New Zealand sailors and designers are know by his quality all over the world but in what regards solo or short crew racing they are just at the beginning. More than 20 years after a famous duo circumnavigation of the Island they are doing it again and still in a very amateur way and that's one of the things that make it interesting. All sorts of boats and crews, including cruisers. I like the spirit
Looking at the results from the first leg I saw that in real time the faster boat was a Tiller 10.6 with 7h37m beating much bigger and fast boats like the Krakatoa a well know Pogo class 40 (made several Hobart's) with 8h31m and a First 47.7 with 8h35m.
Well, what the hell is a Tiller 10.5?????
It is this one (photos from Katrina Webster):
Ok! Very nice boat, lots of form stability and I bet a long keel and lot's of ballast (more than the Pogo) but who is the designer and the builder?
First time I heard about the Tiller!
Auckland skipper David Tiller's self-designed and built 10.6m composite sloop, is also back for a crack at the race after completing the 1998 event.
The race comes to substitute an old famous Swedish race, the Gotland race and aims at an even more international participation. It will start inside the capital, Stockholm and that should be a spectacle to watch.
Starting in Stockholm Saturday, June 30 and Sunday, July 1 through Sandhamn - around Gotland. Finish and prize giving takes place in Sandhamn on Wednesday 4 July.
KSSS has a long tradition of organizing international regattas and offshore races. After 100 years, Sandhamn been Sweden's most famous sailing center and Gotland Race, the world's greatest ocean races were sailed for the first staged in 1937. Now we are taking a big step for building a new sailing event Mitti Stockholm. All are welcome as participants or as spectators, along the shore or by boat along the island path. Event area will be open to the public from Thursday, June 28.
This beauty, Raimbow the 1934 cup winner, is on the water again.
Well. not properly the original one but a replica that is faithful in what regards the hull shape but not in what regards hull construction: The techniques and materials could not be more different.
Yes that's right, it is an aluminium boat redesigned by Dykstra. Actually the new one is heavier: 178T compared with the 141T of original one, a William Burgess design with a hull of wood supported by steel frames. But the new one has a bigger mast and carries more sail (930m2 comparing with 700m2) and that means that some of that extra weight is ballast
Who would say that this beauty is an aluminium boat?
For the ones that are sailing in Europe some news, mostly bad:
....
In Italy, also bad news, with all the pleasure boats over 10m sailing in Italian waters paying a daily tax. Well not really sailing because if you don't stop you don't pay, but if you stay the night on anchor or go to a marina, you pay.
The boats on the hard don't pay.
The taxes are:
It seems not much but if you are going to pass some time in Italy, it is going to hurt, not to mention leaving the boat there. It makes the Croatia tax look insignificant.
....
Crazy, without the law be yet in execution they have changed the law. And for the better. If I understand correctly now the Tax is only for Italians and has nothing to do with foreign yachts:
The new Hanse 415, a boat that pisses me. I explain:
There are many things I like in the boat: It is not as fat as many of its concurrent (it could have a more sharp bow entry), it has all the winches in the cockpit, and that makes the handling easier solo or with a short crew, it has a modern and efficient keel and a nice hull, it has an epoxy version that is strong and not to heavy, self tacking jib. The cockpit and the storage is well designed including the space for the life-raft... but it has a quite deceiving interior, one that looks an amateur design job.
Hanse insist to design its interiors at home instead of giving them to the better specialized designers on the market and the results are very, very poor. I would say that even not professionally specialized in that type of design I could easily improve the design quality of that interior and that without making it significantly more expensive. Not that I am good at that particular type of design, it's the ones that design that interior that are not up to the task. Of course a good specialized designer could do a lot better than me.
That is what pisses me with Bavarias (even if the new Vision seems a lot better) and Hanses: They judge necessary to contract a first class architect to design the hull and rig but find unnecessary to the the same in what regards the interior. That's not very clever because most of customers (or their wives) buy the boat more by the interior than for any other thing.
Guys, I have found some really good information about energy in a sail boat, batteries, alternators, different types of generators, electrical consumption...well the lot. I have already posted it in a small thread but I think that here is going to benefit more people. It is a book and you can download it.
Electricity on Board
by Reinout Vader
and it can be downloaded in the site of Victron Energy B.V., specialists in generators and energy.
Thanks to both to make this gem available on line.
A new design, a French one with 15m and when I look at it I think: Ferrari, maybe I should thought Bugatti, but no, definitively Ferrari, maybe because the NA is Italian.
The Aureus XVI looks gorgeous and it will be fast with only 11.8T to 122 m2 of sail, a carbon yacht. Have a look at this beauty:
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: 178T compared with the 141T of original one, a William Burgess design with a hull of wood supported by steel frames. But the new one has a bigger mast and carries more sail (930m2 comparing with 700m2) and that means that some of that extra weight is ballast
. And for the better
