent biblical scholar, he was meticulous in planning the design for the Chelsea neighborhood. His intent was to break up NYC’s rapidly developing urban sprawl with parks, tree-lined avenues and ample green space. Dr.Moore also submitted the sixty page outline which became the blueprint for Greenwich Village.
According to Moore ‘lore, legend has it, that on a bitter cold and snowy Christmas Eve in 1822, Dr. Moore rode out from Chelsea on a sleigh driven by an older, jolly Hessian (German) gentleman. He was going to pick up some turkeys for a local church for distribution on Christmas Day for the poor and unfortunate.
Heading towards Jefferson's Market in the Bowery District, Dr. Moore was struck by the humor and lightheartedness of rotund, pot-bellied driver. As they galloped thru the snowline streets towards the lower eastside Dr. Moore began to compose some lines of verse to what would become the famous poem.
Arriving home he gathered his children together and recited his new poem. Undoubtedly, their warm faces were fire-lit as they listened with joy in front a roaring blaze in the family’s living room. The poem was especially composed for Dr. Moore's little girl Charity then age 6, who suffered from tuberculosis and was not expected to live long.
The following year while visiting the family, Dr. Moore's cousin Harriet Butler, heard the poem and wrote down the words. She then sent a copy to the editor of the Troy, NY Sentinel, who published the anonymous poem on December 23, 1823.
Dr. Moore had asked that the Christmas Eve story be kept within the household and was adamant that the poem was a "mere trifle" and was only meant for his family.
Moore had transformed the dour Saint Nicholas or as he was known in Dutch “Sinter Klaus”, from the mythical saint who rewarded the good children with presents and beat the bad kids with a cane, into a jolly, bi-speckled Santa Claus. He respectfully orchestrated St. Nick’s arrival on the night before Christmas, deflecting any potential furor over the Christian observance of Jesus’ birth.
The poem draws inspiration from his good friend Washington Irving's book, "A Knickerbockers History" which was published in 1809 and the 1821 poem "The Children's Friend” by William B. Gilley.
In 1997 Seth Kaller bought one of the four known manuscripts penned by Dr. Moore for $211,000 at an auction. He brought in his own detective Dr. Joseph Nickell of the University of Kentucky. In analyzing the poems, Nickell found “unequifically” that Moore was the author.
Controversy aside, the poem stands on its own accord, but it was the drawings of cartoonist Thomas
Nast (1840-1908) that sent Santa into superstardom.
Nast's portrayal of St. Nicholas was drawn specifically from the poem, as his wife read it to him,
constantly, because Nast, a German immigrant, could not read English.
Nast’s different caricatures of St. Nick appeared regularly in Harpers Weekly.
History unfairly, portrays Dr. Moore as a bit of a prude, a stodgy, moralistic curmudgeon, who lectured against the perils of wine drinking. In fact, he kept impressive collections of wines in the cellar of his home and had a benevolent generous nature.
He worked tirelessly to the benefit of others that had less then he, in addition to his numerous duties he also served on the board of directors of the first school for the blind in NYC. With his young, loving wife, Catherine Elizabeth, (1794-1830) and eventually nine children he most assuredly, loosened up a bit.
Unfortunately, sad times befell Chelsea in 1830 when Clement’s beloved wife Catherine Elizabeth died at a very young age and later that year his daughter Charity passed away at 14.
Dr. Moore was finally acknowledged as the author of “The Night Before Christmas” in the "New York Book of Poetry in 1837. The book's editor was Charles Fenno-Hoffman. He finally included "The Visit" in his own book of poetry in 1844 along with a beautiful prose dedicated to his late wife entitled "To Southy".
Moore wrote another poem about St. Nicholas in 1821 called "Old Santa Klaus" and edited the highly revered book, “Scanderbeg, King of Albania” in 1852. It was within this passion and love that Dr. Moore cherished in his family that he drew the inspiration from his mother for his own “mere trifle”.
In the midst of the British occupation in a city ravaged by years of war that Benjamin Moore married Charity Clarke on April 30, 1778. She was the beautiful and elegant daughter of Captain Thomas Clarke and; as it turned out, quite the closet Yankee.
In letters to her cousin in London, Joseph Jekyll, young Charity, a "Daughter of Liberty", flashed an exuberance for the American cause by calling on King George's Army; "What care we for your fleets and armies, we are not going to fight with them unless driven to it by the last necessity or the highest provocation". She continues, "The soul is fortified by virtue, and the love of liberty is cherished within this bosom".
It was during those bitter years that Hessian soldiers were stationed at the Moore home. The senior officer befriending the family and perhaps it was within this setting that young Clement may have created his old St. Nick or enlisted his mother's literary passion.
It was on the property he owned, that Captain Clarke built a lovely estate he named “Chelsea”. The homestead became the Moore family home until 1854. It encompassed more than 40 acres of rolling hills and orchards overlooking the Hudson River.
Unfortunately Dr. Moore’s vision of a tranquil green space within the confines of the ever encompassing urban sprawl was not shared by the lordly Vanderbilt family, who drove their burgeoning railroad empire right thru the heart of Chelsea, regulating it into what is now the transportation and warehouse hub of west Manhattan.
The senior Moore (1748-1816) was the last acting president of Kings College before the Revolutionary War and during the British occupation of NYC was Rector of Trinity Church, which was burned to the ground in 1776. Under his tutelage at Kings College were three of the principal framers of the United States Constitution, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris.
After the war and much provocation, he became the third President of Columbia University and participated in the inauguration of President George Washington. Washington and his wife Martha were parishioners at Trinity. On September 11, 1801 was consecrated Episcopal Arch-Bishop of New York City.
In "Author Unknown" Foster claims that Moore waited until 1844 to acknowledge authorship only after he (Moore) first checked with the publisher at the Troy Sentinel, Norm Tuttle, to find out if he knew who wrote the poem when he printed it anonymously in 1823.
Foster notes that Moore did this to make sure the "coast was clear". Livingston died in 1828 without ever stepping forward as the author of the poem.
Foster seems to foster much animosity and suspicion towards Moore, referring to him as "the Grinch". He didn't appear to take heed of the fact that claims of authorship brought forth by Livingston's own grandchildren were discounted by experts in 1865.
In 1830 the editors of the Troy Sentinel put some finishing touches of their own in, titling the poem “The Night before Christmas” and changing some of the reindeer’s names to make them rhyme. For Van Duesen, at best the wayward prose made its way into the Moore homestead and Clement finished it up. It seems odd that Livingston would never acknowledge or recognize “his” poem. The poem, like us, is a veritable melting pot. It is “Americanized”. It is a hodgepodge of everything and it has a little bit of everybody in it.
Also worth noting, like Moore who recited the poem for his ill daughter and had another mentally disabled child, the author of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", Robert Lewis May wrote his poem in 1939 for his little 4 year old daughter whose legs were crippled. May was an employee of Montgomery Ward’s Department Store entered his story in a charitable employee contest.
Moore passed away at his summer home in Newport, Rhode Island in July, 1863. His body was secretly brought back to New York City during the draft riots that summer and buried anonymously at St. Luke's Cemetery on Hudson Street.
Moore was reburied in 1890 at the Trinity National Cemetery, which was the former estate of John Audubon on 155th street. It is the site of the yearly procession, which leaves from the Church of the Immaculate Possession to the cemetery every Christmas Eve for a candle-light reading of the poem.
It is with a certain irreverence that his father Reverend Benjamin Moore almost slipped from the pages of history. If not for his intercession at the behest of a mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton he would have remained rather anonymous himself.
And no, the national treasure from the Nicolas Cage movie is not buried beneath Trinity Church!
“Twas the Night before Christmas…”
By Mark Wharton Reid
Twas the night before Christmas, when all thru the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. Well, not quite, there has been a stir of late, and an unfortunate one at that.
The controversy in question is over the authorship of the 18th Century children’s poem, "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas" or as it is more popularly known, “The Night before Christmas.”
Originally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) of New York City, the origin of the poem is being challenged by the descendents of Major Henry Livingston.
Mary Van Deusen from Boston, MA, with much media fanfare has resurrected long dormant claims that her ancestor, Livingston, (1748-1828) of Poughkeepsie, NY wrote the poem around 1808.
Van Deusen brought in English Professor Don Foster of Vassar College, a self described literary sleuth, to authenticate her aspersions to Moore's authorship of the poem. Foster, whose book "Author Unknown" also unmasked Joe Klein, as the heretofore anonymous writer of the novel: "Primary Colors".
Van Duesen claims the original copy of the poem was destroyed by fire in Livingston’s daughter’s home in Kaskaskia, Wisconsin in 1859. Van Deusen contends that an early draft; or a version of the poem, made its way to the Moore homestead. Dr. Moore, a renowned literati, could have come across it and at some point touched it up a bit, making it his own
Livingston was the father of 12 children. He fought in the Revolutionary War, was a surveyor, justice of the peace and a farmer. Most of his poetry was lighthearted and fun loving in its nature. The fact is, that with all the clamor and fanfare over the release of the poem “Night before Christmas” in 1823; he never acknowledged the work was his. Poughkeepsie is just a stone’s throw away from Troy in upstate New York. Livingston died in 1828.
Moore was the only son of the Reverend Benjamin and Charity Clarke Moore. At the age of 19, Clement graduated at the top of his class from Columbia University. While there he studied oriental languages and enjoyed playing the violin. As a young man he compiled the first English translation of the Hebrew Lexicon; edited notes on John Deur’s scholarly work “Third Satire of the Juvenal” and organized drawings for the construction of St. Peter’s Church.
He was quite politically active in New York, writing an inflammatory article entitled "Observations" in which he reacted to Thomas Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia" accusing him of "subverting religion and establishing a false philosophy". Moore donated land from his Chelsea Homestead in 1821 for the construction of the General Theological Seminary. At the seminary, he was a professor of Greek & Oriental literature.
In addition to being a prominent biblical scholar, he was meticulous in planning the design for the Chelsea neighborhood. His intent was to break up NYC’s rapidly developing urban sprawl with parks, tree-lined avenues and ample green space. Dr.Moore also submitted the sixty page outline which became the blueprint for Greenwich Village.
According to Moore ‘lore, legend has it, that on a bitter cold and snowy Christmas Eve in 1822, Dr. Moore rode out from Chelsea on a sleigh driven by an older, jolly Hessian (German) gentleman. He was going to pick up some turkeys for a local church for distribution on Christmas Day for the poor and unfortunate.
Heading towards Jefferson's Market in the Bowery District, Dr. Moore was struck by the humor and lightheartedness of rotund, pot-bellied driver. As they galloped thru the snowline streets towards the lower eastside Dr. Moore began to compose some lines of verse to what would become the famous poem.
Arriving home he gathered his children together and recited his new poem. Undoubtedly, their warm faces were fire-lit as they listened with joy in front a roaring blaze in the family’s living room. The poem was especially composed for Dr. Moore's little girl Charity then age 6, who suffered from tuberculosis and was not expected to live long.
The following year while visiting the family, Dr. Moore's cousin Harriet Butler, heard the poem and wrote down the words. She then sent a copy to the editor of the Troy, NY Sentinel, who published the anonymous poem on December 23, 1823.
Dr. Moore had asked that the Christmas Eve story be kept within the household and was adamant that the poem was a "mere trifle" and was only meant for his family.
Moore had transformed the dour Saint Nicholas or as he was known in Dutch “Sinter Klaus”, from the mythical saint who rewarded the good children with presents and beat the bad kids with a cane, into a jolly, bi-speckled Santa Claus. He respectfully orchestrated St. Nick’s arrival on the night before Christmas, deflecting any potential furor over the Christian observance of Jesus’ birth.
The poem draws inspiration from his good friend Washington Irving's book, "A Knickerbockers History" which was published in 1809 and the 1821 poem "The Children's Friend” by William B. Gilley.
In 1997 Seth Kaller bought one of the four known manuscripts penned by Dr. Moore for $211,000 at an auction. He brought in his own detective Dr. Joseph Nickell of the University of Kentucky. In analyzing the poems, Nickell found “unequifically” that Moore was the author.
Controversy aside, the poem stands on its own accord, but it was the drawings of cartoonist Thomas
Nast (1840-1908) that sent Santa into superstardom.
Nast's portrayal of St. Nicholas was drawn specifically from the poem, as his wife read it to him,
constantly, because Nast, a German immigrant, could not read English.
Nast’s different caricatures of St. Nick appeared regularly in Harpers Weekly.
History unfairly, portrays Dr. Moore as a bit of a prude, a stodgy, moralistic curmudgeon, who lectured against the perils of wine drinking. In fact, he kept impressive collections of wines in the cellar of his home and had a benevolent generous nature.
He worked tirelessly to the benefit of others that had less then he, in addition to his numerous duties he also served on the board of directors of the first school for the blind in NYC. With his young, loving wife, Catherine Elizabeth, (1794-1830) and eventually nine children he most assuredly, loosened up a bit.
Unfortunately, sad times befell Chelsea in 1830 when Clement’s beloved wife Catherine Elizabeth died at a very young age and later that year his daughter Charity passed away at 14.
Dr. Moore was finally acknowledged as the author of “The Night Before Christmas” in the "New York Book of Poetry in 1837. The book's editor was Charles Fenno-Hoffman. He finally included "The Visit" in his own book of poetry in 1844 along with a beautiful prose dedicated to his late wife entitled "To Southy".
Moore wrote another poem about St. Nicholas in 1821 called "Old Santa Klaus" and edited the highly revered book, “Scanderbeg, King of Albania” in 1852. It was within this passion and love that Dr. Moore cherished in his family that he drew the inspiration from his mother for his own “mere trifle”.
In the midst of the British occupation in a city ravaged by years of war that Benjamin Moore married Charity Clarke on April 30, 1778. She was the beautiful and elegant daughter of Captain Thomas Clarke and; as it turned out, quite the closet Yankee.
In letters to her cousin in London, Joseph Jekyll, young Charity, a "Daughter of Liberty", flashed an exuberance for the American cause by calling on King George's Army; "What care we for your fleets and armies, we are not going to fight with them unless driven to it by the last necessity or the highest provocation". She continues, "The soul is fortified by virtue, and the love of liberty is cherished within this bosom".
It was during those bitter years that Hessian soldiers were stationed at the Moore home. The senior officer befriending the family and perhaps it was within this setting that young Clement may have created his old St. Nick or enlisted his mother's literary passion.
It was on the property he owned, that Captain Clarke built a lovely estate he named “Chelsea”. The homestead became the Moore family home until 1854. It encompassed more than 40 acres of rolling hills and orchards overlooking the Hudson River.
Unfortunately Dr. Moore’s vision of a tranquil green space within the confines of the ever encompassing urban sprawl was not shared by the lordly Vanderbilt family, who drove their burgeoning railroad empire right thru the heart of Chelsea, regulating it into what is now the transportation and warehouse hub of west Manhattan.
The senior Moore (1748-1816) was the last acting president of Kings College before the Revolutionary War and during the British occupation of NYC was Rector of Trinity Church, which was burned to the ground in 1776. Under his tutelage at Kings College were three of the principal framers of the United States Constitution, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris.
After the war and much provocation, he became the third President of Columbia University and participated in the inauguration of President George Washington. Washington and his wife Martha were parishioners at Trinity. On September 11, 1801 was consecrated Episcopal Arch-Bishop of New York City.
In "Author Unknown" Foster claims that Moore waited until 1844 to acknowledge authorship only after he (Moore) first checked with the publisher at the Troy Sentinel, Norm Tuttle, to find out if he knew who wrote the poem when he printed it anonymously in 1823.
Foster notes that Moore did this to make sure the "coast was clear". Livingston died in 1828 without ever stepping forward as the author of the poem.
Foster seems to foster much animosity and suspicion towards Moore, referring to him as "the Grinch". He didn't appear to take heed of the fact that claims of authorship brought forth by Livingston's own grandchildren were discounted by experts in 1865.
In 1830 the editors of the Troy Sentinel put some finishing touches of their own in, titling the poem “The Night before Christmas” and changing some of the reindeer’s names to make them rhyme. For Van Duesen, at best the wayward prose made its way into the Moore homestead and Clement finished it up. It seems odd that Livingston would never acknowledge or recognize “his” poem. The poem, like us, is a veritable melting pot. It is “Americanized”. It is a hodgepodge of everything and it has a little bit of everybody in it.
Also worth noting, like Moore who recited the poem for his ill daughter and had another mentally disabled child, the author of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", Robert Lewis May wrote his poem in 1939 for his little 4 year old daughter whose legs were crippled. May was an employee of Montgomery Ward’s Department Store entered his story in a charitable employee contest.
Moore passed away at his summer home in Newport, Rhode Island in July, 1863. His body was secretly brought back to New York City during the draft riots that summer and buried anonymously at St. Luke's Cemetery on Hudson Street.
Moore was reburied in 1890 at the Trinity National Cemetery, which was the former estate of John Audubon on 155th street. It is the site of the yearly procession, which leaves from the Church of the Immaculate Possession to the cemetery every Christmas Eve for a candle-light reading of the poem.
It is with a certain irreverence that his father Reverend Benjamin Moore almost slipped from the pages of history. If not for his intercession at the behest of a mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton he would have remained rather anonymous himself.
And no, the national treasure from the Nicolas Cage movie is not buried beneath Trinity Church!
twas the night before xmas,
by Clement Clarke Moore
'Twas the night before Christmas', when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that ST. NICHOLAS soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the creast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
"As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
Laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT."
'Twas the night before Christmas', when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that ST. NICHOLAS soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the creast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
"As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
and he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
Laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT."
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Today
Excerts from the upcoming book, Frontrudder.
"We just don't want the America's Cup, we want the whole damn island!" Tom Blackaller.
"Twelves will be twelves for a while, no catamarans and trimarans yet." Gary Mull.
Aussies beware! Bring out your boxing gloves. The Golden Gate Challenge is throwing down the gauntlet, as its two twelve meter yachts thrashed it out last weekend out on San Francisco Bay. Slicing thru a surging ebb tide like butter, the new radical boat left its little brother E-1, US 49, battered and bruised 47 seconds in arrears.
The day which began with an unassuming air, took several dramatic turns which left the two boats rather beat up as well as the crews and by the afternoon’s end our own boat provided much of the day’s drama. We went submarine racing for several seconds before popping up in dramatic fashion after getting sucked under by the ‘Bay’s infamous tidal rush. Anyway, back to the story.
In the first and last of a series of demonstration races between the two USA’s, the boats sailed the fine line of spectacle and spectacular with R-1, US 61 showing exceptional upwind speed, despite a jib change that cost the boat 40 seconds at the first leeward mark.
The race was delayed by 45 minutes as the two twelve’s collided during the starting sequence. The collision was the result of wind shift from a helicopter, which was photographing the boats from a low altitude. The turbulence was great enough to send the boats crashing into each other. The result left E-1 with a nice shot in the bow from R-1.
“E-1 got to close to R-1 and R-1 put a hole in it,” exclaimed the excited skipper Tom Blackaller. “R-1, US 61 is a tough boat and it just shows the Australians had better look out! Anytime they get too close to R-1, its going to put a hole in it.”
“Blackaller doesn’t shoot blanks,” shouted Golden Gate Challenge General Manager Ron Young. “He won’t let anything daunt him, Aussies, beware!”
According to Young, "The helicopter came in on the port quarter of E-1. As it came in the turbulence caused an accidental jibe on E-1. In that situation E-l can't be on a port jibe, because R-I had the right of way. E-l, with Paul Cayard at the helm, quickly brought in its mainsail to keep from being on a port jibe. In doing this, E-l got spun around.”
Meantime, Blackaller, realizing the helicopter's presence, tried to turn away in R-1. At the same time that he was turning away, E-l spun around and they collided.
"In the protest room, in actual racing conditions, everybody would have to recognize the helicopter's cause and effect for the whole collision," said Young.
"In reality, that guy (the helicopter) was in violation today, Young said. "He was under the 100 foot limit and below the mast." E-l took it on the flat part of the starboard side of the bow. The damage was not severe, as E-l was duck taped up and sent back into the game.
After the delay, the two twelve’s entered the starting arena again, Cayard and E-l won the start by 7 seconds. R-l appeared to circle its opponent at a slower rate, possible due to revolutionary configuration of its radical hull and front rudder steering, with its torpedo shaped keel.
