Today the sky wept on and off as a flotilla of AC Team tenders gathered on the site where Artemis crew Andrew "Bart" Simpson died last week when the Artemis AC72 crashed and broke apart just east of Alcatraz. Luna Rossa, Oracle Team USA, ETNZ, Artemis, several AC boats, and two big charter boats gathered to pay tribute to this father, husband, and accomplished sailor. Details about how Simpson died, will be assessed by an independent review panel consisting of:

• Iain Murray (AUS, Chair)
• Sally Lindsay Honey (USA, Deputy Chair)
• John Craig (USA)
• Chuck Hawley (USA)
• Vincent Lauriot-Prévost (FRA)
• Jim Farmer QC (NZL)

Regatta Director Iain Murray stated, “Once we have the information, the basic facts, all the data, then we will be able to re-build the entire chain of events and start to assess why this incident resulted in a tragic loss of life,” The San Francisco Police Department is also conducting its own review.

We were aboard the schooner Bay Lady paying respects from outside of the main circle. The mood was somber and some shed tears as 20 knots of chilly Bay breeze whipped across the deck. We each dropped a flower overboard, and one gentleman made a tribute as he poured a Pacifico into the turbulent Bay chop, "Peaceful Pacific." As we motored back to the dock, the clouds broke and filtered sun warmed our faces.

RIP, Andrew "Bart" Simpson.

Changes to rules for 2013 Transpac

Fleet features 64 entries from 7 countries

Los Angeles, CA -- Organizers from the Transpacific YC have announced some minor rule changes for the 2013 Transpacific Yacht Race, which have been posted on the event website as Amendment No. 1 to the Notice of Race. Many changes involve merely a re-numbering of rules from the 2009-12 Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) to the current 2013-16 version of the RRS, including US prescriptions to the RRS, and the 2012-13 Offshore Special Regulations (OSR).

However, a new section defining Penalties has been written to better anticipate scenarios that may arise during the race to allow the Protest Committee to provide fair and timely rulings.

The section on Communications Restrictions has also been clarified to reflect that no communication vessel will be accompanying the fleet in this year’s race. All entries will still be required to carry a VHF transceiver with a minimum 25 watts power and a masthead antenna, either a 100 W SSB transceiver or a satphone, and have e-mail send and receive capability.

“These changes should help both the competitors and us organizers with our planning for the race, which looks now to exceed the size of the last race,” said Dave Cort, Race Chairman for the 2013 Transpac. “We are excited about this group of entries at all levels and from many countries who have chosen to challenge themselves in this great race.”

First run in 1904, there are currently 58 monohull and 3 multihull entries for the 2013 edition of this iconic 2225-mile sprint from Los Angeles to Honolulu that biennially continues to attract the interest of offshore sailors around the world. Teams are coming from Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Germany and Italy as well as from throughout the US for this year’s race.

Classes have not yet been announced, but the slowest will start on Monday, July 8th, the next group on Thursday, July 11th, and the fastest on Friday, July 12th.

Awards in Honolulu at The Modern Hotel will be held on Thursday, July 25th.

For more information on the 2013 Transpac, visit www.transpacrace.com.

Chris Rast hits 32.2 Knots on a Moth...then crashes! Check out how far he ends up from the boat after pitching! We like at exactly 1:32 when you can see nothing but the sun, spray and his feet flying through he air. Send it!

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Bam! Straight out of the box she foils!

Let's face it, we've all had "incidents" when working and sailing in and on our boats; some minor, and some not so minor. This falls under the latter...

Sail Rev's intrepid reporter and friend Ellen Hoke snagged some epic shots of ETNZ and Luna Rossa swapping some gelcoat at the ACWS in Naples today! The bows on the 45s are pretty tough, and it'll be interesting to see what ETNZ's transom looks like! After the incident, which sent Luna Rossa to the stable, ETNZ skipper Dean Barker commented, "Normally, even if you’re in the right you avoid collisions resulting in serious damage and it doesn’t seem like they did a lot,” said Barker, a past match racing world champion. “I think it’s pretty poor to be honest. But the umpires see it the way they see it and our guys have a long night to fix the boat.”

The repair crew for the ACWS are nothing short of miracle workers, and I'm sure they'll have no problems getting the boats back on the water. Racing in Naples continues throught the weekend, and live action and recaps can be seen at here.

Skipper Max Sirena surveys the damage.

The boys at Artemis are showing how it's done aboard their foil-equipped AC 45. Check the full story here.

Oracle Team USA is looking mighty fine in this vid shot by our friend Andrew Wisner. Solid, uncut, foiling action! It sure seems like they've got things dialed in over at Pier 80!

 Run 1

Run 2

The Columbia 32 Uncontrollable Urge has gone up on the rocks on San Clemente Island, and there is one confirmed dead and five rescued. Reports suggest that Uncontrollable Urge activated a DSC on their VHF, then refused Coast Guard assistance. They did, however ask for assistance from a salvage company, who could not launch an effort due to the rough sea conditions. Uncontrollable Urge made their initial distress call around 9:00pm, went into the surf after attempting to anchor at approximately 11:00pm. A Coast Guard Jayhawk, and a cutter were sent to the scene, and rescue and recoveries were made. 

We'll update this as soon as we hear more. Our thoughts are with the families and survivors.  

Update:

Here is a link to the rescue video from the fine folks in the US Coast Guard.