When in June 2009 Florencia put a group notice asking for help in world I just had to try for the position.. ACA at that time was THE boat. It had history of real sailing history behind it, a real life company (9th.com) pushing the publicity. It was fantastically popular.. I was shocked and worried that Florencia trusted me with her and Javiers baby!!

My first job was to whip the excitement up in the boat.. That was EASY!! the Flickr account was used as was this blog and then races organized. We ran almost one ACA race per day, somewhere on the grid there was an ACA race.. Now those were the days! Yes the boat was 265prims big.. the boat did require wearing.. And yes it did crash the servers.. but they were great days.

It was obvious that we needed to reduce the prims.. So Dissismee was brought in to look at the scripts and to use her aftermarket sculpted hull in the ACA.. It worked. and the ACA surged on.

On November, 14th, 2009 Caf came on board to look after the techy stuff… wow.. I have seriously never met a more professional engineer before. His skills with the boat have made it a truly wonderful machine. He spent 6 months alone looking at the script, he honed it, it stripped it down built it back up.. he worked the spinnaker! (remember the ACA didnt have a spin?!?!). He was and is a genius at ACA.

During these times we have launched the Light version of the ACA.. we also have the Tiny and the Micro versions.. (who said we only make one boat?)

2010 saw the restart of the ACA Trophy. Naeve Rossini helped with the planning and organization at we had 30 (I think) starters.. I seem to remember almost a 24 hour session of starting and RD’ing races!! (That had to change) it was exciting races and the finals were just too close to call.. Trapez Breen won with Chad Sawson a very close runner up.

In May of 2010 we took part in the Sail For Life and Relay events that support Cancer Charities.. These have been really good fun, and there is no way I will give those up. We need the annual “bikini run” for the last session of the relay!

Another year came and another ACA Trophy came. This time we utilized Hawk! the “Sailor of the year” came across for us in 2011.. We had the use of what is now called the North Sea for the preliminary time trials and of course the Finals at Starborads Yacht Club under an agreement and close working relationship we have had with that club since the begining of the ACA project (well before my time) The winner last year was Bolt Bashly with KazumaHs Destiny in second place. With Joro Aya winning the Intermediate Class and Ox Seetan taking the win in the Novice class.

It was during this time that Real Life first kicked me. It was the start of the end for my time at ACA. I had a very real health scare that put me in hospital. I had a little too much time to lay in bed and reflect on what my life was about. I kinda knew i spent too much time in SL.. So.. it was time to get my priorities right. You will have noticed I don’t spend quite so much time in world.  I have spent more time travelling round the UK.. watching the Extreme 40′s in Cowes (missing out on the Americas Cup in Plymouth) I have a wonderful real life girlfriend and things are starting to go towards a more permanent situation width her and her kids.. (that really worries me!!!)

I wont be leaving Second Life for the moment, but this feels like the right time for me to bow out of active ACA life. I will be about for the fun stuff. Caf Binder will be now taking over PR for the brand. Florencia will still be in over all charge as always.

I thank them both for the fun, the spirit and most importantly the friendship that this project/job has given me. You will both be very special to me. I wish you nothing but the very best and I will always be a huge fan and supporter of the ACA and the ACA project. Without visionaries and huge tallent Second Life would not be the place it is.I may be still about making videos or having some fun with you all.

lastly I would like to thank you.. The customer…. No.. not the customer the guest…. hell no.. not the guest.. my friends..Thats better. Yes, customers of ACA are friends. I have really enjoyed talking to each of you. Thank you for making my time At ACA so important to me. Good night and God bless.

Quirky Torok

Ex ACA management

Ex 9th.com

There are new pages to this blog to bring you up to speed on the changes and to the texturing. Due to the sails now being sculpts the sails need new textures. If you have sails you like use the new template to locate your existing sails and you should be done (make it sound easy don’t I?). The new templates are available here

If you already have the ACA 3.0 Simply rezz your 3.0 and you should be offered a new ACA from Florencia.. simply accept it and the new box will be in your inventory, you have the update!

