Maine Sailing Partners

Attention Race Committees

Not much for race committees to do in Maine this time of year, except maybe get a bunch of organizational details out of the way so you don't find you are missing an important piece of the puzzle  in the middle of your big summer regatta.  In addition to a good group of people, running races properly requires collecting a bunch of stuff.  The Desert Sea  - New Mexico Sailing blog has a pretty exhaustive list of what that stuff is. (Thanks to Scuttlebutt for the link)   If you are going to be running a regatta this year, you might want to make a copy of this list as a starting point for your own equipment check list.

Vermont Strikes Lightning

Jeff and Amy Linton and Jahn Tihanski just won the 2007 Lightning World Championship using a complete sail inventory from our sister loft, Vermont Sailing Partners.  Congratulations.  Now the world knows Bill Fastiggi builds the best Lightning sails anywhere.
 

Letter from Miami

Former Maine Sailing Partner Pete writes:

So, I am down here in Miami getting ready to sail the Mumm 30 Worlds with Barking Mad.  We were measuring our sails in today and our main and S2 didn't measure in.  So we went to the local UK loft with our coach, Coach Bill Shore (whom we were calling Dad in the West Marine to try and freak him out) and I got a chance to show off my sail making skillzzzzzzz.  Yep, stitch ripping, hand work, seizing, bolt ropes and the lot.  I wasn't able to get on a machine, only the loft owner did that.  There were three of us, Bill, myself and the tactician (who had never been in a loft before).  The loft owner only charged us for 2.5 people and unless Bill counted as 2, I am pretty sure I was not the 1/2 person.  Anyway, just thought I'd check in and let you guys know your patience on the floor didn't go TOTALLY wasted.  Oh yeah, and I'm engaged.  Other than that, not much is new.

 

Pete

Shipyard Cupdate

Here's a picture of Goshawk getting ready to start on Day 1, sporting her Cuben Fiber mainsail and Contender Maxx light genoa.  Contender salesman, who passed on the photo from Maine Coastal News' Jon Johanson, pointed out the dramatic different in the construction of the two sails - the Cuben main has 90 panels; the Maxx genoa has 20...

Shipyard Cup

During my cruise, I got the chance to participate in the Shipyard Cup, a race for yachts over 70 feet.  This regatta is hosted by Hodgdon Yachts, builder of gorgeous megayachts.  Event chairman is former Maine Sailing Partner and Points East yachtsman of the year Ted Smith, and he certainly puts on a show.

In addition to some great parties, the event consists of two races of about 20 miles around Boothbay and environs.  The handicaps are applied at the start so that the first boat to finish is the winner.  I sailed on the 76 foot Goshawk, designed by Bob Stephens and Built by Brooklin Boatyard.  We managed a very creditably 4, 1 for second place overall, but couldn't defeat the ILC maxi Captivity.  As someone commented bringing this boat to the Shipyard Cup was kind of like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

Another participant was this handsome schooner, shown about to take her start:

When she was under construction we were asked to bid on her sails, but demurred since we felt we could not adhere to the somewhat anachronistic specifications required by the owner.  Apparently, the owner has revised his views on appropriate technology as she was sporting a new radial main and fisherman staysail (not by MSP).  Unfortunately, it appears from this closeup that the fabrics chosen aren't really up to the task.

We hope the owner isn't put off modern sailmaking...

Frostbite

Rob and I have been participating in the Sail Maine Frostbite Series.  Eight teams sailing identical Ynglings on Sundays through the middle of December.  The weather has been very clement so far and the racing tight on short windward leeward courses.  A link to results is in our events sidebar.

There are also a few more photos here.

The Hewitt Trophy

Here's some tight starting line action at the Hewitt Trophy, NEISA's northern New England championship, hosted by the Bates College Sailing Team at the beautiful Taylor Pond Yacht Club in Auburn, Maine, last weekend.  Our own Sam Carter was the winning "A" division skipper, leading the   UNH sailing team  to an overall victory.  Bates sailors Nate Merrill, Sarah Hoyt, Carolyn McNamara, and Lily Conover came in second for the weekend.  The regatta was the first workout for Bates' new MSP sails.

Monhegan

Last weekend was the annual running of the Portland Yacht Club Monhegan Island race.  This year the race featured an open class start which included Artforms, Gryphon Solo, and Ocean Planet.  You can read Bruce Schwab's report on Ocean Planet's race at Sailing Anarchy. 

