RC 44 Miami regatta

 

The Miami RC 44 regatta turned out to be one of the best.  14 boats racing, wind ranging from 5-27 knots.  Everyone had a good time on and off the water.  Some, maybe a bit too much fun off the water.  That is one of the reasons you come to Miami.  First time driver Doug Douglas won the fleet races.  He sailed on 17, recent world RC champion.  Goes to show that a good driver can step on a good boat and be competitive. 

 

Check this video out, some great shots of the sailing in Miami:

We have 5 boats sailing in Key West in January.  Dave Murphy will be using the time to tune up Ironbound a bit more.  David has just joined the class and is loving sailing the boat against the fleet and sailing very fast upwind and down.  The one thing that separates the RC from other sport boats is she goes very well upwind.  Going 8 knots at a very high efficient angle get you to the weather mark fast so you can get to the real fun.

We will be having a private boat show in Key West.  The boats will be docked at Historic Seaport Marina on Dock A 07-11.

I would be glad to show you around the boats and answer any questions you might have.  If you are interested in a private showing of the boats, let me know and I can set up an appointment.

Merry Christmas

Joc and I hope you are having a great holiday season, and we wish you all the best for a fantastic New Year in 2011. Despite both of us having a few health hiccups earlier in the year, Joc and I have landed on our feet and for Joc, finally without crutches!! For myself personally, I am feeling so much better and have been able to enjoy sailing, biking, golf and playing some tennis again. It feels great to be back!

Projects for 2011

RC 44 in KW and San Diego

Soto 40’s Med Cup & South America Regattas

Bella Mente and new BM 72 for 2012

Launch of Farr 400, March

Happy New Year

Dee and Joc

South America Life Style

Just home from my second trip to Brazil in a few weeks.  Again I went to Florianpolis to sail on Pajero, Soto 40 in the 4th and final regatta in the Mitsubishi Sailing Cup.  After a long flight through Sao Paulo and a 45 minute drive we got to our hotel.  Then the hard part started, walking to the boat every day.  It was not too bad.  As a matter of fact I could get used to this.  The little walk way opened to this:

Then it just got better:

Not a bad way to get rid of jet lag.  We did go for a very nice sail and worked on getting the boat faster.  My main job was to come in and see what improvements can be made in the class and on our boat.  There was 9 very evenly matched Soto 40’s sailing by some very good sailors.  It was a long series of 4 different regattas and I can see after doing the last two why it is a lot of fun.  They move the boats on their bottoms to these type of locations.  The New York Times named Florianpolis the best party town of 2009.  It is an island that grows from 400,000 people in the winter to 1.1 million in January and February.   October was maybe early for the season but it was still beautiful. 

We won the last event and moved from 8th to 5th going into this last regatta for all the marbles.  The marbles was not just a pickle dish either, more on that later.  We had an outside chance to win being 12 points behind.  To make things more interesting there was 6 though outs over 22 total races.  But you could not through out any races you did not start in the last series.  This was to get everyone to do every regatta.  A good idea for a new class.  But the 4 boats ahead were well sailed and we would have to have some very good luck to break in to the top end of the fleet.

Back to the job,  We used a few of my ideas to sail the boat in a different way.  String drops and leaving the jib up down wind were the two big speed producers.  The last practice day we spent many hrs on the rig.  Like all other one design swept back rigs, it takes a bit of time to get the sails to match and to increase the range of the setting.  We came away with a new setting that seemed to work.  The next day we started with a 1,2,1 to lead the regatta by 4 points.  This also moved us up in the overall total to 4th and now our outside chance was looking a bit brighter.

There was a lot of talk on the dock of our speed and sailing well.  We took advantage  in the first race by port tacking the fleet at the start.  You have to remember that we were not in it for the overall going into the first day.  So the other boats were watching each other a bit too much..  This gave us a few opportunities.  The next day it was a bit different.

The first race on the second day was good.  4th to the first mark and using our new speed sailed around two boats to take a second.  This gave us a 8 point lead and only 3 points out of first with two races left.  Only problem was our luck.  We had a starboard port with the boat that was leading in the next race, us being on starboard about 1 minute before the mark.  Sailing in Portuguese for me is not too easy and we had a communication error when we tacked.  The on the water umpires gave us a penalty that took us from fourth to last.  We recovered for a 7th but it really killed our come back to win the overall.  We went into the last race with a one point lead in the regatta. 

