New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

Whether a boat is seaworthy to ocean race is not a new dilemma.

In 1949, Porter Sinclair of Newport Beach, CA, commissioned fledgling yacht designer and International 14 dinghy sailor Bill Lapworth to design an ocean racing "ultra-light" for the 1950 Newport, RI, to Bermuda Race. The result was the 32', 6,500 pound, FLYING SCOTCHMAN, profiled in the staid East Coast YACHTING magazine as "extreme lightweight displacement planing type."

I suspect Olin Stephens choked on his lamb and biscuits when he read that. Suspiciously, shortly before FLYING SCOTCHMAN was loaded on a railroad flatcar for the cross-country trip to the East Coast, the Bermuda Race minimum length requirement was raised to 35 feet. No problem, Sinclair and Lapworth quickly built a cold-molded 4' bustle (false stern.) While the boat was in transit on the train, crew member Dave Griffith slept aboard, and glued and screwed the bustle to FLYING SCOTCHMAN's stern. Presto, FLYING SCOTCHMAN was eligible to race to Bermuda.

Arriving from the other direction, in the spring of 1950, Adlard Coles sailed his tiny, 30 foot Tumlaren, COHOE, across the Atlantic from England to Newport. COHOE resembled a double-ended Dragon, with a stern hung rudder. When COHOE and Coles safely arrived in Newport, CCA announced to Coles that his boat was too small to race to Bermuda. WTF? COHOE just crossed the Atlantic E to W!

Undaunted by the setback, Coles built a false bow, and faired it onto COHOE's bow, making her 5' longer.

Both FLYING SCOTCHMAN and COHOE acquited themselves well in the 1950 Bermuda Race, sailed in heavy air, upwind conditions. COHOE went on to race the TransAtlantic Race, back to England. FLYING SCOTCHMAN was shipped back to California, her false stern removed, and Sinclair and his crew of Sea Scouts began to win local races. In the Sea Scout crew was a young local named Bill Lee, who may have been impressed with the idea of FLYING SCOTCHMAN's design, California's first ultra-light "sled."

In 2006 I hoped to enter my 27', 6,500 pound, sloop WILDFLOWER in the 2007 Los Angeles to Honolulu Transpac Race. WILDFLOWER had already made 6 passages to Hawaii, twice in under 13 days. She had won the Pacific Cup in 2002. "Not Allowed, boat too slow" (PHRF=183). At least one vintage Swan-42 was allowed to enter, taking 20 days for the passage.

I appealed, but Transpac Yacht Club stood firm. Ironically, a few months later TPYC asked me to join their Board of Directors. Unfortunately, I was too busy with family to attend meetings in Southern California.

 

[Harrier]

Skip:
I may be off on my dates, but I'm pretty sure it was for the 2007 Transpac that I tried to enter "Harrier" as a doublehanded entry. She had already done 9 singlehanded transpac races and at least two other non-race passages to Hawaii. I sent in all info asked for...PHRF, pictures, dimensions, weights, etc...but bill Lee would never issue me the "Transpac Handicap" they said I must have....It was stall, stall, stall and send more info
'til it was too late. And I kept reading they were looking for entrants insamuch as their participation had fallen from the "old days". Go figure...

 

[sleddog]

Gee, Ken,

Sounds like I'm in Good Company! Best to you always.

~skip

 

[Harrier]

As long as there are people who want to learn about sailing from an expert, you'll always have good company, Skip.

 

[Philpott]

Whether a boat is seaworthy to ocean race is not a new dilemma.

In 1949, Porter Sinclair of Newport Beach, CA, commissioned fledgling yacht designer and International 14 dinghy sailor Bill Lapworth to design an ocean racing "ultra-light" for the 1950 Newport, RI, to Bermuda Race. The result was the 32', 6,500 pound, FLYING SCOTCHMAN, profiled in the staid East Coast YACHTING magazine as "extreme lightweight displacement planing type."

