L A DAZE
Walking, yes walking in Hollywood there is not limit to the sights. There are architectural riches not to be believed. Of course people watching at an equally remarkable level. Those who desperately want to be seen and those who just want to be themselves.
LOS ANGELES OLD AND NEW
There truly is something for everyone in Los Angeles.
DORADE TRANSPAC DAY 7
RECORD SPEEDS IN THE TRANSPAC
Phaedo dismasting from Richard Langdon on Vimeo.
Dismasting, Debris, and Dazzling Speed in Transpac
Published on July 15th, 2013 | by Editor
(July 15, 2013) – It was a glorious day for some teams, but not great for others today in the 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Race organized by the Transpacific YC, or the Transpac.
Earlier today the Transpacific YC received the following report: “At 1830 UTC (1130 PDT) Phaedo dismasted in location 28 58.247N 130 09.576W. Everyone onboard is fine, we have secured the boat, cutting away the mast and section of the boom, and are now heading towards the LA area under engine. At the time of the dismasting we were sailing under A4 at around 16 kts.”
A sat phone interview with the team indicated they thought the top of the mast failed first, and then the rest came down soon after. The true wind speed was about the same as boat speed: 16 knots. No indications yet of what exactly failed, but this will be examined once Lloyd Thornburg’s Gunboat 66 is safely back to shore.
Without enough spar left to set a jury rig, Phaedo is headed back towards LA under power, making about 6 knots. At this speed the team reckons they have about 250 miles range in fuel, which means they will require fuel assistance to complete the remainder of the trip to the coast.
Other teams have been facing other dangers, reporting floating debris that if hit could cause serious damage to any boat, but particularly carbon fiber race boats traveling at high speeds. For example, Chip Megeath’s R/P 45 Criminal Mischief in Division 4 sighted a 15-foot chunk of floating telephone pole at 28 31.25 N 129 21.66 W, and Ross Pearlman’s Jeanneau 52 Between the Sheets reported a 35-foot tree trunk floating 100 yards off her port bow at approximately 28-18N 134-59W.
Finally, Bob Hayward’s Seastream 650 Manatea still leads the fleet to Hawaii in Division 8, but said they struck a 10-foot section of what probably was a telephone pole at 28-35N 138-54W. Manatea and crew are OK and sailing, but also reported miscellaneous floating pieces of lumber, “like the structure of a house.”
No doubt these are all pieces of wreckage from the March 2011 Tsunami tragedy in Japan, making its way in the currents that circulate around the north Pacific. Transpacific YC has advised all mariners to maintain a sharp lookout.
But the other news is good: the fleet is still hurtling fast towards Hawaii at dazzling speeds, and course records are not out of the question. Giovanni Soldini’s canting-keeled Volvo 70 Maserati rolled off another 400+ mile day (423 to be exact) to average 17.6 knots, and thus also take the Division 1 lead in corrected time from David Askew’s R/P 74 Wizard.
At these speeds Maserati and Syd Fischer’s Elliott 100 Ragamuffin 100, who is only a few miles away, are both on record pace: Neville Crichton’s R/P 100 Alfa Romeo II in 2009 set the monohull course record of 5D 14H 36M 20S in 2009 for an average speed over course of about 16.5 knots. Whoever finishes first would win the Merlin Trophy for fastest monohull in the race, but if a record falls they would also win the Transpac Honolulu Race Elapsed Time Trophy, aka the Clock Trophy, donated by Roy Disney, which he himself won on Pyewacket in 1997 and again in 1999.
And the Barn Door Trophy for the fastest of the fixed-keel entries could not only go to Wizard if they maintain their lead, but they might even beat their own record time of 6D 19H 44M 28S set in 2011 when sailed as Belle Mente if her current pace of averaging 16.3 knots is able to hold.
But its still early days, and these teams still have many miles to cover before surfing into the finish line at Honolulu’s Diamond Head.
Nonetheless, the Division 1 speedsters have already overtaken some of the boats in Thursday’s Division 4, 5, and 6 starters. At midday today Division 6 was being led by Jeff Urbina’s Santa Cruz 52 Bodacious Dream, while Division 5 was still being led by Gordon Leon’s Farr 40 Foil, and Division 4 by Bob Pethick’s Rogers 46 Bretwalda 3.
And like yesterday, Isao Mita’s Judel/Vrolijk TP52 Beecom leads a Division 2 filled with similar designs, and Roy Pat Disney’s Andrews 70 Pyewacket leads the ULDB Sleds in Division 3.
The weather for the next 24 hours is expected to remain about the same for boats in the middle and front of the pack, with the trailing boats on the course possibly escaping a light air patch that has been forecasted to develop at about 130°W longitude.
