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The Drive to Make Sailing Affordable. No Longer An Oxymoron.
WingZ Sailboats announces a brand new line of performance and cruising sailboats.
La Costa, CA — August 20, 2010 — The amazing and affordable Z-21 is truly a unique value proposition. WingZ purchased the original hull and deck tooling of the R21 catamaran designed by Randy Reynolds. Then John Slattebo, the design engineer at WingZ, went to work on updating and re-designing many aspect of the Reynolds 21. The new Z-21 is now faster and simply a better all-around boat.
“We have designed the Z-21 to be affordable for the average family,” said Arthur Kelly, President of WingZ Sailboats. “The Z-21 includes a host of standard features including the trailer and sails.” “In fact, the last time I checked, we only had seven options and none were necessary to enjoy using the boat the day it is purchased.”
The Z-21 is hands down the best value on the market at a price point of just $17,495.00 WingZ didn’t cut any corners either. She comes standard with Ronstan deck hardware, Schaefer furling systems, Z-Spars spar mast and boom, Loos standing rigging and New England Ropes Sta-Set and Sta-Set X running rigging. These companies are known for producing top shelf products with innovative designs. WingZ is offering an additional buyer incentive of $500 if a Z-21 is purchased from inventory or ordered by December 31, 2010.
2010 Little America's Cup Preview
Newport, R.I. (August 5, 2010) – Steve Clark has been dreaming of winning back the Little America’s Cup for the USA ever since he lost it to Canada in 2007. In 1996, Clark’s 25- foot C-Class Catamaran Cogito (pronounced with a soft g) had blown away designers and engineers with its mammoth wing sail and unmatchable speed, and with helmsman Duncan MacLane and crew Erich Chase it handily defeated Australia’s defender Edge IV on Port Phillip Bay to win the International C-Class Catamaran Championship, fondly referred to as the Little America’s Cup.
Cogito became and remained the gold standard of C-Class Catamarans for the next eleven years, a place in C-Class cat history to which Clark wishes to return by entering his new boat, Aethon, launched earlier this year, in the 2010 Little America’s Cup, set for August 22-28 off Newport. Clark’s goals for this Cup are oddly reminiscent of what they were for the 1996 event. Clark’s first experience in the C-Class had been in 1985 when he was involved in Patient Lady VI’s unsuccessful defense of the Cup, losing to Australia’s Victoria 150. It was largely this defeat that drove Clark to develop Cogito. Now, his “Cogito Project” is back where it started: testing a new boat and taking aim at winning the Cup back again.
Gilligan's Run: Endurance Series Round Two
After a tough weekend at the Islander Reef Run, the second race of the Endurance Series hopes to be an easier day on the water with a much shorter course. Gilligan's Run is the shortest course on the Endurance Series schedule. At just under 30 miles, the race starts and ends at the Acapulco Hotel and Resort in Daytona Beach Shores. The course usually runs North to a mark just offshore from the Ocean Deck Restaurant, then South to round a Ponce De Leon Inlet ocean marker buoy, then back north to the start. The weekend is topped off by awards presentation and fish fry at Steve and Cindy Caron's house within walking distance from the Finish line which is always attended by most participants.
448 Beachcats Around an Island, Now That's a Race!
Texel/Netherlands, June 11 2010 - A week prior to the start of the 2010 Zwitserleven Round Texel Race on Saturday June 19, the organization received 448 pre-entries. The high quality fleet represents fifteen countries. World's biggest cat race is part of the Zwitserleven Sailing Week, and so is the 2010 Grand Prix/Europeans Slalom Windsurfing. This event takes place under the auspices of the International Funboard Class Association. More than fifty surfers from eight different nationalities have subscribed so far.
The Zwitserleven Round Texel Race is about two different competitions. It includes the battle for the line honours and for the overall victory on handicap. The equipment plays an important role in the first case and development assumes large proportions. Xander Pols (NED) won the line honours twice before, but lost them in 2009 to William Sunnucks and Simon Farren. This British duo brought out new big guns by introducing an extra wide M20, which has meanwhile been copied by many competitors, like Pols. Also the curved dagger boards will finally enter the infamous cat race. John Moret and Danny Radelaar from the Netherlands, third over the line in 2009, will use the same set-up as Pols.
Slip to Ship - Memorial Weekend - Ocean Springs, MS
Message from the OSYC Vice-Commodore - Wed, May 26, 2010
Not Oil For Slip to Ship! Sign up online now, $50 with no late fee.
