Friday, February 27, 2004
Have A Wetass Weekend...
Kayaker Shaun Baker Drops Through Godafoss Falls
(Photo: David Higgs, via Canoe & Kayak)
Kayaker Shaun Baker Drops Through Godafoss Falls
(Photo: David Higgs, via Canoe & Kayak)
JV Jumble--Geronimo and Orange II Dead Even: Well the first day of the head-to-head cat versus tri match race delivered the following result: in the first 24 hours Orange II sailed 494 miles, and Geronimo sailed...495. Amazing, just a mile difference. Both boats are ahead of Orange I's 2002 record pace, and well ahead of Cheyenne's early pace. And they're skirting the Portuguese coast as they try to avoid some lighter winds to their west. Bruno Peyron is happy with Orange II's performance potential, but he's learning that the boat is a beast (just like Cheyenne):
"It's easy to tell, the boat is heavier and more powerful than Orange I. She requires more efforts, more anticipation. We really must be careful not to lose control!...Earlier today, we performed 2 consecutive manoeuvres, which took us about an hour, and right afterwards, I saw the guys taking out oysters and a nice piece of "foie gras". "
It's a French boat, alright...
Meanwhile, Cheyenne peeled off 564 miles down South, and stretched to a 780-plus mile lead (a day and a half) on Orange 2002. Plus, they saw only one additional iceberg. Click here, for chart. And, here, for a great description of all the personalities sailing aboard Cheyenne.
Orange II Setting Off: She's Really Ugly, So She'd Better Be Really Fast
"It's easy to tell, the boat is heavier and more powerful than Orange I. She requires more efforts, more anticipation. We really must be careful not to lose control!...Earlier today, we performed 2 consecutive manoeuvres, which took us about an hour, and right afterwards, I saw the guys taking out oysters and a nice piece of "foie gras". "
It's a French boat, alright...
Meanwhile, Cheyenne peeled off 564 miles down South, and stretched to a 780-plus mile lead (a day and a half) on Orange 2002. Plus, they saw only one additional iceberg. Click here, for chart. And, here, for a great description of all the personalities sailing aboard Cheyenne.
Orange II Setting Off: She's Really Ugly, So She'd Better Be Really Fast
TWC Quick Hits...:
Kiwi Surfer Punches Out Shark: Ahh, so that's how to handle it...
Oil Spills Should be Pushed Onto Beaches, Not Out To Sea: Umm, why? "There is not much life on the beach, so it's quite safe to have the oil being stranded on the beach, and remove it," Dr Schulton told BBC World Service's One Planet programme. "It's easier to remove it from the beach than to remove it from the water or to remove it from rocky shores." Oh.
Did Drug Traffickers Kill 128 seals, 9 Dolphins and 9 Pelicans? Must have been quite a party...
Freestyle Skiing Ace Jonny Moseley To Be Auctioned On EBay: Mother is tired of paying hospital bills...
On The Block: "I have only one thing to say: I don't do windows."
Kiwi Surfer Punches Out Shark: Ahh, so that's how to handle it...
Oil Spills Should be Pushed Onto Beaches, Not Out To Sea: Umm, why? "There is not much life on the beach, so it's quite safe to have the oil being stranded on the beach, and remove it," Dr Schulton told BBC World Service's One Planet programme. "It's easier to remove it from the beach than to remove it from the water or to remove it from rocky shores." Oh.
Did Drug Traffickers Kill 128 seals, 9 Dolphins and 9 Pelicans? Must have been quite a party...
Freestyle Skiing Ace Jonny Moseley To Be Auctioned On EBay: Mother is tired of paying hospital bills...
On The Block: "I have only one thing to say: I don't do windows."
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Cheyenne Update--Tactical Dilemma Approaching: Cheyenne, knocking off 500 miles a day on her southern route (near 50 South), has found her first iceberg (see pic in day's first post). Here's Fossett's reaction:
"We got a close look at our first icebergs of the trip this morning. This one is at 3 miles. Maybe we have gone far enough South for the time being!
These full sized icebergs should be easy to avoid hitting. The danger are the growlers - which are chunks of ice of mere 'truck' size. If we hit one it would be -- well, catastrophic. The theory is that growlers will be found up to 3 miles downwind of an iceberg. This means we must divert course to assure that we pass upwind of icebergs. We have tuned up the Radar for constant monitoring at nighttime.
The winds are bit better to the South but we are pleased with our progress and we must not get greedy."
Good thinking, Steve. But if the weather forecast is accurate Fossett will have an interesting choice going into the weekend. Over to weather router Ken Campbell:
"They should be looking at good winds for the next 4 or 5 days, moving them across the Southern Indian Ocean very quickly. The breeze will back a little on Friday and they'll need to make a decision then whether to push further South or to go a bit to the North - where the winds may get a little lighter."
And there you have it: the classic Southern Ocean dilemma. Sail south for a shorter route and better winds and risk tearing the boat apart on a block of frozen water. Or sail north for safety and risk slowing down. Fossett is the king of cool, emotionless risk analysis (how do you think he got so rich in the Chicago options pits?) so it will be interesting to follow his decision making. A lot will depend on how many icebergs they see in the next day, and how big a lead on Orange Fossett thinks he needs to carry past Cape Horn. Stay tuned...
