The Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) is one of the oldest yacht clubs in the world, founded in 1775 1 2 3. But it credits the start of it all to the Starcross Yacht Club which as The Starcross Society (a dining club) held a regatta in 1775 known as the Fete Marine. 10,000 spectators…
Longboarding itself originated in Hawaii in the 1950s, when surfers sought to bring surfing to land. They created a new kind of skateboard made of thick plywood shaped into a smaller version of a surfboard, with trucks and wheels screwed to the decks, and used their surfing moves on small hills. Longboarding became popular in…
There are several boat designs that can be expected as the move away from fossil fuels continues. These include: In summary, boat designs that can be expected given the move away from fossil fuels include solar-powered boats, hydrogen fuel cell technology, methanol and other fossil-fuel alternatives, wind-assisted propulsion, fuel cell propulsion, non-fossil paraffinic fuels and…
In 1954 the Olin Stephens designed yacht Finisterre was launched, to late for the Bermuda race that year. She was a 38 foot centerboarder and there is no more accomplished racing yacht. She ranks as one of the most significant yachts in the history of the sport. Carleton Mitchell, the owner of Finisterre, is the…
In 1994, at the age of 49, Jim Clark, owing to a company called Silicon Graphics, was one of the legends of the high-tech world. Now, 20 years later, he has become a legend in sailing (see Sailing World 28 October 2014.) In 1994 Clark was tied to a company called Netscape. Netscape’s vision was…
The notion of designing a vessel from a luxurious interior out doesn’t sit well with me, but this is likely the situation with most new sailboats today. In aircraft builds an approach called Lean is followed. This means that base functionality is engineered first before creature features (features that are intended to get a customer…
Joshua Slocum Joshua Slocum was from Nova Scotia, Canada. He owned several ships as well as commanding many others. After loosing one of his ships, the Aquidneck, on a sandbank in Brazil, he and his family sailed the Liberdade, a canoe of about 35 foot, from the site of the grounding to Washington DC USA,…
I’m occasionally asked if I miss the larger, deep draft sailboat. The answer is always no. That type of craft now seems to me like a helpless one-legged seabird soaring above the surface of the sea, never able to safely land or seek shelter. Ron Hoddinott Small Craft Advisor March/April 2006 issue, pg 26 …
Twin keels become more effective with increased angle of heel, while a single keel becomes less effective. “No other nation has put so much faith in bilge (or twin) keels as the British. Other countries have flirted with them, but we became so enamored with the concept that they were the first choice for anything…