Vestas Wind Shipwreck

The saying that there are two kinds of sailors, those who have run aground and those who will run aground, is comforting to those recently grounded. But grounding rarely involves shipwreck and, with modern electronics and reporting, the chances of being unintentionally grounded, let alone shipwrecked, are minuscule. This means that investigators must diligently research…

Lean Manufacturing

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…

Recreational Vessels

Articles in sailboat magazines sometimes have a Jimmy Buffet theme. Jimmy is the “son of a sailor” who is “just glad” he doesn’t live in a trailer. The comparison of a boat to a trailer home is a natural one and Macgregor yachts specifically points out that its powersailers can be used like Recreational Vehicles (RV)s…