Is World Sailing going in a different direction from the Sailors? A 78kg 16 year old World Youth Singlehanded Champion is almost too heavy to be competitive in the 2024 Olympic Event/Class mix. - photo © Jen Edney / World Sailing
Dear Recipient Name
Welcome to Sail-World.com's New Zealand e-magazine for August 1, 2018
The story of the past week has undoubtedly been the low-res video of INEOS Team UK foiling down the Solent.
For the past couple of few weeks, there have been mobile phone shots trickling out of the first test boat - a 28ft Hugh Welbourne design fitted with an AC75 foiling system.
The grainy 40-second video has answered most of the questions about the viability of the foiling monohull.
INEOS Team UK's first test boat is somewhat agricultural with deck spreader projecting either side of the hull and taking the sidestay attachment for a stay which extends to the top of the spar without any attached spreader. The spar is given a degree of stiffness with just a single diamond stay arrangement. The setup is typical for a rotating mast. What is not known is if the team are trialling the AC75 rig with its "D" shaped rotating spar and "skins" or if they are using a regular spar and conventional fully battened sail
Also non-standard are the water wings, attached under a rack across the hull, with the two sausage-like floats coming into play when the 28fter is at rest and gives some stability - like a set of trainer wheels on a kids bike.
While the appearance of the test boat may be a little agricultural, it certainly seems to be fast on the video - backed up by reports from southern England that the 28fter can hit 30kts in just 12 kts of breeze and will do 20kts upwind.
Those numbers are very comparable with the AC50's sailed in Bermuda - and back up the predictions that the AC75 with its better righting moment will be quicker than the wingsailed catamaran.
The unanswered question at the end of the speed run was how the INEOS-28 would perform in the tacks and gybes?
Conveniently, day or two later, a second video turned up showing a similar run to the first but with some gybes thrown in.
Although the granularity of the video might make a monkey of us, the INEOS-28 did a couple of turns without throwing too much white water or spinning out as could have been expected as the arm dropped the new wing in the water. Course-wise she looked to be handling well.
You can see the INEOS-28 for yourself by clicking here
Strangely INEOS Team UK has made no reference to the 28ft foiler on social media or on their web page, or with a media release.
Instead, they seem content to allow some very average quality, long-distance video to tell the tale.
In fact, given that this America's Cup cycle is now over a year old, it has been marked by a lack of controversy - the Auckland base schmozzle aside.
Even the "good news" is being downplayed.
Hark back to September 2012 when Emirates Team New Zealand got caught out with their foiling AC72 by Graeme Swan - getting some images of the wingsailed catamaran that most of the sailing world thought were photoshopped.
But a few days later the team came clean and invited the TV cameras and media out on the water to see for themselves.
From there the stories just kept rolling - livening up an America's Cup which like the current edition had just four teams - with only two of those Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team NZ being up to the mark.
With the first AC75 not likely to be launched until April 2019, and maybe later, it's going to be a long eight months - if the teams continue to lie low .
At the end of August, we are told that the profile of the Cup will lift after the Challenger of Record hosts an invitation-only hour-long session with the America's Cup skippers on Cowes, Isle of Wight. The admission of four inductees into the America's Cup Hall of Fame will follow that at a black-tie dinner at the Royal Yacht Squadron.
In this edition, we feature a story based on accident reports from six deaths arising from ocean racing over the past couple of years.
You can see it by clicking here
The story was a very difficult piece of writing, as it is too easy to slip into sermonising.
Also, people have different standards and ways of running a boat and handling their own personal safety - there is no single best way. That is why there is no bullet point checklist at the end - just a series of questions.
One point that is touched on in the story is the subject of tiredness and how lack of sleep could affect judgement and performance.
During the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Auckland, one of the interviews we did (yet to be published) was with Team AkzoNobel and how they measured crew body data, to see who was getting stressed and burned out - and try to give them a rest before the situation got serious. Most of it was based on heart rate and calorie consumption/burn rate. "We're coming in 5kg lighter than we were at the start of a leg," said watch captain Chris Nicholson. "It is nice to know the calories burn, and if enough isn't going in then it has to be made up with things like protein shakes at certain times."
"In the last leg (Leg 6), I got less sleep than I thought I was having. I averaged about four hours a day - and that was obviously broken sleep - and I was part of making the big decisions on board. I guess we have known that this has been a problem are in the past, but we haven't had the figures to put to the theory."
Nicholson added that he knew he had a particular time of the day when he knew he would struggle to get some sleep and was questioning whether it was worth trying to force himself to sleep, or do other things at that time. "In our role, I'm not sure about getting more sleep, but it is about managing your time and pushing it to one end. Also if you know you are going to have several days of bigger decisions coming up, then you need to step back a little earlier than that and trying to relax a little more. It needs more thought and practice."
The crew were wearing a specially programmed Garmin wrist-watch which was downloaded on board, and each crew's data was monitored daily by a watch captain. Clearly, they were only scratching the surface of what could be done - however, it was a big step forward - and one of the key benefits was identifying crew, who had been working too hard and too long, without adequate sleep and food.
Those crew were the first ones to be told - if there was the possibility of reducing the on-deck crew - to go below and get some food and sleep.
Clearly, there is a lot more work that can be done in this area and not just in the Volvo Ocean Race environment.
Staying with safety, and closer to home, Coastguard Boating Education in conjunction with RWB Communications offers you the chance to win an Icom M25 EURO when you do a Maritime VHF Radio Operator Certificate course.
To enter the draw, simply sign-up by clicking here for a Maritime VHF Radio Operator Certificate course between the 1st of August and the 30th September 2018.
This is a great prize, and the other benefit of the course is that you don't have to go out on a cold winter night to complete it - just get away somewhere quiet and do it on your iPad - if that works for you.
It's also a great gift for the skipper in your family or friends. And even if you are new to boating, learning how to communicate properly via a VHF could be a lifesaver one day. It is a good idea to have more than one form of communication on board - for when the mobile phone is wet or out of zone (or you haven't paid the bill), plus you can advise of your travel plans and ETA as a safeguard if something goes wrong.
Follow all the racing and developments in major and local events on Sail-World.com by scrolling to the top of the site, select New Zealand, and get all the latest news and updates from the sailing world.
All stories are available on Sail-World.com/nz
Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor
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