Quirky Torok

ACA Management

9th.com

Well.. ummm yes.. we kind of fooled ourselves too.. two of the items we suggested were going to be made available were a mini and a micro version of the ACA… Three months later and ACA Proudly present!!!! The ACA Tiny and the ACA Micro!! ain’t life funny?

The ACA Tiny

The ACA Tiny is made for all you tiny furry things! Made with the same scripts (just a little slower in speed) this boat is perfect for cruising and racing in tiny bodies!!

ACA Micro

This I think is going to be a revolution in sailing…. This micro sized ACA is perfect for one sim sailing courses, you can find them at such great clubs as Hollywoood Model Yacht Club. No sim crossing equal NO LAG!!! woot!!! You will need to provide your own micro avatar but really this could be the future of SL sailing.

ACA 3.1!!

After a year sailing the 3.0 it was time for an update to the boat.. with sexily curvy sails the craft now looks new. the scripts have been tweaked and the windshadows have been amended. This will be a free update. We intend to start distributing the boat after the finals of the ACA Trophy!

Big Big News!!

Want a sneak peak?? want to own one before the crowd??? Well heck you can!!! ACA in conjunction with the Sail For Life/Relay For Life weekend are giving you the opportunity to own a Micro Tiny or indeed the updated 3.1 at least a week before any of them are officially released!! Yup.. you will even get the 3.1 before me!!!

As always ACA are proud to be working together with SFL/RFL to find a cure for cancer. Its your weekend to make a difference.. I make no apologies for saying this, but, boney makes that difference!

We are auctioning off the Micro, the Tiny and the 3.1 off to the highest bidders. We are also selling off the SFL ACA Sails. Bidding or buying the sails will give out a strong signal and sign to the world that you care. Come down with deep pockets and spend freely.. a Fun weekend on the water is guaranteed! Fun starts Saturday and goes through to Sunday 1pm here is the landmark.  There is loads to see and lots to bid on so make your way down and enjoy. If your pockets aren’t that deep don’t worry there will be fun and low cost fun. We look forward to see you there!

Quirky Torok

ACA Management

9th.com

Well we will progress the Fleet races for the Intermediate Cup on the weekend of June 4th – 5th  and the Match races for the Elite cup week will be May 31st – June 5th

The Light cup contestants will go directly to the finals weekend!!

in-between now and the start of the Intermediate cup please feel free to use the Starboards Yacht Club Olympic Short course that we will be using for the fleet races

The light sailors should practice this course too as we will use that course for the finals weekend.

The Elite Cup racers should continue to practice match starts at the lines set up at Fruit Islands.

Resources

For the match racers Hawk has put some really good informational animations for you to use and study

You can download the animations from here  I can’t emphasize enough how useful these little animations are!!If you are in any doubt please contact Hawk, ewill do his best to help you all out!

Further to this Hawk has posted a presentation at the Breadnut start on various situations in match racing, and is as up to date on the rules as it can be.  These supplements the ones that are at the Muskmelon racing center.  It also has a little quiz at the end on ruling with a lee-bow attack a common manuver in MATCH racing but a very risky one!     further question regarding any situation

As well as virtual help why not watch the very best in real life sailing at SailTV. Fo rall three classes racing you can find some really useful video. For the fleets watch the TP52 and Soto40 races from Cascais last week, This was the first race meeting this year for these hard fighting boats. More Fleet racing will come out LIVE all summer! . For Match racing DO NOT miss the great WMRT feeds going through the year (watch out for this series its gonna get HUGE!)

Whatever you do.. keep racing! here’s the fleet races at NYC on Tuesday night (9 boats!) under the expert eye of Race Director Astro Marksman  and his very able assistant Willow Marksman. They run the very best ACA Races every Tuesday at 4pm

Fleet racing at NYC 24th May 2011. (Copyright Bolt Bashly)

So there it is.. Watch, Learn, Race!!!