I suspect Olin Stephens choked on his lamb and biscuits when he read that. Suspiciously, shortly before FLYING SCOTCHMAN was loaded on a railroad flatcar for the cross-country trip to the East Coast, the Bermuda Race minimum length requirement was raised to 35 feet. No problem, Sinclair and Lapworth quickly built a cold-molded 4' bustle (false stern.) While the boat was in transit on the train, crew member Dave Griffith slept aboard, and glued and screwed the bustle to FLYING SCOTCHMAN's stern. Presto, FLYING SCOTCHMAN was eligible to race to Bermuda.

Arriving from the other direction, in the spring of 1950, Adlard Coles sailed his tiny, 30 foot Tumlaren, COHOE, across the Atlantic from England to Newport. COHOE resembled a double-ended Dragon, with a stern hung rudder. When COHOE and Coles safely arrived in Newport, CCA announced to Coles that his boat was too small to race to Bermuda. WTF? COHOE just crossed the Atlantic E to W!

Undaunted by the setback, Coles built a false bow, and faired it onto COHOE's bow, making her 5' longer.

Both FLYING SCOTCHMAN and COHOE acquited themselves well in the 1950 Bermuda Race, sailed in heavy air, upwind conditions. COHOE went on to race the TransAtlantic Race, back to England. FLYING SCOTCHMAN was shipped back to California, her false stern removed, and Sinclair and his crew of Sea Scouts began to win local races. In the Sea Scout crew was a young local named Bill Lee, who may have been impressed with the idea of FLYING SCOTCHMAN's design, California's first ultra-light "sled."

In 2006 I hoped to enter my 27', 6,500 pound, sloop WILDFLOWER in the 2007 Los Angeles to Honolulu Transpac Race. WILDFLOWER had already made 6 passages to Hawaii, twice in under 13 days. She had won the Pacific Cup in 2002. "Not Allowed, boat too slow" (PHRF=183). At least one vintage Swan-42 was allowed to enter, taking 20 days for the passage.

I appealed, but Transpac Yacht Club stood firm. Ironically, a few months later TPYC asked me to join their Board of Directors. Unfortunately, I was too busy with family to attend meetings in Southern California.

OMG, Skip! How is it that this serious stuff make me laugh and laugh? It must have driven you crazy back then!

 

[sleddog]

With fog back after a one day record heat wave, I moseyed over to Santa Cruz Harbor boatyard to check out Beau and Stacy's beautiful, antique, 59' (LOD) schooner MAYAN.

MAYAN was designed in 1928 by John Alden for East Coast sailing, and the thin waters of the Intracoastal Waterway, Bahamas, and Chesapeake. MAYAN's draft, with centerboard raised, is less than 5 feet, only a few inches more than Jackie's Cal 2-27, DURA MATER.

If you ever wondered what a "Barn Door" rudder looks like, see photo below. A "Barn Door" rudder, in keeping with the shoal draft parameter, is basically square in shape. It makes for difficult steering in any sort of seaway.

MAYAN's beam is 16.5 feet and she displaces more than 30 tons, with 9,000 pounds of external ballast Her centerboard is Iroko, a type of iron wood that sinks.
Despite the wide beam and heavy displacement, MAYAN lacks the stability to meet Los Angeles to Honolulu Transpac rules. Whether Pacific Cup allows her to enter is unknown.
http://schoonermayan.blogspot.com/2014/05/mayan-what-shes-like-under-water.html

 

[sleddog]

Losing a rudder quickly brings about a feeling of vulnerability. Usually, the rudder departs fairly quickly. Sometimes it can be seen floating astern. Not so on the SC-40 VOID STAR. Something large hit Jim's carbon fiber rudder off the Oregon Coast in June. Steering wasn't totally lost. But subsequent investigation showed the bottom third of the rudder had taken a hike.

Jim's story had a happy ending. And the repaired rudder was installed with the boat afloat. Good job. http://www.information-seeky.com/sailing-northwest/eureka-to-brookings/chapter.html

I had a similar feeling driving the 39' IOR warhorse imp in the '79 SORC Ocean Triangle. The first leg, a 65 mile run from Miami to Great Issac Light in the Bahamas, crossed the 3 knot Gulf Stream at right angles. Northwest breeze on at 20-25 knots.

