ClarkSail

By Steve Clark

There are good days and bad days. Then there are days that are truly dreadful, when all the optimism and progress you have nurtured is broken and lost. When this is compounded by the death of a beloved comrade, the loss seems unbearable and will test the limits of faith and endurance.  Artemis Racing is at a time that will tax their characters to the limit.  We wish them all the strength and sprit to endure, recover and overcome.

Too much is said about the choice, about how the decision to put oneself in harms way, is optional. I don’t think that is a particularly true or useful way to think about it. Talent isn’t optional. Doing what you are best at isn’t a choice; at least it isn’t to the truly gifted. Genius is an appetite that demands satisfaction. Andrew Simpson was sailing on Artemis because his talent demanded he be there. He would not have been “Bart” anywhere else.

If there is any comfort in this, his death wasn’t the result of random chance, but pursuing the highest goals in his field of genius.  He wasn’t struck down crossing the street, or by an infection, or any of the other simple mortalities of the day to day. He didn’t lose his leg waiting for his sister to finish the Boston Marathon.  If there is an honorable way to die, and if that matters, Andrew Simpson died well.

One of the things that sport enables is the chance to aspire to be the best people we can be.  The test for Artemis Racing is now not the one they envisioned when they started their campaign for the America’s Cup. To carry on, to prepare the new boat, and compete in the Louis Vuiton Series after yesterday is now far greater and ultimately far more noble challenge.  We wish them all the best.

Per Ross Tibbits

SAN FRANCISCO, California April 15, 2013 – The American Youth Sailing Force (The Force) is pleased to announce that Zhik is now our official clothing sponsor. Zhik’s Pat Langley is very enthusiastic, “The team has a great amount of energy and have proven to be winners not only on the water but also on land. They have been extremely professional in how they have handled themselves as they prepare for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup and Zhik is proud to support their challenge.”

Team Manager Ian Andrewes explains, “We are really excited to have a company like Zhik providing us such high-performance clothing for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. This is just another example of the kind of support we appreciate so much. Without it, we couldn’t make this happen.”

“Zhik has a strong involvement in the America’s Cup at both senior level and within the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup arena,” continues Langley. “Our custom made products designed specifically for America’s Cup sailing, are clearly providing on water performance gains. Zhik is extremely excited to be partnering with the American Youth Sailing Force team as they challenge for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. This team is ‘on brand’ for Zhik – young, energetic and professional. They are prepared to take on the ultimate challenges and this is what Zhik is all about as a business.”

Visit: zhik.com

By Vince Casalaina

Cogito with wing up at Guck Inc. Photo courtesy of Lars Guck and Prescott Cronin

The wing to USA 104 “Cogito,” the spar famously destroyed at the 2010 International C-Class Catamaran Challenge Cup after the start of race one, has been reanimated. Over the past few months Steve Clark and the Cogito Project stitched the old spar back together and outfitted it with all new surfaces using materials from Swedish composite company Oxeon. The wing was detailed and finished at Guck Inc. of Bristol, Rhode Island, and on Tuesday went up for the first time in three years. The design is essentially the same as the one first conceived by Duncan MacLane in 1993, but the wing weighed in at 148 lbs, down from 178 at last weigh in before the 2010 crash. Clark attributes the weight loss primarily the stiffer and lighter TeXtreme composites provided by Oxeon, and a few changes to the geometry that this afforded.

“The wing went up with no real drama,” said Clark on Tuesday. “We will see how it behaves when it’s really loaded up, but most everything worked as expected. We need a little more clearance between the the number two and number three elements but that’s not a big deal. I’m really happy with the lighter weight.”

The Cogito Project plan to enter the Cogito with its remade wing in the 2013 International C-Class Catamaran Challenge Cup. The team has not revealed who will be at the helm.

Photo: ClarkSail

ClarkSail reporter Willy Clark recently got his first shot at iceboating when he followed the New England Ice Yachting Association to Squam Lake, New Hampshire for the 2013 Doc Fellows regatta. After a day spent watch the runners go by one thing is clear – it takes a special type to be an iceboater. Below are some of Willy’s thoughts on the matter.

I have seen iceboats race a number of times before, but I never really thought much about it until my cousin and close sailing buddy Oliver Moore got hooked into the NEIYA a few winters back. I knew that they were absurdly fast, and I obviously thought they were extremely cool and exciting. However I must admit that I never really thought much about iceboating. This is the way it is for a lot of “soft water” sailors; they are aware of iceboating and that it’s very special in its own way. But that is about the extent of it, and after a day spent in and around the things I think I can explain why – it isn’t really like sailing.

After a few scratch races Oliver gave me the chance to take his DN for a spin. It was a new experience in every sense of the word. The first thing that jumped out to me as odd was that you can’t see the puffs coming. Ice doesn’t ripple the way that water does, so you have no warning of the puff. It’s just there all at once and you had better react fast. This makes it an even more intuitive sport than “conventional” sailing already is. You can’t see what is happening. Even your tell tails aren’t all that helpful. You just have to feel it.

The other thing that really got to me is that you can just stop. When you go for a sail even when you let out your sails and are just waiting around luffing you are still sailing. You don’t stop sailing until you are back on land. Ice boating isn’t like that. You can just get out whenever you want. If the wind gets to high or too low once can simply take the sail down and walk home, and the idea of doing that really gets in your head. Going for a sail in an ice boat really isn’t like spending an afternoon sailing. Yes that is the activity, but the fact that you can just stop for 15 minutes in the middle makes it very very different. It’s a hard thing to wrap ones head around.

During my brief spin in the DN I got hit by two very large puffs. The wind was extremely spotty that day at Squam Lake, with 15 knot gusts oscillating up to 45 degrees. The first one hit me and the boat took off so fast that I simply had to wuss out. I dropped the sheet and headed up until I felt under control again. However when I felt the second one hit I knew I had to put the bow down and see what it could do, so I gripped the sheet, held the tiller rock steady, and just hung on for 30 seconds of pure terror. It was very clear, after my heart had descended out of my throat, why people get into this – the speed is something else. Nothing can really compare to it. However it wasn’t just the speed that was different, the whole experience was totally unrelated to anything I had done in my whole life of sailing.

In the end iceboating is really more like surfing than sailing. That is the mentality that these guys seem to come at it with. Surfers get a call that the waves are good at a beach three hours away and they drop everything and are off. That’s the way it is with iceboaters. The regatta was supposed to be in Vermont but the ice is good in Green Bay? They’re off to Green Bay. That’s how it works. It is a water sport unlike any other. You just kind of go with it. The added variable of ice on top of wind makes it a difficult thing to organize, but that is just part of iceboating. You do it for the love of the sport and the love of the speed. It’s different and that’s all there is to it. Everything about it is individual. It’s not like the sailing you are used to.