Steampunk

It doesn't have to be about sailing, but steampunk?! I was unaware of the genre, till I logged into Tradewinds a few weeks back. There was a Steampunk exhibition. Steampunk, it seems, is a mix of past and future leading to a strange breed of steam powered spaceships of sorts.

A steampunk submarine

Strange, yet somehow interesting. Ships, subs, planes, spacestations whatever we know today - packed in a pre-WWII design and powered by steam. Here's me, looking - staring actually - at a fascinating creature. A bug-like submarine, which frankly gives me the creeps. The design reminds me of Captain Nemo's Nautilus, but to be fair... I think he was technologically way past steam powered engines.

A day cruiser?

This next one isn't less weird, but at least the passengers can breathe fresh air. Beautifully crafted in that almost melancholic old fashioned way. Maybe the Steampunk people are hopeless romantics? Hey, maybe I should meet one of those guys :-D

Pretty simple machines, huh!

Here's a picture of the engine in another boat. I searched a little and it seems there are places in SL, entire cities, totally devoted or is it "hopelessly devoted"  to steampunk. Go there if ur into it. I found it interesting, but I am glad that Tradewinds now has a boatbuilder exhibition. Loads of interesting boatprojects underway. Back to sailing again :-)

Next up, more Fizz Cup racing. Here is an intro.

Fizz cup round 1 afterparty

After saturdays two groups of racing, there was a long distance time trial race on sunday. I have no pictures from it, because there is nothing to show. There is no fight for the pin, no upwind tactical fight, no shadowing on the reach. Just single boats on the course. That is not to say I dislike the time trial. I might find it a bit strange compared to traditional RL cups, but it does have a certain element of competition.

Fizz Cup 2011 at Tradewinds YC.

There are two other things worth mentioning. First there is... the course. Now, traditionally SL yacht races have been "blessed" with really dull conditions. No current, rock steady wind direction, no gusts, no local wind variations. Everything known weeks before the race. No surprizes what so ever. Kinda like driving an F1 on the Commodore 64. Totally predictable and boooring. The Fizz Cup 2011 races at Tradewinds were different. Thanx to Liv, they sported all of the above mentioned features. 

The wind indicator had a busy day.

Not to an extent that is similar to RL, but it was a huge step in the right direction. The current could have been stronger, the local variations could have been bigger, the puffs could have been stronger, the waves could have changed over the course, and the line could have been skewed too... And these parameters could have changed from race to race or even mid race. That would have been interesting. That would have made a difference, because then no sailor would have known anything about the conditions beforehand. We have only scratched the surface of what the wwc and the Flying Fizz is capable of doing. In the future, I hope we will scratch some more; Create much harder and virtually realistic conditions.

Is that guy staring?

Another thing is the party. Every good race event has a party. Fizz Cup 2011 had a great party at Tropicana. Beautiful place with bar, dancefloor, tub, pool, lounge and what ever else you need for a wonderful evening with loads of fruity cocktails, headache and sore feet the day after. Contact Sylvie Etoile for more info. Usually, I don't like party pictures, but these are from before people got wasted. I guess it's ok then.

Let's do some real dancing.

For once I was not wearing my sailing outfit. Nor was I being a total beach bum. I even dropped the Docksides. Looked around at all the party people and found El, - looking soo classy. Turns out he is a wonderful dancer, - and he can talk sailing while dancing. Huh! El also likes the advanced sailing. We talked a lot about racing the Fizz in expert mode on a much more difficult course. And stuff.

Arrrr, my feet hurt. Gimme my sailing moccasins.

More on that in another post. Here's just me back home at Tradewinds, early morning, a bit dizzy after two days of hard racing and a long night of boat talk and dancing. What a great race weekend. Good night zzzzz....

Oh, - in the back it's Rene from ReneMarine moonlighting on a new and very exciting boat project.

Fizz Cup inport TYC group 2

Group one sailed at 0600 SLT. Group two was on at 1300 SLT. Here we had six boats at the line: Dahral Huet, Hii2newsplus Writer, Joro Aya, Krysha Lundquist, Quirky Torok and SkyBlue Earthboy.

Right after the gun, - pinfight.

Again, we saw intense racing, and this time we had the SL Coastguard in place to keep strangers from cruising inside the racing area. Zoom in and you can see one of the coastguard ships in the back.