A few miles into the Race, we reached over the leader of our Class D, the 42', Chance designed, VINETA. There was considerable noise as their spinnaker collapsed, filled, collapsed again. VINETA got back under control and hung with us, surfing our quarter wave in the increasingly lumpy and irregular seas.

Suddenly VINETA spun out to weather, just missing our stern, her spinnaker flogging out of control. As one, our 8 man crew looked astern in time to see a large chunk of rudder surface behind VINETA's hull.

She was done. Radio coms were established; assistance declined. Off we went, on the edge of control, into the intensely blue Gulf Stream, nipping at the heels of the Class C up ahead.

An hour later we had cleared the dragon's tail of the Gulf Stream. At 1420 I began to lose steerage. First, the tiller was just mushy. But in that much breeze, under spinnaker, mushy is a problem.

We held Ragnar, the builder of the rudder, upside down by his feet, over the transom, for a look. "Shit." Ragnar rarely swore. But was kind enough to point out bits and pieces of foam and plastic surfacing in our wake.

I reckoned we had about a minute of control left. As we wiped out, the spinny halyard was smartly run, and we gathered in sail. Our good luck had run out.

We turned the boat around, and with just the metal rudder frame left to steer with, nursed imp back to Miami. Under double reefed main and storm jib set on the inner forestay, imp balanced nicely and our hearts lightened a bit.

By dark it was blowing 30-35 and salty spray was in our faces, lit by bits of phosphorescence flying everywhere. As we sailed towards the loom of Miami in these challenging conditions, the stinging spray was at least pleasantly warm.

By 2000 the cloudy sky opened to a full moon. We sang song after song from the 60's as we slugged home to Miami Marina, arriving at 2230, disappointed, but proud of how we nursed our coveted warhorse home.

Were our chances for selection to the US Admiral's Cup Team done? Time would tell.

Thanks to David Allen, Bill Barton, and the crew of IMP for the memories. The remains of imp's rudder can be seen at 2:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmLNRPMM80s

 

[sleddog]

Elkhorn (Moss Landing) YC's Double Angle Race is almost as unique as the SSS 3 Bridge Fiasco. In the Double Angle, you can choose where you want to start, either in Santa Cruz, or 25 miles across Monterey Bay, in Monterey. Both fleets start at the same time. High Noon. The course is to MLA 1, MBARI's weather buoy, midway across Monterey Bay, thence to the finish off Moss Landing. A good way for boats from across the Bay, that rarely meet, to meet in the middle of the Bay and race downwind for the finish off Moss Landing Breakwater.

The start, off Santa Cruz, featured our schooner MAYAN, the recently purchased Cal-40 SHAMAN, and 12 ultralights. The breeze was light, 5 knots, from the SE. Interesting things began to happen in slow motion. First off, a dozen Hawaiian six person paddling canoes were using our pin end of the start line as a turning mark in their 12 mile race, part of Santa Cruz's annual Aloha Races and Polynesian Festival. 14 sail craft and a dozen canoes on the same start line? Incongruously , it was happening.

Beau got a perfect start at the leeward end, on time and close reaching towards Natural Bridges, the first mark. Unfortunately, between MAYAN and the line, was a Merit 25, attempting to tack directly in front of MAYAN's 13 foot bowsprit. When the Merit skipper realized he was about to be cleaved in two, he froze, and his boat hung in irons. MAYAN's barn door rudder was useless for making sharp course adjustments. Somehow, we missed coming aboard the Merit, and Patrick, our bowman, grabbed the Merit backstay, gave a pull and a push, and contact was avoided. However, MAYAN's delayed turn was now taking effect, and the race committee's eyes got real big as MAYAN seemed ready to mount their anchored Boston Whaler.

With a pull of the anchor line, MAYAN just missed the RC, but passed on the wrong side. It took a full 10 minutes to regain speed, jibe, beat back to the line against a one knot north running current, tack, pick up speed again, and start the Race.

But things were just getting interesting. The first mark was Natural Bridges, 3 miles west, up off Long Marine Lab. The breeze lightened to 4 knots. Our speed on a close reach, even with favorable current, was 2 knots, and it was like sailing in P-Nut butter. 60,000 pound schooners are not known for their light air acceleration.

