Fall Meeting to hear about this Malaysia to the Mediterranean segment of their adventure. Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 7PM

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1 Fall 2009 Photos Courtesy of the Spiers John and Kerri Spier to Speak at NEMA November General Meeting When we last heard from NEMA members John and Kerri Spier, they were at the 2008 NEMA Fall Meeting presenting Part I of their around-the-world journey. They had traveled with their three children from the Caribbean to Malaysia aboard their Outremer 45 catamaran Aldora (see NEMA Newsletter Winter 2009). The next leg of their adventure took them from Malaysia to the Mediterranean. Along the way, they encountered the friendly people of Malaysia, a country with first world amenities at third world prices. In Thailand, they enjoyed the food and the people very much and were awed by the scenery, both above and below the water. A perfect sail across the first half of the Indian Ocean led to Maldives, an island group with a Muslim culture that has had little interaction with the modern world. A safe passage through pirate alley brought them to the Red Sea, a region of wonderful anchorages where they walked on beaches covered with beautiful shells and empty of footprints. Come join us at this year s NEMA Fall Meeting to hear about this Malaysia to the Mediterranean segment of their adventure. Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 7PM Savin Hill Yacht Club 400 Morrissey Blvd, Dorchester, MA Next NEMA Meeting Wednesday, November 18 7 PM (pizza, drinks), 8 PM (meeting) Savin Hill Yacht Club Voting on the By-Laws Revision Speakers: John and Kerri Spier: Part II of Their Around-the-World Cruise Looking Forward I n T h i s I s s u e FROM THE COMMODORE This season was a tough one for anyone who enjoys outdoor activities in nice weather. Much of it was washed out with record rains. Although this put a bit of a damper on some events, attendance at NEMA events was slightly better than last year. We have made a concerted effort to expand NEMA activities outside of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island region and have reinforced our presence in the Gulf of Maine and Long Island Sound areas. We hope that this increase in participation is a reflection on all the NEMA planners and volunteers providing activities and venues that appeal to the membership. We will have reports of the races and cruises of this past season in this and future newsletters. Even though participation is up this continued on page 2 From the Commodore The Black Dog Dash Pocket Rocket Capsize Buzzards Bay Regatta NEMA Picnics Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race. 10 Off Soundings Spring Regatta Multihull News NEMA Classified Tom Cox Photo

2 FROM THE COMMODORE The New England Multihull Association is a non-profit organization for the promotion of the art, science, and enjoyment of multihull yacht design and construction, racing, cruising, and socializing. The NEMA Newsletter is published at no additional charge for NEMA members. The editor apologizes in advance for any errors. Please submit articles to Phil Babcock babcock@draper.com mail: 25 Polley Rd, Westford, MA Elected Officers Commodore Vice Commodore Treasurer Race Chair Secretary Cruising Chair Newsletter Editor Appointees Fleet Captains Bob Gleason bob@themultihullsource.com Rex Conn rconn@baybroadband.net Ed Sinofsky ed@photoglow.com Don Watson dwatson@neboatworks.com Ira Heller irasail@aol.com Ken Levitt NEMACruise2009@klevitt.us Phil Babcock babcock@draper.com Tom Cox tom@sailtriad.com, Directors at Large Richard Bluestein rbluestein@aol.com, Ted Grossbart ted@grossbart.com, Peter Vakhutinsky pvakh@rcn.com, Photographer Martin Roos Historian Les Moore Life Members Dick Newick Walter and Joan Greene Les Moore Spencer Merz Bill Doelger NEMA Web Site See the website for membership application and meeting information. Looking Forward (continued from page 1) year, the NEMA board of directors wants to continue to increase participation in all of the NEMA events. NEMA is here to serve the members. Fall and winter meetings, and the annual dinner continue to be well-attended with little change in the level of participation for many years. It is my presumption that most members are sailors and would like to be on the water with like minded people whether it be racing or cruising. However, racing and cruising events are not seeing the numbers we did a few years back. Only a few years ago, we would regularly see races with 15 to 20 boats and sometimes more. Cruises would often have 10 or more boats. We would like to know why people who came to events for years have not been coming back and what should be done to encourage new members to show up? The club is healthy and members are coming to events, but our goal is to better serve the members, and we look to our participation numbers to see how well we are meeting that mission. I often wonder if we should FROM THE EDITOR The Summer of 2009 have more social events like the winter meetings. Should we be doing a better job of promoting the summer events? The summer social events do not typically have attendance as good as the winter meetings. Perhaps in the summer months member s schedules are too busy. Would something like a pub night appeal to members? We could easily set up a schedule and locations for gathering spots. We want to hear from you, our members! If you feel that we can help in any way that is not now being well addressed, please speak up! me or any other board member and share your ideas of what would get you or other members to participate more. I look forward to hearing from you and seeing many of you during our fall and winter meetings. The goals and camaraderie of NEMA continue to inspire us. Let's keep that feeling alive and growing! Respectively, Bob Gleason NEMA Commodore Well, it s gone. As I look outside at a cloud-bruised sky, as the fallen, dry leaves are being whipped around, it is all too apparent that the summer has gone. If you had happened to blink, you may have missed that we had a summer this year. June was rainy and cold, September was cold, and we had snow in early October. This seems so unfair in a region where summer is as fleetingly short as it is. Although I ran out of summer before using my favorite kayak, I did get in my share of sailing. In this issue we are beginning the process of reporting what the NEMA members did over the summer. Even though it was an abbreviated summer, the membership was busy enough that it is going to take at least two issues to share it all with you. The members newsletter idea continues to grow, as we hear from some firsttime contributors in this issue, and the Guest Editor Program continues to help make this newsletter a joy to read. Don t sit back and just be a consumer of this Newsletter. Become a contributor. I am always interested in getting inputs from the members: just one picture and a caption is all that is needed from you so that we can all share in your summer experiences. Perhaps this way it will seem like the summer of 2009 has not really ended. Amy Babcock Photo Phil Babcock 2 N E M A Fall 2009

