Hey All,

I just got acess to the forum and knew it would be buzzing. I am relaxing in Key Largo after my Dad and I's finish on Tuesday night.

I talked to Randy for a short while in the campground at the EC start while he was rigging his vessel. It was a sight to behold. I would like to clarify however that while he was planning to implement a scissoring motion of the amas and beams, he was not able to work out the kinks in time and thus the boat did NOT have this feature. The idea being that when on one tack you scissor the windward ama aft and the leeward ahead moving your CG back and your center of bouancy forward....which is good.

The race was (and still is. There are about 7 still out there in florida bay with 20-25knot headwinds forecast) a really tough one this year especially for the paddlers. Winds were generally out of the south and east which is the direction you usually want to go.

Glad to see the EC is getting the word of mouth publicity it deserves. And the Tornado and Randy I think are, in large part, responsible for this. Hopefully next year we will double our entrants! sure would being the cost of the event down.

I also want to say that as someone already pointed out, the EC was traditionally dominated by paddlers and paddle sailors (class 1 and 3) and only in the lasy few years have the class 4 boats really showen what is possible. Much reverence is held however for all those who choose kayak over sailboat. It is a different race for everyone. Personally, I'd rather relax and let the wind do that work.

Alan
sailnaway.blogspot.com

The drawing with the red wing sail in the middle of that second link from Tikipete reminds me of this...it has down pulling foils to keep it stuck down to the water, and the sail flips over the A-frame to change tacks. Has a little tiny spin pole too...that's the sterns btw.

Sounds like a good race to do on the idea for a F12 I have. With the unstayed mast where the mast is build up of loose sections of alu tube interlocking. You can easily take the mast down even when on the water this way. When push comes to shoove you can remove the middle section as sail reefed that way where you only need 4.5 mtr clearance under a bridge (= 15 feet)

A 65 kg cat would paddle really fast as well, Just take a kayak "paddle" with you and you're very good to go.

Wouter

Sound O.K. , but I doubt it'll be setting any course records, hard to see how any short waterline boat could after the way the T-teams ripped it up but still made the obstacles...

Well, I couldn't stand it any longer, so I tried to change Smythe to Smyth, but I was only able to do it on the original post. Just so you all know, Randy Smyth's last name is Smyth. He's the best catamaran sailor in the world, and I couldn't let his name go on misspelled.

Sorry about the editing. BUT IT WAS JUST PLAIN WRONG!! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

So get him to do an info piece on his new project. Inquiring minds wanna know!

Well, Rick and I woulda had a story, because we coulda gone to dinner with Randy and the other guys the other night down here in Key Largo, but we couldn't because Rick had another commitment. I feel bad about that, but it's one of those woulda-coulda and maybe shoulda things.

Sorry. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I didnt realize he'd been crowned best in the world, when did that happen?

I guess I should have inserted the word "arguably."

Or "one of"

I cant think of a single person who has had as much success on as many different platforms as Randy. Victories in the Worrell on several boats, olympic silver in a Tornado, won "The Race" on playstation. Championships in stilletos, corsairs, VX40, Formula 40. Nobody I can think of has succeeded on so many different boats ranging from 18' to 115'. I hear he breeds a great labradoodle too.

Randy is a bloody legend, and I'm keen to hear more on his boat, but I was rooting for Alan and his dad! Alan thanks for your report! Congrats to you and your dad! Very cool project!

Randy was not on the winning boat in "The Race" and Playstation didn't make it through the first ocean (Atlantic) before breaking a daggerboard and dropping out (she really wasn't ready anyway). I can't recall exactly which boat Randy was on in The Race but while in 2nd place and pushing hard they had a serious breakdown after a really bad stuff in the Southern Ocean. They took the boat to shore for repairs and couldn't convince several crew members to get back on the boat.

Club Med won the "The Race". Team Phillips abandoned ship in the middle of an ocean and then paid a high ransom to who ever salveged her. Thats all I remember.

Jake, thanks for helping to set the record straight on those things.

Randy was on Team Adventure with Cam Lewis.

I remember Randy giving a slide show presentation during Spring Fever a few years back about the adventure - quite a tale!

They DID say, however, that the lead boat was desperately wishing that Team Adventure would slow down - their speed was really making them push their own boat to the limits of what they considered safe. That, and they could tell when Randy was at the helm of the other boat as they usually knocked off more miles during the times he was on the wheel thus closing the gap. Eventually, pushing the limits caught up with Team Adventure.

As reported in the most excellent book, The Race, by Tim Zimmerman (required reading if you like racing cats!) Grant Dalton's team on Club Med won The Race. Team Adventure (Randy's ride) didn't have much time for shake down and training, it was the last of the 3 big Ollier cats built by the French yard Multiplast, to hit the water, just weeks before the start of The Race.

After Cam Lewis and Randy pushed it very hard for many miles, the front beam started to delaminate near where it attached to the hull, as in: split apart, because of the intense, sustained water pressure being applied while crashing along at 40 knots for days on end.

One crew member was seriously injured when they stuffed and came to a screaching halt, nearly flipping the boat. That's what caused a couple other crew to abandon ship when they pulled in for repairs. Randy and Cam did complete the race short of crew, after repairs, but didn't finish well, although they did have one of the fastest 24 hour time splits in the fleet prior to the delaminations.

Is Randy the "Best in the World"? Well, he's won an America's Cup on a cat, The Worrell more than once, the Alter Cup several times, the Volvo Extreme, the Corsair Nataionals many times, and so many other catamaran racing titles you can't list them all.

Who has consistantlly beaten him, I can't think of anyone, but I don't know everyone, especially the Aussies and New Zealanders, and then there are the French, who love to set records on big cats and tri's.

Here's the best part. When you see him at a regatta, he will answer all your questions and even come over and look at your boat, give you some tips on how to set it up. What other sport can a weekender get some quality time with the best, for free?? What other top guys, in any sport, will give a putz the time of day, especially if you are competeing against them?

The way I remember is that Club Med was leading the race for most of the way and team Adventure pushing it into major damage in the south atlantic requiring a repair stop over in Cape town. I think they continued later but their race was now basically over. In the end both US boats were pushed too hard and had to go into land for repairs or retire from the race. Innovation Explorer and Club Med coached their boats around the world without stop overs but with some on the water repairs and reinforcements. There was also a Polish entry (Enza ?) but they never entered the fray in a serious manner.

You can now all google to see if what I remember was correct.

Wouter

AND...


He was in Waterworld!