LPRC Riding
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May 10
2012 Leukemia Cup
Apr 18
Becky and I will be sailing in the 2012 Leukemia Cup this weekend at Southern Yacht Club.
The funds collected by the Leukemia Cup go towards providing support and research to those who suffer from a blood cancer. Blood cancer affects all ages and lifestyles. If you would like to learn more and donate to this cause, please visit: http://msla.regatta.llsevent.org/kblank
The VX One Design
Mar 29
It’s no doubt that we love our Viper 640. Brian Bennett designed an awesome boat that was taken to the next level with just a few changes (bulb and rig mainly). There has been talk that the Viper might be a good replacement for the Flying Scot in the GYA as the inter-club boat. But Brian has something better up his sleeve…
Nobody had even heard of this boat just a few months ago. Suddenly after a few conversations with key sailors, the VX One Design is on display for a potential GYA replacement boat. It’s a bit shorter than a Viper with a little beefier construction. The foils are aluminum to make them more durable. The mast and pole are carbon with the boom being aluminum. The opening for the gennaker/spinnaker is bigger than the Viper’s. Oh, and the most important part is that the boat is supposed to be $10,000 less than a new Viper.
Whether it’s $5 or $50, anything you can give to help support the Leukemia Cup!
Regatta al Sol Tracking Link
May 11
If you want to follow the race to Mexico, here’s a link to watch the boats as they race through the Gulf. I’m crewing on Sapphire, a Beneteau 40.7.
Packed and Ready
Apr 13
The truck is packed, all my sailing gear in the back, ready to head to Ft. Walton Beach, FL for the 2010 Trimaran Nationals. I will be crewing for Mike Parsons on his F24 Mark II “Littlewing”. I’ll be jetting out of here right after work.
US Sailing just recently released their Racing Rules of Sailing iPhone app. It’s priced at $5.99 which seems high for a seemingly simple app, but if you think of it like you’re buying an eBook, then you don’t feel like you getting taken to the cleaners. (at this point I could go into my spiel about the price of eBooks, but I will hold back)
I downloaded it and there are a few good features. One good thing about an app over a regular book is that when there are updates or errata, US Sailing should be able to push those to the app. Hopefully at this point I’ll never be without the most recent set of rules. (plus I don’t have to dig it out of my sailing bag each time I need to reference it at the bar)
The app is broken up into five pieces. The first piece is the rules themselves, broken down into chapters and each rule itself. This makes for fast navigation one specific rule numbers. The appendices are broken out into the second piece which is nice. The third piece is just signal flags which again seems fast and easy to navigate. The fourth piece is a search and the fifth is a bookmark tool. I’m hoping these two features make this tool more useful than the book itself. I tried the search tool and it appears to be fairly simplistic in its implementation. I haven’t used the bookmark tool yet, but I can see where it would be helpful as well.
All in all, I would recommend this app to any sailor that races. I know I’ll use this more often than I pull out the RRS book itself.
Other Sailing Updates
Mar 3
Finn Soup – I finally sold the boat. I just wasn’t using it and I needed to clean up the front yard a little bit. It did teach me a lot so I’m glad I bought it in the first place. Over time we realize what kind of boats we gravitate towards and the Finn just wasn’t on my radar.
Last weekend I took part of the Safety at Sea Seminar at Pensacola Yacht Club. It was a full day affair and they filled us with lots of good information. Although it wasn’t required this year, the next Mexico race (2012) will require a certain percentage of the crew to have taken this course. Also, I just like feeling safe being this is the first time crossing the Gulf.
Mark is got a big list he’s working on for Sapphire. He’s working really hard at getting the boat and crew prepped for the race. Becky just made the hotel reservations in Mexico and got our plane tickets. I know it’s in May, but May will be here sooner than you think.
I attempted to sail the last race of the Frosty Nipple series over at FWYC. It was averaging 18 with gusts to 23. Now I realize how important the Laser vang and cunningham class changes were. Having the old setup, I couldn’t adjust crap with those loads, even when I went head to wind. The tiller extension I was using wasn’t making life any easier either. It had no texture and would just slip through my hands. After I couldn’t release lines and I dumped the boat twice, then lost the main sheet I decided to call it a day. I do think heavy-air Laser sailing is an important skill, but this boat just wasn’t set up to handle it. Practice would help as well…
Mardi Gras PHRF regatta
Mar 3
The sailing season is getting back into swing and this weekend will the the first regatta this year for Snake Spit. We will be at the NOYC Mardi Gras PHRF Regatta over in New Orleans. Of course I’m the only Viper 640 in A-class, actually the only boat in A-class under 30 feet. This should be interesting. If the the wind is too light, I will get waterlined to death. I would prefer some nice 6-10 knots of breeze to keep it entertaining and keep me closer to my rating.
I brought the boat home from storage last night and now it’s time to get some upgrades put together. I recently bought a 2005 Mercury 2.5 hp outboard so we can get out the course faster. I bought new wheel/tire combos and lug nuts for the trailer. I’ve got new Ronstan ratchet blocks for the spinnaker allowing me to move the spin block positions into the modern, class-approved locations. I’ve got new jib sheets coming and some Teflon tape that will hopefully make the douses easier for us and the sail.
Becky is all set for my forward crew. She found some 3 Reef foul weather bibs at West Marine for $30! You never know how the weather will change in this part of the world… Mike Parsons will be taking up the middle once again. I’ll be taking the good spinnaker this time so hopefully we won’t rip anything…
Not-summer Time
Nov 20
It’s that time of year here in Southern Louisiana where the seasons change from Summer to Not-summer. That means the sailing calendar is pretty much empty. I haven’t had a lot of interest in my Finn, so I’m taking this off-time to do a little work on the boat to address of some of the aspects of the boat that I don’t like when I’m sailing it. With the age of this boat, the hiking strap attachment points are fixed, so I’m putting new attachments points closer to the centerline for my long legs. Hopefully that will make hiking a more pleasant experience. I’m also putting a vertical curve into the traveler. One of the aspects of the boat that really pisses me off when the wind is blowing is how the main will not travel down due to the straight traveler and the tension on the main sheet. Hopefully this curve will allow the main to fall down to the correct position on the tack and I won’t waste time screwing around with it. There’s a few more little cleanup items I want to address as well, mainly just fixing a few things, etc. to make her look and sail a little better.
Snake Spit is feeling a little ignored as well. With as busy as I’ve been at work, I haven’t had a lot of free time to take her out. I really need to get out on the water and practice spinnaker take-downs. This weekend I’m going to pull the snuffer sock out of the boat and bring it over to Ullman Sails and get a new one made that has a lot less friction on the sail. Plus it will make the boat look a little newer. This winter I plan to get the graphics on the sides of the hull and replace the Viper 640 graphics in the cockpit. A little spit, a little shine and she’ll look good as new when I’m done!