Railmeat To The Max
It would take our whole membership to sail this boat. And we would probably need a bigger bay.
New Racing Website Offers Interesting Capabilities
Thanks to Jim Heumann who crews on THATUNA for sending this in. Have a post idea? Send it in to webmaster@ptsa.org. I'm a member and I sail with John Lynes on THATUNA. I've recently discovered a smartphone app that in combination with a web site lets you record a race, upload it to the internet, and replay it overlaid on Google Earth. If more than one boat in a race records their track the site figures that out and shows them all. We have been recording races for a while now and are finding it really helpful. I think others [...]
Future Sailing – Wind Assisted Ferries
It seems like the technology of sailing continues to evolve at a faster rate. From Kimball Livingston's Blue Planet Times. By Kimball Livingston Posted April 21, 2014 Eventually, someone is going to get “wind assisted” transport right. Don’t bet against Richard Jenkins. The same Richard Jenkins who spent his first ten adult years figuring out how to set a wing-powered landsailing speed record of 126.2 mph. The same Richard Jenkins who recently, remotely, sailed a 19-foot, wing-and-solar-powered prototype drone from San Francisco Bay to Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, then to the South Pacific, and back, and who is now neck deep [...]
2014 Pittman Innovation Awards
Sail Magazine's annual innovation awards with some interesting new products. The BG-Zeus MFD can show laylines. Sailing has always been a technology-driven activity, and the spirit of innovation that prompted the first Stone Age sailor to cast off and let the wind do the work remains as vibrant today as ever. Of course, many of today’s innovations harness the now commonplace “miracles” that are part and parcel of the modern era. Nonetheless, a surprising number are the product of good-old common sense, the kind of thing that prompt you to wonder, “Now why didn’t I think of that?” [...]
Return of the Riblets
It’s almost bottom paint time, how smooth are you going to sand and burnish? Could super smooth be slower? From Scuttlebutt. Washington, DC (January 17, 2014) – From the sleek hulls of racing yachts to Michael Phelps’ shaved legs, most objects that move through the water quickly are also smooth. But researchers from UCLA have found that bumpiness can sometimes be better. “A properly designed rough surface, contrary to our intuition, can reduce skin-friction drag,” said John Kim, a professor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at UCLA. Kim and his colleagues modeled the fluid flow between two surfaces [...]
3M Scotchloks, is my Love so Wrong?
Some ideas on dealing with the very small gauge wires that are used on many new electronics. From Ben at Panbo. In October I promised to eventually discuss the 3M Scotchlok IDC connectors I used to tap into Gizmo's engine gauge wires in order to install an Actisense EMU-1 Engine Monitoring Unit. Given that two experienced commenters already strongly dismissed these connectors for boat use, I did more research and testing. Tentative conclusion: while 3M does indeed state that Scotchloks like those tiny UY butt connectors above are meant only for 22-26 gauge solid copper conducter wires, they still seem like [...]
Foiling In 4 Knots
Post from pressure-drop.us The boys at Phillipe Kahn’s Pegasus Racing, not to be confused with the similarly named Port Townsend outfit, have upped their game in the foiling arena, modifying an F-20 Catamaran into a sweet flying machine. “Flying MotionX Catamaran, Magic carpet, like riding champagne powder on a snowboard or skis. Highly recommended! It’s a carbon F20 expanded to foiling by Pete Melvin. This is a custom project, not a production boat. Far from it. An amazing experience. Not a simple retrofit kit.” “50% more powerful than a F18 Phantom, longer, and 25% lighter. All carbon. Pete Melvin design. [...]
Millions Spent on Cup Techonology Begins to Trickle Down
Next week, cars that fly. From Wired magazine. Some day, our whole life will be on foils. Maybe. Frank Rinderknecht never set out to be the Willy Wonka of the automotive world. The mad scientist of motoring started out importing sunroofs into Europe. Then he tried his hand outfitting cars for handicapped drivers. Then he started modifying Porsches and helping a few German automakers with R&D. It was all normal enough. But then something snapped and he started doing things like building scuba-diving sports cars. Rinderknecht discovered his penchant for the absurd 40 years ago. In the years [...]
Oracle Racing Resumes Flight Tests
click for large image Meanwhile, back on the other bay (San Francisco), Oracle Racing, after a spectacular crash of their Cup boat #1 that ended with it drifting under the Golden Gate and out into the Pacific, managed to do a six-month repair job in three and one-half months and relaunched. She's back out testing with a couple of noticeable differences: beefier cross beams and less twist in the hulls, deeper rudders, cockpits for the the grinders and helmsman, and two bright red wheels. Having to steer the boat with what looked like a very expensive tiller extension [...]
