Sailing canoe in the America’s Cup?
Margaret Brittingham, Hampton,Virginia
I follow the America's Cup race each time it occurs and was fortunate to be able to attend Australia's defense of the Cup in Western Australia where the Perth Yacht Club hosted the race off the coast at Fremantle. As I was watching TV a few days ago, I saw what an announcer called a trimaran sailing across the water. The sponsors of the sailboat were making an attempt to convince the members of the America's Cup committee that their boat met the criteria to enter the race. What I really saw, was a large high tech sailing canoe and you would be hard pressed to convince me otherwise. You see, for years I sailed a trimaran that was designed by my father after the style of Polynesian sailing canoes. I still have the plans, but I no longer have the boat, as she got smashed in the east coast encounter with hurricane Isabella.
Some of the Polynesian canoes were probably as large as this trimaran I saw, as they were used for travel. I wonder if any of the islands have thought of entering the race with one of their canoes—ridiculous thought, I suppose? If I remember my America's Cup history, the original boats were working sailboats. But, then as our world of technology advanced, so did it advance in the America's Cup race.
I am not sure what rules are imposed on multi hauls entering the cup race. What I remember about sailing my boat was she was fast and stable, but difficult to maneuver, or come about, in light and fickle winds. My boat had a rig that was a type of lateen rig, which I noticed the trimaran vying for the cup had a standard sloop rig. My father designed his boat with a strong weather helm so if you fell overboard the boat would repeatedly luff and therefore stop so you could catch up to her. It did just that each time you let go of the tiller. It appears I am trying to convince you that I had terrific boat—I did.
My boat had two outriggers where most of the Polynesian canoes had one. With two outriggers the boat sailed a little differently, but mainly I found it more stable. I very nearly pitch poled it one day in a strong, gusty breeze. Fortunately, as soon as the rudder came out of the water the boat lost way and dropped back down. I had a kick plate on my rudder, so it was extended the full length when the boat nearly went over, imagine that if you can!
I started sailing when I was 6 years old, and made my first ocean passage when I was 11 with my parents on their 45 foot ketch. I have sailed a variety of boats, but my favorite sailboat was my outrigger. She was fast, smooth sailing vessel. I found her reliable and predictable even when caught in weather that made you wish you were home.
One more story about my outrigger, as you can tell I like to tell stories. It was a fairly windy day, white caps were just forming. I asked my mom if she would like to go for a short sail, she agreed—I knew she would. We headed out to the bay. One outrigger was just skimming the surface of the water as we raced past the shore. I was struggling a bit with the weather helm, then suddenly the tiller broke off in my hands!
Using the sail we managed to turn the boat around and head for home. As we got closer to home, I dropped the sail and paddled to shore. Did I mention how smooth she was to paddle? Enough digressing about my sailing experience and my outrigger.
But, I do wonder—will we see a 40- or 50-foot canoe contending for the America's Cup?
Note: If you want to know more of Margaret Brittingham’s sailing experiences, she is the author of Sailing Ships and Thee , which can be purchased at Canoe Sailing Magazine's Amazon.com site.
