BMW/Oracle’s trimaran USA (left) and Alinghi 5 wallow in the light airs off Valencia, February 8, before cancellation of the race. Photo by Thierry Martinez via AmericasCup.com.
The first race of the 33rd America’s Cup was called off Monday morning, after a three-plus hour delay waiting for a wind. The first race in the best-of-three series will now be held on Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. CET. Folks in the United States and Canada can watch live via streaming video on ESPN360.com or on the official race website, www.AmericasCup.com. The video feed is the same, although AmericasCup.com carries it in letterbox format, and without a 1-3 minute transmission delay that appears on ESPN360.
The choice of a 10 a.m. start time was apparently a deliberate one on the part of the defending Alinghi team. Catamarans (according to the race commentators) tend to do better in light airs than trimarans, so Alinghi 5 should, in theory, have a small but real advantage earlier in the day, before the winds pick up in the afternoon. The BMW/Oracle team apparently challenged the 10 a.m. start time, but lost.
When it does start, the race will be a relatively short one. It’s two legs, out and back — a 20-mile beat to windward, round the mark, and then a sprint back for the finish. The projected race time is something like an hour and fifteen minutes. (The original race for what would become known as America’s Cup, in 1851, circumnavigated the Isle of Wight, 53 miles, and lasted just over eight hours.) Monday’s starting point was about 20 miles offshore from Valencia — well out of sight for the viewers on shore.
These boats often can run at 2-3x wind speed. The BMW/Oracle trimaran USA has reportedly been clocked at 29 knots in a 9-knot breeze. (No, I don’t understand how that works.)
Another interesting note: the American BMW/Oracle syndicate is led by Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle. Ellison grew up sailing in Chicago, on Lake Michigan. Although Ellison has been careful not to say where he would prefer to defend the cup if he brings it back to the United States, there is some speculation that he would choose to defend in the Windy City. After today’s non-event , that sounds pretty good.
Here’s some video of USA in her element. Click through for the HD version.
It seems that the “Captain” Paul Watson and his merry band of naive activists didn’t learn their lesson the first time:
The anti-whaling ship the Bob Barker and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in the icy waters off Antarctica on Saturday — the second major clash this year in the increasingly aggressive confrontations between the two sides.
No one was reportedly injured in the latest strike. The U.S.-based activist group Sea Shepherd, which sends vessels to confront the Japanese fleet each year, said a small hole was torn in the hull of its ship, but it was above the water line and the vessel was not in danger of sinking.
These activists are well-intentioned, no doubt, but are both misguided and dangerously amateurish. They’re playing a damn fool dangerous game, and someone is going to get killed before it’s over. Captain Peter Boucher and Rick Spilman take them down here and here, respectively.
Several weeks ago my colleague Bowsprite passed along a link to the South Park episode “Whale Whores,” and expressed concern that I might be a little too “highbrow” to appreciate it. Not at all — I was just waiting for the right opportunity to pass it along. Now seems to be the right moment. Warning: completely, utterly NSFW. Not for easily-offended people.
I’m currently reading A Ship to Remember: The Maine and the Spanish-American War by Michael Blow (New York: William Morrow & Co., 1992). I may post more about it later, but for now, two observations. First, I really didn’t know as much about how we came to war with Cuba as I should’ve, and second, no one who does know much about the run-up to war with Spain would have been even remotely surprised at how we found ourselves in Iraq 105 years later. (Or, for that matter, why we’re still there now.) In broad terms, the parallels are just uncanny.
Obligatory Maritime Texas content: The deepest part of the Gulf of Mexico, the Sigsbee Deep, lies about 200 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas. The actual deepest point of the deep is disputed, with estimates ranging from range between 12,300 and 14,400 feet (3,750 and 4,384 metres). The feature is named for Captain Charles D. Sigsbee of the Navy Hydrographic Office. Sigsbee was later commander of U.S.S. Maine when she was destroyed in Havana in 1898.
Lieutenant Commander John C. McCloy (1876-1945), one of a handful of men to receive two Medals of Honor – the first for action in the Boxer Rebellion in June 1900, and the second in 1915 for action in Vera Cruz, Mexico in April 1914.
