Thursday found me at the Boat show where Hans Zinnemann, creator of the Zinnemann 40, was giving a presentation and demonstration of his boat.

[11:02] You: hey Hans
[11:03] Hans Zinnemann: Hi Go you well?
[11:03] Gayle Cabaret shouts: love that sail, Abela… you have me wanting to buy another boat for it
[11:03] You: doing fine
[11:03] Abella Beck shouts: thanks Gayle
[11:04] You: hello Tory
[11:04] Hans Zinnemann: Hi Troy
[11:04] Hans Zinnemann: Sorry I mean Tory
[11:05] Tory Micheline: not a problem Hans
[11:05] Tory Micheline: just don’t try to get me to respond to Victoria hehe
[11:05] Hans Zinnemann: Is that short for Victoria?
[11:05] Hans Zinnemann: yeah thought so
[11:06] Melanie Tymets: hi
[11:07] Hans Zinnemann: Hands up everyone who wants to hear about the Zinnemann 40
[11:07] Hans Zinnemann: YAY! (yay!)
[11:07] You: YAY! (yay!)
[11:07] Abella Beck: YAY! (yay!)
[11:07] Melanie Tymets: YAY! (yay!)
[11:07] Tasha Kostolany: YAY! (yay!)
[11:07] Abella Beck: hehe
[11:08] Tory Micheline: yes… !!
[11:08] Hans Zinnemann shouts: I think Abella might know something about it already!
[11:08] You: Love the Kinks!
[11:08] Abella Beck: hehe just a little
[11:08] Hans Zinnemann shouts: what is the Zinnemann 40 Abella?
[11:08] Abella Beck shouts: A damn fast boat
[11:08] You: her best friend
[11:08] Abella Beck shouts: lol
[11:08] Hans Zinnemann shouts: Yes that is right!
[11:09] Abella Beck: hans i had it up to 44:08 knots
[11:09] Hans Zinnemann shouts: The Zinnemann 40 is becoming one of the most popular boats to race in Second Life
[11:09] Hans Zinnemann shouts: Ohh now that is fast!
[11:09] Abella Beck: Hoooo!
[11:09] Hans Zinnemann: Welcoem Sinclair
[11:09] Abella Beck: i love it
[11:09] Sinclair Bracken: thanks
[11:09] Hans Zinnemann shouts: For those of you who do not know the Zinn 40 here is a quick overview
[11:10] Hans Zinnemann shouts: It is the catamaran you can see to the NE of here with the big white sails
[11:10] Hans Zinnemann shouts: The Zinnemann 40 has 3 sails. The upwind sails comprise of a 10 meter tall mainsail and a slightly smaller jib. These give great upwind speed of around 15 (or 44!) knots as well as exhilerating heel.
[11:10] Abella Beck: hehe
[11:11] Hans Zinnemann shouts: The Zinnemann 40 also has a large symetric spinnaker to allow it to continue to travel at speeds well in excess of 15 (or 404!) knots downwind as long as you can keep the kite filled.
[11:11] GoSpeed Racer shouts: everyone come closer so Hans does not have to shout
[11:11] Hans Zinnemann shouts: Yeah save my voice please
[11:11] Hans Zinnemann: The upwind sails and the spinnaker both use take their commands from completely separate keystrokes (or gestures).
[11:11] Hans Zinnemann: The sails, trampoline, hull, keels and rudders can all be customised with your own designs.
[11:11] Hans Zinnemann: Or you can get soem very nice ones from Abella Beck’s Nautical Notions!
[11:12] Hans Zinnemann: YAY! (yay!)
[11:12] Abella Beck: YAY! (yay!)
[11:12] You: YAY! (yay!)
[11:12] Melanie Tymets: YAY! (yay!)
[11:12] Patrick Leavitt: YAY! (yay!)
[11:12] Hans Zinnemann: You upload your textures into Second Life and then log into our website where you add the texture keys to a form.
[11:12] Abella Beck: Hoooo!
[11:12] Hans Zinnemann: The beauty of this system is that whenever you upgrade your Zinnemann 40 your designs will automatically be used on your new boat.
[11:12] Hans Zinnemann: The boat uses the official Second Life Sailing Federation Race Wind.
[11:12] Hans Zinnemann: Rather than relearn all the controls for a new boat I thought it would be useful to use familar keyboard controls to operate the Zinnemann 40. So you still raise the mainsail with “raise” and park the boat up with “moor” or “dock”.
[11:12] Hans Zinnemann: I have carried on this strategy by basing the gestures on the ones Cory Copeland created for the Flying Taco and that most sailors use.
[11:13] Hans Zinnemann: I have carried on this strategy by basing the gestures on the ones Cory Copeland created for the Flying Tako and that most sailors use.Most of the Tako gestures work on the Zinnemann 40 as well as a whole host of new ones such as ctrl F2 to raise the sail or ctrl F8 to launch the HUD (useful on dodgy SIM crossings).
[11:13] Hans Zinnemann: The Zinnemann 40 comes with a Head Up Display which you can share with your crew so you can both keep an eye on your performance. The HUD has a simple menu system which allows you to toggle between wind angles and boat speed. Future versions of the HUD are now being developed which include sail angle information.
[11:13] Hans Zinnemann: The HUD has recently been upgraded to have a great new look
[11:14] Hans Zinnemann: The helmsman’s pose was created using Poser 7. In the current version it is not as advanced as the poses on TruCor’s beachcat but future versions will include upgraded animations for the helmsman and crew.