3 NEMA Racing The Black Dog Dash 2009 By Alan Bingham Bob Gleason Photo Charles Badoin Photo This year we had the most interesting finish to the Dash in years. A nose decided the finish... and the moon shone. The day started in front of the Black Dog Tavern on Martha s Vineyard with light intermittent rain and no wind. However, by 10:30 we had a light knot breeze out of the south-southwest, as is typical. The start for this race is always fun as each racer s handicap is applied at the start, with the idea that, in an ideal world, the entire fleet would finish at the exact same moment. Starting with sails down and anchored is unusual, to say the least. Bunyip, an aging Seawind 24 was first off her anchor, having the lightest handicap. She held the lead until about halfway to the Cape Poge mark, perhaps only because of a wind hole off the Oak Bluffs of Martha s Vineyard that most of the boats seemed to find, and Bunyip managed to skirt. The faster tris muscled through the flat spots, closed the gap, and took control before reaching Cape Poge, as was to be expected in this lessthan-ideal world. Coming out of Edgartown, after Hilary Badoin welcoming racers onto her and Charles Corsair F-31, Ship of Fools. rounding the half-way mark at the mouth of the harbor, sailing off the wind, several tris (that shall remain un-named) tried their hand at trawling as their spinnakers went under water, taking them out of contention and leading to an undoubted degree of frustration and disappointment among their crews. Despite the carnage, Ted Grossbart s very fast new cat, Audra, Ed Sinofsky trying to heard the cats on the Black Dog beach. Dennis Neumann (blue hat) and Lori Alvord (seated) join in the fun. stealthily took boat after boat. Ted was reportedly very happy with the speed of Audra, but his handicap didn t allow him to place. However, Audra had the shortest elapsed time on the course and so was the fastest boat of the day. This year s Black Dog Dash was won by the slimmest of margins. Triceratops was in the lead. Milagro was a good quarter of a mile behind at East Chop, but caught up right before the line, making for a very exciting finish. Denis nosed Milagro up into the wind at the last moment, allowing him to take the race by just one second, nudging Triceratops from the victory. Milagro s maneuver was so carefully calculated, to put them across the line just before Triceratops, that immediately following their finish they ended up head to wind, stalled and Bob Gleason Photo The old and the new: The NEMA fleet rafted up at the Black Dog beach. continued on page 15 The Final Results Place Boat Skipper Time 1 Milagro Denis Neumann 2:46:08 2 Triceratops John Alvord 2:46:09 3 Blue Moon J. Spaulding & I Gonin 2:51:58 4 Skeddadle Andrew Houlding 5 Audra Ted Grossbart 6 TriOomph Ken Levitt 7 Tritum Peter Vakhutinsky 8 Glowboat Ed Sinofsky 9 Bunyip Alan Bingham Fall 2009 N E M A 3

4 NEMA Safety 2009 Pocket Rocket Capsize by Les Moore In 1983, when returning single-handed from Bermuda to qualify for the 84 Single-Handed Transatlantic Race, Jan Gougeon capsized his trimaran, Splinter. During the four days he spent in his inverted boat awaiting rescue, he designed the self-rightable rig that was later built into Pocket Rocket, my 32-foot Gougeon catamaran. With a readilycapsized eight-foot beam, she has a masthead float and a righting system that a solo sailor can manage. Jan raced Pocket Rocket extensively before I bought her in 1998, and in his last 250 nautical mile single-handed race, he capsized five times and still beat the next boat in by over an hour. By contrast, I d only managed to capsize her three times in eleven years, but I d been able to right her on my own, and by this summer I felt I understood how to keep her on her feet in strong winds. As I rowed out to Pocket Rocket on September 23, I decided that she d be fine with the mainsail well-reefed in the strong fall breeze. The Capsize The conditions were benign as I bore down the creek toward Dean s Island with the wind behind me. In the lee of the island I rolled out just a piece of the jib. As soon as the wind came abeam beyond the Island I realized I d made a mistake as our speed shot up to about 18 knots. For a minute or so I was mesmerized by the speed and lulled into a false sense of security. But I had left myself with no choices: turning upwind to reef would increase the apparent wind and instantly flip the boat, and I couldn t turn downwind to stall the sails because the marsh was too close on the port side. I hoped the big wind was just a gust that would soon ease. No such luck. As I reached the Essex River, the wind increased and we started going over, 4 N E M A Fall 2009 fast. I grabbed the boom and landed hard on my chest, leaving a beautiful crescent-shaped impression that showed up a day later in deep shades of black and blue. As designed, the mast was now supported by the rocket-shaped masthead float. The starboard hull hung over my head and the port hull was in the water. I shifted my grip from the boom to the grab lines that were set in the deck as hand-holds when the boat is capsized like this. I was now standing on the sloping side of the seat back, now about six inches under water. The first job, with one hand holding the grab line, was to shut the air vents of my two small gas tanks that were now drifting beside the boat, tethered by their hoses. I got that done in a hurry, aware that the wind was blowing the delicate hulls at 5 knots toward the adjacent island only a few hundred yards away. With one hand still on the grab line, I tried to get an anchor out of the storage locker under the seat below me so I could set it to hold the boat off the island, but during the smack down my feet had landed hard on the locker s sliding door and jammed it shut. It wouldn t budge. Pocket Rocket in Essex Bay (right side DOWN). Pocket Rocket in Essex Bay (right side UP). Just in time, a power boat came alongside and the skipper offered help. I yelled over the wind that getting a line on my bow and holding me off the island would be great. He did this in short order with impressive boat-handling. Now that the boat was being held off the island, I could start the righting process. But I was rusty on the righting procedure and my mind was spinning. The wind was roaring, the water rushing and now I had an audience of several power boaters. The downside of only capsizing three times previously in Photos Courtesy of Les Moore