With us out of the picture there were now only 2 boats that could win the overall series.  That was Mercenario from Argentina and Negra from Uruguay.   These boats were tied on points.  We were in 4th one point behind Troben Grael but neither one of us could pass the other two boats.  Mercenario was in second place for the Floranpolis regatta so we needed to beat them.  Many options…  After waiting for 2 hrs for wind the line was set for a 120 degree course, 5 legs.  Very shifty and puffy.  We wanted to go right but control Torben if possible and make sure we beat Mercenario.  We thought Negre would help us do that. 

We went off to the right, there was a shift and Mercenario cross to take control of Negre on the left.  Torben on Mitsubishi was the furthest right and had the benefit of the 25 degree shift to take the lead.  We were very happy to be in a strong 3rd at the mark and just had to sail a good race to win the series.  Torben sailed this best race to win easily.  We got around Pataonia at the finish for second but we were all watching behind, the big match race.

It is very hard to match race in a Fleet.  Mercenario made a mistake by sailing themselves back into the fleet to cover Negre.  Negre used this to get others involved and on the last leg came from behind to win, the biggest pickle dish I have ever seen:

yes they won the car too, you can fit a lot of marbles in there,  thanks to Mitsubishi Brazil.

1 Negra (URU) - Nicolas Gonzalez - 42
2 Mercenario (ARG) - Luis Eduardo Silva - 42
3 Mitsubishi / Gol (BRA) - Torben Grael - 44
4 Pajero (BRA) - Eduardo de Souza Ramos - 46
5 Celfin Capital (CHI) - Jorge Errazuriz - 53
6 Cusi 5 (ARG) - Jose Estevez - 72
7 Patagonia (ARG) - Norberto Alvarez - 78
8 Ogum (BRA) - Revoredo Zeca - 89
9 Carioca (BRA) - Luiz Roberto Martins – 106

Getting back to the South American life style.  It is Latin.  People want to have fun and they do.  Everyone has a good time and gets along.  Sailing in places like this must help the attitude. For me, I can’t wait to go back…..

Dee

Flying in Brazil Video

 

Check this out from ESPN Brazil

Next stop will be back to the south of Brazil to Florianpolis Oct 18-23.  Voted best party town by New York Time in 2009…  Sailing on Pajero with Eduardo Ramos’s boys again.  Looking forward to some tight racing and learning more about these yachts.  They are fun to sail on but much different than the RC 44.  I believe the 44 is easier to sail well.  The S 40 does fill a need down there where the taxes are very high to import boats.

We have a new plan for the USA RC 44 market.  The first one for David Murphy is on its way to Florida as I type this.  The Worlds are about to start in Canary Isles with 13 boats.  We expect 14-16 boats for the first USA regatta in Miami December 7-12.

Had a chance to fly in Brazil

 

Sailed Soto 40’s last week in Ilhabela, Brazil.  Great place, fun people and interesting sailing.  We had 0-32 knots of wind and up to 2.5 knots of current.  9 Soto 40’s sailed by very good South American sailors, including Torben Grael.  I sailed on “Pajero” with Edurado S Ramos.  We sailed to a 3,4,2,1  for the win and were very happy.  We improved through the 3 days of sailing

The Saturday race was very windy, started in 23 knots and finished in over 30.  6 legs short legs proved to be hard on the boats.  3 boats had a good race, one had the spreaders fall off after a set and 2 other did not finish.  The other 3 finished over a leg behind.  We were very happy to survive and take a second.  We were passing the boat that broke the spreaders, Negra, and had to wait to set the spinnaker.  In that time the spinnaker rapped a few time and we ended up not getting it up the hole leg.

But on the last leg home with over 30 knots of wind, we flew,

and got wet,

I thought I was back in the Southern Ocean…

believe it or not, these boats are going over 17 knots

Hi All,

I spent 3 days in Valencia and was able to sail on Deal Breaker with Russell and crew the first day and then watch the match racing the next two days. Valencia put out perfect weather as the first 3 days of sailing was 10-20 knots. Sailing with Russell’s group for a while was a learning experience. It is so easy to sail well as the boat’s balance is as perfect as I have seen in any boat I have ever sailed. It seems new owners to the class are quickly getting up to speed. As you can read from Paul Cayard’s blog below:

