Innehållsförteckning för Winter 2021 från Sailing World

It might seem bold to strategize internally about a future sporting competition that has yet to be won, but the America’s Cup is such a complex event that it requires early planning. All four teams competing in Auckland for the 36th America’s Cup believe they can win, and they are surely thinking about what’s best for this venerable regatta should they get their hands on the Auld Mug. The biggest reward (or burden, some might say) for successfully challenging is the right to host it on home waters. This is one of the key incentives dating back to the first defense in 1870, and it stands true today. Just ask New Zealanders, who have poured millions into Auckland’s waterfront development, or Larry Ellison, who transformed once-derelict piers on San Francisco…

The 36th America’s Cup promises to be an engaging spectacle for both sailors and nonsailors alike, starting with the America’s Cup World Series and Christmas Regatta in December, extending through the Prada Cup in January and February, and concluding with the America’s Cup Match Presented by Prada in March. The good news for viewers in the United States is that the regatta will be streamed during prime-time hours. And there are platforms aplenty. The America’s Cup broadcast has come a long way since one camera in a blimp followed Intrepid and Dame Patty in 1967 off Newport, Rhode Island. Geoff Mason was a young producer at ABC Sports at that time, and later was the executive producer for ESPN’s groundbreaking coverage in Fremantle, Australia, in 1987. “The dark ages ended…

IF there’s one thing challengers for the 36th America’s Cup should avoid dwelling on, it is the record of the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand. In a sport where few syndicates in its modern era survive more than three or four campaigns, and many disperse after one, ETNZ’s DNA was linked more than three decades ago. ETNZ, and its predecessor, have won the Auld Mug three times, lost four Cup matches, with its worst showings being two losses in the challenger finals. The previous holder, Larry Ellison’s Oracle Team USA, folded after five campaigns, two of them victorious, while predecessor Alinghi won two and lost the third. The three current challengers can take comfort from the New Zealanders having stumbled more often than winning, and can hope that its own…

America’s Cup fans are ready for racing action. We have a new class, totally new technology and a different venue for the fourth time in 11 years. The teams are excited to get on the racecourse, but 2020’s pandemic has made it impossible to have preliminary competition. The feeling of which team is strong and which needs to improve is missing, and fan support is muted. In December that will all change as all four teams hit the water to compete in the only America’s Cup World Series event before the Prada Cup challenger series and the America’s Cup Match. Who has the best technology? Which team is strongest? How fast can these boats really go? The best scenario would be if all teams have reached the same level of…

G/flex® Epoxy is the adhesive I use almost exclusively for making knives. Years ago, I found out about G/flex from other knife makers. After reading about its properties compared to standard epoxies, I realized it suited my needs just about perfectly. A marine epoxy like the WEST SYSTEM® 105 Resin system is incredibly durable and would likely outlast my lifetime on most knives. However, the "flex" is the main reason I use G/flex instead. When in use, knives can be subjected to brief but intense stress. Beyond the typical waterproof seal between the steel and handle material, the ability to flex—rather than crack or break—when blades and handles are stressed means the knife won’t come apart at a critical time, or in the useful life of the blade. G/flex does…

What are the essential first steps and checks once the boat returns from racing or training? As soon as the boat docks, a rigger will go aloft and disconnect the masthead wind gear and connect the boat-lifting gear. Cockpit and deck wash get underway immediately. Washing the boat is very important because care needs to be taken with electronic components. The more fresh water, the better—for all components. The sooner we get the boat out of the water and in the shed, the sooner the post-sailing checks can be completed, and thus allow the shore team to get into their jobs. What’s the haul-out procedure for a boat of this complexity? Once everything is washed and the boat connected to its lifting gear, a crane driver and a spotter—as well…

FOUR years of a typical America’s Cup campaign is usually enough to convince any lustful billionaire of the insanity of the commitment—financially and emotionally. But two decades? And never a win? That’s unthinkable. Yet, for Patrizio Bertelli, the Italian fashion magnate and principal of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team, it’s hard to imagine living without the relentless pursuit of the Cup and the satisfaction of someday having “Luna Rossa” etched into glimmering silver base of the Auld Mug. “The beauty and the ugliness of the America’s Cup is that there is no rationale, no logic, no perfection,” Bertelli once told America’s Cup scribe and historian Bob Fisher. “The America’s Cup should be the spearhead of the whole sailing movement, the whole sailing world, where people participate because it is gratifying…

FOR the Brits, the America’s Cup is one long-running traumatic disaster. The country that launched the oldest trophy in international sport with a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851 has taken part many times but has never managed to win it. And not winning it remains an open wound on the landscape of a nation that has become obsessed with success on the sports field. Anyone who dares to have a go at bringing Britain’s longest losing streak in sport to an end must be prepared to confront that legacy, to be reminded of it at every turn, and ultimately risk perpetuating it and going down as yet another loser in the most prestigious sailing competition of them all. From a young age, Ben Ainslie—officially “Sir Ben” after…

At Gougeon Brothers Inc., customer service and support are paramount. Throughout the decades (five strong and counting), we’ve built our WEST SYSTEM® product line on a model which places customer satisfaction at the forefront. Many WEST SYSTEM users know first-hand that we strive for customer success no matter the project. Our customers’ projects range across an extremely wide spectrum. What many users may not know is the extent of product support that grinds away behind the scenes before a batch of our epoxy even hits the retail shelves. I’ll provide a look at just one of our churning gears that isn’t so obvious at first glance—quality control (QC). When our Operations team makes a batch of a WEST SYSTEM product, they drop off a sample at our laboratory in the…

