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Philippe Kahn Sailing Across the Great Blue Pacific Again
Posted by Brian Lam at 1:11 PM on July 24, 2008
Philippe Kahn, founder of Borland, camera phone pioneer and guy who helped make that Fullpower MotionX-Poker iPhone game is making yet another run at the Pacific Cup, double handing from SF to Hawaii. I took these shots of them leaving the bay this Saturday on a Nikon D300 and you can see the progression from balmy Sausalito sun to foggy, rough, 30-knot bay sailing. And then into the open ocean.
The first two days were tough, and Philippe and Richard have some cuts and bruises to show for the squalls, so email communication has been less than last year when we interviewed him while mid race. Their boat, the Pegasus Open 50, is meant for rough weather, is fully carbon fibre, and has a hydraulic canting keel that adjusts to flatten the boat for more speed. It also has a ballast system that weights the fore and aft of the ship depending on if you're sailing to weather or downwind. This year, because of calmer conditions mid trip in 2007, they've added a larger mast with 20% more sail area for more power. So far, they're getting even less sleep than usual, but are ahead of even the 70 footers with 11 crew. Philippe's a math wiz so the navigation and weather charting come naturally to him. They sleep in between squalls, in 2 hour shifts, or with whatever time they can get. The most recent update says that a school of flying fish swarmed the boat, landing on deck, thinking the Open 50 was a predator. This is quite a different situation than the rich guys who pay for the sailing teams without doing much work.
I took these shots with my new favourite camera, the Nikon D300. In the real world, it costs twice as much as the Canon 40D, so its not the same class, but you have no problem identifying the differences. The colour is just so much better, it makes less noise, focuses more confidently and the menu system is much more straight forward. The 3-inch LCD helps but the 18-200 VR glass Nikon lent me is as good as they say it is. You can see how much spray there was, and near the end, my photos are terrible when I'm not focusing past the droplets and fuzzy when I am. I also shot the iPhone review photos with this beauty, at a few minutes after dawn.
The log is below with more details and updates, but check out last year's email interview for more context. [Pegasus]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Skorpius
Posted 2:46 PM 24/7/08
@fastm3driver: While it is a mighty endeavor regardless of the craft, I was going to bring up Roz as well.
Skorpius
iomatic
Posted 2:18 PM 24/7/08
He rode a Nikon D300? Holy crap!
iomatic
fastm3driver
Posted 2:05 PM 24/7/08
Seriously lame, This chick is rowing across.
[rozsavage.com]
fastm3driver
ttrimble
Posted 2:02 PM 24/7/08
Go, Philippe, Go!
BTW: I still miss my days writing code at Ashton-Tate with Turbo Pascal & Turbo C.
ttrimble
Griffehpoo
Posted 1:55 PM 24/7/08
"The first two days were tough, and Philippe and Richard have some cuts and bruises to show for the squalls. Unconfirmed eyewitness reports say William Shatner was there to see Kahn off personally..."
Griffehpoo
Chester_Copperpot
Posted 1:48 PM 24/7/08
If we're comparing cameras that are $500 in difference, let's compare the 300D with a 5D and see where that goes.
I'm not a a gambling man, but I'd bet on the full frame camera.
Chester_Copperpot
hardenstuhl
Posted 1:30 PM 24/7/08
God Speed! Look out for the UFO's.
hardenstuhl
zed0
Posted 3:25 PM 24/7/08
The Nikon D300 is a sweet camera! I think for this application it would've been better paired with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 I love that lens!
zed0
Ungenious
Posted 4:11 PM 24/7/08
Nice work! Making my camera phone then putting games on them, all while in the middle of the breezy ocean.
Roz rocks, but to be fair it _is_ her full time job. I've always admired the kids who go through college while holding two full-time jobs for tuition more than the straight A kids who get to party on the weekends.
Either way, a good athlete is a good athlete! I've been reading both skipper blogs ([pegasus.com]) and the Tour blog constantly ([www.tdfblog.com]). Amazing what people push themselves to do while I sit and watch. :)
Ungenious
Mammoth
Posted 5:29 PM 24/7/08
I wouldn't call going to Hawaii _across_ the Pacific, more like half way.
