Another monster multihull takes off in the same direction at the same time – Pascal Bigedorry on Banque Populaire V takes on the same record as Cammas.
Banque Populaire V pop off for a 5 or less day jaunt across the Atlantic
We (naturally) wish them luck as well! Oh … and did I mention that they are slightly ahead as well?
Still to close to call ...
I want to be there!!!!!
Franck Cammas and crew have set off on their attempt to break their own transatlantic record under sail. It is well worth going to their site, if only to see the amazing video on the front page of the boat doing its thing in the ocean. This is another Monster Multihull, but designed to handle the rigours of crossing an ocean. Having done that myself (singelhanded on a 28 foot racing trimaran) I have some experience of what this is like.
These guys will have to sail at an average speed in excess of 33 knots to beat their own record! The current record is 4 days, 3 hours, 57 Minutes and 54 seconds – faster than most passenger ships.
Groupama 3 doing what she does best
A lot depends on the weather – one of the problems with a crossing at this speed is that you go faster than the weather fronts, so there is a lot of strategy finding the right conditions and staying in them as long as possible. According to Sylvain Mondon from Meteo France – their onshore router – “A line of stormy squalls from the SW hit New York during the course of the afternoon and produced a considerable wind increase on its way through. This enabled us to take the start a little earlier than we initially planned.”
To stand a chance of beating her own reference time set on 24th July 2007, Groupama 3 will have to cross the finish line off Lizard Point, the South-West tip of Britain, prior to Monday 3rd August at 00h 09′ 10” UTC.
We wish her all of the best!
Another cool video from the folks at Alinghi. This grudge match is setting itself up to be an awesome sailing contest! Pretty sure Larry Ellison will launch another boat now with engine powered ballast and controls – and probably lean towards lighter air as well (it is clear that this Alinghi boat will crash and burn in the heavy stuff!.
I would guess he will wait until the definitive venue announcement that is in the next few weeks – super important for the boat design. Keep watching this space for the latest!
Check out the video here.
This thing leaves me gobsmacked! Here are a few more shots of the Monster Multihull – also plse look at the video it is totally awesome.
Moere Awesome - look how little wind there is
And on a slightly more technical note, check out the mainsheet. Where in the old days one would see ropes and blocks we now see two rams attached to that V8 snowmobile engine.
Use of hydralic rams instead of ropes and winches on the main sheet.
And over she goes! Well – it kinda makes you wonder how robust this all is. How do you dump the mainsheet when its a ram? What happens in a puff?
Going ... Going ...
Quick note – I cant figure out how to embed this so plse go to this link to have a look. An absolutely AWESOME video of the maiden sail of the Alinghi Monster – take a look here.
Awesome!
Well – it didn’t fall apart. Yet.
Alinghi Monster Cat on Lake Geneve - Maiden Voyage
Still a fair amount of controversy over that engine (which I have heard is from a snowmobile). Apparently it runs (noisily) all the time and supplies power to the winches. Observant observers will notice the lack of winch pedestals (the handles to wind the winches found on normal big boats). How they will get away with this under the rules is still to be disclosed. As defenders of the cup they are able to change the rules, but since they already announced that the match will be to ISAF rules they will have to be amended for this. There is some precedent – the really large monohulls also use hydraulic power for winches.
Look closely at the hulls - those specs are grown men! Gives you and idea of the scale.
More on Sail World and the Alinghi website. More pics also on Flickr.
It’s not built yet, but Neville Crichton’s new Alfa Romeo seems to be heading that way. With an interior inspired by the cars of the same name (Neville is involved in importing these to New Zealand I believe), this boat looks absolutely stunning.
Alfa Romeo in the build shed in China
Inside there are some really cool Alfa influences, like the companionway …
Cool is the only word for it!
Check out this page at Sail World. Many more pics such as the one below – absolutely awesome!!!! Notice the guys standing at the foot of the mast – gives you some perspective on the scale of these things.
Wow!
Scouring the net for some pics from the Swiss maiden sail – check back here tomorrow for an update.
Had to just bring a few more pics of this Multihill Mania that is developing in the world of the America’s Cup. From the BMW Oracle sea trials …
Get a feel for the size of these boats here
And how fast is this!!!
Speed!
From the Swiss camp as they prepare to try their creation out today, a few more pics …
The mast - get an idea of the scale by looking at the person on the right
And the boat (which has just successfully launched) …
The Boat
In a few words that’s my new toy. And what a cool thing it is too! Start with the size. Fits nicely into a full overnight (overweek) bag. Light. Big enough to type documents and email on (sorry – the iPhone route wasnt going to cut it for me).
Really cool small netbook - all you need for on the road
Please take a trip to el Reg to read the full review. I read it and wandered off on Tuesday to Tottenham Court Roadwith a fairly open mind. I have used a Sony Vaio laptop as my only machine for years, but it has been getting slow and now the fan doesnt work so it is useless to travel with (ok at home on an external fan). As a solution, given the credit crunch, I rescuscitated a PC that I had under my desk as my main machine and then sought a suitable travelling companion.
I liked a number of the Netbook type machines. They all have small screens which is an issue – 10 inch is theoretically the largest although I did like the Acer 12 inch model. After checking out the review on el Reg, however, I was less sold – particularly in view of the difficulty that I was having reading the review on the machine in the shop! I liked the added screen real estate, but unfortunately the resolution we too ambitious for the screen size and my eyes complained.
Small and light
A note on shopping on Tott court road for these things. Dont feel shy to get the reviews up on the screen while in the shop. Most of the assistants are failry moronic, so dont expect sensible answers from them (I heard a few classics on Tuesday). Watch out for special deals – one shop offered me the 1008 $15 cheaper but then to sweeten the deal offered the bag at £10 instead of £20 – the thing comes with a bag anyway. Also, when they say they dont take Amex, walk for the door. You would be amazed how fast they find a way 🙂
Anyway – the machine is fantastic. 160G hard drive is twice the size of my “full size” laptop, and the machine runs significantly faster than it! So, a stripped down “low performance” netbook is in fact faster than a 3 year old top of the range laptop, and at £400 is a lot cheaper.
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