[11:14] Hans Zinnemann: Now for something truly unique!…
[11:14] Hans Zinnemann: As you sail your Zinnemann 40 it uploads information such as your speed, windspeed and location to a central server. This will allow you to further analyse your performance against the performance of other racers.
[11:14] Hans Zinnemann: You will also be able to view your location over time using online mapping. I think this will be a fun way to review races and to find other users who are sailing their Zinnemann 40.
[11:15] Hans Zinnemann: You can see this in the sailors profiles on www.zinnemann.com
[11:15] Hans Zinnemann: Please note that there is a privacy option for these features.
[11:15] Hans Zinnemann: You can also have guests – Allow other people to helm your boat by adding them to your guest list on our website.
[11:15] Hans Zinnemann: Because of the intermitent sim crossings we have made the Zinnemann 40 copyable.
[11:15] Hans Zinnemann: And last but certainly not least we will be providing free upgrades to all future versions of the Zinnemann 40 for ever.
[11:15] Patrick Leavitt: YAY! (yay!)
[11:16] Hans Zinnemann: We are committed to making many many improvements to the Zinn 40 in future months
[11:16] Hans Zinnemann: But I think the best thing about the boat (apart from the cheap L$950 price!) is the great racing community!
[11:16] Hans Zinnemann: Races take place each Thursday at 12:00 SL time. There are four races per day. The year is split into four series (“spring”, “summer”, “autumn” and “winter”) each of which has eight race days.
[11:17] Hans Zinnemann: The venues alternate each week between the scenic yet challenging open waters here in Sailor’s Cove and the next in the closed off specialist racing waters of AmericasCupAnywhere.
[11:17] Hans Zinnemann: at 12:00 today you will be able to join us to watch the races
[11:17] Hans Zinnemann: We will be staring off in the start line in Schooners run
[11:17] Hans Zinnemann: Special viewing platforms are provided for spectators
[11:18] BeeJee Boucher: grrrrrr
[11:18] BeeJee Boucher: im ready
[11:18] Hans Zinnemann: So please do join us then and see if BeeJee can beat Abella!
[11:18] BeeJee Boucher: YAY! (yay!)
[11:18] Abella Beck: hehe
[11:18] Hans Zinnemann: So that is the Zinnemann 40 cat. Tonnes of fun
[11:18] Abella Beck growls back at beej
[11:18] BeeJee Boucher: xxxx
[11:18] Hans Zinnemann: Anyone have any questions I can try to answer?
[11:18] Abella Beck winks at you beej
[11:19] BeeJee Boucher: oooh im blushing
[11:19] Abella Beck: lol
[11:19] Abella Beck: good
[11:19] Hans Zinnemann: Okay so no questions
[11:19] Tory Micheline: wait !
[11:19] Hans Zinnemann: Would anyone like to have a shot on one?
[11:19] Tory Micheline: during sim crossings.
[11:19] Hans Zinnemann: Ohh ok Tory go for it
[11:19] Hans Zinnemann: yeah?
[11:19] BeeJee Boucher shouts: one question
[11:20] Tory Micheline: do you edit your way acrosss
[11:20] Tory Micheline: re rezz another
[11:20] BeeJee Boucher: you know how ro spell my name for the trophy
[11:20] Hans Zinnemann: no you can sail right across
[11:20] Tory Micheline: what is the technique Hans
[11:20] Hans Zinnemann: so there is no need to edit across the sim boundary
[11:20] Tory Micheline: thanks Hans Nifty
[11:20] Hans Zinnemann: when you watch the races at 12:00 you will see the skippers sail across MANY sim boundaries
[11:21] Hans Zinnemann: np
[11:21] Hans Zinnemann: great wuestion
[11:21] Hans Zinnemann: *question
[11:21] Hans Zinnemann: any other questions?
[11:21] Hans Zinnemann: I have one then…
[11:21] Hans Zinnemann: “How do I join the races Hans?”
[11:21] Hans Zinnemann: Ohh great question Hans!
[11:21] BeeJee Boucher: YAY! (yay!)
[11:21] Tasha Kostolany: lol
[11:21] Abella Beck: lol
[11:22] Tasha Kostolany: YAY! (yay!)
[11:22] Abella Beck: YAY! (yay!)
[11:22] Patrick Leavitt: YAY! (yay!)
[11:22] Melanie Tymets: YAY! (yay!)
[11:22] Abella Beck: WOOOOOT!!!!
[11:22] Hans Zinnemann: Well if you want to be in the Winter series which starts in January let me know and I will sign you up
[11:22] Melanie Tymets: BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[11:22] Abella Beck: great queston hans
[11:22] Hans Zinnemann: Does that answer my question Hans?
[11:22] Tory Micheline: what about the learning curve. do tako sailors trasnsition ok
[11:22] BeeJee Boucher: love it
[11:22] Hans Zinnemann: Yes that is cool Hans thanks!
[11:22] Abella Beck: i learned on a tako
[11:23] Hans Zinnemann: The learning curve is fairly easy Tory
[11:23] Tasha Kostolany shouts: Hans can you take us out to your boat and see you show it off?
[11:23] Tory Micheline: ok then that is IT!
[11:23] Hans Zinnemann: It is as easy as the Tako as long as you learn in light winds
[11:23] Hans Zinnemann: lets go sailing then
[11:23] Abella Beck: YAY! (yay!)

At the conclusion of the presentation several of us went out for a quick sail before the Big Cat Autumn Cup races began. Abella Beck won the day again!