MSP customers who won their class:  Ted Smith and Sash Spencer in Whiplash won the doublehanded division, and Mark Werner won the cruising canvas Seguin Island class in Nipantuck.  Chris Jennings in Milady took second in the Manana Island division, largest class with 14 entries.  Full results here.

Here's OP just after the start with her MSP Cuben Fiber mainsail.

Appropriately enough, who should be caught driving but former Cuben Marty Stephan.  What makes solo sailors?  They can't delegate.  With 11 on board, look who's grinding the jib winch.

Below are a couple of other MSP customers headed out Hussey Sound,  Maine Maritime Academy's Sheerness  and Bruce Cassidy's Emotional Rescue.

LINE HONORS

From today's Scuttlebutt:

LINE HONORS
In a tight battle down to the finish of the Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race, the USNA's Mameluke, a N/M 49 footer skippered by Tom Bock, snatched line honors from Sam Vineyard in Hawke, a more cruise oriented J/46. Vineyard was leading much of the way James Mulderig's Farr 72 Starr Trail withdrew from the race with light air sail problems. However, Hawke ran into a six-hour "hole" of light to no winds on Monday. This allowed Mameluke, sailing in from a more westerly course, to converge on Bermuda with a better angle and snatch the lead just at the reef marks north of the island. On corrected time Hawke took 13th place in the fleet and first place in Class A. Mameluke, in the celestial navigation group, ranked 40th in fleet and 7th in Class C. - Marion Bermuda Race

Hawke carries some MSP sails, including her mainsail.  Congratulations to Sam and crew.

More Congrats

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that our own Sam Carter, sailmaker, sailor, and fisherman extraordinaire, finished the New England Dinghy Tournament third in "A" division.  With just a little "run support," Sam and the UNH team would have been on the podium for sure.  Congratulations Sam . . . when are you coming back to work?

Congratulations

Congratulations to the Bates College Sailing Team for their performance at the New England Dinghy Tournament at Boston University this weekend.  Bates' fifth place finish qualifies them for the New England Dinghy Championship at Yale next weekend, a first for Bates College.

Congratulations specifically to Ben Leoni '05, Lily Conover '07 (captain), Nate Merrill '08 (co-captain), and Sarah Hoyt '08 for their strong finishes.  Special congratulations to Ben Leoni and Dan Vannoni '05.  Since Ben and Dan resurrected the sailing team their freshman year, the team has grown from four sailors to over 30 and from six boats to twelve.  Bates will host the Hewitt Trophy, the Northern New England Championship, at Taylor Pond in September, another significant first for Bates after hosting its first regatta only two years ago.

Keep an eye on Bates.

Bruce Schwab finishes Vendee

MSP is proud of our contribution to Bruce's new American solo nonstop circumnavigation record.

Ocean Planet Vendee update
February 28, 2005
From Les Sables d´Olonne
Race time: 109 days, 19 hours, 58 minutes, 57 seconds.

"Over the past several years, I have stubbornly struggled to achieve the impossible fantasy of finishing the legendary Vendee Globe race. During this time I had heard several times that the reception the finishers receive in Les Sables is really something. But never could I have possibly imagined the magnitude of the tumultuous greeting that was given to myself and Ocean Planet on Friday, February 25, 2005 after 109 days at sea.

Early on a very cold, but beautiful morning, we approached the finish with great anticipation.

Despite the cold there were many of our enthusiastic supporters out on the press boats, whooping it up for last couple hours as we reached the end of the journey. Minutes before the line, we were enveloped in a cold fog that added a bit of a sense of mystery and suspense. But nothing could stop the feeling of accomplishment that I felt as my finishing time blasted over the radio and the blasting of horns began.

We moored on a buoy outside the harbour for a few hours, waiting for high tide before entering the channel. At 1500 local time, we released our mooring, and began our way down the channel. Nothing could have prepared me for the next several hours.....

THOUSANDS of people lined the channel as we slowly paraded into the harbor amid deafening horns, cheering, and bell ringing! It was UNBELIEVABLE.
This was just the beginning! When we arrived to the pontoon, it was nearly sinking with hundred of kids chanting "We love Bruce", along with all the reporters, officials, and everyone else. What a scene.

After spraying everyone within range with champagne, I was then brought up on an outdoor stage for the first press conference.

