Fall 2005 - nemasail.org

Fall 2005
Next NEMA Meeting
Wednesday, Oct.19, 7pm
Savin Hill YC
Heartsease Larus Roc
photos by Judy Cox
The Summer of 2005
A congested start at the first race of the Newport Unlimited
more photos on pages 8 and 9
In This Issue
NEMA News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Heartsease Larus Roc . . . . . . . 3
Bonded Siblings: The Gougeons 4
Marion to Bermuda Race . . . . 7
Summer Picture Gallery . . . . . 8
Around Long Island Race . . . . 10
My View: Open 60 Volvo . . . . . 12
Update on Multihulls Mag . . . 13
Aeroyacht’s Expanded Offices . 14
Chris Conradi Fund . . . . . . . . 15
Jim Burkert’s son proudly holds Andiamo’s
third place trophy at the Black Dog Dash.
Flying Fish flys a hull at the start of the Solo
Twin.
Members Classified . . . . . . . .15
Fall 2005
N E M A
1
NEMA NEWS
October General Meeting: Lars Svennson & Larus Roc
The New England Multihull Association is a
non-profit organization for the promotion of
the art, science, and enjoyment of multihull
yacht design and construction, racing, cruising, and socializing. The NEMA Newsletter is
published at no additional charge for NEMA
members. The editor apologizes in advance
for any errors.
Please submit articles to Judy Cox, editor
email: jcox@inzones.com
mail: 5 Haskell Court, Gloucester, MA 01930
Elected Officers
Commodore
Tom Cox
978-283-3943
tom@sailtriad.com
Vice Commodore
Nick Bryan-Brown
508-758-3444
nbbre@yahoo.com
Treasurer
Wayne Allen
781-665-7295
20knots@comcast.net
Race Chair
Bill Heaton
401-934-1312
wtheaton@earthlink.net
Secretary
Cruising Chair
Ira Heller
617-288-8223
nemasail@aol.com
Bob Gleason
508-295-0095
sailfast@themultihullsource.com
Newsletter Editor
Judy Cox
978-283-3598
jcox@inzones.com
Appointees
Fleet Captains
Tony Cabot
tony@caboteria.org, 617-328-4109
Don Watson
dwatson@neboatworks.com, 508-631-5275
ome hear new NEMA member,
Danish heart surgeon Lars
Svennson, present a talk about his
successful efforts resurrecting the 60’
trimaran Heartsease Larus Roc at the
next NEMA meeting scheduled for 1900
hours, Wednesday October 19th, 2005, at
the Savin Hill Yacht Club. Dr. Svennson
found the boat two years ago in St.
Martin (in the Caribbean) all but abandoned after having shed her mooring and
been washed ashore. He thought it a pity
to see such a noble boat fallen on such
hard times and bought her, commissioning local shipwright Ian Martin to undertake the task of bringing her back to life.
The effort has paid off – Ian and crew
delivered her north to Buzzard’s Bay last
summer and together the team won
back-to-back victories in the Marion/
Bermuda and the Marblehead/Halifax
races, which virtually clinched both
the Ocean Circuit and NEMA Season
trophies.
C
Formerly known as Paragon, Larus
Roc was designed by Adrian Thompson
in 1985 and has an illustrious history.
Owned by Michael Whipp and sailed by
British Olympic Gold Medallist Rodney
Pattisson, she blistered the waters round
the Isle of Wight in England in 1986, beating home 1,500 boats in the process and
setting a time of 3 hours 55 minutes 13
seconds, a record that stood for 15 years
until 2001. Paragon was chartered by
Florence Arthaud in her first high profile
multihull racing effort, the 1988
Singlehanded Transatlantic Race organized by the Plymouth Royal Western
Yacht Club. The young French sailor, then
28, had a new sponsor: Groupe Pierre
Premier. Paragon next surfaced as
Francis Joyon’s steed in the 1990 Route
du Rhum where she placed 10th. She
was subsequently purchased by former
NEMA member Jurgen Epple before
finding her way down island.
–TomCox
Long Island Sound Multihull Group
Andrew Houlding (F-24-II #63 Amphitrite)
is attempting to organize multihullers in
the Central Long Island Sound area
around New Haven. He reports that there
are two F-24s, three F-27s, one F-31, a
Dragonfly, and three catamarans (37’
Fountaine Pajot Lousainne; a Dean cat;
and Andrew Nyhart’s speedy Formula 40)
in the area, and “I’m eager to find more.”
Amphitrite sails out of Oyster Point Marina
in New Haven. “We’ve been getting
together virtually, by email, and occasionally run into one another out on the Sound.
I’m hoping to get these boats together in
the same waters on the same day.”
For more information, contact Andy
Houlding at ahoulding@rms-law.com or
anyhoulding@yahoo.com.
Directors at Large
Ted Grossbart
ted@grossbart.com, 781-631-5011
Catherine Kornyei
catherine@themultihullsource.com, 508-748-1551
Richard Bluestein
rbluestein@aol.com, 617-734-24144
Photographer
Martin Roos
781-272-1683
Historian
Les Moore
978-768-7668
Life Members
NEMA Web Site
Dick Newick
Walter and Joan Greene
Les Moore
Spencer Merz
Bill Doelger
www.nemasail.org
See the website for Membership application and
meeting information.
2 N E M A
Fall 2005
Rallyers enjoy the view from Ted Grossbart’s deck during the Nema North Rally
2005/6 NEMA Meeting Schedule
General Meetings
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Thursday, March 23, 2006
N E M A
Fall 2005
Annual Dinner
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Riding on the Wings of Heartsease Larus Roc
by Lars Svensson
he 2005 off-shore racing season
was an eventful one for Larus Roc.
She was named by my wife for
looking like a giant seagull (Larus) and
Roc, the legendary bird described by
Marco Polo as having a wingspan of 16
paces. Larus Roc was formerly known as
the Mark II version of Paragon, a 60 foot
trimaran that held the Around Isle Wight
record for 15 years and was campaigned
off-shore by Francis Joyon during the
1990s under different names. She had
been damaged in a storm and required
extensive repairs to bring her up to her
racing performance and also prepare
her for the first Marion to Bermuda ISAF
Category I race that multihulls were eligible for. Heartsease Therapy is the
name of a heart disease educational
foundation.
