Video Wednesday III–Animal Kingdom Smackdown: Check out this tense video. Reality TV at its best. In one corner: a young grizzly bear. In the other: a pack of wolves. The prize: a rotting moose carcass. No one ever said it was easy out there…



“Damn, missed again. Guess I’m going to have to go fight those stupid wolves for moose scraps…”

Ellen Eviscerates Equator Record: Round 1 (or Leg 1, from the Channel to the Equator) goes to Mme. MacArthur. She crossed The Line last night, 8 days, 18 hours and 20 minutes after setting out, setting a new solo record and besting Francis Joyon by about 14 hours. Half a day into Leg 2 (Equator to the Southern Ocean) now, Ellen still has an 11 hour lead on Joyon, and she’ll need very bit of it as she works her way around the St. Helena high to get to the Roaring Forties. Right now the high does not look like a major obstacle, but during his circumnavigation Joyon sailed this leg at high speed and on an unusually direct route. Here’s Ellen’s assessment of the situation ahead:

“At the moment, the St Helena high is looking like there may be a corridor between it and the low pressure developing off the Brazilian coast. It’s going to be actually quite difficult to sit between the high and the low because if we go to far south, and go behind the front of the low the sea conditions will be terrible and there will be no wind, and if we go into the north into the high we will lose the wind completely and we won’t be able to stay in the gap, so timing is going to be absolutely crucial. It may pay off, it may not, but we don’t really have any choice – we’ve got to go through that gap and we’ve got to hope we make it so it’s going to be very, very important to get the timing right and get the boat sailing as fast as I possibly can to get through that gap to spit us out into the Southern Ocean.”

If this works out Ellen should be in the Southern Ocean spitoon early next week, and chasing after the Vendee Globe sailors…



Ellen’s Ahead: “All I know is that I’ve been going like a rocket ever since I started sailing in my underwear. Not sure how this will work out in the Southern Ocean, though…”

Annals Of Innovation–KiteShip: Kiteboarding already blurs the lines between sailing and flying, but no one ever imagined turning large yachts into massive kiteboards. No one, that is, except the mad wizards at the KiteShip Corporation. They orginally developed their massive kitesail for Larry Ellison and his Oracle/BMW America’s Cup team (talk about a radical technical approach), but it was never used. Now, though KiteShip wants to market its kites to commercial ships, they haven’t given up on freethinking racing sailors. And they found one in Aussie Sean Langman, who has been experimenting with the thing on his 66-foot AAPT (e-Grundig). Langman wants to fly the kite in the Sydney-Hobart race, which starts December 26, hoping it might help bring him home first, before much larger maxis. The 420-square meter kite-sail needs 10 knots of wind to fly, and sailors have supposedly launched it in winds up to 45 knots. Here are the sails alleged advantages:

– On average can be 50 – 100% more powerful than spinnakers

– Most conditions where a spinnaker can be used

– Flies from the deck of the yacht, not the mast, greatly reducing the tendency to broach or to lose control of the yacht i.e. safer to drive yachts harder in higher winds and under greater pressure of sail

– No alterations to the yacht has to be made – it can be flown from the yacht’s existing winches and ‘hard points’

– The kite-sail does not require spinnaker poles, bowsprits or much of the rigging and deck hardware

– Simple and safe to launch and recover, unassisted at sea

– Mark II kites offer increased performance over a wider range of wind speeds, especially at the lowest wind speeds.

We’ll see. Check out the pictures below and see if you think this is really going to work (or watch some of the videos here). I’m skeptical. But I love the fact that Langman will try to turn the Sydney-Hobart upside down with one…









“Hey, Sean. If this thing gets any bigger, 30 knots of breeze will launch us like a SCUD. Say, is there anything in the rules that says the hull has to touch the water?”

Annals Of Achievement–Flying Fossett: Last week it was a Zeppelin record in Germany. This weekend it was a glider record in Argentina. Uber-Wetass Steve Fossett never really stops in his ceaseless hunt to own just about every record in the world. And now he has pocketed the glider free distance (straight-line) record, flying 1,358 miles with co-pilot Terry Delore. The flight took Fossett about two-thirds the length of Argentina, and lasted 15 hours and 42 minutes (his only real problem was that he thought his feet might freeze). Even though that’s like gliding from New York to Dallas, Argentina is the place all the glider nuts congregate to go after this record, because there is a little mountain range there called “The Andes.” Fossett now owns 11 of the 21 major glider records, so he has some more work to do before he can pack up his glider for good. I’m sure that’s a relief to the gliding community…



Mountain Hopping: “Er, Steve. Could you stop playing with that Zeppelin medal, and pull up a bit…”

Masters Of Speed–The Videos: We’ve all seen Finian Maynard rip off his record-setting windsurfing run. But if you want to see what the rest of the gang looked like–or just like watching windsurfers blasting along–the full video lineup has been posted here…



Ben Van Der Steen, On Der Vay: “See, Finian’s not the only one who can freeze his ass off while topping 40…”

(Photo: Jean Souville)

Wetass Gift Registry…: Tis the season and, yes, calendars can be a lame way to go (particularly if they are from your real estate agent). But when they are full of spectacular sailing photography, well…And Rick Tomlinson is one of the best. So check out his 2005 calendar. Here’s a preview (though having this stuff on your office wall might drive you crazy…):





