Sailing Anarchy

…Brooklin!

Here, Finally, someone other than Tempesta talks. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that egomaniac to agree to this? Talk about a pain in the ass…

Today’s guest – thankfully –  is Will Sturdy, Chief Designer at Brooklin Boatyard. Enjoy!

Oh, and next Tuesday’s guest on the podcast is Ronnie Simpson! He talks a lot.  How the hell is that gonna work? Maybe this?

There is no question that, particularly in high-density living and boating areas, slips are getting more and more expensive. And harder to find. Given the value of waterfront property, we see this problem continuing to grow. We received this bit of alarming news coming out of Newport Beach, CA. Not good. – ed.

Based on a questionable appraisal prepared by James (Jim) Netzer — the owner of Netzer & Associates, the Newport Beach Harbor Commission plans to raise the rates for mooring permittees by 300% to 500%, while maintaining significantly lower rates for waterfront homeowners’ docks and slips. Rates for a boat up to 50 feet will be 500% higher and rates for a small boat tied to a shore post could be over 1,000% higher. In an appraisal that Netzer prepared in 2016, Netzer himself stated the “mooring-to-slip” ratio is unreliable, and an appraisal prepared by CBRE in 2023 states the same thing.

We believe this increase is discriminatory as it will eliminate the ability for lower- and middle-income boat owners to remain in the harbor while accommodating the preferences of wealthy waterfront homeowners. And, it will force many of the 50 liveaboard boaters on moorings in the harbor to find other housing.

Members of the Newport Mooring Association and mooring permittees have spoken at several City Council and Harbor Commission meetings regarding the negative impact this proposed increase will have on them and others in the harbor. The Newport Mooring Association has provided members of the California State Lands Commission, Newport Beach City Council and Harbor Commission copies of an appraisal prepared by CBRE that more accurately reflects the relationship between mooring permittees and dock owners in Southern California harbors.

The Harbor Commission has ignored CBRE’s appraisal and continues to assert that they will
recommend raising the rates as they see fit. More here. – Jennifer Lee Krestan.

The Environment

This International Day of Waste, we urge you to join us in our quest to nurture a cleaner, healthier planet. Whether it’s reducing your personal waste, supporting organizations like Seabin, or spreading awareness about the significance of waste management, every action matters.

Our Seabin technology isn’t merely just about tidying up our oceans; it’s about effecting real change. With every Seabin installation, we’re extracting tons of marine debris from our waters, shielding marine life and ecosystems from harm. Yet, our efforts don’t end there – we’re continually innovating and enhancing to make an even greater impact.

To discover more about this remarkable day of consciousness, explore the insights provided by the United Nations here.

With a journey of 30 days, Aina Bauzà, the sailor from the Club de Vela Puerto de Andratx, has made history by establishing the new transatlantic solo sailing record on a monohull, departing from Cadiz towards the Bahamas on March 3rd.

The World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC), the organization responsible for Sailing World Records, will
certify this achievement, making Aina the first person to complete this journey between Cadiz and San Salvador solo on a monohull, the first woman to do so, and the first navigator on a 21-foot boat, that is, 6.5 meters, at just 29 years old. Track here.

The Environment

Regulatory efforts continue to accelerate pushing forward with the plans to develop the U.S. offshore wind energy sector. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the eighth large offshore wind farm for the U.S. surpassing 10 GW of approved capacity and the ability to power nearly 4 million homes.

The federal Record of Decision was issued to Avangrid, a member of the Iberdrola Group, for its two-phase New England Wind project. The decision comes a little over a month after BOEM completed the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project. The final step in the federal process is anticipated for July 2024 with the approval of its Construction and Operations Plan. Read on.

The 2024 Olympic Games begin in just four months. As is often the case, the sailing events will be held a long way from the host city (Paris to Marseille is 480 miles – an eight-hour drive on the motorway).

That distance underlines the widening separation between sailing and mainstream Olympic sports. Their connection – always frail – has become increasingly tenuous. It is surely time to ask why. To my mind, there is fault on both sides.

