[born2sail]

Let's start this thing...

Here's a lay-of-the-land map for reference, some buoy reports for the coast of Spain and the cape area and if I can't fit them in with this post, two interesting GRIBs that shows the tactical challenge facing the boys...

Post Reference: B2S 1

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This post has been edited by born2sail: 27 October 2006 - 03:25 AM

[marian]

Good on you B2S!
Stamm was leading last time I heard, there should be quite a few stories on the News here, but Ed seems to have broken it when he changed the front page as its stuck on yesterday. You can find it HERE for now.
I thought one of the most interesting aspects is Troy's righting probs and the news that he is likely to go up to La Rochelle for a fix. I did agree with his statement that he'd rather do the Southern Ocean as the boat is now, than in something with a modified and untested keel!!
What I'd like to know is why the tests aren't done earlier, so anyone with probs would get a chance to do mods before the start?

[born2sail]

marian, on Oct 22 2006, 09:45 AM, said:

Good on you B2S!
Stamm was leading last time I heard, there should be quite a few stories on the News here, but Ed seems to have broken it when he changed the front page as its stuck on yesterday. You can find it HERE for now.
I thought one of the most interesting aspects is Troy's righting probs and the news that he is likely to go up to La Rochelle for a fix. I did agree with his statement that he'd rather do the Southern Ocean as the boat is now, than in something with a modified and untested keel!!
What I'd like to know is why the tests aren't done earlier, so anyone with probs would get a chance to do mods before the start?

Cool...hopefully the link on the front page will get fixed. Meantime, what I'll do is instead of loading up this thread with posts, I'll post a few messages with images, then update [aka Edit] them and when I do, I'll use a different font color and check the [Edit] box so folks know when stuff changes.

I'll also number the posts in case people want to make reference to something they see there.

[Mid]

good stuff B2S ,
where are you getting the GRIB's from ??

[moody frog]

marian, on Oct 22 2006, 08:45 AM, said:

Good on you B2S!
Stamm was leading last time I heard, there should be quite a few stories on the News here, but Ed seems to have broken it when he changed the front page as its stuck on yesterday. You can find it HERE for now.
I thought one of the most interesting aspects is Troy's righting probs and the news that he is likely to go up to La Rochelle for a fix. I did agree with his statement that he'd rather do the Southern Ocean as the boat is now, than in something with a modified and untested keel!!
What I'd like to know is why the tests aren't done earlier, so anyone with probs would get a chance to do mods before the start?

Tests can be done any time, with a simpler renewal every year.
I'ts a test related to IMOCA 60 class conformity of the boat, not a requirement of this specific race.
So Tim Troy could hv done it much earlier, I understand he says the class measurer he chose, could not fly to the US due to some security reason.

Sad for him anyway

[born2sail]

Mid, on Oct 22 2006, 10:33 AM, said:

good stuff B2S ,
where are you getting the GRIB's from ??

SailDocs for the GRIB files, ViewFax for the images...all free.

[Buckie Lugger]

It sounds like the class measurer's trip was postponed due to the Heathrow terrorist scare in August. When that happened virtually every transatlantic flight was grounded, and very few planes got out of Heathrow that day. (My sister was caught in it, whilst trying to get to San Francisco.)

[Buckie Lugger]

I've just taken a look at the 5 Oceans website, and you can see that Stamm, Golding and Thompson are all sailing with full mainsails, whilst Kojiro, Basurko and Knox-Johnston are pretty heavily reefed. It's interesting that the more experienced skippers are pushing far harder at this stage.

[Mid]

Quote

more experienced skippers

interesting comment Buckie .............

i was intrigued that the BOSS was a lot more upright on the work to the first mark compared to MG .

[marian]

moody frog, on Oct 22 2006, 05:38 PM, said:

So Tim Troy could hv done it much earlier, I understand he says the class measurer he chose, could not fly to the US due to some security reason.

Hmm, interesting. Why can't they have measurers in all entrants countries. Seems expensive to have to fly someone over??

[bobothehobo]

Quick few words before I get some much needed rest. I have been here in Bilboa since Oct 1 working on the shore team of one of the Open 60's. Just returned from the Hugo Boss, thank god they're gone party, which was thrown at Soho here in Bilboa for the shore teams. My impressions from my time here:

-Alex's boat looks very fast with the new rig. He sailed flatter and faster than Bernard and Mike off the line as well as in the in port race.

-Mike seems to have his boat very dialed in, extremely well prepped and he seems to be mentally in the zone.

-Funny thing at the start, it was blowing 20-25 with gusts much higher. Bernard and Mike both first set their main sails to one reef, then Alex raised full main- Bernard and MG quickly followed suit. BBK, Spirit of Tokyo and Sir Robin sailed with double reefs, opting to not push their boats.