By Stockton Ave., we had actually passed two boats, a J-105, and the hapless Merit, both now firmly stuck in the kelp.

The permanent racing mark at Natural Bridges was less than a 200 yards ahead when we realized their was another potential problem developing. Again, the dozen Hawaiian paddling canoes were quickly overtaking from astern at 6 knots, in fierce battle. We could only guess they were going to round our same mark.

The canoes got to the Natural Bridges mark first, making an awkward 180 degree rounding, only to find themselves bow to bow with our big schooner. No
right-of-way rules cover this situation. We had canoes passing within feet on both sides of the MAYAN, paddlers digging deep.

But things weren't quite finished. The smell of cannabis wafted over MAYAN. What the heck?

There was a small, 20 foot, fishing boat, with 6 good old boys drinking beer, drifting down on the mark. The purple haze was emanating from the fish boat. The fishermen were oblivious to the developing situation.

Fortunately, no collisions, no harsh words, All in an unusual day of slow speed racing off Santa Cruz.

Later, the wind stopped. We drifted a while, in proximity with a pod of Risso's dolphins, and with 23 miles left to the finish and party at Elkhorn YC, MAYAN abandoned the Double Angle Race, as the fog closed in and mist began to fall.

Lesson learned: There are no definitive right-of-way rules between sailboats and paddlers. And with a Moore 24 skipper on the helm of a big schooner, all bets are off.

 

[sleddog]

Standing on a corner
in Davenport, California,
And such a fine sight to see.
It's a boat, My Lord, on a flatbed Ford,
Slowing down to take a look at me.

My admiration for the 59 year old Black Soo design, STARBUCK, runs deep. As researched extensively in mid-October 2012 (http://sfbaysss.org/forum/showthread.php?655-New-Boat-4-Sled/page20), STARBUCK, a 30' E.G. Van de Standt, hardchine design, built of plywood, planed circles around the local SF Bay racing fleet beginning in the late 60's.

STARBUCK's "sportboat" design ultimately won 7 SSS Season Championships, as well as the Long Pac and SHTP. STARBUCK was also inspiration for George Olson's GRENDEL, the forerunner of the Moore 24, as well as near sister MIRAGE, PRINCE CHARMING in Santa Cruz, and the now legendary 62' INFIDEL (RAGTIME) built in New Zealand in 1965.

STARBUCK is still sailing, and as I write, under Stephen's able command, racing to Drakes Bay.

What few remember, or will forget, is STARBUCK's spectacular closure of Highway 1 to traffic, as well as Half Moon Bay's 3 man police force scratching their heads on how best to clear their roadway.

It was the summer of 1968, or maybe '69. There may have been drugs involved. George Olson had been repairing Don Goring's new STARBUCK in Santa Cruz. It was time to deliver STARBUCK back to San Francisco. George borrowed Bill Lee's tow vehicle, a doorless, blue, Mustang convertible. STARBUCK was loaded on a rusty Cal-25 trailer, used for miscellaneous boat deliveries back in the day of early Santa Cruz boat building.

George, with STARBUCK in tow, got somewhere south of Half Moon Bay, on a narrow section of Highway 1, when a trailer tire blew, an axle broke, or both. It was never quite determined, as the trailer became detached from the car, crumpled, and disappeared over the cliff, leaving STARBUCK laying on her side across both lanes of Highway 1.

By the time the police showed, George had already sprung into action. In the trunk of the Mustang, from his tool box, George retrieved a large socket wrench, climbed inside STARBUCK's cabin, and began loosening nuts on the keel bolts. The cops arrived, surveyed the scene, and gave George 15 minutes to get the boat off the road before it too would be rudely pushed to the side. Fortunately again, there was a large flatbed wrecking truck in consort with the police.

With the keel bolts free, George recruited not only the men in blue, but about two dozen bystanders. Without the keel, they picked STARBUCK up, and loaded her black hull onto the flatbed truck. Next, the wrecker's winch was secured to the iron keel, and that too was pulled aboard the flatbed.

