Water weighs about eight pounds per gallon, and that's before the acceleration. I'm with you Howard.
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Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Water weighs about eight pounds per gallon, and that's before the acceleration. I'm with you Howard.
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Last edited by BobJ; 03-05-2014 at 01:35 PM.
10 - 19 posts
I agree with Howard, on the IQ, but sometimes it was overcome by peer pressure to do it. The offset of course is the Darwin Principle. Some of us are lucky to be around to talk about it, eh?
cat whisperer
Hmmm. Howard doesn't like to take chances. Like surfing the Wedge. Yet here he is on his recent birthday, 8 feet in the air, surfing the sloped awning he built for the Harbor Cafe. Happy Birthday my friend!
For those who have not yet met Mr. Spruit, he is one of the original Santa Cruz surfers who rode waves at Steamer Lane in the 50's.
When the fancy schmancy Dream Inn was built above Cowells Beach, Howard and his surf crew were run off the beach as undesirables. Ironically, the same Howard Spruit has recently been immortalized in a large mural honoring the original surfers at the same place they were kicked out, now a "California Point of Historical Interest."
I'm sure I don't know the half of it.
Last edited by sleddog; 03-07-2014 at 07:49 AM.
cat whisperer
Half of any sailing race is getting to the start line. Half is sailing well and getting to the finish line. And half is reading the Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions, Amendments, Official Interpretations, Sailing Rules (RRS,) Safety Regs, PHRF and other Rating Rules, Class Rules, Coast Guard Rules and requirements, Col Regs and charted Restricted Areas. And others.
Even the best can get it wrong. This weekend, in Newport Harbor Yacht Club's Islands Race, around Catalina and San Clemente, Roy P Disney's 68 foot sled PYEWACKET was the projected winner.
PYEWACKET was crewed by the best money can buy. Olympic Gold Medalists, America's Cup and All American sailors. Pros, all of the top caliber.
Unfortunately, PYEWACKET transgressed the Sailing Instructions. AIS transponders, with 15" tall masthead antennas, were required by the 2014 U.S. Sailing Equipment Requirements (USSER) for ocean races, including the Islands Race.
Equally unfortunate is US Sailing is remiss and does not specify that, although AIS Class B Transponders must be carried, that they must remain "ON", OR can be turned "OFF". It mattered for the Islands Race, because with AIS transponders "ON," boats astern could instantly track their competitors' position, course, and speed. And then sail around their competitors as they fell into wind holes in the dark night.
NHYC, possibly sensitive from a loss of boat and life in last year's Island's Race, amended the Sailing Instructions to require that the USSER required AIS transponders must remain "ON" (transmitting) from Start to Finish.
It was this amended Sailing Instructions requirement that PYEWACKET violated. Her AIS Class B Transmitter was inoperative for the entire race. (Not the receiver.) PYEWACKET's absence was observed by competitors, PYEWACKET was protested, and Disqualified.
Two other competitors also transgressed the Sailing Instructions notice of restricted area off the East End of San Clemente Island. (Naval bombardment was scheduled.) Their Yellow Brick Trackers showed them entering the Restricted Zone. VARUNA graciously withdrew, the proper action. TIME SHAVER was protested, and also DSQ. (I suspect these were unintentional incursions.)
The AIS transponder requirement does not apply to SHTP 2014. Only an AIS receiver or radar with perimeter alarm must be carried for SHTP. Either does not necessarily have to remain "ON." (Please note, I am not part of the SHTP Race Committee. This is my interpretation only.)
If you are racing the Pacific Cup, or some other ocean race under USSER Rules, you are on your own. (Carrying AIS is not required for Pac Cup.) But don't assume. Verify.
Reading and understanding all aspects of race requirements is just as important as the emergency rudder, the new downwind spinnaker, the routing under the Pacific High, and jibing in a midnight squall into a left hand shift for a 20 mile gain.
Last edited by sleddog; 03-10-2014 at 11:27 PM.
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Indeed, this was noticed by competitors who would use ill-advised equipment requirements to gain advantage over their competitors rather than sailing skill.Originally Posted by sleddog
While a crew the caliber of Pye's should have known better, why on earth did the OA add that amendment? If NHYC does that again next year (or next ocean race), how many quality teams will go elsewhere? Local OA's, read and take note.
JS9000 "JetStream"
When will this stop? How much more required equipment do we need to go racing. I know we don't adhere to USSER but the sole fact that it exists is upsetting.
Might be time to find a different sport.
Sailing canoe "Kūʻaupaʻa"
As usual, the equipment-centric regulatory 'fix' to an accident has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual cause of the fatality, which was bad navigation and watchkeeping.
Mr Hedgehog
Wrong incident, I think.
Uncontrollable Urge lost their rudder in the Channel Islands Race, upwind of a lee shore...
cat whisperer
As some may know, I grew up around schooners. My first boat, age 5, was a homemade, model, balsa schooner with sails cut from bed sheets, all 17 of them.
I'm excited to learn Beau and Stacey Vrolyk of Santa Cruz have just bought the beautiful and historical 1947 Alden schooner MAYAN from David Crosby. Congrats, Guys!
David Crosby owned and sailed MAYAN for more than 40 years. He loved her more than life itself. To say goodbye to MAYAN brought him to tears.
MAYAN, if you haven't already seen her in Santa Barbara, is 74' overall, and 59' on deck. She is centerboard, draws 5' with the board up, 10.5' board down, on a beam of 16.2'. Her displacement is 60,000 pounds.
As Beau reports, "there are plenty of strings to pull and there isn’t one piece of carbon fibre or advanced sail cloth aboard - she’s pretty much frozen in time in about the late ‘60s. Bronze non-self-tailing winches are the order of the day.
I suspect MAYAN will be on the racing circuit soon. The problem is no one currently knows exactly how to measure and rate a boat with two masts, three booms, and five working sails, never mind the gollywobbler, fisherman, and ballooner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3kImL2gDkI
Last edited by sleddog; 03-12-2014 at 11:10 AM.
200+ posts, OMG
When can we go for a ride Beau?
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