5 NEMA Safety Pocket Rocket Capsize (continued from previous page) eleven years was that I hadn t had a recent refresher course on the procedure for getting her back up. I got started: Step 1: roll up the roller-reefed main and jib. That done, I skipped step 2 (rig the righting pole onto the upper running backstay) and step 3 (release the upper permanent shroud). I went to step 4 (ease the upper backstay and tighten the lower, submerged backstay). I soon realized that the permanent shrouds were preventing my adjusting the running backs, so, leaving the backstays off their jammers (my next mistake) I tried to pull the pin on the permanent shroud. This proved difficult. I needed to find a pair of pliers in the jumble of gear inside the capsized cabin. This should have alerted me that I was working on the wrong shroud; I should have been releasing the unloaded shroud, but, in my haste and confusion I was trying to release the one that held the mast to the submerged float. I finally found the pliers and got a good grip on the pelican hook pin, and gave it a strong pull. BANG!! The mast was released and the starboard hull above me crashed to the water in a split second I was now in the water inside the cockpit with about a foot of air space I heard great gurgles of air escaping from somewhere. I felt underwater along the side of the seat back to find the cockpit edge and to make sure there were no lines to foul my escape. Finding the way clear, I ducked under the three feet of water needed to get outside of the boat, bubbled up to the surface and swam around to the underside of the cockpit which was now at water level. I climbed up and sat on an upturned hull to gather my thoughts. The powerboat skipper, who was still holding Pocket Rocket off the island, spotted a nearby mooring to which he could secure my boat. While pulling us to the mooring, a speedboater pointed out that the Essex Fire and Rescue was standing by at Conomo Point (we could see their lights flashing) and an ERBA kayak guide, who had a hand-held radio, told me that the Coast Guard would be sending a rescue boat from Gloucester. After securing Pocket Rocket to the mooring, the good Samaritan powerboat skipper headed home to Ipswich. (I ve been trying to learn his name so I can return the two beautiful docking lines he used to tie us to the mooring.) I asked the kayak guide to tell the Coast Guard that we could handle it from here. He retrieved several items that were drifting from the boat and the speedboater, who was a volunteer firefighter, gave me a fast (40 knot) ride to the Essex Town landing. I sloshed up to the nearby Essex Shipbuilding Museum and used the phone to leave a message for my wife that I d be late for supper (it was now about 2pm). I didn t realize how late I would be. The Salvage I couldn t have been luckier with the folks who were around the Museum at that time. Though he would have been invaluable in any rescue, Dave Brown was there and contributed some ideas before he had to leave for an appointment. But the two other people in the The Lewis H. Story backing out of her berth. world who might pull off the first-ever recovery of a completely inverted G32 Catamaran) were there. Harold Burnham, a well-known traditional boat designer and builder, had come over from his boatyard next door and immediately offered his help, and Jeff Lane, an experienced seaman/rigger, also offered to lend a hand. Within a matter of minutes after I described the problem to him, Harold had figured out a plan to reright the cat using the Museum s flagship, the Lewis H. Story, as a crane. The Story is a replica of a 19th century workboat used in this area as the pickup truck of its time. Her rig consists of two unstayed masts each carrying a single gaffed sail. Harold designed and built the Lewis H. Story for the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. He planned to tie the 32 ft long Story continued on page 6 Pocket Rocket alongside the Lewis H. Story as the righting rig is being prepared. Fall 2009 N E M A 5

