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meet the folks
who helped get Hands underway... |
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Dolphin
Catamarans
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Jr. Pimenta (left) and
Philippe Pouvreau of Dolphin Catamarans
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A strong, fast, and ocean-capable
boat is central to the Hands goal of bringing
resources to out-of-the-way coastal communities, and Dolphin
Catamarans, based in Aracaju, Brazil (about 900 nautical miles
northeast of Rio de Janeiro) has built us a great vehicle.
Jr. Pimenta, a lifelong sailor, started the family-owned Dolphin
Catamarans with the dream of building a performance catamaran
for long-distance sailing. Soon Jr. found Philippe Pouvreau,
a French multihull yacht designer and builder, and together
they've created the Dolphin 460. The boat features light-yet-strong
fiberglass composite construction, a beautifully finished
interior, and plenty of sail area for fast passages under
sail. Jr. and Philippe have customized Hands Across the
Sea with an interior layout and sailhandling features
that serve the specialized needs of Hands. We looked at a
lot of catamarans for
Hands, but the design of the Dolphin 460 and especially
the building skill and dedication to excellence of Jr. and
Philippe led us to start our Hands voyage in Brazil
in mid-November, 2007. And of course, we've been keeping the
Hands Log updated as we go!
The Multihull Company
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Phillip Berman of The Multihull
Company
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The first boat we sailed across an
ocean, a 28-footer named freelance, was small and of
traditional design: one hull, a ballast keel, and limited
interior space and cargo-carrying capability. With two hulls,
twice the passagemaking speed, and six times the living and
storage space, a catamaran seemed the right
choice for Hands.
Phillip Berman, president of The
Multihull Company, has been instrumental in answering
our many questions about catamarans and in guiding us to the
right choice of an ocean-going catamaran and the equipment
necessary for Hands. Phil is a former Hobie cat champion and
author of numerous books on catamaran racing, and his years
of sailing experience and knowledge of a wide range of boats
have proven very valuable in helping us launch Hands Across
the Sea.
North Sails
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North Sails developed a high-aspect,
selff-tacking Solent jib to make sailhandling easier
and increase windward efficiency. The mainsail features
a powerful roach.
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Sails are crucial equipment
for sailboats. We approached North
Sails for Hands' sails because only North Sails
has the leading
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North Sails brought an unbeatable
combination of experience and technology to designing
the sails for Hands
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sailmaking technology, 3DL molded
sails, and we knew we'd find the industry's most experienced
sail designers and sailmakers. Dan Neri at North Sails, a
veteran cruising sailor and sailmaker, advised us on how to
achieve a sail inventory that would be fast, allowing us to
make ocean passages quickly, yet be durable and easy to handle.
The large size of the sails on Hands Across the Sea
means that making them as
easy to handle as possible by our two-person crew is crucial.
Thus Hands carries a self-tacking "Solent"
jib, which is far easier to tack and to reef than a 150% genoa.
The Solent jib's high-aspect profile is efficient for closehauled
work, and the sail has a boom
to make it a versatile
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The mainsail and jib can be aggressively
reduced in size; the smallest reef size is for gale
conditions or heaving-to.
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performer when reaching and when roller-reefed.
The 777 square-foot full-batten
mainsail, the boat's primary sail because it is used in all
wind strengths and on all points of sail, has a substantial
roach for passagemaking speed. For sailing in light air, North
Sails designed a low-stretch, light-but-strong "screecher"
(a large, overlapping genoa flown from a bowsprit) of Cuben
Fiber carbon-fiber material; the sail features high-tech
bonded (not sewn) seams. For long downwind passages we'll
be flying our North Sails Code 2S Symmetric spinnaker, made
of North's NorLon .75-ounce nylon. The spinnaker is controlled
with a North carbon-fiber Snuffer.
The sails on Hands are truly state-of-the-art cruising
sails the right combination of performance, easy handling,
and durability three elements must be in balance when
"Mom and Pop" are sailing a boat of this size across
oceans. The folks at North Sails have supported our dream
of Hands Across the Sea, giving generously of their expertise
and technology to help speed us on our way.
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ways you can work with Hands...
network with Hands
If you have a project in which Hands can help or if you
want to help with the current Hands project contact us!
collect books for Hands
If'd you'd like to collect "gently used" children's
books for Hands, please go to our Hands
Book Drop page
sort or pack books for Hands
Want to work hands-on? Please contact
us!
host a Hands presentation or Hands fundraiser
If'd you'd like to do either contact us!
join the Hands Log eNews group
If you would like to receive the Hands
Log (e-mail newsletter) please click
here. Just type "Subscribe" in the subject line of your
e-mail and we'll keep you updated on where Hands is and what's
next!
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