RC44 Valencia Cup
Paul Cayard
Sunday, August 01, 2010

The RC 44 Valencia Cup ended with two great races in 12-15 knots of wind on another perfectly sunny day.
Team Aqua put another great performance to win the fleet racing and the overall combined. Torbjorn Tornqvist finished second with his team on Artemis and BMW Oracle 17 was third. Onboard Katusha with Guenaddi Timchenko, we finished 6th in the fleet racing and 6th in the combined. Artemis was second in the combined.
So, it was a very good event for the Artemis Louis Vuitton Trophy team, with strategist Cameron Appleton on Team Aqua, Terry Hutchinson, Noel Drenan, Morgan Trubovich and Andy Fethers on Artemis and Robbie Naismith, Sean Clarkson and myself on Katusha.
Onboard Katusha, Guenaddi did a fantastic job steering in the steep chop and relatively breezy conditions. We have to keep reminding ourselves that he has sailed less than 15 times in his life.
Learning to sail while racing is a fast way to learn but it is also intense. Guenaddi is doing great!
Our next event in the RC 44 will be in Lanzarote in October. This event will be the World Championship for the Class.
The next event for Artemis is the TP 52 Audi Med Cup event in Cartegena, August 24-28.
For complete results go to www.rc44.com
Paul

Believe it or not, these boats are going over 17 knots in this picture….

The boats were both fun to watch and sail in the breeze hitting speeds of over 18 knots while in full match race mode. Racing was very close and there was a lot of smiles on the dock afterwards.

We are still working on getting #22 to San Francisco. We should have details about this soon. Stay tuned…

Now I am in Palma for Copa Del Rey on Bella Mente. We have been looking at new sails and practicing over the last 4 days and racing starts in a few hrs. We have 4 very good boats here, Ran, Container, Alegre and of course Bella. Bella, Container and Alegre rate very close and it is pretty much a boat for boat race. Ran gives up 1 minute 15 seconds an hrs, so has to get away from the other three. We expect a very close regatta.

Cheers
Dee

Bella Mente Nips NYYC Trophy In Anniversary Regatta Win
.
Hamilton, Bermuda: Hap Fauth's Reichel/Pugh 69 Bella Mente took the top individual prize today in the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Anniversary Regatta. Fauth (Minneapolis, MN) had a battle on his hands from start to finish in both races with class 1 British rival Ran, a hot JV 72 sailed by Niklas Zennstrom, and from the Newport Bermuda Race St. Davis's Lighthouse winner Carina sailed by Rives Potts (Westbrook, CT).
Fauth took first place with a 2-1 for a 3 point score, Potts had a 1-3 for 4 points and Zennstrom was third with 3-2 for 5 points. Fauth and crew have won the New York Yacht Club Trophy for the top boat in this 2-race regatta.
The RBYC Anniversary Regatta is the third event of the Onion Patch Series. The series began with racing in the 156th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta presented by Rolex on June 13-14 in Newport Rhode Island, included the Newport Bermuda Race that started June 18th from Newport, and concluded today in a brilliant finish off the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Marina in Hamilton Harbour.
Ran takes Onion Patch Series with better Newport Bermuda score
Ran was the individual winner of the Onion Patch Series in results posted today . Niklas Zennstrom scored 2-1 in the New York YC Regatta, 10 in the Newport Bermuda Race. and 3-2 in the RBYC Anniversary Regatta for a total of 18 points and wins the Henry B. du Pont Trophy for the best scoring individual yacht participating in the series.
Bella Mente came second with 1-2-13.75-2-1 and was only 1.75 out of 1st place with 19.75 total points. Third place went to Newport's Clayton Deutsch and his Ker 55 Sforzando with 26.5 total points in the subset of boats entered in the Onion Patch Series.
Five 3-boat teams were formed to compete for the Onion Patch Trophy. Coming first was the New York Yacht club team of Sforzando, Rambler sailed by George David (Hartford. CT) and Bella Mente. The Naval Academy Sailing Squadron... Flirt, Swift and Invictus... came second. The Storm Trysail Club Red Team... Carina, High Noon and Gold Digger... was third.
The Catherine Hollis Memorial Trophy goes to Carina the yacht entered in the Onion Patch Series that had the lowest corrected time in the Newport Bermuda Race. -- Talbot Wilson

Not sure I can add too much here. For sure it was two fun races and the lead from Ran and Bella changed offten. Very close. The first race we tied on corrected time. Can't get much closer than that. We boat look forward to the next race, Copa Del Rey the first week of August. The boats are sharing a ship right now to Spain. Look for more lose races there.

Dee Smith

Tidetech.org to sponsor Dee
Smith Yacht Racing

I found this site and was so impressed with what they have to offer, I contacted them. We are now working together on a few programs. When you check this site out you will be see they have the most to offer in regards to current prediction and Grib files. Check into what they have right now for Newport to Bermuda Race at http://www.tidetech.org/ Use the code bellow if you sign up.

