Greetings Yachties,
Just go back form my 23rd Coastal Classic, more on that and Alpha Romeo recording breaking trip later.In the meantime Brad has a few words to say.
Brad Butterworth
Alinghi – New Mast
Jessica Watson
Hand Stand – Dirty Deeds
18ft Skiffs
La Solitaire du Chocolat 2009
1983 America’s Cup – The final word
Enjoy
Two American yacht clubs: the New York Yacht Club and the San Diego Yacht Club held the America’s Cup between them for 140 years. For them everything was perfect, “the wind was in their sails,” as some would say. There were no calls then to strip the winner of its trusteeship, to strip the winner of organising the next regatta or for an independent entity to manage the America’s Cup (although they perhaps did pass a few of those Trustee Interpretive Resolutions to keep the challengers at bay.) Now the Cup is again in foreign hands and after nine failed American challenges to get the Cup back – all failing even to make it to the match – it is time (according to some Americans and their fellow travellers) while their tenth challenge is in progress to rewrite the Deed of Gift; to strip the winner of its fruits of victory, making it easier for a challenger to win. If the Deed and the competition it created are really that defective, where were all those reforms when the Cup was in American hands? The answer of course is that it is not defective. The answer is that a few are still having difficulty adjusting to losing the Cup and failing to get it back again. They are now seeking to make winning it easier.
Alinghi 5 is an ongoing development programme and all elements will continue to be refined, “Mark Allanson, Kirst Feddersen and the team of boat builders have done a fantastic job; we couldn’t have wanted anything more. The involvement of Andreas Winistoerfer has also been invaluable; things are being refined with each development step and it is everything we could hope for at this stage. It’s not the end of the development programme…”
Tune in to follow the 33rd America’s Cup defending team from Genoa, Italy, to Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, where Alinghi has set up base for the defence of sport’s oldest trophy in February next year…
Here are the broadcasting times for Sky UK and Ireland:
Sky Sport 2 Sky
25 October 1130
25 October 1600
26 October 0130
26 October 0700
26 October 1030
Sky Sport 3
25 October 1430
Sky Sport Xtra
25 October 1830
27 October 1630
28 October 0100
Still more slow progress out here, but past the 500nm mark which is a bit of a milestone. We spent last night completely becalmed next to Lord Howe Island drifting along at less than a knot. But when we finally did get a light breeze as the sun was coming up it made for a pretty amazing picture which I have included in this blog for you. . The water was completely glassed reflecting the rising sun, so as we started picking up a little wind it was as if we were gliding along a sheet of glass.
Today was more of the usual stuff for me, playing with cameras, catching up on a little sleep, keeping us moving, carefully monitoring my power ins and outs, feeding myself, the usual tiding up, lessening to music (there’s noone to complain about my taste or volume I like to play it at!) and sending a few emails. It probably doesn’t sound all that exciting but its keeping me happy and I still can’t see myself ever getting bored, there’s always something to do. Sailing around the world sure isn’t all high action and excitement but quiet days reading are part of what I signed up for.
The key is to know when to ease off…
Greer Houston, the owner of Dirty Deeds, said they were doing 18-19 knots and stuck it into the back of a Young 11’s wake. They went flying forward, the boat backed out and they carried on sailing. They went soft for about an hour then decided to man up. The finished 7th overall out of 200 – not bad for an 8.5m.
Thanks to Murray and Pam Gardiner for the picture.
more here
Scuttlebutt News:
1983 America’s Cup – The final word
by John Bertrand, Skipper, Australia 2
I hope this provides closure regarding the questions about Australia II and the ‘83 America’s Cup design debate. I’m glad we fought it out on the water and not in the court room; that seems to be the status quo of today.
John Longley, Project Manager of Australia 2, did some additional searching of the archival files of Australia 2 at the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle, and found two documents (see links below) that are both self explanatory and revealing.
It is very clear that Ben Lexcen categorically was the principle designer of Australia 2. The Dutch were a key part of the design team and played an important role. Ben used the Dutch tank testing facilities for 9 months. As to who said what to whom over those 9 months 27 years ago only Ben really knows. It is very sad that Ben is not here to refute any claims.
This post is tagged alinghi, americas cup, brad butterworth, Jessica Watson
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