Category Archives: Sailing

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Volvo Ocean Race: Leg 2 – Lisbon to Cape Town

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The 2nd phase of the Volvo Ocean Race got underway yesterday. This is a 7000 nautical mile leg from Lisbon, Portugal to Cape Town, South Africa. From not quite winter, in Portugal, through the tropics to not quite summer in Cape Town. It is important to sail the Southern Ocean in summer, because in winter it is impossible. In May of this year a 19.4 meter wave was recorded. (That is just shy of 64 feet for you folks who struggle with the metric system.) That’s about a 6 story building.

This is a bit of video of the start of Leg 2 under what looks to be nearly ideal conditions. Flat seas, and lots of wind = lots of speed.

There is better video if you are interested in more, but this is accessible to the non-sailing audience, and is fun.

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Volvo Ocean Racers Pass The Island of Porto Santo and Head North

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Only 33 miles separate the lead boat form the 7th. This is after about 900 nautical miles and 4 days of sailing. Downwind flyers – the fleet pushes north – Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18

The only thing of note to happen so far: Vestas 11th Hour Racing had a failure of a hose.

Vestas 11th Hour Racing, having survived a scare when a ballast tank hose failed, dumping 800 litres of water in the bilge, was first around and is now charging towards the new ‘virtual mark’ set yesterday, dubbed Porto Santo North.

800 liters (or more than 200 gallons) of water in a place you don’t expect it, can be a bit disconcerting on a boat. (And yes, I know from personal experience.) There is video, but it isn’t particularly interesting. Click thru if you are interested.

The position of the fleet is as follows. (Or was, earlier in the day.)

  1. Vestas 11th Hour Racing — distance to finish – 572.0 nautical miles
  2. MAPFRE + 12.2nm
  3. team AkzoNobel +13.3
  4. Dongfeng Race Team +22.9
  5. Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag +29.7
  6. Team Brunel +32.7
  7. Turn the Tide on Plastic +33.0
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Volvo Ocean Race: Start of Leg 1

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The 2017-2018 Volvo Ocean Race is scheduled to start today, at 08:00 Eastern Daylight Time. This is a race around the world. (From Spain, to the Hague.) It is NOT nonstop, but is run in a series of legs. Leg one runs from Alicante, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal around the Portuguese island of Porto Santo. That makes leg 1 about 1450 nautical miles in length.

Prior to the start of the main race, the festivities kicked off in the past few weeks with round-the-buoy racing. This is only interesting because it gives you a nice view of the boats – the open 65, that all teams are using.

Of a bit more interest is this video from from 6 years ago that gives a flavor of what open ocean racing must be like. (Remember all that water, is cold. Some of it is ice cold.) The boats in the 2011-2012 race were open 70s. A bit different than those introduced 3 years ago.

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Volvo Ocean Race:  Leg One Begins Oct. 22

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Leg 1 routeThe Volvo Ocean race is an around the world yacht race held every 3 years. Volvo Ocean Race: Course confirmed for Leg One >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News

In a departure from the traditional long first leg down the Atlantic Ocean, this year the race starts with a (relative) sprint from Alicante, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal.

The map on the right, above, shows the route, click for a larger view. The “relatively short” course is not to be taken lightly. 3 years ago one boat sank and another was dismasted before they got out of the Mediterranean.

“The leg course we’ve chosen is approximately 1450 miles. There’s a varied weather outlook for that course, quite complex for the Atlantic, which will present some challenges for the crews and we expect them to arrive in Lisbon after approximately a week.”

The Volvo Ocean Race changes a bit every 3 years, but it starts in October, and it is a race from Europe to Europe, around the world, by way of a variable number of legs. This iteration is composed of 11 legs, and will end at the Hague. It is expected to be over in June of 2018.

This year’s race features a 65 foot one-design, that was new in the 2014/2015 race. (“One design” means all the teams boats are the same design.) My sailing friends like to dis the America’s Cup boats, because foiling catamarans are such high-tech machines. While the 65 is a monohull, it is pretty high tech, with a canting keel, carbon-fiber mast, and carbon-fiber rigging. All boats are using North brand sails, and they have the same sail inventory.