On June 20, 1979, while sailing in a qualifying race for the OSTAR (Original Single-Handed Transatlantic Race), Jan Gougeon’s self-designed and built 31' trimaran FLICKA was capsized by heavy seas in the North Atlantic. Jan survived on the overturned plywood/epoxy multihull for four days before he was rescued by a passing freighter. The following is the second half of a transcript of a phone call between Jan, his brothers Meade and Joel, as well as fellow multihull designer/sailor Mike Zuteck. Their discussion takes place on June 26, 1979, just hours after the freighter that rescued Jan delivered him to dry land. FLICKA was never recovered. We’ve divided their lengthy discussion into two parts. At the end of Part 1, Jan described the feeling of leaving FLICKA behind after his rescue.…

A very high percentage of boats in the U.S. are at least 30 years old. It doesn’t surprise me when a boat’s plywood components fail due to water intrusion. In my experience, the transom is the first area to rot out in most trailerable boats. That’s not to say the first thing to rot couldn’t be the cockpit floor, stringers or motor mounts. I’ve seen well-maintained, 20-some-year-old boats that look almost new, but have a rotted transom. I’ve heard this statement from customers so many times over the years that I lost count: I waxed, tuned-up, and changed the fluids every year. I can't believe they use plywood in a boat! I’m going to put in something that lasts forever. After yearly maintenance on everything else, the transom somehow has…

In Auckland, New Zealand, the 75-foot foilers will be wedged into small, inshore boundary-constrained racetracks where wind shifts still matter, but given the speed of the boats and the dimensions of the racecourse, it’s about a minute of sailing between boundaries. Tack on shifts? Maybe not. Given the cost of maneuvers, it could very well be worth the distance loss of sailing a header for a short period in order to earn a longer board on the other tack. Change is ubiquitous in the America’s Cup, and when the boat type changes, so too does the role of the weather team, an important component of every serious Cup syndicate. In the early days of a campaign, the weather team plays a crucial role in boat design. I can still remember…

ANDREW Campbell is huddled in the front of the starboard cockpit of American Magic’s Patriot as the dark-blue beast of a boat hits takeoff speed on New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf. As the fantastical-looking Patriot rises up on its foils and skims over the tops of the waves, Campbell is flying the 75-foot monohull. Yes, flying it. He is, after all, the flight controller. Welcome to the whiz-bang world of the 36th America’s Cup, which is jam-packed with both technology and a sense of the unknown. Campbell has one of the most unique jobs in the America’s Cup, aboard perhaps the most complex class of boat on the planet, the AC75. Working in concert with helmsman Dean Barker and mainsail trimmer Paul Goodison, Campbell’s ability to fly Patriot will go a…

WINGED keels, Deed of Gift-controlled matches, rule changes, cheating allegations. The America’s Cup is no stranger to controversy, and for much of the past decade, the hot button has also been the new big thing: foiling. To traditionalists, this is heresy. The Cup is a yacht race, and sailing boats belong in the water. Others believe the Cup is a design, engineering and innovation contest that should be raced at the bleeding edge of technology. So is the modern AC75 the spiritual descendant of the 1903 superboat Reliance? Or should it go the way of the Seawanhaka Rule—collateral damage to Reliance’s one-sided victory? It may yet come to pass. No one knows what the 37th edition of the Cup will look like at this point, but whatever the future, the…

WHEN INEOS Team UK’s Britannia II was finished, boatbuilder Jason Carrington fully grasped the achievement of building not one, but two AC75s—easily the most complex sailboats he and his craftsmen have ever produced. To celebrate the milestone, he printed the boat’s work list, rolled it tight, and then held it off Britannia II’s bow during the shop party. From high above the shop floor he let it unroll, and it streamed down, landing on the floor, and then rolling on a few feet farther—just to make the point abundantly clear. “It’s staggering how many individual jobs need to be designed, engineered, processed and built in a very tight time frame,” Carrington says. “From a design and build perspective, this America’s Cup is so much more fun.” With the AC50 catamarans…

“SO, YOU WANT TO FLY, DO YOU?” they asked. “Yes, sir, we do,” they answered. And so it began, the “aeronautical” barnstorming era of the modern-day America’s Cup, where flight-suited sailors are levitating their aircraft to and beyond new heights. Once they grow bored of dry laps in their “air races,” I suspect we’ll start seeing some good old-fashioned loop-the-loops, rolls and wing-walk attempts like this fella, but who will dare try the first inverted pass?…

It all started when I got a new 360-degree camera for my racecar. Mounted on the dash, it captures a really cool perspective that allows viewers to see forward, watch cars as I pass them, and to see what I’m doing (check it out at youtube.com/user/jeffmcaffer). Unfortunately, the dash produced considerable glare on the windshield. As you can see in the photo, it also had various holes and divots that were not useful in a racecar such as a coin tray, air conditioning vents, and extra switch panels. I wanted to fill those in. But how? After considering options like vinyl wrap, flocking, or paint, I decided carbon fiber “skinning” was the best approach for keeping within the racecar theme. The internet offers many videos on how to do it,…

In preparation for a thorough Coast Guard inspection, we’d stripped the masts, booms, and gaffs on the schooners Appledore IV and V of paint and varnish. This revealed several small rot areas, wear, and damage. Two of the gaff jaws (also called gaff saddles) had significant damage, including cracks in the jaws themselves, probably due to hard jibes and insufficient repairs. Gaffs are the angled spars from which the sails are hung. The Coast Guard inspector was satisfied with our plan to remove the rotted area from the gaffs, scarf in a “Dutchman” (beveled woodblock), and repair the minor damaged areas. The Coast Guard requested we document all repairs and use WEST SYSTEM® G/flex® Epoxy. They prefer rubber-toughened G/flex on wooden spars because of its flexibility relative to traditional marine…