Adding Polars to Your Cell Phone
Thanks to Jak Mang - who has an interesting electronics project of his own in the very early stages - for pointing this out. In this app, modifiable, generic polars are available to match your boat and theoretically help you sail at your optimum VMG. It seems as if the movement of high tech sailing apps from dedicated boxes to inexpensive software on widely available phones, tablets and computers will be one of the big stories of the next several years. Although it is not strictly rigging, we feel that this is something worth sharing. This is a good step [...]
VESTAS Sailrocket 2. “The magic mile” world record*…
Thanks to Dan Newland for passing along this video. SAILROCKET 2 also smashed the outright speed record with a peak of 67.74 knots and 65.37 knots average! That’s 121km/hr and 125.45 km/hr peak. Is foiling the future for recreational boating as well? Two days after finally smashing the Outright world speed sailing record, the Vestas Sailrocket 2 team decide to tackle the ‘Nautical Mile’ world record which was held by the mighty ‘Hydroptere’. It was always going to be an interesting challenge for the VSR2 team as the speed course that they sail on in Walvis Bay, Namibia [...]
What Are You Going to Do About Your Bottom?
Thursday night. Free for everyone. 2012 racing season skipper's meeting follows the talk.
Dan Newland Reports in From the Bleeding Edge
After helping finish up one of the first GP 26s with Brook Dees, and Jim Antrim’s Class 40 built at Berkeley Marine, Dan is again in the Bay area working on the Kiteboat Project, a foiler trimaran that is powered by a kite. Here’s a short report from the always entertaining Mr. Newland. “The boat is a kick. The hulls are 25′ long and weigh about 90 lbs each and (I’m not kidding), overbuilt. We could take probably 20 lbs out of them. Everything is carbon and the core is Nomex. VERY stiff but you can litereally put [...]
Thinking Of Switching Over To Flush Thru-Hulls? Practical Sailor Has Some Tips
Thanks to Hill at North American Sailor for the tip. If you sail a lot in light air, there are a number of upgrades you can consider. From new sails, to light-weight halyards, to removing gear from the boat. We’ve already talked before about the value of training as well. But one upgrade which will improve your performance – no matter how badly you sail – is making sure you’ve got a fair bottom. On many cruisers, thru-hulls are an important component of drag, and can be faired or recessed to improve performance. Practical-Sailor highlights these two major options: fairing [...]
America’s Cup 34, a tech overview
The media presentation of sailboat racing has forever changed based on the work done for the 34th Cup races. It's really excellent and if you haven't seen it you can replay the races on YouTube here. At the center of those changes is Stan Honey, well known sailor, navigator and electronics wizard. The first down lines super imposed on the TV show football field, Stan's work. Nascar car tracking and data, Stan's work. And now he has brought that technical expertise to help clarify and explain his own sport, sailing. From the Panbo electronics blog, a review of the equipment [...]
Whale Fins and Rudder Designs
Bob Perry has a new blog and one of his first posts was on ICON's new rudder designed by Paul Bieker. This is ICON's revised rudder. As you probably can guess the bumps on the leading edge are what was added to my original rudder shape. These bumps are called "Tubercles" and can be found in nature on the leading edge of the fins Humpback whales. They can be seen as vortex generators. So, why were they added and did they work? ICON's original owner and skipper were Happy with the boat's performance and I never heard any [...]
Stretch vs. Creep
A post by Ryan Scott on the West Marine Rigging-Newport site that might be helpful as you prepare your boat for the coming season. One common misconception that I am asked about, is whether stretch and creep are the same thing. They are not. I saw an analogy a while ago describing the difference, and I still think it is one of the best ways to demonstrate it. Rubber bands stretch, taffy creeps. […]
30 Knots, No Problem Mate
"When asked whether the new multi hull was a handful in 25 knots, Oracle Racing Skipper Jummy Spithill's enthusiasm spilled over, “It’s awesome mate! I think we’ll be able to race these in 30 knots and it will be a handful. Who knows, maybe there will be a few boats who will be right on the edge and perhaps someone will capsize one, but look, that’s what I think the sport is all about, it needs to have that element of risk…" Read the entire story on "Sailblast" here More pictures from the gallery "AC45 : testing the [...]
