‘Chubby Girl’ Delay; ‘Matthew Turner’ Testing; More AC75 Foiling Footage
Eight-ft Bay Area-Based Boat with Eye on Hawaii Delays Departure
We got an email the other day from Wilbur Spaul, who was hoping to sail his eight-ft sailboat Chubby Girl to Hawaii starting in October. Spaul wrote in a message (and on his blog):
During the past several weeks when we had moderate to strong ocean winds and waves I have been sea-trialing Chubby Girl, and have found that she is very difficult to steer a straight course in all but calm conditions. In discussions with a naval architect, he has made recommendations to haul the boat and install underwater fins on the aft corners and to reduce water weight by installing a watermaker. (I guess this is part of the development of an one-off experimental craft.) That way, the boat should track straight and be able to self steer. To do these design and construction changes will require that I will not be able to leave next week, which is at the end of my pre-winter storm weather window.
I will make these modifications as soon as I get the designs from the naval architect, and will then spend much of the winter storm season sea-trialing the boat in the San Francisco Bay. I will leave at my next weather window in April.
Matthew Turner Seeks Stability
“We had first part of our stability test on Matthew Turner this morning,” Latitude’s man on the street John “Woody” Skoriak told us in an email yesterday.
Matthew Turner designer Andy Davis was onboard during the test, Skoriak said. “We moved the weights around with our forklift. It was a very nice sunny and warm morning and perfect for the test, except for the wind, which came up about 10:30. We have plumb lines that hang down the two companionways and they are not supposed to move as we tension the dock lines and then release them. But with a stiff breeze (northerly no less) it was difficult. Everything is still in place and hopefully we can complete the test next week.”
Team New Zealand’s AC75 Foiling Footage Is Both Impressive and Underwhelming
So it looks like it was late September when Team Emirates New Zealand took their first sail in their new AC75 Te Aihe. “The wind speed appeared to be 8-10 kts based on the sea state,” sail-world.com reported. “‘It was very short, but we get a view of the future,’ reflected CEO Grant Dalton after the sail.”
The footage above comes from the New Zealand-based Live Sail Die, and shows the AC75 going through a few tacks — we think. It’s difficult for us to distinguish between upwind and downwind maneuvers in the foiling era. After winning the Cup back in Bermuda in 2017, Grant Dalton first teased the idea of Team New Zealand “doing the right thing” with the format. We presume he meant heeding the call of purists who wanted to see monohulls again, while still retaining the performance progression offered by foiling.
And so, after years of anticipation, here we are. Seeing a giant boat levitate in light air is pretty cool, for a minute, and then it’s like, what’s next? We don’t mean to be cynical . . . or no, sorry, we do mean to be cynical, actually. We certainly haven’t made up our minds yet, but we will remain a difficult audience to please.
Here’s a super-flashy video from INEOS Team UK — it’s like if the movies Office Space and Wind were combined.
Don’t Forget About Randall Reeves’ Return
After a year of circling the globe both horizontally and vertically, Randall Reeves will return to the Bay tomorrow. Please click here for details.
We’ll see you out there!
US Olympic Sailing Talent Converges on S.F. Bay
Bay Area sailors continue to grow their support for US Sailing programs and participation in the sport at all levels. On Wednesday Kilroy Realty hosted a reception at the Kilroy Innovation Center for top-tier, aspiring Olympic sailors in town for the Kilroy Realty ProAm. (That regatta is finishing up today in St. Francis Yacht Club’s J/22s.) Local sailing leaders from programs such as the new FAST USA center on Treasure Island, the Olympic Development Program formed by America One, the Treasure Island Sailing Center, and the Siebel Sailors Program launching this weekend at Treasure Island Sailing Center are creating new opportunities for all sailors while fortifying the Bay Area as an important national sailing venue.
Kilroy Realty is a supporter of the US Sailing Team. Wednesday’s event introduced Olympic hopefuls who are training hard with dreams of competing in Japan in 2020. Anna Weis and Erika Reineke, pictured below, grew up sailing in Florida but competed on the Charles River with Boston University and Boston College. In the course of their Olympic pursuits, they’ve sailed all over the world. Both claim that San Francisco is their absolute favorite place to sail anywhere.
We also spoke to Leandro Spina, US Sailing’s Olympic Development program director; Riley Gibbs of Long Beach, who skippers the Nacra 17 with Weis as crew (and sailed with SailGP’s Team USA last summer), match-racing champion and Long Beach YC’s Stars & Stripes America’s Cup skipper Taylor Canfield; and Jack Gierhart, CEO of US Sailing. Also on hand were 49er FX sailors Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea, and revered Olympic coach Luther Carpenter. For competitive sailors with an eye on gold, it was an inspiring evening.
