M Squared

Time to (re) assembly the ski bike. I just wish we had that kind of cold smoke around here rather than Oregon oatmeal .

Who is Llyn Brianne ? No, not a late addition to my list of sailors I'd like to have dinner with . The real question is " What kind of lunatic goes down a 1,000ft wall of raging water in a canoe - let alone on a bicycle? " Apparently, there are several "nutters" out there willing to give it a go.

I love sailing. I love working with computers and developing ( CAM ) software. The intersection of these two interests is a sweet spot for me. With all the sailing blogs , regatta websites , class websites , sailing videos , virtual racing and more ... the internet is clearly the best sailing invention of all time in my book. But I'm a little late for that project . Tillerman's latest group writing project invites people to share "which sailor or sailors, living or dead, real or fictional you would like to invite to a dinner party." There are some that quickly come to mind: Hans Horrevoets , John Newton , Alex Thomson , Steve Fossett , Lia Ditton and Zac Sunderland to name a few... Coming back to the intersection of wind and bytes , I think I might put Jim Gray at the top of my dinner party list. No, not that Jim Gray . I'd invite the Jim Gray that (most recently) worked for a giant computer industry monopoly in Redmond, WA who was lost at sea in January...

This is the motto of the Volvo Ocean Race and the banner you see when you play the Volvo Ocean Rave Game . Certainly, the expression applies to the sailors spending weeks at a time, far out at sea with only their crew mates, experience and ship underneath them. The VORG on the other hand... Well, we have it a little easier. But in some ways, the extreme nature of virtual ocean sailing can only be understood through the experience of those around us. The following was posted on the Support Forum of the VORG (not the type of "support" they had in mind); DEAR VOLVO OCEAN RACE GAME. Can you please help me my husband has deen acting most strange the past week.he works from home and has his one office he seems to de getting very depressed latelt. he's locked in there for hours at a time,we use to go to the pub four or five times a week.the other day he came screaming out off his office something about he had broken a sale?I thought it was something to do with his work. th...

Found this video on sailkarma.com . The Volvo Ocean Race teams have been at sea for 16 days. That's the same amount of time for many of the virtual racers (not everyone started leg 1 at the official start). EVK4 pointed out several similarities and differences between the real sailors and the 42,810 (and counting) registered virtual ones... This video points out another significant comparison. Over the course of a race like this where leg 1 will take nearly a month, health care needs are bound to come up that must be addressed while at sea (at least temporarily). I'm just glad that if I find myself in a similar situation, I can schedule a visit to my local, landlubbing dentist rather than have the watch captain jam a bunch of 3M Cavit in my mouth... Hey, I am the watch captain on my (virtual) boat...

Have you ever attempted to race in two regattas at once? That was the case with me over the Columbus Day weekend (Oct. 11-12). First, that's the same weekend that Yaquina Bay Yacht Club hosts their annual Columbus Day Regatta . Quite a coincidence, eh! Relative to last year , the weather was beautiful and the wind was rather mild but never shut off... There were a few strange (but not necessarily bad) things about this years event. We never went "up river" around 14, we went "out" to 7 five times, we never touched bottom once (no "touch and tack" this year), there were only 4 Santana 20s (in fact the overall fleet was down a bit compared to years past) and finally we had a total of 9 races over two days. Going around 7 (while not quite as big a deal as going around #1 aka the "Whistler") involves leaving the protection of the bay and dealing with the fluky wind and current under the bay bridge. At any rate, the Columbus Day Regatta is alw...

SA (or should it be SI) posted a picture of Christophe Bouvet on Sirma in the 1600 mile Cap Istanbul 2008 . The brief post mentioned the challenging conditions facing the single-handed sailors. The Figaro Beneteau class (sweet boats) typically has interesting races with a large number of boats for single-handed ocean racing. The Cap Istanbul has... had 29. That was until this weekend. Fortunately, the 29th competitor will follow the other sailors to the finish... just not on his boat. The internet is great for sailors in general . It's especially nice in the off season and when you live in an area or country where the mainstream media thinks covering bicycle racing is an exotic sport... So, I click on the link to the Cap Istanbul and load the race viewer . It's the beginning of the 330nm, second leg from Cagliari, Sardinia to Marzamemi, Sicily. Not long into it, many boats (whose track is traced out by the viewer) dramatically change directions. Well, this is strange. Everyt...