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January 24, 2013Quantum Key West 2013: Day FourOnne van Der Wal brings us the Quantum Key West action from the regatta's big hardware: IRC, Maxis, HPR, and lots more.
Click here to access SW's complete coverage of Quantum Key West.
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January 16, 2013Vintage Key WestTake a look back at J H Peterson's photos from the very first Key West Race Week in 1987. There was lots of competition in the 50-foot class, along with an interesting mix of cruiser/racers in the Conch Republic.
Photos: J H Peterson
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January 2, 2013Rolex Sydney Hobart Race 2012The 628-mile offshore classic got underway in 20-25 knots at Sydney Heads on Dec. 26. Robert Oatley’s Wild Oats XI 100-foot maxi Wild Oats XI secured Line Honours, Overall Winner and Race Record. The boat, skippered by Mark Richards, finished with a time of 1 day, 18 hours, 23 minutes, and 12 seconds, slicing 16 minutes and 58 seconds off her own record.
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December 20, 20122012 Holiday Product ReviewNot really a gift guide, but rather a collection of items that we've tested and reviewed over the past few months, including some of the usual suspects when it comes to gifts for racing sailors, and a few that you maybe didn't quite expect.
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December 14, 2012MC38 One DesignBest Grand-Prix One-Design
Photos by Walter Cooper
The MC38 One Design is a complete, modern grand-prix package, swimming in carbon and composites, and designed to do nothing else but tear around the cans at high-speed. As an excellent build out of McConaghy’s Chinese operation, the MC38, is presented as the upgrade for Farr 40 owners seeking a more contemporary design, and as a more substantial boat for Melges 32 owners that don’t have the athleticism for such a boat. Onboard, the MC38 feels like a lot more boat than either—it’s nearly 12 feet at maximum beam. With a flat deck and an open, uncluttered cockpit, a racing crew can just flow from rail to rail, as quickly as the boat goes into and out of tacks.
There’s a long list of engineering details that may not be immediately obvious says its designer, Harry Dunning, and these are details (such as the deck framing and sprit’s butt-end support) that they carefully engineered to save weight but deliver stiffness. With composite rigging, high-end ropes, a functioning string-take down system for the spinnaker, mast jack, and lots more, the boat is sorted for high-end racing. Developing fleets in Australia, Europe, and Asia are already enjoying close racing.
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December 11, 2012X-Yachts Xp 38Boat of the Year Nominee
Photos by Walter Cooper
Travel around Europe, and X-Yachts are a staple of all the major handicap races. There’s no denying that X-Yachts make fast, great sailing boats, and the Xp 38 continues the tradition, only better. Their updated crossovers now have robust carbon keel grids (instead of metal), and the hull shape of the Xp 38, said Greg Stewart, was very stiff, quick, and easily driven. From off the boat, it’s racy looking, with a low-profile cabin top, angular hull features, and flared topsides, Stewart added, so it will appeal to an owner looking for a more crossover-type aggressive design.
The judges noted the construction quality was very high, perhaps even the best of the entire BOTY fleet, and the interior is a purposeful three-cabin layout, with the head aft, on the starboard side. X Yachts owners tend to be racers first, so the cockpit is open, clean, and set up for efficient manuevers with twin steering pedestals located outboard to provide a good line of sight on the telltales.
Of the three crossovers in the competition, however, the Xp 38 came with a considerably higher price tag ($365K). “Build-wise, the thing is incredible,” said Chuck Allen. “We couldn’t find a single area of the boat with any flaws.” But under sail it was “so, so,” he added. “I think a carbon rig and a full race crew on the rail, would have made a big difference in how it felt.”
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December 11, 2012Tofinou 8mBoat of the Year Nominee
Photos by Walter Cooper
Imported from France, the Tofinou 8M, was a looker at the dock, thanks to the sharpness of its metallic paint and teak deck, but on the water, the judges quickly dismissed it because excessive friction in every control line, and a combative helm took the fun out of sailing it.
“The thing was a workout,” said Tom Rich, explaining that the practice of hiding ropes by leading them under deck from the mast to the jammer banks in the cockpit introduced too many 90-degree turns. The boat could’ve benefited from a top-down roller-furling spinnaker or sock system, added Chuck Allen, because a spinnaker launch from a turtle in the cockpit would likely fill with water before the tack reached the outboard end of the sprit.
As a daysailer, they deemed, it was too challenging to sail, and with winch pods dividing the cockpit seating, there was nowhere to stretch out and take a nap. The interior, too, was cramped.
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December 11, 2012Sparkman & Stephens 30Best Daysailer
Photos by Walter Cooper
The ultimate daysailing experience is different for everyone. For some of us, it might just be an afternoon spin around the bay, or a twilight sail with the family or significant other.
For the BOTY judges, however, the ultimate daysailing experience should include the ability to just keep going—to let a day turn into two or more. The Sparkman & Stephens 30 is just the boat for that. Olin Stephens never drew a bad boat, and this remake of his 1930s pocket-sized ocean-racer, is a testament to his original vision of a simple, but quick and exciting experience under sail.
A collaboration between Rhode Island yacht broker Bluenose Yacht Sales and C&C Fiberglass Components (which builds the J/70), the S&S 30 has excellent construction and quite a few clever adaptations to Stephen’s original. The cockpit is long and open, the interior comfortable and bright.
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December 11, 2012SeaRail 19Boat of the Year Nominee
Photos by Walter Cooper
The SeaRail 19 is a pint-sized trimaran imported from Vietnam, built by a former Corsair Trimaran employee with imput from noted multihull designer Nigel Irens. The test boat was delivered straight from U.S. Customs, so its U.S. distributor, Bob Gleason, a multihull veteran, was on the water sorting it out before its test time. As we approached Gleason, he looked concerned and suggested the boat not be tested. “The [leeward] float is really burying, and there’s a lot of flexing in the forward beam,” he said. “I don’t think we should go through with this: The boat’s just not ready.”
“Nonsense,” BOTY judge Chuck Allen responded before rolling onto the SeaRail’s trampoline like a Navy SEAL. Off the two of them went, with the screacher deployed, reaching across the bay at a high rate of speed. Gleason was right, though. The other judges looked on as the leeward ama submerged every time a gust filled the sails. After an hour and a half of hard sailing, however, the boat was perfectly intact and the judges were pleasantly surprised. “It was easy to sail, had a high fun factor to it,” said Rich. “If they cleaned up the construction and got the buoyancy right, they’d have something worth talking about. It’s almost there.”
The standard pricing was quoted at $28,000.
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December 11, 2012RS VentureBest Recreational Dinghy
Photos by Walter Cooper
Pile in the kids, or the adults, because there’s plenty of room in the versatile little RS Venture, which is ideal for sailing programs and families alike. With this 16-footer, RS Sailboats, of the United Kingdom, offers a $14,000 dinghy with excellent performance and handling, and construction quality that will live up to the demands of club-sailing programs (especially if you add the optional bumpers).
RS’s experienced team of sailors and engineers sorted every little detail of this boat before bringing it to market—from the self-draining cockpit, to the optional weighted centerboard, masthead float, and simple sail-control systems—and the judges couldn’t find a single fault. It’s more than a recreational dinghy; it’s an excellent trainer, and has great potential for one-design racing, too.
