sailing314

A wonderful day

2009-07-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

After work on Mondays, there is the Monday night slalom. It's a special treat when I get to bring Emmett as the other sailors enjoy seeing him too. Yesterday Emmett was riding a Techno 293 for the first time in a while (he usually rides Formula). Bryanna was with us so he was a little distracted. Bryanna was flying her kite and Emmett loved playing with her kite too. As Bryanna was screaming loudly, Bruce and I glared at Emmett and he said those three words that are virtually impossible for an older brother to get out of their mouths "I'm helping her". Bruce and I smiled at each other and said "Ya right". I told Emmett to stop helping Bryanna and get in the water. He ignored me and they had a great time playing with Bryanna's kite.

Last Monday, Bruce beat me in the first race. I've been training for the national championship and one of the hardest things to do in a slalom race is pass people. Most races I lead from start to finish and found myself never having to sail in bad air, bad wake or trying to pass people. So I've been giving the fleet a head start so I get better practice for Nationals. Last week I guess I gave a bit too much of a head start as I finished second twice. Now I don't want to take away anything from Bruce as it was a solid 5 buoy race (longer than our normal 3) and I was giving it everything I got and he beat me fair and square. This monday was payback time. It was lighter and I had my 12.5. I started with the fleet for a three buoy race. I still had good practice in bad air and bad wakes as I was lapping people. In the same time Bruce did three buoys, I did 12. So I lapped him three times. In the second race, I even lapped Kevin (who is a light wind master). I told him I should get points for first and second as technically I placed in both of those positions by lapping him :-)

Kev broke out his guitar and sang a special song about windsurfing on San Francisco Bay. The kids loved listening to it and I recorded it on my iPhone.

Bryanna lost a tooth earlier in the day so we went out to dinner and had ice cream for desert. Yum!

At home Emmett and I did some object oriented programming for the first time. Em totally got it. I was amazed. We were simply making a ball go from the left of the screen to the right and off to oblivian. Very simple program but you have to start somewhere. Emmett wanted to make the ball go faster and I asked him how to do that. He said "easy, just make dx bigger". Ok, I was very impressed that he knew that already. Em was very happy and proud of his first program. Me too.

Then I showed Emmett some 2D physics and Bryanna made a movie of. He said "That person sounds a lot like Bryanna". I giggled and said that the reason that sounds like Bryanna is that it IS Bryanna. It's very hard at this age for a sibling to complement another sibling but that's what he did.

the classic

2009-06-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

the san francisco bay classic, according to st. francis yacht club director, jim kiriakis, is the longest running distance distance race in the sport of windsurfing. yesterday the race was run off the st. fyc with a healthy turnout of windsurfers and kiters.

the history of this event is legend. the best of the best have raced this event (and many of them have gotten lost (which is really easy to do)). as the course is so hard to remember, i created a song to help remember the course.

yesterday was an interesting day. on the drive to the club from silicon valley (where I live), it was close to 100 degrees near woodside (and over 100 in los gatos). There was a distinct absence of fog in the valley leading towards SFO. I saw more trees in the sun than i can ever recall as they are normally covered by fog. forecasts said the bay might not blow. As I passed the memorial flag pole along 280, a flag that is normally plastered in a horizontal state due to the wind, it drooped towards the ground in an almost total doldrum. If any wind was breathing on the flag, it was pushing it offshore, the wrong way, the kiss of death for a sailor wanting wind. Maybe the forecast was true?

One of my favorite books on the San Francisco Bay is written by Kimball Livingston (Sailing the Bay (available on amazon for cheap)). In his book he says:

"...San Francisco Bay ... well ... what you get here is a seabreeze of heroic proportions."

In a section called BOOMTOWN Kimball continues:

"Imagine a still summer morning...there is scarcely a breeze to stir...A rowing shell passes beyond the harbor entrance, and it might was well be crossing a pond. The surface of bay beneath it is mirror smooth, blinding in the eastern light...

In Golden Gate Park, the first roller skaters are strapping on their wheels and trying on their moves, but significant events are under way far to the east, where the early rays of the sun are beating down on the roof of Lucky's in Lodi, on the parking lot of the Dairy Queen in Stockton, on the lined-up metal rooftops around the Ford dealership in Tracy, and every bean field up river to Sacramento and beyond.