But then again, I only start sailing Lasers next week.
Mammoth
kimchi43
Posted 6:39 PM 24/7/08
sweet! as i work near the harbor where many pac cup vessels are arriving and getting hauled out, i'm pretty stoked to hopefully see this guy and his vessel up close and personal.
kimchi43
DeadHeat
Posted 9:05 PM 24/7/08
Love the sailing coverage. Thanks Brian.
DeadHeat
Fluxcap
Posted 10:14 PM 24/7/08
He better be developing more dice, tables, and modes for MotionX....or at least brainstorming out there. Good luck!
Fluxcap
LoganSix
Posted 10:06 PM 24/7/08
He thinks he so superior.
Kaaaaaaaaahn!!!
LoganSix
strider_mt2k
Posted 10:26 PM 24/7/08
-bring back some of that GOOD paper!
strider_mt2k
Hexum
Posted 10:56 PM 24/7/08
corporate shill - quit hawking products!
Hexum
ppiddy
Posted 11:10 PM 24/7/08
The color is better on the D300? Excuse me? I doubt you'd see any difference if you were doing proper RAW conversion. In fact, I doubt you'd see much difference between any two dSLRs if you were shooting RAW. Nor would I call the noise on the D300 that much better than any of Canon's products. Not would I say the menu system is better...just different.
D300 is superior in every other way, though. :)
ppiddy
Brian Lam
Posted 3:40 AM 25/7/08
@ppiddy: Everything I shoot with the d300 and this lens comes out better than with the 40d I've been using. And I use them both a lot. The equivalent would be a kodak film compared to a fuji. Got it?
Brian Lam
anti-hello-kitty
Posted 5:41 AM 25/7/08
@fastm3driver: That's wiggy! She's a little over half-way there, but she says that she's losing speed each day...
anti-hello-kitty
Chester_Copperpot
Posted 7:21 AM 25/7/08
@Brian Lam: You've got pull, get Canon to get you a 5D so we can see what you think of Nikon vs Canon then.
Chester_Copperpot
FritzLaurel
Posted 10:30 AM 25/7/08
600x398 the best you can get out of that camera? Let's see some hires!
FritzLaurel
bjacobel
Posted 11:10 AM 25/7/08
@zed0: Nikon d300 = WANT.
Nikon 70-200 f2.8 = DO NOT WANT.
First of all, if he was going to take his 1.9G lens on a SAILBOAT with lots of WATER and MIST and general WETNESS around, he would have to be a card carrying idiot. Second; do you have any idea how much that lens weighs? Not exactly something I would pack on an expedition.
bjacobel
lnbolch
Posted 11:04 AM 25/7/08
To even the playing field, the 5D against the full-frame D3 or D700.
lnbolch
Brian Lam
Posted 12:13 PM 25/7/08
@Chester_Copperpot: did the last liveblog for apple using 5d. Fucking hated it. Not really any superior to my particular uses than the 40D, but I have very particular livebloggy gadgety uses for my gear.
Brian Lam
timh3221
Posted 1:35 AM 26/7/08
Strange; that group hasn't had a position report yet?
Division F start 19 Jul 2008 15:50:00 PDT
Criminal Mischief No Report/DNS/DNC
Flash No Report/DNS/DNC
Holua No Report/DNS/DNC
Pegasus OP-50 No Report/DNS/DNC
Rage No Report/DNS/DNC
Velos No Report/DNS/DNC
[pacificcup.org]
but they are shown on the tracking page:
[trackinfo.fistracking.com]
timh3221
Chester_Copperpot
Posted 5:42 AM 26/7/08
@Brian Lam: Fair enough. Are there any areas where you WOULD recommend Canon over Nikon?
Chester_Copperpot
lnbolch
Posted 8:58 AM 26/7/08
If you want lots of pixels go for the Canon top of the line 1Ds MkIII. Nikon tops out - for the moment - at 12MP. It is expected that Nikon will announce a 24MP camera on September 3. I would rather have 12MP with very low noise, so should have a D700 by next week.
lnbolch