AMERICA’S CUP HYPE

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America’s Cup cost defended by Plymouth City Council

The nine racing catamarans have been unloaded from a cargo ship in Millbay Docks
The cost of bringing the America’s Cup to Plymouth has been “money well spent”, the leader of the city council has insisted.

The yachts are due to begin racing in Plymouth Sound on 10 September.

Suggestions that it could cost up to £500,000 to stage have been rejected by Vivian Pengelly, who said the council had budgeted £100,000.

Plymouth City Council has estimated the second leg of the world series could generate £10m for the local economy.

It said providing accommodation for the teams alone – 700 beds for 20 days – will benefit local hoteliers by £1.2m.

The council has previously said it could not disclose the “fee” it paid to host the event in the city.

Devon sailor Conrad Humphreys said staging the America’s Cup could cost the council “at least” £500,000, but Mrs Pengelly said that was “not quite true”.

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The public are going to see quite a spectacle”

Peter Greenhalgh
Team Energy competitor
“It’s not going to cost nearly as much as we thought, because we’ve got so much sponsorship from people like the university and business, who’ve been absolutely fantastic,” she told BBC News.

“It can cost anything up to £100,000, but until we know exactly what sponsorship we’re getting, we’re not really sure what the cost will be.”

A media city has been set up on Plymouth Hoe where a 100-strong television crew will beam the competition across the world.

The nine 45ft (14m) catamarans taking part in the challenge have been unloaded from a cargo ship which arrived in Millbay Docks last week.

An estimated 150,000 people are expected to watch the newly designed AC45 racing yachts from vantage points all around Plymouth Sound.

Peter Greenhalgh, a British sailor who will be competing on board the French catamaran Team Energy, said the boats were fast and the racing would be close.

“The public are going to see quite a spectacle,” he told BBC News.

“The boats are very easy to identify and I think they’ll find it enjoyable viewing.”

Mrs Pengelly said staging the America’s Cup was an opportunity to showcase Plymouth to the world and the cost was “money well spent”.

“Everyone’s getting very excited about it and there’s a real buzz around the town,” she said.

Entertainment programme
The first stage of the series took place earlier this month in the Portuguese town of Cascais and the final leg of the qualifying event will be held in San Diego, California, between October and December.

Visitors will also be able to enjoy a full programme of entertainment over the 10-day event, including live music, food, shopping and a yacht racing simulator.

The America’s Cup is named after the yacht America which sailed from the east coast of the United States in 1851 to race against British yachts.

America won the race and the trophy was donated to the New York Yacht Club under a Deed of Gift that still governs the competition.

Newport, Rhode Island has been “awarded” one of the acts, I have written about this before. How will it work in Newport? I am not sure. It will allow the state to spend money to improve the docks and facilities at Fort Adams. Anyone who has experienced a festival at Fort Adams and the traffic in Newport might understand the logistical problems that the city of Newport has inherently has to deal with.
The event will from a distance be a feather in the cap of Newport and it’s reputation as the sailing capital of the world.
San Francisco does seem to be overcoming the issues that stood in the way of having the event there. Work is moving forward on the waterfront.

CHICAGO-MACKINAC RACE WEATHER REVIEW

Here is a carefully written review of the events and weather conditions that led to the loss of life during the recent Chicago-Mackinac race. ( and quickly done )
2011 Chicago-Mackinac Race: A Meteorological Summary
Mark A. Thornton

