“It is fantastic!” This was Paul Cayard’s verdict after a four-hour sail on the AC45 catamaran in beautiful conditions on Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf today. Cayard and a crew from Artemis Racing put the cat through a thorough testing session.
Weekend boaters out on the water in force were thrilled to see the America’s Cup cat fly past – less than a week after it capsized in a freak wind gust in the Rangitoto Channel.
After the capsize, the damaged wing was taken to the Core Builders facility in Warkworth, north of Auckland, where a small team, including the America’s Cup Race Management (ACRM) team and members of the Artemis Racing crew, executed a flawless repair in just four days.
“We learned a lot in the process and were able to make some small modifications which we believe would reduce the damage if we have a similar incident again,” said Phil Jameson from Artemis Racing, who assisted in the repair of the boat’s wing sail.
Conditions on the Hauraki Gulf for the AC45’s return were excellent, with the breeze building from 12 knots to a solid 18 knots towards the end of the session.
Cayard qualified his comments by noting he was not a multihull sailor. “I have not done much sailing on multihulls, apart from messing about on a Hobie,” he said.“But this seems to me to be a great boat, very well designed. I was able to sail it for quite some time and it was very user-friendly.
“One of the biggest challenges with cats is the danger of digging in the leeward bow, but we never had that issue at all. There was always good buoyancy in the bows. I think that when you consider this project went from zero to sailing in just over four months, it is a very impressive effort.”
Paul Cayard.
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Artemis Racing testings – Day 2 - Ivor Wilkins-www.americascup.com
found on artemisracing.com
Paul Cayard on the Artemis AC45 – latest report
We already knew that the Volkswagen Eos was going to be getting GTIpower, but now it looks like the people’s automaker could be upgrading the bubbly hard top convertible’s looks along the lines of the New Compact Coupe.
When VW introduced the Eos, named after the mythological Greek goddess of dawn and wind, back in 2006 the German design team was looking for a replacement for the fun loving Golf based drop top Cabrio. So when the new Eos first debuted as the Concept C it was given a friendly face filled with warm round features to continue what the former cabriolet had started. This rendering takes the unique retractable hard top Volkswagen in an all new aggressive direction inspired by the Compact Coupe and the sixth generation GTI.
When VW introduces a new convertible, it traditionally consists of a new front clip, from the front fenders forward, being grafted onto the existing model featuring updated lighting and a few new design cues. While this rendering follows the cost effective production convertible trend, it also adds a few touches from its luxury car cousins at Audi. So aside from the sleek LED headlamps framed by a pair of sharp points that continued the edges of the hood extending down on either side of the grill, larger openings in the front bumper and pronounced lip spoiler; this updated Eos incorporates the four ring automaker’s tornado line running along the car’s belt line as well as a set of slick triple spoke rollers.
found on topspeed.com
WE love the new VW Eos!
I was surprised when Tim Flanagan went all Glen Beck on underwater lights last week. It hadn’t occurred to me that “no boat owner with an ounce of sense” would drill a hole below his or her waterline just to “make the water glow pretty colors”. In fact, senseless me has long considered going for the dramatic effect above (compliments DeepSea Power & Light) on Li’l Gizmo, which has become fairly reasonable and easy thanks to gear likeOceanLED’s Amphibians. You’ll note that they are surface mounted, and hence only need a cable hole through the hull (they also purportedly run cool enough to use on deck). But, heck, I’d consider putting bigger holes in big Gizmo’s transom if the LED and thermoplastic casing technologies reach the right cost/performance point, which is where they seem headed. Any underwater fitting deserves especially carefull installation, but I don’t think fixed underwater lights compare, danger-wise, to true thru-hulls which involve a forever hole protected only by an often open valve and a hose. Has anyone heard of an underwater light causing a sinking? And while I won’t argue that anyone really needs underwater lights, they sure can be beautiful…
found on panbo.com
Underwater lights, cool or silly..?
Yes summer’s soon over, but we can’t get enough of Insight’s Dopamine II campaign … its SPECTACULAR! Fashion meets art … these posters are like fashion editorials that can be found in the pages of Vogue. The ads shows off the laid back, rocker clothes and makes us wish it was summer again …
This Aussie brand that started as a surfboard company produces laid back clothing inspired by art and popular music. Their fall 09′ collection is just as wonderful … consisting of slouchy tops, dresses, and jackets in array of colors and prints, cut out tees, and crazy patterned leggings, do check it out!
found on insight51.com