For those of us from NEMA who took
part in the Marion – Bermuda race, the
start and first few hours to pass Sow and
Pig off Cuttyhunk were frustratingly slow.
We chose a rhumb line to 65 West 35
North, as this would keep us in the warm
water of the Gulf Stream and the eddies
for the longest length of time since the
predictions were for light winds. This
turned out to work well for us because
there were good winds over the warm
water and, despite a slow initial period,
and also at the end of a 24 hour run, we
covered 360 nm. Apart from a brief period of 25 to 30 knot winds with confused
seas when we briefly touched 36 knots
by GPS record, most of the race from
South of Nantucket to our way point was
at speeds of 15 to 24 knots. Thereafter,
the wind died and we took a lot of time to
get to Bermuda, although the night sail
into Bermuda was wonderful with a full
moon, calm seas, and 10 to 15 knots of
boat speed. We finished first on handicap (barely by 24 minutes, NEMA rating
of -135) and on elapsed time of 64 hours
and 45 minutes, which was less than the
T
Larus Roc in Boston Harbor before the Halifax race.
previous record by a monohull of 72
hours. However, I expect this record will
be broken during the next race. Our
hosts in Bermuda were very gracious,
kind and helpful. I would recommend this
race to multihull sailors who are thinking
of doing it in the future. Thanks to Bob
Gleason, Tom Cox, and NEMA for organizing the participation of multihulls and
a great barbecue before the race!
The second race we undertook was
the Marblehead to Halifax race, which
also turned out to be a light wind race
and also a slow initial first few hours of
sailing. It was good to see Ted Grossbart
coming out of Gloucester to say hello to
the fleet before we headed for open
water. Some of the weather models had
predicted better winds South of the
rhumb line, so we kept South and this
soon paid off with us passing Titan 12,
the one year old R/P 76 foot racing
monohull. During the night the winds
dropped off and they caught up with us
and passed us. The following afternoon,
we spotted them on the horizon and
ended up with a match race with them
up the coast of Nova Scotia. They initially went through a series of sail changes
to try to draw away from us but we continued to catch them as the wind picked
up. They then changed to a code zero
and bore down on us and took control of
the rhumb line. Shortly after sunset we
were on their stern and with some 14
knots of boat speed we passed to leeward of them. We kept this lead until our
ageing Kevlar genoa tore and shortly
afterwards they overtook us. Since Titan
had started 30 minutes ahead of us, we
still beat them on elapsed time by 6 minutes and won also the multihull trophy on
handicap.
The Around Long Island Race was
also a light wind race that was won on
elapsed time but not handicap. Although
we started the Whalers Race, we withdrew because of problems and motored
into Great Salt Pond at Block Island for
the night.
We also had some relaxed sailing
and cruising around Buzzards Bay and
the Islands that made us appreciate
again what great sailing areas there are
around New England.
I would like to thank the members of
NEMA who were so friendly and helpful
in organizing moorings (Nick BryanBrown), dockage, the races, and welcoming the stay of my very able core
crew (Ian Martin, Mark Acton, and Nigel
Brennan). Without their efforts the success of the races would not have been
possible. The St. Maarten government
and local businesses also kindly
supported us.
– Lars Svensson
svenssl@ccf.org
Fall 2005
N E M A
3
Bonded Siblings
A “Neat” Adhesion With The Brothers Gougeon
By Jim Brown
o one remembers which of the
three brothers, Meade the eldest,
Jan the youngest, or Joel the middle brother, sent the strange package.
This was in 1970, and the box contained
several examples of weirdly artful carpentry that had been apparently dipped
in molten glass. On examination, I realized these specimens seemed to illustrate how some sort of petrified peanut
butter could make woodworking joinery
look – and act – like it had grown that
way. Furthermore, some of this joinery
seemed to represent small segments of
“molded chines” and other joints used in
my Searunner trimarans. A note included mentioned something about a system
from the west, but the package came
from Michigan and that was EAST to me
in California.
So I tortured the samples to destruction (not of the joints but of the wood for
the joints were indestructible), and wrote
in my Searunner Newsletter, “The stuff, I
think, is good.”
Scott Brown
N
Meade and Jan Gougeon sailing Adagio
4 N E M A
Fall 2005
From the early seventies onward
most Searunner trimarans – and in fact
most wooden multihulls – have been
built using products and methods these
siblings developed and/or popularized.
Almost anyone who dabbled with their
stuff – whether he was building a boat or
a birdhouse – soon discovered that it
opened up a whole new realm of craftsmanship.
In 1978 Meade Gougeon and I sailed
in the same crew aboard Rogue Wave,
the 60-foot Newick-designed ocean racing trimaran built by The Brothers for the
venerated Phil Weld. As we rode this
charger around the 900-mile course of
the Caribbean Trade Winds Race I began
to learn something of the Gougeon story,
and it was engaging. Meade’s off handed
yarn spinning revealed that, like many of
our modern-day phenomena, the WEST
SYSTEM Brand of epoxy products, and
the consequent sub-cultural happening,
was not originally intended.
In recent late July, Scott Brown and
I traveled to, Michigan to interview The
Brothers as a feature of our VAKA
Project to chronicle modern multihull
history. We wanted very much to give
these guys the chance to tell their own
story to Scott’s incisive video camera, for
there is no doubt that Gougeon goo has
had a lot to do with holding our sprawling multihulls together and keeping them
from falling apart. And when they take a
great fall from the Humpty Dumpty wall,
this stuff can put them together again!
The Gougeon story runs four hours
on tape and four decades in time, so distilling it for this space requires the elixir
to be taken neat (no mix, no chaser), so
here it is in a shot glass:
In the 1960’s… The Brothers were all
swept up in the Asian “restraining
action,” and while they were away they
sorely missed – among many things – ice
boating. They “had been” keen “hard
water” sailors and builders of those
demanding craft, and when they
returned home:
In the 1970’s… They went soon to their
ice boats and found them to be degraded
by more than idleness. Meade opened
an inspection port into one sealed fuselage, stuck his nose in, smelled decomposing wood and noticed that his glasses had fogged. “It was a terrarium in
there,” he told me, “and I realized that
our boats were being eaten up from the
inside.”
