Category: Uncategorized

More Hobie porn. Clip 1. Clip 2. Hmmm. Might have to get me one of those…

“Say, Bob, I’m not really having fin anymore. Can we go back to jumping off waves…?”

Your call (and if you need a dictionary, get off your butt and go find one…). The ever-vigilant paparazzi at Sailing Anarchy came up with this high and dry situation post-Hurricane Wilma in the Florida Keys. It’s a Perrini-Navi, and I wonder if the skipper still has a job. If you want more pics and discussion, go here. Check it out…




“Quick. Get my lawyer on the cell! I’m claiming salvage over this baby…!

Team ABN Amro has been doing it in the PR realm–with the best photos and videos–and they are also doing it on the water. Both boats (the A boat and the B boat) broke the monohull 24-hour record over the weekend. Amro One clocked up 546 miles. Amro Two, the “kids boat,” racked up 537 miles. Pretty impressive if you recall that the outright 24-hour sailing record in 1998 was 540 miles (set by a Formula 60 trimaran; a record that was upped to 580 miles by PlayStation in her debut). The dual sprint has put the ABN Amro boats way out front. (Click here for latest VOR news and updates). Unless they break down, these are going to be the first boats into Cape Town. No video yet, but here’s what Amro Two navigator Simon Fisher had to say about the experience:

“We are absolutely charging along now, on record pace – the last sched came through and we’d averaged 23 knots for the last six hours! Without a doubt this is definitely life at the extreme. The whole boat is shuddering
and shaking as we crash through one wave to the next, all the winches and blocks are screaming and cracking like cannon fire under the load.

Water is pouring down the deck and into the hatch so we have to bail out every half an hour or so to avoid turning the leeward side of the boat into a swimming pool.

It is often emphasized how hard life is on these boats, and it is all true. The food is bad and bland, sleep is near impossible at times, you are nearly always damp if not wet when the conditions are rough. The simple things in life become a major exercise like getting dressed or going to the toilet.

Even my bunk is absolutely sodden now, having been swamped last night when the cockpit filled with water and a hatch was left open. Seb (Sebastien Josse) was pinned under 50 litres of water and his iPod is no more! The windows on the Nav station are now leaking too, it’s a constant battle to keep the water away from all the electronics.

On deck things aren’t much easier, it is like standing in front of a fire hose and you have to hang on to stay in the cockpit. Only an hour ago Bicey (Nick Bice) was swept off the stack and down the cockpit whilst trimming.

However, despite all this hardship and hassle, there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be right now. This is me at my happiest, tearing though the south Atlantic with the speed in excess of thirty knots.

Despite all you have to endure, sailing these boats is just plain fun. It’s a difficult feeling to describe, a mixture of adrenaline and excitement, fear and apprehension. You don’t know if something is about to break or how long these conditions will last. All that matters is that we are pushing the boat to its limit. But it’s in control and for now we’re the fastest on the track.”

Sounds exciting, no? The SO is going to be off the charts…

“Damn, we’re fast…”

Well, I’m off to the land of sun, sand and caipirinhas for Thanksgiving. Hope the video below is enough to keep you going until early December (just in case it’s not, here’s another great VOR video from ABN Amro). And I leave you with an image that’s perfect for all the Hobie action we’ve seen this week…

And it’s only 2005! That’s how impressed I am by the video I am about to unveil. Earlier in the week I posted some cool pics (click here) of the Nissan Hobie team taking their boats into the surf. The obvious question was: where’s the video? Well, the video sleuths over at the Catamaran Sailor forums (specifically one “MarineTurtle”) have done us all a huge favor by coming up with the goods. To get yourself warmed up, and your salivary glands working, check out these little teasers. Clip 1. Clip 2. Ready to commit to the big enchilada? Check. Computer and sound package up and running sweetly? Check. Got 10 minutes that is boss or family free? Check. Okay, amigo, then go for it and click here. This is a massive download, so go away and do something else until you hear the awesome soundtrack kick in signalling the start (if it says you need a DivX codec go here and get yourself one). Then: crack open beer, get comfy, and enjoy. It’s large format, it’s great footage, it’s wetass nirvana…

“They better be getting this sh*t on video…!”

Got some more video in from the fast-sailing, camera-happy ABN Amro teams (who are kicking ass in the multimedia race). Click here to check out the view from the ABN Amro 2 mast cam. It’s hard to get used to how fast these boats are going. And click here to see a nice summary of what’s been happening aboard ABN Amro 1. Keep it up, boys. You send ’em, we post ’em…

Hard Sailing: “Man, oh man, does my neck ache…”
(Photo: Team ABN Amro)

Just playing catch up. Check out the start here (slow, slow, slow). Then check out some racing action just after the start here (faster). And, finally, drop in on Brasil 1 here (fastest and wettest; includes one “woo-hoo”). All the latest news and standings can be found here. The moaning and whining has already started among armchair sailors about what an embarrassment all the boat damage so far is. Yes, it’s a shame. But the remining four leaders are racing fast and close. That’s good enough for me…

Brasil One Bathing: “Now, this is a little bit of okay. All we are missing is Giselle on the foredeck…”

Thanks to TWC’s Dutch doppelganger we can report that a website called GiantTarpon.Com has it all. You can watch a pair of sharks rip into a caught tarpon (click here), or watch scantily clad bikini models learn to trout fish (click here). Which is more exciting depends entirely on you…

“How about this one? Is this one big enough…?”

I’m bored, and need a little trip to get me going this morning. So how about we take in the Nordic Windsurfing Championships? Sounds good? Well, click here to take in the fjords, the blue, blue sea, and some pretty crazy looking boards and rigs. All going really fast. Love the post-Abba soundtrack, too…

“Damn, I can’t get “Dancing Queen” out of my head…”

Solo sailor Dee Caffari is getting read to set sail on her circumnavigation in five days time. Her route: westabout, non-stop. Her aim: a record (which she will be guaranteed as long as she finishes). Follow Dee’s adventure here. And watch a preview clip, with all the usual philosophical BS, here. This will be an interesting one. Place your bets now…

“Hmm, feels a bit tender. Oh well, it didn’t bother Chichester…”