Lenny2's blog

This is an interesting year for the Rolex Sailor of the Year award. Of the 4 women nominated, there is 1 kiteboarder, 2 windsurfers, and 1 (well technically 2) monouhull sailor. Sailing is becoming more and more diverse, however the question is as it becomes more diverse, how much commonality can we find with each other. Kiteboarding is worlds away from the Volvo Ocean Race, and as the edges of the sport move further out in varying directions, it becomes increasingly difficult to compare them for purposes of a single award. In any case, all of the candidates in this group are deserving, however our vote goes to Blanca Manchon (www.blancamanchon.com/). For the Men's group, our decision is not even close. Frank Cammas (www.cammas-groupama.com/) stands out as the clear choice. His accomplishments have been incredible, moving from class to class, trimaran to catamaran to monohull, and dominating wherever he goes. His hero is Sir Peter Blake, and that is fitting when you compare the styles and accomplishments of the two men. One Week Until 2010 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award Winners Are Named - In just one week from today, on Tuesday 9 November, Greece will play host to a spectacular ceremony and presentation where the male and female winners of the 2010 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards will be announced. [ISAF]

Spring in North America approaches, and for many of us that means that we will be pulling the covers off our boats and getting them ready for the water once again. One of the story series we are planning to do this year is turboed boats. People have been hotrodding cars for years, but more and more people are hotrodding or turboing their sailboats. There have been lots of stories on turboed hobies, from 16s to 33s, so that is not what we want to see. What we want to see are the new and unique turbo jobs. I saw an old Santana 2023A with updates including bumping the SA by 50%, movable ballast, and a giant asym. Those are the types of boats we want to see. Do you have a boat like this, or do you know of one? If so, drop us a line at editor@35knots.com. If we feature your boat, we will make sure to get you some 35 KNOTS gear.

Emirates Team New Zealand wins everything on their home turf. The team looks unstoppable, and makes me wonder where they might fit into the next America's Cup. If the Louis Vuitton showed anything here, it showed that these boats and these teams can be exciting. You don't need boats approaching a billion dollars to have an awesome race. Congrats to Dean Barker, and the rest of Emirates Team New Zealand. Now lets bring these teams up to San Francisco for the next Cup race.

Another record bites the dust. It is starting to feel like no record is safe. Lately we are seeing records fall at a breakneck pace. Who is the youngest, who is the fastest sol, fastest around the world, fastest in a straight line, fastest with a kite, and fastest with a good old fashioned monohull. It seems that just keeping track of these records is becoming a full time job.

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Laura Dekker's desire to try sailing around the world. Everybody seems to have some opinion on this matter, from the media to social services to the courts.

I believe that the people who are best suited to judge whether Laura is ready are Laura and her parents. It is simply wrong for anyone else to sit in judgment of her capabilities and stop her from reaching for her dreams.

Does anyone remember William F Buckley ripping into Jim Dickson for attempting to sail across the Atlantic?

The soap opera that is the Americas Cup takes a turn even more bizarre today, as Alinghi today announced the venue as Ras-Al-Khaimah in the UAE. In case you have never heard of this place before, check the map below:

I recently put up a poll on the homepage to see what readers thought of the current situation with the America's Cup. The results are I think telling, with 59% of readers saying that the America's Cup has become bad for the sport. Granted this is a small sample size, but 20 years ago I would be surprised if 10% of people felt this way.