6 NEMA Safety Pocket Rocket Capsize (continued from page 5) alongside Pocket Rocket at the borrowed mooring where the cat was now secured. It was now about high tide. Though much of Essex Bay becomes sand flats at low tide, the mooring to which she was tied would still have a few feet of water at low tide, so we were in no danger of grounding out during the initial stages of the salvage. Harold has spent his life working with ships and boats and their problems. He knew we d be cold before the end of this rescue, so, in addition to the several coils of various lines he put aboard the Story, he loaded some warm clothing and hats. We also needed some auxiliary boats, so Harold drove out to Pocket Rocket in an aluminum outboard skiff as Jeff and I motored out in the Story with a second outboard aluminum boat in tow. Using the Story s main mast as the upright, Harold planned to set a boom rigged perpendicular to her side. The boom s jaw would be secured at the base of Story s mast. Its outer end would extend out over Pocket Rocket and would be supported by the Story s main halyard (allowing us to raise and lower it). Finally, a 4-part block and tackle would be tied to the outer boom end over Pocket Rocket s far hull to provide the vertical power to lift it up and over its inner hull, thus righting the boat. The next chore was to secure the lifting block to the stainless steel shroud attachment tube. Harold managed to get a 6 foot long ¾ inch line threaded through the 1 inch ring at the end of the shroud tube, and the line was secured to the 4-part block at the boom end. We were ready for a righting moment. Or, as it turned out, several hours. Jeff, standing on the Story, hauled on the tackle and the Story lay over in response. Pocket Rocket only weighs about 1,100 pounds all up when dry, but in her inverted position, both hulls were full of water making her an awful load to lift. It seemed we d have to keep a strain on Pocket Rocket s outer hull and let the water drain slowly out. Over the next hour or so we followed this course and as Pocket Rocket s outer hull slowly drained, the Story slowly came more upright we d take up on the tackle the Story would go down again and so on Initially, Pocket Rocket s hull came up barely perceptibly then an inch then 2 then 4. When she was up 2 feet or so, we ran out of hauling scope for the tackle and had to reset the lifting boom. As this work was progressing, the Story would lay over with every new haul the water would drain and she would ease back. Eventually, as Pocket Rocket approached vertical, Harold and Jeff were able to lift her by just shifting their weight on the Story. It was sunset when we noticed that as Pocket Rocket s port hull was being lifted out of the water, her starboard hull was settling in and filling, and we could not get her high enough to drain the lower hull. Harold decided to tie a line to the lower hull and haul it out from under the upper one while simultaneously easing the 4- part to lower the high hull. Using one of the aluminum tenders, he managed to get a line tied under water to her lower hull shroud ring, pulling the lower hull away and out while Jeff lowered the upper hull. At last, they Harold Burnham bailing with a 5-gallon bucket. Pocket Rocket (now righted) with the tackle switched to her (flooded) port hull. managed to get the hulls flopped over and Pocket Rocket was right side up but very unstable with huge amounts of water in both hulls; she had to be secured with the boom while some of the water was bailed. It was about 8pm, quite dark now and hard to see what we were doing. Luckily, there were two flashlights that had stayed in Pocket Rocket s cabin and, amazingly, still worked! Harold used one in the cabin and started bailing with a 5- gallon bucket. After a half hour of exhausting effort, he d gotten enough water out so we figured we could tow Pocket Rocket to Harold s mooring near the Town landing where we knew we d have enough water to leave her overnight. After getting the last bit of main rolled up and the mast secured, it was time for towing. But after six hours of work getting Pocket Rocket righted, the tide had fallen and we had to find a lane of deep enough water to reach the channel. Jeff took one of the skiffs and a flashlight and scouted out a route. I rode on the still half-sunken Pocket Rocket trying to guide her with an oar while Harold towed us into the wind and current retracing Jeff s track to the first channel marker. But the towing proved so difficult, with Pocket Rocket veering wildly, that Jeff tied up on Pocket Rocket s starboard quarter and Harold navigated up the channel. The new system worked better, but was painstakingly slow. It took us another hour or so to reach Harold s mooring. Pocket continued on page 15 6 N E M A Fall 2009

7 NEMA Racing Rocky Conditions at the Buzzards Bay Regatta By David Neumeyer Buzzards Bay Regatta Up Against Rocky Economy reported the New Bedford Standard Times on August 7, 2009, commenting on the drop in registrations in many classes at the Buzzards Bay Regatta starting that day. Multihulls experienced a drop from 11 boats in 2008 to 9 in 2009, but this was still an increase over 2007 which saw 7 boats compete and 2006 when 5 boats competed. Rocky conditions were also experienced on the water in the first day of racing. The building afternoon Buzzards Bay breeze allowed the flawless Red Circle Race Committee, led by NEMA s own Don Watson, to start four races on Friday. Courses were windward-leeward twice around, with legs a bit over one mile and a seemingly continuous flow of tacks, sets, jibes and takedowns. The pin end was slightly favored on the starting line, so boats started along the length of the line. The beginning of Race 4, however, unfortunately went awry. It was late in the afternoon and the breeze had built to 15-knots, and, while approaching the start, Milk & Honey, at 37 feet the largest boat in the class, went head to wind and then onto port tack attempting to kill speed in the middle of the line just GlowBoat leading Triceratops (for now) in the Buzzards Bay Regatta before the gun. This resulted in a collision which holed and fractured the hull of Bob Gleason s current incarnation of Tri Me. Both boats withdrew and Tri Me was unable to race for the remainder of the regatta. Audra also failed to start due to a cracked rudder head. Saturday August 8 was clear, beautiful, and breezeless on the Red Circle, perfect conditions for sunbathing and swimming, if not sailing. After close to three hours of waiting, the Red Circle Race Committee canceled racing for the day. Sunday, August 9 saw a return to steady 15-knot winds. The Race Committee began the morning with slightly longer legs of 1.5 miles for the first race but returned to one-mile legs for the second race and final race. Overall winner Jay Spalding of Ida Lewis YC on his F25C Blue Moon sailed consistently, scoring three firsts, a second, a third and throwing out a fourth-place finish. A close second was Steve Parks on his F27 Flying Fish. Final results follow. David Neumeyer hails from Lynchburg, Va. He has sailed the BBR for years on White Heat. This article was edited by Jesse Deupree. The Final Results Place Sail # Boat Name Skipper R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Total 1 26 Blue Moon Jay Spalding [4] Flying Fish Steve Parks [10/DNF] White Heat Dick Bluestein 3 [6] Triceratops Jon Alvord 5 2 [6] Milk & Honey II Mike Divon [10/DNS] Proteus Greg Cornelius 6 7 [8] Tri Bob Gleason [10/DNF] 10/DNS 10/DNS GlowBoat Ed Sinofsky [10/DNS] SUI 27 Audra Ted Grossbart SpectrumPhoto/Fran Grenon Photo Fall 2009 N E M A 7