A Long Tradition The Chicago Yacht Club sponsored the first sailboat race to Mackinac Island, Michigan, in 1898, earning it the distinction as the oldest freshwater race in the world. Over the next twenty-three years, the race was held sporadically and the course altered due to a variety of circumstances, including a hiatus prompted by World War I. But since 1921, the Chicago-Mackinac race, and its current course, has been an annual tradition.
Expanding from its humble origins, participation has grown from five yachts in 1898 to 355 in its 103rd running in 2011. The race’s long tradition, combined with the challenges of the course, has brought it world-wide attention with many international sailors among the 3,500 participants. A race with such a long tradition develops a very loyal following. The Island Goat Sailing Society was formed in 1959 by 10 sailors who had participated in at least 25 Chicago-Macs. Devotion to the race has swelled the membership in this elite group to nearly 300 members who have collectively spent nearly 10,000 hours competing.
The starting line for the nearly 300 nautical mile course is located near the mouth of the Chicago River. The shortest, but not necessarily the fastest, course takes the competitors northeast across Lake Michigan to the Michigan shore, past the Fox Islands and Beaver Island and under the majestic Mackinac Bridge to the finish line near Mackinac Island, Michigan. The size and speed of the boats vary considerably, but most competitors complete the journey in 30 to 70 hours. The record, set in 1998 by Steve Fossett aboard Stars and Stripes, was 18 hours, 50 minutes.
A 300-mile race is an obvious test of sailing skills and endurance. Weather conditions in the Great Lakes during the summer can be volatile, and many Chicago-Mac participants have experienced challenging conditions over the years. While a typical regatta can be delayed or cancelled in response to a threatening weather pattern, it is not feasible to abandon a long-distance race once it is underway. Observing the weather and managing the boat and crew in threatening conditions is simply part of the challenge. A historical summary of the race published by the Chicago Yacht Club sums up the race as follows; “Stripped down to its essence, the Mackinac event, like all sailboat racing, is still primarily a test of strength, endurance, strategy, willpower and a little sailor’s luck thrown in for good measure. And let’s not forget the dearest friend (and most menacing foe) of all sailors — the wind.”
Prior to 2011, not a single weather-related fatality had occurred in the race’s 103 year history. This extraordinary safety record ended when the participants encountered a strong storm system crossing the upper portion of Lake Michigan late on Sunday, July 17th. This paper provides a meteorological analysis of the initial development of the storms, their transition into an organized system, and their transit across the lake.

Note: In order to coordinate the narrative to events in Michigan and a variety of imagery, all times are presented in Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). GMT will appear in parenthesis after Eastern Daylight Saving Time and will be followed by a ‘Z’.

IF THERE CAN BE GOOD NEWS

The present track of Irene puts the eye of hurricane going over Western Long Island, about 100 miles west of Rhode Island. Very good news for us, not so for those now in the path of the storm. If this holds true, I will be very relieved.

latest NOAA

The storm has also been downgraded and has weakened. Right now the predictions for Newport, RI are 50 knot winds, quite acceptable. (as the reader may know the force of the wind is the square of the speed, a few quick examples will show how dramatically things change as the numbers grow.)

I am feeling cautiously better.

STILL WAITING FOR IRENE

I am still hoping for a miracle, that the hurricane will weaken or go inland and dissipate. Still have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. No choice there.  It is still not possible to tell, however at the moment, it looks as though the hurricane may head over Long Island and up into Western Massachusetts. A blessing for me.

While I am watching and waiting for Irene, my friend Paul Larsen and another group  are cycling The Haute Route, a staged race of 730 km between Geneva and Nice; over some of steepest terrain.

 

IRENE IS HEADED TO RHODE ISLAND

noaa tracking irene

In case you can’t tell, hurricane’s are my phobia. I like the manifestations of nature, but as a homeowner I am always  feeling protective. I have sailed through two hurricanes in my sailing career so far. It makes for good stories, but I never felt threatened or in danger. I worry much more about my house.

James Boyd of The Daily Sail has written a very good two part interview with the crew of Rambler 100 concerning the capsize. The Daily Sail is a subscription blog so I cannot reproduce the article here, only refer you to it. Click here to go to the page.

Finally, IDEC has been righted in Montauk.

IDEC AND IRENE

hurricane irene

Hurricane’s are my one true worry. They are destructive, therefore I always worry about them. As a true New Englander I am always waiting for the other shoe to drop. I would never want to wish harm to someone else, but neither do I wish to have an encounter with Irene.

Now an update on IDEC and Francis Joyon. The capsized trimaran is under tow, now that the mast has been removed from the boat, to a safe harbor where righting the boat will be attempted.

IDEC under tow

FIRST HURRICANE OF THE SEASON

96 hour NOAA chart

For those of us who live on the east coast, it is the time of year where we are looking over our shoulders. The season officially starts in June, but for the east coast the water temperature and weather systems are not established to guide the storms to us until near now. Really September and October are our danger zone. Hurricanes are apart of life for us, unfortunately. They seems to arrive just when the trees are most vulnerable; the foliage is full and heavy adding considerable surface area. The Midwest has tornado season, which is far more destructive. The power of the tornadoes dwarfs that of most hurricanes.