I'm stuck in Palma, at the Copa del Rey AUDI MAPFRE. Here's the entire decision by the NY Appellate Division that gives Alinghi, at least provisional, victory. If you are lazy to go through the entire text, here's the juicy part: Accordingly, the orders of the Supreme Court, New York County (Herman Cahn, J.), entered March 18, 2008 and May 13, 2008, which, inter alia, declared CNEV's challenge invalid and GGYC the Challenger of Record under the Deed of Gift, should be reversed, on the law, with costs, CNEV declared the Challenger of Record, and, in keeping with the Deed of Gift's requirement that the defender be given at least 10 months' written notice to prepare for the challenge, the 10-month notice period should be tolled until service of a copy of this order.  read more »

The following scenario was send in by Alastair from North Ryde, Australia: Fleet Racing, in the SI the alternative penalty was changed to a single "360" turn. Yacht B infringes Yacht A, on pre-start side of the line, after Prep but before Starting signal. Yacht B is then OCS. Yacht B bears away and gybes around the pin, and then starts by tacking to cross the line Yacht B claims that not only does this maneuver return her to pre-course side of the line, but also that it counts as her "360" alternative penalty. I believe that a yacht must start before taking alternative penalty is this true ? If a yacht can take an alternative penalty before starting, can this single maneuver to return to pre start side of the line also serve as alternative penalty ?  read more »

TSC interviews New England Rope’s Kevin Coughlin at the 2005 U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD. With so many types of line available, which ones should a cruising sailor choose when it’s time to replace those aging halyards and sheets? Kevin gives some incite into proper rope selection for cruising boats. Be sure to [...]

The Morrisons and Riglers take a group jump into the sea at The Baths. Then they continue their BVI cruise with a sail to the “drowned” island of Anegada. Anegada means drowned land. Its highest point is only 28 feet and much of the island’s interior consists of salt ponds. But at the water’s edge, [...]

One of the fun things about rigging a Laser is attaching the clew of the sail to the boom. In the good old days of Laser sailing when Gary Jobson was a lad and Anna Tunnicliffe wasn't even a twinkle in her daddy's eye, we used to tie the clew to the boom with a piece of line inventively known as the "clew tie-down".

One thing you need to know is that it's always been part of Laser legend and folklore that you have to have the clew tie-down tied as tightly as possible. This is something to do with leech tension but as I never really understood how sails work in the first place please don't ask me what a tight leech has to do with going fast or pointing high or both. But all the top guys believe it does, so that's good enough for me.  read more »

Welcome to Gamebirds and Gamebird Breeder Online Resource Directory. Featuring Gamebirds, Gamebird Breeders and Gamebird Products.
VirtualSailboatShow: Good Old Boat Magazine At the 2006, 37th Annual United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD, Good Old Boat Magazine publishers, Jerry [...]

In the new rule book (RRS 2009-2012) the old rule 18, about rounding and passing marks and obstructions, has been split into two rules: 18 dealing with MARK-ROOM and 19 ROOM TO PASS AN OBSTRUCTION. I have had some inquiries and comments on what the effect will be of the new wording in rule 19, particularly for boats on the starting line. Let's first look at the rule(s): Rule 19.2(b) States: 'When boats are overlapped, the outside boat shall give the inside boat room between her and the obstruction, unless she has been unable to do so from the time the overlap began' Definitions: Obstruction; An object that a boat could not pass without changing course substantially, if she were sailing directly towards it and one of her hull lengths from it.  read more »

G3 2006 LX20 Cruise Rear Entry, with Yamaha two stroke 90 HP outboard and Buddy trailer with brakes. 40 hours, like new condition. Includes fishfinder, livewell, satellite compatable AM/FM CD with upgraded speakers. Inflattable bed insert, tons of features. Full list available.
VirtualSailboatShow: The Galleyware Company [...]

Although this terrible and tragic event took place early on Monday morning, at 00:50 am more precisely, I report it today, after deliberating with other Spanish sailing journalists on whether any publicity should be given to these cowardly attacks. As most of our readers probably know, Desafo, the former Challenger of Record of the 33rd America's Cup, decided last month to abandon the newly formed CNEV (Club Nutico Espaol de Vela) and instead represent a well-respected and traditional yacht club. As a result, Desafo chose to fly the colors of Real Club Martimo del Abra, located in the northern Spanish city of Bilbao. Officially, the reason the team opted for that yacht club was that it was the first one in the alphabetical order of all Spanish clubs although it is strongly believed it was a decision by Iberdorla, the syndicate's main sponsors, whose headquarters are a few kilometers from Abra. On Monday morning, at exactly 00:50 am, a car bomb exploded right in front of the yacht club's main building. According to the initial press reports, there were at least 60kg of explosives inside the van that was parked on the city's boardwalk, just 10 meters away from the building's entrance but also very close to a number of adjacent houses. The Basque terrorist group ETA had warned the police at 11:55 pm on Sunday that a bomb would explode within the following hour in front the club's premises. And so it did and according to witnesses the explosion was heard miles away. Unaware of the bomb threat, people in the vicinity thought a nearby chemical factory had exploded. There were no victims since the police had managed to evacuate the area but material damage was severe.  read more »

Alinghi, the Defender of the 33rd America's Cup held on Thursday a media day in their base in Valencia, presenting their sailing and design teams and giving an update on the status of design and construction of their multihull yacht. Don't hold your breath there wasn't anything spectacular announcement, although we do know now that the start of construction is "imminent". Design & Construction of multihull yacht We would have been foolish if we had expected any major revelation during Thursday's presentation even if hearing Brad Butterworth in his opening words say that construction of the new yacht had started in Villeneuve, Switzerland was indeed a surprise. During the day, and depending one who you talked to, the stage of construction varied slightly. Rolf Vrolijk, chief designer, stated that design is in its final stages and construction could start at any moment after the decision is taken. Regardless of the exact degree of construction, it appears that Alinghi is about to start or has just started the construction process. Obviously, this is the official line and we doubt anyone knows how advanced the construction is, except a small circle of insiders. At this stage, it would be foolish to reveal anything to the adversary. BMW Oracle also sent some days ago three pictures from what they claimed was their boatyard, without showing any specifics or even dating the photos. The Alinghi design team has been reinforced with a number of experts, the most prominent being Nigel Irens, the British designer with more than 30 years of experience in large multihulls. Although he claimed he was just a "small addition" to Alinghi's existing team, it's certainly no coincidence he designed a 75ft and a 97ft trimaran that smashed the round-the-world records. Some general lines were given but lips were tight as far as the details were concerned. With the absence of any predetermined design rules or previous examples of similar yachts it is still a wild guess what they will look like. It appears Alinghi's design team, and not only, was trying to convey the message that because of these reasons and the inherent complexity, it is impossible to build such a boat before the end of the year and for that reason it is impossible to hold an America's Cup match before May 2009, the cornerstone of their legal arguments. Rolf Vrolijk claimed that it takes 3 months just to understand the concept and structure of such a yacht. Its construction takes roughly 9 months, twice as much as an America's Cup from the last edition. These yachts will contain 3 times the amount of carbon fiber in the current conventional boats. Adding 2 months needed for shake down, Alinghi will not be able to race before a year from now. It appears the design and construction of the yacht are trapped in a vicious circle. The design cannot be finalized before the issue of the venue is decided. The venue depends on the date of the race which in turn depends on the outcome of the legal battle. One thing is certain, designers and boatbuilders are entering uncharted territory where anything goes. It is up to them to try to figure out what they can achieve in the limited time they have and provided the following construction time schedule in order to support their claim.  read more »