Norwegian Steam: Noon Report -- Kauai

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 22

We are moving fast now, averaging better than six knots, on port tack and a beam reach, with light (reaching) yankee and single-reefed main. If these are the winds that were predicted, we should enter the Strait of Juan de Fuca in two or three days. We started out the day sailing rather slowly, but during the night the pace picked up and by morning we were seeing the speeds we are enjoying now.

At UTC 2200, August 3, 2012, we are at 48 06.798 N, 132 27.180 W. Our day's run was 109 miles and we are now 317 miles from Neah Bay.

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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.