10th anniversary

it's been a bit more than 10 years that i've been animating sailing rules and team racing scenarios. below are some examples from 10 years ago that I worked on with a guy named Jay who used to be the webmaster for the ICSA. The boats were orginally modeled in ashlar vellum (a CAD package) to figure out the basic physics of the motion. I then imported into director, animated there and exported as picts. The picts were then dragged into gif animator for the animation (I used GIFs since shockwave was still not workin on all browsers). Back then there was no flash, director ruled the animation world, few people knew what antialiasing was and animated GIFs seemed to be the most standard delivery medium for animation (though it had some pretty significant limitations). Click on the below links to see the animations:

it all started here

a little blood was always fun

an odd boat that disobeyed physics and a very nice mark

a very tight fit but NO contact!!!

team racing on LSD

if you look at other entries in this blog you'll see we've come a long way in 10 years...

US Team Racing Championship 2007

Congratulations to NYYC Silver Panda for winning the 2007 US Team Racing Championship. Reportedly the deepest US Team Racing Championship ever and with a historic number of teams. Tim Wadlow gave an emotional speech at the awards ceremony and pointed out that this is the first time in history a team has completed a grand slam by Panda winning the US Championship, World Championship AND the Wilson Trophy in a row.

Gracious host Seawahnaka Yacht Club, located near Long Island New York, put on a spectacular event. The weather was wet the first day but we had awesome breeze for the entire event (except for a postponement on Sunday to wait for some awesome conditions for the semifinals and finals (which culminated in yet another historic showdown between Whishbone and Silver Panda).

Below are podcasts from Saturday and Sunday talking to many of the key players of team racing. Special focus on the very recent Olympic Trials since many of the winners were competing in the event. Learn from the champions what it takes to win the trials and tips on how to win on the water. Also is the INSIDE scoop as to why West Kirby was not able to host the 2007 World Team Racing Championship. A very poignant interview from Gay Lynn Award winner Francis Charles (who has done a terrific amount to grow not only the sport of team racing but sailing in general). The worlds best umpire, Chris Atkins, joined the fun and absolutely made the event a better one...listen to his podcast to learn key insights from THE MAN. Ever ponder the mathematics and algorithms that allow the largest US Team Racing Championship to run without a hitch? Listen to Sandra Atkins give a 'Big Dummies Guide' to the Swiss League format.








NEW! High Definition Video Podcasts of the event (caution, big one is close to 1GB in size. May take a while to load). Video footage by Gavin O'Hare shot on a new Sanyo Xacti HD Camcorder. Audio captured with a Griffin iMic on an Apple iPod. Movie is close to 2 hours long (popcorn not included), packed with hot moves from some of the world's best team racers and has been nominated for an emmy, grammy and nobel peace prize:

480p HD Video Podcast (900MB)

240p HD Video Podcast (485MB)

Below are audio podcasts from the event:

Welcome from Commodore Al Constance

Chief Judge Bruce Cook

Head Honcho Buttons

Chief Umpire Steven Wolf

470 Olympic Trialist Mikee

St. Mary's Sailor Justin Law

Olympian Andrew Campbell

Panda Amanda & Colin

Buttons on Logistics

2005 Hinman Champion Brad Funk

ISAF Head Honcho Chris Atkins

Interview with Gavin O'Hare

Amanda interviews Bryan McDonald

Scoring whiz kid Sandra Atkins

Gay Lynn Award Winner Francis Charles

More from Commodore Al

The TRUE story why West Kirby did not host 2007 worlds

Baker Champions Tabor Academy

Chillin' with Tim Fallon

Olympian Tim Wadlow

Olympian Stu McNay and Team Molly

2006 Podcasts

Hot Team Racing Animations!

US Sailing Team Racing

HD Movie of the 2005 Hinman

Photos of the 2005 Hinman

Photos from the 2006 Hinman

Team Racing Tools and intro movie

Team Racing Rules Quiz

Amazing Roll Tacks from Panda and Whishbone

NOT recommended

8 year old Emmett McDonald setting the Rave class speed record for San Francisco Bay

Old sailor of the week

the last cal cup (pictures coming soon)

today was the last cal cup of 2007...honest...we tried having it sat but the wind was not there so decided to have it on a sunday (for the first time of the season). location = emeryville.

sailed my 12.5 the whole regatta. only 4 races (and the first one, at over two hours in length, was a doozy).

