Recent content by snk

Prince Andrew on board and pressing the flesh as well. :eek:

Ha! No chance. Where the tech has moved to is very impressive. The loads on the rig are unbelievable. Bending that mast even a few cm makes a huge difference and is imperceptible when watching the footage. Trying to find good footage of the the head of the sail in strong winds isn't easy...

That's a bit of a puff piece for North Sails. The AC75's mast is a truncated wing using just the leading edge. This rotates and the rotation is controlled by the crew and cane independently set irrespective of the mainsail angle. The mast has twin skin sails attached. It is somewhere between...

The rigs on these AC75s are very complex and the clew box is proprietary tech and critical to the mainsail behaviour. I think Ineos was using a nearly conventional boom and I’m not sure that is compatible with the critical camber and leech tension tension adjustments these sails need. I guess...

To help me learn, I bought and fitted a VMG digital instrument which was an interesting and helped me get a feel for the best groove upwind. It’s more obvious downwind. Upwind, these AC75s are hitting 30+ knots in 12 knots of wind. Maybe more. The wind across the deck is maybe up to 50...

Setting aside pilot error and breakages VMG wins races. Pre these apparent wind boats, it was VMG upwind that won races. Now it’s VMG up and down. It was a big learning curve stepping onto a dinghy that planed upwind and sailed on the ‘runs’ with the wind ahead of the beam. Add to it...

Great to see Ineos have found some boat speed. 2 wins on day one! I've been watching it on this Youtube link. First race with one minute to go is at 13mins 45 secs into the video. Impressive stuff. Ben had two good starts. The second at 1hr 14mins in the vid was spot on and took Inoes...

New Zealand's 1992 America's Cup yacht looking a bit sorry for her self. Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Near zero interest rates have killed any savings returns and increased the price of an average house relative to salary to a staggeringly level (fueled by a boom in available credit), especially in the SE and London. We are now seeing the flip side of the oft celebrated "ever rising house...

Sorry, I'm a bit confused. Is this the same boat or two boats the same?

Assuming they are in the same condition and have the same spec, the UK boat is £17k over priced.

I used to run a brokerage and I can assure you the first real offer you get is invariably the best, so, take it. On the broader issue, it is worth looking at this article by Paul Hodges: http://moneyweek.com/paul-hodges-interview-the-great-unwinding/ It describes the great unwinding...

There is quite a good thread on Sailing Anarchy. http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=157365 A couple of pics from the thread. The first is the keel grid from inside This is the bilge as well. The second pic is a close up of the underside. It looks like the keel grid...

Adobe Acrobat has a very useful little tool called Typewriter.

However, if one has the skills and time, a wooden boat can be a good option if it is well chosen. Something with oak frames with pitch pine planks and teak decks over oak frame ( or epoxy sheathed marine ply decks) can and do last & last. So long as they are built with good access to all...