Best Shots Of Sailing Under Extreem Conditions

sometimes when I go back to the cape and Im looking out across the bay I am reminded of all the friends I've lost to the water, lends a whole new meaning to returning home or the sound of the rolling waves.

My condolences to your friends lost Zed

B

 

It was a strange thing, the first time someone I knew was lost at sea, it was a surreal feeling among other things. Conservative crew on a conservative boat, she was an old veteran. They put a new rig in her, they where warned that the new rig could/would pull her apart. I don't know if that is exactly what happened in the race, I have not wanted to follow it up. However I do know that if I ever stick new gear in an old timer I will make sure that the underlying structure can take the less forgiving rig... either that or stay with the materials of the day, gal etc... food for thought if you are an old timber boat fan.

 

I'm getting up to the age where people I know or used to know have been going on a fairly regular basis. Most of them are older than me, such as my parents, aunts and uncles, teachers, etc. But I've lost a younger brother, a young nephew, people I grew up with who were my age or younger (including a couple of high school sweethearts), and guys I worked with. That isn't counting Vietnam, of course.

I remember my dad staring into the swirling waters of the lower Colorado River one afternoon, and eventually saying in a quiet, reflective voice, "you know...I guess one of the good things about growing older is that there are fewer and fewer people all the time who remember what a damned fool you used to be." I didn't try to ask him what brought it up; he wouldn't have told me. But as I've gotten older, I've also gotten to know the feeling myself.

 

... what heavy boat??

 

I think he meant, compared to a multihull.

 

In some threads here, plenty of people have been criticising the seaworthiness and seakindliness of lightweight monohulls, like a typical IRC or Open design.

They have written, for example, of the ways that seas crash over the decks of Volvo 60s, as if waves didn't crash over the seas of the much heavier Challenge boats in Captain's videos.

Capt's vid shows that heavy monohulls, when driven hard, are not exactly comfortable either.

 

If it's the very well known boat I'm thinking of, there is plenty of evidence that the crew were well aware of the possible issues in putting the new rig in the old boat, and that they therefore made sure that they didn't use spectra halyards, kevlar sails and high rigging tensions that could cause issues. And they spent a lot of money on maintaining the structure.

If it's a comfort, the evidence seems to be that no one made a mistake when fitting the new rig and the new rig didn't tear the boat apart.

 

open designs like the Open 60s or VOR 70s are a wet ride for 2 very simple reasons...
almost no freeboard
and their speed....
i spoke with andreas hannakamp - austrian skipper of team russia in the last VOR - there is one thing people underestimate... you are going with 2x+ knots and the longest swell is becoming a short chop!
hence the wet and uncomfortable ride, because those machines are going like the blazes... it is NOT because they are lacking seaworthiness - quite the opposite actually...
but i did not inted to brake of a discussion about this.... see 'threads hijacking'...

some VOR videofootage instead...

 

one of my faves

thing is I wouldnt say the boats are lacking in sea worthiness but that they are engineered closer to the minimum requirements to do the job and still survive

I have a friend to races formula 1 cars
or at least he did
the guy always said that the perfect engine is one that melts as you cross the finish line

 

Yes, it must be. I got it all third hand from another colleague from the time. It was a shock to say the least.

 

I still find windsurfers a wonderful piece of design. To achieve speeds of very nearly 50 knots, and performance like this, with such minimal equipment is fabulous.




next one from about 5mins in to about 6mins... ...on a lake...



In a laser...



and something more substantial... (With some fairly extreme parenting going on too!)

 

Why the hell would you leave your boat on the windward side of the wharf if you saw that coming! #3 Vid.

 

I know! there's just no helping some folk!

 

this is one of my favorites

 

heck - i know that lake...
thats neusiedler see in burgenland... paradies for wind-, kite-surfers and small boat sailing... it is only 1.5m deep - so you actually can walk through the whole lake...
thunderstorms like that are quite common there in early summer... the thing is, that they build up and arrive so fast... if you are not at the spot you will not have the chance to move your boat in time... less than 30 min is probably the timewindow you'll have from seeing it coming to finish mooring your ship to the leeward...
if you have to drive 10 min only to the mooring... you are already too late...

5:55 in the video you hear one saying: "Schau dir de Deppen an!"... "look at those idiots!"...