Master Decision Maker: "Hmmm, I wonder if I bought my lucky coin....."
"We got a close look at our first icebergs of the trip this morning. This one is at 3 miles. Maybe we have gone far enough South for the time being!
These full sized icebergs should be easy to avoid hitting. The danger are the growlers - which are chunks of ice of mere 'truck' size. If we hit one it would be -- well, catastrophic. The theory is that growlers will be found up to 3 miles downwind of an iceberg. This means we must divert course to assure that we pass upwind of icebergs. We have tuned up the Radar for constant monitoring at nighttime.
The winds are bit better to the South but we are pleased with our progress and we must not get greedy."
Good thinking, Steve. But if the weather forecast is accurate Fossett will have an interesting choice going into the weekend. Over to weather router Ken Campbell:
"They should be looking at good winds for the next 4 or 5 days, moving them across the Southern Indian Ocean very quickly. The breeze will back a little on Friday and they'll need to make a decision then whether to push further South or to go a bit to the North - where the winds may get a little lighter."
And there you have it: the classic Southern Ocean dilemma. Sail south for a shorter route and better winds and risk tearing the boat apart on a block of frozen water. Or sail north for safety and risk slowing down. Fossett is the king of cool, emotionless risk analysis (how do you think he got so rich in the Chicago options pits?) so it will be interesting to follow his decision making. A lot will depend on how many icebergs they see in the next day, and how big a lead on Orange Fossett thinks he needs to carry past Cape Horn. Stay tuned...
Master Decision Maker: "Hmmm, I wonder if I bought my lucky coin....."
Annals of Achievement--Masters of Speed (Take 2): Windsurfer Finian Maynard and his gang of speed freaks are back at the "French Trench" in Camargue, trying to break the outright sailing speed record of 46.52 knots, held since 1993 by an otherworldly multihull called Yellow Pages Endeavour. Maynard came damn close in December, setting a new windsurfing speed record of 46.24 knots (averaged over 500 meters), but he and his pals won't rest until they take the outright record back from the sailors. Earlier this week, Maynard knocked off a 45.76 knot run in the 1100 meter long, 15 meter wide canal, which is perfect for speed windsurfing because the wind howls across it and the water is flat. But the best winds came with an overnight storm that has the surfers considering the installation of lights so they can hit the water at any time when the breeze is promising. Yup, they are a determined group, and if they get lucky with the wind TWC predicts they will snatch this record back...
Finian Flying: "Oh Mama...Must..Hang...On....."
(Photo: Roger von Tangeren)
Finian Flying: "Oh Mama...Must..Hang...On....."
(Photo: Roger von Tangeren)
Wetass of the Week--Brick (the Lab): The winter waters off Alaska are treacherous and sometimes deadly. They killed logger Greg Clark on January 22, when his boat foundered on the rocks off Cape Lynch on Heceta Island. Clark had two dogs with him, Brick and a young puppy, and all were assumed lost. But you can never count a lab out (okay, there's one snoring at my feet), and yesterday two fishermen found ol' Brick alive on the island, more than a month after he was shipwrecked. According to the AP, "Brick swam to the men's boat and was hauled aboard — underweight, with an injured leg, fur matted with tree sap, but wiggling with joy." Give that dog a T-bone....
"Man, what took you guys so long..."
"Man, what took you guys so long..."
JV Jumble--Everybody's Back At Sea: Geronimo hit the start last night just before midnight GMT, and Orange II followed today just after 8 am GMT, so they are off and running in their match race, with Geronimo grabbing an 8 hour head start. Both boats are sailing in good northerly winds which should get them south to the Canary Islands in good shape. After that there may be some tricky weather before they find the trade winds that will hurtle them to the Equator. No doubt, the two will have good leads on Cheyenne by the time they cross the Equator, but Cheyenne had a great passage through the South Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope, so we'll see how they all stand after they hit that first Great Cape.
Meanwhile, Cheyenne has found the fast lane in the Indian Ocean, reaching along at 20-25 knots between 47S and 48S, and looking to notch up a series of 500 mile days. Fossett figures they've stretched their lead on Orange 2002 to about a day and a half (see chart), but they will need every advantage they can get, because after New Zealand, Orange had a great passage across the Pacific, riding a single depression all the way to Cape Horn, and did very well on the final leg up the Atlantic as well. The key in the Southern Ocean is to keep (or hope) breakages don't slow you up, because this is the place where you really rack up the miles. So far in the South, Cheyenne's crew has dealt with a broken forestay, and a broken batten car (which forced them to drop the main for 45 minutes). And there's probably some 7-8,000 more miles of Southern Ocean sailing ahead. Here's a report from Dave Scully, which captures some of the feeling of sailing in the world's greatest ocean:
"How to stay warm is the latest topic of conversation. Although I awoke to bright sunshine, the temperature has dropped to 5 deg C, and the wind chill is bitter. We are reaching east along lat 48 south, and as much as you remind yourself that this is no further south than say, La Rochelle is north, it feels a lot colder.
We are looking forward to four or five days of fast sailing, as we chase a high pressure system that is passing to the north of us. The consistent winds will help us make short work of the Indian Ocean, the most hazardous part of the trip. Hauling up the solent is a very warming activity. We miss the roller furling already!