All is well for the RC 44 in Newport

Our very fast and fun to sail black boat has made a hit here. There are AC Oracle rumors and just, "what kind of a boat is that" comments. We have been out a number of times and I am really getting hooked. she goes upwind in any condition and downwind a dream.

Next week we will see if we can get critical mass...

Stand by

RC 44 #22 sails in Leukemia Cup in Newport

I am sitting here at my desk, the morning after the Leukemia Cup race and Fund Raising events. I believe that our first race went well. The RC 44 was a pleasure to sail. I was very privileged to have on my crew Gary Jobson, tactician, John Gluek, main, Steve Benjamin, trim, Scotty Murray, trim, Rob Ouellette, grinder, Peter Henderson, pit and Dave Reed, bow. They all did a great job. Not only in the sailing but special thanks in helping to get the boat put together and race ready.

My report on the race goes like this. Great start, sailed well to the top mark at Beaver Tail. We sailed right into the 2 classes that started ahead of us, IRC and Swan 42’s, 10 and 5 minute leads. The start was in about 12 knots and then it dropped out to 7-10 knots against tide. As we all were just learning the ins and outs of the RC for the very first time, we could have sailed a bit faster with a bigger jib up. The cross over was at 11 knots so we went for the J2. On the run, in 10-16 knots we sailed quickly through everyone except Aera, a IRC 55 footer that has won many races around the world. At the top mark they were 11 minutes ahead, at the bottom, 12. But they did start 10 minutes ahead and had no traffic to deal with. Anyway, we rounded the bottom mark 12 minutes ahead for the first Swan 42, and about 18 ahead of the first Melges 32. Hard to see who was who, really as they were over a mile and half behind. On the downwind leg, as the wind filled from behind, we still sailed away doing 13+ knots in 15 knots of wind. Even in the 10 knots of wind we were sailing at 10+ knots.

On the way back, upwind, in 12-16 knots, with the right jib up this time, we sailed fast, but it was in the last 5 minutes of the race, we found the trim that lit the boat up. We jumped .5 of a knot and the boat took off. The learning curve is very steep and the RC just keeps telling you to work harder. I wish we had just one more day. Anyway, we corrected out 4th behind 3 Melges 32’s. They were over 23 minutes back in a 17 mile race. With just a bit more time in the boat, I believe we would be more than competitive with our rating.

Now, for the best news, we won the first place trophy for most donations of any boat. Our combined efforts raised over $15000. Scotty has been fund raising at this regatta for over 15 years. His fund raising efforts ( Unplugged Racing) added another 10,000+ to our RC 44 team pot. So our grand total combination was over $25,000. I want to mention here that Scotty’s has raised over $250,000, over the years working with the LC Cup. What a star.

The RC 44 has made a splash here in Newport. Next week Sir Russell will be here to show the boat off to many of you. I hope you all could make it and have a great time. We have one deposit on a boat and hopefully another tomorrow. Our goal is 6-10 boats and I believe we have a very good shot at that.


First potential client's comments on the RC 44

RC 44 sailing sea trials in Newport, RI
Bill Black photo

I have been here in Newport getting the new RC 44 #22 in the water. She arrived 2 weeks ago at Newport Shipyard from Hungary. We were able to get it sailing a few days ago. Last Tuesday Michael Dominguez brought his crew down for a sail. We tried to race in the Tuesday Night race but it was cancelled because of some thunder. We went out anyway and the next day Michael wrote to me:

Dee:

I really appreciate the oportunity to sail the boat. It was fun to sail and has the performance characteristics that I enjoy. While nor overly complicated is also appears to offer a lot of technical tweaking opportunities that will help accelerate my learning curve over time.

Best

Michael

We hope to get our US Fleet started in a couple of weeks when Russell Coutts will be here when we have a private presentation to a number of potential buyers. We will show to our clients what the boat and class is all about, from the shear fun of sailing the boat to the very well run regattas and Formula 1 of One Design Racing.

Dee

Dee Smith Yacht Racing becomes North American agency for the RC44

This is a very exciting opportunity to start a new One Design Class here in North America. The RC 44 has proven to be a huge success in Europe and we feel there is a need for a boat that is both exciting to sail but cost effective to run here in the states. We already have many established teams looking to aquire a 44 and get this party going!

Another point of interest.... In 2010, after a great success of optimising and making Bella Mente competitive for 2009, Hap Fauth will be using the guidance of Dee Smith Yacht Racing to build a new Mini Maxi. Enjoy and please, send comments »





For more information about the RC44, visit http://www.rc44.com/
or contact Dee Smith by email deesmith@deesail.com
or phone (443) 955-8463.