the course was set on the cal cup boat (with emmett driving) in a building breeze and percey said he was thinking of going out with a 9. when he came back to change into his wetsuit, the wind died. it's been a rainy weekend and the breeze was off the pace. i decided to get wet and go out and slog on my 12.5 (which jim mcgrath thought i might have a few loose screws to be sailing on). i figured if i planed around for the other racers to see, maybe i'd inspire them to come out. i slogged to the pier and then got powered up. i was aiming for the darkest cloud i could see hoping for pressure from it (this is the hot tip for east coast sailing...aim for the darkest cloud during a storm for the best puffs and most pressure) and it paid off. can't get much angle out of the 12.5 upwind so i was hitting the pier hard, tacking, dipping south, tacking and then hitting the pier hard again.

percey was the next out. boy, he had some great angle on his 11. others followed. sylvester was on an 11 too (big sail for steve-o). pretty much the whole fleet was out on 11's except me on a 12.5, soheil on a 10 (he loves is 10) and ben on something big (maybe an 11.8?).

first race i lined up near the committee end. plan was to be powered by the start and plane through. got in a hole at 20 seconds and ate up some precious angle digging out of it. hit the pin hard...literally hit it...fin got wrapped around the anchor line...even with a 12.5 and 70cm fin, pretty hard to plane while dragging an anchor (call me a whimp...i know micah would have simply pumped around the course as if nothing was there...but i aint micah). the guys who made the start clean (s3 = steve sylvester, percey) where gone. the rest of the fleet was in slog or partial planing mode (including me). eric, soheil and i got planing again towards the port layline. eric was ahead and tacked. we all fell into holes and watched percey and s3 sail away while they had pressure and we did not (this is an example of where the grass is definitely greener on the other side :-). i finally started to plane near the pier (and ben was above me stuck without breeze). i was pointing so low that ben in slog mode was almost beating me up wind. i finally got planing on starboard. i followed eric to the port layline. i tacked when he tacked and got stuck in another hole. still below layline and took many double tacks to finally get around the top mark.

misc rules questions

many people ask me rules questions. here are my opinions on some of the more interesting questions.

there was one race where the fleet started, and shortly after the starting signal another sound signal was made. a sailor, who was midfleet, looked back and saw the general recall flag up. assuming it was a general recall, the sailor sailed back to get ready for the next start. the race committee changed their mind and dropped the general recall flag and let the fleet race. the sailor who was sailing back turned around to race but was now at the back of the fleet. he filed for redress.

if i were a judge for this incident, i'd grant him redress due to an error by the race committee. while the sailor did sail back to the line by his own choice, i don't think that is a failure to pass the 'through no fault of your own' test. the reason i think that is because the sailor was actually following what the rules say (i.e. when the general recall (first repeater) flag is flying, that means the race is over and come back to the line to get ready for the next start). thus i would not penalize the sailor for following the rules. if the sound signal was not correct, i'd still grant redress since most competitors don't know whether it's one blast or two for a general. they key for me is that the correct visual signal was made and the competitor did his best to comply with the rules. on a different matter, i don't think there is a provision in the rules to allow the rc to NOT continue with a general recall after they have signalled it.

finn north americans

i was asked to be a judge at the finn north american championship this past weeked hosted by the coyote point yacht club. you'd think it'd be great wind and knarly waves at coyote but this weekend was pretty much a bust with only a race or two in whitecaps and many in very light air.

pictures coming soon...

cosmic blobs

there is an amazing 3D program for kids called cosmic blobs. it's written by the solidworks people so it's going to be based on industrial strength 3D. you can learn more about it from cosmicblobs.com and even download a free copy.

i created some fun sailing animations with it. check it out and tell me what you think:
http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/17.1.mov
http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/slalom.mov

the pirate ships are fun. this is an actual tricky rules scenario in team racing (the vexing question of whether rule 17.1 applies to boats on opposite tacks in the zone). it's fun listening to some of the greatest rule minds talking about blue and yellow pirate ships. (most rules experts believe that 17.1 can apply to boat on opposite tacks in the zone, by the way.)

the windsurfer is a zaichek board with real footstraps. the sail is seth besse's. need to make a few more models so i can create some tricky rules scenarios for people to learn from.

Jazz Cup 2007

I just windsurfed the Jazz Cup. First windsurfer to ever race it (it's more a big boat regatta due to the long distance involved).

