May/June 2004

On the Cover : The TomCat 9.7 is a 32-foot LOA performance cruising catamaran.

News Briefs:
– Bahamas Relaxes Cruising Permit Fee To Allow Multiple Entries
– Dates Now Set For New Cat Course
– Gas in the Bilge

Featured Products:
– Jeckells Launches New In-Boom Reefing System
– New Profile Guard Rails
– Schefenacker Announces Aftermarket Telescopic Trailer Tow Mirror
– Unique Yachting Knife ‘Coming Soon’ to the US
– ACR’s Personal Locator Beacon Records First Rescue in Contiguous US

Letters:
– Research Help Needed Re: Lightning, by Charles E. Kanter
– Hasta La Vista, Baby!, by Bob Awtrey
– I Can’t Believe It!, by Chuck Raddon

Corinne’s Culinary Corner: Soups
by Corinne Kanter
– Black Bean Soup
– Pork ‘n’ Bean Soup
– Tomato and Rice Soup
– Beef Noodle Soup
– German Potato Soup
– Lemon Chicken Soup
– Fisherman Stew
Electrics: – Batteries -Storing Electrical Power - Part I
by Kevin Jeffrey
Multihull sailors attempting to make and manage their own electrical power supply must have some way of storing electrical power for later use.

VHF: Boating’s Comedy Connection
by Barb Hansen
There have always been abuses on the marine radio network but since recreational boats no longer have to have a VHF radio license, the problem seems to have got worse.


Capricorn Cat
by Jim Howard
At 61 a lot of guys sort of look around for something soft and cushy to do with their time. Blaire Grinols took a different tack. He began building a 45-foot catamaran.


The Beautiful Maldives
by Jeanne Pickers
After sailing from Madagascar to Thailand, Katrine heads for a short visit to the Maldives.

Cruising Aboard Top Cat, Part II
by Capt. Mark Howard-Flanders
Once we had finished our enjoyable first month aboard Top Cat, touring through the waters of Mass, NH and Maine, we headed for Narragansett Bay, RI .


Was it My Last Trip?
by Fred Jones
Can arthritis stop me from sailing?


The Beginning of a Cruising Dream
by John M. Scott
I was a landlubber living in the mountains of Wyoming with a dream of sailing the world’s island waters... but I had no sailing experience.

Night Riding
by M.J. Stark
I’m not sure when I became a dedicated NightRider, I only knew my being convinced that monohulls were the only way to sail ended one night with Greg Voelker and me, aboard his trimaran, a WindRider 17.

Rite of Passage
by Melville H. Bearns III
A combination of unforeseen circumstances, which developed suddenly, put us in storm conditions beyond anything we had ever experienced.


A Valedictory Summer on Gilbert and Sullivan
by Roy Mills
My wife is dead against my going out on my 36-foot cat unless I have adequate crew.


Raekved on a Viking Track
by Trygve Rushfeldt
The Vikings had traveled from Norway via Scotland, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and all the way to Vinland (Canada). This route also is the one we would try to sail with our TRT 1200 CR, named Raekved.
Performance Multihull Test in February 2001 – And What Happened? 48
Multihull sailors who are interested in serious performance multihulls are probably waiting for some info on what is happening in the performance niche.

Tangent to Rossport
by Tom and Rosemary Hamill
With only two weeks of vacation time and a keen desire to get away from it all, we knew that Lake Superior would live up to its name.


The Maiden Voyage of TomCat 9.7
by E. M. Strain
Everyone said the same thing – “Are you Crazy? You can’t launch the first boat of a new design on Tuesday and take customers for a sail by Friday.


VIK 180
by Erik Lerouge
The first Jamaika was designed for a very special charter program: to take guests around the world. The right balance between luxurious comfort and adequate performance had to be achieved to respect the sailing schedule.


The Birth of a Cat
by Thora Paver
Many backyard yacht builders have enticed local townsfolk to their streets when removing the boat from its ‘womb’. This is always a spectacle, as the up-to-now landlocked vessel makes her way to the water. But never was there more interest and awe than in the village of Mtunzini, on the east coast of South Africa.

Fountaine Pajot’s Cruisers with a Racer’s Heart
by Gregor Tarjan
Life at 26 knots is nice, indeed. Trilogy, Eric Bruneel’s new Fountaine Pajot-built, state-of-the-art racing tri was tearing up the Bay of Biscay. I held the tiny tiller extension in two fingers. The boat was more responsive than anything I had ever sailed before.

How “The Quebec-St. Malo Race” Came About
by Kate Jennings
Today the only crewed nonstop transatlantic race run from west to east linking Quebec with Europe remains the Transat Quebec-St. Malo, a race which has belted out its latest rendition every four years since that stunning debut in 1984.

ARC 2003 Diamonds International’s Prize-Giving Brings Rally to a Close
Soft Caribbean music filled the evening air and ARC crews enjoyed cool glasses of rum punch as they arrived at the Gaeity Night Club in Gros Islet for the ARC 2003 Diamonds International Prize-Giving.

Back-To-Back Trophy for Bundock and Forbes at European Championship
The pair, who had not sailed together since winning the world campionship in September of 2003, are already back on track.

Sailors Mix it up at Rolex Miami OCR
With one racing day left at the Rolex Miami OCR, some leaders in the 11 Olym-pic and Paralympic classes competing many were holding their breath.

A Leopard in the Caribbean “1500”
by Roger Wood
I like to sail on bigger cats, and it seems to me the best way to do that is to sail on O.P.B.s (Other People’s boats!) That’s why I volunteer for all kinds of deliveries and rallies. This is how I ended up in the 2003 Caribbean Rally from Viriginia to the BVIs.

Tortoise and the Hare – The Scenario at the Lauderdale to Key West Race
by Doran Cushing
Without trying to offend anyone, it‘s hard to look at the fleet from the Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race in 2004 and not find comparisons to the “tor-toise and the hare” children’s fable.