The valley is heating up.

to be continued...

hall of fame

2009-06-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled to have been inducted into the collegiate sailing hall of fame by the ICSA. Standing next to me in the formal dining room at the St. Francis Yacht Club is Mitch Brindley, president of the ICSA, who presented me with my hall of fame plaque. Upper right is a picture from 1988 during a trip to the Boston Dinghy Cup. Lower left is Jill Ginsberg and I sailing in college (circa 1988). Upper left is a race during the May Cal Cup windsurfing race in Berkeley 2009.

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Windsurfing in San Francisco Bay: Cal Cup #1, Berkeley

2009-05-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

click here for photos and more info...

click here for HD movie...

If you can't do HD, here is the youtube...

Spreading the good word of Windsurfing

2009-05-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

Members of the St. Francis Yacht Club as well as the Windsurfing Task Force were spreading the good word of Windsurfing at the Strictly Sail Boat Show in historic Jack London Square in Oakland.

click here for more info...

fun with kids

2009-02-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

So much fun to be had.

I'm a big fan of parenting and having fun with your kids. I saw a bumper sticker that said "Focus on your home" and I think there is a lot of good that can come to that. A friend of mine, whom I have very high respect, Charles Ivey, said "Be sure to not forget to focus on your own back yard". Charles did great things for our nation and it was nice to hear that someone like him had a local emphasis too.

Ok, enough philisophy...what are fun things to do with your kids?

I love to play the recorder with my daughter Bryanna. Recorders are super cheap on ebay or amazon and there are tons of songs to be gotten from the internet. The songs we've been focusing on lately are hot cross buns, Ode to Joy (Beethoven (interesting use of this song in Get Smart (it was used to trigger a nuclear bomb by Kaos (the bad guys)), twinkle twinkle, amazing grace, silent night (some fun high notes to learn on a recorder), scarborough fair (one of my favorite simon and garfunkel songs), brahms lulluby (some tricky low note combinations for me), yankee doodle, jingle bells, when the saints go marching in. Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring is my nemesis...high notes, low notes, timing: all this makes for a challenging song (and practicing this song makes all the others seem easy). We play just a few minutes a day max. For hard sequences, we play slow and break them down to smaller sequences to learn the pattern.

I love to read with my 2 year old Tallula. We also play some fun interactive games together (Arthur, Sesame Street, Dr. Sues, Blues Clues...a lot of these games are old and can be bought used for really cheap on amazon or ebay). This morning we had fun watching a few episodes of Pingu. If you have never heard of Pingu, you are in for a real treat...tons of episodes available on YouTube. My brother swears they don't speak a real language but I notice that there are dutch subtitles on some of the episodes...do you know if they are actually speaking a language?

My father sang to me when I was a child. I loved this. I try to sing with my kids too. There is a wonderful book full of children's songs that I love to sing to Tallula: A Treasury of Children's Songs: Forty Favorites to Sing and Play by Fox, Dan (can get used for cheap from Amazon).

A friend of mine showed me a sterling engine...wow, those are cool! Bryanna and I built a thermoacoustic stirling engine (from a kit). If you have an easy explanation of how these works, I'd love to hear from you. I believe Los Alamos have spent millions (maybe billions) studying these things. Our engine is totally awesome and was used as part of a fun skit Emmett and I performed at the St. Francis on Christmas Eve lunch called Juggling Physics (which included 'interpretive juggling' of the four states of matter (electrons were simulated with rings and they were flying fast by the time we got to the 4th state of matter, plasma).

Yesterday Emmett and I were learning about simple projectile motion in flash. There are so many cool resources to learn how to program flash on the internet. With the internet being able to fly across international borders with ease, it's delightful to learn wonderful things from all the creative minds in other countries. For the simple projectile motion, Emmett and I empirically derived that around 45 degrees is the optimal angle for a given speed to make a projectile fly the farthest (and this was translated to baseball where if you want to throw the ball as far as you can, aiming for a 45 degree launch angle would get the ball the furthest).

