Special LongPac Seminar on April 13th

[ajgoldman]

I am very happy to announce that Bruce Schwab will give a LongPac talk on Wednesday, April 13th at the Oakland Yacht Club. The talk will follow immediately after the Corinthian trophy presentation that night. Bruce will talk about energy & charging for both the LongPac and the Singlehanded TransPac. The number one game when racing offshore for an extended period of time is power. The more reserve power you have, the better you feel, trust me! Bruce will talk about a variety of charging sources including solar, wind, generator (gas, diesel, water), and the primary engine.

About Bruce Schwab: On February 25, 2005, Bruce became the first American in history to officially finish the Vendee Globe and currently holds the American solo circumnavigation record of 109 days and 20 hours. Bruce was also the only American finisher in Class One of the 2002/2003 Around Alone. Closer to home, Bruce won our Singlehanded TransPac in 1996 aboard Rumbleseat. He now gives talks around the nation and is very happy to be "coming home" and talking with the SSS.

Here is the schedule for Wednesday, April 13th at the OYC:

7:30-8:15pm Corinthian trophy presentation
8:15-9:15pm talk by Bruce
9:15-9:30 Q and A

Please don't miss this special event.

 

[Wylieguy]

Bruce's Talk

In addition to all the sailing achievements, Bruce was awarded the USSA Hansen Medal, for a rescue at the S. E. Farallon Island during a BAMA Doublehanded Farllones Race.
Pat Broderick, former SSS Commodore

 

[ajgoldman]

Friendly reminder that Bruce Schwab will be giving his talk tonight, Wednesday, April13th, at the Oakland Yacht Club immediately following the trophy presentation for the Corinthian race.

The meeting will begin at 7:30pm. Hope to see you there.

AJ

 

[Matt]

Thanks to Bruce for Explaining Li+ vs. Lead-Acid Batteries

Thanks to Bruce Scwab for his presentation last night about power consumption on sailing boats and the advantages of Lithium over Lead-Acid batteries. I have a special interest in this subject since I've been experimenting with an electric powered hub motor bicycle to get around Alameda for the last couple years. I've burned up about $300 in lead-acid batteries and destroyed a couple rear wheels and bike racks. I have been trying to justify to myself the expense of buying a decent set of lithium batteries for this experiment. I've been waiting for DeWalt, GM or some other big company to make lithium batteries cheap enough to serve my purpose. I have also tried 36V of 10C NiMh batteries for about $200 but didn't get the output needed for the speed and distance necessary for the e-bike.

After Bruce gave his pitch about the advantages of lithium batteries for systems that drain the batteries past 50%, require many cycles to be worthwhile, and can be recharged quickly, I have a much better understanding of the cost advantage and other advantages to making the switch. Bruce has proved these systems on around the world sailing vessels and eventually everyone will make the switch.

I was talking with Greg about the advantages of Li+ batteries instead of gel cell lead acid batteries last week after seeing the Torqueedo electric outboard on the back of Outsider. I like the idea of getting up and down the estuary or out of the way of a container ship without using a gas outboard. Count me in for a dual purpose set of Lithium batteries that I can use for my daily commute on an e-bike, sailing singlehanded with an auto pilot and going off the grid powering everything at home using solar. That $.28/KWH that PG&E is charging for electricity is not getting any cheaper.

Matt