Jazz Cup by the numbers:
boats entered = about 100
windsurfers entered = 1
distance of race = about 32 miles (if you were to drive the course in a power boat)
longest boat = santa cruz 52
time racing = 4:32
times fell in = 0 (honest)
power bars eaten during the race = 0 (i had a big breakfast)
photos taken of the sole windsurfer by the photo boat = 0
people who shook my hand after the race = countless (when was the last time someone shook your hand for finishing a race?)
sea weeds hit during the race = too many
different hand positions tried in order to relax = not enough
point at which the camel back ran out of water = carquinez bridge
times i wished i had a head = 2 (good thing i was wearing a shorty and no booties :-)
point of no return = richmond bridge (in the light breeze and current, without a motor it was virtually impossible to sail back into the flood)

i was hoping for line honors but did not get them. i think a formula windsurfer could get line honors in that race...if there was enough wind...not enough wind this year but still a great race....

i did beat all the other windsurfers though...ok, so there were no windsurfers to beat...but i was the first windsurfer to ever race the event...and the fleet was very supportive of having a windsurfer in their midst...i think the monohulls were secretly
rooting for me to take out the multis so a monohull can again take claim to line honors :-)

when i finished the race people in benicia kept asking me if i had done the whole race...i kept saying yes...they said i must be really tired, thirsty and were offering me beers...i was tempted to say that racing two triple lappers at the end of north
american championship off crissy field in 30+ knots is more tiring...but that would be a bit pendantic so i bit my tongue, nodded and said that i was tired..which was definitely the truth.

kids around the club wanted to try the windsurfer...how cool is that? i'm guessing not one of those kids asked if they could try a farr 52 or J105. one of the wonderful elements of windsurfing...it's so accessible...if i had emmett's 3.2



instead of my 12.5m sail, i'd let them have at it



plus i was a bit pooped after being on the water for close to 6 hours (i launched from emeryville earlier in the morn before there was breeze since the bay bridge was closed and i could not launch from TI). otherwise i would have taken the kids for rides. definitely an opportunity to take advantage of evangelizing the sport for the next jazz cup (which i'm couting on the windsurfing fleet to come out in force next year :-)

at the finish, i parked my stuff right on the lawn at benicia yacht club and almost everyone that cruised by either shook my hand or thought the formula stuff was far out. two brothers (brothers, as in they have the same mom and dad) dropped by while i was derigging and waxed poetic about the good old days in the 1980's when robby naish ruled the windsurfing world and the hot board to race on the bay was the fanatic ultra cat in the o'neil classic (a race from crissy to berkeley). i did not have the heart to tell them that robby is a kiter now but did mention www.calcupevents.com and the fact that there is free equipment to be had to try out at a cal cup windsurfing race. they seemed very stoked and said that windsurfing is the most fun they've ever had sailing.

let me repeat that, these two guys just finished the jazz cup on a huge monohull that probably cost more than the annual income of the whole sf bay windsurfing fleet combined and they said that windsurfing is the most fun they've ever had sailing...how cool is that?


i've raced the jazz cup in my rave trimaran before so i knew it might be light...and it was. i was late for 'my' start due to the big flood (i thought i'd race with the multi hulls since they are usually fastest). i launched from emeryville and had to slog into the circle before i could plane...with the 12.5 it's easy to get too much breeze so i was trying to keep in a good zone of not too much breeze and not too little...you know, perfect breeze :-) since i missed the multihull start, i was starting with a bunch of j120s and they can point a lot higher than a formula board...so it was a fine line of trying to keep out of their way and still clear the pin end.

it was interesting at the windward mark...lots of flood and i was motoring by everyone (as i should with a 12.5m sail and a formula board!). those sailboats are a lot trickier to pass than formula boards...much harder to pass to leeward since they have massive windshadows. ..can't pass close to windward since they'll out point you and their wakes keep you on your
toes when you are traversing thirty different boats with three foot wakes. i was getting blanketed by a boat at the windward mark and barely squeezed by it without having to plan to call mike z to rebuild my leeward rail (been there, done that at anita rock).

after the windward mark (which was east of alcatraz), i knew that passing near point blunt was probably going to be the windiest part of the whole race and if i could keep it together here, it'd be all downhill to the finish.



i was prepared for the worst and had packed my flare gun in my camel back (that was full of water) with three flares and had my iphone in a water proof pouch with vessel assist's number keyed into the keypad in case i needed to be saved from too much breeze on a 12.5 (and lots of power bars in case they took a long time to get me). my camel back was now full so no room for a vhf to call in my sail number.

i wore a cap for extra sun protection, gobs of sunscreen, a shorty since it bakes in san pablo bay and my favorite jimmy hendrix shorts that i wear in the south bay slalom
series...yea baby!



i am one very visible individual.. .move over rover and let jimmy take over! i also wore my bright orange north american jersy for easy identification in case i'm lying face down in the water by the time someone finds me :-) the jersy and shorts where my change of outfit at the finish (so i did not need to stay at the club in my wetsuit (which doubled as a warm jacuzzi style head during the race...good thing it was a shorty and that there are showers in benicia!)) but the big knarly breeze that we all know and fear from the slot between point blunt and alcatraz never appeared.

