Stamm is going to be one to watch, but I think Sam Davies will climb up in rankings as more miles are covered. She proved during the last VG that she can keep the boat moving fast without breaking too much.
What exactly happened to Burton, another collision?? I don't get that, considering AIS and radar??
Yes, that is sad:
La direction de course a reçu cette nuit à 3h10, heure locale, l’appel du bateau Bureau Vallée. Louis Burton signalait avoir percuté sur le flanc bâbord un chalutier a environ 400 Nm à l’ouest de Lisbonne position 38° 22N ; 18° 10W. Il était en veille dans le cockpit et son radar et AIS étaient allumés.
At the time Bureau Valley was about 400 Nm west of Lisbon. He was asleep in the cockpit with his AIS and radar both active. At the time he was making around 18kts with 32kts of SW’ly wind which was making visibility limited.
Burton quickly turned to a NE’ly, downwind course, securing the rig. He found a shroud damaged about 1.8m off the deck. The skipper is fine and is waiting for sunrise (around 0930hrs CET) to make a more complete assessment of the damage to the port shroud before making any decisions.
You know this only confirms what I thought about AIS as a tool to avoid boats: It is a good tool if you are going to cross an ocean where most boats have AIS but pretty worthless on coastal areas (at least here) where most boats you find are small fishing boats that have not AIS.
The first collision with Kito with a Portuguese fishing boat made almost mo way to the press here but it looks like that is not a trawler as reported but a traineira that is a much smaller boat normally a wooden one.
This last collision (with Burton) was more far away from the coast and I don't know more than what was said by the organization but I assume that it was probably a bigger fishing boat.
In what regards the race, well they are all in turbo speed and I have to say I don't understand how François with less wind than Vincent can be faster
Regarding Sam Davies it is a pity but she is racing with a 3th generation boat (2004) that can be considered slow compared with more modern boats. On the last race she had a comparatively better boat. Anyway, as you said it's strongest point is good seamanship, avoidance of risks and a very good overall performance. Probably she will make it to the end while many will retire from the race.
We talked recently about Bill Dixon the American designer of Moody sailboats. His cabinet have designed not many production sailboats but regarding big custom sailboats that's another story. Rock has posted recently one of them. Let's have a better look at that boat and some others.
This is a small one (65ft). A small production sailboat and it is the one that has lines more similar to the classic Moody. It has a great interior that makes a sharp contrast with the very modern interior designed by a German firm.
Wow, what truly beautifully designed boats. If I had a lot of money, I'd have Bill Dixon make mine. I'd want the windows lower though, so I could look out. They are something to behold. We were amazed at the size of the sales on these larger boats. Can we crew on these? Pleeeeeese?
Funny, these Vendee news, with fishing boats "marring" the race, or Groupe Bel being "hit by a fishing boat". I wonder what the fishermen are saying about the "solo sailor bastards at it again". Fun to watch, but I feel no pity for the fallen. Sorry, it is a "half stupid" or daredevil sport, especially when the participants and viewers are aware of something fundamentally wrong, like sailing @ 18kts while sleeping. Remember Camper avoiding that whale? Guillermot was just woken up by a bang the other day! Exciting to follow, I'll admit, like watching wingsuit jumpers. There's always a chance for seeing one brush the cliff! Human nature. Although not cool if the sailor killed or hurt a mammal...or fisherman, right?Hey, maybe ok if they're Eco-Powered! Cruisers, don't try this at home! Do not sail solo if you will need to sleep!!
New member here and I just want to thank everyone who has posted on this thread,"interesting sailboats."
I've read most of this thread over the months it has been on the site and enjoyed the conversation of where the direction of our modern cruising sailboats are headed for now and in the future. It is good to have this discussion especially for us here in the United States as it seems to me we have a tremendous void to fill. But in reading this thread I see an awakening of cruisers and of designers of things hopefully to come. I personally feel that we Americans on the most part are stuck in our cruising glory days of the late 60's, the 70's and 80's. There are many great boats of this period and I have owned some like the Mason 44. But if we are going to have good used boats in the future for our kids and grand kids to sail we must move forward with new designs now.
My wife and I are lucky enough to have one of these new designs being built, "Boreal44." We look forward to the changes that have come about over the years and sailing/learning will be wonderful experience. We also know that every cruising boat is a compromise even with all the new modern designs there will be compromise.
Thank you again for the interesting sailboats thread, wonderful reading that shows the many directions the industry is headed and hopefully a strong market once cruisers understand the concepts of modern cruising boats and how they have originated.