It is a great experience to be back in the Southern Ocean. The incredible power of the weather here is like a thinly veiled threat of which we are constantly aware, and yet there is peace in the slow arc of the albatross' glide, and in the endless swell of the sea. As sailors, we are closer to the elemental force of our environment in this place, than we are anywhere else.
It is one thirty in the morning, cold as a steel bar. Gizmo (Guillermo) is in the galley, singing to the helm station over the VHF. Jacques' watch has the con, and my watch, on standby, is huddled into the warmest corners to be found. In a few minutes, we hit the deck to hoist the solent, to enable us to direct our course more to the east. The closer angle to the wind will pay a boat speed dividend, but cost us in comfort, as icy spray will be added to the icy wind. The faster we go, the sooner we will get to turn north."
More later, when Geronimo and Orange II check in....
A View From Cheyenne: Uh-Oh.......
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
Meanwhile, Cheyenne has found the fast lane in the Indian Ocean, reaching along at 20-25 knots between 47S and 48S, and looking to notch up a series of 500 mile days. Fossett figures they've stretched their lead on Orange 2002 to about a day and a half (see chart), but they will need every advantage they can get, because after New Zealand, Orange had a great passage across the Pacific, riding a single depression all the way to Cape Horn, and did very well on the final leg up the Atlantic as well. The key in the Southern Ocean is to keep (or hope) breakages don't slow you up, because this is the place where you really rack up the miles. So far in the South, Cheyenne's crew has dealt with a broken forestay, and a broken batten car (which forced them to drop the main for 45 minutes). And there's probably some 7-8,000 more miles of Southern Ocean sailing ahead. Here's a report from Dave Scully, which captures some of the feeling of sailing in the world's greatest ocean:
"How to stay warm is the latest topic of conversation. Although I awoke to bright sunshine, the temperature has dropped to 5 deg C, and the wind chill is bitter. We are reaching east along lat 48 south, and as much as you remind yourself that this is no further south than say, La Rochelle is north, it feels a lot colder.
We are looking forward to four or five days of fast sailing, as we chase a high pressure system that is passing to the north of us. The consistent winds will help us make short work of the Indian Ocean, the most hazardous part of the trip. Hauling up the solent is a very warming activity. We miss the roller furling already!
It is a great experience to be back in the Southern Ocean. The incredible power of the weather here is like a thinly veiled threat of which we are constantly aware, and yet there is peace in the slow arc of the albatross' glide, and in the endless swell of the sea. As sailors, we are closer to the elemental force of our environment in this place, than we are anywhere else.
It is one thirty in the morning, cold as a steel bar. Gizmo (Guillermo) is in the galley, singing to the helm station over the VHF. Jacques' watch has the con, and my watch, on standby, is huddled into the warmest corners to be found. In a few minutes, we hit the deck to hoist the solent, to enable us to direct our course more to the east. The closer angle to the wind will pay a boat speed dividend, but cost us in comfort, as icy spray will be added to the icy wind. The faster we go, the sooner we will get to turn north."
More later, when Geronimo and Orange II check in....
A View From Cheyenne: Uh-Oh.......
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
JV Update--Cat vs. Tri: Geronimo's departure from Brest has been delayed slightly, and it now looks as if the big trimaran and Orange II will restart within hours of each other, sometime tonight or early tomorrow morning. Bruno Peyron is already getting hot and bothered about the prospect:
"We should encounter good conditions at the beginning, but we'll probably be slowed down in two to three days by a high which is blocking our path off the Canary Islands. Afterwards, we'll catch the Trades promptly, and they will propel us to the Equator. With Geronimo setting off as well, we'll be in a race configuration. It will add tactics and strategy, and will be quite interesting. We had been expecting this trimaran — catamaran showdown for a long time. Undoubtedly, we'll learn a few things from this confrontation rather quickly. It promises to be a real duel, and the whole crew is very motivated by this combat at the highest level of our sport. The battle will be a tough one psychologically."
Bring it on...
"We should encounter good conditions at the beginning, but we'll probably be slowed down in two to three days by a high which is blocking our path off the Canary Islands. Afterwards, we'll catch the Trades promptly, and they will propel us to the Equator. With Geronimo setting off as well, we'll be in a race configuration. It will add tactics and strategy, and will be quite interesting. We had been expecting this trimaran — catamaran showdown for a long time. Undoubtedly, we'll learn a few things from this confrontation rather quickly. It promises to be a real duel, and the whole crew is very motivated by this combat at the highest level of our sport. The battle will be a tough one psychologically."
Bring it on...
