Interviews.

- At the place of work.

- It is not surprising that within the confinement of a small office, from time to time you have to clean it up. A place where there are daily search and research amongst the reference books and hundreds of drawings, many on paper or mylar. Now, most drawn on as many at six computers A few very old to be able to use some of the programs that are no longer compatible with the newer PC's.

- So, this time I retrieved a literature piece from 1977 by " Bateaux " the French magazine. The only sailing publication that ever gave me a genuine interview in 46 plus years in business. Yes, I have been published all over the world with articles I wrote or about boats I have designed, but this is the only one on one.

Big VOR day in Newport.

With the opening of the "Village" at Fort Adams.

They arrived on the 6th. with a dramatic finish; teeth and nails between Dong Feng and Abu Dhabi. The former wining by .. Talking about timing, I found this interesting close finishes of the past.

(If I can find it again).

I started but waited for the end. In between, the Newport Stop-Over was a huge success. Over 100, 000 enthusiasts showed up during the Stay. As a Newporter, I can tell you that it is the first time that many concerns got involved with skin in the game. From the State of R.I, the City and more importantly the Individuals led by Brad Read. The shore filled with people for the Inshore race leading to the start of the Transatlantic crossing to Lisbon; 500 + boats showed up on this beautiful day. Sailing knowledge in Newport R.I is no secret, sailing is in no doubt and this time we got the crowd.

In case you are wondering about the video. We had our own close encounter. While being inside the security/ safety boats zone, Mapfre came on charging through. I guess the red marker was not part of the course. She won the inshore Race.

Power boats. 20' to 25'. La Panoplie.

pan-o-ply.

1) a complete or impressive collection of things.

Well, let's see in terms of small powerboats from 20' to 25'.
They are different, but they have one thing in common: Aluminum. Over the years, I have come to appreciate the material and on a one-off basis, is probably the ideal medium.

The Lafitte 20. With a beam of 6'. Of a type quite common in the South and particularly in Louisiana. Strong, rugged and stable.

Keel, Keel and Keels.

MiG-36

- There are as many sailboats keel designs than there are boats. For a keel, the objective is to offer a lateral plan to counteract the wind pressure on the sails by presenting a form below the waterline to help prevent sailing sideways. The keel produces the hydrofoil action, influences handling and steering, and offers a location for ballast. But why so many options? If our concern is towards relatively small sailboats, we can attribute the evolution to going from workboats to cruising boats and onto racing.

- Note: Also on the Blog. 

Swing keel; Centerboard. 

- From the immemorial time, the keels were long and adapted to the type of boats, commercial activities, conquest

but mostly for building consideration. The possibility to be launched from the beach, deep-sea fishing, and private enterprises, they all show that feature which offers directional stability, ability to hove -to, all included with the logical thinking of the time. They did not get involved, but superficially into the elements of keel action to resist the drift force.

- Colin Archer's  Norwegian Rescue boats, showing the underwater profile of a long keel.

Frigate

Another Half Hull from Demi-Coques aka Chorus1, this time about the 1973 Admiral's Cup Frigate. Designed by Carter Offshore, the 39' in that event was the leading boat for the English team.

Frigate distinction comes from the overall clean approach in the design, be the hull shape, the clear deck for easy working area and low windage. With the sail controls led to a battery of winches distributed on the bridge deck at the forward end of the cockpit.

The German Team of Rubin, Saudade and Carina111 (another Carter Design) won the 1973 Admiral's Cup,the world's championship in International Ocean Racing.

Now, Frigate is part of the "Patrimoine Maritime de France", like Historic Buildings in the USA. Quite a feat to have an American Design, English built and owned in 1973, passing to France heritage. It must not have happened since capturing British ships during the Napoleonic wars.

Taste of winter in Newport.

To say the least we have seen a lot of snow over the past 3-4 weeks. A few pictures are worth a thousand words.

Une vie bien remplie. 1922-2014.

 It has been a year since my mother passed away. We all miss her very much, Chauncey my son, Dominique my daughter and for sure myself along with so many friends on both sides of the Atlantic. The following is what I wrote at the funeral in the South of France in the city of Grasse.

12 February 2014.
Mesdames et Messieurs. Ladies and Gentlemen.
Je vous remercie beaucoup d'etre venus, en grand nombre, ici pour assister au depard final d'une vie bien remplie. Mme Jacqueline Le Liepvre, du nom de son deuxieme epoux, etait une femme qui n'est pas passee innapercue et qui comptait beaucoup d'amis de par le monde. Je suis ici pour en attester. Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas toute l'histoire, je vais essayer de donner un compte rendu rapide d'une vie longue de 92 ans.
Nee en Belgique ses parents, mes grand parents etaient comme on dit des gens tres bien. L'un aussi different l'un de l'autre mais unis dans un amour sincere ils ont eleves deux enfants, ma mere mais aussi mon oncle Yves ici present avec son epouse et ma cousine Florence. L'enfance de ma mere etait plutot doree. En partie grace a sa grand mere pour laquelle elle avait un affection sans limite. Avec une jeunesse consacree a la dance et a des etudes sans consequence, rien n'aurait pu presager a un autre future que celui d'une jeune femme accomplie batie sur son role de jeune fille de bonne famille.