Close racing

Someone suggested that maybe group two wasn't as hard racing as group one. Looking at the shot above, it seems to me it was a pretty close race. They chose differents paths compared to group one, - especially downwind. That changed the lap time, but that's another story.

Top mark rounding. Note the capsize on the reach.

Here we are at the top mark. Talk about sailing on the edge! Check the capsize, - black hull. Dahral had quite a good day taking 1, 4, 1 totaling six points using the lowpoint scoring system. However, the group winner is Joro with 2, 1, 2 and a total of five points.

Skyblue looking for pressure...

We use a special scoring system for the Fizz Cup, so those numbers won't be on the scoreboard. Above, you see Skyblue looking for pressure; Krysha a few boatlengths ahead. Below you see Quirky; Also looking for pressure.

Q looking for a breeze...

Overall, we had lotsa good sailing in group two, and there was a few incidents too. One DSQ for Quirky, and one DNF for Skyblue. I guess the weather was better, when this group sailed. In group one we had more DNFs.

Sipping champagne after a great day at the race track.

Here we are, after finishing group one and two, each group doing three heats. What a great race-day. Thanx all organizers for making this happen; Thanx sailors for fierce and fair racing. Thanx coasties for watching out, and thanx Orcs for standing in RDing for me in group two, where I was unable to be on time.

Details from the Fizz Cup 2011 TYC group 1, - scroll down or click here.

Results on the official scoreboard, here: http://slsailing.com/fizzcup/results/

Fizz Cup inport TYC group 1

Seven boats at the line in group 1 of the Fizz Cup 2011 inport races at Tradewinds. EmmanuelMara Resident, Liv Leigh, Miwha Masala, Ox Seetan, Porter Tracy, Sandra Absent and Ziz Kidd.

Miwha ahead of the pack.

Tradewinds had prepared a special soup for todays contestants. Lotsa shifts, local puffs and lulls plus a nasty cross course current. That's all part of a good race, and it really didn't seem to bother Miwha.

Ziz Kidd hunting...

Everybody sailed nicely; Miwha had no problems in taking the first place in heat one and two. There were a few situations, but no protests. However, that was about to change.

Waiting for the gun.

Aggressiveness increased quite alot in the third heat. Not only did we have several rule 11 situations before the gun; As you can see below, everybody wanted the pin.

15 seconds and going into a tight squeeze at the pin.

We also had a few rule 10 situations in the race. First at the top mark was Liv, looking good in her Pink Fizz. Sadly she bumped into Miwha after rounding. Miwha protested, but Liv was unaware. Since we all saw the situation and heard Miwha protest, we had no choice but to DSQ Liv;

Liv and her Pink Fizz ahead.

This might be problematic, as it does not adhere to the rules, specifically rule 61.1. Since it is common in SL to handle the situation as we did, I suppose it is ok in the Fizz Cup. More on this in a separate post. In any case it is hard to DSQ the first boat after such a well sailed race. More DSQs: Porter hit the finish mark and failed to correct, and Ox failed to do a complete 720, so Ziz Kidd wins the third heat.

Just another shot from a start. Note the spectator platform to the right.

All in all it was a great day at the race track. Lotsa action, close race and a pinch of drama in the third heat. Add beautiful weather - as seen right above - and it "virtually" doesn't get much better. Results are on the official FizzCup site here. RL Sailors beware. You probably need to read the NOR and the SI in order to understand the points, but the ranks are also there.

Thanx Silber and Joro for judging and keeping an eye on things. You guys made my first inworld RD-ing a pleasure. Gotta love that Flying Fizz and all the lovely sailing, it brings us.

Ready!

After a quite a few training races, I guess TYC is ready for the Fizz Cup 2011. Right before I went to sleep there was Miwha, Silber, Bea, Porter, Quirky and a few more out there, trying to figure out the local winds and currents.

Morning at Tradewinds

I just love the colours of the Tradewinds Waters in the morning. Dunno who it is in that ACA in the back, but it sure was nice of them to sail by, right when I had the camera out.

Fun Fizzin

The Flying Fizz Cup 2011 is coming up. I won't cover it in it's entirety, but I will show bits and pieces from it, because it is a massive event in a hitherto unparalleled boat, the Flying Fizz. Not only does the Fizz look good. It feels good, and it is hard work to make it fly. Fun, fun, fun...

Waiting for the evening breeze to kick in.

Yesterday we had a little training session south of Tradewinds. Loads of fun. Windshifts, puffs and lulls, currents and waves making it really hard to sail. For my part, the waves kept pushing me off course. Thats something I need to work on. Usually the Fizz is pretty steady on course, but these waves... jeezzz.