The International Olympic Committee seems to be doing its best to devalue the fundamental sporting ethos of the Games themselves. That ideal is their own most valuable property. But in their desperation to attract a younger audience they have added such silly medal events as break dancing, skateboarding, BMX freestyle, and surfing – all of which rely to a large extent on subjective judging. Not quite “Faster, Higher, Stronger”.

There are five medals to be won in archery – hardly a popular sport (if it is a sport at all, rather than a skill). Taekwondo has lingered in the program ever since its token inclusion as a sop to South Korea when they hosted the Seoul Games back in 1988. Most of us will – as ever – just want to watch the swimming and track and field. The IOC would, no doubt, defend its increasingly bizarre event list on the grounds of diversity and inclusion. That’s all very well and worthy but the more probable motivation is that the Olympics have diminishing appeal as an international attraction.

Major corporate sponsors, including Allianz, Coca-Cola, Intel, and Samsung, must be concerned whether they are getting sufficient bang for their buck. Brisbane was chosen to host the 2032 Games without any serious rivals yet there is already doubt the Australian city can provide the expected massive levels of infrastructure investment. Those five rings are beginning to look decidedly wobbly.

Where does this leave sailing? It’s a complex situation. There are 10 medals allocated to sailing by the Olympic Committee. This is not in proportion to a sport’s participation rates (there are 12 medals for fencing and 18 in wrestling), but to its status against the IOC’s measures of “prevalence” (TV ratings, Internet popularity, ticket requests, media coverage, number of national federations, etc). On most of those indicators, sailing struggles.

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We dig that those guys tricked out their 5ksb and lined right up, but damn they gotta get shot right out the back, don’t they? Not so much – that is Whooper, a Giles 39 and they finished second in IRC 3 at the Rorc Easter Challenge today. Excellent! Results here.

Scot tells us this is his best podcast ever. Sure buddy. Has he even done a decent one?

You be the judge!

As Classe Mini turns 30 this year, organizers are planning on changing class rules to keep sailing costs down as well as organizing a birthday celebration later in the year.

For the 2024 season, the class has also introduced a new race to its competitive sailing calendar with the ‘Mini TransManche’ taking place in August. This new addition is a 500-mile solo race reserved for old series and prototype boats built before 2009 and 2012 respectively.

This approach is designed to give skippers of older boats, and with smaller budgets, the opportunity to gain extra points in their attempts to qualify for the Mini Transat in autumn 2025.

The class, renowned for its ‘born in mini’ spirit, embodying enjoyment, equality, togetherness and adventure has always been regarded as a realistic option for those without the deep pockets required for larger boat classes. However, recent years have seen unprecedented demand for places with organisers trying to accommodate a surge in interest in both prototype and production boat classes.

Explosion in boat building

This has led to an explosion in the number of expensive, state of the art, boats being built. In response, plans were recently passed at the latest AGM in Paris which will limit the number of series boats built each year to 25 for the next year then a decrease of 20% per year until 2027.

Romain Bigot, Classe Mini President, explained: “The limitation in the production of series boats has been the result of analysis by two working groups. The first has focussed on addressing the increase in the number of new boats which has resulted in a flooded second-hand market. The second has examined carbon footprint reduction opportunities to limit our climate impact and has produced a carbon baseline assessment report which was recently presented to members. More here.

Photo: Puru Transgascogne ©Josselin Didou

After receiving a late call about a 45ft Beneteau sunk in 14m of water 2.5 km off Mandurah, we headed to our factory unit to reconfigure the salvage boat. After a very early start, we were able to locate the vessel without resorting to a grid search.

A diver inspection found the keel loose and barely attached. Initial attempts to raise her were unsuccessful with the loose keel making her very unstable. We decided to get her to the surface and very gently tow her at less than 1 knot to calm water in the Comet Bay mooring area.