Here are some cool physics tutorials in flash:
http://www.actionscript.org/resources/articles/840/1/Simple-Projectile-Motion/Page1.html
http://www.actionscript.org/resources/articles/742/1/Physics-in-ActionScript-30/Page1.html

Now here is a super cool program to learn more about physics:
http://www.crayonphysics.com/ (and with cross over, it works on a Mac)

2008 US Sailing Team Racing National Championship

2008-08-17T15:25:00.001-07:00

The US Sailing Team Racing National Championship for the Hinman Trophy just concluded at the Hinman Yacht Club. This is a special year since it's an ISAF Team Racing World Championship qualifier as well. Enjoy the podcasts below for a recap of what happened and why all these team racers won't forget the great winds and hospitality of Erie Yacht Club (if you want high resolution video of any of these, you are welcome to email me at dude1@apple.com ).

1) Silver Panda
2) West Kirby
3) Tannery Loungers
4) Tap n' Go

Why are Amanda Callahan, Elizabeth Hall, Lisa Keith and Clay Bischoff synchronizing diving into the water? Did they just win for the third time in a row?

Check out some of the awesome boat handling that Panda has while gybing.

Why is Erik Stork doing a back flip off the back of his V15? Did he and his team just qualify the the 2009 ISAF Team Racing World Championship?

part 1

part 2

part 3

Listen to a recap of Sunday's racing (including the quarter, semi and petit finals) from the encyclopedia of team racing: Ken Legler.

If you are interested in competing in the 2009 championship next year, here is a preview from Tom Dewayne.

Rip Hale comes from Martha's Vinyard, home of some of the finest sailors in the world (including Nevin Sayre).

Listen to Eric Stork talk about how he and his team did on Saturday

Matt Knowles is the youngest member of the US Sailing Racing Rules Committee. He was also an umpire at the Hinman. He was Harvard's #3 skipper for Team Racing Nationals when it was at Navy. Listen to the inside scoop on who knows the rules better: Dick Rose or Dave Dellenbaugh.

Amanda Callahan told me that Tom Brady was sailing this weekend at the Championship...I asked her who Tom Brady was and what kind of boat does he sail...

If you hiked as hard as Colin Merrick and Amanda Calahan, do you think you could beat them in a team race?

Is Adam Werblow, the head coach of St. Mary's College (aka Sail Maker's College) a turkey? Let's hear what John Vandemoer, new head coach of the Stanford Sailing Team, has to say on the subject.

The lovely colors of pink and blue.

Stanford Alum, former 470 sailor and current College of Charleston head honcho, Alice Maynard joined the umpire team this weekend. Listen to what her thoughts are on getting more women team racing as well as match racing in the USA.

John and his little sis' Katie Stork hiking hard...

An awkward moment where Amanda Callahan wanted to play with my balls...I gave her my juggling clubs instead :-)

Colin Merrick & Amanda Callahan and Pete Levesque & Liz Hall going fast while leading 1, 2 in the finals.

Bruce Hebbert, a premiere umpire from the UK was part of our umpire team. As a former Navy man whose favorite color is Oxford blue, learn the proper way to say 'leeward' in the UK.

Check out Clay Johnson surfing in the light stuff.

Clay Bischoff/Lisa Keith and Colin Merrick/Amanda Callahan lead Tannery Loungers in the Semi-Finals

Colin Merrick feels the racing rules of sailing don't clearly define when a tack is complete. In fact, the racing rules of sailing don't appear to have a definition of tacking at all. Why is this a problem? The ISAF Rule 42 interpretations rely on a notion of when a tack is complete. If tack is not defined, how can one define when it's complete? If one reads between the lines of rule 13 and the ISAF rule 42 interpretations (specifically ISAF Rule 42 Basic 6), one can guess that a tack is complete when a boat is on her new close hauled course...but there is not case or appeal that specifically states this that I'm aware of.

Listen to Amanda Callahan talk about the racing.

If you tacked as well as Adam Roberts, do you think you could help your team win the ICSA Team Racing National Championship in Team Racing?

A brief panoramic of the racing scene at Erie YC. I found Erie to be a very low stress place to host a regatta. The Hinman is a major event of dramatic proportions (arguably the largest US Sailing National Championship) that had to house 18 umpires! That's a lot of umpires! 17 teams (17 x 6 people = 102) camped or found lodging near by. With all these people, as well as a world class PRO and announcer, clubs can be nightmares to park, feed or provide hot showers. Erie YC, in my opinion, did not miss a beat and provided warm hospitality to all. A venue I highly recommend if people are looking for hosts of other events.

Listen while Charlie Enright explain his hail of alley-oop.

Words from the Commodore of Erie YC, Dave Arthurs.

