America's Cup World Series: the Competition

So how did the competitors in America's Cup World Series (ACWS) compare since its last visit to Portsmouth?

Last year it was Team New Zealand that impressed, but this time it felt more like a two-boat race between Jimmy Spithill (above) and Ben Ainslie (see yesterday's post).

Dean Barker's SoftBank had improved while Team New Zealand slipped back. After racing, TNZ was one of the first to head back to base rather than doing a few more celebratory sail-bys, as were Oracle and BAR:

At the back there tended to be Groupama and Artemis:

In each race the first to the first mark also won the race, with no changes in the leader and the second place boat always playing catch-up.

Conditions were good, with enough breeze to get all teams up on their foils.

America's Cup World Series Portsmouth

In the pre-race warm up period it was clear who was the crowd's favourite, as could be heard from the cheers that followed every sail-by from Ben Ainslie Racing.

Sir Ben himself seemed pensive, unless he'd been kept awake by the cries of his new born daughter:

But he totally nailed the first race start, streaking on a broad-reach towards the first mark:

The first race must have been the crowd's favourite, with Sir Ben heading back down from the upwind mark as the others continued to tack up to it:

The first win went his way, but there were two more race to come, and on Super Sunday there were double points up on offer.

The next two starts were won convincingly by Oracle, but Sir Ben was able to keep in touch, grabbing second place both times.

It was enough to win the Portsmouth event and put Ben Ainslie Racing on top!

Hurrrah!! Time to open that champagne!!

Great fun day out on the water.... more to come.

More traditional boats from Henley-on-Thames

Apparently the last post was wrong in that these photos from Henley-on-Thames last weekend were from the "Thames traditional boat festival" not "classic".

But is the previously posted MTB 102 (above) really traditional given it was a prototype? Or how about this amphibious truck?

I suppose this working boat fits more with the term traditional rather than classic:

There was a lot of waving going on as can be seen above and below:

I suspect it was for the crew of the Windsor Belle not me.

However these are both traditional and classic:

 The Gloriana is of course in a class of its own:

Classic Boats At Henley-on-Thames

There were a lot of very well maintained, very shiny, mahogany classic motor boats on display at Henley-on-Thames this weekend.

However as you can see above you didn't need an engine to have something big enough for the classic man and dog pairing.

It was warm summer's day and the best way to see the boats was definitely out on the water (above and below) on the triple expansion steam-powered Windsor Belle together with a cool drink, smoked salmon sandwiches and strawberries with cream:

To be honest there are only so many classic motor boats you can see at one time, even if some of them were also "Little Ships", but it was a pleasant day out and I'd never visited Henley before:

There was also a very nice ice cream but that was eaten much too quickly for a photo.

London's navy spotted out on manoeuvres

Spotted on the Thames recently was MTB 102 (as posted on earlier), heading upriver, no doubt to guard against an invasion of London from those crazy UKIP brigades.

Ok, maybe it was going to some classic boat festival, but apparently 34% of Londoners want either independence or an assembly similar to that in Scotland.

And London already has a light cruiser capable of hitting anything that were to cross the M25 orbital motorway:

It must be admitted that HMS Belfast might not have the most up to date electronic systems but its a start!

Sinking not floating

Sailing on the Thames

No story, Sassi or Buff, just a sailing photo with some shiny wood.

Review: ICA Art Night 2016

Ok, a non-nautical post reviewing the ICA's Art Night 2016. It was a first for London, though other cities have had them, and there was much that sounded intriging in the billing, but how did it turn out?

First up was Celia Hemptom's installation at 180 The Strand that "combines abstracted landscapes and bodies that explore the source of the River Thames, to consider the river as a historical and metaphorical object". You could see why this was my first port of call but it was basically three pictures of "naked young women spreadeagled" to quote the Guardian. Think Courbet’s L’Origine du Monde in triplicate, representing the origin of the Thames.

It seemed a tenuous connection. You could put the same three picturess with the title Westminster and it could represent... well you can guess what... or something about Tampons to reflect consumerism etc. There was nothing really that said Thames to me but the view.

Score: ***** 

It would have be just the one star but the images were really quite memorable, if not really suitable for a family-friendly blog.

