Crowding and contamination
Hundreds of miles above
Getting their groove on
Extra, extra, read all about it
And the other Cs of a healthier yacht
The science of satellite phones
Carib tunes are jamming in islands
Sailing by the White House in D.C.
B2
Section B
B3
B9
www.the-triton.com
B15
September 2012
Bridge monitor requirements implemented
New Zealand racing yachts and sailors started coming into world prominence after Chris Bouzaid brought home New Zealand’s first international yachting trophy since the 1956 Olympics by winning the One Ton Cup in 1969. After that, a virtual avalanche of wins followed, including Ron Holland winning the World Quarter Ton Cup in 1973 and Bruce Farr designs winning the World Quarter Ton in 1975 and later the World Half Ton, ThreeQuarter Ton and One Ton cups. In 1978, it was Tony Bouzaid who won the World Half Ton Cup. It was the start of New Zealand yacht design and sailors becoming a dominant force on the world’s yachting stage. The Yacht Research Unit (YRU) was established at the University of Auckland by professor Peter Jackson in 1987 with the primary function of coordinating and promoting yacht research and engineering. Professor Richard Flay joined the mechanical
New yacht requirements have been under way for subjects ranging from asbestos and bilge pumps to electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS) and the carriage of cargoes. In June 2009, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) made these Rules of the Road amendments to the International Jake DesVergers Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.This convention is more commonly referred to by its acronym, SOLAS. The resolution issued by the IMO, MSC.282(86), outlines new requirements that are aimed at merchant shipping, but also affects new and existing yachts. The most prominent amendment that affects yachts is the requirement for installation of a Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System (BNWAS). BNWAS is a new safety system made mandatory in SOLAS Chapter V, Regulation 19. The purpose of BNWAS is to monitor bridge activity and detect operator disability which could lead to marine accidents. The system monitors the awareness of the Officer of the Watch (OOW) and automatically alerts the master or another qualified OOW if for any reason the OOW becomes incapable of performing his/her duties. Those readers that have sailed in the merchant marine (or merchant navy depending on your nationality) may remember this device. We used to call it, “the dead man’s alarm.” And that was precisely what it was, a dead man’s alarm. If the OOW was unresponsive to the notification, a further alarm was dispatched
See SPEED, page B6
See RULES, page B7
During his guest lecture appearance, yacht designer Ron Holland, front center, took University of Auckland’s Yacht Research Unit students and staff to see S/Y Thalia, a 53m yacht he designed. PHOTO/MICHAEL PIGNéGUY
Making yachts sail faster is a science By Michael Pignéguy It’s my guess that most of us who enjoy sailing do so without really knowing anything about the science that makes a yacht sail, and what we can do to make it sail faster. We are just content to enjoy the thrill of having a yacht sail under nature’s power alone. But, of course, sailing is a science, and even more so these days. It’s a science that really began when man sat on a log and paddled out to fish. The sciences of engineering, hydrodynamics, aerodynamics and sail design started merging in the 1800s, especially after the advent of the America’s Cup races in 1851 when the British renamed their race cup after the U.S. schooner America that had sailed across the Atlantic to win it. It was the beginning of a fierce rivalry between the British Royal Yacht Squadron and the New York Yacht Club, and the battle was largely won by yacht designers and their understanding of science. Nathanael Greene Herreshoff
(1848-1938) designed, built and sailed more race-winning yachts – including five America’s Cup winners – than any other yacht designer of his era. A long list of his inventions include the sail track and slides, crosscut sails, folding propellers, and the modern sheet winch, and he developed yacht scantlings based on scientific load calculations. Captain Nat, as he was known, was a naval architect and also had a degree in mechanical engineering, but it was a long time before computers, and so many of his designs and innovations came from his keen eye and practical experience, backed up by sound theoretical knowledge. While Herreshoff yachts were winning races in the northern hemisphere, the yachts of two notable boatbuilding families in New Zealand were building graceful yachts and winning races there and in Australia and South Africa. It would have been interesting to have a Logan or Bailey America’s Cup yacht race against one of Herreshoff ’s.