8 NEMA Events Large Crowd at the NEMA North Rally and Barbeque Judy Cox Photo The usual NEMA suspects (plus a few friends) line up on the Grossbart's waterfront porch in Marblehead at the 2009 NEMA North Rally: (left to right) Daren Donovan, Mike Lipton, Laurie Hagar, Alex Hill, Judy Levitt, Ted Grossbart, Ken Levitt, Nat Henricksen, Rose Grossbart, Jim Hunt, 2 kids, Francine Chew, Richard Bryan, and Tom Cox. The weather cooperated with lots of sun and a good breeze. A great time was had by all - 18 adults, 4 kids, 1 dog, and 1 tri (no cats). Triad took 8 sailors out for a romp to Gloucester and back in less time than it took to cook and eat the chow (about 2 hours). The Sinofsky s Corsair F-24 GlowBoat glowing as the sunlight shines under the clouds. 8 N E M A Fall 2009

9 NEMA Events NEMA Picnic Sees a Big Turnout, By Land and By Sea Phil Babcock Photos The June 27th Annual NEMA Picnic was well-attended with more than 20 people present. Many sailed to the event and there was quite a fleet of multihulls anchored off the Gleason s beach in Wareham. The weather was perfect and the selection of food was wonderful. Lots of opportunities to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Two if by sea: The NEMA fleet anchored off the Gleason s beach. Fall 2009 N E M A 9

10 NEMA Racing 2009 Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race Mike Otis Photo by Don Watson After no entries in the last Marblehead-Halifax Ocean Race (MHOR) in 2007, multihulls bounced back this year with a reasonable class of six starters that might have been seven were it not for a late and Charlie Pingree's Hammerhead 54, Flying Fish, at the start of the Marblehead to Halifax Race before the winds diminished. slightly mysterious scratch by one of the favorites. The race is a category 2 event requiring flares, survival suits, EPIRBs and other equipment that adds expense and the extra preparation time that comes with competing in such an event. Complicating this year s race, the start date of July 5 was the Sunday of the 4 th of July weekend. This meant that we got to see a great fireworks display on the glorious 4 th. Marblehead really does this holiday justice. It is a very old town steeped in colonial traditions and the whole harbor is ringed with red lights as darkness falls. There are lots of armaments blown off leading up to the fireworks. In addition, the four yacht clubs each fire cannons at sunset. The experience is really something. Another highlight of the pre-race festivities was that the bar was serving $3.00 Dark n Stormies all night while we watched the fireworks. These were cheaper than beer and a whole lot more tasty! The Saturday AM skippers meeting consists of singing both the Canadian and American national anthems followed by speeches, sailing instruction review and a weather briefing. Lots of flag officers from both the Boston YC and the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron added to the official nature of the event. The final multihull entries were all NEMA boats: Alegra- Peter Garcia s Newick Tricia 36 Flying Fish- Charlie Pingree s Chris White Hammerhead 54 Swamp Fox- my Custom 35 Triceratops- Jon Alvord s F-31R Yellowfish- Gary Gelbfish s Farrier F-39 Zoom- Harry Whittelsey s F-31-1D clone Race day dawned sunny with a Sunset during a watch on Zoom. Yellow Fish dueling it out with ZOOM in light winds of the Marblehead to Halifax Race. forecast of westerly winds. In fact, there were fairly strong northwesterlies at the start, allowing for port jibe spinnaker sets. As often happens, these winds died out as we approached and departed from Cape Ann and a drifting match began with places changing depending on who had breeze. Ultimately, a light southwest wind settled in with the fleet lining up more or less according to their rated speeds. Flying Fish and Triceratops mostly led the fleet with Swamp Fox, my 35 custom tri, Zoom and new entrant Yellowfish next and Alegra hanging tough. That first night brought beautiful full moon sailing with light, but mostly steady breezes and porpoises playing all around. Day two brought mostly little or no air all day. Swamp Fox was within sight of Triceratops and Flying Fish most of that day. We were passed by three monohulls close aboard in the late morning. One was a Swan 68, another a Swan 57 and another a Cookson 50 with canting keel. These larger, heavier boats are much more stable on the really light air and were probably 5 miles ahead of us by the end of the day. Triceratops appeared to head north late in the day and we did not see them again during the race. Serge Leonidov Photo Serge Leonidov Photo 10 N E M A Fall 2009