Once R-l crossed the line heading into the wind towards the first mark off Crissy Field, the revolutionary new twelve picked up speed very quickly as it sailed straight up into the breeze. E-l maintained its advantage around the first mark, displaying a preference for the heavier conditions for which it was designed.
R-l took control under spinnaker, with a timely pass in front of the marina, as E-l luffed, allowing R-l quick passage towards the first leeward mark. Blackaller lost nearly 40 seconds rounding the Buoy at Blossom Rock by not getting his jib up fast enough. Cayard, seized an advantage and what should have been a fatal blow, but again R-l showed blazing speed into the wind and was able to overcome its mistake.
USA designer and Star Wars scientist Heiner Meldner ,was on hand to watch his two high-tech creations pound it out. Along with Gary Mull and Alberto, Calderon, Meldner was responsible for working out R-l's radical hull shape on the Cray MX-P 48 supercomputer. The Cray processes nearly a billion operations per second, working at such a high rate of speed that it 'has to be cooled by Freon gas.
"There are a lot of variables with this new boat," said Meldner. "We can win, for instance, and I'm giving you fantasy numbers by putting an extra foot in the boom, or adding 4,000 pounds to the keel." "The idea was to keep R-l well below a twelve, everywhere, and then see how much we have to stabilize it, before we are even," the according to Meldner, "The hard part is now to make it nice and consistent."
"The boat has all the fat we need. We have fat in every department. We have extra edges everywhere," said Meldner, "and that was the idea, so which way do we want to go?" asks Meldner.
Each day that R-l goes out she is accompanied by her tender, Trojan Lady. The two boats and E-l have sophisticated on-board computer systems which gather data, based on predicted outcome versus actual performance. Every day the challenge establishes a new set of target numbers.
At this point Meldner feels that they have accumulated enough data, "but we want more, you know." "The things that aren't predictable have to do with the handling reserve and ocean waves," says Meldner. "Right now I think we can say that we lucked out on all those transient numbers, we actually got more in the new design than in the standard design."
"Which wasn't predictable, you could have had some of the numbers just break even," this according to the good doctor. But, “so far, so good.”
"Visually there are a few things that are obvious, like the heel difference," says Meldner. "One is standing up, while the other sails down low." R-l sails straight up to the weather with good straight line speed.
"We're really tickled pink about it, said Meldner. “ We expected, I mean, I used to say, that we can't see it in performance, maybe just a degree or two, but now in open seas we are seeing five degrees. Which is, “a lot?”
In Perth the America's Cup course will have eight legs, compared to six in Newport, RI, and in 1983.The distance to the mark has been shortened from approximately 4 miles a leg to three. Straight line speed becomes a critical factor. No doubt R-l is a fast boat, but does the Golden Gate Challenge have enough time to develop their revolutionary thoroughbred?
In, reference to USA-R-l's ability to be flexible in changing weather conditions, with heavier air in the early round robins to moderate weather in January/February.
"That was a big thing that we really worked on hard," says Meldner, "to make sure that the boat is up all the time."
“With the 12-Meter formula, the way we did R-1, is that we can do it either way; light or heavy air,” Meldner states, with a smile. “That's nice.”
We have, to "prevent people from getting overconfident (about R-l's performance)," says Meldner. “It's a psychology game, you know." The Golden Gate Challenge announced this week that their revolutionary yacht USA-6l would be the one chosen to go to Perth. This announcement came as little surprise, as the first boat, USA-49, was built primarily for heavier wind conditions, and it was the evolutionary design in a two boat program.
Manager Ron Young relayed the information that the Golden Gate Challenge would indeed stick by their original plan to transport just one yacht to Australia.' "We're happy just taking one boat down," said Young. "I don't know why we would need to take two boats down; we know which boat is faster."
“R-l has worked itself up at a fast rate,” according to Young, adding; “the fact that she is already faster than E-l at this point is good.”
Though the syndicate has remained hush-hush about its radical underwater appendages, the conventional wisdom has twin rudders under the hull. The way that R-1 sails and handles at this point to the naked eye that would seem to be true.
“It’s complicated, real complicated," states' Blackaller,' "But it has real high potential, so we're really happy where it is right now." "R-l is a real high tech boat, it is much stronger than E-l,” said Blackaller. So "E-l, has to stay away from R-l, and the Australians had better be aware of that."
USA-61's revolutionary nature has created some problems for the crew, especially Blackaller, who regularly switches from boat to boat for developmental testing.
"You saw that it took Blackaller a while to get back in gear," states Young. "Saturday he was sailing on USA-49, which is different, and Cayard was kicking his butt on US 61."
"Today he got back on US-6l and he (Blackaller) sort of had to figure out how to get R-l to happen, how to make it go fast, so actually, the finish (47 seconds) was not that close," said Young, "given that Blackaller had lost 40 seconds at the first leeward mark."
USA-6I, was built by Robert E. Derecktor in Mamaroneck, New York: The primary reason for building at Derecktors was their experience in the construction of l2-Meter boats.
Dennis Connor commissioned Derecktor’s to build all three of his Stars and Stripes twelve meters there. The Golden Gate Challenge experienced several problems with Stevens Marine during the construction, of USA 49 E-1. The length of construction took more than 7 months, 3 more than the norm, with these boats. This problem, the result of the other problems was notably the re-welding of the frame, courtesy of Lloyds, severely crippled the challenge and may yet cost San Francisco the Cup. It is ironic that Blackaller hated these guys; before, the challenge began!
For these reasons and due to the revolutionary aspect of USA-6l, the Golden Gate Challenge built their boat in the East. R-I has proved itself to be fast out of the box, though unfortunately, she the will have only three short, but solid, weeks under its belt in San Francisco Bay.
The boat is due in Perth September 15 for measurement. That will give USA-6l just a few weeks of development before the first round-robin, which begins October 5. The first series of eliminations are worth just one point, compared to 5 points in second round robin. Then the December eliminations are worth a whopping 12 points per victory.
If USA-61comes tip to speed, Blackaller should be able to take advantage of the October series, for development, possibly sitting it out, keeping his cards close to his vest.
Blackaller was sketchy when asked about sailing in the October series. "No, I would say that is not likely.”
“October races are very low counting, that essentially was done to allow for tuning up," said Blackaller.
"Why else would you build a boat out of fiberglass, unless you wanted to cheat." Dennis Conner
While the competition trains at home, America 2, representing the NYYC continues to hone their skills out on the Indian Ocean with sister 12-Meter yachts US 42 “Lego” and US 44. America ll has completed its second “Australian” summer of sailing on the ‘Cup waters. But, why would America 2 take so much time to be amongst the 'roos and flies down under?
Simple, that is where the Cup course is and as Operations Manager Arthur Wullschleger so succinctly puts it, "I feel it's important to get your ass down there and see what its like!”
"We just don't want the America's Cup, we want the whole damn island!" Tom Blackaller.
"Twelves will be twelves for a while, no catamarans and trimarans yet." Gary Mull.
Aussies beware! Bring out your boxing gloves. The Golden Gate Challenge is throwing down the gauntlet, as its two twelve meter yachts thrashed it out last weekend out on San Francisco Bay. Slicing thru a surging ebb tide like butter, the new radical boat left its little brother E-1, US 49, battered and bruised 47 seconds in arrears.
The day which began with an unassuming air, took several dramatic turns which left the two boats rather beat up as well as the crews and by the afternoon’s end our own boat provided much of the day’s drama. We went submarine racing for several seconds before popping up in dramatic fashion after getting sucked under by the ‘Bay’s infamous tidal rush. Anyway, back to the story.
In the first and last of a series of demonstration races between the two USA’s, the boats sailed the fine line of spectacle and spectacular with R-1, US 61 showing exceptional upwind speed, despite a jib change that cost the boat 40 seconds at the first leeward mark.
The race was delayed by 45 minutes as the two twelve’s collided during the starting sequence. The collision was the result of wind shift from a helicopter, which was photographing the boats from a low altitude. The turbulence was great enough to send the boats crashing into each other. The result left E-1 with a nice shot in the bow from R-1.
“E-1 got to close to R-1 and R-1 put a hole in it,” exclaimed the excited skipper Tom Blackaller. “R-1, US 61 is a tough boat and it just shows the Australians had better look out! Anytime they get too close to R-1, its going to put a hole in it.”
“Blackaller doesn’t shoot blanks,” shouted Golden Gate Challenge General Manager Ron Young. “He won’t let anything daunt him, Aussies, beware!”
According to Young, "The helicopter came in on the port quarter of E-1. As it came in the turbulence caused an accidental jibe on E-1. In that situation E-l can't be on a port jibe, because R-I had the right of way. E-l, with Paul Cayard at the helm, quickly brought in its mainsail to keep from being on a port jibe. In doing this, E-l got spun around.”
Meantime, Blackaller, realizing the helicopter's presence, tried to turn away in R-1. At the same time that he was turning away, E-l spun around and they collided.
"In the protest room, in actual racing conditions, everybody would have to recognize the helicopter's cause and effect for the whole collision," said Young.
"In reality, that guy (the helicopter) was in violation today, Young said. "He was under the 100 foot limit and below the mast." E-l took it on the flat part of the starboard side of the bow. The damage was not severe, as E-l was duck taped up and sent back into the game.
After the delay, the two twelve’s entered the starting arena again, Cayard and E-l won the start by 7 seconds. R-l appeared to circle its opponent at a slower rate, possible due to revolutionary configuration of its radical hull and front rudder steering, with its torpedo shaped keel.
Once R-l crossed the line heading into the wind towards the first mark off Crissy Field, the revolutionary new twelve picked up speed very quickly as it sailed straight up into the breeze. E-l maintained its advantage around the first mark, displaying a preference for the heavier conditions for which it was designed.
R-l took control under spinnaker, with a timely pass in front of the marina, as E-l luffed, allowing R-l quick passage towards the first leeward mark. Blackaller lost nearly 40 seconds rounding the Buoy at Blossom Rock by not getting his jib up fast enough. Cayard, seized an advantage and what should have been a fatal blow, but again R-l showed blazing speed into the wind and was able to overcome its mistake.
USA designer and Star Wars scientist Heiner Meldner ,was on hand to watch his two high-tech creations pound it out. Along with Gary Mull and Alberto, Calderon, Meldner was responsible for working out R-l's radical hull shape on the Cray MX-P 48 supercomputer. The Cray processes nearly a billion operations per second, working at such a high rate of speed that it 'has to be cooled by Freon gas.
"There are a lot of variables with this new boat," said Meldner. "We can win, for instance, and I'm giving you fantasy numbers by putting an extra foot in the boom, or adding 4,000 pounds to the keel." "The idea was to keep R-l well below a twelve, everywhere, and then see how much we have to stabilize it, before we are even," the according to Meldner, "The hard part is now to make it nice and consistent."
"The boat has all the fat we need. We have fat in every department. We have extra edges everywhere," said Meldner, "and that was the idea, so which way do we want to go?" asks Meldner.
Each day that R-l goes out she is accompanied by her tender, Trojan Lady. The two boats and E-l have sophisticated on-board computer systems which gather data, based on predicted outcome versus actual performance. Every day the challenge establishes a new set of target numbers.
At this point Meldner feels that they have accumulated enough data, "but we want more, you know." "The things that aren't predictable have to do with the handling reserve and ocean waves," says Meldner. "Right now I think we can say that we lucked out on all those transient numbers, we actually got more in the new design than in the standard design."
"Which wasn't predictable, you could have had some of the numbers just break even," this according to the good doctor. But, “so far, so good.”
"Visually there are a few things that are obvious, like the heel difference," says Meldner. "One is standing up, while the other sails down low." R-l sails straight up to the weather with good straight line speed.
"We're really tickled pink about it, said Meldner. “ We expected, I mean, I used to say, that we can't see it in performance, maybe just a degree or two, but now in open seas we are seeing five degrees. Which is, “a lot?”
In Perth the America's Cup course will have eight legs, compared to six in Newport, RI, and in 1983.The distance to the mark has been shortened from approximately 4 miles a leg to three. Straight line speed becomes a critical factor. No doubt R-l is a fast boat, but does the Golden Gate Challenge have enough time to develop their revolutionary thoroughbred?
In, reference to USA-R-l's ability to be flexible in changing weather conditions, with heavier air in the early round robins to moderate weather in January/February.
"That was a big thing that we really worked on hard," says Meldner, "to make sure that the boat is up all the time."
“With the 12-Meter formula, the way we did R-1, is that we can do it either way; light or heavy air,” Meldner states, with a smile. “That's nice.”
We have, to "prevent people from getting overconfident (about R-l's performance)," says Meldner. “It's a psychology game, you know." The Golden Gate Challenge announced this week that their revolutionary yacht USA-6l would be the one chosen to go to Perth. This announcement came as little surprise, as the first boat, USA-49, was built primarily for heavier wind conditions, and it was the evolutionary design in a two boat program.
Manager Ron Young relayed the information that the Golden Gate Challenge would indeed stick by their original plan to transport just one yacht to Australia.' "We're happy just taking one boat down," said Young. "I don't know why we would need to take two boats down; we know which boat is faster."
“R-l has worked itself up at a fast rate,” according to Young, adding; “the fact that she is already faster than E-l at this point is good.”
Though the syndicate has remained hush-hush about its radical underwater appendages, the conventional wisdom has twin rudders under the hull. The way that R-1 sails and handles at this point to the naked eye that would seem to be true.
“It’s complicated, real complicated," states' Blackaller,' "But it has real high potential, so we're really happy where it is right now." "R-l is a real high tech boat, it is much stronger than E-l,” said Blackaller. So "E-l, has to stay away from R-l, and the Australians had better be aware of that."
USA-61's revolutionary nature has created some problems for the crew, especially Blackaller, who regularly switches from boat to boat for developmental testing.
"You saw that it took Blackaller a while to get back in gear," states Young. "Saturday he was sailing on USA-49, which is different, and Cayard was kicking his butt on US 61."
"Today he got back on US-6l and he (Blackaller) sort of had to figure out how to get R-l to happen, how to make it go fast, so actually, the finish (47 seconds) was not that close," said Young, "given that Blackaller had lost 40 seconds at the first leeward mark."
USA-6I, was built by Robert E. Derecktor in Mamaroneck, New York: The primary reason for building at Derecktors was their experience in the construction of l2-Meter boats.
Dennis Connor commissioned Derecktor’s to build all three of his Stars and Stripes twelve meters there. The Golden Gate Challenge experienced several problems with Stevens Marine during the construction, of USA 49 E-1. The length of construction took more than 7 months, 3 more than the norm, with these boats. This problem, the result of the other problems was notably the re-welding of the frame, courtesy of Lloyds, severely crippled the challenge and may yet cost San Francisco the Cup. It is ironic that Blackaller hated these guys; before, the challenge began!
For these reasons and due to the revolutionary aspect of USA-6l, the Golden Gate Challenge built their boat in the East. R-I has proved itself to be fast out of the box, though unfortunately, she the will have only three short, but solid, weeks under its belt in San Francisco Bay.
The boat is due in Perth September 15 for measurement. That will give USA-6l just a few weeks of development before the first round-robin, which begins October 5. The first series of eliminations are worth just one point, compared to 5 points in second round robin. Then the December eliminations are worth a whopping 12 points per victory.
If USA-61comes tip to speed, Blackaller should be able to take advantage of the October series, for development, possibly sitting it out, keeping his cards close to his vest.
Blackaller was sketchy when asked about sailing in the October series. "No, I would say that is not likely.”
“October races are very low counting, that essentially was done to allow for tuning up," said Blackaller.
"Why else would you build a boat out of fiberglass, unless you wanted to cheat." Dennis Conner
Watch Out, Here Comes the Plastic Fantastic Kids!
Far away, in the remote waters of the Southern Hemisphere lies an island paradise, in a nuclear free zone which may become the next home of the America's Cup. The challenge from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron started slowly from the blocks before hitting their stride big time in the 12-Meter World Championships in Perth, W A.
With 24-year-old Chris Dickson at the helm and his dad, Roy, calling the shots, the Kiwi's. were able to bring their plastic boat' home to a second place finish, behind Australia 3, after only two weeks at sea.
The Auckland based challenge had to sift through a trio of financial backers before coming up with the right combination in merchant banker Michael Fay. The Kiwi's are now beginning to relish the notion of relieving their arch-rivals, the Aussies, of the America's Cup.
The icing was first applied to the cake when the second boat out of the mold, NZ-5, won the first heat in the Worlds. With New Zealand's two entries in the Whitbread, Lion and Enterprise, a wealth of Kiwi sailing talent in both events, watch out; here come the plastic fantastic kids! The Kiwi twelve’s measure 63', with a 45' waterline. The boats have short snub stern section and with a touch. of reverse psychology, the Kiwi's boldly display their winged keels.
The New Zealanders even camouflaged their fiberglass effort by storing high grade aluminum at McMullen and Wing. The boats do not have the Divinycell core. Rather, the form stringers are made from Nomex honeycomb. One problem which developed during the 12-Meter WorIds’ was rigging and mast failures to NZ-3 which relegated the B- Team yacht to a seventh place finish. A new zap spar was installed to accommodate the extra sail area.
Like America 2, NZ-5 can quickly change configurations for re-measurement in order to adapt to the changing weather conditions off Fremantle. The third twelve due this summer will be able to be re-ballasted as the season progresses. The yacht will not carry multiple rating certificates like Liberty in 1983. talent passed the Perth Worlds by, a frightening prospect for the foreign challengers to face. New Zealand entered both NZ-5 (A-team) and NZ3, placing second and seventh overall.
Dickson knocks Kookaburra's lain Murray (27) out of the saddle as the youngest skipper for this year's America's Cup. Dickson was World Youth Champion three years in a row and captured Citizens Match Race Series over Crusader's Harold Cudmore and Rod Davis from the Eagle Challenge.
Far away, in the remote waters of the Southern Hemisphere lies an island paradise, in a nuclear free zone which may become the next home of the America's Cup. The challenge from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron started slowly from the blocks before hitting their stride big time in the 12-Meter World Championships in Perth, W A.
With 24-year-old Chris Dickson at the helm and his dad, Roy, calling the shots, the Kiwi's. were able to bring their plastic boat' home to a second place finish, behind Australia 3, after only two weeks at sea.
The Auckland based challenge had to sift through a trio of financial backers before coming up with the right combination in merchant banker Michael Fay. The Kiwi's are now beginning to relish the notion of relieving their arch-rivals, the Aussies, of the America's Cup.
The icing was first applied to the cake when the second boat out of the mold, NZ-5, won the first heat in the Worlds. With New Zealand's two entries in the Whitbread, Lion and Enterprise, a wealth of Kiwi sailing talent in both events, watch out; here come the plastic fantastic kids! The Kiwi twelve’s measure 63', with a 45' waterline. The boats have short snub stern section and with a touch. of reverse psychology, the Kiwi's boldly display their winged keels.
The New Zealanders even camouflaged their fiberglass effort by storing high grade aluminum at McMullen and Wing. The boats do not have the Divinycell core. Rather, the form stringers are made from Nomex honeycomb. One problem which developed during the 12-Meter WorIds’ was rigging and mast failures to NZ-3 which relegated the B- Team yacht to a seventh place finish. A new zap spar was installed to accommodate the extra sail area.
Like America 2, NZ-5 can quickly change configurations for re-measurement in order to adapt to the changing weather conditions off Fremantle. The third twelve due this summer will be able to be re-ballasted as the season progresses. The yacht will not carry multiple rating certificates like Liberty in 1983. talent passed the Perth Worlds by, a frightening prospect for the foreign challengers to face. New Zealand entered both NZ-5 (A-team) and NZ3, placing second and seventh overall.
Dickson knocks Kookaburra's lain Murray (27) out of the saddle as the youngest skipper for this year's America's Cup. Dickson was World Youth Champion three years in a row and captured Citizens Match Race Series over Crusader's Harold Cudmore and Rod Davis from the Eagle Challenge.
Dickson finished third in this year's Congressional Cup with a 6-3 record. Graeme Woodroffe will helm the second boat, NZ-3. Woodroffe skippered Exador (Farr 40') in the 1985 Admirals Cup, winning the first inland race. Russell Coutts, Finn gold medalist in Los. Angeles, and Bruce Deegan join the after guard of Kiwi talent.