Vice Admiral William S. Sims (1858-1936), who commanded U.S. Naval forces in Europe during World War I, and twice served as president of the Naval War College.
Admiral Arleigh Burke (1901-1996), three-term Chief of Naval Operations (1955-1961) who made his reputation during World War II as commander of Destroyer Squadron 23, setting a standard for aggressive and independent action in 1953-1944.
And finally, Officer’s Cook 3rd Class Dorie Miller (1919-1943). Miller, a native of Waco, Texas, enlisted n the Navy in September 1939, and was rated a mess attendant, one of the few jobs available to African Americans in the Navy at that time. When general quarters sounded on U.S.S. West Virginia that Sunday morning, Miller, who had been collecting laundry, was ordered up on deck to assist in moving casualties to an aid station. Another officer called on Miller to assist in moving West Virginia’s commander, Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, who had been severely wounded by a splinter. Bennion, however, refused to be moved from his post, and bled to death while giving orders to save his ship. Miller was then ordered to assist reloading a pair of unattended .50 caliber machine guns. Although he’d had no training on the weapon, Miller took charge of one gun, firing it at passing Japanese aircraft until he ran out of ammunition.
Miller receives the Navy Cross, May 27, 1942. U.S. Navy photo.
Miller was commended by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox in April 1942, and on May 27, 1942, was awarded the Navy Cross on the deck of U.S.S. Enterprise by dmiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet. He was subsequently assigned to the cruiser Indianapolis, but was temporarily detached from that ship in December 1942 and January 1943 to participate in a war bond drive. Miller gave talks in Oakland, California, Waco, Dallas and at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, Chicago. In June 1943 Miller was assigned to the escort carrier U.S.S. Liscome Bay. The following November, while participating in the Tawara campaign, Liscome Bay was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese submarine I-175. The small carrier sank almost immediately, taking most of her crew with her. Dorie Miller was declared “missing in action” in December 1943, and in November 1944 was declared “presumed dead.”
Miller speaking to the first graduating class of African-American recruits at the Great Lakes Training Station, Chicago, 1943. U.S. Navy photo.
Unless I’m reading this wrong, it appears that the 33rd America’s Cup races in Valencia will not be televised in the United States, even though the challenger, BMW/Oracle Racing’s BOR 90, is competing under the aegis of an American yacht club. That’s a shame, because last time around the coverage on the Versus cable network was very good, making extensive use of virtual simulation and multiple onboard remote cameras to make the racing tactics much more understandable, vivid and dramatic.
I presume this oversight in coverage is the inevitable result of the protracted litigation that has marred the process almost since Alinghi crossed the line two-and-a-half years ago in the last Cup race. The (presumably) last bit of litigation was resolved just a few weeks ago, giving very little lead-time ahead of the first actual race scheduled for February 8 — a week from Monday.
It doesn’t help make the case for prospective viewership that the racing will likely spill over into the 2010 Winter Olympics, which begin the following Friday. (Do’oh!)
Hopefully there will be a last-minute pickup for television coverage in the United States. In the meantime, all we’ve got is going to be streaming over the Internet, and it’s hard to imagine getting too caught up in the drama when it gets reduced to 320 x 240 pixels.
Update: CupInfo.com reports that negotiations for broadcast in the U.S. and Canada may be continuing, and that “an announcement might be made the week of January 25th.” CupInfo explains further that
Although the match is likely to be a visual spectacle considering that the race yachts involved have unprecedented scale and speed for inshore racing, America’s Cup or otherwise, production costs are not negligible and the demands for a broadcaster are difficult. Given the two- to three race nature of the match, and current economic conditions, it is hard to speculate on the degree of investment that a broadcaster might make to provide coverage.
The Houston Chronicle reports Monday that Coast Guard investigators are still looking at factors leading to the collision of the tanker EagleOtome and a barge Saturday in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at Port Arthur, which resulted in the spill of up to462,000 gallons of crude oil.
Coast Guard officials are still investigating the cause of Saturday’s crash, and revealed Sunday that the tanker did not experience mechanical trouble before the crash, as had been previously reported. Investigators declined to say what may have contributed to the crash.