Wetass Gift Registry II…: Or, if you like a little more adrenaline in your stocking, there’s Sharon Green’s Ultimate Sailing calendar…





Have A Wetass Weekend…:



Moon Over Baruntse

(Photo: Mathias Zehring)

Global Racing Roundup…: Ellen is slowly falling behind Francis Joyon as she closes on the Cape Verde Islands. She’s now 4.5 hours back, though lots can change in the highly unpredictable Doldrums which follow. Still, the fact is that Joyon had unbelievably favorable weather and routing for his circumnavigation, so Ellen will constantly find herself struggling to keep up. She’s a very determined and competitive sailor, so if anyone can handle the mental pressure of playing catch-up with a ghost all the way around the world, it is Ellen. In fact, she’s already stressing–and presumably trying to take comfort from– the fact that Joyon was a little slow on his trip back UP the Atlantic (toward the finish). Latest report here. And click here for Ellen’s description of the problem with her rudder (and the repair).

No dramatic developments in the Vendee Globe, though Vincent Riou on PRB has snuck back into the lead. Latest report here. Position report here. If you want an idea of just how dangerous this race can be, check out this report from Alex Thomson Racing on what Thomson’s night was like after his boom broke free from the mast and punctured his deck:

“The winds rose to over 60 knots (force 11, violent storm) with gusts reading 70 knots (force 12, hurricane). The waves were crashing over the stern of the boat, and slamming the cabin door. Alex was watching the breakers from the cabin below, knowing that if one caught the side of the boat, it could roll the boat, increasing his problems tenfold. Three times during the night, the boat was knocked down, left lying with the mast in the water. Each time it safely righted itself, but each time worried Alex even more. “I was in the middle of the Southern Ocean, 1000 miles from any help, with the boat being knocked down by ferocious waves, literally terrified the boat was going to end up upside down”, said a reflective Alex this morning. “It was a truly sobering experience”. Alex had to go on deck twice in these conditions. The unsupported boom continued to bash against the mast, risking compounding the problem yet further. Keen to avoid this, he bravely went out on deck and used some spare lines to winch the boom back away from the mast. At one point, he also had to stuff the hole in the deck with spare oilies (waterproof clothing), to stop as much of the water from entering the boat, as it crashed over in the vast waves, endangering all his electronic and communications equipment.”

And if you want a sense of how soul-crushing this race is, you can do no better than the words of Alex Thomson himself:

“Yesterday it felt like the end of my world. I was very disappointed and couldn’t think about the follow-up. After the incident (breakage of the carbon structure around the gooseneck and puncturing of the deck), the barometer was going up and down and the wind was gusting to 70 knots. I suffered a knock down with the mast in the water and the boom started hitting the mast. I had to go out on deck and try to tie the boom away from the mast which was really scary but I managed to do it. I currently have 25 knots of wind and the seas are big. I’m under solent making 10/11 knots. It’s a real mess down below after broaching so everything is upside down and there’s water in the boat. I estimate that will take me 5 to 6 days to reach Cape Town, the 8 or 9th December. Back home they have told me to get my ass in gear. I’m not entirely sure how I am going to proceed with the repairs and am still in contact with Lombard (Architect). It’s very difficult to gauge the size of the hole as the gooseneck is half in and half out of it and is also very close to the mast step. I’m clearly going to need dry and warm conditions which is pretty difficult at sea. I think the repairs should take 4/5 days but in the meantime I’m plugging the hole with my wet weather gear though there is still water coming in. I think there may be some problems with the mast electronics but if I can fix it I can. Obviously when you go into the southern ocean you must have complete confidence in your repairs and there are other considerations such as the shortage of fuel and food to think of too.”

Anyone else need a hanky? You have to feel for the guy…



Abject Alex: “Hello, is this Bert’s Boat Scrappers…?”

Annals Of Medical Assistance–How To Save A Finger Mid-Atlantic: The Atlantic Rally For Cruisers (or ARC) is an annual pilgrimage in which some 150 yachts cruise/race transatlantic in company, from the Canaries to St. Lucia in the Caribbean. It’s pretty much a milk run (click here to watch a nicely done short movie about last years run), but there’s usually some drama somewhere along the way. And this year’s excitement comes courtesy of 55-year old Ron Parker, who got his finger crushed by a heavy freezer lid in the rolling swell (the price of icing up yet another cocktail..?). Anyhow, his crew patched him up as best they could, but he was still six days from St. Lucia and in danger of losing his finger. His skipper put out a call for assistance from other yachts, and the ARC website picks up the story:

“Later that afternoon, they were joined by the German Hallberg Rassy 53 Jasika IV who had a surgeon and a nurse on board.

Owing to the sea state, Dr Gerhard Trömer and his assistant Edger Willie, then swam across to Tallulah, complete with mobile sterile operating unit. They were then able to set the broken bone and stitch up the wound to Ron’s finger. Ron describes the encounter yesterday: “We met Marival around 14:00 to take on extra drugs and painkillers and then liaised with a German boat Jaksia with a surgeon and nurse onboard – both swam across to our yacht and then performed something that could have come straight from the TV show M.A.S.H!”

Swam across? Damn, I wish those guys had been around when I stuck my finger in the turbine of the wind generator on the way to Jost Van Dyke a few years ago. I hope Ron at least dared go back into the freezer to serve them a post-op Rum Punch…



“See what a nice job they did…?”