The lovely conditions off Erie YC provided for some speedy reaching on legs 2 and 4 of the course.

Watch how NYYC Silver Panda rounds the leeward mark.

Gavin O'Hare, Hinman regatta Chairman, talks to us about the historic aspect of our sailing venue and the etymology of the name "Misery Bay" and the origins of the term "Don't give up the ship".

Bruce Hebbert, world famous umpire and one of the original authors of the Team Race Call Book has always said the WORST thing an umpire can do is drive through the finish line. Listen to Bruce's wife, Amanda, set us straight on this topic.

Gybe like a girl...check out how 470 world champion Erin Maxwell gybes.

Here is Erin Tacking.

Yes, it was windy enough to flip...

Erie YC has some beautiful wooden boats.

John Pratt does not do 'stinkin' podcasts...except for me...check this podcast out as it's definitely one of my favorites!

The author enjoying a relaxing juggle of machetes between races...

If you are interested in last year's coverage of this event, you are welcome to check out:
2007 Championship Coverage

more podcasts will be posted as time permits...

Cal Cup Aug 2 - F4 fins, Junior clinic and tons of breeze

2008-08-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

Photo of Mike Percey worshiping his new F4 fin. The first Cal Cup of August was in extremely windy conditions at Coyote Point where the ebb and over 30 knots of breeze made for some very dramatic conditions. Listen to Ben Bamer talk about the hot new SF Bay area fin for formula racing: the F4

F4 Fin MP3 interview with Ben Bamer

Emmett explains why there was no racing

The CalCup started earlier in the day with a wonderful junior clinic and board repair clinic at Crown Beach in Alameda. The wind was very light at Alameda and awesome for teaching young people. Jane Moreson had invited Cal Adventures to attend the clinic and it was great meeting with them as they teach a great deal of juniors throughout the summer. The clinic was at Crown Beach, a post for Boardsports school (another location for excellent windsurfing instruction in the SF Bay area). President of US Windsurfing, Jim MacGrath, supported the clinic too...thank you Jim! While few juniors showed up, we did have a few people out in the light breeze having fun. The wind proved to be too light for racing so the racing fleet drove over to Coyote for some killer breeze.

vacation

2008-08-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

my family and i went to martha's vineyard for the east coast junior windsurfing championship, the mad river valley of vermont and boston. we had a terrific time.

ECJWC

2008-08-03T11:29:00.001-07:00

The East Coast Junior Windsurfing Championship was a huge success!

Yellow

2008-08-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

photo by emmett mcdonald
From Scuttlebutt:
Bryan McDonald has taken the "yellow jersey" theme to the extreme! (Scuttlebutts 2600 plus)

Bryan serves as Chair of the recently created US SAILING Windsurfing Task Force (WTF). The WTF's long-term goal...to strengthen U.S. competitiveness in Olympic Windsurfing...means building a broad base of competitive junior windsurfers. To that end WTF's immediate goal is to ensure the success of the upcoming Junior Windsurfing Racing Camp to be held immediately preceding the East Coast Junior Windsurfing Championships.

The Championship is being held as part of US SAILING's USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival (JO) on July 16 in Vineyard Haven, MA. http://www.vhyc.org/Windsurfing%20Championship%20Page.html .
Bryan's yellow suit (appropriate size, of course) would look great on the E. Coast Junior Windsurfing Champion and might start an even more colorful new tradition!

Rounding out the WTF are Nevin Sayre, Dan Weiss, and Susan Epstein.

Susan (for the WTF)

Cal Cup supports youth Windsurfing development

2008-08-03T09:42:00.000-07:00

The June 21 Cal Cup (a northern California windsurfing regatta series) featured a combination of the St. FYC's techno windsurfers and interested youth racers. Bryan McDonald and Paul Heineken presented on youth windsurfing to a variety of kids who are interested in Windsurfing and were in town preparing for the upcoming US Sailing youth championship at SFYC. One of the youth was Cody Shevitz, who qualified to represent the US in the ISAF Youth World Championship.