In seemingly no time at all (more like an hour), STARBUCK was headed south, back to George's shop in Santa Cruz, this time to repair a bad case of road rash.

We may lose and we may win.
But we'll never be here again.
So open up, I'm climbin' in,
Take it easy........

 

[solosailor]

Starbuck in her original cutter configuration, sans "sugar scoop"

In seemingly no time at all (more like an hour), STARBUCK was headed south, back to George's shop in Santa Cruz, this time to repair a bad case of road rash.

That is how she ended up with a cabin that sloped to match the hull sheer..... much better looking than the original cabin house.

My admiration for the 59 year old Black Soo design, STARBUCK, runs deep.

As does mine...... I owned a T-Bird for a few years when I 1st say a picture of Starbuck in Donald Goring's Webster Street Loft. I saw the boat in person not long after and started to bug him to sell her to me. She was tired.... cosmetically, sails, etc.

She put some more miles on her keel including a few very hard Gulf of the Farallones races before her back gave out. The forward two keel floors (of 6) had broken free from the chine stringer letting the keel backbone move separate from the hull. The flexing also caused some slight cracking on the base layer of the 6 layer keel floors.

I took the whole interior and removed the old keel floors, etc. KKMI had her in a shed for 3 months. Once I prepped the interior hull KKMI steam bent the 6x new - 6 layer keel floors, widened the keelson, 12 new keelbolts and added vertical chine stringers to distribute the load all the way to the rail.

 

[Tchoupitoulas]

Wow, she had a black hull then? That would be interesting. Thanks Skip for the detailed story. So Starbuck has been up on Stinson Beach and on her side on Highway 1. What a legacy. Thanks for the keel floors solo. I think she could go another 40 years!
http://vimeo.com/137318977

 

[Philpott]

View attachment 1071
Starbuck in her original cutter configuration, sans "sugar scoop"That is how she ended up with a cabin that sloped to match the hull sheer..... much better looking than the original cabin house.
View attachment 1072
As does mine...... I owned a T-Bird for a few years when I 1st say a picture of Starbuck in Donald Goring's Webster Street Loft. I saw the boat in person not long after and started to bug him to sell her to me. She was tired.... cosmetically, sails, etc.

She put some more miles on her keel including a few very hard Gulf of the Farallones races before her back gave out. The forward two keel floors (of 6) had broken free from the chine stringer letting the keel backbone move separate from the hull. The flexing also caused some slight cracking on the base layer of the 6 layer keel floors.

I took the whole interior and removed the old keel floors, etc. KKMI had her in a shed for 3 months. Once I prepped the interior hull KKMI steam bent the 6x new - 6 layer keel floors, widened the keelson, 12 new keelbolts and added vertical chine stringers to distribute the load all the way to the rail.
View attachment 1074View attachment 1075

Wow. That is quite beautiful. And great that you saved and have shared the photos. She is quite a legacy boat. And that is a sweet little video of your arrival in Drakes Bay, Stephen. Those birds! They seemed to go on forever! You captured that experience perfectly!

 

[sleddog]

And that is a sweet little video of your arrival in Drakes Bay, Stephen. Those birds! They seemed to go on forever! You captured that experience perfectly!

STARBUCK's birds approaching Drakes Bay look to be sooty shearwaters aka "mutton birds." https://vimeo.com/137318977 Visitors from Down Under, I can hear them speaking Kiwi

 

[solosailor]

Wow, she had a black hull then?

She was actually purple when she 1st arrived and was sailed out of the St. Francis YC.


More pics from the backbone rebuild:

 

[sleddog]

The view from the Capitola Cliffs, and the activity below, especially at sunrise and set, is something to behold.

This morning, the sun continued its yo-yo annual southbound voyage in Earth's sky, rising locally at 6:43:05, 11 minutes later than two weeks ago.

The family of racoons, returning from their night time neighborhood foray, disappeared over the edge of the Cliff, into the willows and their den below. Below, and inside the kelp line, a pod of Harbor Porpoise circled in porpoise frenzy, rounding up their anchovy breakfast. Even a youngster, its dorsal fin smaller then the rest, seemed to be in on the activity. Just outside, three surfers were catching a sunrise wave. A dozen sea otters, wrapped in their kelp bed, lifted their sleepy heads from their furry pillows.