-As per Tim's difficulties with IMOCA, most statements on this thread are accurate, he could have done it sooner, the flight of the measurer to the US was delayed due to Heathrow terrorist threat, and adding lead to an unknown keel fin (to the tune of 300kg) is probably not a safe call.

-These guys are going to have a rough first 48 hours. The forecast is for heavy wind on the nose. Typical.

-Unai and the guys from the BBK team are some of the best people I have ever met. It was extremely helpful to have some local people willing to help out in any way they could. It was difficult to locate needed materials and tools here and they went out of their way to help everyone. The favor will be returned.

I have a ton of pics which i will now attempt to post, but i am exhausted so I may not get to it.

Cheers,
Bobo

[Kevin]

So aside from discussing the race itself... does anyone else find that the Race Viewer on the Velux site is utter crap? Information seems random & obscure, graphically it's pretty bad (boats sail sideways) and as for performance... it's atrocious.

[pominfrance]

anyone know the lates from the Velux, is it a bit tight of them to be asking for 20 quid for live updates?

[moody frog]

marian, on Oct 22 2006, 10:30 AM, said:

Hmm, interesting. Why can't they have measurers in all entrants countries. Seems expensive to have to fly someone over??

"They" certainly would love it, but who is going to take the time to learn and qualify as a measurer without hope to make some money on several boats. Just a case of "no need to offer when there is too little demand" I'm afraid. - and the cost of the ticket is soooo small compared to the cost of the campaign or even class registration.

I did not want to point it earlier, but the problem here is complicated by the fact that the boat never was an Imoca 60 before, to the contrary of other "older" boats;

[marian]

We've just had an apology for problems with website and tracker, hopefully things will get better!

[Roberto]

Just to add a little to Tim Troy's stability test issues. He had scheduled a diver, crane, and sounded the water prior to the measurer's flight being cancelled. He was then told that it would need to be done in Europe. At the Annapolis show, I was told that he passed the test so the failure notice was a late development. I should get an e-mail update today.

Like everyone, I hope the Velux site improves on coverage.

[Kevin]

I hope they do something to improve their hapless excuse for a "Gallery"...

[moody frog]

Roberto, on Oct 23 2006, 04:29 AM, said:

Just to add a little to Tim Troy's stability test issues. He had scheduled a diver, crane, and sounded the water prior to the measurer's flight being cancelled. He was then told that it would need to be done in Europe. At the Annapolis show, I was told that he passed the test so the failure notice was a late development. I should get an e-mail update today.

Like everyone, I hope the Velux site improves on coverage.

If I follow some of the early P/Rs, the problem would not be that the boat failed to self-right but that the calculation of the AVS, which comes next, did not bring the requested result (off by 3°).

ANGLE OF VANISHING STABILITY (AVS)
This angle shall not be less than 127,5°.
This angle is calculated from the theoretical curve of stability, derived from measurements
taken during stability test and from information by the designer.
The volume of the mast, which may be watertight wholly or in part, is not taken into
account.

[Roberto]

Not that there's a lot of 'fat' above the keel. What about the idea of removing weight above as opposed to adding to the keel area?

Seems like a safer approach.

[marian]

Kevin, on Oct 23 2006, 12:51 PM, said:

I hope they do something to improve their hapless excuse for a "Gallery"...

We've got 300 + Velux pix and keep on adding.

[marian]

Sounds rough out there, Hugo Boss has broached and others have experienced 70 knots.

[Kevin]

Excellent Marian! Thanks. It's nice to enjoy a pic without a huge watermark deforming the entire image. :D

[KingMonkey]

Does anyone know what Mike Golding's up to? The latest position report said he'd spent much of the day heading North. Seems a little strange.

[born2sail]

KingMonkey, on Oct 23 2006, 10:14 AM, said:

Does anyone know what Mike Golding's up to? The latest position report said he'd spent much of the day heading North. Seems a little strange.

Look how things are stacking up out in the Alantic toward the end of the week. Either they get above the L or they sail thru it. I don't think anybody is interested in sailing against winds OTS for the next week.

[marian]

born2sail, on Oct 23 2006, 05:25 PM, said:

Look how things are stacking up out in the Alantic toward the end of the week. Either they get above the L or they sail thru it. I don't think anybody is interested in sailing against winds OTS for the next week.

That northerly heading on the last graphic you posted looks very odd, especially as he is now only 9 miles behind Stamm. On the other hand, perhaps he knew something nobody else did?? :lol:
I wonder if there would be any benefit to keeping tight into the shore as they head round the corner?