i was screaming downwind. boy, that 12.5 sure can sail deep...deeper than deep. i was passing everyone and in a few minutes caught up to the tri's...my rivals...within a few more minutes, i'd leave them in my wake and be on my way to the finish....and then the breeze shut down to the leeward of tiburon penisula...no bother, i'll just gybe and dig deep towards the circle and still leave everyone in the dust...this plan worked great all the way to the standard oil warf south of the richmond bridge...then the breeze was gone...and the fleet with their giagantic spinnakers were catching up...but they died too and the spinnakers started to collapse. good thing there was a ripping flood pushing everyone into san pablo bay.

the sights going into san pablo bay are awesome...lots of little islands and light houses...the brothers, the sisters, marin island.

all the people i just passed started passing me...i was starting to think an ajustable downhaul would be really cool since i cranked my downhul block to block on the 12.5 to make sure i did not explode near alcatraz...but who rides an adjustable out haul besides gebi? ok, so he has a few more olympic medals than me so maybe he's right...but it might fill in san pablo bay...in fact, it can honk in san pablo bay...so good think i was block to block...but man, i wish i was not slogging...

past pt. san pablo, there was a windline with white caps towards richmond. i pointed my slogging, but fast drifting (due to the flood) formula board there and crossed my fingers...

there was a photography boat in the course at this time...he went up to every boat and took a few shots...and then he passes right by me...what's up with that? are you a kiter photographer and have an axe to grind about windsurfers?

finally i got into the breeze, into the straps and into the harness lines...time to celebrate as i was passing everyone again...don' t want to get too excited since i was not even half way done and lots could still happen before benicia...the breeze was building and the lead boats were in my sights...i was reeling them in...ok, now i don't want too much breeze...that would really bite to get thrashed with too much breeze...have to pace myself since this is like doing three classics in a row...was moving my feet in the straps to get comfy and not wear out my muscles...

life is good and i can see the bridge in carquinez straights... just need to hold on long enough to pass everyone...and if i do pass everyone, will i remember the mark rounding sequence at the finish? i'm flying towards pinole point...this race is not so bad after all...

the breeze is perfect for the 12.5 sail. comfortable, planing and passing everyone...then it starts to die again...no.. .say it aint so! near pinole point, the breeze fades...i gybe and dig towards vallejo...still no breeze...gybe again and dig towards richmond...how can there not be breeze? it's probably nuking at crissy now...why can't there be some breeze here in san pablo bay...

so that is my lot in life...slog to carquinez straits...and man was there a lot of current there! even in slog mode, i was motoring downwind past the polar express and other ships right outside the bridge...the old c and h sugar factory is always a
poignant sight.

then the breeze picks back up near the finish to some of the best breeze for the event...have to gybe around the channel marker, sail towards benicia to the temp buoy set by byc and then a little beat to finish...where is that photographer boat now? he's missing some good windsurfing action here :-) i'm passing everyone again but too little too late...the flood at the finish is stiff...good thing i was not slogging since there would be no way to finish otherwise. there seems to be a long pause for my horn at the finish line. i can imagine conversations along the line (did he really race the whole thing? what the heck is a windsurfer doing in the jazz cup? i bet that guy can juggle machetes, fire and chainsaws (ok, so maybe they did not talk juggling at the finish line :-))



after i finished i decided to finally register...i mean it's only fair since i raced the race and they did a very nice job with things...as the party is kicking off, i registered online using my iphone outside the club and paid with paypal...all is good...

so who wants to windsurf this race with me next year? Jazz Cup is only about half as long as the delta ditch...rumor has it that no windsurfer has ever done that race...not for long, i hope :-)

full results of the race posted here:
http://www.southbeachyc.org/racing/index.htm#calendar

more nationals coverage

despite the sail number, this is not micah buzianis but me doing everything possible to keep my board in the water as the wind was gusting in the mid 30's! photo courtesy steve bodner

last day had two final races for formula (in order to get a single throwout). seth remained in the lead but bodner actually beat him in a race (first time at this event for formula). listen the the racers wrap it up including input from steve bodner, principle race officer john craig, denise parris and more...

http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/fna0707.mp3

tv coverage of the event:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=J4sgZaxj1e0
http://www.ktvu.com/video/13862365/detail.html

(in the ktvu piece, i'm the guy yelling 'yea baby' and flashing a chaka bra).

slalom podcast

photo courtesy paul beulow of ooto.com. thank you paul!

by winning the first race of the 2007 us windsurfing slalom national championship, i was leading the championship for a few minutes...all i needed to do was keep getting bullets and i'd be the champion :-) the high winds and maytag washing machine style chop proved a hard beast to tame causing even the best to go for a swim occasionally. i certainly had a lot of fun racing!