We are looking forward to another terrific Slip to Ship this weekend. Looking at the marine forecast as of today, winds are forecast on Saturday to be out of the NW at 5-10 kts. Sunday's forecase is out of the W at 5-10kts. Should be plenty of wind for competitive sailing.
I have received several inquiries about oil and the Islands. As of today, no change. The oil is 60 miles away and the Islands remain open. Me and 4 other boats sailed to Horn Island last weekend and it was beautiful. If you know someone who is aprehensive, tell them to sign up now. 30 boats is fine, 50 would be awesome.
Robbie Holstead will be cooking his cajun fare extrodinaire and we are lowering the food prices for extra meals down to $6.00 from $8.00. If you have already paid the $8.00 let us know and we will give you extra raffle tickets to make up the difference. Also, if you paid the late fee, I will put in for a refund for you.
We will have several special awards to give out as well as the Round Dear Perpetual. We will also have a great local band to entertain you on Saturday night.
As always, tents are permitted and a good time required.
As to the course, we will be providing the GPS coordiantes for the finish boat near the eastern tip of east ship Island (Race 1) at the competitors meeting.
Race 3 (Round Dear). The large range marker is no more. After being damaged in the Hurricanes last year, it has been removed. To keep consistency in the race, we will station a chase boat at the former location of the large range marker. An Orange Cylinder will be dropped as well. Competitors must round the Orange cylinder to port. Race 3 will remain the same in all other respects.
2010 Tybee 500 Final Results
Thirty stalwarts of the beach catamaran sailing community took sail on 15 boats May 10th, 2010 to face the elements in a grueling race to Tybee Island, Georgia, some 560 miles from the starting point in Islamorada, Florida.
The first day from Islamorada, FL. saw stiff breezes on the nose changing as boats rounded the tip of Florida to continue a tough beat to the finish. The distance of 90+ miles took the last boats more than 12 hours to finish in the dark, but all boats made it, with crews beat up and looking for a comfortable bed.
The second day from Hollywood to Jupiter, FL was a shorter leg, but rough seas continued. Crews saw wash board sailing and challenging sea conditions take a toll on the boats. Ground crews were up late into the night working repairs.
Day three from Jupiter to Cocoa Beach were equally challenging, where inlets caused rough sailing even though winds had clocked to give sailors their first chance to use spinnakers. One boat lost a crew member in early going, recovering, but the boat and crew drifted ashore with broken battens and a decision to take its penalty and a day ashore. Another crew lost a crew member and put panic in the race committee until all systems worked as planned and the crew member was found by use of the required personal EPIRB and was returned to his boat by Boat US, to continue the race.
Day four starting from Cocoa Beach involved a trip around Cape Canaveral, where a Shuttle stood on the pad, ready for launch the following day. All boats were required to remain 3 miles off shore for the rounding before arriving in Daytona Beach. The day was a glorious sail for all with great reaching winds cooperating for a continuous spinnaker run, after turning the corner off the Cape.
Day five from Daytona Beach was equally a great sailing day, traveling from Daytona to Fernandina Beach, Florida in record time. The race committee had to drive ahead quickly just to stay up with speeding catamarans.
The final day, starting at Fernandina Beach on May 15th, 2010 looked to have light winds and the crews voted to start at 8:00AM in case the forecast held. Actually, the winds held, but the course carried to the north east, causing the leg to be full of short and long spinnaker gibes. But even so, much to the pleasure of all, boats began to arrive at 3:30 in the afternoon. There was a joyous celebration throughout the home city of Tybee Island, GA. Awards followed on Sunday morning.