It just so happened that their home
town was Bay City, Michigan, whish is
near the site of Dow Chemical Company,
makers of, among other things, epoxy
resins. With this and other introductions
to the stuff they went back to building ice
boats for a living, and utilized epoxy not
only as an adhesive but also as a coating, inside and out. It was coating, with
this really waterproof stuff that was to
defy the terrarium effect. Bonding with
Scott Brown
this structural, gap filling glue (which
needed next to zero clamping pressure)
made old fashioned joinery into something really new. It even made slapdash
joinery strong enough to relieve, to some
extent at least, the demands on a neophyte shipwright. More important, it gave
the skilled, inventive artisan a brand new
art form.
But it didn’t come all at once. The
Brothers found that for coating, the basic
resin needed some chemical beefing up
and cutting down; the hardeners wanted
to be sometimes fast and sometimes not;
and the bonding/filling/sculpting operations begged for an alchemist’s apothecary of fillers, fibers and bulkers all concocted to suit the specific job at hand.
All these variations cried out for
unprecedented understanding from the
artisan who, now for the first time, could
formulate his own epoxy concoctions on
the spot. But once understood by the
craftsperson, he or she was availed of
this unprecedented realm of, er,
craftspersonship.
As this new discipline evolved, it
rendered not only welded wooden ice
boats, but it also excluded from the wood
the moisture vapor that had permeated
their old boats and caused them to “go
soft.” Thus both longevity and especially
stiffness were added to their gangling
craft.
Brother Jan would become five
times world champion in the most highly
competitive DN ice boat class. The
Brothers soon found themselves selling
brown bagged resin and hardeners to
their competitors out the back door of
their shop, and Meade soon realized that
it was not ice boats on which they were
going to make a living. But he knew it
would take time to educate their clientele on the do’s and don’ts of this new
Julia Child-like range of recipes.
Moreover, he knew it would take years of
effort to inform the woodworking public
of the vast territory of artisanship just
waiting to be explored. He told his wife
Janet, “We’re in for a lean five years,”
and she understood.
(She also started on her own monumental undertaking. They have raised
ten children, seven of them adopted with
Meade Gougeon and Jim Brown aboard Adagio
two still at home. “We’ve been raising
kids for a long time,” says Meade.)
All three Brothers applied themselves to the technical and informational
challenges of the new territory, and as
Meade explained, “When anybody
called with a technical question, they
knew they could get somebody whose
last name was Gougeon to answer it,
and if we had a problem we could throw
150 hours a week at the solution.”
Brother Jan set about literally
inventing new ways to use the stuff. The
three main techniques of bonding,
sculpting and coating were each loaded
with unlimited variations, many of them
quite creative and satisfying. New resins
and hardeners for specific applications
were developed, and unlikely but surprisingly well-suited materials were
combined in the epoxy matrix. Jan said
recently, “My brother could figure out
how to sell dog poop if it had epoxy
mixed in.” Actually it was Jan who, with
his bright light bulb for originality, did
much of the formative imagineering.
Together with boyhood friends J. R.
Watson and Jim Dirk, who are both still
with the Company, they forged ahead
despite the fact that none of them had
any formal training in chemistry or engineering. They found out or hired what
they needed to know, and they all realized that they were on to something that
would affect the future of modern materials science.
It was the energy crunch of the mid
70’s that gave them their first real break.
By designing, building and racing boats
for both hard and soft water, they had
demonstrated the surprising strength-toweight properties, and especially the
dramatic fatigue resistance, of epoxylaminated wooden structures. And with
the forward looking (for a while) federal
incentives granted to the fledgling alternative energy industries of the seventies,
the Gougeon Brothers applied for and
received a grant from the Department Of
Energy to scientifically investigate the
notion of laminated wooden blades for
wind turbines to generate electricity.
The elixir overflows here, but to
knock it back, their wind blades outlasted anything that the aircraft and aerospace competitors could produce. And
then:
In the 1980’s… The bottom dropped out
of the blade business because big,
cheap and foreign oil greased the skids
for the alternative energy incentives to
be repealed.
The Brothers lost a large investment
in plant and fixtures, but the wind blades
were a big break nonetheless. The original grant allowed them to acquire some
powerful test equipment and set up a
fine laboratory. They also acquired the
long-term participation of Bill Bertelsen,
a gifted engineer who set about designing the tests that would quantify, mathematically and comparatively, the durability of wood/epoxy composites in a
continued on next page
Fall 2005
N E M A
5
6 N E M A
Fall 2005
If all of that has gone down warmly
and a chaser seems in order after all,
allow me to suggest The Great Lakes
Multihull Regatta, held the weekend that
Scott and I were there. In three days of
racing against the hottest and latest,
Meade’s 35-year old trimaran Adagio
took second. Veteran of decades of soft
water competition and Sailing with a
crew whose average age was over sixty,
they jumped the gun at one start; other-
wise they may have won the thing. At
age 35 (geriatric for a racing multihull)
Meade’s boat is still fast enough to tack
downwind at greater than wind speed…
Like ice boats! “I’ve often thought about
building a new boat,” says Meade, “but
good old Adagio has always been spry
enough to keep me satisfied.”
Sail on, Adagio ! And HAIL! To your
whole cohesive crew.
–Jim Brown
photos by Scott Brown
variety of applications. It was Bertelsen
who succeeded in establishing the Holy
Grail ASTM standards for fatigue testing
composite panels, tests which are now
duplicated at other scientific institutions
for widespread validity and usefulness.
Bill is still there (employee loyalty is
high), and when Scott and I visited last
month, Bill was fatigue testing nonwooden laminate samples for other boatbuilders. His work has helped rectify the
“gone soft” from fatigue phenomenon
that still occurs all too often in the
marine industry.
Also in the 80’s, the Gougeon boat
shop produced several vessels which
further served to demonstrate the potential of their know-how and their products. These included two multihull
exotics; the giant one-way, sliding beam,
speed trial proa Sling Shot and the articulating-ama Formula 40 trimaran
Adrenelin.
In the 1990’s… Here the technical
and practical distillates get too proofy to
swig straight, but suffice to say that the
glue factory was finally gushing smoothly, their technical services department
had put out the fires, and the front office
was fronting officially. Middle brother
Joel had left to enter politics, and Meade
and Jan decided it was time to sell the
Company to their employees.