Annals of Adventure--Across the Top of the World: Lots of hard-core maniacs put everything they have into trying to get to the North Pole solo and unsupported. Ben Saunders, a 26-year old Brit, is about to raise the ante by turning the Pole into just a rest stop. He's about to set off with the intention of making the first solo ski crossing of the Arctic Ocean, starting from Cape Arktichevsky-- the northernmost tip of Russia (81°30'N 97°0'E)--via the North Geographic Pole (90°N) to Ward Hunt Island, on the north coast of Canada (83°05'N 75°0'W). That's 1,240 miles of bitter cold, Polar bears, thin ice and the possibility of an unexpected Arctic swim. And Saunders is doing it pure: no dogs, no kites, no guides and no resupply. No one has ever done this solo, and according to Explorer's Web, the last two guys who pulled this stunt were out for 109 days, lost their sleds, all their gear and 50 kgs of body weight. When they finally staggered ashore at Cape Discovery, Canada, a doctor took one look at them and estimated that they were just 48 hours from death. So this is no stroll in a winter wonderland, and going solo will be doubly hard. Saunders expects it will take him about 3 months, and you can follow his expedition in detail (want to know what his average daily heart rate is, or how many calories he consumed?) on his excellent web site. Saunders is now in Siberia, getting ready to set off. Here's his first dispatch. He's clearly got a good sense of humor (and he'll need one, no doubt):
"After a 23-hour journey to the outermost reaches of northern Siberia (currently a nostril-freezing -35°C), we feel we should pass on the following points to anyone considering such a voyage:
1) 21 bags of kit several hundred kilos over the limit should not be considered something the BA check-in desk 'just won't notice'.
2) If you arrive at Moscow airport with high explosives, satellite communications equipment, controlled medicines and several cases of camera gear (with no filming permit), barging through the nothing to declare channel professing a complete inability to understand the language works far more effectively than any attempt to negotiate or follow the rules.
3) The knowledge that regional carrier KrasAir is pronounced CrashAir should be restricted to a small group of people who are either drunk, sedated or complete strangers to the English language. Do not assume that your camera crew are drunk, that is their natural demeanour.
4) If, after boarding a clapped out 'vintage' Tupolov, you are told that 'the flight will take six hours... if we live' take full advantage of the vodka ploughman's brunch available."
Good luck...
Solo Saunders: "Crazy?...Why would you think I'm crazy."
(Photo: via Explorer's Web)
"After a 23-hour journey to the outermost reaches of northern Siberia (currently a nostril-freezing -35°C), we feel we should pass on the following points to anyone considering such a voyage:
1) 21 bags of kit several hundred kilos over the limit should not be considered something the BA check-in desk 'just won't notice'.
2) If you arrive at Moscow airport with high explosives, satellite communications equipment, controlled medicines and several cases of camera gear (with no filming permit), barging through the nothing to declare channel professing a complete inability to understand the language works far more effectively than any attempt to negotiate or follow the rules.
3) The knowledge that regional carrier KrasAir is pronounced CrashAir should be restricted to a small group of people who are either drunk, sedated or complete strangers to the English language. Do not assume that your camera crew are drunk, that is their natural demeanour.
4) If, after boarding a clapped out 'vintage' Tupolov, you are told that 'the flight will take six hours... if we live' take full advantage of the vodka ploughman's brunch available."
Good luck...
Solo Saunders: "Crazy?...Why would you think I'm crazy."
(Photo: via Explorer's Web)
"Cheyenne" Charges On--One Cape Down (Two to Go): Cheyenne is still powering along, racking up another 500-plus mile day and in the early morning hours passing the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope, the first of the three Great Capes on the round-the-world tour. Next up is Cape Leeuwin, at the southwest corner of Australia, and then it's on to Cape Horn. Cheyenne sailed from Ushant in the English Channel to the Cape of Good Hope in 17 days, 23 hours, 29 minutes. (Click here for a chart of their current position). That's faster than Orange I in 2002, which took 18 days, 18 hours, 40 minutes, and Fossett reckons he is about 430 miles ahead at the moment (the record for Ushant-Good Hope, though, was set by Geronimo in 2003, at 16 days, 35 minutes). Significantly, Cheyenne (at 46/47 degrees South) is much further south than either Geronimo or Orange I were at this point (Geronimo was at 40 degrees South and Orange was at 38 degrees South). That's almost 400 miles closer to the Pole, which translates into a shorter track to Cape Horn as the longitude lines squeeze together the further south you go. Of course, that also means Cheyenne is sailing closer to the Southern Ocean storm track. But for the moment this strategy makes a lot of sense because Fossett and navigator Adrienne Cahalan are running from the light air trap of a high pressure system that is reaching out toward them from Good Hope. They'll cash in big time if they succeed, according to Cheyenne's weather router, Ken Campbell of Commanders Weather: "Winds are still excellent, but it is important that they keep getting South over the next 18-24 hrs - to manage the area of High Pressure coming SE from the Cape and get to the best wind. The sweet spot will be at between 47 and 48 degrees S. If they can get there, they'll be cooking - and should really bomb eastwards for the next 3 days at least."
"Hey, Steve, this southern route is great. It's shorter...and we've got ice for our cocktails."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
"Hey, Steve, this southern route is great. It's shorter...and we've got ice for our cocktails."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
Annals of Invention--"Rinspeed Splash": TWC has featured the HOV-Pod, a two-man sub, and a James Bondish car-speedboat. Latest entry in the wacky vehicles someone, somewhere might like to own gallery is the "Splash," another car boat that distinguishes itself by flying two feet above the water on hydrofoils (instead of sitting in the water like all those other boring, unimaginative boat-cars). Vital stats: 125 mph on land, 50 mph on water, very light, very loud, no CD player. Expect to get wet...
