M Squared

Perhaps a more practical question is, "How many sailors can dance on the bow of a Santana 20?" There are an infinite number of possible ways sailors pass the time while waiting for wind (e.g. play hearts, repair hatch cover hinges, work on an expensive tan, take a nap (our skipper was actually snoring on the boat as we slowly sailed around), clean your bottom...). Back to the question at hand and the last example. The Cheap Diver is like dental floss for your sailboat. We've seen these racing accessories used by a couple boats in the J24 fleet in Seattle. The owner of Q bought one and received a lesson because each bottom has "certain areas which are difficult to clean⁄reach." You're supposed to be able to "floss" the whole bottom including the keel. Apparently, it's all about technique and angles . In order to get the Cheap Diver to work its way down the keel of a 20, they thought it would be advantageous to raise the stern... a lot! So, ...

Sunday started out looking worse than Saturday... Windless in Seattle . By the time we arrived to get ready for "on call", the Loose Nuts gang had already discussed and determine their DNC time. They figured if there was no wind (& no racing) by 1pm, they were heading back home. I'm not sure that crossed our minds but it was early. Time for a game (or two) of hearts. By mid day, the RC couldn't wait any longer. Out we went to see if the air would cooperate for racing. Close to shore, the C division (centerboards) set up to race in the "Meadow Point Hurricane" (MPH). Most got off four quick races. The Moths and I14's... nada. Eventually, our RC set up a quick... (by that I mean short but by no legal means "quick") S-X-F. That's a start , windward , finish. Half a windward-leeward. With such a short course it seemed like one mistake could send you to the back of the fleet with no chance to recover. We wanted to be on port at the boa...

With racing postponed all day Saturday at the Seattle NOOD , there was a little pent up demand for sailing (if not racing). This was especially true for the "dinghy" sailors. After dinner, the wind came as you might expect. Seemed perfect for racing but that wasn't part of the program. With daylight waning, the moths came out... I've seen the International Foiling Moth plenty of times... in stills and video but not in person. It was interesting just watching these three set up their boats with some what of a frantic pace. Their problem now was running out of light not wind. As soon as they hit the water and literally jumped aboard, they sheeted in and took off! One in particular was up on the foils in 10 meters. Once the cleared the break water, they really started zipping around. It was really impressive to see them in person. It's difficult to appreciate just how fast they are by watching video. Unfortunately, they were out beyond the breakwater in a goo...

I've never experienced a total shutout in terms of wind for a regatta. This year's Seattle NOOD came close. Friday's racing wasn't bad. The winds were light as we never really reached typical hull speed but the racing was fair (to the credit of the RC) and competitive. After three races, H2O Boa was tied with What About Bob? for first place with scores of 1, 2 and 4. Our bullet in race one was something of a special gift from Q . We were running downwind on the penultimate leg in third behind Q and Bob. Q appeared confused as they approached the finish pin (the same color as our leeward mark). They hoisted their genny, doused their kite, rounded the finish pin (going through the finish line) and were now facing us... looking for the finish. It didn't take them long to realize they rounded the wrong mark as they set their spinnaker rather quickly. Unfortunately, it took a few extra moments to realized the finish line was restricted and they incurred a penalty....

Unless your job is sailing... I think this is a true statement from my perspective. People often ask me, "How was sailing last night?" or "How did the regatta go?". This kind of phrase comes to mind. Most of the time your worst day sailing is better than your best day working. While there are exceptions... almost any sailing experience is "better than a sharp stick in the eye"! Well this might be one of those exceptions. Some members of our local Lido fleet went down river to sail in the Spring Fling with Willamette Sailing Club . Although I wasn't there, the story goes; The skipper's meeting started at 2:00 under partly sunny skies and an 8 to 10 knot breeze. The first race started on time at 3:00 under menacing skies, a building breeze, and claps of thunder. About 30 seconds later a squall rolled across the river. As it hit [us], we luffed the sails and watched them flog in the wind. It wasn't enough to prevent us from being blown ov...