The DesignLAB is back online and the article on the importance of coordinating sails, rigs, and deck hardware systems has been updated.

You can see it here:

These guys know how to get the most out of the cruising lifestyle. More exceptional marine life photography from the Sailing Nusa crew. Check out their latest vid on the sailing Nusa Youtube Channel. Oh yeah! Make sure your anchor gear is up to spec.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=psTChTPHV3c

This is the kind of email I get that really makes my day. The date on the sail plan for Alfresco 43 Bossanova is August 1995 and she was launched in 1996, yeah last century! She was built in New Zealand by Nick Beadle and shipped to Antwerp where she has remained under the command of her original owner and his family

Bossanova  is now up for sale and I have received a couple of very gratifying emails from people who have inspected Bossanova with a view to purchase.

According to an email from Xavier Duveau

"Bossanova is as in 1996: same electronics, same sails, same motors, same fittings!

She is in really good condition outside and inside: no marks or cracks or any type of stratification failure. The paint is shiny. In my point of view: a nice construction and smart marine design (In and Out)"

"The owner Herman Van Bouchout told me he achieved 25 knots in some conditions, sometimes averaged 16 knots on passages, and faced a 10 beaufort storm in north sea with 5m waves comfortably"

The final photo is one I shot at Bossanova's sea trials on Auckland Harbor back when digital cameras were the stuff of science fiction novels.

I've written about multihull performance and polar diagrams before, specifically in this article; but it's clear from the emails I get on a regular basis that there is a good deal of misconception about the performance data we often see published, and in Polar Diagrams in particular.

How useful are these diagrams in making a realistic assessment of a boat's potential performance in a range of conditions?

The wind is blowing here, but there’s no way to get its green energy there.

While sailing craft directly convert wind pressure into forward motion, the logistics of getting wind generated energy into the gadgets that use it is an onerous task.

There's an article by Gregory Barber in the current issue of Wired lamenting the cost and complexity of getting wind generated power from sea based wind farms into the grid.

We can (or at least we should) marvel at the technology that enables us to travel at sea under an endless and totally free source of power.

All the more incredible to compare the simplicity and efficiency of wind driven voyaging compared to the enormous demands on infrastructure that enable the firing up of a shore based light bulb or the charge that propels electric vehicles.

Raku 48 gets a makeover to create two additional sleeping cabins on the wing deck forward of the mast bulkhead. 

The additional sleeping cabins were created by raising the mast deck to provide more headroom over the berths, and moving the leading edge of the wing deck forward 500mm. 

To distinguish the new design the original version of the Raku 48 will get the designation 48S (Sports Version) and the new model will be Raku 48C for cruiser.

Thanks to Greg Binet from Chincogan 52 Nusa for sending through this shot of three Grainger Cats Running down the dream to Michaelmass Reef off Cairns in Northern Queensland. In fact Greg tells us there were four Grainger designs including Chincogan 52 Tess which departed shortly before this shot was taken.