| Final Results 2010 Tybee 500 See Complete Results |
|||
| F18 Teams | Skipper/ Crew |
Total Elapsed Time (hours:minutes:seconds) |
Place |
| Bugaboo (Hobie Wildcat) | Mischa Heemskerk (Neth) Eduard Zanen (Neth) |
38:09:51 | 1 |
| AHPC (AHPC C2) | John Casey Dalton Tebo |
38:57:05 | 2 |
| PepPod Sailing (Nacra Infusion) | Tyler Burd Garth Fasano |
40:47:59 | 3 |
| Seacats Adrenaline (Nacra Infusion) | Todd Riccardi Brendon Scanlon |
41:07:41 | 4 |
| Nacra 20 Teams | Skipper/ Crew |
Total Elapsed Time (hours:minutes:seconds) |
Place |
| Velocity 1 | Trey Brown Baily White |
38:15:53 | 1 |
| Royal Yellow | Steve Lohmayer Jay Sonnenklar |
38:23:11 | 2 |
| Royal Orange | Jared Sonnenklar Colin Page |
39:31:25 | 3 |
| Seacats Orange | Jake Kohl Frank Moore |
39:41:14 | 4 |
| Royal Blue | Todd Hart Jeff LaSapio |
41:26:33 | 5 |
| Royal White | Jason Childers Zack Marks |
43:25:18 | 6 |
| Velocity 4 | Sam Carter Kirk Spicer |
44:50:14 | 7 |
| Velocity 5 Cat in the Hat |
Larry Ferber Bryan Paine |
45:11:19 | 8 |
| Velocity 3 | Brett Robinson Alan Friedman |
49:34:46 | 9 |
| Velocity 2 | Don Lenfestey Ryan Boyle |
56:43:41 | 10 |
| Seacats White | Chris Zander David Strickland |
DNF | DNF |
Team Bugaboo gets line honors for first leg of Tybee 500
The first Nacra 20 to finish was Team Velocity One skippered by Trey Brown with crew Bailey White. Finishing at 6:06:00 pm, about 4 minutes ahead of the next Nacra 20.
The first leg of the Tybee 500 started from Islamoroda in the Florida Keys. Because of the lack of sandy beaches in that area this becomes the only leg that uses a traditional on-the-water start. On all the rest of the legs an off-the-beach start is used.
Tybee 500 - World Class Sailors Race from Florida Keys to Georgia
500 miles in 6 Days up the Atlantic Coast - The Tybee 500 is an extreme sailing endurance race from Islamorada in the Florida Keys to Tybee Island, GA. The annual race begins May 10th at the Islander Resort in the Florida Keys and continues up the coast for six days, arriving on Tybee Island May 15th.
Each day there is a spectacular beach launch through the Atlantic surf that is very exciting for race fans on the scene. After the teams leave the beach the race is covered live on the Tybee 500 website at http://Tybee500.com . Each catamaran will carry the Spot™ satellite tracking beacon enabling a realtime view of the race on the website while the teams are offshore.
Race Schedule: Starts are 10am, finish times vary.
- May 10 Start from Islander Resort, Islamorada, FL and finish at Ramada Hollywood Beach Resort, Hollywood, FL.
- May 11 Start from Ramada Hollywood Beach Resort, Hollywood, FL and finish at Jupiter Beach Resort, Jupiter, FL.
- May 12 Start from Jupiter Beach Resort and finish at the International Palms Resort, Cocoa Beach, FL.
- May 13 Start from the International Palms Resort, Cocoa Beach, FL and finish at the La Playa Resort, Daytona Beach, FL.
- May 14 Start from the Playa Resort, Daytona Beach, FL and finish at the Amelia Hotel, Fernandina Beach, FL.
- May 15 Start from the Amelia Hotel, Fernandina Beach, FL and finish at the Oceans Plaza Beach Resort, Tybee Island, GA.
This will be the 8th annual race, beginning in 2003 where two man teams battle the open ocean, equipment breakdowns, and fatigue to be the first on the beach at Tybee Island. Sailors appear as alien figures wearing their protective gear. Each sailor carries enough food and drink to compete for up to 20 hours, in case light winds keep them offshore longer than expected.
55th Annual Miami to Key Largo Race Report
April 17, 2010: It was a windy, wet, and wild Miami Key Largo Race this year. The race started at 8 AM just south of the William Powell Bridge in Biscayne Bay with the downtown skyline of Miami as a backdrop. When the gun went off, over 100 boats took off like a herd of leaping gazelles. We had a left quartering headwind at about 15 knots. Everyone was bounding headlong down the bay, going south toward Key Largo. Oriol and I had our hands full the whole race.
Adventures of a Newbie, Nacra 20 Edition
Where should I start? Things have been going wrong all week. I thought this weekend would give me a chance to start over and get things back on track, however I should have known better when I found myself tossing and turning all night. I could not sleep. It has been over three months since I have had a chance to sail, but this weekend the wind is going to be between 10 to 15 knots. This is perfect for my Nacra 20 and it is what I have been patiently waiting for.
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