This sunrise activity had a soundtrack of gulls, terns, and the cry of a hawk. Then, of course, there are the hummingbirds zipping around, sucking on their nectar smoothies.

One hummingbird I've named Andre' alights on his same bare willow branch most mornings. We often watch sunrises together, and have been doing so for at least 4 years. Andre', an Anna's hummer, has a fierce little look, a Mohawk, an iridescent ruby throat and brilliant emerald green back he likes to shimmer, reflecting the warmth of the rising sun. Breakfast with Andre' is a treat. Listening close, I can hear him singing his 3 note aria.

I don't know how they're going to do it "live." But PBS and the BBC are collaborating on a three-night special called "Big Blue Live," starting Monday Aug. 31. , featuring the marine life of Monterey Bay. Live? Really? PBS is promoting"Big Blue Live" as "one of nature's great reality shows made possible by the bay's unique geography and a turnaround from severe pollution that curtailed marine life there for many years."

" Real-time images of whales, dolphins, great white sharks, elephant seals and other sea creatures will be sent to millions of viewers across the nation. Watch it on PBS at 8 p.m. Aug. 31 through Sept. 2. Footage will also be streamed online at www.pbs.org/big-blue-live."

CU at the Cliff. http://foxxr.com/surfcamlive/
http://foxxr.com/beachcamlive/

 

[sleddog]

Although Malibu Outriggers (19'x11', 190 sq. feet of sail), originally designed and built by Warren Seaman, were sailing off the beaches of Southern California in the 1950's, one of the first "beach cats" in Northern California was a green and white P-Cat "on consignment" to Jack O'Neill for his Surf Shop in Santa Cruz. Jack was the developer of the surfer's wetsuit that today bears his name.

Jack's new P-Cat arrived in Santa Cruz in late 1960. The P-Cat was solid fiberglass construction, heavy at 19 feet and over 500 pounds, and had to be carried over the Cowell's Beach sand to Steamer Lane by volunteer surfers and sunbathers. Jack particularly liked green, and that was the deck color he had ordered from Carter Pyle at Newport Boats.

The P-Cat, and later Finns and Kites dinghies, were built by Newport Beach surfer and ex-Stanford football player Carter Pyle, at his Newport Boats factory in Costa Mesa. P-Cats were fast (up to 25 knots) and popular until the Hobies came along, 10 years later.

In the Spring of '61, late one afternoon, Jack O'Neill, with Howard Spruit as crew, were sailing Jack's P-Cat out past Mile Buoy. No other boats around. No Santa Cruz Harbor either. In those days, just three lonely Mercury sloops anchored off the Santa Cruz Wharf, long time home of the Santa Cruz Yacht Club.

Jack and Howard were on starboard tack in the offshore, northerly wind of 20 knots. The ocean swell, coming from the West. was lifting the P-Cat's starboard hull dangerously high as the boat flew into and over the 5-8' waves, briefly becoming airborne. Howard, on the trapeze, suggested easing the main to settle the hull back down. Jack reached in to release the mainsheet, but found the rope tail had washed out the back of the boat, out of reach. Howard let the jib sheet run, but over they went. Dressed only in short john wetsuits, had they drifted all night, as was likely, the outcome was potentially grim.

Hallelujah! Just when all seemed lost, the commercial excursion vessel, IDA, came along on their evening cruise, spotted the upside down catamaran, and diverted. IDA's captain and crew helped right the P-Cat, which allowed Jack and Howard to sail to the Santa Cruz beach, a bit worse for wear.

After that little episode, O'Neill's P-Cat was primarily used to take out visiting tourists, especially girls, and impress them with speed and the Santa Cruz surf scene. Even Mouseketeer Annette had a ride on the P-cat. 20 knots was unusual in those days. The Mercurys would sail at 3-4 knots. The local 8 meter ANGELITA might get to 7. O'Neill's P-Cat was Santa Cruz's first iteration of "Fast is Fun."