We were running out of daylight so she was secured on a mooring and re-sunk onto sand bottom. After some overnight considerations, we again had an early start and elected to bring the hull and keel in separately, lots of airbags were attached to try and give the keelless hull some stability and she was very carefully towed to the lifter. We then went out and recovered the keel getting stuck twice in the channel and having to attach more bags to get the keel shallow enough. Big thanks to the Mandurah boat lifter for doing a double emergency lift.

More here.

Good idea. Too bad World Sailing has to be involved in everything with “World” in the title. More monopolistic bullshit from a bunch of scoundrels…

An initiative of World Sailing, the Offshore Double Handed World Championships has been established in recognition of the explosive growth of double handed offshore racing in recent years.

World Sailing has made an initial commitment to three world championships. The first, in September 2024, will be hosted at Lorient Grand Large, Yacht Club de France with the support of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC). Lorient Grand Large has been a centre of excellence for competitive sailing since 1997. It is home to elite level teams in the Ultim, IMOCA and Ocean 50 classes, as well as the Mini 6.50, Figaro, Class40. The venue has hosted several major events in recent years, including The Ocean Race, Solitaire du Figaro, and the Retour à La Base.

The 2025 event will be held at Cowes, Isle of Wight and the 2026 venue is to be confirmed.

The regatta is only open to mixed duos (1 Woman and 1 Man). Racing will be conducted using a fleet of 10 Jeanneau Sun Fast 30 One Design boats. Up to 20 entries will be accepted. There will be two heats with the top 5 boats from each heat qualifying for the final. More here.

Not Sailing

At least six people remain unaccounted for after a large cargo ship crashed into a pillar of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday morning, causing it to collapse.

A total of eight construction workers who were fixing potholes on the bridge fell into the Patapsco River below. Two people have since been rescued, officials said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency, and the FBI is on the scene. More thanks to Yahoo News. Photo by Julia Nikhinson/Reuters. Title thanks to Led Zeppelin.

The Environment

BANGKOK, THAILAND, 26 March 2024: The Ocean Cleanup has deployed its first InterceptorTM river cleanup solution in the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok – part of a wider partnership to tackle plastic pollution leaking from one the world’s busiest working rivers.

Together with partners The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, The Coca-Cola Company, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bangkok, Ecomarine, Asimar, and Chulalongkorn University, the project will see Interceptor 019 extract trash while helping us learn more about plastic pollution in Bangkok’s rivers and canals.

Interceptor 019 is part of The Ocean Cleanup’s long-term partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, which began in 2021 and aims to support the deployment of innovative technologies to help prevent plastic from entering the world’s oceans from rivers.

The Chao Phraya is a vital waterway that serves as the lifeblood of the city. As one of Asia’s major rivers, it is a source of livelihood for many local communities and is indispensable to Bangkok’s 11 million inhabitants. Read on.

Title inspiration thanks to Robert Zimmerman.

It was a devastating day for the Aussies today in Christchurch, as Driver Tom Slingsby and the team collided with a course marker during the first fleet race, forcing them to retire from the New Zealand Sail Grand Prix altogether.

The incident occurred as Australia and Canada were approaching the first mark of the race at speed. Slingsby made a split second decision to manoeuvre away to avoid a potentially catastrophic collision with the Canada Team’s F50 and crew, instead hitting the course mark, causing extensive damage to the Flying Roo.

Slingsby was visibly shaken by the incident, saying to the media: “It all happened so quickly but at that moment I knew that we were going to hit Canada, so I had a choice to make and I wanted to keep people safe so I turned the boat as hard as I could into the course mark. It was either that or go straight through Canada.”

This from SailGp. More here.

What a douchey stance and thing to say. A lotta money on the line, Russell? Fuck the dolphins?

Sir Russell Coutts has slammed officials for their “extreme” dolphin policy that halted racing on the first day of the SailGP event. However, the organizers understood the risks involved, the city council’s agency and iwi say, and were even warned it was a bad gamble, a dolphin expert says.

The event, in Lyttelton Harbour, was set to get underway at 3pm on Saturday but was delayed after a dolphin was spotted in the racing zone. After it had not moved on after two hours, the day’s racing was abandoned entirely.