In this millennium… Confident that
they had gotten the ball rolling on a technology that can only become increasingly important to humankind, Meade and
Jan have again turned their attention to
their beloved boat shop. An absolute
cathedral of creativity just across the
street from the WEST SYSTEM gluery,
there they each dabble with boatbuilding
and other projects that provide them
“sanity time.” Besides their Hugh
Horton-inspired, incredibly sophisticated
sailing canoes and Jan’s latest Captain
Nemo multimaran, they have built two
futuristic power cats. Nick-named the
GOUGEMARANS, these vessels speak
directly to the future of power boating.
They settle happily for half the speed of
the usual ziparound sea skiff of their size
but burn one fifteenth the fuel while leaving not enough wake to rock a kayak.
The Gougemaran, one of Meade and Jan’s futuristic power cats that burn 1/15 of the fuel as a
comparable power boat while leaving very little wake.
Meade’s 35-year old trimaran Adagio.
RACING ROUNDUP
2005 Marion to Bermuda Race
by Tom Cox
K
sion with some
debris the first night
out startled the crew,
but did no damage,
although we did have
to run downwind for
a half hour while Rex
replaced the breakaway nuts that
secure the rudder
cassette from kicking up when the wind
picked up to 20 knots
towards the end of
our stream crossing.
Laurus Roc suffered one mishap
Wayne Allen, Mark Allen, Rex Conn, and Jon Alvord aboard Alacrity.
with a man overboard – Mark had gone out on the
bowsprit to retrieve some furling gear
when it collapsed and dumped him in the
drink. The crew quickly tossed him the
pole and horseshoe, luffed up, and managed to start the motor, stick it in
reverse, and back up to retrieve him –
pole, horseshoe, and the miscreant
shackle that caused the affair.
Falcor experienced some wracking
of the daggerboard trunk during the
crossing, and Steve decided to head
back home to effect repairs. Alegra (35’
Newick Tricia tri) ruptured her rudder
post just before entering the stream, and
Pete turned her back to Newport trimming the sails to steer, and arrived safeJohn Barry aboard Rogue Wave
ly. This feat earned him the Moxie Trophy
– awarded by popular vote of all particiOnce across the finish line and
pants. Flying Fish ( 54’ Chris White
secured to the RHADC docks, everyone
Hammerhead cat) and Rogue Wave (sisexperienced the delightful hospitality
tership to Flying Fish) duked it out all the
offered by the club. Dark and Stormies
way across, changing the lead several
(Gosling’s rum and ginger beer) all
times before Flying Fish got the jump on
around, great food, good company,
her rival in the light air the last day out.
beautiful sunny days and balmy nights –
Great White (46’ Chris White Atlantic cat)
all the best of Bermuda awaited us.
made steady progress, but the light airs
–Tom Cox
took their toll on her performance.
tom@sailtriad.com
Our last night out was a sailor’s
delight – full moon, flat seas, and a fair
breeze.
Fall 2005
N E M A
photos by Tom Cox
udos to Gordon Vineyard, his crew
of volunteers, and the capable staff
at the Beverly Yacht Club for organizing this challenging event. Also many
thanks to the volunteers and staff of the
Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club
who hosted the fleet after the finish.
Francis Carter and Martin Pollard of the
RHADC put a bug in Gordon’s ear and
encouraged him to persuade the organizers to invite multihulls to join this
year’s race, which was a big success for
all who participated.
While this was not the first Bermuda
race for the multihull fleet (NEMA has
organized multihull races from Newport
to Bermuda since 1973) it is cause for
celebration as multihulls had traditionally
been shunned by the organizers of the
Marion-Bermuda and Newport-Bermuda
races. It may have had something to do
with Nat Herreschoff and his catamaran
Amarylis sailing circles around the New
York Yacht Club’s gold plated monohull
fleet in 1895, thereby gaining a bad reputation for the sprightly craft which were
excommunicated from the yachting fraternity.
Unlike the monohulls that started a
day earlier in a real Buzzard’s Bay
buster– 20 to 30 knots out of the southwest on the nose, the seven multihulls
that started the race were greeted with
zephyrs from the north and sweated out
a spinnaker run all the way down the
bay. The three leaders past the Sow and
Pigs reef took three different directions:
Heartsease Laurus Roc (60’ Adrian
Thompson tri) went due east; Alacrity
(50’ Newick Traveler) headed south east
to cross the Gulf Stream at the predicted
narrowest spot; Falcor (42’ Chris White
Explorer 44 tri) headed a bit further south
to attack the same point.
The Gulf Stream crossing was fairly
uneventful for us aboard Alacrity. We
had 10 to 15 knots from the northeast,
and jib reached across the stream doing
15 to 20 knots all the way. A minor colli-
7
photos by Judy Cox
The Summer of 2005 (continued from page 1)
Dave Pellegrini and sons aboard Trinity at the Unlimited
Ted Grossbart cruising Rosebud at the NN Rally
Randy Smythe port tacks the fleet on Rocketeer III at the Unlimited
8 N E M A
Fall 2005
Bob Gleason, winner of this year’s Black Dog
.... he needs a kennel for all those dogs!
Swamp Fox squeezes between the committe boat and
Triceratops at the start of the Solo Twin.
Sydney Miller and her new pooch in a pouch
Dick Newick joins Larry Bedell to crew on Larry’s Val 31 tri at the Black Dog
Dave Koishol and Debbie Druan walk their dog in front of the Black Dog Tavern.
Triad crosses the line at the Black Dog
L to R, Unlimited winners, Peter Freudenberg, Condor, 2nd; Randy
Smythe, Rocketeer III, 3rd; H. Enloe, Lei Loe, first.
In the fourth year of gestation, appendages become visible. . .
The boat is Dick Newick's 'Spark'. I've been working on it intermittently for
four years. In the photo, we're trying the akas on for size. Spars will be by
Keith Burgess at Maine Composites, and an '06 launching is expected.
–Jim Conlin
conlin@comcast.net
Tempest overtakes Rut Row at the Unlimited.
