NEWS
TELL TALES
Now in the last stages of her rebuild
at LMI, the legendary 1934 S&S yawl
Santana, once owned by Humphrey
Bogart and Lauren Bacall, will stay
in New England for the 2016 season.
She was due for shakedown sails in
January to be shipped to the west
coast, but shipwrights and owner
decided not to rush things and to
sea trial her over the summer on the
eastern seaboard. She will have other
S&S yawls to race there, including
Dorade, Sonny and possibly Stormy
Weather (currently in Europe). CMA concept springing from discontent
surrounding the America’s Cup’s ‘battle
of the billionaires’ is on track to create
history. Tapping into the nostalgia of
the 12-M era, former AC spokesman
Tom Ehman has created the San
Francisco Yacht Racing Challenge
and has just released renderings of
the one-design 12-M class that will
match race for the cup. Like earlier AC
races, it will have a nationality rule
and also update its approach with a
requirement for a number of females,
under-20s and over 65-year-old crews.
The gem of this event will be the
Farr 12-M with the classic lines of the
pre-1987, winged-keeled 12s above
the water, and a modern canoe body
and bulb with wings below the water.
Syndicates from several nations that
have raced in the America’s Cup have
expressed interest in the challenge,
which is scheduled for July 2017,
after the 35th AC. Chris MuselerThe melting of polar ice has meant that an area of the
Chukchi Sea near Wainwright has given up the remains of
whaling ships lost 144 years ago, including the famous
ship Concordia, reports Kathy Mansfi eld.
The 128ft (39m) whaling ship Concordia that gave her
name to the Raymond Hunt yawls of the mid-20th
century was found by archaeologists working for the
Maritime Heritage Program of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration of the US Dept of Commerce.
Sonar images and historical photos can be seen by
visiting the website sanctuaries.noaa.gov/shipwrecks/
lost-arctic-whaling-fl eet/
This news follows the recent discovery of at least one
long-lost ship of the ill-fated Franklin expedition of
1845, to chart the Northwest Passage.Historic yachting enthusiasts from
around the world have ‘virtually’
toured each other’s collections
for years, but rarely get to try out
the antiquities in person, reports
Chris Museler.
A chance visit to Chesapeake
Bay made such an impression on
an Australian 18-foot (5.48m) skiff
veteran that an Aussie-American
challenge is being arranged for
2017 between the indigenous
sandbaggers of the US East Coast
and a pair of historic 18 foot skiff s
from Sydney Harbour. “I was awareRHODE ISLAND
Bogie’s boat to
re-launch soon
SAN FRANCISCO BAY
New 12s to race
in ‘classic AC’
ARCTIC ALASKA
Meltwater reveals ships
CHESAPEAKE
History’s fastest: Aussie skiff s vs US sandbaggers
DAN WALKER BRUCE KERRIDGE, SYDNEYCB ARCHIVES C/O HUNTINGTON LIBRARYof the similarities between the 18
footers and sandbaggers,” says Ian
Smith, who races the historic skiff s
on Sydney Harbour. “In 2010 I was
passing through Annapolis and
sailed on Bull and Bear. It occurred
to me I’d love to return with a good
crew and really push the boats.”
The 50ft (15m) LOS Bull and
Bear, replicas of the late 1800s
skimming dishes raced in New York
Harbor, were launched in the 1990s.
The links between the 18s and
sandbaggers are distant, but the
similarities are striking.“They are more like common
ancestors,” says Smith, “with
common social origins.”
The historic 18-footer group has
now been in touch with the
National Sailing Hall of Fame in
Annapolis. A date has been set for
September 2017, and half-a-dozen
sailors and spouses are planning to
travel there for a series of match
races. Aussies vs Americans in Bull
and Bear is a certainty, but the
main aim is to get the 18s to the
US. A reciprocal event in Sydney
will be scheduled as a follow-up.Above left: the
identical Bull and
Bear sandbaggers
built in 1995/6 to
match race
Above right:
Replica of the
famous 18ft skiff
Britannia (1919),
racing in
Sydney Harbour