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| The Mini 6.50 Eight Cube |
There has not been any other sailboat class that has sparked as much innovation as Classe Mini, the class association behind the Mini 6.50 sailboats. These tiny yachts are on the cutting edge of sailboat design and have been since the class was first introduced in 1977. Take for example the Mini Eight Cube which will be skippered by the Swiss sailor Simon Koster in the upcoming Mini Transat which starts on October 1. Koster was one of the first to go with the blunt scow-like bow rather than a conventional bow and the boat
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I was a tad bummed to see this pic on my Facebook feed this morning. The red and white boat washed up there after Hurricane Irma was my ride for the 89/90 Whitbread Round the World Race. It’s called Fazisi and was the Soviet Union’s first, and by happenstance, last entry in the Whitbread. When the race started the boat had a large Hammer and Sickle flag flying off the transom; by the time the race was over the Soviet Union had pretty much disintegrated. I formed a partnership with the boat’s designer and we chartered Fazisi for $1 ...
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With so much hurricane activity swirling around, and so much destruction, I thought that I would recount my own encounter with a hurricane, at sea, on Christmas Day, 1984. Hurricane Lili was the third hurricane ever recorded in the North Atlantic in December and it came our way as a unique and somewhat bizarre Christmas gift.
I had been hired to train a Finnish crew who were planning to compete in the 1985/86 Whitbread Round the World Race. The boat was Fazer Finland, Fazer being a high end chocolate maker and one of Finlands most treasured brands. Part
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| TBT – me aboard Drum 85/86 Whitbread |
It has been 20 years today (31st August, 2017) since Princess Diana died. Hard to believe. Where does the time go? Well as you have probably guessed I have a story about the late (and lovely) princess. Since it’s a short story I will add one about another princess; Fergie.
I raced the 1985/86 Whitbread Round the World Race aboard the British yacht Drum. For that race HRH Prince Phillip was the patron and somehow he managed to talk Diana into handing out the prizes at the final prize giving in London. You
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| TBT – me aboard Drum 85/86 Whitbread |
It has been 20 years today (31st August, 2017) since Princess Diana died. Hard to believe. Where does the time go? Well as you have probably guessed I have a story about the late (and lovely) princess. Since it’s a short story I will add one about another princess; Fergie.
I raced the 1985/86 Whitbread Round the World Race aboard the British yacht Drum. For that race HRH Prince Phillip was the patron and somehow he managed to talk Diana into handing out the prizes at the final prize giving in London. You
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| This picture has no relevance to the blog – I just like it and wanted to share it |
I am always interested to know people think of my opinions and the information that I share in my Great Circle Sails blog. Actually, for a while there I was wondering if anyone even reads my blog but lately I have been getting some fan mail so some people are enjoying my point of view. Not so much a person that goes by the name Anarchist David. Most of my blog pieces are published on Sailing Anarchy which is by far the ...
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| This picture has no relevance to the blog – I just like it and wanted to share it |
I am always interested to know people think of my opinions and the information that I share in my Great Circle Sails blog. Actually, for a while there I was wondering if anyone even reads my blog but lately I have been getting some fan mail so some people are enjoying my point of view. Not so much a person that goes by the name Anarchist David. Most of my blog pieces are published on Sailing Anarchy which is by far the ...
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So this is one of my pet peeves and I debated whether I should use this forum to air it, but what the heck there is not much going on in the sailing world this week (joke). A couple of days ago I got a press release from the Volvo Ocean Race. All of us in the media are prone to overuse superlatives and I am usually fine with it, indeed I am probably more guilty than most, but this I am not fine with. Here is the headline. “New Zealand sailing hero Peter Burling joins Team Brunel for Volvo
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So this is one of my pet peeves and I debated whether I should use this forum to air it, but what the heck there is not much going on in the sailing world this week (joke). A couple of days ago I got a press release from the Volvo Ocean Race. All of us in the media are prone to overuse superlatives and I am usually fine with it, indeed I am probably more guilty than most, but this I am not fine with. Here is the headline. “New Zealand sailing hero Peter Burling joins Team Brunel for Volvo
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| Mapfre out front and storming toward a new record |
In their first head to head battle the newly revamped Volvo 65’s were put through their paces yesterday and a little history was made along the way. Billed by the VOR as Leg 0, the seven refitted VOR 65’s were really put to the test in the around -the-island race. The island being the Isle of Wight on England’s south coast. With winds gusting above forty knots kicking up lumpy seas, some of the aerial footage looked as if the boats were pummeling along in the Southern Ocean.
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