Riding with Team TurX...
Dec. 14th, 2015 07:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranCome with me this weekend for something really special. The Extreme Sailing Series is in town for the final "Act" (event) of the year, and I've won a chance for a ride on one of the Extreme 40 catamarans. Luckily for you, I've got two tickets, so you're coming too...
We'll start our day in the Extreme Club, where will get kitted out with lifejackets, helmets and a choice of waterproof clothing. Then we'll be led off to our boat, like these people here...
Here I am ready for action. And there's, um, "you" on the right. You might be a bit taller than you remember yourself...
From the pontoon, we'll hop on a rib ("rigid hull inflatable") and go chase our boat, which is busy giving a ride to another group of guest sailors.
These are not particularly slow boats.
Eventually, we pull up alongside, the last set of guests get off and we get on. Today, we'll be riding on the Turkish boat, Team TurX. On the far right is our skipper, Mitch Booth, an Australian and now Dutch sailing legend. Apart from being a dual Olympic medallist and coach, he also helped design these boats.
These Extreme 40 catamarans are forty feet (12m) long and twenty-three feet (7m) wide. As you can see, the windward hull is already slightly out of the water. They're fastest when only one hull is in the water at a time because there's less drag. When we tacked and the wind came over our side, I got to do what the guest sailor in blue is doing - trim the mainsail by turning a winch. Turning the winch clockwise pulls on a line called the mainsheet which pulls the boom inwards. Meanwhile, Mitch sits ready to ease (release) the mainsheet if he wants the boom to go out again. When it was my turn, I was so preoccupied with what I was doing, I didn't even notice that I was already metres up in the air until I looked around.
The guest sailor in blue is called Mari and he told us afterwards he once sailed an outrigger singlehanded from the Philippines to the southernmost point of Indonesia.
Here you can see the front of the boat and some of the complicated machinery. I think those black tubes running up to the mast are actually hydraulic lines to help shape the 19 metre high sail.
Downwind now, and the gennaker (the large white sail with the Turkish flag has gone up). Those long sharp bows are known as wave piercers because they're designed to slice through the waves rather than riding over the top of them. Despite our speed, the ride is extremely smooth, which may also have a lot to do with Mitch's helming.
Of course, it's even faster when there's only one hull slicing through the water... We're now doing 22 knots in only 15 knots of wind. We'd better climb up the trampoline though, or we're going to get drenched by all the spray.
In next to no time, our turn is over and the rib is along side with the next load of passengers. Then it's time for a quick lunch and a few sea stories before the real racing starts in the afternoon.
Here's Mitch and his team showing how it's done.
We'll start our day in the Extreme Club, where will get kitted out with lifejackets, helmets and a choice of waterproof clothing. Then we'll be led off to our boat, like these people here...
Here I am ready for action. And there's, um, "you" on the right. You might be a bit taller than you remember yourself...
From the pontoon, we'll hop on a rib ("rigid hull inflatable") and go chase our boat, which is busy giving a ride to another group of guest sailors.
These are not particularly slow boats.
Eventually, we pull up alongside, the last set of guests get off and we get on. Today, we'll be riding on the Turkish boat, Team TurX. On the far right is our skipper, Mitch Booth, an Australian and now Dutch sailing legend. Apart from being a dual Olympic medallist and coach, he also helped design these boats.
These Extreme 40 catamarans are forty feet (12m) long and twenty-three feet (7m) wide. As you can see, the windward hull is already slightly out of the water. They're fastest when only one hull is in the water at a time because there's less drag. When we tacked and the wind came over our side, I got to do what the guest sailor in blue is doing - trim the mainsail by turning a winch. Turning the winch clockwise pulls on a line called the mainsheet which pulls the boom inwards. Meanwhile, Mitch sits ready to ease (release) the mainsheet if he wants the boom to go out again. When it was my turn, I was so preoccupied with what I was doing, I didn't even notice that I was already metres up in the air until I looked around.
The guest sailor in blue is called Mari and he told us afterwards he once sailed an outrigger singlehanded from the Philippines to the southernmost point of Indonesia.
Here you can see the front of the boat and some of the complicated machinery. I think those black tubes running up to the mast are actually hydraulic lines to help shape the 19 metre high sail.
Downwind now, and the gennaker (the large white sail with the Turkish flag has gone up). Those long sharp bows are known as wave piercers because they're designed to slice through the waves rather than riding over the top of them. Despite our speed, the ride is extremely smooth, which may also have a lot to do with Mitch's helming.
Of course, it's even faster when there's only one hull slicing through the water... We're now doing 22 knots in only 15 knots of wind. We'd better climb up the trampoline though, or we're going to get drenched by all the spray.
In next to no time, our turn is over and the rib is along side with the next load of passengers. Then it's time for a quick lunch and a few sea stories before the real racing starts in the afternoon.
Here's Mitch and his team showing how it's done.
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no subject
Date: 2015-12-14 12:12 pm (UTC)It must have been exhilarating to ride along with such world-class sailors!
no subject
Date: 2015-12-14 01:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-14 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-14 06:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-14 02:58 pm (UTC)We're now doing 22 knots in only 15 knots of wind... What an amazing piece of design.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-14 06:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-14 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-14 06:54 pm (UTC)