r.finn

I'm using Commanders for departure, doldrums and Cape horn approach.

Yeah, new forecast is showing Thursday departure. This is the only time I get to choose the weather before the clock starts, so trying to choose wisely.

Agreed. Pretty stupid attitude for a race like this. As if Boris just happens to be there!

Let's keep this simple. I just say Port Tack Bow or Starboard Tack Bow.

I arrived at Miramar Yacht Club, Brooklyn, this morning at 3 am. Tracker was off for some reason. Sorry about that.

Verdier said the VG is 1/3 race, 2/3 delivery. We're in delivery mode now and it makes for a great adventure race.

Is that a serious question?

I always thought it was short sighted to disallow scow bows yet allow lifting foils into IMOCA. One of these concepts has no moving parts per/knot. The argument initially was to avoid obsolescence within the fleet, yet that same year a bunch of existing boats had significant bow surgeries and since then retrofit foils haven't exactly been cheap. Ian's right. It should be brought up for discussion again.

The important part of this comment is "I really don't understand". You don't. There's probably a story and you will eventually find out about it.

Pretty much. It's not like we're talking about production boats here. I mean, could you imagine if a production sailboat company had a problem with keels falling off or something? Oh wait...

VPLP has definitely left a lot of boat parts in the Atlantic, but this is an Irens design.

Because everyone knows that singlehanders are just sitting on money, waiting for someone to show them where to put it.

5. Tripon has been knocking on 500nm/day for a couple of days

Above is the reason some of us accuse you of misquoting or misrepresenting people's language. First, where did you find out Steve Callahan is one of America's best journalists? Despite our current political environment, there are actually a lot of good journalists in the United States still. Second, you can disagree with an article without calling someone a liar. They can be wrong or have misconceptions, but "liar" implies intent, and your statement above shows more intent than anything the other guy said about Cruising World. As the owner of Jzerro, with more miles on her than Steve Callahan, who I admire deeply, I am telling you his description of how vulnerable Jzerro's mast is simply is not true. So now that I'm verifying this for you, I think it's time for you to stop using his decades old theory about Jzerro's mast and start listening to the person who actually operates it. There is far too much proa discussion that is theoretical and not enough based in experience. It needs to stop.

This! People criticizing HB's rudder fuse clearly have not worked extensively with the problem of tuning them for ocean racing yachts. These are not Hobie 16 problems. There is no pop-up rudder solution that will reliably deliver a well preserved blade regardless of what it hits at every speed. There's a big difference between hitting a sunfish at 15 knots, a whale at 33 knots and a container or galvanized fishing rigging at 20 knots, and you don't necessarily want it to kick up every time you hit a patch of sargassum. The fuse is insurance, and the policy may not always cover the accident.

True, but if he can avoid a gybe and they can't, he'll come out well ahead.

I hope you guys understand that he has a much better view of his sails in this boat than he did in the last one. Trimming sails at the mast is an advantage and he has a lot of windows looking directly up at sails.

Is it possible that whoever wrote that article 19 years ago was incorrect? I say that because the mast on Jzerro has remained upright for 26 years. When sailing downwind on Jzerro, the sheet is not eased very much and the traveler is basically a barber hauler which moves the mainsail sheeting point to leeward, allowing for good leech tension. I could only imagine her "crash gybing" if the autopilot had a major malfunction and the rudder went hard over. The boom would not hit the shrouds since it is too short and the sheet tension wouldn't allow it to swing over that far. The square top main would, at full hoist, but overall the barber hauler/traveler would remain in the same spot to leeward using the mainsail leech as a shroud of sorts while the boat goes head to wind. I certainly wouldn't ease the mainsail in that scenario and in fact would wind on as much sheet tension as possible, but I have never had the boat come close to doing this. The reason I said this would only likely happen due to autopilot malfunction is because I've sailed for minutes on end downwind with no autopilot engaged and no hands on the tiller in medium conditions and a furling Code 5. Jzerro surfed down waves at 10-13 knots, slowing in the trough and heading up slowly until the boat would accelerate again bearing off down the wave again. She showed no measurable tendency to round up or gybe, but certainly wasn't as fast as steering or using an autopilot. Have you found that when sailing your designs offshore? You have to understand, this boat tracks extremely well with her deep hulls. Russell and I have both written about our back-winding experience. Have a good read through this thread to find my recounting of that event. Perhaps you should start referring to updated information about Jzerro rather than rely on an article from 19 years ago. Feel free to start here.

This is a hard fleet to not love. But you also have to give a big shout out to PRB. He has very few registered solo miles. Kind of amazing from the side lines.

Now's a particularly good time to slow down. He's in the lead, in a controlling possition early in the race , and in a tropical storm. Haven't looked at the sea state, but if Apivia has found a part of the road with less awful waves, he is the one to worry about. It would explain his hitch west.

Ballance Bar?

That would definitely give away detailed polar info, so probably keeping it private.

uncooked rice on the floor... Immensely complicated forecast. Bless them.

Goddamn leech lines!

It's by far the best cockpit. This is far more connected to actively sailing the boat than the last HB, a classically styled layout. If it's climate controlled, it's the future.