The fabric of the New Zealand effort came together when yacht designers from the other challengers opted to stay put with aluminum boats. The Kiwi's though, with their trio of lOR architects, quietly had fiberglass scantlings approved by Lloyds of London and built the first pair of glass' twelve’s.
The New Zealand Naval team comprises three of the best in lOR and maxi-boat design. Led by Bruce Farr, Ron Holland, and Laurie Davidson, the New Zealand challenge cornered the market in yacht fiberglass design and innovation. Farr's UBS Switzerland had a recent coup with a first to finish in the Whitbread Around the World Race. Holland's design, Colt Cars, found its way into Simon Le Bon's hands as English Drum, which" was third to finish in the Whitbread.
The approval for the building of fiberglass 12-Meter yachts took over five months as an inspector from Lloyds was present during all the phases of construction. The two new designer's expertise in 'glass, as most twelve’s, NZ-3 and NZ-5, were lofted and molded at McMullen and Wing Shipyard in Auckland, NZ
The stiff fiberglass hulls could give the Kiwi twelve’s sufficient boat speed advantage, with little bending and less structural stress on the hull than aluminum 12-Meters.
The New Zealand advantage comes with their designer’s expertise in fiberglass construction.
The fabric of the New Zealand effort came together when yacht designers from the other challengers opted to stay put with aluminum boats. The Kiwi's though, with their trio of lOR architects, quietly had fiberglass scantlings approved by Lloyds of London and built the first pair of glass' twelve’s.
The New Zealand Naval team comprises three of the best in lOR and maxi-boat design. Led by Bruce Farr, Ron Holland, and Laurie Davidson, the New Zealand challenge cornered the market in yacht fiberglass design and innovation. Farr's UBS Switzerland had a recent coup with a first to finish in the Whitbread Around the World Race. Holland's design, Colt Cars, found its way into Simon Le Bon's hands as English Drum, which" was third to finish in the Whitbread.
The approval for the building of fiberglass 12-Meter yachts took over five months as an inspector from Lloyds was present during all the phases of construction. The two new designer's expertise in 'glass, as most twelve’s, NZ-3 and NZ-5, were lofted and molded at McMullen and Wing Shipyard in Auckland, NZ
The stiff fiberglass hulls could give the Kiwi twelve’s sufficient boat speed advantage, with little bending and less structural stress on the hull than aluminum 12-Meters.
The New Zealand advantage comes with their designer’s expertise in fiberglass construction.
The Kiwi’s were able to pop their first 2 boats out of the virtually the same mold simultaneously. The fiberglass yachts have aluminum space frames in order to handle the weight of the keel and the rigging loads. In order to construct fiberglass 12-Meters, the design team had to maintain equilibrium of weight balance to aluminum.
Guidelines set by the IYRU specify that there must be no weight advantage in materials used in construction.
Guidelines set by the IYRU specify that there must be no weight advantage in materials used in construction.
The rulebook also forbids the use of exotic materials, such as carbon or Kevlar fibers. The hulls have been laminated with glass fiber resins, which will eliminate the need for oil canning the surface, unlike conventional aluminum, that requires constant attention to keep the plates from buckling in the Indian Ocean chop off Fremantle.
"I went to bed pissed. I woke up pissed; I was pissed this afternoon and now I'm damned pissed, and if he (Blackaller) thinks I'm going to bring my new boat here, he can forget it! " Buddy Melges
Heart of America is on its way to....Santa Cruz.
The Chicago Yacht club christened its new 12-meter yacht Heart of America in Chicago, Illinois on May, 30, as five of the six American challenges have built and launched state of the art boats. Mrs. Jayne Thompson, wife of Illinois Governor, "Big Jim" Thompson, performed the christening honors at Pioneer Court.
Unfortunately, the glistening new twelve meter will not be coming up to train on San Francisco Bay with USA, instead US 51 will head south to Santa Cruz. Politics, delays and secrecy will keep the revolutionary new boat from the St Francis Yacht Club up here and they will not be facing off against Heart of America.
Unfortunately, the glistening new twelve meter will not be coming up to train on San Francisco Bay with USA, instead US 51 will head south to Santa Cruz. Politics, delays and secrecy will keep the revolutionary new boat from the St Francis Yacht Club up here and they will not be facing off against Heart of America.
Heart of America spent its winter and spring months sailing in San Francisco Bay with USA from the Golden Gate Challenge, and Canada 2 from the Secret Cove YC in Victoria, BC. Led by skipper Buddy Melges from Lake Geneva, WI, the Heart of America draw a large part of its crew from sailing communities on the Great Lakes.
Melges, "the Wizard of Zenda", is a two-time Olympic medalist, capturing a bronze in the Flying Dutchman Class in 1964 and a Gold Medal in the 1972 Olympics in the Soling Class. Melges was once considered a candidate to skipper the ill-fated Mariner 12-Meter in 1974, but “Wizard” probably caught a break when Ted Turner was named as the team’s helmsman.
The Heart of America has suffered some after guard after shocks with the defections of Gary Jobson and Charlie Scott. Jobson was serving as tactician, a capacity he held with Ted Turner on Courageous in 1977-80. Jobson left the challenge in May to join ESPN's America's Cup Network team as an analyst. Scott, SORC winner on Smiles in 1985, has not been active on Clipper since he left to pursue his business interests in Florida. The reality is that the defections are largely superficial and should not affect team symmetry.
Clipper had a very successful spring in San Francisco, sparring with both USA and Canada 2. The series with USA climaxed in April with an electric day of sailing that produced starting line collisions, tempers flaring, and ended with both sides claiming victory.
In typical Melges fashion, he stated afterwards: "I went to bed pissed. I woke up pissed; I was pissed this afternoon and now I'm damned pissed, and if he (Blackaller) thinks I'm going to bring my new boat here, he can forget it! "
Even though Melges loves this kind of action, true to his word, Heart of America will not be coming to the Bay Area. Rather, she will be spending the summer in Santa Cruz, with Canada 2, True North, and possibly Eagle.
"The highlight of the San Francisco training regatta was the fact that we were able to make a six-year-old boat (Clipper) go as fast as the state of the art 12-Meter (USA) that Blackaller was racing," Melges said.
Heart of America will arrive in Santa Cruz on June 10. The new boat was designed by Eric Schlageter, Scott Graham, and James Gretzky. Noted lOR designer German Frers was associated with the syndicate until doubts arose over his green card status. Frers is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Heart of America is basically a Schlageter boat, but no one would dispute that there is some Frers in there somewhere.
Heart of America has followed the lead set by New Zealand, Courageous, Italia, and Eagle by dropping the keel" skirt and displaying the winged-keel. The Heart of America will be shipped down to Fremantle, WA in August. The crew of Heart of America, along with the crew from Canada 2, will return to Lake Michigan in August and sail Clipper against Defender.
Defender was finally released to the syndicate for training purposes after a long drawn out court battle with People-to-People Sports Inc. and the Courageous Syndicate.
In order for the Heart of America to be eligible for competition for the America's Cup, it was necessary for Chicago to be declared an 'arm of the sea'. According to the deed of gift to the New York YC in 1887, challenging yacht clubs must "hold their regattas on the sea or an arm of the sea."
The Heart of America maintained that Chicago is an international seaport and that the Marine Act of 1970 established that the Great Lakes are the fourth seacoast of the United States. Precedent was also set during the America's Cup matches of 1876 and 1881 when yacht clubs from Canada competed for the Cup.
In 1876, the Royal Canadian YC in Toronto, Ontario challenged with Countess of Dufferin. Countess was crushed in two races by Madeleine. In 1881, the Bay of Quinte YC in Belleville, Ontario challenged the New York YC with Atalanta. She was also soundly crushed by the defender Mischief. The pathetic Canadian challenges led to the 'arm of the sea' ruling of 1887 and the deed was never challenged until the Chicago YC did in 1984.
Melges, "the Wizard of Zenda", is a two-time Olympic medalist, capturing a bronze in the Flying Dutchman Class in 1964 and a Gold Medal in the 1972 Olympics in the Soling Class. Melges was once considered a candidate to skipper the ill-fated Mariner 12-Meter in 1974, but “Wizard” probably caught a break when Ted Turner was named as the team’s helmsman.
The Heart of America has suffered some after guard after shocks with the defections of Gary Jobson and Charlie Scott. Jobson was serving as tactician, a capacity he held with Ted Turner on Courageous in 1977-80. Jobson left the challenge in May to join ESPN's America's Cup Network team as an analyst. Scott, SORC winner on Smiles in 1985, has not been active on Clipper since he left to pursue his business interests in Florida. The reality is that the defections are largely superficial and should not affect team symmetry.
Clipper had a very successful spring in San Francisco, sparring with both USA and Canada 2. The series with USA climaxed in April with an electric day of sailing that produced starting line collisions, tempers flaring, and ended with both sides claiming victory.
In typical Melges fashion, he stated afterwards: "I went to bed pissed. I woke up pissed; I was pissed this afternoon and now I'm damned pissed, and if he (Blackaller) thinks I'm going to bring my new boat here, he can forget it! "
Even though Melges loves this kind of action, true to his word, Heart of America will not be coming to the Bay Area. Rather, she will be spending the summer in Santa Cruz, with Canada 2, True North, and possibly Eagle.
"The highlight of the San Francisco training regatta was the fact that we were able to make a six-year-old boat (Clipper) go as fast as the state of the art 12-Meter (USA) that Blackaller was racing," Melges said.
Heart of America will arrive in Santa Cruz on June 10. The new boat was designed by Eric Schlageter, Scott Graham, and James Gretzky. Noted lOR designer German Frers was associated with the syndicate until doubts arose over his green card status. Frers is from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Heart of America is basically a Schlageter boat, but no one would dispute that there is some Frers in there somewhere.
Heart of America has followed the lead set by New Zealand, Courageous, Italia, and Eagle by dropping the keel" skirt and displaying the winged-keel. The Heart of America will be shipped down to Fremantle, WA in August. The crew of Heart of America, along with the crew from Canada 2, will return to Lake Michigan in August and sail Clipper against Defender.
Defender was finally released to the syndicate for training purposes after a long drawn out court battle with People-to-People Sports Inc. and the Courageous Syndicate.
In order for the Heart of America to be eligible for competition for the America's Cup, it was necessary for Chicago to be declared an 'arm of the sea'. According to the deed of gift to the New York YC in 1887, challenging yacht clubs must "hold their regattas on the sea or an arm of the sea."
The Heart of America maintained that Chicago is an international seaport and that the Marine Act of 1970 established that the Great Lakes are the fourth seacoast of the United States. Precedent was also set during the America's Cup matches of 1876 and 1881 when yacht clubs from Canada competed for the Cup.
In 1876, the Royal Canadian YC in Toronto, Ontario challenged with Countess of Dufferin. Countess was crushed in two races by Madeleine. In 1881, the Bay of Quinte YC in Belleville, Ontario challenged the New York YC with Atalanta. She was also soundly crushed by the defender Mischief. The pathetic Canadian challenges led to the 'arm of the sea' ruling of 1887 and the deed was never challenged until the Chicago YC did in 1984.
“The other US Challengers are only kidding themselves!” Tom Ehman
America 2, downunder and back, again.
While the competition trains at home, America 2, representing the NYYC continues to hone their skills out on the Indian Ocean with sister 12-Meter yachts US 42 “Lego” and US 44. America ll has completed its second “Australian” summer of sailing on the ‘Cup waters. But, why would America 2 take so much time to be amongst the 'roos and flies down under?
Simple, that is where the Cup course is and as Operations Manager Arthur Wullschleger so succinctly puts it, "I feel it's important to get your ass down there and see what its like!”
America 2 Executive Director, Tom Ehman reinforces that notion saying, “Challengers who have not sailed in Australia as yet are only kidding themselves." The team will christen its new boat US 46 in Newport, Rhode Island on May 16. Ehman told me that US 46 is "practically done," and the builders, Williams and Manchester, will have her out of the box and ready, as usual.” The festivities will take place on Goat Island for third and final boat built for the challenge.
US 46 was designed by Bill Langan, in conjunction with NASA and research scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MlT). US 46 will have 3 weeks to test in Newport before being shipped to Fremantle on June 6, she may sail informally against Heart of America "if it can be worked out." said Ehman.
HOA’s new boat US 51 is under construction at Merrifield Roberts in Bristol, Rhode Island. The challenge representing the Chicago Yacht Club has been experiencing some labor difficulties and the launch may be delayed, preventing it from stretching its legs against America 2, before being shipped west to sail against the Canadians in Santa Cruz, California. Plans to race the revolutionary new boat from the St Francis Yacht Club are doubtful at best.
US 46 and the America 2 crew will be back in ‘Freo and start sailing by August I. The radical design from Sparkman and Stephens will initially test against US 42, the “Lego" boat which is the syndicate’s primary yardstick.
Langan is the chief designer at S&S in New York. He was the project manager for Freedom in 1980. Langan designed Spirit of America for Dennis Conner in 1982 and was responsible for Courageous successful design modifications in 1983.
America 2 christened its first twelve US 42 the "Lego" boat in Kings Point, NY on August 31, 1984, more than a year ahead of Stars and Stripes from Sail America.
"Lego" was nicknamed because of 42's designed-in ability 10 change configurations quickly and efficiently. "With the lego boat," said Langan, "we were able to make gross changes to the boat, ranging from the conventional to radical."
"Lego US 42 has good boat speed in a variety of weather conditions," Ehman said. America 2 is reported to be the proud owners of seven winged keels, with an eighth on the way, which prompted skipper John Kolius to say: "we may be the biggest importer of lead in Australia."
One of America 2’s winged keel shapes has been dubbed the "Mustang" and. according to reports. US 42 carries the widest wings in the West. "We have a better boat than we expected in US 42," Ehman said. "At first we thought we had a trial horse on our hands."
America 2's second twelve, US 44, is more of a mystery. She has been kept out of the shooting matches with the other challengers. America 2 competed with US 42 in the Perth World Championships. Last summer, in a rare public performance during the Cadillac Cup, there was no doubt that US 44 was the quick turn champ of the East Coast.
US 44 is more of a one-design concept, though inter changeable, it takes up to three days to change keels on her. "US 44 has fulfilled the syndicate's expectations and more," Ehman said. "We are absolutely thrilled with 44 at this point. US 46 will continue to be an improvement based on data received from the first two boats."
America 2 recently wrapped up its second training season in Western Australia. With the first round-robin series set to start on October 5, 1986, America 2's crew has spent more time in Australian waters than any of the other challengers. There is much debate on whether America·2 may have spent too much time training in the demanding waters off Fremantle.
According to USA skipper and America's Cup veteran Tom Blackaller, “America 2's crew is under intense pressure to win the America's Cup back for the New York Yacht Club and I would not want to be part of their program," Blackaller said. "There is no way that America 2's crew will be able to peak on time once the trials get underway.
Physical conditioning of the crew and the boat's ability to withstand the elements day in and day out will be the key to winning or defending the America's Cup.
Sailing off the Western Australian Coast in a 12-Meter, the crew not only get saltwater in the face, but they are served with live fish as well. "Doing circles in 30-knot winds, there's stuff flying everywhere," says Kolius. "Water, wires, sails, it's like being in combat!"
Kolius, 34, is the Texas sail maker who optimized Courageous' performance in 1983, before being edged out by Liberty in the Defense finals. Kolius resigned as skipper last year, citing "syndicate politics" at that time. He returned to join America 2's program on the advent of their second Australian "summer". Kolius, mainsheet-trimmer Tom McGlaughlin, and tactician John Bertrand, from Sausalito, CA comprise the after guard onboard America 2.
America 2 placed third in the 12-Meter Worlds. Sailing with US 42, Kolius and Co. have knocked off Kookaburra in an unofficial series, and have sailed against Azzurra. Victory 83, and French Kiss while in Australia. During the Worlds, Alan Bond's Defense Limited 87 boats, Australia 2 and 3, spent a good deal of time shadow boxing with US 42.
Ehman told me that America 2 still needs to raise $5 million. "The Australian dollar is getting stronger and it has forced us to revise our budge." America 2's executive board met last week about joining the Americans, which is an umbrella fundraising group designed to create support for the American effort in Australia.
Five of the six American challenges have joined the Americans. The chairman of the group is Bob Scott of the Golden Gate Challenge in San Francisco. The Americans' goal is to entice corporate support that has been reluctant to back a regional effort. The funds raised would be equally divided among the syndicates.
America 2's board has decided not to join. “ We have legal, contractual and moral obligations to our corporate sponsors," said Ehman. "We're not trying to shoot it down," he said, "but it was an America 2 Syndicate decision, not the New York Yacht Club's"
"In fact the NYYC never look a position on the matter," said Ehman, adding that two years ago it would have been a great idea, but now it's "too little, too late."
"There is no way that some of these groups are going to be competitive," said Ehman. “And all they're going to do is hurt the rest of us and the chance of bringing the America's Cup back to the United States."
America 2 has raised more than $10 million, and Ehman is satisfied that the boat, crew and organization has a substantial edge. America 2's corporate sponsors include Newsweek, Cadillac and Amway.
US 46 was designed by Bill Langan, in conjunction with NASA and research scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MlT). US 46 will have 3 weeks to test in Newport before being shipped to Fremantle on June 6, she may sail informally against Heart of America "if it can be worked out." said Ehman.
HOA’s new boat US 51 is under construction at Merrifield Roberts in Bristol, Rhode Island. The challenge representing the Chicago Yacht Club has been experiencing some labor difficulties and the launch may be delayed, preventing it from stretching its legs against America 2, before being shipped west to sail against the Canadians in Santa Cruz, California. Plans to race the revolutionary new boat from the St Francis Yacht Club are doubtful at best.
US 46 and the America 2 crew will be back in ‘Freo and start sailing by August I. The radical design from Sparkman and Stephens will initially test against US 42, the “Lego" boat which is the syndicate’s primary yardstick.
Langan is the chief designer at S&S in New York. He was the project manager for Freedom in 1980. Langan designed Spirit of America for Dennis Conner in 1982 and was responsible for Courageous successful design modifications in 1983.
America 2 christened its first twelve US 42 the "Lego" boat in Kings Point, NY on August 31, 1984, more than a year ahead of Stars and Stripes from Sail America.
"Lego" was nicknamed because of 42's designed-in ability 10 change configurations quickly and efficiently. "With the lego boat," said Langan, "we were able to make gross changes to the boat, ranging from the conventional to radical."
"Lego US 42 has good boat speed in a variety of weather conditions," Ehman said. America 2 is reported to be the proud owners of seven winged keels, with an eighth on the way, which prompted skipper John Kolius to say: "we may be the biggest importer of lead in Australia."
One of America 2’s winged keel shapes has been dubbed the "Mustang" and. according to reports. US 42 carries the widest wings in the West. "We have a better boat than we expected in US 42," Ehman said. "At first we thought we had a trial horse on our hands."
America 2's second twelve, US 44, is more of a mystery. She has been kept out of the shooting matches with the other challengers. America 2 competed with US 42 in the Perth World Championships. Last summer, in a rare public performance during the Cadillac Cup, there was no doubt that US 44 was the quick turn champ of the East Coast.
US 44 is more of a one-design concept, though inter changeable, it takes up to three days to change keels on her. "US 44 has fulfilled the syndicate's expectations and more," Ehman said. "We are absolutely thrilled with 44 at this point. US 46 will continue to be an improvement based on data received from the first two boats."
America 2 recently wrapped up its second training season in Western Australia. With the first round-robin series set to start on October 5, 1986, America 2's crew has spent more time in Australian waters than any of the other challengers. There is much debate on whether America·2 may have spent too much time training in the demanding waters off Fremantle.
According to USA skipper and America's Cup veteran Tom Blackaller, “America 2's crew is under intense pressure to win the America's Cup back for the New York Yacht Club and I would not want to be part of their program," Blackaller said. "There is no way that America 2's crew will be able to peak on time once the trials get underway.
Physical conditioning of the crew and the boat's ability to withstand the elements day in and day out will be the key to winning or defending the America's Cup.
Sailing off the Western Australian Coast in a 12-Meter, the crew not only get saltwater in the face, but they are served with live fish as well. "Doing circles in 30-knot winds, there's stuff flying everywhere," says Kolius. "Water, wires, sails, it's like being in combat!"
