Gear puzzle, and Gitana Eighty’s nav station
So Sail Editor Peter Nielsen sends me this shot wondering who makes that articulated stalky thing holding up the B&G autopilot, and where he can get some for his boat. I have no idea, and I’m interested too. Can anyone fill us in? Of course I asked Peter where he’d seen it, and damned if he hasn’t been out goofing around Boston Harbor with Loïck Peyron, the offshore racing demi-god I mentioned yesterday. And he kindly sent along the shot below of Gitana Eighty’s nav station.
The most remarkable thing, really, is that the whole nav station, seat, and some lockers full of food and gear—a half ton altogether—are a single component that swings around that carbon post so that Loïck can shift the weight to windward. It’s an idea that only makes sense on a boat like this with oodles of unused interior volume and a wicked serious racing program. The electronics? Well, see bigger shot here; I wasn’t surprised to see MaxSea front and center, nor all the B&G 3000 instrument displays and AP (though I did wonder about NKE). Also the Iridium sat phone and Sailor VHF. There’s some distress device I don’t understand upper left, and what appears to be an active radar reflector from Martec, but where’s the AIS? I’d be really surprised if G80 doesn’t have one. The stand-alone JRC also seems a bit out of place and time. I’ll bet there will be a NavNet3D MFD and UHD there once it and MaxSea Time Zero get thoroughly sorted (which may be a while; I’m hearing a lot of complaints about NN3D delays).
Peyron left for France today, which—according to the sleek press pack downloadable from mighty Team Gitana—will be his 43rd transatlantic, 18th solo. Holy croissant! Today I also watched Flash of Beauty head out around Nova Scotia (until Tom forgot to renew the 24 hour Spot tracking). And I had SailMail (as fast as Iridium today, he said) from Steve Dashew on Wind Horse who was about 500 miles south of Nova Scotia, coming from the Bahamas (daily logs here). He’d thought earlier about visiting Camden, but said the weather is too good to stop now. Maybe after he and Linda cruise Greenland and Europe? Geeeez, and I sat in this chair all day; such a wimp.
PS 5/30: Another Sail editor, David Schmidt, wrote a first class description of what’s it like to daysail with Loïck, and don’t miss racing editor Kimball Livingston’s homage to Peyron and the Ostar.
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at May 29, 2008 10:35 PM 
This looks like an adjustable machining coolant hose. I think there are a few suppliers of these but here's an example: http://www.loc-line.com.
Raul