11 NEMA Racing Serge Leonidov Photo Marblehead to Halifax (continued from previous page) Harry Whittelsey and the crew of ZOOM showing the boat living up to its name during the 2009 Marblehead to Halifax Race. Day three (Tuesday) brought knots of wind, but all of it on the nose. It was a continuous car wreck kind of day in a very sloppy sea and water was everywhere onboard. Nevertheless, we sailed hard all day and could still see Flying Fish at sunset. No hot food was served that night and one of our crew of three went down hard with mal de mer. We did not pass Brazil Rock (a few miles off the southern tip of Nova Scotia) until around 1700 hrs (we have finished the entire race earlier than that in some years). The wind diminished at night and got light again, while still on the nose. With only two remaining drivers we were pretty tired, and I knew I was not very effective. Flying Fish put a lot of distance on us that night. Day four (Wednesday) dawned with me at the helm and I decided upon a tactic which had worked in the past. We abandoned the favored tack to the finish and went further offshore looking for more breeze. We found it pretty quickly and sailed into it until we were at the layline to the Halifax bravo buoy from about 40 miles out. We probably overstood, but we were still pretty hard on the wind at the mark and came in with good pressure. I believe this maneuver won us the race. Looking at the tracker, it seemed like Flying Fish went in toward the coast and appeared to lose breeze. We finished late in the afternoon about 45 minutes behind Flying Fish and just ahead of Triceratops who had also been ahead of us at the beginning of that day. The wind shut down Wednesday night making it hard for those still at sea, but Peter Garcia on Alegra did correct out ahead of Triceratops making the final order: Swamp Fox, Flying Fish, Alegra, Triceratops, Zoom and Yellowfish. Why did we win? There may be differing points of view on this point (gift rating some will say?), but I would say that, (a) the Swamp Fox crew has done this race eight times and knows the course and conditions very well; (b) we did regular weed checks on both the board and rudder. This weed can make an amazing difference in boat speed; (c) We had a great crew that had done this race together on two previous occasions, and since we only carried three crew, we saved the weight of a fourth or fifth guy, the food, water and safety gear for that guy; and (d) it was a light air mostly upwind race and Swamp Fox is a great light air boat as she does not plane or surf as quickly as do lighter boats. All in all, we had a great time. The race was not cold or foggy (as it usually is) and there was some really nice sailing, both up and back, although we could have used a little less on-the-wind work. Nova Scotia is a great place to go and we often have our most memorable moments on the trip back, stopping along the way and meeting some of the locals. Our biggest regret was that since the race was so slow, we had less time in Halifax and along the coast than we sometimes do. Therefore, we did not see as much of our competitors after the race as we would have liked. Congratulations to all who raced. We hope to be back in two years! Swamp Fox (foreground) and Triceratops moored in Halifax after the race. Don Watson is the NEMA Race Chairman. When not racing his 35 custom tri, Swamp Fox, he can be found organizing and running local races. This article was edited by Jesse Deupree. Serge Leonidov Photo Fall 2009 N E M A 11

12 NEMA Racing Off Soundings Spring Regatta by Jon Alvord The Off Soundings Spring Regatta was well attended by the NEMA folks this year. They all were sailing either Farrier or Corsair trimarans: Dennis and Mlada Neumann (Milagro, an F9R), Harry Whittelsey (Zoom, an F31R), Jon Alvord (Triceratops, an F31R), Jay and Lisa Spalding (Blue Moon, an F25C), Andy Houlding (Skedaddle, an F28R), Peter Vakhutinsky (Tritium, an F27), and Ed Sinofsky (GLOWBOAT, an F24 MkII). The ratings ranged from -50 to 100! of the fleet surprised us by pulling out their spinnakers, but with Milagro a few boat lengths behind and us owing them time, we decided to pull out the screacher and pointed a couple of degrees higher. This seemed to work well for us, with speeds in the kt range. first, furled the screacher, hoisted the spinnaker and gybed for 1BI without any messed up lines, which amazed us. By the end of the race, Triceratops had Photo Provided by Harry Whittelsey Jon Alvord Photo Harry Whittelsey Photo Harry Whittelsey (at the helm) and Alex Hill aboard Zoom. Milagro in light winds off Block Island. Racers woke up on Friday to find lots of fog in Stonington, CT, and at the race start in Watch Hill, RI. The fog carried most of the way to Block Island. With 130 boats and 12 classes, it makes for an interesting time around the starting line, if you can find it. The course was to sail to the entrance of New Pond on Block Island, then down to buoy 1BI and return to the entrance. Milagro and Blue Moon both had excellent starts while we, aboard Triceratops, were a little early and stalled on the line, but once we got in the groove, we slowly passed them. The rest Visibility increased to 1-2 miles. When we arrived to the first mark, we had passed the entire fleet (which had started an hour earlier) and we were neck-and-neck with Milagro. We rounded Blue Moon making a fix on the bow sprit. opened up the lead and actually beat the committee boat to the finish line. The total course distance was 21 miles. Friday night, the crews all stayed at Paynes Dock on Block Island. There was a good drink tent, music and appetizers, and showers for getting cleaned up. Some of the crews took off for dinner while others stuck around and cooked at Paynes. Later, all the crews headed over to Yellow Kitten to watch the end of the Stanley Cup Finals, throw some darts and play a little foosball. Saturday morning, the fog lifted and the sun was blaring, but there was not much wind. The RC sent half the fleet on the long course, counterclockwise around the island. Those Harry Whittelsey Photo 12 N E M A Fall 2009