Prestart is hectic.

In one race we all kinda met in a huge traffic jam at the top mark. Most of us collided with someone, and some even hit the mark.That didn't spoil the fun; Everybody just said sorry and carried on. It was just a fun race, so no points at stake at this time. I was off to bed after a few races, but I took a couple of shots before I left.

Converging just before the gun.

Mihwa showed up, and joked about the huge waves getting her seasick. Well, I hope it was a joke, hehe. Otherwise, what mess. Don't wanna think that thought to end. Anyway, here's the "gun-shot". Well, - close. Noone was over early.

Bang, and they're off.

Business as usual. Winning the start is half the race, so look at the picture above, and guess who was first at the top mark. While you're guessing, I can just throw in an explanation of those weird blocks above the boats. They are sailnumbers. Don't ask. That's just how it works. By the way, todays course is an up down course. Gate and finish at the bottom.

The first top mark rounding.

You guessed it. Looking good there. So winning the start is good. Finding the path is also good, and trimming. This boat needs constant attention to the trim. That's another part of the Fizz fun; Crewed racing, shared trimming. Fizz Cup 2011 however, is singlehanded. Next shot will show the runner ups, while number one is off flying the kite.

More top mark roundings.

However, that didn't last. A bad gybe just before the bottom mark converted into a capsize. That enabled number two to overtake and stay ahead for the rest of the race. Make no mistake. These sailors know their stuff. One little error, and the others are roaring past you. Trust me, it's intense.

Thanx for all the fun guys...

It's a good thing I was off to bed. The racing could have carried on for hours, and it probably did. Many of these sailors have signed up for the Fizz Cup, and getting to know the local windshifts is key. Anyone who watched the AC race yesterday - Go Artemis - they will now how much it means to find the right path.

What a fun night. Back home to Tradewinds for me, and then off to bed.

The Fizz Cup will be covered on slsailing.co; Official notes, results and changes will be posted on the dedicated Fizz Cup site.

Vanity is fair

Can anyone guess, what this is about? From the title? I expect old salts can. Here's a hint. It is a majestic and classic sailboat. Well, maybe not as classic as Roar Ege, but hey... Classy. Sails like a dream, looks like a dream, and this particular one is famous for having a certain kind of motive in the spinnaker. It looks like this:

Clay Ellison at the tiller; Dacron sails...

Yes, I have photos of the spinnaker, but first: Guess! I was really at Tradewinds to check the winds and currents for the Fizz Cup course, but something extraordinary caught my attention. Well, extraordinary and familiar. It is allways fun to see a faithfull replica of a real boat, but if it is a boat or class you've felt as u sailed it, it is even more special. 

Heading north, old style sails

I immediately called the builder and asked for a demo, and naturally - he was happy to pop by and show off the wonderful boat. As you can see, it comes with loads and loads of pretty details. Big and small.  Zoom in and have a look at the shrouds and the halyards. Just lovely. The sails come in two flavours. Dacron sails as depicted on photo one, and old style sails, which we went with for most of the afternoon. Beautiful. Now, lets see that spin.

Get it now?

Not yet. Here's the hull and the sailno. If you consider yourself an old salt, this is your last chance to guess. While you think about it, I can tell you that Clay Ellison, the builder and owner, isn't related to Larry "All Candy Diet" Ellison. Just in case you wondered... and so without further ado, here she is... "fully dressed":

Let's see that spin...

Huh! It is a beautiful replica of the real thing. It doesn't get much better. Absolutely Fantastic boats, and they race them still. Right off my home coast. Look at that mast, and tell me how your stomach feels about climbing up there. No? I'd never wanna go there.

Just me enjoying the ride.

Still not guessed it? Long, sleek, extremely classy 12m R-boat designed and built by William Fife III around 1936. These are the last hints, so if you haven't got it right by now, you're a landlubber. Scroll down to learn it is of course the Vanity, which you can see here.

Back at Tradewinds...

So, here we are after a fantastic sail in the waters south of Tradewinds YC. From a sailors perspective there are tiny adjustments to be made, but we are in the perfectionist category here. As a cruiser it is absolutely fabulous, and I suppose it will turn heads and also pick up girls anywhere you sail. I know it picked me up. Thanx for a wonderful afternoon sail, Clay.

PS: If you're a sucker for classics, u might like the J-class too.