Fall 2005
N E M A
9
RACING ROUNDUP
The Perfect Sail: The 2005 Around Long Island Race
BLOWHOLE Corsair 31 CC Trimaran
By Jay Harris
his is our second season with
BLOWHOLE a Corsair 31 aft cabin
trimaran and we have loved every
sailing minute. We recently won the
Multihull class in the 29th running of the
Around Long Island Race, a 190 mile
annual Western Long Island classic for
PHRF, IRC and multihulls. Since it is the
only local multihull distance race of the
summer, from early on it was marked on
our racing calendar as a must do.
My wife Leah and I are no strangers
to overnight racing but this would be a
first for our teenage twin boys and twenty three year old son. Naturally, we wanted this to be a positive family experience
so our goals included the words fun,
safety, life experience, problem solving
and sailing skill building. It would also be
a long enough race to have the
teenagers concentrate on their summer
reading!
T
Fun
Fun begins with good food and plenty of
it so the boat was well provisioned. I am
surprised I did not find a live goat and
chickens as the race wore on! An idea
that worked well was to fill and freeze a
5 gallon flexible jerri jug. As the ice melted this became an alternate source of
drinking water.
Safety
We thought a lot about safety. Pat Harris,
(no relation!), owner of the immaculate
Corsair 31 Gypsy Heart, was kind enough
to loan us the required Category A offshore safety equipment such as radar
reflectors, bilge pumps, storm jib and
safety harnesses. We made it a mandatory rule for all to wear inflatable PFD's
while on deck. We adopted a lesson
learned from some of the Volvo Around
the World boats and equipped each PDF
with a water proof VHF radio with built in
strobe. It is a tested fact that it is far easier to be directed by the person in the
water in a man overboard emergency
rather than to rely solely on the boat
10 N E M A
Fall 2005
Blowhole – Corsair 31 Prepares for a spinnaker set.
crew finding the swimmer using GPS
MOB waypoint, visuals and whistles. We
also added mainsail luff slides so the
main could be dropped quickly and controllably.
The sixth member of our crew was
Eric Witte an extremely talented multihull sailor with experience designing and
racing every kind of sailing vessel imaginable. A great shipmate, Eric rounded
out watches to three each. Most would
consider six crew overkill on the 31,
especially when laden for a multi day
race but our emphasis was on a positive
family experience rather than performance.
We got an early start the day of the
race, sailing sixty miles to the start,
down the Sound from Rowayton , CT
through the east river and over to
Rockaway Inlet at the mouth of New York
harbor. It was a glorious sail. As the wind
built, we reached down the East River
with screecher hitting 12's and 14's as
we passed under famous New York
bridges. We moved past the stop and go
traffic on the FDR drive with great pride.
With favorable wind and tide it was not
surprising we arrived at our pre-start
destination with plenty of time to spare
and a 9 knot average under the belt.
Contrary to dire weather predictions
of a light Easterly which would have
made for a challenging 80 mile first leg
beat, the wind stayed south for the 3pm
start, blowing a respectable 12 knots.
Our chief competition was the imposing
Open 60 Trimaran Heartsease Larus Roc
from St. Maarten, recent winner of the
Marian Bermuda Race and the Explorer
44, Falcor. At the gun Heartsease was
GONE but with screecher and working
jib set as a double head rig we were able
to play a cat and mouse game with
Falcor often catching but not quite passing. We sailed into the night on rhumb for
Montauk making 7's and 8's and enjoyed
a delicious grilled chicken Caesar salad
straight out of individual zip lock bags.
Life Experience
Soon after, we set watches to be rested
for the challenging night ahead. Prior to
the race, I was concerned that sleeping
accommodations would prove challenging but this fear proved unfounded. Leah
had her nest in the aft cabin and pronounced it as comfortable a berth as she
has ever experienced, warm, dry and
quiet. The amidships port and starboard
settees worked fine as berths and did
not need lee cloths since heel is not
appreciable. The premier berth was
made on the main cabin sole using the
settee cushion backs with the crew's
head resting beneath the second cockpit
step, just in case the on watch forgot
who was sleeping where when raiding
the galley for some midnight lunch!
At 11pm, just after the first watch
change, a beautiful red crescent moon
rose in the east off our bow as we ghosted over a nearly windless sea. The GPS
glowed softly and we took encouragement noting we were sailing in a favorable half knot current. We found the
kinetics of a multihull are such that if the
sails are trimmed correctly the rocking of
the boat in waves generates speed. In
our case an additional half knot was possible giving us a ‘whopping' 1 knot over
the bottom for most of the night. We latter learned Hercules, the mighty German
Frers 80 foot maxi, anchored further
inshore for nearly five hours fighting a .5
foul current.
I was impressed with the boys'
attention to steering and sail trim in
these challenging conditions. Over the
years I have noticed sailors that have
grown up racing Blue Jays have an affinity for helming larger offshore boats
through difficult conditions. I suppose if
one can get a Blue Jay to move through
challenging Long Island Sound chop
then anything is possible!
Just before dawn the whisper of
voices, rapid foot steps and the rustle of
nylon portended the set of the A sail. We
changed the watch and noted a steady
three knots on the speedo in about as
much wind as the spinnaker filled on a
close reach.
identified Hercules, the Frers maxi close
by and soon afterwards the distinctive
gull shaped beams of the Open Sixty
Heartsease became visible ahead. With
satisfaction we recognized Falcor's dark
sails to leeward and behind.
Again, confounding the weatherman, the predicted light easterly became
a 15 to 18 knot southerly and we romped
toward Montauk Point , under spinnaker
and jib, jibing down wind and riding an
Atlantic swell sending the knot meter
into double digits. My head shook in disbelief when I realized we would pass
through notorious Plum Gut with a favorable 2 knots of tide under our bottom.
Our final jibe took us by Montauk
screaming at 14 knots and all hands
were on deck for an exciting spinnaker
take down under the imposing cliffs.
We hardened up and blast reached
for 20 miles across Gardeners Bay holding our breath as we sailed over relatively shallow spots made to look shallower
and more treacherous as waves from
cross rip currents broke. It was an eye
opener to be sure and more than a few
times we held on for the crunch that
never came.
