The only logical decision

Notice from the IMCA President regarding wingsails

Dear IMCA Members,

Thank you for the prompt responses to your own national Presidents on the vote to amend the 2011 World Championships NOR and thus allow wingsails to be measured and compete; or not to amend the NOR.

The Presidents of all national associations have responded with the vote being 30 in favour of option 1 and 6 in favour of option 2.

We will therefore be proceeding with issuing an amendment to the NOR under the guidance of and with approval from ISAF. Chief Measurer Adam May is currently working with ISAF on the final text and I expect this to be released shortly.

Mark Robinson

President

International Moth Class Association

Coach Matt

Matt Knowles has a new blog that hasn't found itself on Doug's IMCA BlogRoll yet so I thought I'd post a link.  Some neat pics of the wings and of Matt's coach boat.

http://knowlesmoth.blogspot.com/2010/12/arrived.html

Also, the report from Chris Rast, including a somewhat skewed video of Bora on the water.

http://fasterandhigher.blogspot.com/

Lastly, a link to Bear's ride onboard Ichi Ban in the Sydney-Hobart race:

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/yacht_details.asp?raceEntryID=12526

Go team USA!

Travel costs

The "travel box" rule, i.e., requiring all rigs (including mast, sail, boom, wing sails etc) to be able to be dismantled and packed away in a box of similar dimensions to the current hull travel boxes seems to be a proposal specifically aimed at barring the current generation of solid sails. But it also bars one piece masts (which can't fit into a hull box) and one piece foils (the older Fastacraft foils) which require a separate box for shipping. The rationale could only be one that correlates the cost of travel with the size of the equipment. But that seems to me to be a non-starter. The cost to ship my boat to Weymouth and back (to the east coast of the US) was over $4500 and that was piggy backing on Bora's and Bear's group deal with Seko. And that was with a two piece mast and separable foils.

No, those wanting to travel to international events will always have to bite the bullet with respect to costs. If you're relying on shipping firms, be it trucking companies, air freight, or even shipboard containers, you are at the mercy of their timetables, security requirements and rates. I found it interesting in trying to become vetted as a non-terrorist to enable me to ship my boat even within the US (I trucked Try-Foil to Portland and back for the Gorge worlds.) Overseas airfreight was even more problematic in 2008. I could not ship my boat to England without going through the Newport Hood sailloft, a connection I got through George Peet.

On a related note, I notice from Alan's recent post that the Belmont PRO is Peter Moor. I wonder if it's the same Peter Moor that participated in the '76 Ware River Worlds.  That Peter Moor was the reigning Australian Champion at the time and finished 2nd in the '76 worlds in a borrowed skiff (he did use his own rig.) Why didn't he bring his scow (which also can't fit into a current hull travel box)? No doubtedly because of travel costs.

Peter Moor sailing at Ware River in 1976 in a skiff (I think it was a Poacher or a Stockholm Sprite) that he borowed from Ted Causey, the eventual winner. Note Moor even bolted a tube extension onto the box wings to make the beam the full 7'4".

Another trip around the sun

A re-run from a couple of years ago:

But with wings, water, seafood, and bike riding, the video seems to fit. And, yes, I ratcheted up my age on my profile on the Yahoo! Groups site by one more notch.

So to celebrate my 215th post and my 56th year I'll crank up Jimmy B. and have another cold one.

Again, from Buffett's album License to Chill (2004).



Trip around the Sun, lyrics by Sharon Vaughn, Al Anderson, and Stephen Bruton
Sung by Jimmy Buffett (with Martina McBride)

Hear 'em singing Happy Birthday
Better think about the wish I made
This year gone by ain't been a piece of cake
Every day's a revolution
Pull it together and it comes undone
Just one more candle and a trip around the sun

Chorus:
I'm just hanging on while this old world keeps spinning
And it's good to know it's out of my control
If there's one thing that I've learned from all this living
Is that it wouldn't change a thing if I let go

No, you never see it coming
Always wind up wondering where it went
Only time will tell if it was time well spent
It's another revelation
Celebrating what I should have done
With these souvenirs of my trip around the sun

(Chorus)

Yes, I'll make a resolution

That I'll never make another one
Just enjoy this ride on my trip around the sun
Just enjoy this ride ...
Until it's done

Wither the Wing?

Bruce turned off the comments in his latest post showing Bora winging it Down Under. So even if you can't comment on Burce's Teknologika blog, feel free to add in here.   I do note the aft section seems a bit ragged. Maybe it's the way the light is reflected, but perhaps the film itself has gone slack.  Of course, Bora maybe sandbagging it and trying to get the most out of a subpar surface, only to pull out a fresh wing in time for the races.

At any rate whatever heat he's generating would be much more comfortable than what's happening back home -- Detroit is getting ready to be hit with a big winter storm tomorrow. I would think that weathering the coming storm of wing legality would be a whole lot more fun than shoveling snow and ice half way around the world.