Is this in the US Sailing RC Handbook?

August doldrums so I've been lazy about blog writing, though I do have some subjects queued up in my mind. To fill the gap, I'll take the easy way out and tap into the YouTube bookmarks.

First up, how to make race committee a must do assignment at your club. I think this is in Hawaii.

Music for Friday; Bo Diddley, Tom Petty

Another great! Bo Diddley sure could make that guitar talk.

At Home Regatta this Time; Classic Moths at SSA

Seven Classic Moths made it to Severn Sailing Association on Sat, Aug 8 for a one day regatta. Forecasts in the week leading up to Saturday looked good for a moderate Southerly but the day dawned overcast with a light Northerly that swung to the NE at the 11 am start time. It was going to be the August "Shake and Bakes". Unfortunately Race Area C at the mouth of the Severn River becomes a conflicted tactical nightmare on these days especially when the sun finally poked through and the day started to heat up. On the left was a stronger NNE river wind and on the right was some indication the Bay winds were trying to align the median wind rightward, more towards a southerly sea breeze.

Mike Parsons parlayed the left side, river breeze shift, and some good light air speed to win the first race in a squeaker over John Z. In the second race, the two homies, John Z and your humble scribe were betting the right would pay off and 1/2 way up it looked good but the left came in again for Mike, late in the leg but there nonetheless. Mike had a 100 yard lead but, in the dying breeze, mistook the finish line as the RC shortened course. My one time in the whole regatta I was ahead of John Z proved fortuitous as I was able to finish correctly just ahead of Mike, who was unwinding his false detour. As they say, it is better sometimes to be lucky than smart (or fast). Before the third and final race, the wind did swing right to the east but the pressure remained light. Mike ran away and hid, John Z finished second and I followed in third. So Mike wins the day. With my 2nd race win, I win the tie breaker over John Z and George Albaugh wins the Gen 1 division.

Race committee, as always at SSA, was superb. Tip of the hat to PRO John Quay and his crew.

Music for Friday; The Refreshments

I've been somewhat remiss lately on hitting the weekly music posting. To cover last week, Friday is now on Tuesday.

A Swedish band and a particularly good toe-tapping, hopping rendition of the Chuck Berry classic "Let it Rock". Featuring guest guitarist Albert Lee.

Old Sailing Photos; Port River, Adelaide, South Australia

I enjoy old sailing photos, more so if they features places and boats I've never seen.

From Adelaide, South Australia, Bob Abercrombie sends this photo from the 60's with this explanation;

The last photo was taken by me in about 1960 on the Port River. A couple of Rainbow scows and Cadet junior dinghys feature. The old steamship is the S S Karatta which carried freight and day passengers from Port Adelaide to Kingscote, Kangaroo Island from 1907 to 1961. It was then replaced with a roll on roll off ferry.

2009 Sugar Island Encampment

I was off last week, camping on Sugar Island, Canada. Sugar Island is part of the Lake Fleet chain of islands in the Thousand Islands and is owned by the American Canoe Association (since around 1903) and they have been hosting the Annual Encampment even before that time. In the 1920's and 1930's, the Encampment was a big deal; canoe clubs from up and down the East Coast attended, paddling and sailing competitions were held over the two weeks, there was a large dining hall and a ferry stopped over at Headquarter Bay to take on and offload passengers. Plus, during the Prohibition, Sugar Island was just inside Canada and you could legally imbibe alcohol, something that was readily enjoyed by American canoeists.

Today the Annual Encampment is on a much, much smaller scale, most of the canoe clubs from the past are long extinct, the dining hall either burnt down or was razed and the Island has returned to a wilder state, replete with raccoons, mink, deer. The International Canoes (I know they don't look like canoes but their heritage is very definitely grounded in the sailing canoes of yore) race the first week for some very old trophies. I haven't owned a race boat Int. Canoe since the mid 90's so I attend as a Int. Canoe alumni and help with race committee, connect with old sailing buddies, kibbitz with the current crop of International Canoe sailors and paddle my surf ski hither and yon.

More about the Encampment later but here is a video of my campsite.



Oh, I forgot to say that they cliff dive (into the water) off of Island 48. International Canoeists are masochists but they usually don't throw themselves off cliffs to the ground below.

Rule 42 violation on Youtube

From the 2009 Finn Gold Cup;



To add a teaching component to this post, I asked senior US Sailing Judge, Hugh Elliot to give us the judge's perspective on the video;

Here is my commentary:

1. Finn GBR 41 sailing dead downwind - or nearly so - in surfing and planing conditions (Judges so state after the yellow flag at ~ 45 seconds into video).

2. There is some rocking of the boat, apparently induced by the skipper. Since the boat appears to be changing course - to windward when heeled to leeward and vice versa - when this is done, the boat does not break any rule. See RRS 42.3(a) (and ISAF Interpretation Rock 6) which permits the boat to be heeled to facilitate steering. This is an exception to the prohibition on rocking found in RRS 42.2(b)(1).

3. The judges are focusing on the skipper's actions with respect to the sail - specifically pumping. According to the ISAF Interpretations of Terms Used, a pump is a single pull [usually vigorous] on a sail unrelated to wind or waves. RRS 42.2 (a) prohibits repeated fanning of any sail by pulling in and releasing the sail. See Interpretations Pump 1 and Pump 2.

4. RRS 42.3(b) permits one pump - but only one - for the purpose of initiating surfing or planing. One judge can be heard counting the number of pumps [at least two, possibly three] on the same wave. This breaks RRS 42.2(a). In addition, since the boat is already surfing or planing, the exception in RRS 42.3(c) is not available but, if it were, only the first pump would be permitted.

The ISAF Interpretation of RRS 42 may be found here http://www.sailing.org/2004.php They are dated 2005 but did not change for the 2009 - 2012 period.

Best regards

Hugh

Tip of the hat to Hugh for imparting this wisdom.