St. Francis YC buys a new fleet of Windsurfers

2008-08-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=3949
* From Paul Heineken, Chair, StFYC Junior Program: (edited to the 250-word limit) The St. FYC recently purchased a new fleet of Techno 293 windsurfers for our junior sailing program. So far kids have been thrilled with the boards. Due to recent advances in windsurfing that promotes teaching on wide boards and small sails, our juniors are all learning how to windsurf as part of our learn to sail camps. Even experienced dinghy sailors are gaining a new feel for the wind and the water due to windsurfing’s direct access and feel for the elements. The fact that windsurfers are so close to the water also removes much of the fear of capsizing. This has the added benefit of relaxing juniors in boats when a boat capsize occurs--a regular event on the Bay. Our club is working to have the first ever 2010 combined junior world windsurfing championship for both the Techno 293 (for the younger kids) and the Olympic RSX.

Southern California was the birth place of windsurfing and the site of the first Olympic games that included windsurfing (1984 LA games where the American Scott Steele won the Silver Medal). While many believe the hottest junior sailors come from Southern California, it’s unfortunate that this region trails the rest of the nation (if not the world) in developing windsurfers. It would be tremendous if we could encourage some of the greats from the sport of windsurfing (Olympian Peter Wells, John Jackman, Annie Nelson, Eric Krebs) to rally and create a CISA junior clinic similar to what Pete Melvin has done with multihulls.

The origins of the Windsurfing Task Force

2008-08-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

Over a year ago, US Sailing created a slate of sailing vessels that it recommended to ISAF for future Olympic events. Windsurfing and multihulls did not make the cut. This surprised many people, including Nevin Sayre (who was at the US Sailing meeting when this sudden announcement was made). While I was not at the US Sailing meeting, the announcement prompted me to write Jim Capron, the president of US Sailing, in this regard (Jim and I used to work together on the US Sailing Appeals Committee before Jim left the committee to become the president of US Sailing).

On March 25, 2007, Jim Capron asked "How can we make Olympic Windsurfing a USA strength?"

In March of 2008, Nevin Sayre, Dan Weiss and I presented to the Board of Directors (BOD) of US Sailing. Our presentation was on how Windsurfing can help US Sailing and how US Sailing can help Windsurfing. We provided a thorough background of the state of windsurfing in the US and the world as well as the many advantages to supporting youth development and windsurfing in general in yacht clubs. Jumping to the punch line (if you are interested in the full preso, you are welcome to drop me a line) and conclusion of the presentation: We requested US Sailing support the creation of a Windsurfing Task Force that focused, basically, answering Jim's question above. Our strategy was simple: focus on developing youth windsurfing that included:
- the formation of the Windsurfing Task Force to include key BOD and OSC members
- a budget to send juniors and coach to 2009 and 2010 junior events
- task US Sailing staff to eliminate road blocks for JSPs to include windsurfing (insurance & outdated certification)

The presentation was very well received, US Sailing approved the formation of the task force and a key BOD member, Susan Epstein joined our the initial task force.

Here is a press release:
http://www.ussailing.org/News/2008/windsurfingtaskforce.asp

Windsurfing Magazine has done a terrific job following the WIndsurfing Task Force:
http://forums.windsurfingmag.com/showthread.php?t=357

Scuttlebutt has published some cool Windsurfing Task Force updates too:
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=3942
* US SAILING's newly formed Windsurfing Task Force has just announced new grant funding received from the United States Sailing Foundation (USSF). The Windsurfing Task Force was established at US SAILING's Spring Meeting last March to foster youth development in windsurfing with long term goals of the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. The grants will be used to organize a clinic at the East Coast Junior Windsurfing Championships (held July 17-18 at Vineyard Haven Yacht Club (MA). In addition, the grants will help to create a video to promote competitive junior windsurfing. -- Read on: http://www.ussailing.org/News/2008/windsurfingtaskforce.asp

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/archived_Detail.asp?key=3946
* From Bryan McDonald: Regarding the Bic Techno 293 Windsurfer,
1) The Techno 293 One Design is affordable, durable and sailable windsurfer
for ages 5 to 77.
2) In almost every country now, the Techno 293 One Design is the designated
Youth Development board for ages 5-17.
3) In the last three years, over 40 U.S. Junior Sailing Programs have
included fleets of Techno 293s into their programs with popular success.
4) For the price of 3 Optimists (or 1.5 420s), a junior program can have a fleet of 8 T293 windsurfers and 14 complete rigs that cover all size sailors and all age groups.
5) The East Coast Junior Windsurfing Championships (July 16-18 at Vineyard Haven YC (http://www.vhyc.org) will have junior windsurfers from as far as California racing on the Techno 293.
6) The St. Francis YC in San Francisco, CA recently purchased a new fleet of Techno 293's for their junior sailing program.