Kolius, 34, is the Texas sail maker who optimized Courageous' performance in 1983, before being edged out by Liberty in the Defense finals. Kolius resigned as skipper last year, citing "syndicate politics" at that time. He returned to join America 2's program on the advent of their second Australian "summer". Kolius, mainsheet-trimmer Tom McGlaughlin, and tactician John Bertrand, from Sausalito, CA comprise the after guard onboard America 2.
America 2 placed third in the 12-Meter Worlds. Sailing with US 42, Kolius and Co. have knocked off Kookaburra in an unofficial series, and have sailed against Azzurra. Victory 83, and French Kiss while in Australia. During the Worlds, Alan Bond's Defense Limited 87 boats, Australia 2 and 3, spent a good deal of time shadow boxing with US 42.
Ehman told me that America 2 still needs to raise $5 million. "The Australian dollar is getting stronger and it has forced us to revise our budge." America 2's executive board met last week about joining the Americans, which is an umbrella fundraising group designed to create support for the American effort in Australia.
Five of the six American challenges have joined the Americans. The chairman of the group is Bob Scott of the Golden Gate Challenge in San Francisco. The Americans' goal is to entice corporate support that has been reluctant to back a regional effort. The funds raised would be equally divided among the syndicates.
America 2's board has decided not to join. “ We have legal, contractual and moral obligations to our corporate sponsors," said Ehman. "We're not trying to shoot it down," he said, "but it was an America 2 Syndicate decision, not the New York Yacht Club's"
"In fact the NYYC never look a position on the matter," said Ehman, adding that two years ago it would have been a great idea, but now it's "too little, too late."
"There is no way that some of these groups are going to be competitive," said Ehman. “And all they're going to do is hurt the rest of us and the chance of bringing the America's Cup back to the United States."
America 2 has raised more than $10 million, and Ehman is satisfied that the boat, crew and organization has a substantial edge. America 2's corporate sponsors include Newsweek, Cadillac and Amway.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Not a 12-Meter, but magnificant none the less.
Bill Koch's Matador racing during the summer of 1985 in Narragansett Bay. With Gary Jobson onboard and with many of sailing's rock stars in Newport, RI that week, it was a very competitive Swarovski Maxi Boat regatta. Dennis Conner was aboard Kialoa, Boomerang, Ondine and UBS Switzerland also took part. Photo Mark Wharton Reid
In 1 Day
"Why else would you build a 12-Meter in fiberglass, unless you wanted to cheat"?
Dennis Conner, 1986
Dennis Conner, 1986
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Be Careful of what you wish for....
Above is a shot of Stars and Stripes 88 The soft sail catamaran was not chosen to defend the America's Cup by Dennis Conner in 1988. The "hard wing" cat took the starting line honors and went on to crush the New Zealand monohull 2-0.
In 2 Days
"I went to bed pissed, I woke up pissed and if he(Blackaller) thinks I am going to race his goddam boat again, he can....."
Buddy Melges, April, 1986
Buddy Melges, April, 1986
A little Laundry
While we all wait; again, for the next round of court hearings, we did a little cleaning up and laundry here. I have re-entered some posts from earlier this year to update the record. A few of them were letters to Tom Ehman at BMW Oracle in the height of US98's meltdown, others are from past articles, which offer some differing perspectives on todays ongoing events.
At Your Word
At your word.
As the world, specifically Alinghi waits BMW Oracle's next move, there is much speculation on whether Larry Ellison's team will honor their intentions on the 9 point protocol or make a move towards their own power play.Both Russell Coutts and Tom Ehman have stated on numerous occasions that the impetis behind the legal challenge was to enforce the challenger's rights against the defender as applicable under the terms of the deed of gift. The New York Supreme Court has clearly upheld those rights.We have you "at your word".It is now imperitive that the Golden Gate Yacht Club move forward in a respectful way and amend the protocol for an America's Cup in Valencia in 2009.The only modification that is on the horizon is perhaps to modify the AC90 for match race worthiness. Great racing isn't only about speed.
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 10:29 AM 0 comments
Friday, November 30, 2007
Remember When?
NOVEMBER 1987 WHAT DOES THE WORLD REALLY WANT?
Malin Burnham, President of Sail America, "We have 25 signed affidavits to support our interpretation on racing in 12-Meters. The weight of the world is in our favor."
Michael Fay, New Zealand Challenge, "There is a great deal of worldwide support for such a competition (J-Boats), and it's growing."
Arthur J. Santry, Jr., Commodore New York Yacht Club, The San Diego Yacht Club's action is not in the best interest of the America's Cup and is inappropriate."
So tell me. What does the world really want? More importantly, what will the world get? Brace yourself, the battle lines for the "Auld Mug" are being drawn, and you had better be careful on which side you choose.Once again the America's Cup wars have returned to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, this time they're being waged on the floors of the New York Supreme Court.The litigation in New York began with Michael Fay's challenge for the Cup in 90 ft. waterline length boats, the maximum allowed under the Deed of Gift.The San Diego Yacht Club refused his challenge, so Fay brought the matter to court. Fay is attempting to hold the SDYC responsible for administering the provisions of competition for the Cup under the terms of the original Deed of Gift. "We have taken the initiative, both to challenge in 1988 and to do so in a completely different class of boat that will restore some of the romance and grandeur to the event," said Fay, who was the syndicate head of the New Zealand Challenge in Perth and is representing the Mercury Bay Boating Club in this matter.“We are dismayed and disappointed that Mr. Fay would elect to drag one of the world's premier sporting events into a court of law," states Malin Burnham, President of Sail America, and no stranger to Cup politics, having run Dennis Conner's last three campaigns.Sail America is manager of the SDYC's America's Cup Defense."I can assure Mr. Burnham and Sail America that this is a genuine and serious challenge, made in the best traditions of the America's Cup," says Fay, "and New Zealand will be pursuing it with full vigor.""Fay's action comes as no surprise," said Burnham. "It is merely further evidence of his determination to manipulate and control the terms of this matter to his own advantage."
THE DEED OF GIFT
The Mercury Bay Boating Club sent its challenge to the SDYC on July 15, 1987. Under the provisions set forth by the Deed, Fay gave the SDYC 10 months' notice, calling for races to be held on June 1, 3, & 7 of next year, off San Diego, in boats that will measure more than 135 feet in length.Unfortunately, the challenge came at an inopportune time for the SDYC, as they were struggling with Sail America just to hold the next Cup regatta in home waters.These giants will be ultra-light "trapeze" J-Class boats, with crews of 40 men. The boat is under construction now at Martens Marine in Auckland, NZ, and will be christened on February 27, 1988.The SDYC has received three other challenges to date in J-Class yachts. They include Alan Bond from the Royal Perth YC, Peter de Savary, representing the Royal Burnham YC, and the YCof Cannes, France. Both Bond and de Savary have also challenged in 12 Meters.To date, Sail America has received 20 challenges for 1991 in 12 Meters, and according to the affidavit filed on September 18th, half of those challengers have spent $7.7 million dollars on their 12Meter campaigns.The center of this controversy is the Deed of Gift. The Deed is the constitution of the America's Cup. All matters relating to the Deed are subject to interpretation by the New York Supreme Court. The original Deed of Gift was written in 1857 by the surviving members of the America Syndicate and the NYYC, which had won the America's Cup in 1851 off the Isle of Wight in England. It was amended in 1887 by George Schuyler.Two amendments have been added since then: in 1956 to allow for 12-Meters as the yacht of choice, and in 1984, to accommodate Perth, Australia, as trustee to the Cup.The storm revolves around a series of provisions, which are referred to as enabling resolutions.These unwritten by-laws to the Deed have gone unchallenged until now."If it were not for the NYYC in 1956 as acting trustee conceiving of ways to adapt the Deed to drastically changed times and circumstance, the America's Cup, would be a relic gathering dust,' states Burnham."Mr. Fay and his colleagues would have us forsake the living Deed of Gift at the very peak of its vitality and return instead to an obsolete match which bears no resemblance to the vigorous spirit of truly international competition so evident in Perth earlier this year!" states an emphatic Burnham."As trustee of the Cup, SDYC has a responsibility to protect the interests of all challengers," said Burnham."While we are unhappy to see Mr. Fay attempt to win in court what would be hard to win at sea, we are well-prepared to fight for the sake of the other challengers and for the future of the America's Cup.
ENTER NEW YORK YACHT CLUB
If one front in this war wasn't enough for the SDYC to wage, enter the NYYC, author of the Deed of Gift and trustee to the America's Cup for 132 years. The NYYC has gone to court to prevent SDYC's petition to amend the Deed, that would allow for the Cup to take place only every four years and then only in 12-Meters.The NYYC, which adamantly maintains that the Club takes no position in the suit between SDYC and Fay, and has stepped forth only to prevent, according to Commodore Arthur J. Santry, Jr., "each future trustee of the Cup from being able to dictate whatever terms for the challenge and defense of the Cup that seemed best to suit the interests of that trustee."There is a lot of misunderstanding in regards to the Deed of Gift," spoke Santry. "SDYC's actions are not in the interest of the Cup and is inappropriate." In response to the legality of Fay’s challenge, Santry said, 'I don't think there is any question about it.""It's important to remember that the NYYC does not support New Zealand's challenge," said Tom Ehman, executive VP and chief operating officer of Sail America. Ehman was also the executive director for the NYYC's unsuccessful America II challenge. "They are only involved in the separate proceeding in which we have asked to amend the Deed of Gift," states Ehman. "They have remained neutral on the challenge."
IN THE BEGINNING
When the SDYC first responded to Fay's challenge with a blunt thanks, but no thanks, it then went about its own business: you know 'Rain, rain, go away, come again another day'. Well, it never rains in San Diego, except on the day when the SDYC and the City chose to make their announcement on the America's Cup.Well, on that day, what was to have been a landmark occasion for the City of San Diego, became instead the format in which to respond to Fay's challenge. On the previous day, Fay had sought and obtained a restraining order from the Court preventing the SDYC from discussing any plans that relate to the 1991 Cup.The restraining order was lifted a week later, which basically meant that Sail America could proceed with their plans on paper, though no-one was rushing out to start pouring concrete. When Stars and Stripes won the America’s Cup earlier this year, Conner and Company had rolled through the New Zealand “plastic fantastic" to win the series 4 to 1 and earn the right to face Kookaburra 3 (which they trashed as well) for the America's Cup.Kiwi Magic was the first fiberglass 12-Meter and had passed technical inspection. But Conner, who plays the psychology game as well as anyone, and is not one to mince words about enemy technology, commented that, "Why else would you build a fiberglass 12 Meter, unless you were going to cheat?"Well, New Zealand hadn't, but that was not the point, and Conner knew it. But Fay wasn't about to let dead dogs lie, and while everyone in San Diego was haggling about where to hold the Cup Defense, he was up late studying the Deed.Also Russell Bowler, project manager for Kiwi Magic's fiberglass construction.Fay's challenge dictates that the races commence 10 months from the date of his challenge in accordance to the Deed, though the Judge has ruled the races would take place 10 months from her decree, if she rules in Fay's favor."What we are proposing won't be any easier than challenging in 12 Meters," said Fay. "New Zealand will again be the newcomer going against the Americans, who were invincible for more than 80 years when the Cup was raced in boats of the size we have nominated.""New Zealand is interested in sailing, not in being in court; we're looking back to the old traditions of the America's Cup, and we have to be careful that the sport does not become overly commercialized.""We welcome the challenges from Australia and Great Britain, and we are prepared to sail againstthem," said Fay, "and any other challenge that arrives in San Diego in time. Just to get the boat ready and to San Diego in time will be a major feat."New Zealand, J-l has a construction crew of 30 people working around the clock to get her ready. David Barnes, who skippered Kiwi Magic to a World Championship in Sardinia last summer is part of the resource of the program, but no decision will be made on a skipper for some time to come. Though no one would comment publicly, there can be no doubt that the Stars and Stripes brain trust are plugging in numbers for a J-Boat design of their own.“SDYC and Sail America are confident we have the moral and legal high ground in this matter, and we hope and expect a favorable decision shortly, states Ehman.”We haven't even taken our gloves off yet," boasts Burnham.
THE BOAT
The boats that Fay proposes to sail in are maxi-sloops whose likes haven't been seen around the America's Cup course since the turn of the century. Fay, along with his partner, David Rich white, has assembled a design team awesome in scope to work on plans for this ultra-light "trapeze J-Boat".Head of the design team is Bruce Farr, one of the co-designers of Kiwi Magic, and one of the best maxi-boat architects in the world. UBS Switzerland, which captured the line honors in last year's Whitbread Around-the World Race, was a Farr design.Joining Farr on the design team is Tom Schnackenberg, technical director of North Sails International. “Schnack” the man responsible for Australia 2's winning sails in 1983.
San Diego is it!
It is interesting that the announcement the San Diego Yacht Club wanted to make, and Southern California wanted to hear for so long was forced to take a backseat to· Michael Fay's lawsuit.Barring unforeseen circumstances, San Diego, California will host the 27th Defense of the America's Cup in 1988 or 1991."We were prepared to announce San Diego as the venue on September 2nd", said Gerry Driscoll, chairman of San Diego s America's Cup Committee. "We held off because of a temporary restraining order issued by the New York Supreme Court."The announcement ended months of speculation that Honolulu, Hawaii would host the defense. After Fremantle's spectacular setting and heavy winds there was a great deal of support to race off the Hawaiian coast. But, in the end, SDYC received the community support it was looking for, and as the story goes, "There is no second place."Plans call for the America's Cup course to be located 7 to 15 miles southwest of Point Lorna, past the notorious kelp beds which he along Coronado Roads. Light air is listed as prime enemy number one, but SDYC officials insist that during the planned months of competition, April through August - that the breezes average a robust 10-14 knots. That may be a bit overstated, but there is a consistent breeze between 12:00 noon and 5 p.m. in the afternoon. Consideration may haveto be given to raising the five hour time limit per race to 6 hours, or shortening the course.One of the interesting features of the ocean off San Diego are the huge rolling swells, which could produce a lot of surfing 12-Meters or Trapeze J’s.
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at
Dec 4, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Double Talk?
The new challenger of record, BMW Oracle appears to want to have it both ways, or all ways. In trying to placate Valencia or maybe fearful of a law suit, Russell Coutts indicates that they would be willing to commit to a Valencia defense in 2011 for AC 34. This would seem to indicate that BMW Oracle is looking to challenge for the 'Cup in a multi-hull next year and try to bring the challengers onboard win or lose for a full scale America's Cup in 2011.It would be nice if at some point BMW Oracle would try to work on generating some enthusiasm here in the United States for the America's Cup. Possibly enlisting supporting yacht clubs and conducting some regattas in Newport, Florida, Chicago and California with 2 of its ACC boats.Having been involved in the America Cup activities covering USA in 1984-86, I can't emphasize enough the fact that San Francisco Bay would provide the most spectacular setting for the America's Cup in history. Not to mention that the Golden Gate Yacht Club would certainly want to host the event. Afterall they would be the custodians of the "Trust". Anyway, isn't this the trouble that Dennis Conner got into in 1987 when his syndicate wanted to host races in Hawaii as opposed to San Diego, which prompted Michael Fay's challenge for the 'Cup.To make a long story short, the challengers are onboard for 2009, and legally the contracts seem to be in place to hold the event there. So lets drop the double talk.
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 11:40 AM 0 comments
Monday, December 3, 2007
Whats Next?
Whats next?We have had a week now since the verdict. It is not surprising that there has been silence from the Alinghi camp. It is important for them to study all options, before moving forward. Hopefully, with the conscensious of the challengers we will have 'Cup racing in 2009. It would seem with the Judge Cahn's verdict and Team New Zealand's contract, that would be the case. But, more and more I am thinking cats for next year. With each passing day it seems more and more likely.
Double Talk?
The new challenger of record, BMW Oracle appears to want to have it both ways, or all ways. In trying to placate Valencia or maybe fearful of a law suit, Russell Coutts indicates that they would be willing to commit to a Valencia defense in 2011 for AC 34. This would seem to indicate that BMW Oracle is looking to challenge for the 'Cup in a multi-hull next year and try to bring the challengers onboard win or lose for a full scale America's Cup in 2011.It would be nice if at some point BMW Oracle would try to work on generating some enthusiasm here in the United States for the America's Cup. Possibly enlisting supporting yacht clubs and conducting some regattas in Newport, Florida, Chicago and California with 2 of its ACC boats.Having been involved in the America Cup activities covering USA in 1984-86, I can't emphasize enough the fact that San Francisco Bay would provide the most spectacular setting for the America's Cup in history. Not to mention that the Golden Gate Yacht Club would certainly want to host the event. Afterall they would be the custodians of the "Trust". Anyway, isn't this the trouble that Dennis Conner got into in 1987 when his syndicate wanted to host races in Hawaii as opposed to San Diego, which prompted Michael Fay's challenge for the 'Cup.To make a long story short, the challengers are onboard for 2009, and legally the contracts seem to be in place to hold the event there. So lets drop the double talk.
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 11:40 AM 0 comments
Monday, December 3, 2007
Whats Next?
Whats next?We have had a week now since the verdict. It is not surprising that there has been silence from the Alinghi camp. It is important for them to study all options, before moving forward. Hopefully, with the conscensious of the challengers we will have 'Cup racing in 2009. It would seem with the Judge Cahn's verdict and Team New Zealand's contract, that would be the case. But, more and more I am thinking cats for next year. With each passing day it seems more and more likely.
June 20, 2007
More of the Same?
Breakfast in Valencia Race 1
More of the Same?Exhibition season was game on, as America’s Cup Race One between the defender Alinghi, representing the Yacht Club Geneva and the challenger, Team Emirates New Zealand from the New Zealand Yacht Squadron turned into a sparring match, with little to show other than both boats were on the water at the same time.The box score will show that Alinghi captured the first race by 35 seconds, but there was relatively little action and virtually no dust ups at the start. The wind was steady out of the northeast at 11 to 14 knots, with choppy seas, in large part due to the massive spectator fleet.TNZ took the start, but it became apparent halfway up the first leg towards the mark that the left hand side was favored and again, Valencia, Spain has demonstrated that the playing the shifts correctly will win you races. The boats are relatively evenly matched upwind, but downwind Alinghi, sailing SUI 100 for the first time in competition is a veritable rocket ship.SUI 100 showed exceptional acceleration under spinnaker, sailing away at will. Emirates TNZ, NZ 92 modified their boat, during the 3 weeks between the Louis Vuitton Cup final and this match, they bolted on a longer, thinner keel in order to enhance their upwind performance. In the America’s Cup races, rounding the first mark ahead, spells victory 80% of the time.There are very few passing lanes on the ‘Cup course and while TNZ should feel emboldened by their improved speed into the wind, unfortunately though, Alinghi demonstrated downwind, that they can put it into another gear and should be able to blow by the Kiwis, regardless of how far in front they are. Again, the wind shifts hold the key.American challenger, BMW-Oracle made a similar change in the semi-finals against Italians on Luna Rosa, sacrificing what seemed to be blazing speed downwind for improved performance on the beat and they got smoked 5-1. The question to the Kiwis would be; why would they sacrifice the proven performance they demonstrated against the Italian boat in the LVC Cup final to take chances against the Swiss?Both skippers, American Ed Baird on Alinghi and Dean Barker on New Zealand drove their boats well with no mistakes, but the advantage again lie, with the formidable former Kiwi, Brad Butterworth aboard SUI 100. Butterworth, as tactician, has yet to lose an America’s Cup race. Since 1995 he is 16-0. Which unfortunately is the biggest problem with the actual ‘Cup races, the winning boat is 26-1 since 1983, when Dennis Conner lost the auld mug to the Australians in seven heart stopping races.So tomorrow, will we see the kiwi’s bounce back and make it a series, or will we see more of the same, with another monotonous America’s Cup final?