Very Cool...But why is a fire extinguisher standard equipment?
Very Cool...But why is a fire extinguisher standard equipment?
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Final JV Update for the Day...I Think: But well worth the extra verbiage, because Dave Scully, Cheyenne's boat captain, tells the dramatic story of Cheyenne's faulty headstay, and how the crew managed to fix it 1000 miles from port, while surfing the Southern Ocean at 20-plus knots. Here's an excerpt, but if you are into gutsy sailing, read the whole thing on Yachting World's website:
"The situation started at 23.30 the night before last, when Ado woke me to help with the gybe. I got to the bow to find the headstay flopping like a washing line, the rig supported by the luff tension of the solent. Bit of a shocker. There were a couple of logical explanations, none of which made sense. Justin leaped into the rigging and stabilised the situation by lashing a couple of strong lines to the partners. Then we waited for daybreak.
It seemed incredible to me that the stay had broken. It is new 40mm steel wire, and had not been subjected to extraordinary stress. Equally incredible was the idea that the swage fitting had pulled out. The most likely, though not obvious solution, was that something had gone wrong inside the furling unit. To access this, we had to unroll the sail.
Not an easy job, with a big catenary (sag) in the stay, and the boat pitching as it pursued a 20kt course eastward. Damian was up the rig at the partners, Justin and I were at the tack fitting, and the rest of the crew were on sheets and furling lines. We unrolled it a turn, then another. Justin turned to me and said: "I think this is going to work!" Just then there was an almighty crash, and the sail, still mostly wrapped around the carbon fibre headfoil, fell into the netting.
I looked around, counting the survivors. Miraculously, everyone was still standing. The sail, trailing the wire forestay, was flailing around, half on the tramp, half in the air. It was obvious that our worst fears were confirmed. The forestay had broken, and we were out of the running."
Go to Yachting World's site to read about the repair. And, yes, it did involve some f*cking big wrenches...
Headstay Down!: "Boo-hoo-hoo. I just can't stand to look at this mess...."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
"The situation started at 23.30 the night before last, when Ado woke me to help with the gybe. I got to the bow to find the headstay flopping like a washing line, the rig supported by the luff tension of the solent. Bit of a shocker. There were a couple of logical explanations, none of which made sense. Justin leaped into the rigging and stabilised the situation by lashing a couple of strong lines to the partners. Then we waited for daybreak.
It seemed incredible to me that the stay had broken. It is new 40mm steel wire, and had not been subjected to extraordinary stress. Equally incredible was the idea that the swage fitting had pulled out. The most likely, though not obvious solution, was that something had gone wrong inside the furling unit. To access this, we had to unroll the sail.
Not an easy job, with a big catenary (sag) in the stay, and the boat pitching as it pursued a 20kt course eastward. Damian was up the rig at the partners, Justin and I were at the tack fitting, and the rest of the crew were on sheets and furling lines. We unrolled it a turn, then another. Justin turned to me and said: "I think this is going to work!" Just then there was an almighty crash, and the sail, still mostly wrapped around the carbon fibre headfoil, fell into the netting.
I looked around, counting the survivors. Miraculously, everyone was still standing. The sail, trailing the wire forestay, was flailing around, half on the tramp, half in the air. It was obvious that our worst fears were confirmed. The forestay had broken, and we were out of the running."
Go to Yachting World's site to read about the repair. And, yes, it did involve some f*cking big wrenches...
Headstay Down!: "Boo-hoo-hoo. I just can't stand to look at this mess...."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
Geronimo Update--JV Start Wednesday: Ahh, Olivier De K finally emerges from his secure, undisclosed location to announce that he and Geronimo will hit the start line again tomorrow. Well, it won't be as exciting as a head-to-head drag race, but it will be the next best thing if the 110-foot trimaran and the 120-foot catamaran start within 18 hours of one another. De Kersauson is famously individualistic, and rarely a happy collaborator, so it was perhaps too much to hope that he and Peyron would have a little chat and do the right thing for their sponsors and hit the line at the exact same time. Still, we got a whole lotta racing going on: Cheyenne Vs. Orange I, Geronimo vs. Orange II, Geronimo and Orange II vs. Cheyenne and Orange I. Stop, I'm getting a headache...
Geronimo Grabs a Head Start: "Au Revoir, Bruno. Catch us if you can...."
Geronimo Grabs a Head Start: "Au Revoir, Bruno. Catch us if you can...."
Orange Update--Back to Sea: The repair job on Orange II's bows was completed today, and the 120-foot cat has been re-launched. Bruno Peyron an the crew are now racing to put all the bits back together and restock in time to leave the dock tomorrow afternoon, with the aim of setting out on another Jules Verne record attempt sometime Thursday morning. Olivier, oh Olivier, where are you....?
Sure, it looks good. But is Le Glue Elmer really the best way to go?
Sure, it looks good. But is Le Glue Elmer really the best way to go?