The U.S. is behind the rest of the World's continents in the area of competitive Windsurfing infrastructure (for example, over 300 kids under 17 competed in the 2007 Techno 293 Windsurfing Championship in France), though the recent formation of US SAILING's Windsurfing Task Force (affectionately, known as WTF) plans to narrow the gap.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xirq4uZ5Z6A
More info at http://www.BicSportNA.com/Techno293

From the RS:X class website:
http://rsxclass.com/blog/?p=165

faith breakthrough

2008-08-02T18:39:00.000-07:00

Above clip from Sam Ireland's "Pro Secrets" video"

there are breakthrough periods for any athlete. for windsurfing, sailing away without falling is a breakthrough. planing for the first time is a breakthrough. full planing gybes are another...

when one first learns to windsurf, there comes a time where one needs to take a leap of faith and lean over the water in order to apply enough leverage to accelerate and plane away. i remember in the early 80's reading a wonderful book on how to windsurf that had pictures of ken winner windsurfing throughout. there was a particular passage in the book where it instructed you to de-power the sail in order to fall towards the water, then sheet in and have the sail act as a parachute to catch you before falling in. it was a non-intuitive move that took faith that the sail really would act as a parachute and save you from getting wet. i remember reading the passage over and over again thinking that this was a very cool concept and totally foreign from other dinghy or multihull sailing i'd done earlier in my life. i remember doing it for the first time on a windsurfer and fearing that i'd plop right into the water. the first time i pulled off this move, i giggled and felt a surge of achievement that i'd done something special, something important, something unique...a breakthrough.

my last session i gybed 180 times...170 gybes were full planing gybes...relaxed full planing gybes...this was a breakthrough. i've always seen the pro's gybe effortlessly and wished i could gybe that way too...but i lacked faith...faith that i would fall into the water. faith that the sail and wind would not prevent me from falling in. the exact same faith i lacked when i was first learning to windsurf.

wojtek, in sam ireland's pro-secrets DVD, says it takes more energy to do a slow gybe than it does to do an aggressive fast full planing gybe. wojtek is an amazing sailor so i did not really know how to interpret what he said. was this really for real? or does this only apply to sailors at the same level as wojtek? does it really take less energy to do a fast gybe than a slow gybe? that, on many levels, makes no sense. no sense until you actually do it.

i usually sail for about an hour...and get pretty pooped after about 20 mins and then need to take a break...full planing gybes actually allowed me to sail for 90 mins flat out, gybing every thirty seconds...that's a break through...

perceived as a weapon

2008-02-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

So I'm at a mexican restaraunt about to eat dinner. I have my clubs tucked in my back belt and some kids see them. They say 'Hey juggleman, can you juggle for us?'. I say sure and start juggling in a mellow very controlled pattern respectful that I'm in a restaurant and there are people around. The kids are loving it and a very attractive woman blurts out 'Ooooooh, check it out!...he's juggling!'. The head waitress comes by and says I have to stop immediately since I'm doing something 'extremely dangerous'!

Extremely dangerous? Say what? Last time I checked, NONE of the hijackers on 9/11 had a juggling club. Juggling clubs are NOT used by any police force in the world to help keep law and order. Neither the cripts nor the bloods carry juggling clubs to street fights. Not a single martial art uses juggling clubs as a weapon in their combat techiques. The CIA, KGB nor any terrorist cell teach agents anything about juggling clubs for good reason...they are NOT dangerous. In fact, with their soft rubber knobs and flexible plastic shells, they are actually quite forgiving...even if they hit you by accident. In our super tight security check points of our post 9/11 era, one can even carry on juggling clubs to an airport...yep, it's true...done it many times...PX3's fly through without even a flinch by TSA agents...and juggling clubs are NOT listed on the TSA's official prohibited items list.