13 NEMA Racing Spring Off Soundings (continued from previous page) that hugged the shore seemed to have a bit more pressure and less current, but for the few that went away from shore it seems the winds shifted and they could not make the first mark due to the strong current and not enough wind to overcome it. The NEMA fleet started at 9:55 a.m. and those that did finish, finished some 5 hours later. Triceratops battled up the coast with an Airdyne 38 to the finish but the breeze was just not enough to get us past them and a Melges 32. For Saturday s race, Triceratops corrected out to 3rd while Blue Moon was 1st and Milagro 2nd; Zoom corrected out to 4th. Jon Alvord is a regular contributor to the Newsletter and a very successful racer on the NEMA race circuit where he campaigns his F-31 Triceratops. Ed Sinofsky uses his F-24 to demonstrate one reason why a 24 Corsair may not be the best choice for the party boat (but that did not stop them from adding a few more people after this picture was taken). Jon Alvord Photo Mlada Neumann wearing a Triceratops hat outside the drink tent. Alex Hill Photo Jon Alvord Photo Harry Whittelsey Photo Crews from Tritium and Triceratops relaxing after Friday s Race. From left to right: a crew member from Tritium, Jon Alvord, Dag Lidbeck, Charles Badoin (standing), William Nutt, Peter Vakhutinsky. The Final Results NEMA trimarans at Paynes dock, Block Island, Saturday morning. Race 1 Fri Race 2 Sat Total Boat Name Skipper Elapsed Corrected PTS Elapsed Corrected PTS PTS Finish Blue Moon Jay Spalding 02:08:15 02:40: :04:05 06:20: Triceratops Jon & Lori Alvord 01:51:58 02:34: :38:27 06:24: Milagro Dennis Neumann 02:06:38 02:48: :46:34 06:22: Skedaddle Andrew Houlding 02:18:19 02:45:39 3 DNF Zoom Harry Whittelsey 03:00:46 04:12: :07:16 07:08: Tritium Peter Vakhutinsky 02:45:15 03:05:20 5 DNF GlowBoat Ed Sinofsky 03:03:29 03:13:08 6 DNF Fall 2009 N E M A 13

14 Multihull News Gentlemen, Raise Your Sails! Alinghi Team Photo Gilles Martin-Paget Photo The boats for the 33rd America s Cup have been revealed, and after much haggling in the courts (which still continues), the competitors for the February race will both be multihulls. At last year s NEMA Annual Dinner we had a talk from Dirk Kramer, from the Alinghi design team. At that time, he was unable 14 N E M A Fall 2009 to tell us much about the details of the new catamaran they were designing, but now the details are being made public. The defending Swiss-based Alinghi team has developed a 90 carbon fiber catamaran with reverse, wave piercing bows, s-curved dagger boards, and, perhaps, a pumped water ballast system to help keep the 75 beamed boat upright. This 12-ton speed machine carries a 6,000 square foot main and a 4,000 square foot headsail, along with an 8,000 square foot gennaker on its 165 mast (all numbers keep changing as they continue to tune up these boats). The challenger is the US-based BMW Oracle team entering a carbon fiber trimaran with a 90 main hull (whose beam is only 7 ) and 113 wave piercing floats. This 18-ton tri has a 90 beam and a 185 mast which carries a 6,800 square foot main and a 6,700 square foot headsail, along with an 8,400 square foot gennaker. Both boats use an engine to power hydraulic winches (does this mean no more grinders?). They also have the ability to sail at more than twice the true wind speed, so this is not going to be slow-motion racing. There are already pictures and videos of these two boats on the web and they are amazing machines. Once the courts figure out whether racing in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates violates the rules or not, it should be a very interesting, and much more dynamic, series of races for this year s Cup.