Next up was Nina Beier's installation Anti-Ageing in a luxury show apartment at 190 Strand. As well as the chance to nose around a posh-pad (but not for me, ground floor The Strand with its traffic noise and fumes) there were "performance sculptures" like this:

In case you're wondering what you're looking at, its a man with a face mask slowly drying while outside a man smokes a cigarette (yes that is part of the installation). Elsewhere there were two women doing yoga and a dog lying on a carpet. There were some objects I couldn't work out whether they were art or part of the show flat - such as having The Picture of Dorian Gray on the book shelves.

Indeed the phrase "but is it art"? was clearly being thought and said much on the streets of London that night. But some effort had been put in and it related to the brief so:

Score: ***** 

Next up was Jennifer West's Film Title Poem in St Mary le Strand church, which involved digitised hand painted 16mm film:

What to say.... er... "ok?"

Score: ***** 

Next along The Strand was Somerset House for Xu Zhen's "first cultural fitness exercise" ever, the Physique of Consciousness:

Basically yoga style group exercises. Reminded me of what I saw in Shanghai: mass post-work exercising on the city centre streets. Another case of .... er... "ok?"

Score: ***** 

Then up to Covent Garden for two installations from Cecila Bengolea and Jennifer West. Unfortunately one hadn't started and the other couldn't been seen until dark, so those had to be scrubbed.

Time for something to eat and the Itsu on the Strand.

Afterwards on to the Duke of York Steps and British artist and musician Linder's live theatrical tableau that "considers transformation as a state of mind". Obviously.

It had been raining earlier that evening so initially nothing was happening but I arrived at a good time as shortly afterwards it kicked off. There was a band, chorus, dancers (top), bunny / hospital costumes (below) and much more:

It wasn't clear how long it went on for but seemed to be a whole series of ~5 minute segments, each slightly different from the other. There were references to dreams which I sort of got but after 4 cycles I couldn't see what else I'd get from the event so moved on (some events had timed tickets).

Score: ***** 

Next up was Turner Prize winner Laure Prouvost's After After at the Admiralty Arch. This sounded very intriguing involving "a conceptual journey through the rooms of Admiralty Arch, playing with the history, architecture and interior design". The wait to get in, alas, was an hour and there proved to be a lot less of the building accessible than hoped.

But it had its moments. My favourite was being invited into an antrium and then toilets in which two residents claimed to have been there 15 and 50 years offered glasses of vodka with squid ink shots. They asked how things were outside and we told them in no uncertain words they should stay in as the outside world had gone to pot.

The actual After After was just weird: a pitch black room was lit up by spots that switched on and off showing sculpture in corners or video clips. Much is lost but I remember a tin of beans talking to a washing sponge and a video of a women (murdered?) naked on a river / lake bank. My take away feeling was that it was a bit like experiencing a dream while awake.

Score: ***** 

I was tempted to give it just 3 stars because of the wait but there had at least been some work done and it resulted in a bit of thought rather than just "eh?".

Finally there as Koo Jeong A's installation in the disused Jubilee Line station at Charing Cross. Now this was potentially very exciting, as disused tube stations are always intriguing, and this one promised "a sensory environment using smell and light that considers the architecture of the Underground as a place of bodily encounters and movement". 

A lot of words but what actually did we get:

Basically access to the tube station, barriers to prevent us going onto the platforms (maybe a safety constraint), spot lights pointing inwards and some sort of incense smell. 

To be honest it felt like the artist had felt that writing the blurb was the main exercise and then buggered off leaving the hard work to TfL. It seemed like only the minimalist interpretation of the brief and a bit of wasted opportunity.

Score: ***** 

Note those stars were for seeing the disused tube platform not the art.

Overall the idea of an Art Night London felt like a great idea but wasn't sure the artists had really delivered on the briefs. There seemed to be themes between installations of dance and dreams but it wasn't clear. At times it felt like an in-joke for an inward looking art community.

But I hope it does return in 2017 and learns from the experience.

The floating, grabbing digger machine

I saw this green digger make its way down to the Thames and thought it had got the tides wrong.

It was heading downriver where the gravel was being levelled at a dock used for large boats carrying aggregates. I expected it to wait until low water and then make its way along the dry edge of the shoreline, but it rushed into the deep water.

Turned out it floats and can drag its way along using its arm as a forward punting pole, like something out of a Top Gear special.

These kayakers seemed pretty gob-smacked (to use the technical word).

London Rivers Week

As a distraction from the insanity and self destruction currently on display in the politics of the Dis-United Kingdom (D-UK), here is a lovely mash-up showing London's waterways in the form of a tube map.