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Preparations for Race in 2020? Such is the Vendée Globe

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Alone. Nonstop. Around the World. No Assistance. That is the Vendée Globe.

New boats are being launched. New teams announced. This isn’t the kind of thing you decide to do at the last minute.

The 2nd boat to bear the name La Fabrique was launched this week for her skipper. News – Alan Roura has launched his new IMOCA – Vendée Globe. (As always, click the image for a better view.)

Alan Roura could not hide his emotions on seeing that his dream will continue. The 24-year old Swiss skipper, who finished twelfth in the last Vendée Globe on one of the oldest boats in the fleet, is about to begin a new chapter in his ocean racing career.

This is no small undertaking. An IMOCA 60-foot sailboat costs between 3.5 and 4.5 million dollars, or maybe a bit more. (There is talk of introducing a cheaper class, maybe 50 ft in length, but as far as I can determine it is only talk at this point.)

The Transat (Trans-Atlantic) Race is less than 3 years off, and it serves as the qualifier for the Vendée Globe. So there is that deadline to deal with.

Getting an entire country to embrace off-shore racing is no small task. News – A new Irish project for the 2020 Vendée Globe – Vendée Globe

Nicholas O’Leary recently raced alongside Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss in the Rolex Fastnet Race. It is in fact the team that ran Thomson’s last project, led by Stewart Hosford, that is behind this new campaign called Ireland Ocean Racing. Their goal is to enable an Irishman to complete the non-stop solo round the world voyage for the first time.

Ireland Ocean Racing has some interesting information. If you’re interested in sailing, it’s interesting.

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Highlights from the America’s Cup Superyacht Regatta

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The Main Event at America’s Cup picks up later today, with Emirates Team New Zealand up 3-to-0 over Oracle Team USA. In the meantime, they’ve been running a superyacht regatta. Highlights from the America’s Cup Superyacht Regatta 2017 in Bermuda – 35th America’s Cup

A short video of the highlights of this week’s race.

Lionheart, with round the world racer Bouwe Bekking in charge, won the J Class and with it the top prize for the regatta.

The details of the J-Class are down in the weeds of yacht design, but they can be found at the Wiki. There are currently 8 boats racing that conform to the J-Class rules (as amended in 1937). 10 were built in the 1930-1937 era, but only 3 survived. The rest are recent builds with one boat being launched this year.

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America’s Cup Red Bull Youth Finals

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There is a regatta of youth teams competing at the America’s Cup. (See that link for today’s news story.) They are mostly sponsored by the teams and companies involved in the main event.

They are racing the old boats from 4 years ago, the AC45. And it looks like they aren’t foiling the boats. But I’m not sure if that is in the rules, or just a judgement call on the part of the skippers.

The video is interesting because is shows the pandemonium that usually characterizes regatta racing. (As opposed to match racing between two boats.)

The main event resumes tomorrow.

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gCaptain: The USS Fitzgerald Is At Fault

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This is an interesting, step by step outline of why the Captain of the USS Fitzgerald will be found at fault for the recent collision. The USS Fitzgerald Is At Fault. This Is Why. – gCaptain

Lots of interesting points. Here is one that is worth noting. The amount of time a merchant captain spends on the bridge of a commercial ship, dwarfs the amount of bridge time that a naval office has.

But unlike the merchant captain and the enlisted specialists working on navy ships, the U.S. Navy Captain and his bridge officer (OOD) are generalists. A large percentage of their careers are spent working shoreside jobs and their shipboard time was spent rotating through positions: the engine room, the combat information room, in administrative positions and elsewhere.

In short, the merchant ship captain and bridge officers have significantly higher number of hours spent on the bridge then their naval counterparts.

The video is not of the “Fighting Fitz,” but it is of another Arleigh-Burke Class destroyer making a 180 degree turn.

And finally, specs on the ACX Crystal. (Compare this with the 100,000 HP of the USS Fitzgerald.)