15 Pocket Rocket Capsize (continued from page 6) Rocket was secured to her over-night spot by 10pm, about 8 hours after the capsize, and we were all glad to get home for supper and some sleep. The next day, Jeff and I reconvened at the landing where we hauled Pocket Rocket and finally could see what damage had occurred. Water in the hulls was the first problem, but we got most of it out quickly and drilled a few holes in the places where it was easiest to drain her (and easiest to fix later). Soaked gear was next. We took the drowned motor across the creek to my regular outboard shop. (They had it apart, cleaned up and winterized by the next day.) I stripped the boat of all other gear, took it home and spread it out on our lawn so the rain predicted for the next day could rinse it all. Ultimately, the boat suffered little damage. The aluminum spinnaker pole fitting (into which the mast mounts) broke off and disappeared; the wiring at the mast base was broken; and the battery, VHF radio and the electric panel were cooked. But the GPS and autohelm appeared to be OK (the electrician is checking them out too). My waterproof floating hand-held radio floated away. Some lucky clammer is likely now the proud owner. So that s the end of this season. Jan Gougeon told me, after my capsize, that all the G32 owners in his area do a masttipping practice run at the start of the season to make sure all the gear is working and to practice the righting procedure. I plan to follow this sensible routine next spring! Les Moore, a NEMA Life Member, is active in the Essex Shipbuilding Museum in Essex, MA, and sails his 32-foot Gougeon catamaran, Pocket Rocket, off the north shore of Massachusetts. This article was edited by Andrew Houlding. Black Dog Dash (continued from page 3) backing down, in irons. The tactic worked, but Milagro received a subsequent mooning from Triceratops showing displeasure at the nudge of the nose at the line. In the official results one second separates their first and second places, with Blue Moon finishing third. The raft-up on the beach in front of the Black Dog Tavern, subsequent award ceremony, and assorted evening festivities were enjoyed by all. Alan Bingham, a NEMA member, is a regular contributor to the NEMA Newsletter. He sails Bunyip, a Seawind 24 Catamaran. This article was edited by Jane Gleason. Opportunity Sought Wanted: Cruising Trimaran sailing opportunities. Experienced catamaran circumnavigators thinking about the next boat would like to crew on a high performance cruising trimaran, together or separately. Self-employed, flexible schedules, can pay expenses, good sailors who don't get seasick and have few bad habits. To or from Block Island would be ideal, can offer mooring and shoreside accommodations. Especially interested in big folding tris- Dragonfly, Contour, F-36, F-37. Contact John and Kerri at aldora@ocens.net FOR SALE / RENT 1998 UK Asymmetric Spinnaker for a F24 Mk II. Moderately used for 6 years. It has a storage/launch bag and 2-50' sheets. $500. Contact Phil Babcock, babcock@draper.com. 36' NEWICK TRIMARAN KETCH, WHITE WINGS Superbly built by David Nutt, Southport, ME in 1988, Two very caring owners. The first one solo cruised her from Florida to the Azores at age 73. Present owner day sails out of Edgartown. Remarkably comfortable cruising two or daysailing six. Minimum effort sailing with a Ljungstrom mainsail, reefed and furled from the cockpit. Carbon masts, good sails and inventory, recent LP paint. $75,000 Call Dick Newick for details..(707) Jim Brown's original Searunner 31' trimaran Scrimshaw. See her at the Wooden Boat Show, June 27, 28, 29, Mystic, CT. outrig@crosslink.net, (804) Hobie 16 and Trailex aluminum trailer $860. Needs cleanup, trampoline, tires, nuts and bolts, etc,. All other parts are original. There is a minor hull repair needed under the front lip on one of the hulls. Was disassembled and stored for years. Located in Mansfield, MA. me at ksesk@aol.com FOR SALE / RENT More details on these items can be found at nemasail.org/memberspage.html#sale Marine Plywood: 4 x 8, 1 thick. Original cost approx. $100. Any reasonable offer accepted. Contact: Richard Bryan, , ribryan@rcn.com NEREUS (formerly Zachery D.), a Warren 27 (her overall length is nearly 29') is a racing boat with some comforts (seats), yet she remains light. Built of composite and wood, she was completed in Sale includes all running rigging, a jib roller-furler (to be sold without jib), and two custom tillers with extensions and two winches, and a Yamaha 8 hp long-shaft outboard. Extensively refitted during the 05/07 seasons. $30,000 US. May be seen in Salem Harbor by appointment. Mayer Spivack or mayer@alum.mit.edu. Val trimaran components. Newick Val design 29' LWL. 32' LOA. Three hulls, two decks, two cross-arms. Production (third set) components built with tri-axial glass and vinyl ester resin. Imron painted with bottom paint. Wing deck daggerboard trunk installed. Mast, boom, and dagger-board mold. Plan set included. $8.5k or bo. Richard Seskevich (cell ); Ksesk@aol.com 41 Maine Cat 2006 Hull #12, 2-29 hp Yanmars, screacher, windlass, 4 solar panels, refrig & freezer, Garmin 3210 color chartplotter & radar, autopilot, oven/stove combo, dinghy w/ob and more. Beautifully maintained. Performance and comfort. lightly used in charter. May stay in charter if desired. $430,000. Call Maine Cat Warren 35 trailerable trimaran, Veloce. Custom designed for fast coastal cruising/comfortable racing. Spacious interior with over 6 foot headroom and large berths. Enclosed head with holding tank. Built by Maine Cat using fiberglass over Core-Cell foam. Composite Engineering carbon fiber beams and wing mast. Main, self-tacking jib, screecher. 9.9hp four-stroke Yamaha. Custom trailer. Located in Beverly MA. $99,900. Contact Steve Mclafferty mclafferty@alum.wpi.edu or Mast & Mainsail For Sale. Transient's old spar, replacing it with a carbon one. 46' Gougeon B section wing mast, Walter Greene built. Good condition, just heavy compared to carbon Spectra Main Sail. Still has a few seasons left in it. 5/16 stainless shrouds and headstay (main 20mm hound shackle not included). $1000. Lies in New Jersey. Tim Ross. cell ; cell , tiross@verizon.net ' Greene trimaran SCOUT. Well built and maintained custom performance cruiser with many upgrades. New carbon spar and sails. Very simply rigged for short-handed sailing. Lying Great Lakes. $195,000. Owner: Tom Egan. Call: Tom Kintz Fax Sails & Rig For Sale. Original equipment from my 1999, 39' Greene trimaran SCOUT. - 52' Metalmast spar /Antal track with standing rigging Pentex fully-battened 711sf main, 438sf Spectra genoa, 581sf pentex screacher. Tom Egan ; tegan2@maine.rr.com Fall 2009 N E M A 15

16 First Class Mail P.O. Box 51152, Boston, MA Next NEMA Meeting Wednesday, November 18 7 PM (pizza, drinks) Savin Hill Yacht Club Voting on the By-Laws Revision Speakers: John and Kerri Spier: Part II of Their Around-the- World Cruise Gregor Tarjan info@aeroyacht.com This issue is being printed in color, at no additional cost to NEMA, through a special arrangement with the printer. YOUR FULL-SERVICE MULTIHULL YARD ON BUZZARD S BAY BROKERAGE STORAGE TRANSPORT Box 951 Wareham MA / sailfast@themulithullsource.com Paul van Dyke 125 Old Gate Lane, Milford, CT T: F: M: E: Paulvd@sales.northsails.com W: A DIVISION OF NORTH SAILS GROUP, LLC MULTIHULLS 421 Hancock St., Quincy, MA MultiMag@aol.com Composite Engineering 277 Baker Ave., Concord MA Carbon Spars Racing Shells Specialty Composites Design Engineering Deliveries Pickertown Rd, Chalfont, PA kaveathome@aol.com