Right on cue we squirted through
Plum Gut into Long Island Sound. The
forecast was finally predicting a southerly wind but some forecasts had the wind
going light while others said strengthening and backing into Southeast. We
sailed upwind as the sun set and the
wind strengthened. We watched over
our weather hip as Falcor slowly caught
and made their way past having rounded
Montauk an hour behind.
were to lighten and die, the Long Island
shore has been known to be a winner as
boats play the zephyrs and stay in the
shallows to avoid foul current.
As it turned out luck was on our
side. The wind strengthened AND
backed giving us a 50 mile romp to the
finish. It was glorious sailing. First 10's,
then 12's, then 13's, 14's, and finally fifteen knots of boat speed.
Avoiding on-coming commercial
traffic became a challenge as night wore
on and we sailed closer to New York City.
Imagine closing speeds of 35 to 40 knots.
It was risky for the lookout posted to leeward to glance away for even a moment.
One such meeting caused considerable consternation as an oncoming vessel closed on us despite all efforts to
announce presence and course , including having every light onboard illuminating our sails. Just as we prepared for an
emergency crash tack, the vessel suddenly bore off and ran parallel to our
course. A moment latter, the beautiful
turn-of-the-century replica Quinnipiack ,
a two masted, gaff-rigged centerboard
schooner, loaded with race sightseers
sailed past our starboard side. Although
harrowing, it was a stirring moment as
the two technological marvels each from
a different era passed.
We finished at 12:35 am to raucous
cheers from the committee boat. With
high fives all around, even the least
experienced on board realized the last
thirty three hours had been truly special.
We knew we were fortunate. All ready
the wind was dropping and so we were
glad it was over.
Sailing Skill Building
How do you measure success?
Problem Solving
There is a saying, there are two races
within a race when it comes to the
Around Long Island and how to win the
second half can be cause for great
debate. This was certainly true onboard
Blowhole. We watched Falcor break off
and tack for the Long Island shore. It
was tempting to tack and cover but we
were within 15 degrees of laying the finish so it seemed unwise to risk overstanding. On the other hand, if the wind
Well, we are still talking about the race
and I imagine we will talk about it for
years to come. We all had fun. We all
have a great sense of accomplishment. It
was safe. No mistakes. And best of all, it
is agreed, we are ready to tackle the
Chicago Mac race next year. It is already
on the calendar.
–Jay Harris
jharris@komar-ny.com
For the next few hours we concentrated
on sailing in pressure, on the rug as they
say, seeking the dark water and beginnings of the day's southerly. A competitor sailed up from astern bringing wind
and we climbed up onto their line and
gained speed, creating our own apparent wind. For the next few hours we held
our breath as we gained on the boats
around us. We became excited when we
Fall 2005
N E M A
11
MY VIEW
A new addition to the newsletter, the My View column gives members a forum to express their views on any topic related to
Multihulls. This month we welcome Martin Roos’ view of the Open 60 Volvo.
VOLVO DESIGN: Multihulls and Multihullers taken by the nose?
by Martin Roos
he open 60 Volvo sailboats have
shown impressive speeds because
of several new design features that
by a closer look are more catamaran
like.
There is the wide transom with two
rudders far apart like a catamaran,
except that the rudder tips angle outward to obtain near vertical rudder position during heeling, because heeling is
what monohulls do.
The hull is wedge shaped (triangular: the transom with the longer and leeward and windward hull sides form a Vshape). The hull bottom is almost flat as
is common now for modern monohulls.
These light boats sail on their leeward
side when heeling with much of their
bottoms visible, allowing thereby quite a
narrow immersion width to approach a
large waterline length to width ratio as
with a catamaran hull.
These catamaran features explain
their impressive speeds (also aided by
their large modern sails and heavy canting keel, allowing even more sail area)
and show that monohull designers possess admirable innovation capability.
T
Stern view of Ecover, a Volvo Open 60
12 N E M A
Fall 2005
However they are moving in on our
turf. The open Volvo impressive monohulls are basically catamarans morphed
into monohulls by simply bringing the
catamaran hull noses together to form
their bow.
Their continued innovation could
widen the transom even more or beyond
the catamaran beam length to allow
elimination of the heavy canting keel and
use the flying windward side when heeling as weight substitute. This way they
must fly their windward portion of their
wedge shaped hull. At least catamarans
do not have to fly a hull but will then
incur drag from two hulls.
If their admirable innovation effort is
continued, the monohull designer could
straighten the submersed hull shape
from the leeward transom to the bow like
a catamaran’s symmetrical hull (this is
quite a paradigm to accept, since monohull sides are normally well curved).
Also a trampoline could replace the
inner body to reduce weight even more,
causing the transom to morph into an
arched rear catamaran beam, that could
double as an anti turning turtle device.
The rig and canting keel would need
a mast beam while the dagger boards
are near the side rail.
However the bow design needs
attention to reduce drag and wave resistance if the two straight side hull shapes
or bodies come together with too large a
wedge angle. The best approach seems
to be to join the two sides above the
water and waves, by means of an elevated triangular deck structure joining two
America Cup boat bows with large water
overhang coming together at a large
wedge angle. In no circumstances can
such a structure look like a short catamaran front beam joining catamaran
type bows, because then the monohull
identity is lost, and can we really scream
about our multihull identity theft.
The open 60 Volvo has two dagger
boards in front of the canting keel to
control leeward drift and they are also
angled off similar to the rudders. Only the
leeward board is down during sailing,
except downwind may be, because
these boats with their high speeds rather
tack downwind as multihulls do. Pictures
of underbody show that the canting keel
and dagger board slots are parallelto the
geometrical center plane. However the
mid plane of the sailing under water
body is at an angle to this plane due to
the flat wedged hull shape. Therefore the
leeward dagger board has a negative
angle of attack and forces leeward drift.
The dagger boards should have a toe in
angle towards the bow, preferable with a
positive angle of attack to induce zero
leeward drift.
Do the Volvo monohull designers
have a long term innovation schedule
and are they now halfway their modification program of even faster wedge hulls?
The Volvo name has two wedges in it in
the form of the letter “v”. Are they
betraying their intentions here?