Funny, these Vendee news, with fishing boats "marring" the race, or Groupe Bel being "hit by a fishing boat". I wonder what the fishermen are saying about the "solo sailor bastards at it again". Fun to watch, but I feel no pity for the fallen. Sorry, it is a "half stupid" or daredevil sport, especially when the participants and viewers are aware of something fundamentally wrong, like sailing @ 18kts while sleeping. Remember Camper avoiding that whale? Guillermot was just woken up by a bang the other day! Exciting to follow, I'll admit, like watching wingsuit jumpers. There's always a chance for seeing one brush the cliff! Human nature. Although not cool if the sailor killed or hurt a mammal...or fisherman, right?Hey, maybe ok if they're Eco-Powered! Cruisers, don't try this at home! Do not sail solo if you will need to sleep!!
Yes, I agree that is unacceptable but also unheard of. I have followed many solo races without any collision and now two on one? That’s weird.
I bet the organization is going to make some safety alterations, maybe to have a mark to have them more offshore. Regarding solo sailing the big problem are areas with a big transit and those are very rare on their way. The worse one is offshore the Portuguese coast: Not only they pass close and that means that they cross a fishing area as Portugal is the western part of Europe so lots of cargos pass close.
Part of the problem is the speed: Sometimes I solo sail at night, take a 20/30m nap, look at the radar, another nap and I guess that is safe enough: I can spot a small fishing boat at 6K distance and that means an hour, plenty of time to avoid it. That is not the case at 18K. At that speed with a 30m nap you can hit a boat you never saw on the radar.
Of course you can set the alarm on the radar but on areas with plenty of boats the alarm is full time giving alarm, even if the boats are going in directions that do not mean a threat to you, so you tend to put the dam thing of to get a god nap.
I am not sure if Marc hit anything. The clank could just be the keel breaking of. They have talked about metal fatigue. Mammals are as vulnerable to sail boats has they are for any other kind of fast boats and that includes cargos that vastly outnumber sailing boats. Maybe they are not used yet to see a more silent boat coming so fast, but they sure can feel it. It will be a question of time before they start to avoid them, or at least I hope.
"Jean-Marie de la Porte, project leader within the Safran group, explains, 'For the time being, we don’t know what caused the keel on Safran to break, as we were completely satisfied with it for 20,000 miles. We are not excluding any possibility, a design fault, a problem with the manufacture or an external cause (a shock)? We are currently setting up an investigative committee with experts from the Safran Group, who will be trying to identify the origin of the damage. In order to be completely open, the results will be published. As we have done with each technical problem we have encountered on the boat, the conclusions of this assessment will be sent to the IMOCA class and to other teams with the goal of improving the safety and reliability of the boats.' "
New member here and I just want to thank everyone who has posted on this thread,"interesting sailboats."
I've read most of this thread over the months it has been on the site and enjoyed the conversation of where the direction of our modern cruising sailboats are headed for now and in the future. It is good to have this discussion especially for us here in the United States as it seems to me we have a tremendous void to fill. But in reading this thread I see an awakening of cruisers and of designers of things hopefully to come. I personally feel that we Americans on the most part are stuck in our cruising glory days of the late 60's, the 70's and 80's. There are many great boats of this period and I have owned some like the Mason 44. But if we are going to have good used boats in the future for our kids and grand kids to sail we must move forward with new designs now.
My wife and I are lucky enough to have one of these new designs being built, "Boreal44." We look forward to the changes that have come about over the years and sailing/learning will be wonderful experience. We also know that every cruising boat is a compromise even with all the new modern designs there will be compromise.
Thank you again for the interesting sailboats thread, wonderful reading that shows the many directions the industry is headed and hopefully a strong market once cruisers understand the concepts of modern cruising boats and how they have originated.
You are more than welcomed. WOW!!! the Boreal 44 is a great voyage boat. As you probably know we have posted about the boat one an a half year ago:
Talking about yachts by Vallicelli reminded me of one that was a WOW when first launched in the late 90's : Oceano 54 by VR Yachts. I don't think they built many - maybe too expensive from a yard not well known outside of Italy ?
Elegant styling and a good compromise on hull volume by todays standards. Freeboard not excessive, nice large aft cockpit with drop down transom, interesting layouts and the Open 60 style pilot house still looks unique
The VR yachts website still has 2 pages with full details (see under "VR54" and then link to images) - can't yet post web links here & full size images as need 10 posts !
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. Rock has posted recently one of them. Let's have a better look at that boat and some others.
). A small production sailboat and it is the one that has 
