Blow Baby, Blow - the latest sailing News from the USA and out there
by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 15 Jan 2011
2010 PUMA Moth Worlds Day 3 Race 5. SIMON PAYNE (GBR 5) and BORA GULARI (USA 1) at top mark Thierry Martinez
http://www.thmartinez.com
Few boats are as pyrotechnic as the foiling Moth, a tiny dinghy that packs a lot of interesting technology and physics into a tidy, open-class package.
The class has been enjoying its Worlds just finishing on Australia’s Lake Macquarie, with big breeze being the key feature. Steady winds of 24 knots—with puffs punching up to 27—pummeled the fleet, with big carnage everywhere. Irrespective of fleet standings or class rankings, swimming was the game, with Mother Nature again demonstrating the true meaning of the term 'equal opportunity'. Bora Gulari had a great second last day, taking one bullet. 'I love it out there,' he reported of the conditions. Read about the final day and and be sure to check out the great images of heavy-air Moth action in this issue.
Cup fans will be happy to hear that the first of the AC45s, the hard wingsail cats that will serve in the new America’s Cup World Series, arrived in Auckland's Viaduct Harbor today from Core Composites, in Warkworth, New Zealand. Sailors, designers and engineers will assemble the boat in the former Team New Zealand shed, with a launch date scheduled for January 17. Check out Chris Cameron’s images of the cat out of the Core Composites shed, and stay tuned for more on these speed machines, as it becomes known.
West Coast sailors should take note that two important NORs have gone up recently, namely that of the 2011 Van Isle 360 and the 2011 Transpac. While your editor has not been fortunate enough to sail his first Transpac (it’s high on the list!), I can say that the Van Isle 360 is one of the coolest sailboat races anywhere on the planet. Even if you’re not racing in these West Coast classics, it’s worth a few mouse clicks of your time to remind yourself that this winter too shall pass and our great game will resume pace again.
And for you pent-up speed freaks out there, be sure to live vicariously through Richard Gladwell’s great image gallery from the Broo Lager Musto HP Skiff Worlds. It might be cold up in the Northern Hemisphere, but in Melbourne, Australia the skiff boys were certainly having their fun.
May the four winds blow you safely home.
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