Annals of Adrenaline--Surfing Can Kill: Think surfing is just a laid back way for slackers to get a tan? Think again. When the waves get big and rough, surfing is an extreme sport: dangerous, unpredictable and sometimes lethal. At least that's what Japanese surfer Moto Watanabe, an aspiring pro, discovered in January when he caught Oahu's notorious Pipeline on a bad day. It's a sad, moving story:
"The swell that Monday morning was still running at 8-12 feet as it had the day before, but the conditions had deteriorated as the swell turned more north and a weird bumpiness set in. Without a spot in the tight Pipeline pecking order, a zealous Watanabe was forced to compete tooth and nail for the undesirable scrap waves. According to East Coast ripper and self-described Pipe "scrapper" Jesse Hines, who had been chatting with Watanabe just seconds before the fateful eight-footer loomed, "the wave looked good at first, but just transformed into a monster. Even a boogie-boarder couldn't have made that drop." Watanabe grabbed his rail and tried to power his way backside into the left, but the wave hurled itself outward, the lip seemingly thicker than the wave was tall. He was wiped out in the lip by a bump and was driven head-first into his board in only three feet of water. Ironically, this was the first season at Pipe that he had chosen not to wear a helmet."
Watanabe sustained severe injuries to his head and neck, slipped into a coma, and after 11 days on life support his parents made the difficult decision to pull the plug. Lesson learned:
For those who witnessed the wipeout and the aftermath like [surfers] Hines and Snyder, the accident has brought the danger of surfing Pipe back into perspective. Says Hines, "None of us had ever been that close to death before...it was sobering to be talking with this healthy young guy one minute, and to see him unconscious and foaming on the beach the next."
"Oh Man, why did I ever give up tiddleywinks........."
"The swell that Monday morning was still running at 8-12 feet as it had the day before, but the conditions had deteriorated as the swell turned more north and a weird bumpiness set in. Without a spot in the tight Pipeline pecking order, a zealous Watanabe was forced to compete tooth and nail for the undesirable scrap waves. According to East Coast ripper and self-described Pipe "scrapper" Jesse Hines, who had been chatting with Watanabe just seconds before the fateful eight-footer loomed, "the wave looked good at first, but just transformed into a monster. Even a boogie-boarder couldn't have made that drop." Watanabe grabbed his rail and tried to power his way backside into the left, but the wave hurled itself outward, the lip seemingly thicker than the wave was tall. He was wiped out in the lip by a bump and was driven head-first into his board in only three feet of water. Ironically, this was the first season at Pipe that he had chosen not to wear a helmet."
Watanabe sustained severe injuries to his head and neck, slipped into a coma, and after 11 days on life support his parents made the difficult decision to pull the plug. Lesson learned:
For those who witnessed the wipeout and the aftermath like [surfers] Hines and Snyder, the accident has brought the danger of surfing Pipe back into perspective. Says Hines, "None of us had ever been that close to death before...it was sobering to be talking with this healthy young guy one minute, and to see him unconscious and foaming on the beach the next."
"Oh Man, why did I ever give up tiddleywinks........."
TWC Quick Hits....:
Cosmologists More Certain Than Ever that Universe Is Not In Fact Ripping Apart: Well, that's certainly good to know. Thanks, guys.
In Fact, We Might Just Have 30 Billion Years: It just keeps getting better and better....
Unfortunately, The Great Barrier Reef Won't Be With Us That Long thanks to Global Warming: Damn. Just as I was starting to feel good...
And Sharks Aren't Doing Very Well Either: But at least they're eating fewer surfers....
"You bastards. I'm leaving the surfer dudes alone, but I'm going to get as many of the rest of you as I can before you wipe us all out..."
Cosmologists More Certain Than Ever that Universe Is Not In Fact Ripping Apart: Well, that's certainly good to know. Thanks, guys.
In Fact, We Might Just Have 30 Billion Years: It just keeps getting better and better....
Unfortunately, The Great Barrier Reef Won't Be With Us That Long thanks to Global Warming: Damn. Just as I was starting to feel good...
And Sharks Aren't Doing Very Well Either: But at least they're eating fewer surfers....
"You bastards. I'm leaving the surfer dudes alone, but I'm going to get as many of the rest of you as I can before you wipe us all out..."
Just Checking....: Phew, Cheyenne's mast is still standing, so it seems the repair is holding. The big cat is running hard to the southeast, about a day ahead of Orange's 2002 record pace (see chart here), and is trying to stay ahead of the light winds of a high pressure system that is expanding fast in their direction. The only real consequence of Cheyenne's rigging failure is that the Solent headsail--one of the primary working sails, used mostly for reaching and upwind work--is no longer on a furler. That means the crew will have to hoist and douse it like an old-fashioned hank-on sail when they want to use it. Which in turn means a lot more work at the grinding pedestals. That in itself is no big deal on a boat where almost every sailhandling job is a massive, sweat-popping chore. But it does mean that getting the Solent up and down will take more time, and that will cost Cheyenne some miles because normal practice on the boat is to fly the Solent whenever one of the flying headsails (the gennaker or the blast reacher) is being changed. The flying headsails will be used almost constantly throughout the downwind sleigh ride of the Southern Ocean, and will need frequent changing whenever the wind strengthens or eases. So the headstay problem will exact a price, both on the crew's energies and in terms of miles whenever there are sail changes up forward. But we're only talking a small decrease in sailhandling and sailing efficiency. And at least Cheyenne is still racing.