Jack O'Neill and family also used the P-cat for surfing. At one point Mike O'Neill surfed the P-Cat at River Mouth, pearled, stuck the P-Cat bow straight down, into the sand, and badly broke the boat. In those days, surfer and fiberglass technician Rich Gurling had steady work fixing the P-Cat breakages.

"Fast is Fun" forward 5 years. January of '66. The biggest surf yet seen in Santa Cruz. Jack O'Neill had moved his surf shop from Cowell's Beach to the new Santa Cruz Harbor, next door to the Crows Nest Restaurant, in the building he'd bought when the Harbor opened in 1964.

As Jack and crew gazed that cold morning out the windows at 30 foot waves breaking across Monterey Bay, Jack said to his employee and sailing instructor, Dave Wahle, "Wanna go sailing?"

Dave looked out, saw Third Reef (a half mile seaward of Lighthouse Point) consistently breaking 30 feet, remembered it was his birthday, and said, "Sure."

Jack and Dave launched off the beach and sailed the much abused P-Cat out to Third Reef. A third crew, a surf magazine photographer with a waterproof camera, bailed off the boat and swam ashore. He never did get any pics of one of the most incredible surfing sailboat rides ever.

At Third Reef, Jack and Dave took off on two monster waves, their sails luffing and useless as they rode the curl. Both times Jack steered to starboard and pulled out before the P-Cat was overwhelmed in the white water.

The third time, Dave looked astern at a wave bigger than anything he'd ever seen. Maybe 40 feet. Maybe more. Jack lined up the P-Cat on port tack at the take off point, and off they went. The boat was riding a semi-vertical face. As the monster wave broke, Dave was washed off the boat. Somehow he stayed connected by one arm, his hand around the hiking strap with a death grip.

The P-Cat was in the white water for a good 15-20 seconds. How the boat and crew survived was an Act of God. Shivering in the cold water, and colder air, Jack and Dave were able to regroup and sailed home towards Harbor Beach. Yesterday, 49 years later, Dave Wahle remembered the P-cat episode vividly. As Dave told me, "why we didn't die, I don't know. I never needed to do that again."

But the P-Cat ride that day wasn't quite over. Jack and Dave sailed the half sunk P-cat back to Harbor Beach, where they had launched two hours earlier. The stern compartments were full of water. Just short of the beach, as it often does, the wind died. They were in the crash zone. Swimming and paddling, Jack and Dave pushed the P-Cat for the sand. Too late. Another monster wave broke over them. Jack and Dave, both excellent watermen, dove for the bottom. The P-Cat was overwhelmed and went end over end. When Jack and Dave surfaced, they saw nothing but green and white pieces of boat, mast, and sails littering the beach.

Jack O'Neill, with a twinkle in his eye, looked to Dave and said, "what color shall we get this time?"

That green and white P-Cat lives on, in life size photographs/murals, at the site of the old O'Neill Surf Shop. The location is now on the Register of California Historic Places of Interest: at Cowells Beach, in the shadow of the Dream Inn, near Santa Cruz Wharf.

Jack O'Neill never did get another P-cat. Hobie was on the scene, and Jack's shop, as well as selling wetsuits, surfboards, and sailing lessons, became the Northern California Hobie dealership.

Attached pics below are Howard Spruit, one of the early P-Cat crew, last weekend at Cowell's Beach, standing by the mural of the P-Cat Beach Cat. Nice crew, Howard! Also, there's Jack O'Neill and his hot air balloon, as well as local surfer denizens making a pilgrimage to Mile Buoy.

 

[pogen]

There is a huge amount of info on the Malibu Outrigger online, I'm not sure if these are still sailing anywhere.

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/03/r/designs/malibu/outrigger.htm

http://www.mit.edu/people/robot/malibu/

 

[sleddog]

Sunday 8/30/15

As the sun began to rise, and by the light of the setting full moon, two dozen surfers were riding shoulder high waves this morning off the Capitola Cliffs. A "Beach Hazard Statement" from Mendocino to Monterey has been issued for the effects of large swells being generated by a combination of wave trains from the southwest: From Typhoon Atsani, and three Cat. 4 Hurricanes, Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena, between the West Coast and the Dateline.