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 10:28 AM 0 comments
All of Our Tomorrows
The following are blog excerpts to BMW-Oracle’s Executive Director Tom Ehman. Beginning with BMW’s breakdown and loss to the Chinese to start RR-2, cracks in the vinnear on the afterguard began to develop, which prompted the following dialogue. Which was picked up on by not only the BMW Syndicate, which followed many of the suggested changes, but also the NY Times, which had its ear to the ground on this one:
May 21“All of Our Tomorrows”TFE and Oracle Team,I know I speak for many here in the 'States that are disapointed that BMW-Oracle is not moving on to the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals and beyond, but it is important to remember that challenging for the America's Cup and winning it are building blocks on which to move forward. Sir Thomas Lipton tried 5 times to no avail, though almost grabbed it in 1920. Alan Bond won it on his 4th attempt and it took New Zealand 4 tries before winning,(though thru different challenges). You can say the Swiss won with the defending team from 2000 and not be far off the mark. The point I am trying to make here is, that it is important and vital for this challenge to continue towards the 33rd America's Cup. The pieces for a strong team are in place and though certainly mistakes were made, the best way to overcome and win is thru adversity. Certainly Oracle wasn't built in a day. My two cents worth;1] Take your team and compete vigerously on the European Match Circuit.2] Continue to work with Gavin Brady, Sten Mohr and develope some young rock stars.There is a lot of talent out there.3] Continue to work your ideas on US 87 and US 98.4] Build a strong network of supporting US Yacht Clubs and hold regattas in Newport, NewYork, San Diego, Chicago etc...5] Create an America's Cup sailing magazine or partner with an existing one to develope faninterest.6] Not to be overly critical of Chris or Larry's role, but don't give anyone person all the keys tothe store. Build a strong TEAM.7] Bring more US Corporations on board and most importantly bring home our sailors, like Peter Hutchinson, Ed Baird, Peter Holmberg etc.Good Luck and congratulations on your best efforts!Waiting for more breakfast in Valencia,Mark Wharton Reid, 12-Meter Update
May 20, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
BMW Blog Exchange
The following are blog excerpts to BMW-Oracle’s Executive Director Tom Ehman. Beginning with BMW’s breakdown and loss to the Chinese to start RR-2, cracks in vinnear on the afterguard began to develop, which prompted the following dialogue:
May 20“It Takes Courage”Chris, It takes courage to make a change. Part of the responsibility of being a strong leader, is showing leadership. I have TFE'd over the last few days and have been very critical of your performance, but at the end of the day you are the man in charge. My word in your ear is this:take a good look at your team, you have assembled these pieces of the puzzle to complete the big picture. Which one of those pieces, right now, has the best chance at giving your team a lift, especially in the starting area. Because, the reality is that if you can control the start, you will win the race. Do this one race at a time, pull out the pieces and determine which one will be the best fit to complete the picture that day. You have shown exceptional leadership at times. Your drive across the Atlantic on Toshiba was brilliant! You displayed courage and fortitude, in bringing Sayanara and your crew home to port safely in the Sydney to Hobart Race in 1998, which claimed several lifes. You can do this, just have the courage and yes, some humility/humanity to make a shuffle to the back of the boat. Everyone is behind you. Lets do it!Looking forward to breakfast in Valencia, tomorrow.Mark Wharton Reid
May 19“Davy Jones” ServiceTFE, Tom, I read your reply to a previous post. I can't believe that you, of all people are in this much denial. All you have to do is look at the long list of good sailors, that have left your team or been forced out over the last several years, to know that there is no "I" in team, though there is in "win", but Dickson has never won at this level. The Italians did come back from a 4-1 deficit in 1992, but that had more to do with their legal tactics and the bowsprit issue than coming back and grinding it out on the water. The tactics from the last few races seems to be a "groundhog day" replay of Stars and Stripes miracle finish against Mighty Mary in 1995 than any sense of sailing reality. What should have happened today after that terrible start (told you so) was to push the Italians into a penalty of their own, not going out to find a way to get 45 seconds ahead. In 2000 the Prada Team were exceptional in drawing blood to even the score after incurring a penalty. Tom, at what point do you accept responsibilty for this team and their actions? No one person can go it alone. There has to be a way to create positive dialogue for the 5th race. Again, what about have Sten Mehr start the boat and then turning over the wheel to Chris? Surely at this point, we know that James Spithill owns Dickson in the starting box. Anyway, good luck, we all all behind this effort, even if we are all pressed into "Davy Jones" service at the bottom of the Med Sea. Again, here's to breakfast in Valencia.Mark Wharton Reid
May 18"Onions"TFE, Well its come down to Larry exerting some long overdue leadership and having the "onions" to make a change. He has 2 choices:1] Sticking with his "Ahab" and sinking right to the bottom 2] Shaking up the afterguard and bringing Sten Mehr onboard for the start, before relinquishing the helm. It was this shakeup to the back of the boat in 2003 that allowed BMW-Oracle to crawl back. My greatest fear in 2004 was, when Peter Holmberg was let go and allowed to go to Alinghi, that BMW lost the abilty to have that aggression in the starting area pay dividends up the first legs and allow BMW''s superior downwind speed to dominate. Luna Rossa has been allowed to dictate the pace, that in combination with "breakdowns" has created an unacceptable outcome to date, but....its not to late. Don't wait. Restless at Breakfast,Mark Wharton Reid
May 17“Seat Of The Pants Sailing”TFE, What was challenging about today's conditions, was that with all the different shifts out there, you can toss that 19th man overboard and his computer and get down to some old fashioned seat-of-the-pants sailing. What happened to BMW-Oracle's ability to sniff out the wind shifts on the windward legs and be somewhat adaptable to the changing conditions? After sailing brilliantly to get back in the game downwind, Dickson seemed to go for the kill at the gate rather than staying with the Italians to start that 3rd leg. It was easy for the Kiwi's and the Spanish, all they had to do was watch the race ahead and play the shifts. Even though I am disappointed in today's results, hopefully there was some lessons learned in being;1] Be more adaptable to changing conditions, like staying w/ Luna Rosa cut your losses.2] be more responsive to pressure changes, it was obvious what was coming over the mountains, you don't have to be a billionaire to see that.3]BMW is the faster boat, be patient upwind and sail away downwind.4]Let the sailors do the sailing.Anyway, Go USA! From the North Shore,Mark Wharton Reid
May 5“Dear Tom”TFE,As someone who follows the America's Cup intently and with passion, I cannot feel anymore disappointed than what has happened this morning aboard BMW-Oracle. I have posted on your blog and am dropping you this note out of respect that with someone in your position and background, that you will help take the steps necessary to insure that this does not happen again.If I had the financial means to be in Valencia, I would, but with "live tracker", the New York Times, the New Zealand Herald, Seahorse, Yachting World and your website, I am doing the best I can. I am not Monday morning quarterbacking and I know you and I understand Chris and Larry enough that this "gear" problem on a "normal" breezy day should not happen to a $200 million dollar America's Cup campaign.Anyway, this is by no means an indictment against Sten Mohr, and I understand that there is a great party going on over in Valencia, but maybe its time to get to the business at hand and bring the America's Cup back home to America, where it belongs. Then you all can party like its 2010!SINCERELY,Mark Wharton Reid
To those of you who slept in or haven't been paying attention, the American Boat BMW-Oracle mailed in a loss today against the Chinese, of all teams, losing the race after blowing a head stay after a gear failure. With points at a premium, every race is critical and losing this one is inexcusable. I wrote to BMW’s Executive Director and Rules Expert Tom Ehman, who has formerly worked as the Executive Director for the 28th America’s Cup and in Formula One with Mercedes McClaren, and his reply was:
Wow!Glad you feel so strongly about supporting the USA team, but, really, Mr. Reid isn't that a bit over the top? Putting Sten and his team from 87 on 98 today was, in my opinion, a very good call by Dicko and our sailing team. Our 98 crew has been out there now almost every day for two weeks straight. With another nine continuous days of racing ahead of us, today was the best day to give them a break. The head foil problem could have happened to either crew. Indeed Dicko was driving when we had a similar problem in Act 13.So Mr. Reid, speaking of zipping it! But we certainly agree on one thing: anything short of winning the AC is failure. Despite today's minor setback, I wouldn't trade our position tonight with any other team -- not even close. --TFE
May 4"National Embarrassment".This is an inexcusable failure on the part of the after guard at BMW-Oracle! If complacency has already set in because your sitting in first place at the end of Flight #1, then its going to be a short trip to the next round and a long ride home. To have a repeat gear failure, the first day the breeze actually comes up and to take the Chinese fore granted is; and should be, cause for concern. Let’s face it; Chris Dickson has never won the big one. For him and Larry Ellison, not to be onboard today, displays in short order the "cocaine attitude" that prevails on the BMW-Oracle boat. This takes nothing away from the fine job that Sten Mohr has done and is doing, but the bottom line is; anything short of BMW-Oracle winning the America's Cup will be abject failure. It's Ellison that has raised the bar on this one, certainly not, (until today) an aloof America. So, boys, its time to drop your martinis, pull up your trousers, zip it up and get on with the job. From an American who is not asleep at the helm and spending breakfasts in Valencia. Mark Wharton Reid
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 7:06 AM 0 comments
Monday, May 14, 2007
Italians sail smarter in horizon job
Unfortunately, in the first races of the semi-finals BMW-Oracle got smoked by a smarter Italian Team on Luna Rosa. After playing some wild wind shifts perfectly, Luna Rosa stayed in front when the sea-breeze kicked in to win by over 2:00 minutes in Race 1. Team Emerates NZ beat ESP by just under a minute, as the Kiwis were able to watch the race ahead and avoid the holes the Americans were sailing in.I hope we are not into a repeat of 2000, when the faster America One was beaten by the crafty Italians who sailed smarter and with more aggression. It is time for Larry Ellison to vacate the boat and leave the sailing to the sailors, he contributes very little onboard, except to stress out the afterguard. They should have miked up these boats like Fremantle and San Diego. The discourse and dialogue on BMW-Oracle would sure beat out the cat fighting on Mighty Mary.To BMW - Oracle I wrote:What was challenging about today's conditions, was that with all the different shifts out there, you can toss that 19th man overboard and his computer and get down to some old fashioned seat-of-the-pants sailing. What happened to BMW-Oracle's ability to sniff out the wind shifts on the windward legs and be somewhat adaptable to the changing conditions? After sailing brilliantly to get back in the game downwind, Dickson seemed to go for the kill at the gate rather than staying with the Italians to start that 3rd leg. It was easy for the Kiwi's and the Spanish, all they had to do was watch the race ahead and play the shifts.Even though I am disappointed in today's results, hopefully there was some lessons learned in being;1] more adaptable to changing conditions, like staying with Luna Rosa and cut your losses.2] be more responsive to pressure changes, it was obvious what was coming over the mountains, you don't have to be a billionaire to see that.3] BMW is the faster boat, be patient upwind and sail away downwind.4] Let the sailors do the sailing.Anyway, Go USA!From the North Shore, and under the northern lights!Mark Wharton Reidps Alex, jr is going to get smoked again this week by Tony!
BMW Blog Exchange
The following are blog excerpts to BMW-Oracle’s Executive Director Tom Ehman. Beginning with BMW’s breakdown and loss to the Chinese to start RR-2, cracks in vinnear on the afterguard began to develop, which prompted the following dialogue:
May 20“It Takes Courage”Chris, It takes courage to make a change. Part of the responsibility of being a strong leader, is showing leadership. I have TFE'd over the last few days and have been very critical of your performance, but at the end of the day you are the man in charge. My word in your ear is this:take a good look at your team, you have assembled these pieces of the puzzle to complete the big picture. Which one of those pieces, right now, has the best chance at giving your team a lift, especially in the starting area. Because, the reality is that if you can control the start, you will win the race. Do this one race at a time, pull out the pieces and determine which one will be the best fit to complete the picture that day. You have shown exceptional leadership at times. Your drive across the Atlantic on Toshiba was brilliant! You displayed courage and fortitude, in bringing Sayanara and your crew home to port safely in the Sydney to Hobart Race in 1998, which claimed several lifes. You can do this, just have the courage and yes, some humility/humanity to make a shuffle to the back of the boat. Everyone is behind you. Lets do it!Looking forward to breakfast in Valencia, tomorrow.Mark Wharton Reid
May 19“Davy Jones” ServiceTFE, Tom, I read your reply to a previous post. I can't believe that you, of all people are in this much denial. All you have to do is look at the long list of good sailors, that have left your team or been forced out over the last several years, to know that there is no "I" in team, though there is in "win", but Dickson has never won at this level. The Italians did come back from a 4-1 deficit in 1992, but that had more to do with their legal tactics and the bowsprit issue than coming back and grinding it out on the water. The tactics from the last few races seems to be a "groundhog day" replay of Stars and Stripes miracle finish against Mighty Mary in 1995 than any sense of sailing reality. What should have happened today after that terrible start (told you so) was to push the Italians into a penalty of their own, not going out to find a way to get 45 seconds ahead. In 2000 the Prada Team were exceptional in drawing blood to even the score after incurring a penalty. Tom, at what point do you accept responsibilty for this team and their actions? No one person can go it alone. There has to be a way to create positive dialogue for the 5th race. Again, what about have Sten Mehr start the boat and then turning over the wheel to Chris? Surely at this point, we know that James Spithill owns Dickson in the starting box. Anyway, good luck, we all all behind this effort, even if we are all pressed into "Davy Jones" service at the bottom of the Med Sea. Again, here's to breakfast in Valencia.Mark Wharton Reid
May 18"Onions"TFE, Well its come down to Larry exerting some long overdue leadership and having the "onions" to make a change. He has 2 choices:1] Sticking with his "Ahab" and sinking right to the bottom 2] Shaking up the afterguard and bringing Sten Mehr onboard for the start, before relinquishing the helm. It was this shakeup to the back of the boat in 2003 that allowed BMW-Oracle to crawl back. My greatest fear in 2004 was, when Peter Holmberg was let go and allowed to go to Alinghi, that BMW lost the abilty to have that aggression in the starting area pay dividends up the first legs and allow BMW''s superior downwind speed to dominate. Luna Rossa has been allowed to dictate the pace, that in combination with "breakdowns" has created an unacceptable outcome to date, but....its not to late. Don't wait. Restless at Breakfast,Mark Wharton Reid
May 17“Seat Of The Pants Sailing”TFE, What was challenging about today's conditions, was that with all the different shifts out there, you can toss that 19th man overboard and his computer and get down to some old fashioned seat-of-the-pants sailing. What happened to BMW-Oracle's ability to sniff out the wind shifts on the windward legs and be somewhat adaptable to the changing conditions? After sailing brilliantly to get back in the game downwind, Dickson seemed to go for the kill at the gate rather than staying with the Italians to start that 3rd leg. It was easy for the Kiwi's and the Spanish, all they had to do was watch the race ahead and play the shifts. Even though I am disappointed in today's results, hopefully there was some lessons learned in being;1] Be more adaptable to changing conditions, like staying w/ Luna Rosa cut your losses.2] be more responsive to pressure changes, it was obvious what was coming over the mountains, you don't have to be a billionaire to see that.3]BMW is the faster boat, be patient upwind and sail away downwind.4]Let the sailors do the sailing.Anyway, Go USA! From the North Shore,Mark Wharton Reid
May 5“Dear Tom”TFE,As someone who follows the America's Cup intently and with passion, I cannot feel anymore disappointed than what has happened this morning aboard BMW-Oracle. I have posted on your blog and am dropping you this note out of respect that with someone in your position and background, that you will help take the steps necessary to insure that this does not happen again.If I had the financial means to be in Valencia, I would, but with "live tracker", the New York Times, the New Zealand Herald, Seahorse, Yachting World and your website, I am doing the best I can. I am not Monday morning quarterbacking and I know you and I understand Chris and Larry enough that this "gear" problem on a "normal" breezy day should not happen to a $200 million dollar America's Cup campaign.Anyway, this is by no means an indictment against Sten Mohr, and I understand that there is a great party going on over in Valencia, but maybe its time to get to the business at hand and bring the America's Cup back home to America, where it belongs. Then you all can party like its 2010!SINCERELY,Mark Wharton Reid
To those of you who slept in or haven't been paying attention, the American Boat BMW-Oracle mailed in a loss today against the Chinese, of all teams, losing the race after blowing a head stay after a gear failure. With points at a premium, every race is critical and losing this one is inexcusable. I wrote to BMW’s Executive Director and Rules Expert Tom Ehman, who has formerly worked as the Executive Director for the 28th America’s Cup and in Formula One with Mercedes McClaren, and his reply was:
Wow!Glad you feel so strongly about supporting the USA team, but, really, Mr. Reid isn't that a bit over the top? Putting Sten and his team from 87 on 98 today was, in my opinion, a very good call by Dicko and our sailing team. Our 98 crew has been out there now almost every day for two weeks straight. With another nine continuous days of racing ahead of us, today was the best day to give them a break. The head foil problem could have happened to either crew. Indeed Dicko was driving when we had a similar problem in Act 13.So Mr. Reid, speaking of zipping it! But we certainly agree on one thing: anything short of winning the AC is failure. Despite today's minor setback, I wouldn't trade our position tonight with any other team -- not even close. --TFE
May 4"National Embarrassment".This is an inexcusable failure on the part of the after guard at BMW-Oracle! If complacency has already set in because your sitting in first place at the end of Flight #1, then its going to be a short trip to the next round and a long ride home. To have a repeat gear failure, the first day the breeze actually comes up and to take the Chinese fore granted is; and should be, cause for concern. Let’s face it; Chris Dickson has never won the big one. For him and Larry Ellison, not to be onboard today, displays in short order the "cocaine attitude" that prevails on the BMW-Oracle boat. This takes nothing away from the fine job that Sten Mohr has done and is doing, but the bottom line is; anything short of BMW-Oracle winning the America's Cup will be abject failure. It's Ellison that has raised the bar on this one, certainly not, (until today) an aloof America. So, boys, its time to drop your martinis, pull up your trousers, zip it up and get on with the job. From an American who is not asleep at the helm and spending breakfasts in Valencia. Mark Wharton Reid
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 7:06 AM 0 comments
Monday, May 14, 2007
Italians sail smarter in horizon job
Unfortunately, in the first races of the semi-finals BMW-Oracle got smoked by a smarter Italian Team on Luna Rosa. After playing some wild wind shifts perfectly, Luna Rosa stayed in front when the sea-breeze kicked in to win by over 2:00 minutes in Race 1. Team Emerates NZ beat ESP by just under a minute, as the Kiwis were able to watch the race ahead and avoid the holes the Americans were sailing in.I hope we are not into a repeat of 2000, when the faster America One was beaten by the crafty Italians who sailed smarter and with more aggression. It is time for Larry Ellison to vacate the boat and leave the sailing to the sailors, he contributes very little onboard, except to stress out the afterguard. They should have miked up these boats like Fremantle and San Diego. The discourse and dialogue on BMW-Oracle would sure beat out the cat fighting on Mighty Mary.To BMW - Oracle I wrote:What was challenging about today's conditions, was that with all the different shifts out there, you can toss that 19th man overboard and his computer and get down to some old fashioned seat-of-the-pants sailing. What happened to BMW-Oracle's ability to sniff out the wind shifts on the windward legs and be somewhat adaptable to the changing conditions? After sailing brilliantly to get back in the game downwind, Dickson seemed to go for the kill at the gate rather than staying with the Italians to start that 3rd leg. It was easy for the Kiwi's and the Spanish, all they had to do was watch the race ahead and play the shifts.Even though I am disappointed in today's results, hopefully there was some lessons learned in being;1] more adaptable to changing conditions, like staying with Luna Rosa and cut your losses.2] be more responsive to pressure changes, it was obvious what was coming over the mountains, you don't have to be a billionaire to see that.3] BMW is the faster boat, be patient upwind and sail away downwind.4] Let the sailors do the sailing.Anyway, Go USA!From the North Shore, and under the northern lights!Mark Wharton Reidps Alex, jr is going to get smoked again this week by Tony!