Back in France, Orange II is still under repair, but could be back on the water in the next day or two. Olivier De K and Geronimo are eyeing a decent weather window that looks to be open through Thursday. It's possible Orange II could catch it too....
Cheyenne Crew Boss Dave Scully: "So I grabbed the headstay between my teeth and growled 'Get me a f*cking big wrench'..."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
Back in France, Orange II is still under repair, but could be back on the water in the next day or two. Olivier De K and Geronimo are eyeing a decent weather window that looks to be open through Thursday. It's possible Orange II could catch it too....
Cheyenne Crew Boss Dave Scully: "So I grabbed the headstay between my teeth and growled 'Get me a f*cking big wrench'..."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
Monday, February 23, 2004
TWC Breaking News--Cheyenne Soldiers On: Steve Fossett and his 13 crew have somehow managed to put Cheyenne back into fast sailing mode (after a 16 hour repair job to reattach the forestay), so the record hunt is BACK ON (see below for more on the discovery of the problem). Here's Fossett's after-action report:
"The crew of Cheyenne has reconnected the Forestay. Cheyenne has gybed to the Southwest and is continuing its attempt to break the Round the World Sailing Record.
The forestay cable, which supports the mast, pulled out of its end fitting. None of us on board has ever seen this fitting fail before. The repair process took over 16 hours and was accomplished using hand tools - where this type of work is usually done in a rigging shop with specialized heavy equipment.
This is defining of the most professional distance sailors. They can fix things at sea where normally we would have to retire to the nearest port. Despite meticulous preparation, these high performance multihulls cannot be expected to make it Round the World without mandatory repairs at sea."
It's not clear yet whether they can push the 125-foot catamaran to maximum potential, or whether they have to baby her around the course a bit. But knowing Fossett, I'd say the repair has to be pretty solid. He's not the kind of guy to waste his time attempting a record with a boat that can't give him a good chance of success. Cheyenne obviously lost some of their lead on Orange (TWC reckons about 100 miles of 500), but she is still south and east of Bruno Peyron's equivalent position in 2002 (click here to see a chart), so she's still ahead of the record pace. TWC will watch Cheyenne's position and speed reports carefully for any signs of impaired performance. But right now the big cat is back up over 20 knots and pointed at Cape Horn, thousands of miles down the track. Better not break down again halfway there....
Meanwhile, back in France, Geronimo's faulty sails have been repaired (or so the sailmaker prays) and the big tri is ready to sail again. Orange II should be repaired within days. Both teams are looking at a promising mid-to-late week weather window. One last plea: START TOGETHER, you stubborn, stubborn men...
Orange's Bow Looking, Ummm, F*cked Up.....
(Photo: Gilles Martin Raget)
"The crew of Cheyenne has reconnected the Forestay. Cheyenne has gybed to the Southwest and is continuing its attempt to break the Round the World Sailing Record.
The forestay cable, which supports the mast, pulled out of its end fitting. None of us on board has ever seen this fitting fail before. The repair process took over 16 hours and was accomplished using hand tools - where this type of work is usually done in a rigging shop with specialized heavy equipment.
This is defining of the most professional distance sailors. They can fix things at sea where normally we would have to retire to the nearest port. Despite meticulous preparation, these high performance multihulls cannot be expected to make it Round the World without mandatory repairs at sea."
It's not clear yet whether they can push the 125-foot catamaran to maximum potential, or whether they have to baby her around the course a bit. But knowing Fossett, I'd say the repair has to be pretty solid. He's not the kind of guy to waste his time attempting a record with a boat that can't give him a good chance of success. Cheyenne obviously lost some of their lead on Orange (TWC reckons about 100 miles of 500), but she is still south and east of Bruno Peyron's equivalent position in 2002 (click here to see a chart), so she's still ahead of the record pace. TWC will watch Cheyenne's position and speed reports carefully for any signs of impaired performance. But right now the big cat is back up over 20 knots and pointed at Cape Horn, thousands of miles down the track. Better not break down again halfway there....
Meanwhile, back in France, Geronimo's faulty sails have been repaired (or so the sailmaker prays) and the big tri is ready to sail again. Orange II should be repaired within days. Both teams are looking at a promising mid-to-late week weather window. One last plea: START TOGETHER, you stubborn, stubborn men...
Orange's Bow Looking, Ummm, F*cked Up.....
(Photo: Gilles Martin Raget)
Annals of Adventure--Just Keep, Surfing, Surfing, Surfing..: The local Indians call it Pororoca, which means "Great Roar." The rest of the folks who live along the Amazon just call it "The Murderer" or "The Monster." Just what the hell are they talking about? Some stone-age beast lurking in the jungle? Maybe a plus-sized jaguar? Nope. The Pororoca is a tidal wave, but not just any tidal wave. It happens only in February and March, twice a day over a three day period. Take the Amazon River at high tide, a full moon, and the billions of extra gallons of water added by seasonal rains, and you get an utterly predictable wall of water--up to a mile and a half wide, moving at almost 20 mph--sweeping toward the Atlantic. For most river dwellers, the arrival of the Pororoca means run like hell for high ground, wait till its all over, and then return home to salvage what remains. But for a few hardy, possibly insane, adventurers it means something entirely different. It means the world's longest surfing wave, a wave that sweeps the surfer through piranha infested waters, past floating logs and crocodiles, and through clouds of the world's most voracious mosquitos. And, if the surfer survives all that, the Pororoca may just mean a new world record. At least that's what Picuruta Salazar hopes. Last year the laid-back 43-year-old Brazilian hopped up on his long board, caught a ride with the Pororoca, and surfed it for 37 minutes and 7.5 miles. Cowabunga, Dude. That was a world record, and this year Salazar will be back to try and break his own mark. The Pororoca window opens wide from March 27 to March 29, and Salazar and a crowd of other extreme surfers will be there to catch it, rip it, and...hopefully...survive it. This is some crazy surfin' sh*t and TWC will bring you all the action in late March....