slalom racing today. listen to andreas macke, bill wier, soheil and ron kern talk about the action.

http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/fna0607.mp3

c-ya, bry

--- bryan mcdonald wrote:

third day of racing. nice 10 ho! conditions in a mild ebb on san francisco bay. race started near the club, to a mark below the gate for a windward mark, then to a mark off the north tip of treasure island and then back to the club to finish. conversations with the top finishers including seth besse, eric christensen, andreas macke, karen mariot, junior peter botha and more. a few collisions occured on the race course including one that drew blood and tore big chunks out of formula boards. special cameo conversation with the infamous 'larry' of crissy field who has a generous offer to teach any women how to water start.

http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/fna0507.mp3

another podcast

second day of racing. lots of ship traffic including a freighter who gave the fleet five blasts (the commercial vessel way of saying get the heck out of my way). second place racer ben bamer breaks his magic fin. interviews with uwe from columbia, mike percey and steve bodner.

http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/fna0407.mp3

podcast from the first day of na's

first day of racing. light breeze by san francisco bay standards with most people on 10m sails. seth besse, who's dr forbid him to sail (due to a recently dislocated shoulder from slalom training), is winning the event. second place is going to hansen sailor ben bamer. listen to interviews with seth, ben, olympic hopeful denise parris, steve bodner, learn why mike zajichek is not racing and other fun windsurfing stories...
http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/fna0307.mp3

new podcast

the second podcast for the formula class north american championship. coverage from the last calcup race before north americans. speakers include steve sylvester, us windsurfing president jim mcgrath, bay area ripper eric christensen, cal cup photographer emmett mcdonald and hansen sailor mike percey.

http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/fna0207.mp3

too small or too big

never go out with a too small sail. if you go out and your sail is too big, it's QUICK to come in and change. if you go out too small, you are stuck and can't change QUICKLY.

podcast of the formula north american championship

http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/fna0107.mp3

chicken strap

this weekend was the ronstan bay challenge. on sat was the long distance race from the golden gate to berkeley and back. it's reportedly a 33 mile race (though if you are a kiter, you can log even more miles during a flood). the wind was moderate by bay standards. half went with 10m sails and half with 9m (with big ben bamer on an 11m). after the windward mark near the gate, it was a sprint downwind towards marin. i had an ok start and was ahead of quite a few people at the windward mark. on my way downwind i was trying to stay out of the chicken strap (middle of the back straps) as much as possible and push it for speed. the race happened to pass right through a large flock of cormerants birds. the leader, seth besse, actually got pooped on a few times. i've never seen so many birds like this on the bay and was happy to not hit any.



above picture from paul beulow of www.ooto.com
http://www.ooto.com

i was feeling great but hit some chop wrong and flew over the handle bars (got launched over the nose of my board). i do this fairly often and you can see the nose of my board has been patched multiple times due to the damage the boom makes as it slams into the deck. as i was flying over the handle bars, i was pretty relaxed. pretty much nothing you can do if you freak out so might as well take her easy as you fly into the water. when i got back up, i decided to gybe out of the 'slot' and get some wind relief towards the city (the slot is the channel of high wind from the gate and through alcatraz and point blunt). since flying over the handle bars is not fast, i decided to notch it down a bit and chicken strap it.

note to self: practice going down wind without resorting to the chicken strap.

as i was passing alcatraz, i noticed my harness lines were too far back (due to normally riding bigger sails with that boom). so much so that i could place both hands in front of the harness lines (instead of having them centered). this was making my front arm very tired since i was not able to take the load off the booms with my harness.

note to self: adjust harness lines BEFORE racing not during.

with staying in the chicken strap so much and poor harness line placement, i lot a lot of time compared to the others. even though i swim 3000 yards 3 times a week, i was still pooped from going down wind and keeping everything under control. there was definitely some nice wind relief by the city. i was able to gybe back and forth from cranking wind to lighter wind to keep things pretty relaxed.

for me, this race is a lot like the ironman...i'm stoked just to finish. on the way back upwind, i hit the city again for the same wind relief (i think most people were going back up the slot). the breeze was freshening (gusting close to 30 per iwindsurf data (full charts with results here: http://www.calcupevents.com/Results/2007/07RonstanChallenge.shtml )) and i was very happy to be on my 9.0.

http://www.calcupevents.com/Results/2007/07RonstanChallenge.shtml

i had some cuts on my feet that i bandaged with a bandaid and then wrapped my whole foot in a ring of duct tape to keep the band aid on. the ring was too tight and my left foot was pounding with pain due to the circulation being cut off. a quick dip in the bay to tear off the bandage (and stuff the litter in my jersey) made my foot feel MUCH better.