May 3, 2007
Monday, April 30, 2007
National Embarassment
To those of you who slept in or haven't been paying attention, the American Boat BMW-Oracle mailed in a loss today against the Chinese, of all teams, losing the race after blowing a headstay after a gear failure. With points at a premium, every race is critical and losing this one is inexcusable. I wrote;blog text:"National Embarassment".This is an inexcusable failure on the part of the afterguard at BMW-Oracle! If complacency has already set in because your sitting in first place at the end of Flight #1, then its going to be a short trip to the next round and a long ride home. To have a repeat gear failure, the first day the breeze actually comes up and to take the Chinese foregranted is; and should be, cause for concern. Lets face it, Chris Dickson has never won the big one. For him and Larry Ellison, not to be onboard today, displays in short order the "cocaine attitude" that prevails on the BMW-Oracle boat. This takes nothing away from the fine job that Sten Mohr has done and is doing, but the bottom line is; anything short of BMW-Oracle winning the America's Cup will be abjuct failure. It's Ellison, that has raised the bar on this one, certainly not,(until today) an aloof America. So, boys, its to to drop your martini's, pull up your trousers, zip it up and get on with the job.From an American who is not asleep at the helm and spending breakfasts in Valencia. Mark Wharton Reid
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 8:40 AM 0 comments
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Interview with Gary Mull, 1985
Hey Racers!
Just a little bit of reading material, while your waiting for the breeze to blow in Spain. As predicted Mascalzone Italia will be force to be dealt with after knocking off the Kiwis. There will be a complete update posted on Monday and daily thereafter. -ed.
The following articles are from America's Cup past......
The following excerpt is from Twelve Meter Update; March 22, 1985.Interview with Naval Architect Gary MullGary Mull, is one of the 3 naval architects, which comprise the Golden Gate Challenge’s design team. He lives up in the hills overlooking Oakland and has a passion for his cappuccino machine. He is no stranger to 12-Meter yachts or to the St. Francis Yacht Club. Along with Heiner Meldner, from Lawrence Livermore Labs and Scientific Application’s Alberto Calderon, Mull is hard at work on the design plans, of what could become a revolutionary new yacht built to compete against Australia in the next America’s Cup.He was chairman of the International Yacht Racing Union’s (IYRU) technical committee. He has served on the keelboat committee which rules on 12-Meter yachts measurement matters and has designed 6-Meter yachts for the ‘uber successful StFYC program. In addition to working on the new 12-Meter yachts, Mull is putting the finishing touches on a 30-footer for Ron Moore and a new 36’ Freedom for Tillotson-Pearson in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.After flirting briefly with Dennis Conner’s Sail America program in San Diego, Mull brought the drafting board home to the Golden Gate Challenge, when an agreement was reached in November of last year. Though the idea of working with designers Brit Chance and Bruce Nelson was appealing, his loyalty to the members at the StFYC set the stage. Mull feels that the Sail America program will be a very tough team to compete against, but that the Golden Gate Challenge 87 boat has the best computer modeling capabilities of any of the competing challengers, foreign or domestic.Aside from designing yachts and his impassioned love of the art of coffee, Mr. Mull took a few minutes away from his tremendous work load to talk to us about his involvement with the America’s Cup and the new St Francis 12 Meter.Q - Will the lack of a trial horse to use as a yardstick, hinder your approach to the design of the new 12-Meter?A - It’s not necessary. We have a lot of information, certificates and good approximate shapes of the more competitive 12-Meter boats. Not exact, but good approximations. Unless, someone has an extremely well kept secret. But, I suspect that is not the case, because absolute secretsare hard to keep in this business. Also, I feel we have the best technical people in the business, along with the best computer modeling capability of any of the competing syndicates.Q- Was Ben Lexcen’s boat Australia 2 a true breakthrough under the guidelines or was he forcinga rules change for 12-Meters?A- The interesting aspect about the 12-Meter rule is that it is quite different from most rating rulesIn that it is a measurement rule, rather than a rating rule. In IOR, IORC, and MORC rulesIf a boat gets longer, the rating goes up. If a boat gets lighter, the rating goes up.On the other hand, if a boat gets heavier the rating goes down and if a boat gets shorterthe rating goes down. If the sail area goes up or down, the ratings go up or down. Ifthe stability of a boat goes either way so does the rating, etc. etc. But the 12-Meter rule is different in that there is no measurement of stability except for a limit on minimumdisplacement, based on waterline length. There is an extremely heavy penalty if you gounder the minimum displacement, but no credit if you go over.The international rules for 12-Meters simply takes length + sail areaand divides it by 2.37 and if it comes out a 12-Meter, you’re in business.It is a simple rule, if you want a longer boat, you get less sail area and ifyou build a shorter boat you will have more sail area. There are correctionsfor the shape of the boat at the ends and mid-section.The stickler in this is the minimum displacement, the structural weight of a 12-Meterdeck, mast, skin, frame, etc. is locked. Every 12-Meter has a minimum deck weightand hull weight in terms of pounds per square foot of deck and hull. That meansthe total structural weight of all twelve meter boats is very close to the same number.However, minimum displacement is based on waterline length. So if you take a nominalboat with a 45’ waterline length and make it longer, your structural weight won’t changemuch, but according to the rules your total weight has to. So you add the weight inballast. If you want a heavy air boat, you are in great shape under the 12-Meter rules,because when you make the boat longer, it has to get heavier because of the ruleand it gets heavier in ballast because the structural weights are controlled.Now, if you want to build a short boat like (Johan Valentijn’s) Magic orAustralia 2, the only area that you can lose the weight is giving it up in ballastsince the structural weight is essentially locked in. The fascination of the rule for thedesigner is to pick that combination of length and sail area that will give you enoughlength and stability through the ballast to sail right side up in a breeze and enough sail areato sail in light air. That is what Magic lacked, she tipped over and couldn’t stay up in a breeze.The keel for Australia 2 served that purpose admirably. By turning the keel upsidedown and putting four or five thousand pounds in the form of lead wings on the bottom, thecenter of gravity of the ballast shifted downward tremendously and given the weightincreased the stability of the boat.The hook in all of this is that the general idea of winglets and endplates hasbeen known for years and the most solid developmental work was done by an American,Richard Witcomb, at NASA in Langley, Virginia. An American syndicate mayhave considered it last time around, but probably felt that it would not be legal under the12-Meter rule against peculiarities.( Mull was on the Keelboat Committee during the America’s Cup races at that time in 1983and felt that at the time most committee members were against winglets and that they shouldhave ruled on the matter.-ed)Q- The St. Francis Challenge 87 is going to build 2 new boats, a “revolutionary” boat and thefirst yacht to be built will be an “evolutionary” boat. Will your first one be aninterchangeable parts boat like the New York Yacht Club’s America II ? Or, do youhave a specific design in mind?A- We definitely have a specific idea in mind for our first boat. There will undoubtedly a few adjustable parts, but frankly we don’t see the need for a sailing lab like America II.They seem to be doing a lot of tests that have been conducted before, like re-doingsailing proportions, going from a 24’ J in & out 2 or 3 feet, or testing the aspect ratio ofthe fore triangle.We have a group of some incredible talent, like Heiner, who is the guy who developedmost of these new testing procedures with the use of super computers in fluiddynamics with large scale simulations. We will take the best data to date and feed it into thecomputers and expound on that, for the first “evolutionary boat. At the same timecarry on some parallel work that is really far out, which will be used on thesecond boat. The first boat will not look much different in general detail (to other 12-Meterboats) but, the second boat will certainly be different. As a designer, I am having more funthan I can shake a stick at!Q- How will the new computers affect the shape of twelve-meter yachts in the future?A- 12-Meters will look like twelve’s for some time to come. A lot of the boats are havingproblems with water coming aboard and the new course changes in Fremantle onthe shorter legs will affect some of the new designs. “Will you want a boat that is more? maneuverable, since there will be a shorter time to the lay line, or do you want justpure boat speed?We have three computers and are probably going to acquire a fourth. We have agrowing library of computer software, some of which is just given to us by companiesthat want to help win the ‘Cup back. We can now develop different shapes in the computer.See what it looks like and then run it thru programs that will go through full stabilitycalculations of displacement and wetted surface, which are the static programs. We gofrom there to a series of structural programs, measurement programs and shape development.We even have a 12-Meter ratings program, so we can measure it in the computer. Thereare some dynamics programs which will tell us about performance potential of the boatin a variety of wind and weather conditions, starting with a velocity prediction program (VPP).In the old days, it would take at least 6 to 8 weeks to develop one concept. Whichled designers to be very conservative. We can now due most of it in a day! The next stepis we take this information out to the big super computers out of the office which do extremelycomplex panelization of fluid dynamic modeling which is very expensive and time consuming.But, we have cut thru most of the crap by then. We are still going to do tank testing with models about 22” long. The best part of all of this is that I’m having more fun with this than I canpossibly imagine. It is a kick!12-Meter Notes….While the other syndicates wade knee deep through waves of propaganda hype about there new boats, the Golden Gate Challenge attitude carries Skipper Tom Blackaller’s mantra; “cut the crap, we are going to build the best boat and we expect to win! ” “Period.”Physicist Meldner works out of Lawrence Livermore Labs on large scale super computer simulations of hulls and sails, along with Caldron, of Advanced Aeromechanisms, which designs wings for NASA. The design trio is joined by Alfred Buckingham, whose expertise is in sail design and fluid dynamics.The first boat will be built by Stephens Marine in Stockton, California. Initial testing will be in San Francisco Bay, with further testing off Point Montara. Blackaller and Challenge Chairman Bob Scott spent part of January down in Fremantle, Western Australia observing weather conditions and collecting data. They concur that some of the extreme conditions on the Indian Ocean is comparable to Northern California and this should give the St Francis boat a “home away from home, advantage”.As stated the challenge will design and build two boats, one “evolutionary”, which will be the result of the best 12-Meter data to date and expound on that. The second boat will be a “revolutionary” design that everyone hopes will provide a “breakthrough”. With Rule 27 on peculiarities thrown out by the IYRU last year, the door is now wide open for a far out design, though Mull feels that, “twelve’s will look like twelve’s for a while, no catamarans or trimarans just yet”…..little would we know! – ed.
National Embarassment
To those of you who slept in or haven't been paying attention, the American Boat BMW-Oracle mailed in a loss today against the Chinese, of all teams, losing the race after blowing a headstay after a gear failure. With points at a premium, every race is critical and losing this one is inexcusable. I wrote;blog text:"National Embarassment".This is an inexcusable failure on the part of the afterguard at BMW-Oracle! If complacency has already set in because your sitting in first place at the end of Flight #1, then its going to be a short trip to the next round and a long ride home. To have a repeat gear failure, the first day the breeze actually comes up and to take the Chinese foregranted is; and should be, cause for concern. Lets face it, Chris Dickson has never won the big one. For him and Larry Ellison, not to be onboard today, displays in short order the "cocaine attitude" that prevails on the BMW-Oracle boat. This takes nothing away from the fine job that Sten Mohr has done and is doing, but the bottom line is; anything short of BMW-Oracle winning the America's Cup will be abjuct failure. It's Ellison, that has raised the bar on this one, certainly not,(until today) an aloof America. So, boys, its to to drop your martini's, pull up your trousers, zip it up and get on with the job.From an American who is not asleep at the helm and spending breakfasts in Valencia. Mark Wharton Reid
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 8:40 AM 0 comments
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Interview with Gary Mull, 1985
Hey Racers!
Just a little bit of reading material, while your waiting for the breeze to blow in Spain. As predicted Mascalzone Italia will be force to be dealt with after knocking off the Kiwis. There will be a complete update posted on Monday and daily thereafter. -ed.
The following articles are from America's Cup past......
The following excerpt is from Twelve Meter Update; March 22, 1985.Interview with Naval Architect Gary MullGary Mull, is one of the 3 naval architects, which comprise the Golden Gate Challenge’s design team. He lives up in the hills overlooking Oakland and has a passion for his cappuccino machine. He is no stranger to 12-Meter yachts or to the St. Francis Yacht Club. Along with Heiner Meldner, from Lawrence Livermore Labs and Scientific Application’s Alberto Calderon, Mull is hard at work on the design plans, of what could become a revolutionary new yacht built to compete against Australia in the next America’s Cup.He was chairman of the International Yacht Racing Union’s (IYRU) technical committee. He has served on the keelboat committee which rules on 12-Meter yachts measurement matters and has designed 6-Meter yachts for the ‘uber successful StFYC program. In addition to working on the new 12-Meter yachts, Mull is putting the finishing touches on a 30-footer for Ron Moore and a new 36’ Freedom for Tillotson-Pearson in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.After flirting briefly with Dennis Conner’s Sail America program in San Diego, Mull brought the drafting board home to the Golden Gate Challenge, when an agreement was reached in November of last year. Though the idea of working with designers Brit Chance and Bruce Nelson was appealing, his loyalty to the members at the StFYC set the stage. Mull feels that the Sail America program will be a very tough team to compete against, but that the Golden Gate Challenge 87 boat has the best computer modeling capabilities of any of the competing challengers, foreign or domestic.Aside from designing yachts and his impassioned love of the art of coffee, Mr. Mull took a few minutes away from his tremendous work load to talk to us about his involvement with the America’s Cup and the new St Francis 12 Meter.Q - Will the lack of a trial horse to use as a yardstick, hinder your approach to the design of the new 12-Meter?A - It’s not necessary. We have a lot of information, certificates and good approximate shapes of the more competitive 12-Meter boats. Not exact, but good approximations. Unless, someone has an extremely well kept secret. But, I suspect that is not the case, because absolute secretsare hard to keep in this business. Also, I feel we have the best technical people in the business, along with the best computer modeling capability of any of the competing syndicates.Q- Was Ben Lexcen’s boat Australia 2 a true breakthrough under the guidelines or was he forcinga rules change for 12-Meters?A- The interesting aspect about the 12-Meter rule is that it is quite different from most rating rulesIn that it is a measurement rule, rather than a rating rule. In IOR, IORC, and MORC rulesIf a boat gets longer, the rating goes up. If a boat gets lighter, the rating goes up.On the other hand, if a boat gets heavier the rating goes down and if a boat gets shorterthe rating goes down. If the sail area goes up or down, the ratings go up or down. Ifthe stability of a boat goes either way so does the rating, etc. etc. But the 12-Meter rule is different in that there is no measurement of stability except for a limit on minimumdisplacement, based on waterline length. There is an extremely heavy penalty if you gounder the minimum displacement, but no credit if you go over.The international rules for 12-Meters simply takes length + sail areaand divides it by 2.37 and if it comes out a 12-Meter, you’re in business.It is a simple rule, if you want a longer boat, you get less sail area and ifyou build a shorter boat you will have more sail area. There are correctionsfor the shape of the boat at the ends and mid-section.The stickler in this is the minimum displacement, the structural weight of a 12-Meterdeck, mast, skin, frame, etc. is locked. Every 12-Meter has a minimum deck weightand hull weight in terms of pounds per square foot of deck and hull. That meansthe total structural weight of all twelve meter boats is very close to the same number.However, minimum displacement is based on waterline length. So if you take a nominalboat with a 45’ waterline length and make it longer, your structural weight won’t changemuch, but according to the rules your total weight has to. So you add the weight inballast. If you want a heavy air boat, you are in great shape under the 12-Meter rules,because when you make the boat longer, it has to get heavier because of the ruleand it gets heavier in ballast because the structural weights are controlled.Now, if you want to build a short boat like (Johan Valentijn’s) Magic orAustralia 2, the only area that you can lose the weight is giving it up in ballastsince the structural weight is essentially locked in. The fascination of the rule for thedesigner is to pick that combination of length and sail area that will give you enoughlength and stability through the ballast to sail right side up in a breeze and enough sail areato sail in light air. That is what Magic lacked, she tipped over and couldn’t stay up in a breeze.The keel for Australia 2 served that purpose admirably. By turning the keel upsidedown and putting four or five thousand pounds in the form of lead wings on the bottom, thecenter of gravity of the ballast shifted downward tremendously and given the weightincreased the stability of the boat.The hook in all of this is that the general idea of winglets and endplates hasbeen known for years and the most solid developmental work was done by an American,Richard Witcomb, at NASA in Langley, Virginia. An American syndicate mayhave considered it last time around, but probably felt that it would not be legal under the12-Meter rule against peculiarities.( Mull was on the Keelboat Committee during the America’s Cup races at that time in 1983and felt that at the time most committee members were against winglets and that they shouldhave ruled on the matter.-ed)Q- The St. Francis Challenge 87 is going to build 2 new boats, a “revolutionary” boat and thefirst yacht to be built will be an “evolutionary” boat. Will your first one be aninterchangeable parts boat like the New York Yacht Club’s America II ? Or, do youhave a specific design in mind?A- We definitely have a specific idea in mind for our first boat. There will undoubtedly a few adjustable parts, but frankly we don’t see the need for a sailing lab like America II.They seem to be doing a lot of tests that have been conducted before, like re-doingsailing proportions, going from a 24’ J in & out 2 or 3 feet, or testing the aspect ratio ofthe fore triangle.We have a group of some incredible talent, like Heiner, who is the guy who developedmost of these new testing procedures with the use of super computers in fluiddynamics with large scale simulations. We will take the best data to date and feed it into thecomputers and expound on that, for the first “evolutionary boat. At the same timecarry on some parallel work that is really far out, which will be used on thesecond boat. The first boat will not look much different in general detail (to other 12-Meterboats) but, the second boat will certainly be different. As a designer, I am having more funthan I can shake a stick at!Q- How will the new computers affect the shape of twelve-meter yachts in the future?A- 12-Meters will look like twelve’s for some time to come. A lot of the boats are havingproblems with water coming aboard and the new course changes in Fremantle onthe shorter legs will affect some of the new designs. “Will you want a boat that is more? maneuverable, since there will be a shorter time to the lay line, or do you want justpure boat speed?We have three computers and are probably going to acquire a fourth. We have agrowing library of computer software, some of which is just given to us by companiesthat want to help win the ‘Cup back. We can now develop different shapes in the computer.See what it looks like and then run it thru programs that will go through full stabilitycalculations of displacement and wetted surface, which are the static programs. We gofrom there to a series of structural programs, measurement programs and shape development.We even have a 12-Meter ratings program, so we can measure it in the computer. Thereare some dynamics programs which will tell us about performance potential of the boatin a variety of wind and weather conditions, starting with a velocity prediction program (VPP).In the old days, it would take at least 6 to 8 weeks to develop one concept. Whichled designers to be very conservative. We can now due most of it in a day! The next stepis we take this information out to the big super computers out of the office which do extremelycomplex panelization of fluid dynamic modeling which is very expensive and time consuming.But, we have cut thru most of the crap by then. We are still going to do tank testing with models about 22” long. The best part of all of this is that I’m having more fun with this than I canpossibly imagine. It is a kick!12-Meter Notes….While the other syndicates wade knee deep through waves of propaganda hype about there new boats, the Golden Gate Challenge attitude carries Skipper Tom Blackaller’s mantra; “cut the crap, we are going to build the best boat and we expect to win! ” “Period.”Physicist Meldner works out of Lawrence Livermore Labs on large scale super computer simulations of hulls and sails, along with Caldron, of Advanced Aeromechanisms, which designs wings for NASA. The design trio is joined by Alfred Buckingham, whose expertise is in sail design and fluid dynamics.The first boat will be built by Stephens Marine in Stockton, California. Initial testing will be in San Francisco Bay, with further testing off Point Montara. Blackaller and Challenge Chairman Bob Scott spent part of January down in Fremantle, Western Australia observing weather conditions and collecting data. They concur that some of the extreme conditions on the Indian Ocean is comparable to Northern California and this should give the St Francis boat a “home away from home, advantage”.As stated the challenge will design and build two boats, one “evolutionary”, which will be the result of the best 12-Meter data to date and expound on that. The second boat will be a “revolutionary” design that everyone hopes will provide a “breakthrough”. With Rule 27 on peculiarities thrown out by the IYRU last year, the door is now wide open for a far out design, though Mull feels that, “twelve’s will look like twelve’s for a while, no catamarans or trimarans just yet”…..little would we know! – ed.