Quirky Torok

ACA Management

9th.com

But thank goodness the waiting is over I can report the finalists going through to the next rounds of the 2011 ACA Trophy! What an exciting two weeks these have been.

First and foremost a big thank you to Hawk for his tireless work in getting the racers to this stage!! I and the participants take our hats off to you sir. Every day you have battled the vagaries of the regions and the participants from all round the world. We had 34 racers from 10 countries!.. so without further ado.. here are the racers for the next round.

The ACA Elite Cup

1    Miwha Masala   IDMM10 –  00:09:14.64
2    Carmen Foden   ID28 –  00:09:20.09
3    Viciously Llewellyn   ID57 –  00:09:21.35*
4    Lothor Vlodovic   IDLV42 –  00:09:21.35*
5    takabou Destiny   ID1112 –  00:09:21.79
6    Silber Sands   ID75SS –  00:09:22.12
7    Bolt Bashly   IDBolt –  00:09:22.89
8    KazumaHs Destiny   IDKH32 –  00:09:23.20

* Ordered by tie breaker. Both will receive 3rd Prize

The ACA Intermediate Trophy

9    Cher Bravin   IDCB08-G –  00:09:24.11
10    Kurt Calamity   IDKC02 –  00:09:28.71
11    Elbag Gable   ID48EG –  00:09:33.46
12     joro Aya   IDslut –  00:09:34.91
13    Bea Woodget   IDBW90 –  00:09:35.90
14     Jimboo Shelbyville   IDJ_S+ –  00:09:40.43
15    Naeve Rossini   ID36DD –  00:09:41.03
16     Laycee Deed   IDmeee –  00:09:41.64

ACA Light Trophy

1    Ox Seetan   IDOS43 –  00:08:57.83
2    Fadamuito Boa   IDFB63 –  00:09:26.18
3    Orca Flotta   IDORCA –  00:09:43.79
4     Colin Nemeth   ID#008 –  00:10:39.24

All the above racers will go throug to the next rounds!

We need to get Hawk some looser shorts!!

Quirky Torok

ACA Management

9th.com

The overall race officer for this race series will be ‘Hawk’ (LDeWell Hawker) He has overall control of racing and setting.

The three groups:

The ACA Elite CUP This is the premiere race group.  Those sailors that are skilled and fast. ISAF rules in place and once selected races will be match races.     Match racing is the pinnacle of sail boat racing requiring all the dimensions of competition: sailing skill, strategy, and rules matched against an equally skilled skipper.

The ACA Intermediate Trophy will be for those sailors whom are skilled with the ACA33 3.0 but performance not quite up to the elite level.   These races will be fleet races under the basic ISAF rules with some accommodations for Second life racing.

ACA Light Trophy will be aimed at those sailors that have chosen the ACA Light to sail, either new to sailing or still a little unsure. The rule-set for this class will be simplified so all may have the opportunity to test their skills.

So what group should I be in?

Your ability to sail the ACA 3.0 will determine which group you qualify for.   To determine groups your sailing skills will be demonstrated on a course to challenge them.   A special event called a TIME TRIAL will be used to separate the ELITE and INTERMEDIATE racers and the top Lite sailors.   Once placed into a group, a series of seeded races will determine the final 4 racers from each group that will compete in the finals.    The seeded races will be MATCH RACING for the ELITE group, and four boat FLEET races for the INTERMEDIATE group and LITE group.    Your ranking from the time trials will determine your seed placing.    Top time is first seed in each group, each group will have 8 seeded racers.   A chart is provided to show race groups by seeding and path to the finals.
The three stages:

Stage 1 (Time Trials) ACA Lights and ACA33 3.0
Dates 02 May-15 May 2011

The ACA Lights ACA33 3.0’s will participate firstly on the time trial This time trial will take place in the Fruit Island sims.(click here for the landmark)  The course challenges your Velocity Made Good (VMG) knowledge. Upwind and tacking ability, windward rounding, running skill, lee gybe to windward and the final run to the finish.   Time trials will not be spectator events to insure consistency in the trials.