Robert Bea, a civil engineering professor at the University of California at Berkeley and former oil tanker captain who specializes in studying tanker crashes, said that in the hundreds of collisions he’s studied, mechanical failure is very rarely at fault.
“You can bet that the thing popularly called ‘human error’ is probably at the root of this one,” Bea said.
One factor that has contributed to a number of recent maritime collisions, Bea said, is miscommunication due to language difficulties, either among crew members or between one ship’s crew and another. Investigators say pilots of the Eagle Otome, which flies the Singapore flag, all spoke English.
Investigators will examine onboard data recorders and the radio transmissions that preceded the collision.
More images of the spill and cleanup efforts here. There is reportedly little evidence of serious damage to the environment so far*, but increasing concern about the economic costs of the port and ICW shutdown, which could go as high as $200M per day, beginning Monday.
* It should be noted, though, that the ICW and port facilities around Port Arthur, Orange and Beaumont are not recognized for hosting vibrant and varied wildlife to begin with. It was there that I first heard that old saw not to worry about drowning if I went overboard — “you’ll dissolve first.”
A barge is seen engaged with Eagle Otome after the two vessels collided causing as much as 450,000 gallons of crude oil to spill in Port Arthur, Texas on Saturday. Photo: AP/Houston Chronicle, Julio Cortez
The Houston Chroniclereports that a towboat barge and a tankship collided at Port Arthur Saturday morning, resulting in a spill of about 450,000 gallons of crude oil. The Port Arthur Newsreports that the leak is from the barge, amounts to “more than 11,700 barrels,” and that the leak “continues.” Eleven thousand, seven hundred barrels is about 491,400 gallons. If that number is correct, it would be about 45 times the amount of oil spilled in the upper reaches of the Houston Ship Channel last September.The Chronicle says the tanker was left with an 8-by-15 foot (2 x 5m) gash in her hull; the News says the tanker struck the barge, which was docked at the time.
About 100 people had been evacuated from the area, although there are no reports of injuries yet. Although initial reports of the incident are short on detail, it seems likely that this accident occurred in the Sabine-Neches Canal, part of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, that is somewhat closed off from Sabine Bay. This would make the spill easier to contain, but may also effectively shut down the Intracoastal for an extended cleanup period.
Update 2: The Chroniclereports (4 p.m. Saturday) that Eagle Otome was under command of a pilot and lost power, and was unable to maneuver before the incident. The Port of Port Arthur is shut down, closing traffic on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Economic losses after the second day of closure are expected to spike to up to $250M per day.
Update 3, Saturday evening: The size of the spill may be much less than initially reported. According to a story in the Hindu:
According to Petty Officer Richard Brahm, the ship’s crew members said they pumped 69,000 barrels from the damaged tank that carried 80,000 barrels, so they have 11,000 barrels — about 450,000 gallons — that they can’t account for.
Several local officials said only 1,000 barrels, or about 42,000 gallons (158,000 litres), of oil had been spilled into the water.
Brahm acknowledged that it doesn’t look like hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude was in the water. He said some might still be in the damaged tank.
“We can’t get in there and look at it,” he said.
The earlier evacuation order was lifted this evening, as well.
Forty-two thousand gallons is bad enough, but I hope the initial estimates turn out to be wrong.
Update 4, Sunday evening: Still no real clarity on the size of the spill, but it appears that none of the vessels involved have moved (via Vessel Tracker and Google Earth):
And in the meantime, traffic on the ICW continues to back up both north and south of the port:
This immersive video was shot a few days ago in Port-au-Prince. It uses a new technology I’d not seen before, allowing the view to pan through 360°. It was produced by Immersive Media, and is featured on that company’s website. This specific clip was shot in the park directly across from the wrecked presidential palace, which can be seen behind the videographer at the beginning of the clip. The video has been picked up by CNN, and Immersive Media is making these and other clips from Haiti available to relief organizations and others for doing neighborhood-by-neighborhood assessments of the destruction.
This technology is both hardware- and software-intensive — the videographer has to wear it as a backpack (or mount it atop a vehicle), and the camera has multiple lenses covering almost a complete sphere — so it’s not likely that it will be available to many of the rest of us soon. But it’s fascinating technology that has innumerable potential uses.
