Norwegian Steam: Noon Report -- Kauai

Friday, July 27, 2012

Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 14

Slow day, forereaching with full main and light yankee at about four knots throughout the afternoon and night. Mostly overcast and misty. We have definitely left the sunny tropics behind. By daybreak the wind had gone entirely. We tried to find a breeze for a couple of hours, then turned on the engine, since we needed to charge the batteries and make fresh water. After two hours, we saw wavelets forming and turned the engine off. We were able to find a breeze that gave us a knot at first. Amazingly, Rangval was able to follow it. After a couple of more hours, we are up to four knots. Hope it holds.

At UTC 2200, July 26, 2012, we are at 43 55.776 N, 152 48.436 W. Our day's run was 85 miles.

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Norwegian Steam, the vessel

Norwegian Steam is the name of our 35' sailboat. She was designed by Ted Brewer. About 40 hulls were constructed by Miller Marine on Bainbridge Island, Washington between 1976 and the early 1980s. It is rumored that additional hulls were constructed in eastern Canada. Because many of these boats were completed by owners, there is a very great diversity in the fleet. To learn more about the basic design, you can find information about Ted's Jason design on his web site.

NS was completed by Alan with the help of friends, some of them professionals, over many years. She has been sailing since 2001. She differs from most (perhaps all) other instances of the Jason design in that her mast is 6 feet taller and she is rigged as a racing cutter, with large overlapping staysail. This rig design was inspired by the work of John Illingworth, the great English yacht designer and sailboat racer.

Norwegian Steam, the name

The phrase, Norwegian steam, may originally have been somewhat pejorative. When a vessel was powered by sails or by oars instead of by a steam or diesel engine, it was said to be powered by "Norwegian steam", the implication being that the Norwegians were so poor they could not afford engines for their boats. As time passed, the Norwegians themselves adopted the phrase to indicate a "can-do" attitude or doing whatever it takes to get the job done, even with limited resources or under adverse circumstances.

During the great era of America's Cup racing in J-Class yachts, the term took on a slightly different meaning. Many of the American defender boats had Norwegian crews and thus were said to be powered by Norwegian steam. A website has been dedicated to this bit of history.