I probably sound like a broken record. Both here and on SAIL ON I have been talking about exciting things that are coming to SL Sailing. Well let me count the ways….

1. Nine New Sims

Svar Bekersted has placed an order for eight new sims today. We should seen them appear in world very soon. The new sims will be a row of voids across the top and along the east side of his Vella Lavella complex. In case you haven’t noticed Svar is recreating the Big Island of Hawaii with his sims.

This new expansion was Svar’s way of giving skippers in the United Sailing Sims of SL more sailing room since he will be expanding the land, objects, and scripts in the sims to the south end of the “Big Island”. That means that when he is done a fleet will not be able to sail around the complex. He decided that rather than take significant navigation space away from us he would add voids around to give us more sailing area there. I don’t know about you but I certainly think that Svar Beckersted’s generousity should be roundly praised by all. It’s HIS generously that has created the majority of the navigable sims in the USS-SL. Three cheers for Svar!

And let’s not forget that ninth sim, Nantucket Yacht Club is placing an order for their full service sim which can be found on the expansion map a bit west of Santa Rosa sim. I won’t say more as I am sure Jane will want to regale us all with the details. However let me make a comment about the sim that will be between the NYC sim and Santa Rosa. The USS-SL now has a spiritual center. Saint Brendan is, as we all know, the patron saint of sailors. In our Saint Berndan sim there will be a small island with a small shrine to Saint Brendan. A wonderful little spot that will be a great destination sail to pay our respects to Saint Brendan and to contemplate the sea.

2. A New Ship

Jaqueline Trudeau has been busy tinkering away in her shipyard and has created a truly wonderful new vessel for Second Life. The brigantine “Tradewind” is on its sea trials as we speak. A pair of beta versions have been reported sailing in the USS-SL in the past 36 hours. The beta ship “Tradewind” made a port call at Starboards Yacht Club yesterday. Yes the rumor is true, one of the brigs under construction at the Trudeau shipyard is the HMS Surprise, last seen in the movie Master and Commander and in the absolutely wonderful Aubrey Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian. It will be the flagship of the Starboards Yacht Club fleet.

3. A New Sailing “Course”

As discussed on the forum recently, beign a square masted ship, the Tradewind isn’t really a race boat. However racer or not, you know the old saying, any time you have two boats on the water, you have a race. Now in the case of square riggers the race isn’t to the top mark and home, or against a stop watch, square riggers race to be the first to port to get a better price for cargo. Or they race to overtake or avoid being overtaken and sunk. Or they race for the headlines in the newspaper. Even Titanic was racing to get to New York early to make the headlines more spectacular (well at least that’s how Hollywood portrayed it).

Speaking of Hollywood, SYC is introducing a new “course” designed for square masted vessels (Chase Speculaas ship captains take note as well). The new Passages Course is designed for the kind of “racing” the captain of a square master might indulge in. A battle of skill and brains. You choose the course. Skills are important but the right passage making will determine the winners in these races.

The rules are simple. Start in Hollywood and then choose your course. There are only two marks to be navigated. But you must pass them twice. Which direction the better? Head east to Mare Nostrum first or head deep to the southwest to the Coral Sea? This is not a course for quick fire races. This is a single passage event. One race, one superior captain. One victorious crew. As soon as the new sims appear we will organize the inagural Passages Race.

The Passages Contest will be held each Saturday morning from 9AM to 11AM.

4. A New Cup

Meetings are underway as we speak to hold the inaugural Fizz Cup. Mothgirl Dibou and MarkTwain White will be calling upon skippers and leaders in SLSailing to assist in continuing the traditions of the great Cup races in SL with the first FIZZ CUP. Stay tuned for more information. Additionally Mothgirl and Nber Medici are working on a special series of Learn to Sail Classes in the Flying Fizz.

5. A New Level of Performance

When LL begins to offer upgrades from Class 4 servers to Class 5 servers this coming month, Hollywood will be on the list for the upgrade. Hollywood has served the sailing community well since September 2005 when the first SYC regatta was held. The old girl is getting a make over which we expect will enhance the quality of all events we hold in Hollywood. Of course this means an additional $100 USD per month in tier and both MarkTwain White and Nber Medici appreciate the financial assistance they receive from the sailing community making these sims available and dedicated to sailing first.