Under SailGP’s marine mammal management plan, racing must stop if a dolphin is sighted and not continue until 20 minutes after it is last seen. The plan was developed alongside the Department of Conservation, Environment Canterbury and Ngāti Wheke to protect Hector’s dolphins, which are known to breed around Lyttelton at this time of year.

Hector’s dolphins are native to New Zealand and are classed as nationally vulnerable, with about 15,000 in existence. Coutts, the chief executive of SailGP, said other harbour users were not subject to such “restrictive” protocols. More here, thanks to RNZ.

Photo thanks to the Quara

The presence of an endangered species of dolphins on the race course prevented sailing on the first day of the New Zealand leg of the SailGP series on Saturday.

The race venue on Lyttelton Harbour near Christchurch on the South Island is home to around 1,000 of the remaining 10,000 Hector’s dolphins, which are native to New Zealand.

Under the conditions of the two-day event, racing cannot take place while dolphins are on or near the course. Observers have been assigned to spot dolphins and warn organizers if they stray too close to the race area.

The SailGP website said: “Race Day 1 canceled due to prolonged mammal activity on the racecourse for the duration of scheduled race window.” More, thanks to the Associated Press.

SailGP chief executive Russell Coutts has announced the tour won’t return to Christchurch next year, due to minority interests making things too difficult.

On the eve of the much-anticipated event in Lyttelton – which is expected to welcome 22,000 visitors , the yachting legend revealed he was looking at other New Zealand host cities for 2025 and beyond.

Speaking to TV1, Coutts said Lyttelton was a fantastic venue, but he lashed out at “a few minority groups that have a huge say in what happens”.

He didn’t specify the groups he had a problem with but highlighted issues faced with organizing future events in Lyttelton. More here, thanks to The Press.

Photo thanks to Sound Cloud.

Not Sailing

A South Korean-registered chemical tanker was lost off Japan during a storm today. The Japan Coast Guard is reporting that one person was rescued and the bodies of eight other crewmembers were recovered but those individuals were pronounced deceased at a local hospital. Two other crewmembers were missing after an all-day search of the area.

The Moji Coast Guard station in western Japan reported that it received a distress call early on Wednesday morning from the crew of the tanker Keoyoung Sun (1,168 dwt) that the vessel was listing in a storm. They were requesting urgent assistance. It was anchored approximately five miles north-northwest of Mutsure Island in southwestern Japan off Honshu. Read on.

Not Sailing

Last week, French naval forces intercepted a shipment of a staggering 11 tonnes of cocaine aboard a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Guinea. The location of the massive haul adds to a growing body of evidence that South American traffickers are turning to a West African route to get their goods to Europe.

Last week, the French Navy (Marine Nationale) received a request from France’s national intelligence directorate and national anti-narcotics office. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had passed on information from Brazilian federal police about a cocaine shipment in progress.

In the early hours of March 14, an unnamed French warship intercepted a Brazilian-flagged fishing vessel in the Gulf of Guinea (with approval from the flag state). The boarding team found a total of 10,693 kilos of cocaine on board, and French authorities assessed its estimated market value at about $760 million. Per kilo, this is approximately $71,000 – slightly more than the current price of pure gold. Read on.

It’s all so confusing! From the Formula Kite European Champs. Photo © IKA media/ Robert Hajduk: Pin End Chaos

Moved by the passing of his friend, Scot Tempesta gets into a subject – finally – that he knows something about – Booze.

He actually has some sobering thoughts (haha), about an often difficult topic and you may wish to give this a listen.

Got a topic idea for Scot to get into, give us a shout.

The Environment

When the ocean’s average surface temperature hit a new record high in March 2023, it set off alarm bells in the scientific community – but few experts predicted that ocean temperatures would keep climbing off the chart. The average sea surface temperature has set a new daily record every day for the past 12 months, and is now beating the records set last March.