photo from http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com
www.blueandgoldfleet.com


the red & white fleet as well as the blue & gold fleet are notorious for getting in racers way during events. bill wier, st. fyc formula club champion, says he always keeps an eye out for the ferries since they absolutely play a tactical role in one's race. i don't know how bill has the composure to keep everything going close to the speed of light AND keep a lookout for the ferries. i have a hard enough time keeping track of just me and any other sailors. i've been screwed over a number of times by the ferries. on one tack from the city front towards alcatraz, a ferry pulled out right in front of me. speed and smarts says if you can aviod getting gassed by a boat ahead of you, there is actually a slight lift you can ride if you are in a perfect position. turns out this ferry was in exactly the right position to give me a lift.

imagine that, a blue & gold actually helping you race rather than screw you over...that is some good mojo!

so the ferry pulled out well ahead of me but i was leeward enough to get a lift instead of getting gassed (if i got gassed, i'd be forced to tack away due to his bad air). the lift was making me get to alcatraz a lot faster than normal. the ferry's speed is pretty good and can be hard to outrun. i was actually getting lifted right into the ferry. since i had better speed, i was able to pass him and then pinch off to windward (which was a tad dicey since if i fell as i was right in front of him i'd probably make for some good prop fodder (and when you are close enough to hear these guys talk, they brag to the passengers about what a pain in the arse it is to pick windsurfers out of their props or they've never lost a fight with a windsurfer vs their prop or the BIG rule of the bay (which is whoever has the BIGGER boat, rules the bay))).

while my results over all where not the best, i was stoked to have finished within the time limit. i was also pleased to not have had a single kiter pass me either (though anthony chavez (the kite leader) got pretty close).

one of the interesting guys in the race was former runner up us windsurfing champion, chip wasson. chip was on a carbon foiling kite board. that thing looked rad!



above picture from paul beulow of www.ooto.com
http://www.ooto.com

carve

monday night slalom started promptly at 5. 3 races, 3 clean starts, 0 wipeouts and 3 bullets. a good day. c-rad showed up after the racing to check it out but split. thanks c-rad for coming!

before racing, i always get nervous that there may be too much wind for my 12.5 (which, per neil pryde, tops out at 18). once i get on the water, there is NEVER too much breeze. need to ignore my fear, rig big and go for it.

i think the key to winning each race tonight was the start. each start i was able to get clear air, launch into first and never look back. 5 laps for everyone and 7 for me. the last race i caught a couple stragglers and lapped them...that was fun.

today was the first day on the new neil pryde 12.5 that micah sent me. it's AMAZING. definitely my favorite BIG sail. the reason i liked it so much is the way it handled the puffs...VERY controllable. the boom length on this sail is giganto. thus the power is down low and controllable. tons of power to get planing. a lots of control in the puffs.

the races were done at 5:21. i sailed till seven to work out and train for the big weekend coming up (sf classic on sat and course racing on sun...wahoo!). i could gybe twice in one minute (short lake). so i did about 200 gybes. felt good. the 12.5 is a beast to gybe and i was winded for each slalom race. after the racing i relaxed a bit. it was still a beast to gybe though.

below is a picture of ted huang, my son emmett and mike gebhardt from the 2006 rs:x pcc's from last july.



teddy is an amazing windsurfer. one of the best slalom sailors in the world. i asked him how he gybes so well. he said he simply focuses on the turn and everything else falls into place. today, i think i got a little bit of that. when it was puffy, i was turning through the gybe so much that by the time i flipped the sail, it was a handful to get going again. i backed off on the carve a bit so the sail was more downwind and i could speed away from the gybe a lot faster. i found the faster i got in the foot straps on the new gybe, the faster i could be on my way....just focus on the carve.

slalom racing on a 12.5m sail on a formula board and 70cm fin

i'm competing in the south bay cup and having a blast. races are on shoreline lake and the winds are rarely over 20...usually more in the 10-15 range...

and the breeze 'breathes'...honest...it puffs to 15, then drops to less than 10, then puffs, then drops...stuart walker probably has a technical name for this but i don't know it off the top of my head.

anyway, the conditions are perfect for a LARGE sail. lately i've been racing on percey's old 12.5m windwing with a 560 lightstick. that sail was almost untouchable with devon beating almost everyone on the formula circuit in europe. it's working brilliantly for me too.