Currently Category 4, but weakening, Ignacio, is forecast to brush Hawaii early this week as a Tropical Storm, and then pass on a northwest track. Behind, also Category 4, Jimena is likewise forecast to track north of the Hawaiian Chain.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

It's been a record summer in the Eastern and Central Pacific for "Tropicals," (Tropical Depressions, Tropical Storms, and Hurricanes.). Water temps are high along the latitude of the Hawaiian Chain, with 82-85 degrees more than enough to fuel development and sustain Tropicals.

At one point, the 5 day computer forecast for now Category 4 Hurricane Kilo had it curving north, and scoring a bullseye on Kauai. Tropical Storms and Hurricanes rely on both upper and lower level winds, and wind shear is hard to predict. Easterly surface tradewinds, and upper level Westerlies can both blow at the same location. The computers got it wrong, and Kilo was slower to develop than anticipated, and passed harmlessly to the south of Hawaii as a TD.

Light upper level wind shear and warm water are what allow Tropicals to develop and intensify. Stronger wind shear and cooler ocean temps tear Tropicals apart. With El Nino warming the Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean, there have been 10 named Tropicals this season, and another 10 that never got past the development stage.

Three Category 4 Hurricanes roaming the Central Pacific Basin at once? Never happened before. http://www.weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/three-category-4-hurricanes-pacific-kilo-ignacio-jimena It's a reminder that our climate is changing, and what happened last year, 10 years ago, and 50 years ago, may not be true in months and years to come. And our California drought continues, with land sinking as aquifers below are being heavily tapped to sustain life.

 

[sleddog]

Cobb Seamount, rising to within 13 fathoms (78) feet of the surface, is not something you'd want to run into with your submarine. First discovered in 1950 310 miles west of the Washington Coast, Cobb is the pinnacle structure of the remains of an ancient volcano, surrounded by very deep water.

I would not have noticed Cobb except for charting the ongoing Kauai-Victoria, BC passage of the schooner MARTHA, after their Transpac Race a month ago. MARTHA is passing just north of Cobb Seamount, and is about 360 miles from Victoria, where she will be featured in the Classic Boat Festival this coming weekend. It's been a tough passage for MARTHA's crew, sailing with the wind consistently forward of 60 degrees for two weeks. They did not encounter the Pacific High, which was centered hundreds of miles northwest, up around the Aleutians. Schooners are meant to reach, not beat.

Fortunately, MARTHA avoided the hurricanes and tropical storms traversing the corridor north of Hawaii, as well as missing out on last Saturday's record windstorm in the Pacific NW. Gusts of 80 knots on the Washington Coast, and 60 knots in the San Juan Islands left half a million without power as the strongest summer windstorm and lowest summertime barometric pressure (986 mb at Cape Flattery) in historical record passed over the area.

The cool thing about Cobb Seamount is it extends upward into the zone of surface sun light and is a biological hot spot for local organisms and fish. Cobb's summit is carpeted with a rare ecosystem of sponges, due to the absence of the predator, the Sea Star starfish.. There is so much sealife on Cobb Seamount, including urchins, sponges, algae, anemones, and gastropods. that no bare rock has been visible on expeditionary dives.

I doubt MARTHA's crew is thinking much about underwater sponges. More likely thoughts about landfall, seeing friends and loved ones, hot showers, a cool drink, and meal ashore. We'll see MARTHA in a week when they arrive at their homeport of Port Townsend for the Wooden Boat Festival. The PTWBF should be interesting, with many of the Race2Alaska participants featured, as well as an announcement as to the next R2AK, late June of 2016, about the same time as the start of the SHTP.

Note to self: Full Moon in the summer of 2016 is June 20; July 19; and August 18. As the Grateful Dead sang, "Gentlemen Start Your Engines."

 

[Philpott]

She was actually purple when she 1st arrived and was sailed out of the St. Francis YC. View attachment 1079 More pics from the backbone rebuild: View attachment 1076View attachment 1077View attachment 1078

What is the purpose of the blue paint on the ribs?