She has a single 8-cylinder diesel engine capable of pushing one propeller with 29,200 horses for 3/10ths the amount of power of the destroyer. The acceleration of a ship like this is measured in miles, not minutes like the destroyer. Diesel engines like hers are the size of a modest house and are locked into a certain speed at night. The bridge officer can cut speed immediately but at the risk of damaging equipment. Changing speed safely requires that the engineers wake up, change into work clothes and walk down to the engine room to check the equipment before moving the throttle.

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America’s Cup – Main Event

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Day 2 Highlights video: Emirates Team New Zealand are ahead 3-0 over Oracle Team USA in first to 7 match. (I really love the fact that they have adopted the graphics techniques from NFL Football.)

Going on at the same time is the Superyacht Regatta. These boats are not as super-high-tech as the foiling catamarans in the main event, but they are worth a look

Continue reading →

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The USS Fitzgerald Collision and the Maritime “Rules of the Road”

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I have been looking through the articles on the USS Fitzgerald collision. I can’t find anything about the conditions leading up to the collision.

It may sound odd to you landlubbers, but there are “rules of the road” on the water. They are meant to avoid exactly this kind of thing. COLREGS – International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972

Suffice it to say, that someone is responsible. It may be the case that both captains are responsible. (There isn’t always a vessel that has the “Right of way.”)

Rule 2
Responsibility

(a) Nothing in these Rules shall exonerate any vessel, or the owner, master or crew thereof, from the consequences of any neglect to comply with these Rules or of the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seamen, or by the special circumstances of the case.

(b) In construing and complying with these Rules due regard shall be had to all dangers of navigation and collision and to any special circumstances, including the limitations of the vessels involved, which may make a departure from these Rules necessary to avoid immediate danger

There is – especially among sailors (on sailboats) I’m sorry to say – the idea that some vessels have the “right of way.” While in some cases it may be that one boat is the “Stand on” vessel, and one the “Give way” vessel, in all situations, the skippers of both vessels have a duty to do everything to avoid a collision. The “limitations” of your average commercial container vessel, is that they don’t maneuver very well. It is best to stay the hell out of their way. Somebody failed to do something in this case. (See Rule 17 in the referenced document.)

It is hard to tell exactly what happened because reporters apparently know less about boats than they do about guns. But the bulk of the damage on the Fitzgerald SEEMS to be on the starboard side of the vessel. Though there is also damage on the port bow. If the initial collision hit the Fitzgerald on its own starboard side, that would imply that the US naval vessel was the “give way” vessel.

Rule 15
Crossing situation

When two power-driven vessels are crossing so as to involve risk of collision, the vessel which has the other on her own starboard side shall keep out of the way and shall, if the circumstances of the case admit, avoid crossing ahead of the other vessel.

Inquiries will go on for months, unless I miss my guess.

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Superyacht Regatta – America’s Cup Festivities

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Some of my sailing friends complain that the America’s Cup boats (The America’s Cup Class – ACC for short – foiling catamarans) are not very practical as boats go. Gunboat has a production foiling cat that is almost (almost) a racer-cruiser. But I haven’t been able to figure out what they cost. (If you have to ask…)

So in addition to the ACC boats in the official races, there is also a regatta of more traditional boats. But they are superyacht sailing vessels. The smallest enrolled to compete in the regatta is Wild Horses, and it is just a bit longer than 76 feet.

Still, they are beautiful boats. And they are sailing this week in Bermuda. (While we wait between the end of Louis Vuitton Cup and the start of the America’s Cup. Here’s a video to whet your appetite.)

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Not Sure America’s Cup Handled Man Overboard Correctly

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Artemis Team Sweden’s skipper went overboard during a foiling tack. (That’s one type of turn for you land lovers.) America’s Cup: Artemis skipper Nathan Outteridge takes a dive, avoids disaster – NZ Herald

These boats move really fast, and losing your footing is not unheard of. Outteridge said it wasn’t the 1st time someone went overboard, and it probably won’t be the last, while sailing these boats.

But there’s a problem.

As he thrashed around among the waves, Outteridge admitted he panicked, when he saw his rivals bearing down on him.

“I was a bit nervous [Team NZ helmsman Peter Burling] was going to run me over, because they went around the other mark and he was aiming straight for me,” reflected Outteridge.