The time trials will be done over a period of one to two weeks depending on signups, and both a practice and formal trials sessions posted. There will be a limited set amount of laps sailed, each sailor will have no more than three official attempts. These laps will be monitored by an official of ACA race committee.  The course is open to practice and conditions for qualify winds are posted.

Tight control of the sims and calibration will insure consistency between trial dates.  In case of any question or the spread of times, the race committee reserves the right to have specific re-runs of any individuals with ties or any other factor deemed necessary.   YOUR SEEDING is dependent on your times, and it is of no advantage to do anything but your best times.  Details for the specific restrictions to have an accurate time are provided to each racer and posted at the course.

GROUPING:
Elite Racers:  Ranking 1 – 8 (Fastest rank 1)
Intermediate racers: Ranking 8 – 16
Lite racers: Ranking 1-8

Time Trial Course

Stage 2 (Match Racing – Fleet racing to determine finalists) ACA33 3.0 only
Dates – 23May-05 June 2011

Once ranking for each group is determined by the time trials the following diagram shows the path for each group to determine the finalists.   If match racing each paring requires 3 matches to determine the winner.   If fleet racing low point scoring, with one drop for a three race series determines the next matching.   Failure to attend a match, or miss a fleet race is a forfit.  No race is for time, so re-dress for sailing conditions is not allowed.   Specific criteria is provided for a re-run or re-match.

Hawk will be doing specific instruction on the MATCH starting sequence as well as on MATCH RACING in general and specific rules that differ with the ISAF rules.   Self teaching presentations are available at the racing center in Muskmelon sim.

Sailors whom are matched that are in different time zones, we work with to accommodate a slot to do these MATCH races.Failure to do so would be a default loss for those races not done.

Scoring for the Fleet trials and finals will be low score drop one, tie breaker by place on dropped race.   Locations for these races will be announced.   It is expected that each race will be about ten to 12 minute races.

Stage 3 (Finals) ACA Lights and ACA33 3.0
Dates TBA

This will be held at Starboard Yacht Club in the Blake Sea. The course(s) will be notified to the finalists not before 1 week before the date of the finals.

The racing will take place on one weekend ISAF Rules that apply will will be based upon each group racing and will be very basic set for the Lite races.
So how do I join?

That’s simple!!

1) You just need to register your interest in the races by filling in a simple form that can be found here

2) Join the ACA 2011 Trophy Group here or…… if you do not have room for another group then please visit ACA Island and touch the subscribe-o-matic booth this can be found at ACA Island click here for the SLURL this will send information without you taking up extra room in your groups.

If you have any problems or concerns please direct them to myself. We will hold an Question and answer session sometime on Saturday 23 April 2011. Please could you post any questions to me first so I might have an idea what needs to be answered

Lastly may I wish you all the very best in this competition

Quirky Torok
ACA Management
9th.com

So far it is rather sketchy news from our friends in the North East of Japan. I have contacted Taku to find out as much as I can on the friends we have made in that country. It was with great relief today I found Miwha Masala‘s blog, and she is safe!

I am watching NHK news cast as I am writing this. Personally speaking I am very very humbled by the way the Japanese people have reacted to this disaster. Calmly and with intelligence that the country has reacted and coped with the situation.

So, the question is what can we do in Second Life to help?

Tradewinds Yacht club held a very successful auction event supporting relief efforts. They have a huge mountain of Linden bears which have collected a total of $L400,00!  Click here for a link to the blog page.

The Linden donation bears were a real positive step by Linden Labs to aid the relief efforts they can still be found here.

Caf has also been raising the awareness and showing support for the Japanese people. He has created a suit of ACA sails that will show all around that you support.

They can be found at ACA Island. The money donated for these sails will go to earthquake relief. Wear yours with pride and show your support, not just now, but in the future, the clean up and reconstruction of this area of Japan will take a long time. This is no fashion accessory this is showing long-term commitment to our friends, and in Second Life we stand firmly besides our friends no matter where they are in the world.