It's from Thames 21 as part of London Rivers Week.

Just look at those lovely names: Priests Bridge, Bell Lane Creek, Wilderness Island, Little Venice, Trinity Buoy - and those more mundane, such as Footpath No.19, M4 Bridge and Kelvin Industrial Estate.


Updated: I was trying to get a better graphic when found it comes from the Soundmap of London web site here. There's an interactive map where you can hear sounds from each place!

Independence?

It's fair to say that things went badly overnight.

It only took a few hours for Scotland to announce it was planning another independence referendum - and who can blame them, given the alternative is sharing a country outside the EU with Nigel Farage and his supporters.

But there are other ideas afoot. There is one bit of the UK (as it is called at the moment) that was even more in favour of remain than Scotland, namely London (see graphic above).

Already there's a petition for London to go for independence as a city state and follow Scotland and it quickly exceeded 50,000 signatures. Other voices support this.

Or maybe a new union, "ScotLon" anyone?

It appears we are living in "interesting times" as they say.

Remembering Jo Cox, MP, on the Thames

Yesterday Jo Cox would have been 42.

As part of the memorial, this dinghy was covered in roses and named in her honour the Yorkshire Rose.

It was towed from the family houseboat at Hermitage Moorings to Westminster:

In attendance were boats from the river police, PLA and the fireboat which made its own tribute:

Then the Yorkshire Rose was moored to a yellow buoy just outside the exclusion zone and the barge left, taking those on-board to the nearby Westminster Pier for the event in Trafalgar Square:

Jo's husband and two children were such a sad sight.

A tragedy.

Buff and Sassi Battle for Britain on the Thames!!

Last week saw an epic battle (pic actually from this old post) between the Brexit flotilla and the Bremain-inners right here on the Thames.

This blog has an EXCLUSIVE interview with two of those actually involved, namely Sassi on the IN-boat and Buff on the OUT-boat. Let's hear first from Sassi:

Hi Guys!

OMG, last week was just awesome. Me and Saint Bob..... poor Paula and Peaches.... breaks my heart, but we were fighting the good fight!

See, the EU is like Glastonbury. Yes it might sometimes rain and get a bit muddy but even then its fab as you're in it with your mates. All types of people dancing, laughing sharing, enjoying - TOGETHER! And those nights when the band is inspired and the moon is glowing over those fields - wow, it becomes a wonderful SHARED experience. And similarly with the EU: together we can be richer and stronger than ever!

Sure you could be totally in charge of the music, sovereign-like, alone at home with Spotify, but then you'd be a no-mates type like Buff - looser!

I want a Jo Cox type of future not a weirdo like Nigel Farage! I mean look at this picture she tweeted of her husband and two kids out on the Thames... its just .....[sniff]....its...

Ed: at this point Sassi had to take a break so its time for Buff:

G'day all, Buff Staysail here! Buff by name and Buff by nature!

Yours truly's been busy last couple of weeks. Little known fact that ol' Buff has been key adviser to the Brexit campaign. You read any Brexit press release? More than likely it was a bit of pure BS!!

So why is Buff for Brexit? Well its simple: enough is enough! At the 2012 Olympics Team GB got 65 medals and Australia only 35 - and things look like they can only get worse!

If our figures are right, should the UK remain in the EU it might become its richest, most powerful country! Yes, wealthier than Germany! This could be catastrophic for Australia's chances to humiliate you poms!

There is only one hope: if the UK exits, then it will be poorer, so less money for sport. Plus if Scotland breaks away it will be smaller, and a poor, little England will be easy to defeat!

So make England little again and vote exit!


Editorial

Should be clear by now this blog is firmly of the opinion that the way to vote is:

REMAIN

The flaws of the EU are small compared to the benefits its brings, and we will be safer, richer, stronger, more harmonious together with our European neighbours.

It is much easier to solve issues that we have if we have the resources to do so, and Brexit would leave us poorer and more alone in an uncertain world.

Science, economics, geopolitics, trade, values, arts, travel, history.... the list of the benefits and connections between Britain and Europe is endless.

Hermitage Moorings mourns Jo Cox

Such a tragedy.

A woman who showed how selfless and committed our politicians can be shot dead leaving her husband and two children behind.

Jo Cox lived on a barge on the Thames at the Hermitage Moorings which I visited on their open day back in 2014.

They paid their own tribute to her, sounding their barge's horns which mournfully echoed across the river up to Tower Bridge and beyond into the city.