While the US has a stellar Olympic sailing history, the last couple of decades have seen its lead falter. This is not because of a lack of talent. Rather it’s a result of other countries’ stepping up their game with better funding and coaching models, giving their sailors a competitive edge. That new entities are stepping in to provide much-needed support for the sport can only have a positive long-term effect.
As Riley Gibbs said, “This is a national effort. Only one team will head to the Olympics, but we are all training together, looking to raise our game. It’s this focus that allows the whole US team to get better and increase the nation’s chances for a medal.”
The 2020 Olympics are fast approaching. Hopefully, these top sailors will be in Japan representing the US next year and long into the future. Meanwhile, Bay Area sailors will enjoy many more Olympic hopefuls in our midst while they train in one of the best sailing venues in the world.
Great Pumpkin Regatta at Richmond Yacht Club
You Meet the Most Amazing Sailors at the Annapolis Boat Show
Beyond the boats and gear, one of the other things we loved about last week’s Annapolis Boat Show was the people. It starts with the big plus that they’re almost all sailors or want to be. They came from all over the country, but many were from California. Following our Monday story on some of the boats we saw, we’re introducing just a few of the Latitude 38 customers and readers who were there working in booths or exploring all there is to see, including the historic town of Annapolis and the US Naval Academy.
Having recently watched and been inspired by the movie Maiden, it was great to run into Maiden crew member Dawn Riley in the aisles of Tent C. She was there right next to Mike Scheck of Encinal Yacht Club and Scanmar Marine. After Dawn sailed on Maiden in 1989, she continued with a series of sailing successes and is now CEO of Oakcliff Sailing in Oyster Bay, NY. The Oakcliff Sailing training center now manages more than 100 boats and is developing the next generation of professional sailors for success on the racecourse and in the marine industry. Among them is Cali Wanco, pictured below. Cali grew up sailing on Lake Tahoe before heading down to sail at sea level on San Francisco Bay. As her bio states, “Before her 20th birthday she had a quarter-life crisis and decide to devote her life to offshore sailing.” She’s now working at Oakcliff Sailing.
There are all the industry experts you might like to meet as well. You’ll see some of your yacht broker friends from the West Coast as well as sailors you crossed tacks with this past summer. The mood is generally jolly, aided by the Pusser’s Caribbean Grille, serving their famous Pain Killers adjacent to the show.
We bumped into Lin Pardey and Jamie and Behan Gifford at the book corner. Behan is originally from San Francisco. She and her husband recently finished circumnavigating the world with their three children over the past 10 years on their Stevens 47 Totem. Their boat is now hauled out at Cabrales Marine on the Sea of Cortez. When they finish their boat projects, they plan to push off for another trip to the South Pacific.
The ‘movie stars’ (captain and crew) of YouTube sensations La Vagabonde and SV Delos were on hand seminars. In fact, just about every step connects you with something or someone to slow your pace and expand your sailing horizons.
If you stopped to talk to everyone, four days in Annapolis just wouldn’t be enough to cover it all. There were also plenty of parties where sailors helped drain kegs at the Harken, Schaefer and Selden booths, and numerous other events on the docks and in the aisles.
By the time we flew home on Sunday evening, we felt tired but invigorated by four days spent circulating the docks and displays. The show reported record crowds and exhibitor space, with all the seminars and workshops sold out in advance of the show. We wish we’d had more time to visit with more people, get aboard more boats, and dig in deeper with all the gear and equipment on display. For us, it’s a business trip, but also a busman’s holiday. Once again we left inspired by everyone in the business and the thousands of amazing sailors who come from California and beyond to celebrate sailing at the Annapolis Boat Show.
Tiburon Condo for Sale
Tiburon 2 Bed/1 Bath Condo for Sale: $759,000
Open House This Sunday and Next Sunday, 2-4 p.m.: 10 Andrew Drive #60
- Easy drive to 3 yacht clubs/marinas on the Tiburon Peninsula.
- New paint and carpet.
- Upgraded dual-pane windows, slider.
- Silestone kitchen counters; upgraded drawer fronts & cupboard doors.
- Lots of storage.
- Living room & master bedroom open to a large private deck.
- View of Mt. Tam from master bedroom.
- In-unit high-efficiency washer/dryer.
- 1 reserved carport space w/additional open parking; spacious storage room.
- Large community pool and pleasant pool area.
- Excellent Reed District schools.
- Close to Cove Shopping Center, Blackie’s Pasture, bike path, Ring Mountain trails, Richardson Bay waterfront.
- Convenient location, quick access to 101, bus and shuttle to the Tiburon ferry.
- Must be owner-occupied for at least 2 years.
- Available now. $759,000. Tiburon Hill Estates. HOA dues $482.
View at www.cbone.me/node/1274125
Contact Michelle Steinhart, Coldwell Banker
[email protected], (415) 531-1384
Cal RE #00957034