Divers discover shipwreck off Newport

NEWPORT - To the untrained eye, the scene that greeted John Stanford and Mark Munro 30 feet beneath Newport Harbor Saturday, Dec. 6, wouldn’t have looked like much: A massive pile of concretion and timbers covered in algae, seaweed, barnacles and anemones that rose up eight feet off the bottom and faded off into the murky distance. But for the two hardcore wreck divers and maritime historians, the modest scene was paydirt: They’d found the long-lost Trajan, a 125-foot bark loaded with lime that sank August 17, 1867. full story EastBayRI.com

For more on the discovery of the bark Trajan, including side scan sonar images, magnetometer readings, an underwater video of the wreck site shot in December, and historical accounts of the vessel’s loss, see www.soundunderwatersurvey.com/SUS/Wrecks/trajan.htm.

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Laser fleet 413 scores

12/26/08
413 Laser Frost Biting scores_122108

BankNewport presents $25,000 to Tall Ships Rhode Island

NEWPORT, R.I. (December 19, 2008) - BankNewport today presented a $25,000 grant from its Rhode Island Foundation Charitable Fund to the non-profit organization Tall Ships Rhode Island, Inc (TSRI). The grant, presented by BankNewport President and CEO Thomas Kelly to TSRI Chairman Bart Dunbar, supports Phase I project development expenses for the new Ocean State-based sail training ship Oliver Hazard Perry. (more…)

Boats are selling - Sea Ray dealer memo

12/19/08
The week long New York International Boat Show will wrap up Sunday and there have been reports of activity and sales. We were told that earlier in the week both Tiara and Regulator had contracts on two boats each and were working on others. Considering the economic news, this is amazing.

An even more definitive (in writing) report follows the 2008 Sea Ray Yacht Expo. This is an annual, invitation only event that was held at their Sykes Creek Plant in Merritt Island, FL. It was this month and they secured retail deals on 50 boats! Impressive! Read the Sea Ray dealer memo

Providence Boat Show to emphasize affordable craft

12/18/08
Newport Exhibition Group, producers of the Providence Boat Show which runs this year from January 29th to February 1st 2009, has announced its plan to provide an inexpensive and informative event that’s geared to helping Rhode Island boaters deal with the challenging economic times.

This year the show is back to a late January date that’s not so close to the Holidays. It also won’t be right on top of the Boston show because that show is also back to its typical dates. (February 14- 22) This is really good news!

Some of the highlights include: A lower admission price of $10.00 and $8.00 for tickets bought in advance. A new Marine Trades Pavilion with demonstrations by students studying for careers in the boat business.
A large section devoted to small sailing craft such as Lasers and Sunfish and fishing seminars. As always, the show’s big feature will be smaller, family style powerboats. more - providenceboatshow.com

The new executive director of Save the Bay is Jonathan Stone.

Save the Bay had had only three directors in its nearly 40 years, in which time it had grown into the largest environmental advocacy and education group in the region. And outgoing director Curt Spalding left it in good shape with an iconic new headquarters building on Narragansett Bay, 35 staff members and a budget approaching $4 million. projo.com

Laser 413 scores / LaserPerformance Holiday Sale

413 Laser Frost Biting scores_121408. LaserPerformance special parts pricing extended by VSCRI thru Christmas 2008-holiday-sale-prices

20 teams accepted for New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup

abc
The list:

Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Sydney, Australia
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Hamilton, Bermuda
Royal Canadian Yacht Club ,Toronto, Canada
Royal Danish Yacht Club, Hellerup, Denmark
Yacht Club de France, Paris, France
Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Hamburg, Germany
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Hong Kong, China
Royal Cork Yacht Club, Co. Cork, Ireland
Royal St. George Yacht Club, Co. Dublin, Ireland,
Yacht Club Costa Smeralda , Porto Cervo, Italy,
Yacht Club Italiano, Genoa, Italy
Japan Sailing Federation, Tokyo, Japan
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Auckland, New Zealand
Royal Cape Yacht Club, Cape Town, South Africa
Real Club Nautico Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, United Kingdom
Royal Ocean Racing Club, London, United Kingdom
Royal Thames Yacht Club, London, United Kingdom
St.Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, Calif., USA

The event will be raced in NYYC Club Swan 42s, September 15-19, 2009.
Newport Rhode Island. nyyc-invitational-cup-dec-14

India surprises Volvo Teams with a huge send off

The gates opened and they came in the thousands. Some two hours later the queues to get into the race village are still snaking for hundreds of metres down the road. When the time came for the sailors to be paraded through the crowds and down to the pontoons, it made for one of the most spectacular departure ceremonies this event has ever seen. The Indian people, while unfamiliar with this race and its history, have shown incredible enthusiasm on this first visit to Asia. story Volvo Ocean Race. image Sally Collison-Puma Ocean Racing.

Calendar (Dec 15-21)

Wed -17th. Herreshoff Museum / Hall of Fame. Holiday Open House

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Not good

“Hello all, In case you haven’t heard Boat World will be closing its doors after 20 years in business. The economy has taken another one down. While large, mismanaged corporations are able to put out their hands for federal bail out programs with no personal guarantees, small businesses across the country are forced to literally crumble and fold under pressure. Thank you all for your patronage and friendship throughout the past 20 years! See you soon, I’ll be back! Happy Holidays, Mark Asadorian”

This is an e-mail that went out on the RISAA (Rhode Island Salt Water Anglers Association) list serve over the weekend. It’s terrible news for the Rhode Island Marine industry and unfortunately something we may see more of. Boat World is a big dealer and an integral part of our marine community. They represent Bayliner, Carver, Cruisers Yachts, Maxum, Marquis and Palm Beach. They always took up large spaces at the local boat shows and did a particularly good job with getting entry level boaters into boating.

The best of luck to Mark Asadorian.

Bonding sails in Newport

A prototype 110% jib is being built by North Atlantic Sails to race in the 2009 Bermuda 1-2. The sail is being constructed as a Transdirectional Loadpath Membrane (TLM for short) and is made up of cross cut panels that are bonded together- not sewn. Jay Everson and the team at North Atlantic designed the sail and plotted the panels with Sailcut software. Then the loadpath information from the design was translated onto the sail as carbon load tapes. The sail will be finished out with leach, luff and foot tapes, a reef point, reinforcement panels at the head, tack and clew, and soft eyes to attach it to the boat. Graphics will complete the project. North Atlantic Sails is a full service loft based in Newport.

Carbon Limo

Bristol, RI. Goetz Custom Boats has just shipped it’s latest project and this one is very cool. Have a look! (8 images) The design brief was to fit into a garage, carry 14 passengers, be less than 10,000 lbs and be fast. The garage she had to fit into belongs to the 270’ Lurssen - Motor yacht, Bermuda Project. The small yacht will perform as a tender and be stowed out of sight in the hull of the mother ship. The construction is prepreg carbon fiber sandwich with Corcell foam. (more…)

This week (Dec 8-14)

7 day rolling post

12/12/08 - Newport Bermuda Race issues first announcement concerning safety rules for 2010
12/11/08 - 2009 Bermuda One - Two notice of race/ June 5th. www.bermuda1-2.org
12/11/08 - J/News - The new J/97 previews at Salon Nautique de Paris
12/09/08 - Laser 413 frostbiting week 6 wow (words of wisdom) - Steve K.  scores_120708