April 19, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Ready or not, here it comes…Dar una fiesta la 2007 ‘Copa Americana!Ole’ Spain, Ready for the America’s Cup?Uufta! Last time, Greenpeace tried to sink the French ACC Yacht Le Defi Areva, to the chants of arreviderci. Dennis Conner’s new boat, Stars & Stripes did sink! The Kiwi’s secret “hula” hull did its best at trying to imitate a submarine and now the America’s Cup is in Europe, on a lake in Switzerland.Now, this time; Russell Coutts is out and the Chinese are in. Shoshaloza hit a whale, the Swiss are “recanting” about their keel and tornados destroyed three boats last year in France. Where’s Dennis? The NYYC bailed and the billionaires have taken control, again!Though the view up here in Northern Minnesota can be a bit obscured…….the northern lights, again! Nothing can diminish the fact that an America’s Cup in Europe will be a once in a lifetime event.The Geneva Yacht Club in Switzerland has gone all out to scrap the remnants of the monotonous round robin series last time around and replaced it with a series of grand prix sailing events all over Europe, aptly named Acts 1-13. Like the start of a Broadway musical, these events gave all of those in attendance an amazing opportunity to witness the incredibly agile mono-hulls in action.The 2003 America’s Cup wrapped up with the predictable, Alinghi winning; the unthinkable, a yacht club on a lake, SocieteNautique Geneva; in a land-locked country, Switzerland; bolting the ‘Auld Mug into its trophy case!In an event which portended many great things, but ultimately fell flat in a series a repetitive matches yielding similar results. Alinghi proved to be a steady, yet capable ACC yacht beating all challengers to win the LV Cup and the right to face Team New Zealand’s radical, yet risky design in the America’s Cup final.The Kiwi’s handed over the trophy after losing 5 straight races over three agonizing weeks. After waiting out a wide range of weather systems, the TNZ yacht carried plenty of water, but ultimately failed to carry its weight around the 19.5 mile windward-leeward course.For the third straight time the America’s Cup final produced a whitewash shutout. As in 1995 & 2000, Alinghi Skipper Russell Coutts has yet to lose an America’s Cup match on the water.Coutts and tactician Brad Butterworth both from New Zealand, looked on with bittersweet emotion as they grabbed the “Cup from their countryman and took it to Europe.TNZ’s designers Tom Schnackenberg and Clay Oliver came up with an unorthodox idea of creating a 2nd , or false hull as an appendage to increase the waterline length of the boat without incurring penalties to, or reduction of the sail area.Nicknamed the “Hula”, the 20ft. long second skin section of the hull could not touch any part of the boat except at its fitting. With an inherent micro-millimeter gap along the waterline and an elongated torpedo-shaped bulb keel the TNZ boat took on tons of extra water in heavy seas.This design flaw led to gear failures and a splintered boom in the first race and a broken carbon fiber mast in the fourth race.The Rolf Vrolijk designed Alinghi, was not drawn to win races so much, as not to lose them.The ACC Boats will be “Turbocharged” for 2007. Version 5 of the America’s Cup Class rule allows amendments which should make the boats much faster downwind. The new class was introduced in 1990 and first sailed in the America’s Cup in 1992The yachts are 80 feet in length and with masts over 110 feet high can carry more than 3000 square feet of sail area.ACC yachts are comprised of exotic blends of carbon fiber and honeycomb. Different than 12-Meter yachts which used to be pounded and sanded into shape with aluminum, ACC boats are baked in warehouse sized ovens for several weeks before the hulls are cured and the fittings attached.After an Olympic-like selection process of 5 cities, Valencia, Spain on the country’s Mediterranean coast was chosen for its steady breezes over sites in France, Italy and Portugal.Valencia has done a remarkable job at designing new facilities and a harbor outlet, but, the weather is still suspect. There is such a short window for good offshore breezes on the Mediterranean, that if the ‘Cup races are pushed back into July they’ll have to bring in wind machines to make these boats go.The Prodigal ‘CupIn the biblical story, when the younger son traveled foreign lands with his initial riches; partied like there was no tomorrow, spent his remaining fortune, sinned and eventually tried to find his way home, it is now time for our “Cup” to come home.The America’s Cup has been away from home for almost 12 years now, the former length of a ‘Cup boat in meters As for the positive, The Europeans have paraded the “Auld Mug” all over the planet, from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the Great Wall in China and the crowds at America’s Cup Acts 1-13 have been unbelievable, but enough is enough.Our ‘Cups honor is being stretched to the limit and its only seems a matter of time when provocative photos will emerge with the ‘Auld Mug” being straddled by some Spanish super model.I know the Europeans regard us as Puritanical Americans, but our ‘Cups honor has been defended over the years by the likes of; the Mayflower, Vigilant, Columbia and of course, Puritan in 1885.There have been some impressive opening Acts that have put these turbocharged monohulls on display in ports in Europe and aside from Oracle and Alinghi sailing in much appreciated events in San Francisco and Newport, Rhode Island, but, America has been devoid of any hint of this impressive class. It has fallen off the proverbial sailing radar in most all respects..That aside, the Europeans should be commended for breathing in new life to a moribund event.
Predictions
Alinghi, SUI 100, As the defenders, they’re already in. Brad Butterworth, Ed Baird and
Peter Holmberg make a strong afterguard, but without Russell Coutts? The Swiss haveall the weapons, and maybe more, but will the malaise of in house training get the better of them in the America’s Cup finals? 5 to 1.
Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL 92, The Kiwis are back. With a vengeance ! Grant
Dalton brings a no bull shit campaign back in full stride. With areliable fast boat, don’t be surprised if the America’s Cuplands back in New Zealand via Dubai. 4 to 1.
BMW Oracle, USA 98, Larry Ellison’s powerful syndicate has everything to bring the ‘Cup backto San Francisco, CA, except perhaps a fast enough boat. After loftyexpectations and two years to get it right, USA 87 spent most of this spring getting chainsawed. 7 to 1.
Mascalzone Latino, ITA 99,Vincenzo Onorato worsts to firsts campaign, is the legitimate
dark horse threat with emerging star Vasco Vascotto at the helm. Watchout! Cool graphics on boat. 10 to 1
Desafío Español 2007, ESP 97, The home away from home team. With the addition of the ‘Cupveteran Paul Cayard, the team has the opportunity to make thefinal four. 15 to 1.
Luna Rossa Challenge, ITA 94, With Patrizio Bertelli as syndicate chief the Italians will never
win. The team has incredible talent with James Spithill at the wheeland with “Schnack” in the back….ground, but maybe if they takeBertelli’s cell phone and laptop away and put him on a slow boatto China, Prada will have a chance. 15 to 1.
Victory Challenge, SWE 96, Brings Red Bull’s big bucks to the race. Like the Formula One Team, beautiful racers, but, little chance. Though clearly, Sweden will be a stop on next years America’s Cup express. 25 to 1.
Areva Challenge, FRA 93, Areva, Areva, Areviderci! Much more was expected from this
team when Dawn Riley started putting the pieces together. The French hadmoney, talent and…. 50 to 1.
Team Shosholoza, RSA 83, From Capetown, South Africa this team has brought a lot of color
and flair to Valencia. For a first time challenger, don’t be surprised if theywin a few races. Hopefully, they will be back in 2010. 100 to 1
United Internet Team Germany, GER 89 The Germans are building for next time. My feeling
is that BMW will come home to roost in 2010 and JesperBank is a strong enough helmsman to build that teamaround. 100 to 1.
China Team, CHN 95, The Chinese are testing the Cup waters and will take the experience of
the international competition home with them for next years’ Summer Olympics.The Qingdau Yacht Club will be the host for those sailing events. 100 to 1.
+39 Challenge, ITA 85, Where do the British land, when their top sailors are left without a
home challenge, again? With the Italians. Strong sailing team with the Ian’s(Walker and Percy) aboard, but no money. 100 to 1.
Sailing terms in Spanish
America’sCup/Copa Americana The trophy originally called the “hundred guineas cup”.Ballast/Lastre The weight in the boat. Weight can be moved by shifting the crew and or equipment.Boat/Bote A vessel which floats on the water.Boom/Trueno The pole attached from mast to the foot, or bottom of the mainsail.Bow/Frente The front of the boat.Cover/Cubierta To stay between the mark and your opponent.Dock/Muelle EmbarcaderoDownwind/DeSotavento Sailing w/ the wind at your back.Goodbye/AdiosHeadwind/Viento de Fremte The direction of the wind in hour face.Hello/HolaHull/Vaina The frame or structure of a boat.Jib/Jib The forward sail set when heading into the wind.Keel/Quilla The torpedo shaped lead bulb that provides stability and keeps a boat from capsizing.Leeway/Deriva The downwind side of the boat.Mast/Mastil The center pole that the sails are attached to.Pole/Palo A spar attached to the main, which holds the spinnaker sail.Port/la Izquierda The left side of the boat or to the left.Rope/Lasso or Soga Ropes or sheets that run all over the boat, holding and controlling sails.Rudder/Timon The underwater steering appendage.Sail/Vela The “engine” of a sailboat.Sea/Mar The races will be held in Valencia, off the coast of Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea.Spinnaker/Vela Grande The colorful 4,500 square foot balloon sail hoisted for the downwind legs.Starboard/La Derecha The right side,or to the right.Tack/Volverse To turn the boat into the wind.To make Sail/Desplegar las VelasUpwind/la Corriente Into the wind, the first leg of a race.Water/AquaWin/Victorioso
From Twelve Meter Update, July 4th, 1986
Here Comes the Revolution!Radical, Front-Ruddered! 12-Meter christened inSan Francisco, CA at the St. Francis Yacht Club.The radical one has arrived. With an air of confidence amongst them, the members of St. Francis’s Golden Gate Challenge cheered, as San Francisco Mayor Diane Feinstein rocketed a bottle of magnum champagne across USA R-1’s bow on the first swing; and warned, “Aussies beware!”On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon with a shining blue sky above and an emerald bay below, to the delight of a thousand plus in attendance, the crew baptized the radical new boat with ceremonial streams of water. Taking an ode from mariners past, they poured forth from their buckets, signaling to all those present that the America’s Cup world as we knew it, was irrevocably changed forever.To the untrained eye, the revolutionary new boat is indistinguishable to USA 49 dubbed E-1. It looks similar above the waterline to most of the new 12-Meter yachts that are going down under to Fremantle, WA.But, to take a look below, which we can’t; lurks a radical new steering system, keel and hull shape which could be the high tech trump card which brings the America’s Cup from the waters of a former island prison, to the waters around a prison island.Feinstein was on hand to lend, what has been generous support from the City of San Francisco towards the St. Francis Yacht Club’s effort to land the America’s Cup. Proclaiming; “to the high tech and the non-high tech, we want to show once again, San Francisco is the city that knows how!”The revolutionary new twelve has been rumored to have everything under, ..…her hull, from the cutting edge of technology to the outright bizarre. This for sure, when pulled from the shed last week at Anderson’s Boatyard in Sausalito, the wind lifted up her security skirt just enough to reveal; a torpedo shaped bullet for a keel.The San Francisco Chronicle spilled the beans last week as writer Kimball Livingston reported that US-61 was sporting a rudder in front of the keel and in addition to another one in the back, or stern section of the boat.“He’s guessing”, says Tom Blackaller, who is the team’s sailing director and skipper. As for confirming these rumors, Blackaller, never lacking for something to say, offers either a vague response or “no comment”, both of which are entirely new additions to his vocabulary.“I am not saying I don’t know about the new boat because I do,” said Blackaller.Security for the new boat will be tight, though there was no word from the powers that be, that the Golden Gate Challenge was considering hiring great white sharks for patrol.Included in the Golden Gate Challenge’s high tech all-star team of scientists who are also longtime sailors are; naval architect Gary Mull, Alberto Calderon and Heiner Meldner.The new 12-Meter was built out of aluminum by R.E. Derecktor’s in Mamaroneck, New York and will carry the sail numbers US-61 into competition this fall.Meldner, a physicist from Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, here in Northern California is considered the world’s foremost authority on super computer simulations. His fluid dynamic programs have been incorporated on everything from the super secret skins on nuclear submarines to 12-Meter yachts.He was one of the chief architects behind Enterprise US-27’s fast hull design in 1977.“The emphasis of the new design is control and acceleration”, explains Calderon. A rudder in front of the keel is expected to give the yacht quicker tacking capabilities and the key to next year’s attempt to acquire sailings “Holy Grail”; boat speed.The switch this time around for yacht designers is the emphasis on boat speed, because the legs on the new America’s Cup racecourse have been shortened by a mile to from 3.5 nautical miles.Controlling the start and arriving first to the mark, will be of paramount importance for teams racing on the heavy seas and strong winds off the Western Australian Coast on the Indian Ocean.US 61 “R-1” with Blackaller at the helm, will begin sail testing this week against Paul Cayard, who will steer US 49 “E-1”, out on our own “rough seas” off Point Bonita on the Pacific Ocean. Cayard has previous experience sailing during the New York Yacht Club Defense Trials aboard Clipper in 1980 and Defender in 1983.“It will take some time to learn how to sail the new boat,” explained Blackaller, who compared it to trying to ride a bicycle backwards. “Though, I don’t think that it will take an extraordinary amount of time.”In order to test out some of their ideas and to give the crew an opportunity to become more acclimated to the idiosyncrasies on the sailing behavior of the radical new boat, the syndicate built or modified a 40% version of a 12-Meter. It had been sailing at an undisclosed location for the past month.Design team coordinator Gary Mull explained that the 40% model was used to; “duplicate the sailing and performance qualities of the revolutionary concept.” “The 40% model will check to see if our design actually works other than in a computer,” said Mull, “and everything so far confirms that it has.”“I would guess that if other designers could see our new boat, that they will wish that they had thought of or had investigated our idea,” says Mull.The initial concept of a front rudder steering system has been credited to Calderon and his company, Advanced Aero-Mechanisms in La Jolla, CA. Calderon specifically worked on the idea of reducing hydrodynamic resistance to US 61’s hull.When asked as to how someone goes about designing a revolutionary new boat, Calderon replied, “you don’t start with Australia 2 (the winged keel 12-Meter that won the America’s Cup in 1983) and say; well, let’s add whiskers.”“You start with the function of the racing sailing boat,” said Calderon, then “with the foundations of physics and math you come up with the vehicle shape that does the function. Regardless of what has been done in the past with USA 49“E-1”, or anybody else, then you see how it compares to Australia 2 and it truly is a revolutionary boat.”USA 61 is 66’ long, with a 12.6’ beam and weighs is a just under 60,000 pounds. The crew onboard includes; Olympic Gold Medal winners Brad Lewis and Steve Erickson. 1985 North American Finn champion Russ Sylvestri, project manager Ken Keefe and on-shore operations are handled by Jim Taylor.During the event the Golden Gate Challenge announced the addition of a fourth major sponsor, Robert Mondavi Wineries from Napa Valley, CA. Mondavi will join Pacific Telesis, Coca Cola and Cray Computer Systems as the top level corporations on board to date. Mondavi will pledge $2.00 towards the challenge for every bottle of Chardonnay sold in the United States.Challenge executive member and chief supporter Bob Cole, put the effort in this light, “we are exuding confidence with very good reason.” Continuing, “we’re approaching the role of darkhorse and underdog, and that’s exactly where we intended to be all the time.”Blackaller puts it his way, “we are just a bunch of sailors chasing a dream.”Courtesy 12-Meter Update in the July 4, 1986 issue of Longitude 122 by Mark Wharton Reid. Excerpt from upcoming book, “The Chosen Twelve”.12-Meter Notes…….from July, 1986.In describing sailing off the coast of Santa Cruz, California this summer with his new boat Heart of America, skipper Buddy Melges exclaimed; “I don’t know how you bastards kept this place a secret for so long!” HOA will be debugging their new 12-Meter US-51 until August 14, when it will be loaded on a container ship for Australia.Peter Isler has resigned as the skipper of the Courageous Syndicate, as Leonard Greene’s troubled challenge goes through another change at the helm. Isler though, won’t be spending too much time on the docks as sources place him onboard Stars and Stripes with Dennis Conner.Isler’s resignation raises more questions about Courageous, US 26’s ability to be competitive this fall. Isler received kudos for his starting maneuvers during the 12-Meter World’s earlier this year, unfortunately once the racing was underway, the old boat would give way to the newer, state of the art boats and drop to the back of the pack.Dennis Durgan, who was quietly dropped as co-helmsman of the Golden Gate Challenge has resurfaced with America ll. Durgan, a 2-time Congressional Cup winner and tactician aboard Freedom in 1980 will join the NYYC effort as a second helmsman to skipper John Kolius.America ll has been training with three 12-Meters in Fremantle and as to which one will get the call once the trials begin, executive director Tom Ehman says, “expect to be surprised”.As to the announcement that the Royal Perth Yacht Club may conduct some of the challenger races in the morning, when there is little or no wind, clearly before the notorious “Doctor” checks in; Ehman exclaimed, “over my dead body!”Faced with the daunting task of conducting more than 400 matches, between 18 boats (thirteen challengers and six defenders), in 10 weeks, the RPYC had hoped to expand the start times. But, off Fremantle, the sea breeze, the “Doctor”, fills in between 18 to 22 knots, doesn’t kick in until the early afternoon. Most of the boats have been designed with those wind ranges in mind.The wind nicknamed the “Doctor”, because it regularly brings relief during the hot afternoons in the Australian summer, by blowing the waves and welcome breezes off the sea, into shore on the beach and thankfully the notorious horseflies back in the desert where they belong.In our hopefully, but not to serious department comes word that the Yacht Club Italiano’s new boat Italia 2 apparently suffered more damage than originally thought. The yacht is currently under repair in Varese, Italy with damage to its deck and hull. The challenge which is sponsored by Gucci, hopes to resume their sailing schedule by the end of July.The boat, which was designed by Michael Trimming was damaged during its christening when the crane that lowered the new 12-Meter into the water collapsed, sending it straight to the bottom of the harbor, at the team’s training facilities on the Mediterranean Sea.Italia 2, ITA 19 was to test against its sister ship Italia, ITA 17 for the duration of the summer in La Spezia, Italy before shipping the faster of the 2 yachts,(or the one still floating) down to Fremantle, WA.Azzurra 4, Italia, reportedly has company in the shorter and lighter department of new 12-Meter yachts.Apparently, Sail America’s latest version of Stars & Stripes, and skipper Dennis Conner are not satisfied with his first two heavy weather 12-Meter yachts, opting to go for a new design, with a wind range for more moderate conditions.Stars and Stripes 87 will be christened in Waikiki, Hawaii on July 19. Sail America spokesman Sandy Purdon says her stay on the islands will be a short one as they ship out August 1st.England’s got game, as Ian Howlett’s new design Crusader One finally has hit the waters off Fremantle. Her design draws heavily from Howlett’s last 12-Meter, Victory 83 and Ben Lexcen’s Australia 2. Numbered K 24, representing the Royal Thames Yacht Club, she has a bulbous winged keel, with a larger than normal trim-tab.With Irish skipper Harold Cudmore at the helm Crusader one has been mixing it up with an ever improving South Australia, with SA coming out on top in three of the four races. The races, primarily sailed in lighter airs, gave K 24 an opportunity to benchmark an opponent for upcoming tests against her radical brother, Crusader Two, nicknamed “Hippo”.Crusader Two, K 25 was designed by David Hollom. It features a radical, “double chin” which Hollom, who designs model yachts, hopes will create as stiff of yacht as possible, with the displacement as far aft as permitted, to reduce pitching. K 25‘s hull allows for minimum waterline length to reduce the wetted surface, but Hollom has built an extremely long and narrow transom for the boat to increase the wetted surface when the boat heels over.It is the longest of the new 12-Meter yachts to be launched at over 73’. That makes it more than 7’ longer than the Golden Gate Challenges new revolutionary boat, USA US 61. Hippo has that noticeable “double chin” under the bustle. A winged keel is doubtful on this one, perhaps a bulbous endplate, with little or no wings. Hollom was assisted in the design by Herbert Pearcey and Stephen Wallace. New Zealand, Australia 87 Limited and Taskforce 87 will all be christening new 12-Meter yachts in the next few weeks. Australia 2 & 3 designer Ben Lexcen describes his new boat as; “just a plain Jane, that there is really nothing exciting about it other than its going to be fast and beat the hell out of everything.”
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 9:37 AM
1 comments:
Aaron said...
Your knowledge of the race historically is quite impressive...I wonder if I might impose on you to become a bit Sebastian Jungerish and explain scientifically why the sailing conditions off Valencia Spain are so pathetic at the moment...
