Farmer's Market

It is important to live a healthy life, and to do that one must eat well. The farmer's market is a good way to accomplish that... and be amused at the same time.

16 INCHES OF RAIN

Route 95 in Warwick is closed. Colony ford along the highway is under 10 feet of water. This is a new record for rainfall for the month of March. Not exactly the kind of record anyone was hoping for. Some people in Cranston may never be able to move back into their houses.

SIX METER FOR SAIL

"MADCAP" IS FOR SALE.

      "Madcap" a classic 1924 six meter designed by Frederick Hoyt lovingly restored at IYRS. She finished  second in her class in the North American Championships in 2009 in Newport, Rhode Island; and third in the World championships in her division a week later.
   Measurement certificate, ready to go. lying Newport, Rhode Island. Call Tom Rowe at NYM Yachts 401-683-1616

six meter class meeting

Saturday, March 27, 2010 Toby Rodes arranged a meeting to discuss the events during the upcoming summer. The day started in Bristol at Lars Gluck's shop where Totem and Flapper are undergoing refits and finishing, which will surely make already fast boats faster.

     Lunch at the Moorings restaurant, then a meeting at the Seaman's Church Institute to finalize plans for the upcoming sailing season. In attendance were naval architect David Pedrick, Tony Widmann ,who has strongly supported the class by donating a trophy, Tom Fair, owner of "Madcap"; Toby Rodes owner of "Alana", Peter Muir, Brion Reiff, Molly Savard, owner of "Cherokee", Bill Doyle, Jens Lange, Andrew Burton,

12 meters and the America's cup

The longevity of the 12 meter class is owed in no small part to  Lloyd's scantling rules. They were strict and the boats were indeed inspected for compliance. These boats were overbuilt certainly by today's standards and the result is that they are still here today.
     In fact while I was building "Courageous" at Minneford's Yacht yard one of my jobs was to co ordinate with Lloyds, as we were building the first ever aluminum 12 meter.

CORONET

Coronet , began as a vision of Elizabeth Meyer, who should be credited with the restoration of the "J" boat Shamrock and Endeavour  as well the institution which is undertaking the restoration. Looking at the hulk, it takes real vision to see the light at the end of the tunnel.It took years to get to this point. 

If you are a shipwright, this project is already a dream come true; interesting work, that is liable to last awhile

TJ Perrotti drew the lines based on offsets taken from a model. Apparently he faired both the outside and inside of the frames, which will save a great deal of time on the long run.

new york to barcelona

peter becker and stan scheryer have left Baltimore for New York in preparation for the record attempt (actually one of the two boats will set the record) between New York and Barcelona, sailing IMOCA 60's
very exciting

Virginie heriot

Virginie Heriot, heroine of french sailing on board her eight meter, in which she won a gold medal in the Olympics; the first woman to do so.
      She is also very stylish, many of us would call this "being french". The photo on the right is my wife, taken in 1975 on board "Quatrofolio" (Shamrock") the "J" boat looking very much like Virginie Heriot.

Sceptre, K 17 the British challenge 1958

Sceptre, sail number k 17, was the Royal Yacht Squadron's challenger, built in Scotland, designed by David Boyd. launched in April 0f 1958.

Despite her results against Columbia, the American defender, she demonstrated many clever ideas. As is often the case, good ideas are overlooked, regardless of  how good they might be, if the end result is not a winning outcome.

Another example the comes to mind is "Independence" designed in 1901 by B.B. Crowninshield for Thomas W. Lawson. The story is complicated, the point here is that she had many very innovative ideas that were clearly not lost on Nat Herreshoff, as his next design for a defender incorporated these ideas.

Columbia, was better sailed and had better sails

These photographs os "Sceptre" I took in 1975, somewhere along the south coast of England.

48 days 7 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds

Franck Cammas and an all star crew which included Stan Honey as navigator, has set a new record around the world and claimed the Jules Verne trophy.

America's Cup 1958

Columbia the first 12 meter built after world war II and the first 12 meter to defend the America's Cup.

The "J" boat era was brief 1930-1937 and few boats were built. Prior to the J's the boats were built to the universal rule with fundamentally a waterline length as the only restriction. and in earlier events time allowances were part of the game.

Back to 12 meters, City Island,NY was the home of the greatest boat building yards in the East,rivaling those in Europe. Certainly during the 12 meter years, any syndicate wanted to have their boat built by a City Island boatyard. There was without question a community of skilled craftsman that were attracted there. Additionally, The major naval architects were based in New York, as were the men with the money. It made sense to have easy access to a construction project. If you lived in Greenwich or White Plains, City Island was on the way home.

Sparkman&Stephens dominated the 12 meter years having 5 designs defend between 1958 and 1980. Two of them being two time defenders.(in the history of the America's cup there have been 3 two time defenders)

Olin and Rod Stephens lived briefly in City Island, Rod working at Nevins Yard, learning the practical aspects of boatbuilding. and Olin's early designs were built there.

The Sears family committed to build the first 12 meter, once the class was determined for the America's Cup competition, the first after world war II.

I had the pleasure to sail "Columbia" US 16 her sail number, in the America's Cup Jubilee in 2001. Henry Sears, the grandson of the original syndicate head, brought his scrap books, a true joy to listen and read a first hand story.

I will continue this thread along with photographs for the entire span of the 12 meter years.

For those of you interested I have a number of books related to these years for sale.

The 12 meter era of the America's cup

In September of this year there will be a re-union of the 12 meter crews from the years 1958-1987 . Columbia (US 16 through USA US 61)

Safety at Sea

St. Partick's day weekend in Newport. The Safety At Sea Seminar also took place. The weather outside was some of the worst we have experienced in some time;sixty knots of wind and over 5 inches of rain.

Personally the trellis I built blew over and broke in several places. It had with stood many storms and I had developed a false sense of security about it sturdiness. Nothing that can't be repaired.

I am now certified for the next five years as far as US sailing is concerned. On sunday I was certified in CPR and First Aid.

There was some new gear exhibited. Of note was the clothing made by Ursuit.

Overall this was the best organized and best presented Safety at Sea Seminar I have ever attended.

Finally Peter Becker and Stan Schreyer were also being certified before they take off in IMOCA 60's to set a record between New York and Barcelona.