the last slalom races had only 4 races. short races going back and forth on the lake only 4 times or so. even with such short courses, i was totally winded in each race. by the fourth race, my forearms felt like linguini. great work out with the 12.5m. the 70cm fin makes the sail feel that much bigger since it has so much lateral resistance. it's fun being totally lit when the breeze is less than 15 :-)

i had the very fortunate opportunity to talk with former world champion micah buzianis about slalom. i asked what he does for forearm conditioning. he told me he works out with dumbells supported on his legs to get a nice burn going in his forearms. he can combine that with a bosu ball or swiss ball to get a core work out too. he just wrote about his second place in korea so it was a blessing to be able to chat with him.


in one of the races i fell down during a gybe since my harness got caught in the harness line right before flipping the sail. i asked micah if this ever happens to him and what he would do to resolve it. i use dakine's formula style harness lines. micah uses fixed length neil pryde lines. he says the fixed length lines are stiffer and won't be as likely to flop back into the harness during a gybe. sounds like i may need to get some new harness lines :-)

for the four races i got a 1, 2, 2, 1.

the first race i led from start to finish. i was excited and nervous. sometimes it's more nerv wracking to be leading than to be on the chase.

second race i could not start. the starts at the event are standing in the water until the race committee says 'ready, set, go' and then everyone stands on their board and goes. most people are on 8m-10m sails with shorter fins than 70cm fins so it's easier to keep the board in shallower water and step onto the board. with a 70cm fin, i need a puff to get me up and onto the board. if the go signal is during a lull, i have the choice to wait a few moments for a puff or go to plan B, drop the sail and then up haul (which is a witch with a B with a 12.5...especially if a puf hits at the wrong time (which can make it virtually impossible to lift the sail)). so the go signal goes, everyone takes off, except me. i'm near the shore waiting for a puff to put me on the board and get me started...the puff does not come as i'm drifing down the beach trying to water start...i finally decide to up haul and chase everyone down except bruce during the race. this was a harder race, physically, than the first.

third race i get an ok start, pass everyone and am leading. then my harness line gets stuck in my harness right before i flip the sail and i go down. i try to uphaul but there is too much breeze and i can't lift the sail. so i jump back in and water start going the wrong way. back in the race i again reel everyone in accept bruce. so bruce is 3, 1, 1 and i'm 1, 2, 2...tied...and if we broke the tie there, bruce would win since he beat me more times than i beat him (he also has more bullets). thank goodness there is another race.

i start poorly and spend the whole race playing catch up. barely get kevin but i do and get the bullet. bruce has a bad one and is 4th or 5th.

note to self: learn how to start from shore in zero wind.

thanks to emmett mcdonald for the nice photos

team race rules question on rule 28

a team race occured where a boat capsized after the windward mark but before the offset mark. by the time the boat was righted, the competitor simply sailed to finish without complying with rule 28 (his team had one the race with a 1,2).

there is a provision in appendix D that says "When all boats on one team have finished, retired or failed to start, the
race committee may stop the race. The other team’s boats racing at that time shall be scored the points they would have received had they finished."

the other team had finished and the RC simply scored the final boat as a 6.

can the other team protest this boat for a breach of rule 28 and prevail?

emmett's big hit

emmett is playing aa little league. this is the first time that the kids are pitching (boys and girls) to each other. there is a rule that says if a pitcher throws 4 balls, then the coach takes over and finishes up the pitching. some of the coaches are awesome picthers (who could easily strike out little leagers) so a coach from the same team pitches to the players.

emmett's team is called the nationals. the manager (head coach) is coach joey. coach mark and bryan are assistant coaches. so far this season, the nationals have played three games. coach joey and coach mark have done a fine job of pitching when the time came to fill in for the pitchers who were pitching too many balls.

during the last game, when emmett was up to bat, he had 4 balls pitched to him. coach joey gave me the nod and said that I was up to pitch. as a pitcher, you never want to have a coach come in to sub for you. they are under a lot of pressure to pitch for their team so i acknowledged the other side's attempt at pitching and gave the little man a high five and told him he did a great job. baseball at this age is all about having fun and encouraging players to fall in love with the game.

it's an interesting feeling pitching to your own son. of course you want him to do well but there are nerves in your stomach thinking about the possiblity of striking your little guy out (or, heaven forbid, throwing more balls). as i approached the mound i told emmett that my first pitch may be a bad one and if it is, don't swing. my first pitch was miserable...a grounder that rolled by emmett's feet...oh oh. one thing we say to pitchers when they are struggling is to simply pretend they are playing catch with the catcher. my second pitch to emmett was fine and emmett smacked the heck out of it. emmett has always been a big boy. he towers over the rest of his team. the sound the bat made when he crushed the ball was a high fidelity mixture of aluminum and baseball. the ball soared to the outfield. it could have been a double but we were being conservative on base running (to be polite) and ended up being a single.

