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, [...]

The winning streak continued for Peter de Ridder and his Mean Machine boat. Fresh from yesterday's two victories, Mean Machine won Wednesday's coastal race, after having crossed the scoring gate ahead of the fleet. Still, with Quantum Racing and TAU Andalucia just a couple of points behind them, the Alicante Torphy is open for grabs. After a short-lived postponment ashore, the race committee had to go further to the south in order to find some stronger breeze. The starting gun was fired with just a half an hour delay and the 16 TP52 boats went off heading southeast towards the first mark. The right side of the course was the favorite one and Mean Machine, TAU Andalucia, Quantum and Artemis opted for it. In what was probably the worst tactical decision that cost them their leadership, Bribn decided to go furthest to the right, getting trapped in less pressure. Dean Barker tacked just twice in the first leg, resulting in a 14th place at the first windward mark. It was game over from that point for the then leader. Mean Machine rounded the top mark first, closely followed by Quantum. Peter de Ridder's boat was able to hold on to its lead while behind them, Artemis and TAU Andalucia were fighting with Quantum. After rounding the leeward gate the TP52 fleet started a long upwind race to the island of Tabarca. Again the right paid off and the four leading boats sailed well, aided by the breeze that had picked up, reaching 12 knots. There were hardly any changes in the order they crossed the first scoring gate. When the fleet went behind the scenic island, Mean Machine had a third consecutive win in the pocket. When the fleet reappeared and started a long downwind stretch to the "Butano" buoy nobody could expect what was about to happen. Half way through, the breeze started dropping and shifting noticeably and the problems sprang up for the tacticians. At the buoy, the race committee was signaling a 60 degree shift that would cause upheaval in the fleet. The dying breeze was nowhere to be found except as close as possible to the coastline, unless of course you were Caixa Galicia. While Mean Machine, TAU Andalucia, Artemis and Quantum racing almost entered Alicante's port in their search for the slightest puff, Caixa Galicia found more pressure as far as possible from it and managed to climb from 8th to finish 3rd. The rest of the fleet that chose to go in between stalled, especially Matador and AUDI Q8.  read more »

TheSailingChannel presents an exclusive video preview of a major new sailing documentary, Ice Blink: A Family Navigating Life’s Ice-Clogged Waters. If you like this preview you’ll love the 56-minute documentary available on DVD. Purchase the Ice Blink DVD and the companion Book, Into The Light, at TheSailingChannel.tv. DVD: $17.95; companion book, Into The Light: [...]

At around 2pm on Friday afternoon, Alinghi went back to water onboard its two Extreme 40 catamarans that sported the team's colors and logos. After a pause of several days, the Defender of the 33rd America's Cup took its black and white catamarans for a test sail off Valencia's coast.

Although it was a gorgeous day for tourists, with clear blue skies and spring-like temperatures, most probably Alinghi's crew didn't enjoy the most ideal sailing conditions. As one can easily see on the photos, I doubt whether wind speed went over 1-2 knots.

According to the Alinghi website, the team will start training from tomorrow. In addition, always according to the website, on board the white X40 were designers Jean Claude Monnin and Pierre Yves Jorand, and sailors Murray Jones, Nils Frei and Juan Vila. On board the black boat were designers Dirk Kramers, Daniele Constantini and Luc Dubois, and sailors Yves Detrey and Piet van Nieuwenhuyzen.  read more »

While one Cup is in limbo here in Valencia, another one visited the city for the first time ever. The iShares Cup held this weekend their first ever event in the host city of the America's Cup, even if it was officially called a training regatta.

The iShares Cup is a circuit of five European events, raced aboard the Extreme 40 catamarans. This year, nine teams will participate in the circuit and without any doubt the spotlight will be on newcomers Alinghi as well as British America's Cup challenger Team Origin.

A total of five boats took part in the three-day official training event that took place from Friday to Sunday. The Defender of the 33rd America's Cup entered two teams, Alinghi White and Alinghi Black, that were joined by Holmatro, iShares and Volvo Ocean Race. Alinghi White's crew was Ed Baird (helmsman), Rodney Ardern (mainsail), Lorenzo Mazza (trimmer), Piet van Nieuwenhuyzen (bowman) and Peter Evans (5th man). Alinghi Black's crew was Murray Jones (helmsman), Warwick Fleury (mainsail), Nils Frei (trimmer), Jan Dekker (bowman) and Pierre-Yves Jorand (5th man).  read more »

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VirtualSailboatShow: Good Old Boat Magazine At the 2006, 37th Annual United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD, Good Old Boat Magazine publishers, Jerry [...]

The 8 champions and their crews taking part in this year's edition of the Trophe Clairefontaine took possession of their boats and carried out their first test and training session, inside Port America's Cup Port in Valencia. Wind conditions during the training session could be defined as acceptable. Throughout the morning, a constant and quite strong breeze was blowing throughout the America's Cup race course as well as inside Port America's Cup. Unfortunately, training started a little bit late, we suppose later than what was initially planned. The 8 boats docked out past 5:30pm and at that time the thermal breeze usually has already started to die down and there the was probably 6-7 knots of wind. There is no doubt that racing will be spectacular once the breeze kicks in. One shouldn't forget that the race course is right inside the basin and yachts have to sail two legs (one upwind and one downwind) inside the canal, meaning that at times they get extremely close to its edges, as seen in the photos. Let's say, I could have almost grabbed Ed Baird's helm if I wanted!!  read more »

Alinghi's media day included a very instructional experience on the water. Not only were we able to watch the team's two Extreme 40 yachts train against each other we were also given the opportunity to hop onboard and witness the races from a privileged position.

The white boat was crewed by Ed Baird, Lorenzo Mazza, Rodney Ardern and Pieter Van Nieuwenhuyzen while on the black one by Murray Jones, Brad Butterworth, Nils Frei and Yves Detrey.

Ed Baird won all 5 of the exhibition match races but of course these results should be taken with a pinch of salt. They did in fact simulate a Deed-of-Gift match, with just one upwind and one downwind leg but the course was set very short, just 1 mile, in order to squeeze as many races as possible for the numerous guests. With such a short distance the two teams tacked and gybed once or twice in each leg, amplifying by much the importance of the start. Of course, one should always keep in mind that Baird is one of the most experienced and successful match-racers in the world, twice claiming the top position on world rankings.  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 [...]