Quirky Torok

ACA Management

9th.com

Epicurus Emmons

It was with great shock and sadness that on Thursday we learnt of the death of a truly great figure in Second Life sailing. Epicurus (or Epi to his friends) was one of those truly nice and helpful people we meet along the way. He was a co-founder of Fishers Island Yacht Club, he was selfless in his help, he was truly unlimited in his friendship.He will be sadly sadly missed.

Below is a wonderful video prepared by Surfwidow Beaumont it truly reflects Epi. I would like to thank Surfwidow for this tribute. I will let the video do the talking. It is more eloquent than any words i could possibly type. It left me with a tear in my eye and a hump in my throat that simply will not go away, nor should it. We are mising a friend

He will be so very badly missed in  the real world and in our virtual world. Our thoughts go out to Pippa Rexen (his second life wife and real life wife) and the family he left with a huge hole in their lives.

Fair winds Epi

Japanese Earthquake

The virtual world is a small one, however our friends are from all corners of the world. Therefore it is with increasing incredulity and sadness that we witness the events unfolding in Japan. We have many sailors friends that we have grown to know and respect  in that part of the world.

Our thoughts go out to all affected by this ongoing disaster. I have still to hear of many of our friends in that part of the world, with each day of not knowing our prayers grow stronger that they are free from harm.

As of yet I am reluctant to give out information on how one may financially help this area of the country, however if there is any thing concrete we can do I will be the first to relay that information to you. It will probably be to the Redcross in Japan, however let the authorities do their job and inform us how they want help.

Quirky Torok

ACA management

9th.com

Just a few news snippets from ACA to keep you all up to date on happenings with all that is ACA.

ACA Lights

Firstly I am really happy that we have a growing number of ACA Light users welcome to the family guys! As promised we are starting a set of selected races/training sessions for this boat. Last night we had our first complete beginners race. Sailing Conditions weren’t the best, but we did get a flavour of racing. Many thanks go out to Miwha, Massy and Bolt for coming down in their 3.0′s and to Tingle and Anastasia for trying out racing. And of course to Colin for winning both races!

Anastasia in front of Massy!!

You cant beat coco!

After racing it was a cup of steaming coco! lovely. More events to follow. Keep your eyes peeled.

Lastly in this section I am producing a short video on the Light as a quick guide to sail it. I will announce it in the owners groups as soon as it is finalised.

ACA33 Trophy.

Its getting to that time of year… excitement is growing questions are being asked. To be honest we want to give sailors in SL a short break from large sailing events. However that being said we having a great conversation with leading SL/RL sailors about the format and the shape of the Trophy. That being said there are a few details I can announce. Firstly the racing will not be drawn out, it will be short and fast. It will be a lot fairer than last year. The boats will not be crewed it will be the skipper alone that sails (so no waiting for your crew to log back on before you finnish a race)

Lastly I can confirm the finals will be held at Starboard Yacht Club.

Race Directors

II have produced a short informational video on youtube to help you recognise ACA33 3.0 boats from ACA Light boats.

I hope it is of use to you.

Last note on racing

The Second Life Sailing calendar is being updated If you want to race your ACA33  Please take a look here for information of races going on in your time zone. If you are interested in holding races please contact either myself or the commodore of the club you wish to race at. I am personally happy to give as much help as i can to ensure ACA stays at the top of Second Life sailing. At the moment from experiance i can see we have regular ACA33 3.0 Racing at the following times and locations

Tuesday 4.00pm @ NYC

Wedensday 5.30am @NYC

Thursday 12.00 @ FIYC

Friday 6pm @ NYC

Saturday 6.00pm @ NYC

You can of course sail your ACA33 at big boat events such as:-

Sunday 4.00pm @ NYC

Tuesday 11.00am @ FIYC

Happy sailing to you alll and remember to keep the flappy side of your boat up!

Quirky Torok

ACA Management

9th.com