Salazar Sets Off: "Man, I hope I don't need to take a whizz in the next half hour...."
(Photo: Rick Werneck via SurferVillage.Com)
Salazar Sets Off: "Man, I hope I don't need to take a whizz in the next half hour...."
(Photo: Rick Werneck via SurferVillage.Com)
JV Update--Et Tu, Cheyenne?: Now we know why setting the non-stop round-the-world sailing record is so hard. Sailing that fast, for that long, in conditions that rough, is just brutal on the boats and gear. Last night, as Cheyenne's crew was preparing for a midnight gybe, someone noticed that the headstay--which is just slightly important when it comes to keeping the mast standing--was, errr, disconnected. Imagine what that will do to your heart rate. Luckily, the crew got the 150-foot mast secured before it came tumbling down, a catastrophic event that could easily have taken out some body parts. Fossett ordered the boat toward Cape Town, South Africa, 1000 downwind miles away.
Fossett comments:
"We recognize that our attempt may be finished, but the crew is gamely trying to find a solution. The mast has now been secured with spare halyards but this configuration is only strong enough for moderate downwind sailing. We actually cannot see the forestay because it is inside the roller foils and the furled solent. Next step is to remove the Solent and lower the Forestay/Furling apparatus to the trampoline. The best case is that a fitting has come unscrewed and the forestay can be reconnected. Hope is slim...We should know by the end of the day on Monday if we must retire from the Round the World Record attempt."
The break happened in a good spot if it had to happen, south-southwest of Cape Town. Cheyenne can head for port, but at the same time try to fix the problem. And if they somehow pull that feat off, they are not far off the record track and can resume their attempt in decent shape. Still, this is a real shame. Cheyenne and her crew had been doing everything right. They overcame poor winds at the start, they kept pushing, and by the time the headstay parted they had put up their biggest daily run (about 580 miles), had stretched out to a 500-mile lead on Orange's 2002 record pace, and were starting to revel in fast Southern Ocean sailing conditions. So where we once had three maxi-multihulls racing around the world we now have...none. Okay, that's the bad news. The good news is that two of them, Orange II and Geronimo, are back in port in France working their asses off to get ready to take off again. Geronimo has its defective gennakers at the loft, and Olivier De K is standing behind the sailmakers with a shotgun (okay, TWC made this last part up). And Orange II is in Lorient, gluing new bows in place. Bruno Peyron is talking about another weather window on Feb. 26 if the repairs can be completed in time. Maybe Geronimo will be ready then, too. So, swallow your disappointment and sit tight. Fossett is probably done. But the racing is not over...yet.
"Hey Steve, can I please come down now? It's just not as much fun up here without a headstay....."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
Fossett comments:
"We recognize that our attempt may be finished, but the crew is gamely trying to find a solution. The mast has now been secured with spare halyards but this configuration is only strong enough for moderate downwind sailing. We actually cannot see the forestay because it is inside the roller foils and the furled solent. Next step is to remove the Solent and lower the Forestay/Furling apparatus to the trampoline. The best case is that a fitting has come unscrewed and the forestay can be reconnected. Hope is slim...We should know by the end of the day on Monday if we must retire from the Round the World Record attempt."
The break happened in a good spot if it had to happen, south-southwest of Cape Town. Cheyenne can head for port, but at the same time try to fix the problem. And if they somehow pull that feat off, they are not far off the record track and can resume their attempt in decent shape. Still, this is a real shame. Cheyenne and her crew had been doing everything right. They overcame poor winds at the start, they kept pushing, and by the time the headstay parted they had put up their biggest daily run (about 580 miles), had stretched out to a 500-mile lead on Orange's 2002 record pace, and were starting to revel in fast Southern Ocean sailing conditions. So where we once had three maxi-multihulls racing around the world we now have...none. Okay, that's the bad news. The good news is that two of them, Orange II and Geronimo, are back in port in France working their asses off to get ready to take off again. Geronimo has its defective gennakers at the loft, and Olivier De K is standing behind the sailmakers with a shotgun (okay, TWC made this last part up). And Orange II is in Lorient, gluing new bows in place. Bruno Peyron is talking about another weather window on Feb. 26 if the repairs can be completed in time. Maybe Geronimo will be ready then, too. So, swallow your disappointment and sit tight. Fossett is probably done. But the racing is not over...yet.
"Hey Steve, can I please come down now? It's just not as much fun up here without a headstay....."
(Photo: Nick Leggatt)
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