Pebble Mine

 ”It’s premature for any reasonable person to formulate an opinion on whether this project’s benefits outweigh the risks.”
- Bruce Jenkins, COO of Northern Dynasty Minerals


And... Buster Wants to Fish with a good take on fines recently levied on Northern Dynasty for unauthorized use of water at sites they are exploring. http://busterwantstofish.com/?p=1751

Victorious?

Well, America's Cup 33 is all wrapped up. BMW Oracle Racing swept the Swiss catamaran in two straight races to win the best of three series. Let's not take my attention to this race to mean that I agree in any way with the stupid legal squabbles that have been going on for the past couple years, but you have to admit that this match produced some amazing boats. Two of the most advanced course racing boats of all time and an epic wing sail. 

And maybe my favorite - a day after the race, Bertarelli is heard trashing the victory:

"They got a little help from the legal system in New York. That always makes things difficult for us Europeans to get the same advantages," Alinghi owner Ernesto Bertarelli said. "It's not the Europeans' Cup; it's America's Cup. It's very difficult for a European to win.”

Hey buddy, quit whining - you didn't lose the cup in court - you lost it on the water! You won it twice and we'll give you due credit for that. You built a better boat and put together a better crew (ahem, hired New Zealand traitors), but you still won. But the challenger was simply better prepared this time and Alinghi 5 was far inferior. Get over it, put together a new program and come back in a few years. I'm sure they'll let you race without trying to change the rules in their favor.

I'll just leave it with this cool video from onboard the big tri. I read somewhere that Spithill was bummed that they'd probably never get to sail her again. I'm sure he was! One of the most sophisticated boats ever built - and it probably costs a couple hundred thousand dollars a day to run. My guess is that she's dismantled and parted out. $200 million bucks for two races. Classic.

Bull shit.

“If we capsize, it’s going to be a disaster,” Alinghi crew member Ed Baird told reporters. The boat “will explode in a thousand pieces.”


It will be interesting to see how this transpires. Two days of racing cancelled now because of either too much wind or not enough. It appears that Oracle wants to get out on the race course, but Alinghi is still working as hard as they can to stack the deck in their favor. Bertarelli continues to make himself look like a total dumbass.

Ed Baird quote via: Bloomberg.com

Sharks with Laser beams

Some killer video of downwind Laser sailing action. Actually makes me miss sailing those boats.

Fish food

I think I'm in love...

I had the chance to get aboard Sam Devlin's Storm Petrel 34 at the Lake Union Boats Afloat Show yesterday. What a  sweetie! A great blend of Maine lobsterboat lines and practical simplicity. If only I had enough space to build something like that... Here's a link to some more information on Sam's website.

Freaking Epic!

There are only six days until the showdown between BMW Oracle's behemoth trimaran and the Alinghi boat. Whether or not you agree with the fiasco that this Cup has become, you have to admire the engineering marvel that these boats are.

Flashback

Found this photo in an old cruising guide for Puget Sound. Horsehead Bay circa late 1940s.