Online spectators can follow the racer’s progress using the Yellowbrick tracking system which shows all the boat’s positions and information, like speed and course heading, and is updated every 6 hours. Click here to view.
– See more at: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2013/07/15/dismasting-debris-and-dazzling-speed-in-transpac/#more
BLACK AND WHITE
I am still a big fan of black and white photography. The impression one is left with can change completely with or without color. Like so many other photographers I spent many an hour in the darkroom once upon a time.
The America’s Cup continues to attract a great deal of negative press. From my point of view it is deserved. However, once the final act is finished everyone will forget the bad and be filled with the results; the winner and loser. I only hope that San Francisco is not one of the losers.
FIRST RACE
BROADWAY LOS ANGELES
LOS ANGELES LADIES ROOM
Today was the tour I have been waiting to do for 8 years. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.
The Chocolate Factory, hidden away for years, is now destined to become a trendy restaurant.
The Los Angeles Theatre, I was in once before when Justin Timberlake was making a music video, but I had only a small camera, this time I was able to take photographs without interfering with anyone.
There are so many more treasures here in Los Angeles, some already gone; some saved thanks to the efforts of the Los Angeles Conservancy.
FIRST REAL RACE
Reading this now makes me wish I was there.
Image credit: Giles Martin Raget/ACEA
America’s Cup: Kiwi pre-start magic leads to good old fashioned drubbing.
July 13, 2013
Even in terms of monohull America’s Cup matches of old, a delta of five minutes and 23 seconds would be a big victory. Factor in the 40 knots speeds of the new generation of AC72 catamarans and today’s win by Emirates Team New Zealand over Luna Rossa was nothing short of an unceremonious drubbing.
The Kiwis never looked like anything other than winners in today’s match after their helmsman Dean Barker out foxed his opposite number Chris Draper in the short pre-start.
Draper had sent the Italian boat screaming across the pre-start box at 40 knots plus but rather than risk a gybe which might have left him below the layline to the leeward end of the start on the way back Draper opted to tack around.
This gave Barker the split second chance to position the New Zealand boat perfectly in order to block him well enough to prevent Luna Rossa from bearing away behind their stern.
Having secured the leeward position he wanted Barker expertly held the Italian boat on his windward hip just long enough to ensure he could lead the pairing into the startline.
With a couple of seconds to the start gun, Barker put the bows down and pulled the trigger to launch the New Zealand AC72 towards the start line at almost 42 knots, leaving Draper no alternative but to follow in his wake.
Emirates Team New Zealand rounded the first mark eight seconds ahead. Both teams hung on starboard for around 30 seconds before ETNZ gybed onto port well before the boundary. 150 metres back Luna Rossa gybed on their line, a strategy they maintained for the rest of the leg.
With the Italians clearly unable to gybe as smoothly and consistently as the New Zealand crew the Kiwi advantage when they rounded the right mark of the leeward gate was up to 29 seconds.
Luna Rossa followed suit and up the first part of the first beat both teams worked the right hand side until they reached Alcatraz Island where they took advantage of a slight right hand wind bend to cross the worst of the flood tide on a long starboard tack towards the city.
Emirates Team New Zealand went all the way to the boundary before tacking, while further back the Italians’s opted to tack at the same time. Positioned further out of the tide ETNZ continued to protect their left hand positioning with a loose cover each time Luna Rossa made a dart towards the shore.
At the windward gate the New Zealand lead was up to two minutes and two seconds as they rounded the left hand mark and powered downwind past the still beating Italian boat before gybing on to port across Luna Rossa’s wake.
The Italian crew made life even harder for themselves when they failed to gybe before the right hand course boundary and picked up a stop and go penalty.
At the second leeward gate the delta was up to two minutes 47 seconds and well over 2500 metres.
From there on in the Kiwis continued to extend. On the final run they pulled off four text book flying gybes to round the leeward gate four minutes and five seconds in front.
The final victory was five minutes and 23 seconds as the Kiwis took the win and chalked up their third point of the Louis Vuitton Series.
An understandably dejected looking Luna Rossa crew finished the race on the water outside the five minute time limit from the winner and were scored Did Not Finish (DNF).
So what should we read into today’s first head to head between the Kiwis and the Italians. Not too much to be honest. The result was not a surprise, even if the scale of the New Zealand supremacy might have been.
ETNZ are as slick and accomplished as we expected them to be. They were the first of all the teams to foil their AC72 and they are much further along the learning curve in that department than anyone.
By their own admission, the Italians are still on the lower slopes of the curve, but they are working to a clear plan they think will get them up to speed in time for the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton Series. Today confirmed just how far they have to go before they can even think about seriously troubling the Kiwi contingent.
CHRIS DRAPER SAYS:
Chris Draper, helmsman for Luna Rossa, and olympic medalist in the 49er class.