Seems like there is a simple solution. Orange smoke is a SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) standard emergency flare. West Marine sells a three-pack of hand-held orange-smoke signals for $32 bucks. Hazmat means shipping isn’t free.

That’s just one item that I thought of while reading the results of yesterdays racing. Seems like the guys who designed these super-cats could come up with something. It doesn’t even seem like a radio call was made to alert all boats in the area of a MOB situation. That is just poor management.

The news video of the incident is here.

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Emirates Team New Zealand Capsizes in Luis Vuitton Semifinal

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Not the way to start a race. Team New Zealand capsizes in America’s Cup challenger race – ABC News

Emirates Team New Zealand capsized Tuesday at the start of an America’s Cup challenger semifinal race against Britain on Bermuda’s stormy Great Sound, throwing three crewmen into the water and extensively damaging its 50-foot catamaran.

All of the crew were accounted for. (This is an issue, because there was a death in the capsize of 72ft America’s Cup catamaran several years ago.)

The race was awarded to the British team (Land Rover BAR) which still leaves the Kiwis up 3 to 1 in the semifinal match.

It still isn’t clear if the Kiwis are planning to race today, depending on conditions. I can’t find anything to definitively say how bad the damage was or if they think that it can be repaired in time for their next race.

Here is some video courtesy of the Bermuda News Service, including some shot from both boats.

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A Tough Day for The British Team Seeking America’s Cup

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Luis Vuitton Cup RacingThe British team Land Rover BAR lost 2 races today to Emirates Team New Zealand, due to equipment failure. Puts them behind in the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals. Brits retire from America’s Cup trials race with damage – ABC News

These aren’t your summer-camp racing dinghies; they are incredibly complicated foiling catamarans.

Ainslie’s [the British skipper] Land Rover BAR crew pulled up on the third of seven legs after the camber arm in the high-tech wing sail broke. He radioed to the race committee that he was withdrawing. The race was black-flagged, allowing the Kiwis to collect a point without sailing the whole course.

That gives Team New Zealand a 2-0 lead in the best of 9 series.

The Brits and the Kiwis are racing in the challenger semifinals. Whoever wins the Luis Vuitton Cup, will go on to challenge the defending champs, Oracle Team USA, for the America’s Cup.

Here is a highlights video, because these boats are cool – and I love the fact that they stole the graphics capability from NFL broadcasting.

And this is from a year ago, when Oracle Team USA showed up in Bermuda (where these races are taking place), because I love these boats!

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35th America’s Cup Qualifier to Get Underway Saturday, May 27th

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The America’s Cup Luis Vuitton Race is the qualifying regatta. Whoever wins the Luis Vuitton Cup will become the challenger in the America’s Cup match race. The defender is Oracle Team USA. Since the Defender gets to select where the defense will take place, this year’s festivities are in Bermuda. Not sure how a team that is basically out of California came up with that, but it appears to be a spectacular location. Aside from the fact that today’s early races were canceled due to weather.

The following video is short – a minute or so – from the Bermuda News Service. It has some particularly good views of the AC45’s in action. These are foiling catamarans. The French skipper (in an interview earlier in the month) described it more like piloting a plane than steering a boat. And an unstable one at that.

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Vendée Globe Leaders are 1300 Miles from Finish Line

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Alone. Nonstop. Around the World. No Assistance. That is the Vendée Globe.

So after sailing since November 6th, the 2 leaders, Armel Le Cléac’h and Alex Thomson, are about to race a match race to the finish. News – Throttles down in sprint to Vendée Globe finish – Vendée Globe 2016-2017

The skippers, split by just 95 nautical miles, were eating up the 1,300nm standing between them and the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne, France, as they try to squeeze every last bit of speed from their foiling IMOCA 60 raceboats.

At the 1400 UTC position update British skipper Thomson, who led the race through most of its early stages, had a narrow speed advantage as he hurtled north on Hugo Boss at 24 knots. French skipper Le Cléac’h, who has topped the rankings since December 2, was more than two knots slower as he closed in on the Azores. With the ETA in Les Sables currently Thursday, the Vendée Globe is shaping up to go right down to the wire.

