GRAPEVINE ISSUE 26

GRAPEVINE ISSUE 26 - AUG 2008

Please click HERE to read Dick Newnham's Newsletter attachment (without the keel article due to copyright restrictions)

Dear All,

Following our recent AGM the decision was taken to alter the format of our Newsletter communication with members. Dick Newnham writes and posts a very good newsletter, and it seemed silly to do a totally different version to be sent electronically. The Committee has decided to send an electronic version of Dick's newsletter, which will go to a wider audience than the printed version which is expensive to send and goes only to members. As Webmaster I have offered to do this - I am afraid it has to be scanned in and sent as an attachment. I am happy to add any additional information, if you have any items of interest please email me (if you can't find the address, you can do so via the website). I have compressed the articles attached so as to not overload anyone's email server, this slightly degrades the quality of the image but ensures the email is not rejected. If anyone wants the high res versions please let me know.

I am happy to add any S&S 34 owner, crew or genuinely interested person to the emailing list. Please email me with the name of your boat and email address. Likewise, anyone who wants to be removed from the mailing list please let me know.

Items of interest:

AGM minutes in Grapevine attachment.
I have reproduced in full the articles on keels alluded to by Dick in his Newsletter. PLEASE NOTE: These articles are copyright - Yachting World has kindly agreed to allow me to distribute them to our members, but it is on the condition that the articles are not reproduced or further distributed. On reading it I am glad I put my money into building a new S&S 34, not buying a new production boat. Our design is the epitome of how good safe, seaworthy boats should be built. No shortcuts is more expensive in the short term but a number of those mentioned in the article paid the highest possible price for poor design and construction of their boats. It amazes me that Bavaria justified the loss of one of their Match 42s in 2005 by saying "the boat must have hit ground" - i.e. it's OK for the keel to come off if you touch the bottom! In fact, there was some evidence that the keel came off without even hitting the bottom. Certainly the hull looks very thin for a highly loaded 42' racing boat. Bavaria claimed at the time it was over 13mm thick and exceeded the CE standard which mandated only 8mm. For those interested I have also attached the Hungarian report into this incident in 2005 which has some pictures, I recall at the time seeing photos of some keels with only washers underneath every keel bolt and no backing plates at all. I guess ultimately you get what you pay for.
There are now quite a number of S&S 34s sailing on the Swan River on Saturday afternoons - enough to make quite a fleet if we all got together. Derek Miles the Sailing Administrator at RPYC is happy to have any S&S 34 attend on Opening Day (Sat 11/10/08) - just ring the Club and let them know of your intentions and you will be welcome. RPYC is also happy to host a S&S 34 race within their Division 2 fleet if we organise it with adequate notice.
I hear Jamie Dunross is looking at attempting a world record circumnavigation in the not too distant future - It would be an amazing feat for a quadriplegic sailor to complete a solo circumnavigation.
Steve Humphries (Huckleberry) of RFBYC has agreed to be our Racing Co-coordinator, anyone with ideas or input re racing issues please contact Steve (details on the website). He is especially interested in promoting Ocean racing in Western Australia, but also interested in River racing.
We look like getting our new boat in the water within the next few weeks - it's like building a house, there are a whole lot of little things to complete that seem to take forever, but better late than never and we will have one more new S&S 34 launched. There are some plans etc of the new boats on the website but if anyone has any particular queries re technical details etc I am very happy to be contacted.
I am looking at ultimately upgrading the website (although this is a big task and will take a while). Anyone with ideas, suggestions or other feedback is welcome to contact me.

The Grapevine will probably come out to you around 2-3 times per year. It is a rather informal arrangement. As I have said although Dick's Newsletter is the backbone, anyone with stories, information or interesting websites is welcome to contact me via email for inclusion in the next edition. If there is enough material I can always put out an extra edition a bit earlier. All comments and feedback are welcome. If you have a comment or something that will be of general interest please don't forget that that is what our website Discussion Forum is for - it is very easy (and free) to register and the more it is used the better it will be.

Good sailing,

Simon Torvaldsen

S&S 34 Association Webmaster