Enterprise class 60th Anniversary Tideway Race

As noted in an earlier post, this year is the 60th anniversary of the Enterprise class.

To commemorate this event, a special race was held yesterday on the Thames from Putney, where Jack Holt originally designed the Enterprise.

Very impressive to see the blue sailed fleet sail down and then back up the river:

Royal flyby and flotilla

The Queen is 90.... again.

For complicated reasons (there's a complete Wikipedia page on the topic) she has two birthdays, but then again she is The Queen so I guess who's to say no.

Anyhow, one of them was today or round about now so there was a flyby over London and flotilla first up then down the Thames.

While unable to properly be at either I had a fair sight of the former whoosh over the City on its east to west track, a collection of 29 aircraft from Spitfires to Typhoons plus of course the Red Arrows (above).

During the afternoon there was a trickle of boats, classic rowing or Dunkirk Little Ships heading back up the Thames from the flotilla:

Good ol' Queen! Always get a good show from her.

Politicians sail for charity

John Kerry and Ted Heath are two politicians that have sailed, but the reactions on either side of the Atlantic to their exploits on the water were very different.

The former's windsurfing exploits were apparently "bad" for reasons I still can't fathom (though compared to the present race....) while the latter's competition in the Fastnet race was not a handicap in him reaching the highest political office in the land.

Today in the UK politicians are still open about their sailing and today did just that in full view of the public on the River Thames beside the Palace of Westminster.

It was a charity race between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, each competing in two person Enterprise dinghies, designed here in Putney 60 years ago. They were raising money for the Westminster Boating Base and Sail4Cancer.

Alas I was unable to witness this titanic political battle in person but the word on Twitter is that the Lords were victorious, hence their flag (from here) above.

Book Review: Round about the Earth by Joyce E. Chaplin

I was initially unsure how much I'd learn from this book: after all, I've read really quite a lot of books about circumnavigators, from Magellan to Dampier by way of the ship's naturalists and Slocum.

But actually it was fascinating, as its a book about something very different: human's relationship to the planet and how that has changed, as perceived by those most aware of it: those that have travelled all the way around it.

The early voyages were into the unknown and full of risks. The planet was found to be larger than many hoped and in the wastes of the Pacific sailors dropped like flies from scurvy. Survival rates of some of the early expeditions went below 10%.

Later voyages by Captain Cook learnt from those failures and ensured his crew ate antiscorbutic sauerkraut and gradually the danger and risk was replaced by confidence. In the stability between 1815 and 1914 westerners from Europe and America could traverse the globe for pleasure and interest.

State backed expeditions were replaced by private individuals. Initially just the very rich, such as the Sir and Lady Brassey's voyage on Sunbeam, but the cost barriers kept coming down and new forms of transport opened up, such as the egalitarian bicycle.

The era of Phileas Fogg style luxury was not to last. In the 20th Century wars and new technology made circumnavigations much less glamorous, packed like sardines into aircraft emitting CO2 gasses that harm the planet.

The ultimate circumnavigators are the astronauts, looping the planet every ninety something minutes. But they face new dangers of radiation, vacuum and zero-gravity with no chance of recuperation on some idyllic desert island on their way.

And our circumnavigations are also virtual: robots circling this and other planets, beaming their messages back to the home world.

But ultimately all eyes remain on this, our Earth. Like the astronauts peering down from the space station, our fascination with this planet never ends.

An excellent book, a good read full of interesting ideas.

Picture Puzzle

What is going on with this speedboat, its ...err... crew and the shark?



Updated: the clue was the words "'#putt up or shut up" on the foredeck as the speedboat and shark are part of a crazy golf course:

The Junkyard Crazy Golf Club can be found in a basement of achingly hip Shoreditch (where else)

Thames barges off Sheppey

This was the day after the Medway Barge Match so I guess they'd been racing the day before.

dpreview makes a Greenland style kayak

Regular readers will know I have a side interest in photography and one of the sites I keep track of is dpreview.

To test the video features of the new Canon EOS 80D they chose to show it in action while the presenter did something interesting, in this case make from scratch a Greenland style skin on frame kayak. Previously they'd tested the Sony A6300 by making a video about making local nettle beer.

While not tempted by the Canon (as posted earlier I can't see the point of the mirror and associated weight) that kayak does look tempting.

Alas Seattle isn't exactly on London's tube network, but its a great idea.