there are not many times that a pitcher high fives a batter for hitting a good hit but i gave emmett a huge high five for his awesome hit.

breakfast with grandma

emmett, bryanna and i visited grandma this morning. we had an awesome time. emmett shared some of his music knowledge with grandma. he showed how he could read music, identify a treble clef, the difference between a half note, whole note and quarter note. he showed her what a measure was and the notation to end a song. he solo'd "hot cross buns" to us. he got in a little argument as to what the proper notation was for an A. mom said he was point to a B but emmett insisted it was an A. she looked at me and said emmett really should not be questioning her ability to identify one musical note from another. i agreed and told emmett that mom was right and he should listen to her. we found the note in a book and it turned out emmett was wrong.

bryanna showed grandma some of her favorite pictures that she used to create a story book at school. she gave a lovely slide show and wonderful story of each picture to grandma. grandma loved listening to bryanna.

bryanna also showed grandma a lovely video of emmett and me competing in a speed sailing event in sf bay:
http://homepage.mac.com/sailing/sfspeed.htm
emmett was so proud to share what a talented (and record holding) sailor he is. we set the rave class record for the event. he also loved hangin' with the photographers and race committee for the event. he even told the driver when one of the photographers fell out of the boat (that the driver did not notice).

throw like a girl

i'm a coach for my kid's little league. bryanna is in coach pitch and emmett is in aa. emmett is going to pitch for the first time in his next game. he has a great arm and should do fine.

he's got some pretty big pitching shoes to fill if he's so inclined. his uncle yager was a pitcher. his uncle bobby was a pitcher for the team that won the pennet, was voted MVP and also held the home run record for richardson park in rancho santa fe. his uncle rickey was a pitcher, another MVP for his team and stole more bases than anyone.

today i told emmett i wanted him to throw like a girl...that's because his 13 year old cousin nat (aka peanut) is an all pitcher and was going to give him some tips today. we went to rancho school to throw some balls. emmett's catching was a bit off the pace but i'm glad he got the practice today. nat was awesome. after warming up a bit she was playing catch with him. they were pitching to each other and playing a game to see who could throw more strikes. i think it was good for emmett to see a real pitcher pitching good pitches over and over again. it was also good to see that she too was not perfect and threw balls too. after a solid hour of different drills, emmett was getting pretty bushed. i was really proud of how he did and nat said he had a great arm.

golf on saturday

played golf with goliath, chetty and goliath's dad. i played golf yesterday and hit a bunch of balls so my right forearm was a bit stiff. i just wanted to hold it together today. as i was hitting balls to warm up before the round, i was all over the place. left, right, fades, draws, straight. the problem was that i did not know what shot was going to come next. hitting off the grass range was very helpful since fat shots are truly fat (whereas fat shots off a mat can look grand). i spent a lot of time chipping off the grass range. something that helped my chipping was to keep the left arm straight...no bend in the left elbow to prevent fat or thin chips...i was wild off the tee the previous day so i hit three 4 wood shots off the grass, three chips and three irons...this pattern allowed me to focus on my weak 4 wood and the ever important chips...

first hole...pushed drive to the right of the fairway...it was a grand drive and i had a clean second shot. i hooked my second shot ob...ended up with a triple...not a good start...second hole...ob off the tee...not a good way to start the second hole...ended up with a double...third hole...tee'd up with my seven wood and pushed it...lucked out and had a clean approach...was on the green in regulation and parred. fourth hole...KILLED my drive...chetty said he'd never seen a drive this long on this hole...it was a 250 yd drive but all uphill...got it very close with my second shot and birdied...fifth hole, shot a 180 yard tee shot with my six iron to get up close to the hole for an easy par...sixth hole, nailed another tee shot and got another par...seventh, killed it off the tee. goliath works for taylor made and has a great game...it was fun to out drive his hi tech taylor made driver with my calloway 4 wood. he was giving me shit for not using a driver. i explained that gene sarazen had the best shot in the history of golf with a 4 wood so i figured the more i played with a 4 wood, the luckier i could be. he also told me to get some golf shoes. i play in topsiders (which are awesome to sail in but not the best grip for golf). ended up with a sandy par on the seventh. the 8th was another par three and walked away with a par in regulation. i killed it off the tee on the 9th. used my 4 wood on the approach and was JUST off the green in two...a simple chip away from an eagle...ok, i was on the far side of the green and managed an easy par after missing my birdie putt.

40 on the front nine...not bad after two ob's on the first two holes.

on the back nine goliath insited i play from the blues and use a driver...i psyched myself out with this combo and collected a bunch of bogeys, doubles and triples for an ugly back nine...