–Martin Roos
roosboom@rcn.com
NEMA SPONSORS
Update on Multihulls Magazine
by Charles Chiodi
new subscriber from Monaco made that country the
103rd to which we mail MULTIHULLS Magazine. I don’t
know (yet) what type of multihull this reader owns (if
any), but I envision a beautiful catamaran or trimaran tied sternto along with all those multimillion-dollar yachts. I would think it
to be bigger than a Hobie 14.
You might have noticed the vast improvement in the
quality of the magazine. It is credited to three factors: The Eric
Erwin / Kristen Chaput layout team in the art department; the
new four-color, high-speed Ryobi press that is capable of handling very glossy, high quality-paper; and Rick Hoey, the pressman who operates it.
A
books and manuals; and catalogs.
We started exhibiting and promoting multihulls at the
upcoming Annapolis sailboat show in 1984, so this is our 21st
year there (oh, how time flies when you are having fun!), and
have seen the number of multis grow from 5 (in 1984) to 44 a few
years ago. This year there will be 31, and if you’d tie them
together from bow-to-stern, it would take up 1288 feet of dock
space (in case you are interested). Two notable new designs,
on the opposite ends of the spectrum are the LeBreton SIG 45, a
sporty looking speedster that looks like an update from the
1970s Stiletto; and the new Lagoon 500 with fly-bridge and all.
And I mean ALL.
Lagoon 500
LeBreton SIG 45
Multihulls Layout Department
There will be the usual staple
of catamarans and trimarans, the
sailmakers and hardware exhibitors, the hot dog vendors and
beer taps (just outside the fence). There will be much to see,
guaranteed, so come down! Just about the only thing that is not
guaranteed is the weather. If we run out of letters of the alphabet, will the hurricanes stop?
Have a nice fall, the winds are better now than they were in
July and August. If you pulled your boat out for the winter, cover
her to keep her safe until the spring.
Cheers, Charles (Chiodi)
Multihulls new four-color, high-speed Ryobi press that is capable of
handling very glossy, high quality-paper and Rick Hoey, the pressman
who operates it.
Because of our new capabilities, we are soliciting publishing works besides the two magazines we produce. So far we
have taken on a new, annually recurring Multihull Calendar;
brochures for advertisers and boat manufacturers; soft-cover
Fall 2005
N E M A
13
Expanded Aeroyacht offices to serve clients:
Photos and Report by Charles K. Chiodi
ast month saw the inauguration of
Aeroyacht’s new high tech office
facilities in Long Island, NY. What
resembles an artists space/designer’s
loft is actually a two story expanse in a
totally reconditioned waterfront carriage
house. Floating galleries in the shape of
a giant catamaran, spectacular views
and multimedia facilities will serve visiting clients. Multihulls Magazine was
there and guest of honor was Charles
Chiodi, who cut the inaugural ribband.
L
Grand Opening: Charles Chiodi cuts the
ribbon to the entrance of the new offices of
Aeroyacht Ltd. L to R Flo Tarjan, Gregor
Tarjan and Kirk Siemsen.
Aeroyacht has been known for exclusively representing new and pre-owned
multihulls and has thus made a mark for
itself in the multihull world. The companies vast portfolio range starts from a
mid sized 35’cruiser to a 165‘ Blubay
mega cat. Aeroyacht sells new and preowned power and sail yachts - but only
multihulls ! Unlike other brokerage houses who also represent monohulls, the
focus on catamarans provide the dealership with an edge and in-depth knowledge that greatly benefits clients and
manufacturers alike. Customers, especially ones switching from one type to
the other and who are new to multihulls,
will benefit from Aeroyachts specialization. Gregor tries to listen to his clients
and first establish a clear understanding
of their expectations and needs. He mentioned that he sometimes must turn
14 N E M A
Fall 2005
clients away or recommends them
to his colleagues if he feels that he
does not have the right catamaran
for his customers program.
Gregor Tarjan actively practices what he preaches. With close
to 80,000 ocean miles including
four North Atlantic crossings and
transatlantic races, he has the
experience to advise his clients of
Floating galleries in the shape of a giant catamaran,
what works and what doesn’t.
spectacular views and multimedia facilities will serve
Having posessed and managed
visiting clients.
various large catamarans he
architect, or yet another licensed sales
knows what is involved with their ownerperson who acted as large yacht project
ship and upkeep. Gregor routinely trains
manager in foreign countries and speaks
his clients delivering their yachts
3 languages. At 44 years, Gregor Tarjan
transatlantic with them. Few brokers can
seems to have all bases covered.
show that type dedication or sailing
resume.
Aeroyacht’s Future
Gregor also has the formal educaAeroyacht’s goal is to further
tion to back up his business: He is a
expand with their Blubay TC45 into the
trained yacht designer, who had his own
growing US powercat segment and consuccessful yacht design company. This
tinue their success with Outremer and
gives him the technical understanding of
Fountaine Pajot trawler and sail catamaengineering and design capabilities of
rans. Gregor is also keen on helping his
multihulls that only naval architects or
friend Yves Parlier attempt the NYboat builders can appreciate.
Plymouth Transatlantic record next year.
Lastly his professional background
Yves capsized in mid Atlantic this sumincludes design and project managemer on his radical 60’ HYDRAPLANEUR
ment for large yachts and he is closely
on the way to Aeroyacht’s Long Island
associated with the Derecktor Shipyard,
facilities. Gregor mentioned that he still
which is one of the leading yacht
dreams of leasing Eric Bruneels winning
builders in the US. In 1984 he worked at
50’ TRILOGIC and participating in his life
Derecktor’s NY facility where two
long dream: the OSTAR ......but says that
Americas Cup Challengers “Stars and
he needs to slowly work up to the chalStripes” where built and since then
lenge by finally beating his friend Kirk in
Tarjan played an active part in the
the NY classic Around Long Island Race.
America’s Cup history. Currently GEMIGregor is working on a book
NII, the world’s largest multihull yacht, a
“Catamarans Offshore” and continues to
148-foot Van Peteghem/Prevostwrite articles. He also plans to attempt to
designed catamaran is being built at
break the NY-Bermuda powerboat
Dertecktor in Connecticut. Tarjan will be
record with “Aeroyacht Challenger” and
involved in this historic project as well.
circumnavigate Cape Horn in 2007 with
As a cat shopping customer you
his friend Robin on his new Outremer
might discover a dealerships that might
55LWAY TO GO. Its a busy schedule.
employ delivery skippers who can boast
For more information visit
about their vast multihull sailing experiwww.Aeroyacht.com or call:
ence, or brokers who can speak to cus800-446-0010.
tomers from a perspective of a naval
–Charles Chiodi
FOR SALE
Two Spinnakers: F31R 2005. 1015 sq ft. Calvert spinnaker valued at $3,290. Asking $2500 or B/O.
