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Rarified Air: Four New
J-Class Yachts in Build
In late May, the J-Class Association announced that yet another yachtsman had signed a contract to build a replica of a J-Class yacht. That makes a total of four Js in build, or stated another way, a doubling of the current fleet of three refitted originals and the replica Ranger. In the tightly controlled class rules, only replicas of original designs can be built, with some concessions to modern conveniences. Launching this year are Endeavour II from the board of Gerard Dykstra and building in Alustar aluminum at Royal Huisman shipyard in Holland, and Lionheart, redesigned by Andre Hoek and building at Bloemsma, also in Holland. She’ll be the biggest J-Class vessel ever built and the first to carry a Dutch sail number, H1. The latest announcements are a Swedish/Dutch project called Svea, following a 1938 design by Tore Holm that was never built, and the latest, a Rainbow replica expected to launch in 2010. Click on jclassyachts.com for images.
Olympics on the Small Screen
NBC, the U.S. television network broadcasting the Summer Olympics from China, has announced that it plans no regular coverage of sailing in its broadcast coverage, but that sailing is one of the 22 sports that will be webcast online. The entire daily feed will be available online as a download. That could be as much as 90 minutes of sailing. Just go to nbcolympics.com. After logging onto the site, select “Sailing” from the menu. All the U.S. Olympians are profiled along with top international contenders, plus interesting news bits.
Um, That Would Be a NO
In View From the Pilothouse in the April issue, we told you about the odd request from the Broward (Florida) County Commission to the U.S. Coast Guard to suspend operation of three draw bridges across the New River from midnight to 6 a.m. for financial reasons. The Public Works Director said the closure would save $110,000 in salaries. Closing these bridges, however, would limit wee hours navigation on the New River west of down-town–where most of Ft. Lauderdale’s boat yards are located–to those vessels requiring less than 16 feet of clearance. Late in April, the director of the bridge branch of the USCG Seventh District replied with a curt three sentence letter denying the request.
EPA Speeds Comment
Period for Discharge Rules
Noting that its usual comment period is longer than the amount of time remaining before the current incidental ballast discharge exemption for recreational boats expires on September 30, the EPA entered into the Federal Register June 17 its new discharge regulation, two draft exemption permits, fact sheets, and supplementary documents, all of which add up to confusion for mariners. The proposal also allows individual states to implement their own discharge permits. Equally problematic is that recreational boats longer than 79 feet will be categorized as commercial ships with a more complex set of rules. To view the EPA docket and links to the public comments page go to epa.gov/fedrgstr, click on “June 17,” and under the EPA heading look for “Draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit for Discharges Incidental to the Normal Operation of a Vessel, 34296-34304.” You can express your view on the regulations and permit drafts electronically through regulations.gov. Once at the Web site, enter Docket # EPA-HQ-OW-2007-0483 in the search box.
Owners of vessels under 79 feet LOA can contact Juhi Saxena at 202-654-0719 or e-mail RecreationalVesselPermit@epa.gov. However, the best short-term solution is to ask your Senators and Representatives to pass H.R. 5949 and S. 2766, the Clean Boating Act of 2008, before September 30.
For updates, click the Clean Boating Act of 2008 icon on Southern Boating’s Web site, southernboating.com. |
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