2004
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Ocean Planet/USA 05 Update from Bruce Schwab:
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Ocean Planet Relaunching is Scheduled!
Fantastic Transat Party…
Maine Businesses Pitch in!
Don’t miss it!
After a long, long winter and spring…it’s finally happening. Ocean Planet will leave the “garage” in building number 7 at Portland Yacht Service on July 5th. Then she will go up on a cradle on the 6th for the fitting of the keel, bulb, etc. The official launching will be the evening of July 14th at 8 p.m. Ocean Planet will be sporting a couple of new features that I can’t tell you about yet…you will have to come and see! Stay tuned for more info on the launch party….;-)
It’s not every day….
Speaking of parties: last Saturday I was lucky to find myself at arguably one of the greatest gatherings of solo ocean racing talent ever in the United States. Sailing rock stars that you would otherwise only find at a major function in Europe were out in force at the Transat race party at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA. I went along with a couple of supporters and had a wonderful time (nice to take a little time off). Who was there? The likes of Ellen MacArthur (long-time Ocean Planet followers will remember that Ellen christened our boat in 2001), Mike Golding, Yves Parlier, Michel Desjoyeaux, Nick Maloney, Ocean Challenges promoter Mark Turner (a top sailor himself who now owns the Transat race along with promoting racing stars Ellen, Nick, Sam Davies, etc.)…what a group! On the American side, I’m proud that there were three Americans who did incredibly well in the Transat: Kip Stone (1st in monohull class 2!), Joe Harris (2nd in monohull class 2 on Brad Van Liew’s former boat), and Rich Wilson (2nd in multihull class 2). Unfortunately, there were no American entries in monohull class 1, as Ocean Planet and I have been somewhat preoccupied getting ready for the Vendee….
Maine talent helps us out:
In addition to Portland Yacht Service, a number of the talented marine businesses around here have been pitching in. Especially Lyman-Morse Fabrication, who donated valuable machining work on our maststep and making the custom UHMW core for our new self-aligning mast bearing at the deck. Here’s a shot of the bearing after we laid up its carbon fiber housing (carbon from Coast-Line Composites, using MAS Epoxy):
How well does the bearing spin in the housing? Check it out:
Now it’s in the deck!
With this new bearing, we will be able to speed up the tuning process once we are sailing. Also, I can stop worrying about the possibility of twisting the deck.
Also working on OP at the moment: Will & Bob from Custom Composites, Fred Dodge (who is a far better guitarist than I), Eric, Mike, and Paul from Portland Yacht Service, Dan Kidd from Yankee Engineering, and a few others….
Special thanks to recent volunteers who really are helping to make the (nearly) impossible happen: Ross Weene NA, Tom Riley, Capaul Burton, Gerard Delany, and especially Sharon Osborne.
And of course, thanks to all of our recent contributors! Every time I think it’s all over, your donations keep Ocean Planet on course for the Vendee Globe. Soon we will have to order a lot of really expensive stuff if we are to be in the race. So it’s now or never, please keep up your support!
Thanks,
Bruce Schwab, Skipper
USA 05/Ocean Planet