ETNZ Confident on Cup Challenge
The Chairman of Emirates Team New Zealand, Dr. Keith Turner, announced today that ETNZ can now mount a challenge to AC 35. This significant development allows ETNZ to move forward to the next stage without government funding.
"Now, with the assistance of long-time supporters Sir Stephen Tindall, Matteo de Nora and other private donors and sponsors, we are delighted to be able to say that we are funded through to late this year," Dr. Turner said in a statement released Thursday in New Zealand.
"The funding support for the team that has coalesced over the past week means we can continue the design and engineering development, and keep racing, until main sponsorship funds begin to flow," said ETNZ’s managing director, Grant Dalton.
This funding comes at a crucial time for ETNZ as the New Zealand government has yet to announce its financial contribution to the country’s AC 35 program.
Anchored Boats Must Get Legal
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Richardson Bay, which lies between Sausalito and the Tiburon Peninsula, has a colorful history that includes construction of liberty ships during WWII, and a long tradition of boaters living aboard. It’s also become the moorage of choice for boat owners trying to avoid high-priced local slip fees.
Although the official maximum stay at anchor is 90 days, local law enforcement agencies have generally taken a hands-off approach to compliance, as there has never been the political will among leaders of neighboring cities and the Richardson Bay Regional Authority to play hardball with dozens of longtime anchor-outs and derelict boat owners. We suspect that dealing with Richardson Bay anchorage-dwellers is about as attractive to Marin County Sheriffs as rousting naked joggers during the Bay to Breakers is to San Francisco police.
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But this month the RBRA and the Sheriff’s Department are finally taking a first step toward getting derelict boats and anchor-outs into basic compliance with the laws that their marina-dwelling neighbors have always been forced to abide by. That is, all boats in the anchorage must now — some would say, finally! — be currently registered and tagged, or face enforcement including citations, fines, towing and disposal.
Marin sheriffs will be issuing notices and urging compliance. But the guy to contact if you have issues to discuss is Harbor Administrator Bill Price, (415) 971-3919, or email him here.
Alternative to a Cat Haul Out
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One of the frustrations with owning a catamaran is if a sail drive — which most cats have — starts leaking, you have to haul the boat out of the water to replace the seal. At least you did.
As this photo by Greg Dorland of the Lake Tahoe-based Catana 52 Escapade shows, there is an alternative. Charter companies in both St. Martin and Martinique ‘haul’ the aft end of cats by placing a huge bag beneath the bridgedeck, then inflating the bag. Tres kool, n’est-ce pas?
Then there is Arjan Bok of the San Francisco-based Lidgard 43 Rotkat. He disconnects the engine from the sail drive, removes the prop from the sail drive, then lifts the sail drive up through the bottom of the boat. Yes, water pours into the big hole where the sail drive was, but the engine room is sealed, and not enough water comes in to reach the engine or other delicate parts.
Needless to say, neither of these alternatives to a traditional haulout is recommended for monohulls.