Port Considers Banning Copper Bottom Paint
When I was down at the Seattle Boat Show I talked to both the Interlux and and the Petite reps and came away with the impression that while both companies offer non-copper based bottom paints, neither is producing a product that works as well as their current copper-based paints. Good sense suggests that the life cycle of copper-based paints is coming to an end, one can only hope that the new technology reaches greater effectiveness before it does. From Bertram Levy of the PT Moorgage Tenants Union reporting on a recent Port of PT commission meeting. At the [...]
Zhik 2011 Moth Worlds – Final Day Highlights
Out of 110 sailors that started the regatta, Seattle based Dalton Bergen finished 18th and Lindsey Bergen finished 48th. Another winner was the videos themselves that raised the bar for showing sailing at it's best with great photography, great production, and the combination of voice over and interviews. All of which wouldn't not have been possible but for the unbelievable coolness of the foiling Moth. In some way this boat is going to affect the future of performance sailboats.
Day Four, Moth Worlds
25 kts of wind, some great crashes, and the rich get richer as the leaders stretch out their lead and the Australians remain dominant. A note from Dan Kaseler of Raptor Sails. "There are a few people using [Raptor Sails at the Worlds], including Dalton, and his wife Lindsey.... Unfortunately Dalton blew up his boat yesterday, and so fell out of the running. Lindsey is in a tight battle for the top female athlete."
Moth Worlds, the Local Angle
Lying in 15th place on day three out of a field of 109 boats is Seattle’s Dalton Bergan. With all top 10 finishes except for a DNF in the final race, Bergan is doing a great job in this highly competitive class. While most of the field at the Belmont, Australia based world championship are using KA Australian made sails, Bergan is using Port Angles made Raptor Sails. Dan Kaseler, owner of Raptor, until recently made the fastest sails in the world as a windsurfer using Raptor Sails broke the world sailing speed record. An excellent sailor in his own [...]
Zhik 2011 Moth Worlds
Sailing these days feels vaguely like that cartoon of the Ascent of Man in which the hominoid rises from the dirt to the upright position. In sailing, that cartoon would show a full keel, to a fin keel, to a planing hull and now a boat flying on foils. And no class demonstrates what may be the future of sailing better than the Moth Class.
Crunching Numbers: A Better Way to Estimate Hull Speed
A recent post from the blog of the always interesting Charles Doane on a different formula to estimate hull speed that more accurately reflects the fact that lightweight boats are more capable of exceeding their nominal hull speed. It’s been a while since we discussed all those mysterious numbers that both boat designers and journalists are always throwing around to confuse us when they talk about boats. You’ll recall last time I bloviated about displacement/length ratios. One big reason it’s a good idea to go to the trouble to calculate a boat’s D/L ratio is that you can [...]
Moore-phing Into Another Decade, The Moore 24: Still The Classic
Thanks to Josh Greene for pointing out this history of the Moore 24 that first appeared on the web site Pressure Drop here. Article by Jeremy Leonard of Surf City Racing It’s a bright, sunny afternoon in early October 2010 and a fleet of 30 Moore 24s are sailing their North Americans out of Santa Cruz Yacht Club. I’m in the hills above Santa Cruz and I’m standing in a redwood grove on the spot where the plug for a boat named Grendel, the predecessor to the Moore 24, was almost destroyed. Grendel was designed and built by [...]
Some Thoughts on Building Low Weight Structures
From the always active mind of Dan Newland ….. Hey guys. I was using this table when it occurred to me that perhaps you could also use these figures. Attached are some real, measured weights I’ve kept for when I need to do calculations, (the exception are the foam cores that are calculated). Many came from laminate samples or real wood pieces that I have and commonly use around the shop. It occurred to me that maybe you could use this but if not, I will assume the delete button works well and it can go into the Ether. Anyway, [...]
A New Open 40 Gets Hatched
Dan Newland helps finish a new Open 40. For 5 weeks this spring I was in the Bay area working on the build of a new Open Class 40, “Condor” or more properly “California Condor.” I was originally going to be there for 1-2 weeks to design and build some of the detailed finish composite work but they liked what I was doing and they were far behind schedule so I was invited to stay as long as I could. After 5 weeks of 7 days a week and 10-12 hours a day, (300+ hours in 5 weeks [...]
Hydroptere – The History of a Dream
Interesting video on the French sailing hydrofoil, L'Hydroptere, Alain Thebault's decades-long obsession to turn his surface piercing foil-driven trimaran concept into the world's fastest sailboat. As Sailing Anarchy pointed out this morning, the video ends with a quote from Winston Churchill, "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." l'Hydroptère - L'histoire d'un rêve - The story of a dream (3 min) from Team Hydroptère on Vimeo.