This part finished with rocking out on the stage with about a hundred kids to a tune that I had previously selected by local musician Stephan Kolodiez. What fun!

Then we went inside to an absolutely PACKED auditorium for the next press conference. I was joined on stage by two special friends of Ocean Planet, Alice and Melissa, two young French students who sent me great emails for the entire trip around the world. They also had been aboard for our trip down the channel! This finished with my playing of a tune on the guitar (by popular demand....) and with our entire team onstage.

We did it!
Yes, I mean WE.  Ocean Planet carried a lot more hopes and dreams around the world than those of my own! 

My thanks go out to all of YOU who have supported this dream in so many ways, especially the Ocean Planet Official Supplier Sponsors and partners of our Ocean Sciences program! There are countless others that have made this possible....stay tuned (www.bruceschwab.com) for more updates about them and upcoming special shows I will be doing about this once in a lifetime adventure!

Why did I race the Vendee Globe? I hardly remember what started me on the path. But now I truly know why. It is hard to explain but perhaps the faces of Alice and Melissa, who followed me around the world, said it all.

Thanks to all,
Bruce and Ocean Planet"

MSP mainsail powers Ocean Planet - photo by Bruce

From the Trenches

As we mentioned earlier, a couple of former Maine Sailing Partners have thrown their hats into the Olympic rings for 2008.  There are many months and many hard miles of sailing to go before the Olympic Trials, but it wouldn't surprise us to see both these teams duking it out there.  For a revealing look at what the first steps on the road to the Olympics are like, click here.

One Tough Cuben

Another nice mention from Bruce, now in the home stretch of his Vendee Globe experience, of his MSP Cuben Fiber Mainsail

"Ocean Planet update
January 28, 2005
From 32 41S, 38 16W @ 1000 UT.

...
We also had a new mainsail for the race which was a special effort by Cuben Fiber and Maine Sailing Partners. The Cuben Fiber material is amazingly tough and durable, I think the main will be able to go around the world again!

...
That´s it for today.  Thanks for all the great emails to Ocean Planet from all over the world!

Bruce and Ocean Planet"

Mirage

For several years Ken and I have jointly owned a Hobie 33.  She is a fixed keel model, hull number 182 out of 186 built.  We named her Altercation in honor of her creator, Hobie Alter (and in acknowledgment of the possibility of disagreements among her owners).

She has been a wonderful bargain, serving as a test platform for sail materials and construction techniques ,  not to mention winning more than her share of silver.  She was three times GMORA season champion.  We finally put her into semi-retirement to keep her from being perceived as a bully.  Needless to say she is extremely fast in certain conditions.  Downwind in a breeze there are very few boats of any size that can keep up with her.

Yesterday, we heard that her sister, Mirage, sailed by Christian Schaumloffel out of Hampton, VA, has won the Ft. Lauderdale - Key West race by an hour and 15 minutes, beating an RP 81 sailed by Ken Read and a couple of Transpac 52s.  Congratulations to Christian.  Clearly a great sleigh-ride.  Wish we were there...

E-mail from the Southern Ocean

Nice to have a happy customer, even if he's far away:

---- Original Message -----

From: win

To: Bruce Schwab

Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 8:58 PM

Subject: Hello from Maine SP

Hi Bruce,

Just want you to know that we are avidly following your progress and rooting for you here at MSP.  At least twice a day the troops gather round the monitor to peruse the Vendee Globe and Ocean Planet web sites.  Sorry the reef webs let you down. 

Word from the loft floor is, “don’t let that damn motel by, and watch out for falling anchors.”

Win

From: Oceanplanet
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 4:20 PM
To: win
Subject: [work] Re: Hello from Maine SP

Hey Win & Team!

 

Reef webs no fault of yours.  Yet another one of my crazy ideas was run the spectra reef line right through the webbing without a block with the theory that it was static loading. 

 

Well if it WAS static it would have worked, but there was some wiggling since it is difficult to get the fore/aft position of the tie-down to the boom perfect.  So some movement under load, over thousands of cycles....and boom!

 

The mainsail is AWESOME.  I really like it.  The Cuben is really good on chafe, too. Which is nice on this setup with the pusher vangs and all.

 

No more falling anchors I hope.  Also, no icebergs, which will cost me miles.  But we'll see how the gybe angles work out closer to the Horn and after that there's still a LONG way to go.

 

B & OP