F31R 2005. 1065 sq. ft. Calvert spinnaker valued at $3500.
Asking $2500 or B/O. Both sails are in Like new condition.
Contact Jepskimrg@cox.net or 401-864-2127.
36' West Tech / McGregor Bridge Deck Catamaran
Motor Sailor. Up to 20 Knots under motor or sail power.
Twin Yamaha 40 outboards, expansive deck, ideal for parties
of 12 or more, or charters. Sleeps six. Fast 6-man RIB tender
on davits. Remote control Auto helm, electric head and holding tank, Bose stereo, electric refrigeration, windmill,
genset, 12 Lewmar hatches, modified drive on trailer
requires no collapsing, thousands of upgrades. Asking
$69,000. Visit www.rf3.biz for photos/description or contact
Rodney Farnsworth III 617-244-6062 nema@rf3.biz.
Cross 36 Tri, Equipped for Cruising
Cold-molded double diagonal ply w/WEST epoxy. 25 HP
Perkins diesel (1988). Fully-battened mainsail, roller-furling
Jib (Harken), Drifter/Reacher. GPS, VHF. 3-burner SS
propane stove, double SS sinks w fresh and saltwater footpumps, halogen interior lighting,12-volt fans over berths, 4amp solar panel w/charge controller, sailing bimini, head w
holding tank. 45 lb CQR w/40 ft 3/8" chain and 125 ft road,
44 lb Bruce on 100 ft chain, 25 lb Danforth w 40 ft 2/8" chain
and 100 ft rode. $36K. Contact Will Gordon,
loretta@gwi.net, 207-342-3834.
Randy Smythe spinnaker 34’8”/29’9”/17’8”, Achilles 8’
Rubber boat, Autohelm 800, Lokata RDF, Lifesling,
Epirb ACR RLB 14, Epirb ACR RT60B (display antique, not
working), Folding Raleigh bicycle, Lirakis lifting chair,
Lirakis harness m, Seat lifting/old, Doyle main/bolt
rope 36’ 10”/10’ 10 1/2”, Doyle jib 23’/ 22’ 2”/ 6’ 2”, Salem
3.5” Barometer silver, VHF Cetrek CX5, 2 giot
winches/free, 2 Radar reflectors. Reasonable offers.
Tom Grossman,
T: 978-546-1190 F: 978-546-1192 E: tgnacl@adelphia.net
Hyper is sold. Sistership Firebird available.
25’ 6” catamaran. Fully refurbished to current specs including carbon mast. New sails, all spectra rigging, alloy road
trailer, cradle and launching doilies. Call for price.
Tom Grossman, T: 978-546-1190 F: 978-546-1192
Email: tgnacl@adelphia.net
SCRIMSHAW, Jim Brown’s 31' Searunner # 1.
The Designer's Boat Sound as the Euro. Priced in Dollars US
$44,000 firm. Proceeds to help finance The VAKA Project.
Details on request from outrig@crosslink.net
Jim Brown 804-725-3167.
55' C section wing mast carbon reinforced that was
painted before it was put in storage, includes sails boom
and rigging $10,000. Contact Mike Conley
blkrkna3@yahoo.com or 781-581-1066.
15’ Aluminum Boom – Metalmast 7.3” x 4.8” Cross
Section. Internal Setup for 3 Reefing Lines & Outhaul (Lines
Included) with Spinlock Rope Clutches and End Sheeting
Boom Bail. Awlgrip White Paint. In Excellent Condition.
$650. Contact Wayne Allen at Tel: 781-665-7295 or email:
20knots@comcast.net.
WANTED
Replace those worn out Navico Corus electronics.
I will help you to buy the system of your dreams by making a generous contribution for your old stuff. Tom
LaMers, tlam45387@aol.com 937-767-9187.
Maine Cat 30, Hull #46, launched 2003 and liveaboard
cruise equipped with screacher, spinnaker, extra water tankage, second Lavac head, color chart/radar combo, extra battery and 4 solar panels. In New England and ready to go
south. Asking $165,000. Call Maine Cat 1-888-832-2287.
Honda 8hp four-strokes. Matched pair 2001, approx 600
hrs. Extra long shaft, Hi-thrust, Remote setup. $1200 each
OBO. 401-466-2713 johnspier@riconnect.com
Fall 2005
N E M A
15
First Class Mail
P.O. Box 51152, Boston, MA 02205
Next NEMA Meeting
Wednesday, Oct.19, 7pm
Savin Hill YC
Lars Svensson talks about
Heartsease Larus Roc
MULTIHULLS
Aegean Marine
421 Hancock St., Quincy, MA
Catri 27 Hydrofoil
Assisted Trimaran
617-328-8181
www.multihullsmag.com
www.aegeanmarine.com
617-240-1434
info@aegeanmarine.com
MultiMag@aol.com
Still
Wa t e r
1 Winnisimet Street
Chelsea, MA 02150
(781) 608-3079
Ultralight water craft for low wake environments
Dealers for: FOUNTAINE PAJOT, AERO-EDEL H42, OUTREMER,
BLUBAY CATAMARANS
Gregor Tarjan , 800-446-0010, info@Aeroyacht.com
New and pre-owned multihulls from 38’ to 138’, www.Aeroyacht.com
· Firebird catamarans
· Ultralight kayaks
· Low wake launches
· Teaching barge
· Rowing shells
www.stillwaterdesign.com www.firebirdcat.com
THE
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W: www.northsails.com
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MAINE CAT
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DICK VERMEULEN
P.O. Box 205, Bremen, ME 04551
1-888-832-CATS 207-529-6500
mecat@gwi.net www.mecat.com
Composite Engineering
277 Baker Ave., Concord MA 01742
Carbon Spars Racing Shells
Specialty Composites
978-371-3132
www.composite-eng.com