In the near term, the most immediately visible effect has been coral bleaching – the loss of photosynthetic algae that lives on (and grows) a coral reef. Australia’s famed Great Barrier Reef is in the middle of a damaging bleaching event now, and the Florida Keys’ corals suffered through historic bleaching conditions last year. Read on.

Of course, it’s not all wood, but what a cool/curious use of wood in the cockpit and deck. This is the 110ft (33.5m) Malcolm McKeon sloop Zemi at the Superyacht Challenge Antigua. Photo by Claire Matches.

Title inspiration thanks to CSN.

Not Sailing

The Yemeni Houthi rebels’ continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea serve as a reminder that global supply chains remain highly vulnerable to disruption. Moreover, it highlights how food insecurity can simultaneously be an effect and cause of conflict.

To address this, the international community must move quickly to combine its hard and soft power, mitigating the push and pull factors leading people to terrorism, violence, and piracy—factors that include food insecurity itself.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization defines food security as ‘when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’. The latest UN statistics suggest that 691 million to 783 million people are food-insecure, many of them in fragile and conflict-affected states.  Read on.

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Dana Point legend and friend Scott Clapp. Always one of my favorite guys, he did bow for us on one of the Anarchys, and we became friends. I was always happy to see Scotty, such a cool, funny and authentic dude.

I did, however, become jealous af when he grew his “terrorist beard”! I am simply not manly enough to do that, and it looked great on Scott. That did not stop me from referring to it as the terrorist beard every time I saw him!

His death seriously bums me out. To learn that he took his own life – perhaps as a partial result of alcohol issues – is truly disheartening. As one who has suffered from the substance demons, I can relate.  Goodbye my friend, you are seriously loved and missed by many. – Scot Tempesta

Really, is there a more magnificent sailboat than this? This is the now 13-year-old 218′ R/P designed, Baltic-built beauty sailing in the Superyacht Challenge.  We are never not awed when we see it… Photo © Claire Matches

The Environment

Bird flu has killed five gentoo penguins and five king penguins in the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, it was announced this week. They were the latest victims of H5N1, the virus which has killed millions of wild birds and tens of thousands of mammals globally.

The story of this bird flu outbreak started on the beaches of Scotland nearly two years ago, when people noticed the bodies of seabirds washing up en masse. Some pictures were sent to me on social media – what was noticeable (and concerning) was the number of species that were dead.

These early deaths were a terrible omen of things to come. The disease has spread to every continent except Oceania, killing a remarkable diversity of animals – even taking down a polar bear at the end of last year. The latest research suggests it can spread between mammals. Thanks to the Guardian for this.

On the same day that the ship arrived to take Comanche from Australia to Italy, news has emerged that the 100-footer will now be staying Down Under for at least another year.

The boat is completely stripped with the spars wrapped and secured on deck ready for transport (see above).

SA readers will remember that a condition of the two-year lease just ended was that Comanche would be delivered to Genoa ready to sail.

We can confirm that the supermaxi will now be “borrowed” for twelve months by three-time Sydney-Hobart winning skipper Matt Allen with an as yet un-named partner. It will continue to be based in Sydney. Whether the name is to have Allen’s trademark Ichi Ban phrase added is undecided.

There are no plans to campaign the boat during the Australian winter season, but the 2014 VPLP/Verdier record-breaker will contest the full spring and summer offshore series, culminating in the Sydney-Hobart Race.

Early indications are that some of the current crew will be retained, including tactician Iain Murray and veteran maxi boat captain Campbell Knox.

If, as expected, Wild Oats XI is repaired in the next few months offshore racing fans can hopefully look forward to a resumption of the traditional line-honours battle of the 100-footers.

Can there be any doubt that this is the kind of dude who would sue if he got his little fee fees hurt?  Read on, knowing what kind of guy buys that and does this… Photo thanks to Motor Authority.

We’ve all been irritated when we miss out on a parking space, right? But have you ever been so annoyed that you started firing off death threats and pulled down your trousers? I thought not. Well, one millionaire did just that after they and their Lamborghini yacht were turned away from a private dock in San Diego.