As I was leaving the mexican food restaraunt, I was juggling by a pack of hot babes standing outside the door. They were giggling at each other and started to talk juggling. Generally it's entertaining to listen to hot babes talk about pretty much anything but juggling is definitely a special treat. As I was walking past with my decorated renegades glittering as they spun against the street lights, the babes said "You know what would be really cool? If he lit those on fire, that would be really cool". I thought to myself that technically they'd be hot, not cool. And even if I could light my renegade clubs on fire, they'd probably stink of burning plastic...yuck! The babes continued "swords would be cool too". I was tempted to get my torches and machetes out of my car and put on a show but the babes were smoking...I hate cigarettes!

so i'm walking into disneyland with my kids. we've packed our camera, water and of course some px3 juggling clubs to make the long lines more entertaining for others as well as sliding in some quality practice time for ourselves (some of those lines are LONG). at the gate the disney security people are going through people's personal items to make sure another 9-11 terrorist attack does not occur at the happiest place in the world.

at the entrance, one of the security people pulls out a juggling club as asks why I'm carrying around juggling 'pins'. I tell them the truth, that I'm a juggler, my kids are aspiring jugglers and we wanted an entertaining way to kill the time (ok, maybe 'kill' was not a good word to use here). the security agent says she'll have to ask her supervisor if the 'pins' can come in with mickey. the supervisor looks at the club, studies it closely, waves it around a bit and in all seriousness says I won't be able to bring it in since the club could be 'perceived as a weapon'.

give me a break! disneyland sells a veritable cornucopia of things that not only can be 'perceived as weapons', they ARE weapons!!! from star wars blasters of all sizes and shapes to pirates of the Caribbean swords, daggers, to frontier land rifles to maces available by the haunted mansion to antique murderers (that's what old seamen called hand guns, for obvious reasons (this term's etymology stems from what pirates would do with these little weapons if boarded by surprise by hostiles (i.e. they would be used to murder the invaders))). the national rifle association imposes no waiting period for the purchase of any of these weapons to the public.

i wanted to juggle at a neil young concert in mountain view california. my wife assured me this should be no problem since it was in an outside amphitheater, there was plenty of space and people would probably be doing all sorts of activities. she said if a security person had an issue with my clubs, just pull them out and juggle for them and they should be swayed to let me in. as my wife, baby daughter and I were walking into the event, the security people were going through people's bags. again the guard said i was not able to bring my clubs in. i asked to see the 'head' guard. the 'head' guard looked at the clubs and said that someone could get hurt if the club was thrown.

there is a bit of an inconsistency here. the same security people would let in my nikon 10x70 binouculars which weigh close to 10 lbs and are made of steel and glass. concert goers had glass bottles of beer and the vendors were selling beer and bottled water to the masses. if one were to throw one of those objects, people could get hurt 5000 times more easily than if i dropped a club on someone. here is why:

the NRA and UL measure how much energy a projectile has (be it a toy or bullet) by kinetic energy. kinetic energy is usually expressed as 1/2mv^2. but juggling clubs usually have a bit more energy since we spin them when we throw them. this spinning component adds to the total kinetic energy of the club (to a small degree). so if we assume a normal juggler throws a club, say three feet, and one spin occurs with the club, that means the club is spinning roughly 10 radians/second. the kinetic energy of the spin = Iw^2 where w = radians/sec. what is I? that is a great philosophical question that i could expound on for hours but for this conversation it's the moment of inertia. for a club spinning around it's center, it's roughly ml^2/12 where m is the mass of the club and l is the length (and I'm sure some people are going to get all technical on me and insist i integrate the profile of the club in question but I'm just approximating things here at the moment). the mass of a px3 = 0.22Kg = m. l = 0.514 meters. thus if you do the math, mgh + Iw^2 = 1.97 + 0.48. for my nikon binoculars, mass = 4.54Kg, l = 0.2m. now if the guard is concerned about someone throwing something, i'm guessing if someone wanted to take out neil young on stage, they are probably not going to be able to get closer than 10 meters before security tags him. thus mgh for the binoculars at 10 meters would be 1162 and the rotational kinetic energy will be 1.5 (compare that with 1.97 and 0.48 for the px3). if you compare these two figures, you get that the nikons are going to be able to impart about 4750 times more kinetic energy than a px3.

in other words, if you are concerned about someone getting hurt if something is thrown, leave the jugglers alone!

10th anniversary

2007-11-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

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

the last cal cup (pictures coming soon)

2007-09-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-23T23:06:00.001-07:00

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

2007-09-23T23:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-23T22:49:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-12T18:36:00.001-07:00

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

2007-08-10T23:42:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-08T23:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-04T00:35:00.001-07:00

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

chicken strap

2007-06-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

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...