Ready or not, here it comes…Dar una fiesta la 2007 ‘Copa Americana!Ole’ Spain, Ready for the America’s Cup?Uufta! Last time, Greenpeace tried to sink the French ACC Yacht Le Defi Areva, to the chants of arreviderci. Dennis Conner’s new boat, Stars & Stripes did sink! The Kiwi’s secret “hula” hull did its best at trying to imitate a submarine and now the America’s Cup is in Europe, on a lake in Switzerland.Now, this time; Russell Coutts is out and the Chinese are in. Shoshaloza hit a whale, the Swiss are “recanting” about their keel and tornados destroyed three boats last year in France. Where’s Dennis? The NYYC bailed and the billionaires have taken control, again!Though the view up here in Northern Minnesota can be a bit obscured…….the northern lights, again! Nothing can diminish the fact that an America’s Cup in Europe will be a once in a lifetime event.The Geneva Yacht Club in Switzerland has gone all out to scrap the remnants of the monotonous round robin series last time around and replaced it with a series of grand prix sailing events all over Europe, aptly named Acts 1-13. Like the start of a Broadway musical, these events gave all of those in attendance an amazing opportunity to witness the incredibly agile mono-hulls in action.The 2003 America’s Cup wrapped up with the predictable, Alinghi winning; the unthinkable, a yacht club on a lake, SocieteNautique Geneva; in a land-locked country, Switzerland; bolting the ‘Auld Mug into its trophy case!In an event which portended many great things, but ultimately fell flat in a series a repetitive matches yielding similar results. Alinghi proved to be a steady, yet capable ACC yacht beating all challengers to win the LV Cup and the right to face Team New Zealand’s radical, yet risky design in the America’s Cup final.The Kiwi’s handed over the trophy after losing 5 straight races over three agonizing weeks. After waiting out a wide range of weather systems, the TNZ yacht carried plenty of water, but ultimately failed to carry its weight around the 19.5 mile windward-leeward course.For the third straight time the America’s Cup final produced a whitewash shutout. As in 1995 & 2000, Alinghi Skipper Russell Coutts has yet to lose an America’s Cup match on the water.Coutts and tactician Brad Butterworth both from New Zealand, looked on with bittersweet emotion as they grabbed the “Cup from their countryman and took it to Europe.TNZ’s designers Tom Schnackenberg and Clay Oliver came up with an unorthodox idea of creating a 2nd , or false hull as an appendage to increase the waterline length of the boat without incurring penalties to, or reduction of the sail area.Nicknamed the “Hula”, the 20ft. long second skin section of the hull could not touch any part of the boat except at its fitting. With an inherent micro-millimeter gap along the waterline and an elongated torpedo-shaped bulb keel the TNZ boat took on tons of extra water in heavy seas.This design flaw led to gear failures and a splintered boom in the first race and a broken carbon fiber mast in the fourth race.The Rolf Vrolijk designed Alinghi, was not drawn to win races so much, as not to lose them.The ACC Boats will be “Turbocharged” for 2007. Version 5 of the America’s Cup Class rule allows amendments which should make the boats much faster downwind. The new class was introduced in 1990 and first sailed in the America’s Cup in 1992The yachts are 80 feet in length and with masts over 110 feet high can carry more than 3000 square feet of sail area.ACC yachts are comprised of exotic blends of carbon fiber and honeycomb. Different than 12-Meter yachts which used to be pounded and sanded into shape with aluminum, ACC boats are baked in warehouse sized ovens for several weeks before the hulls are cured and the fittings attached.After an Olympic-like selection process of 5 cities, Valencia, Spain on the country’s Mediterranean coast was chosen for its steady breezes over sites in France, Italy and Portugal.Valencia has done a remarkable job at designing new facilities and a harbor outlet, but, the weather is still suspect. There is such a short window for good offshore breezes on the Mediterranean, that if the ‘Cup races are pushed back into July they’ll have to bring in wind machines to make these boats go.The Prodigal ‘CupIn the biblical story, when the younger son traveled foreign lands with his initial riches; partied like there was no tomorrow, spent his remaining fortune, sinned and eventually tried to find his way home, it is now time for our “Cup” to come home.The America’s Cup has been away from home for almost 12 years now, the former length of a ‘Cup boat in meters As for the positive, The Europeans have paraded the “Auld Mug” all over the planet, from the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the Great Wall in China and the crowds at America’s Cup Acts 1-13 have been unbelievable, but enough is enough.Our ‘Cups honor is being stretched to the limit and its only seems a matter of time when provocative photos will emerge with the ‘Auld Mug” being straddled by some Spanish super model.I know the Europeans regard us as Puritanical Americans, but our ‘Cups honor has been defended over the years by the likes of; the Mayflower, Vigilant, Columbia and of course, Puritan in 1885.There have been some impressive opening Acts that have put these turbocharged monohulls on display in ports in Europe and aside from Oracle and Alinghi sailing in much appreciated events in San Francisco and Newport, Rhode Island, but, America has been devoid of any hint of this impressive class. It has fallen off the proverbial sailing radar in most all respects..That aside, the Europeans should be commended for breathing in new life to a moribund event.
Predictions
Alinghi, SUI 100, As the defenders, they’re already in. Brad Butterworth, Ed Baird and
Peter Holmberg make a strong afterguard, but without Russell Coutts? The Swiss haveall the weapons, and maybe more, but will the malaise of in house training get the better of them in the America’s Cup finals? 5 to 1.
Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL 92, The Kiwis are back. With a vengeance ! Grant
Dalton brings a no bull shit campaign back in full stride. With areliable fast boat, don’t be surprised if the America’s Cuplands back in New Zealand via Dubai. 4 to 1.
BMW Oracle, USA 98, Larry Ellison’s powerful syndicate has everything to bring the ‘Cup backto San Francisco, CA, except perhaps a fast enough boat. After loftyexpectations and two years to get it right, USA 87 spent most of this spring getting chainsawed. 7 to 1.
Mascalzone Latino, ITA 99,Vincenzo Onorato worsts to firsts campaign, is the legitimate
dark horse threat with emerging star Vasco Vascotto at the helm. Watchout! Cool graphics on boat. 10 to 1
Desafío Español 2007, ESP 97, The home away from home team. With the addition of the ‘Cupveteran Paul Cayard, the team has the opportunity to make thefinal four. 15 to 1.
Luna Rossa Challenge, ITA 94, With Patrizio Bertelli as syndicate chief the Italians will never
win. The team has incredible talent with James Spithill at the wheeland with “Schnack” in the back….ground, but maybe if they takeBertelli’s cell phone and laptop away and put him on a slow boatto China, Prada will have a chance. 15 to 1.
Victory Challenge, SWE 96, Brings Red Bull’s big bucks to the race. Like the Formula One Team, beautiful racers, but, little chance. Though clearly, Sweden will be a stop on next years America’s Cup express. 25 to 1.
Areva Challenge, FRA 93, Areva, Areva, Areviderci! Much more was expected from this
team when Dawn Riley started putting the pieces together. The French hadmoney, talent and…. 50 to 1.
Team Shosholoza, RSA 83, From Capetown, South Africa this team has brought a lot of color
and flair to Valencia. For a first time challenger, don’t be surprised if theywin a few races. Hopefully, they will be back in 2010. 100 to 1
United Internet Team Germany, GER 89 The Germans are building for next time. My feeling
is that BMW will come home to roost in 2010 and JesperBank is a strong enough helmsman to build that teamaround. 100 to 1.
China Team, CHN 95, The Chinese are testing the Cup waters and will take the experience of
the international competition home with them for next years’ Summer Olympics.The Qingdau Yacht Club will be the host for those sailing events. 100 to 1.
+39 Challenge, ITA 85, Where do the British land, when their top sailors are left without a
home challenge, again? With the Italians. Strong sailing team with the Ian’s(Walker and Percy) aboard, but no money. 100 to 1.
Sailing terms in Spanish
America’sCup/Copa Americana The trophy originally called the “hundred guineas cup”.Ballast/Lastre The weight in the boat. Weight can be moved by shifting the crew and or equipment.Boat/Bote A vessel which floats on the water.Boom/Trueno The pole attached from mast to the foot, or bottom of the mainsail.Bow/Frente The front of the boat.Cover/Cubierta To stay between the mark and your opponent.Dock/Muelle EmbarcaderoDownwind/DeSotavento Sailing w/ the wind at your back.Goodbye/AdiosHeadwind/Viento de Fremte The direction of the wind in hour face.Hello/HolaHull/Vaina The frame or structure of a boat.Jib/Jib The forward sail set when heading into the wind.Keel/Quilla The torpedo shaped lead bulb that provides stability and keeps a boat from capsizing.Leeway/Deriva The downwind side of the boat.Mast/Mastil The center pole that the sails are attached to.Pole/Palo A spar attached to the main, which holds the spinnaker sail.Port/la Izquierda The left side of the boat or to the left.Rope/Lasso or Soga Ropes or sheets that run all over the boat, holding and controlling sails.Rudder/Timon The underwater steering appendage.Sail/Vela The “engine” of a sailboat.Sea/Mar The races will be held in Valencia, off the coast of Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea.Spinnaker/Vela Grande The colorful 4,500 square foot balloon sail hoisted for the downwind legs.Starboard/La Derecha The right side,or to the right.Tack/Volverse To turn the boat into the wind.To make Sail/Desplegar las VelasUpwind/la Corriente Into the wind, the first leg of a race.Water/AquaWin/Victorioso
From Twelve Meter Update, July 4th, 1986
Here Comes the Revolution!Radical, Front-Ruddered! 12-Meter christened inSan Francisco, CA at the St. Francis Yacht Club.The radical one has arrived. With an air of confidence amongst them, the members of St. Francis’s Golden Gate Challenge cheered, as San Francisco Mayor Diane Feinstein rocketed a bottle of magnum champagne across USA R-1’s bow on the first swing; and warned, “Aussies beware!”On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon with a shining blue sky above and an emerald bay below, to the delight of a thousand plus in attendance, the crew baptized the radical new boat with ceremonial streams of water. Taking an ode from mariners past, they poured forth from their buckets, signaling to all those present that the America’s Cup world as we knew it, was irrevocably changed forever.To the untrained eye, the revolutionary new boat is indistinguishable to USA 49 dubbed E-1. It looks similar above the waterline to most of the new 12-Meter yachts that are going down under to Fremantle, WA.But, to take a look below, which we can’t; lurks a radical new steering system, keel and hull shape which could be the high tech trump card which brings the America’s Cup from the waters of a former island prison, to the waters around a prison island.Feinstein was on hand to lend, what has been generous support from the City of San Francisco towards the St. Francis Yacht Club’s effort to land the America’s Cup. Proclaiming; “to the high tech and the non-high tech, we want to show once again, San Francisco is the city that knows how!”The revolutionary new twelve has been rumored to have everything under, ..…her hull, from the cutting edge of technology to the outright bizarre. This for sure, when pulled from the shed last week at Anderson’s Boatyard in Sausalito, the wind lifted up her security skirt just enough to reveal; a torpedo shaped bullet for a keel.The San Francisco Chronicle spilled the beans last week as writer Kimball Livingston reported that US-61 was sporting a rudder in front of the keel and in addition to another one in the back, or stern section of the boat.“He’s guessing”, says Tom Blackaller, who is the team’s sailing director and skipper. As for confirming these rumors, Blackaller, never lacking for something to say, offers either a vague response or “no comment”, both of which are entirely new additions to his vocabulary.“I am not saying I don’t know about the new boat because I do,” said Blackaller.Security for the new boat will be tight, though there was no word from the powers that be, that the Golden Gate Challenge was considering hiring great white sharks for patrol.Included in the Golden Gate Challenge’s high tech all-star team of scientists who are also longtime sailors are; naval architect Gary Mull, Alberto Calderon and Heiner Meldner.The new 12-Meter was built out of aluminum by R.E. Derecktor’s in Mamaroneck, New York and will carry the sail numbers US-61 into competition this fall.Meldner, a physicist from Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, here in Northern California is considered the world’s foremost authority on super computer simulations. His fluid dynamic programs have been incorporated on everything from the super secret skins on nuclear submarines to 12-Meter yachts.He was one of the chief architects behind Enterprise US-27’s fast hull design in 1977.“The emphasis of the new design is control and acceleration”, explains Calderon. A rudder in front of the keel is expected to give the yacht quicker tacking capabilities and the key to next year’s attempt to acquire sailings “Holy Grail”; boat speed.The switch this time around for yacht designers is the emphasis on boat speed, because the legs on the new America’s Cup racecourse have been shortened by a mile to from 3.5 nautical miles.Controlling the start and arriving first to the mark, will be of paramount importance for teams racing on the heavy seas and strong winds off the Western Australian Coast on the Indian Ocean.US 61 “R-1” with Blackaller at the helm, will begin sail testing this week against Paul Cayard, who will steer US 49 “E-1”, out on our own “rough seas” off Point Bonita on the Pacific Ocean. Cayard has previous experience sailing during the New York Yacht Club Defense Trials aboard Clipper in 1980 and Defender in 1983.“It will take some time to learn how to sail the new boat,” explained Blackaller, who compared it to trying to ride a bicycle backwards. “Though, I don’t think that it will take an extraordinary amount of time.”In order to test out some of their ideas and to give the crew an opportunity to become more acclimated to the idiosyncrasies on the sailing behavior of the radical new boat, the syndicate built or modified a 40% version of a 12-Meter. It had been sailing at an undisclosed location for the past month.Design team coordinator Gary Mull explained that the 40% model was used to; “duplicate the sailing and performance qualities of the revolutionary concept.” “The 40% model will check to see if our design actually works other than in a computer,” said Mull, “and everything so far confirms that it has.”“I would guess that if other designers could see our new boat, that they will wish that they had thought of or had investigated our idea,” says Mull.The initial concept of a front rudder steering system has been credited to Calderon and his company, Advanced Aero-Mechanisms in La Jolla, CA. Calderon specifically worked on the idea of reducing hydrodynamic resistance to US 61’s hull.When asked as to how someone goes about designing a revolutionary new boat, Calderon replied, “you don’t start with Australia 2 (the winged keel 12-Meter that won the America’s Cup in 1983) and say; well, let’s add whiskers.”“You start with the function of the racing sailing boat,” said Calderon, then “with the foundations of physics and math you come up with the vehicle shape that does the function. Regardless of what has been done in the past with USA 49“E-1”, or anybody else, then you see how it compares to Australia 2 and it truly is a revolutionary boat.”USA 61 is 66’ long, with a 12.6’ beam and weighs is a just under 60,000 pounds. The crew onboard includes; Olympic Gold Medal winners Brad Lewis and Steve Erickson. 1985 North American Finn champion Russ Sylvestri, project manager Ken Keefe and on-shore operations are handled by Jim Taylor.During the event the Golden Gate Challenge announced the addition of a fourth major sponsor, Robert Mondavi Wineries from Napa Valley, CA. Mondavi will join Pacific Telesis, Coca Cola and Cray Computer Systems as the top level corporations on board to date. Mondavi will pledge $2.00 towards the challenge for every bottle of Chardonnay sold in the United States.Challenge executive member and chief supporter Bob Cole, put the effort in this light, “we are exuding confidence with very good reason.” Continuing, “we’re approaching the role of darkhorse and underdog, and that’s exactly where we intended to be all the time.”Blackaller puts it his way, “we are just a bunch of sailors chasing a dream.”Courtesy 12-Meter Update in the July 4, 1986 issue of Longitude 122 by Mark Wharton Reid. Excerpt from upcoming book, “The Chosen Twelve”.12-Meter Notes…….from July, 1986.In describing sailing off the coast of Santa Cruz, California this summer with his new boat Heart of America, skipper Buddy Melges exclaimed; “I don’t know how you bastards kept this place a secret for so long!” HOA will be debugging their new 12-Meter US-51 until August 14, when it will be loaded on a container ship for Australia.Peter Isler has resigned as the skipper of the Courageous Syndicate, as Leonard Greene’s troubled challenge goes through another change at the helm. Isler though, won’t be spending too much time on the docks as sources place him onboard Stars and Stripes with Dennis Conner.Isler’s resignation raises more questions about Courageous, US 26’s ability to be competitive this fall. Isler received kudos for his starting maneuvers during the 12-Meter World’s earlier this year, unfortunately once the racing was underway, the old boat would give way to the newer, state of the art boats and drop to the back of the pack.Dennis Durgan, who was quietly dropped as co-helmsman of the Golden Gate Challenge has resurfaced with America ll. Durgan, a 2-time Congressional Cup winner and tactician aboard Freedom in 1980 will join the NYYC effort as a second helmsman to skipper John Kolius.America ll has been training with three 12-Meters in Fremantle and as to which one will get the call once the trials begin, executive director Tom Ehman says, “expect to be surprised”.As to the announcement that the Royal Perth Yacht Club may conduct some of the challenger races in the morning, when there is little or no wind, clearly before the notorious “Doctor” checks in; Ehman exclaimed, “over my dead body!”Faced with the daunting task of conducting more than 400 matches, between 18 boats (thirteen challengers and six defenders), in 10 weeks, the RPYC had hoped to expand the start times. But, off Fremantle, the sea breeze, the “Doctor”, fills in between 18 to 22 knots, doesn’t kick in until the early afternoon. Most of the boats have been designed with those wind ranges in mind.The wind nicknamed the “Doctor”, because it regularly brings relief during the hot afternoons in the Australian summer, by blowing the waves and welcome breezes off the sea, into shore on the beach and thankfully the notorious horseflies back in the desert where they belong.In our hopefully, but not to serious department comes word that the Yacht Club Italiano’s new boat Italia 2 apparently suffered more damage than originally thought. The yacht is currently under repair in Varese, Italy with damage to its deck and hull. The challenge which is sponsored by Gucci, hopes to resume their sailing schedule by the end of July.The boat, which was designed by Michael Trimming was damaged during its christening when the crane that lowered the new 12-Meter into the water collapsed, sending it straight to the bottom of the harbor, at the team’s training facilities on the Mediterranean Sea.Italia 2, ITA 19 was to test against its sister ship Italia, ITA 17 for the duration of the summer in La Spezia, Italy before shipping the faster of the 2 yachts,(or the one still floating) down to Fremantle, WA.Azzurra 4, Italia, reportedly has company in the shorter and lighter department of new 12-Meter yachts.Apparently, Sail America’s latest version of Stars & Stripes, and skipper Dennis Conner are not satisfied with his first two heavy weather 12-Meter yachts, opting to go for a new design, with a wind range for more moderate conditions.Stars and Stripes 87 will be christened in Waikiki, Hawaii on July 19. Sail America spokesman Sandy Purdon says her stay on the islands will be a short one as they ship out August 1st.England’s got game, as Ian Howlett’s new design Crusader One finally has hit the waters off Fremantle. Her design draws heavily from Howlett’s last 12-Meter, Victory 83 and Ben Lexcen’s Australia 2. Numbered K 24, representing the Royal Thames Yacht Club, she has a bulbous winged keel, with a larger than normal trim-tab.With Irish skipper Harold Cudmore at the helm Crusader one has been mixing it up with an ever improving South Australia, with SA coming out on top in three of the four races. The races, primarily sailed in lighter airs, gave K 24 an opportunity to benchmark an opponent for upcoming tests against her radical brother, Crusader Two, nicknamed “Hippo”.Crusader Two, K 25 was designed by David Hollom. It features a radical, “double chin” which Hollom, who designs model yachts, hopes will create as stiff of yacht as possible, with the displacement as far aft as permitted, to reduce pitching. K 25‘s hull allows for minimum waterline length to reduce the wetted surface, but Hollom has built an extremely long and narrow transom for the boat to increase the wetted surface when the boat heels over.It is the longest of the new 12-Meter yachts to be launched at over 73’. That makes it more than 7’ longer than the Golden Gate Challenges new revolutionary boat, USA US 61. Hippo has that noticeable “double chin” under the bustle. A winged keel is doubtful on this one, perhaps a bulbous endplate, with little or no wings. Hollom was assisted in the design by Herbert Pearcey and Stephen Wallace. New Zealand, Australia 87 Limited and Taskforce 87 will all be christening new 12-Meter yachts in the next few weeks. Australia 2 & 3 designer Ben Lexcen describes his new boat as; “just a plain Jane, that there is really nothing exciting about it other than its going to be fast and beat the hell out of everything.”
Posted by Mark Wharton Reid at 9:37 AM
1 comments:
Aaron said...
Your knowledge of the race historically is quite impressive...I wonder if I might impose on you to become a bit Sebastian Jungerish and explain scientifically why the sailing conditions off Valencia Spain are so pathetic at the moment...
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