Ajay Thakore, otherwise known as Ace Rogers, was attempting to dock their Tecnomar Lamborghini 63 yacht at a Marriott Marina in San Diego this weekend, reports local news outlet CBS8. However, when the businessman was told that this was a private dock and there wasn’t space for his $4.5 million yacht, all hell broke loose. Read on, thanks to Jalopnik!

Not Sailing

The operators of an unlicensed charter boat face charges of seaman’s manslaughter in connection with the deaths of two passengers in a capsizing in 2022, the Coast Guard announced Friday, and could be sent to prison for up to 10 years if convicted.

Richard Cruz and Jaeme Pinella Gomez were the owners and operators of Stimulus Money, a small speedboat that they operated as a for-hire passenger tour vessel. Neither had a merchant mariners’ credential, and they did not have a COI for the boat.

On July 12, 2022, Stimulus Money departed the pier with 13 people on board for a tour on the Hudson. The number of passengers exceeded the boat’s rated capacity. According to federal prosecutors, Gomez was not experienced and “piloted Stimulus Money in a dangerous manner.” At about 1440 hours, he rapidly increased the throttle for one of the engines, and the boat capsized. Gomez was not wearing an auto-shutoff lanyard, so the engine continued to run.

All 13 people aboard were thrown into the water, and 11 survivors were rescued by the NYPD, FDNY and good samaritan vessels. The other two – a seven-year-old boy and his aunt, 48 – drowned underneath the boat. The FDNY Dive Rescue Team recovered the victims at about 1445 hours.  Read on.

The Biz

The Hanse Yachts group formalized on Friday March 1, 2024 its desire to exit the Frankfurt stock exchange. The German yachting specialist, at the head of the Hanse, Dehler and Moody sailboat brands, and Fjord, Sealine and Ryck motorboat brands, is ending its listing in accordance with current procedures. The Aurelius group, the main shareholder with 79.4% of the capital, is acquiring the remaining shares at the average share price over the last 6 months. Read on.

So we ran this video, and then we ran Grand Large Yachting’s response to our inquiry about the video. Here is the follow-up video to that.

Here’s our idea – just use these in the America’s Cup and spare us all the bullshit. – ed.

The California-based autonomous boat company Saildrone has partnered with shipbuilder Austal to start production of its extra-large sail-powered vessel, the Surveyor.

Saildrone’s orange drones are a familiar sight in the research community, and have been used on long-distance blue water operations for years. They have self-deployed from California for surveys in the Bering Sea, ventured into Antarctic and High Arctic waters, and traced out thousands of miles of trackline in the Central Pacific, without intervention or resupply. The Navy has also trialed them in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz for surveillance applications, with some success (except for a brief capture-and-abduction incident involving Iranian operatives). To date, Saildrone’s devices have logged more than 1.1 million nautical miles sailed and 32,000 days of sea time.  Read on.

Yesterday, in La Coruna, Spain, history was made. Cole Brauer became the first American woman to sail single-handed around the world non-stop. And she did so with an elegant beauty, in other words, she crushed it. She was racing the Global Solo Challenge, a pursuit race that started where it finished, the port city of La Coruna on the west coast of Spain. (A beautiful place by the way). And to boot, she made it look effortless, right up to the last minute when she stormed across the finish line with flares ablaze.

Let’s look at this. Cole lives in Boothbay, Maine. There is salt in her veins and a love of the ocean in her heart. She found her passion for sailing while living in Hawaii and decided to take on the challenge of a solo around-the-world race and while coming in second, she was the one to light up the sky.

There has been and will be a lot written about Cole, including an article in the New York Times (sailing does not often get a mention in that rag), but let’s step back and take a look at things. It was not that long ago, and I know this because I was racing competitively then, that (us) men would not have women on board because they were deemed not up to the task.

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Cole Brauer is the first American female to race solo around the world, nonstop.  A great story about a fabulous young woman who absolutely crushed it. Wow.

Track her here, and read more about Cole here.