The following video is a brief interview with Alex Thomson.

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Vendée Globe: Kilcullen Voyager Dismasted (Actually news from New Years I missed)

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Alone. Non-stop. Around-the-World. No Assistance. That is The Vendée Globe.

The end of his race near New Zealand. News – Tumbling Dice. Enda O’Coineen’s Boat Dismasted. – Vendée Globe 2016-2017

In a few unfortunate moments the Vendée Globe solo round the world race came to a premature end for Irish skipper Enda O’Coineen. A sudden, unexpectedly strong gust at 35kts of wind overpowered his autopilot, resulting in two crash gybes leaving no time to get a running backstay on to support the mast.

The mast and boom went over the side, and he had to cut away the rigging and let it sink to save the hull. So he is very limited to what he can do from the standpoint of being able to jury-rig any kind of sails.

The only good news is that he is only a few hundred miles off New Zealand, and not a thousand miles out in the Southern Ocean.

The leaders are far ahead, having just crossed the equator into the northern hemisphere in the Atlantic Ocean on their way back to France.

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Vendée Globe 2016-2017: After 2 Months of Sailing Nonstop

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Alone. Nonstop. Around the World. No assistance. That is the Vendée Globe.

After looking like this might be a record-setting race, conditions have deteriorated somewhat. News – Great Expectations – the counters are reset – Vendée Globe 2016-2017

The race started on Sunday the 6th of November in Les Sables d’Olonne, France. They raced down the Atlantic, made a circumnavigation of the Southern Ocean, and are now “racing” back up the Atlantic. (Currently off the coast of Brazil.) I used “racing” because things have been slow.

Armel Le Cléac’h is the skipper of Banque Populaire VIII in 1st, and Alex Thompson, skipper of Hugo Boss, is in 2nd. About 250 miles separates the 1st and 2nd place boats, which isn’t a lot given the distance they have traveled.

Numerous skippers have had gear failures. There have been at lease 2 collisions with submerged objects. A lot of folks have retired from the race, but a few have made repairs with spares on-board and continued.

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Two More Sailors Retire from the Vendée Globe

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Alone. Non-stop. Around the world. No Assistance. That is the Vendée Globe.

45 days into the race. News – Rookies’ regrets, warriors’ wars – Vendée Globe 2016-2017

In two cruel days the hopes of the Vendée Globe’s two top rookies have been dashed by mechanical failures. On Sunday afternoon it was the 35 year old race first timer Thomas Ruyant who was forced to abandon his race after 42 days while lying in eighth place. His seamanship in bringing his badly broken IMOCA, which threatened to break up and sink at any minute, 220 miles through some horrendous weather conditions, writes him into the race’s history books.

Thomas Ruyant hit a submerged object. It caused massive failure to the hull and deck. He is in Australia.

Paul Meilhat’s boat suffered a failure to the keel ram. The keels move on these boats and the hydraulic rams that move them are critical. The damage is too severe to repair at sea, so he is heading NW, trying to avoid weather that would threaten the boat.

I haven’t been following every minute of the race, but I think that makes 4 boats that have retired, and we are at about the half-way point. Two hit submerged objects.

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Vendée Globe 2016-2017 Update

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Alone. Nonstop. Around-the-World. No Assistance. That is the Vendée Globe.

Alex Thompson, British skipper of Hugo Boss, and current leader, suffered a collision with an unknown object. News – Thomson suffers damage on train ride south – Vendée Globe 2016-2017

British sailor Alex Thomson was forced to slow his 60ft foiling yacht today after hit a submerged object in the South Atlantic. One of the boat’s two foils, which help lift it out of the water to give it more speed, was damaged in the collision with the unidentified object floating beneath the surface.

Could be a lot of things, but there are an unfortunate number of cargo containers floating around the world’s oceans. They wash off the decks of ships and mostly they tend to hang just below the surface of the water.

Thomson has now retracted the damaged foil and slowed his boat. He said there does not appear to be any structural damage but he will further inspect the boat when the weather conditions allow.

Sailing offshore in small boats is not for the faint of heart.