First Signs of Fall

Only in Annapolis..........

Last week I saw the floating docks for the Annapolis Boat Shows being trucked in from storage. It takes over a month to launch and assemble all these floating docks that gobble up several acres of Annapolis Harbor.

My source at the shows tells me that despite the recession, the Sailboat Show has about the same number of exhibitors, though the mix is different; less boat manufacturers and more on the accessory side.

The MotorBoat Show is definitely down as the 18'-28' market has crashed.

Dylan Winter posts his summer doings

Dylan Winter, the videographer slowly making his way counter clockwise around England in a Mirror 19, has posted a video summary of his spring and summer travels. As to be expected from Dylan, beautifully shot and edited.



A couple of months ago, I posted some earlier Dylan's videos . More and more out in the bloggosphere are picking up his work. If you want to spend most of the evening going through his travelogue, click here.

Music for Friday; "Old Crow Medicine Show"

Wagon Wheel.

Six Metre Worlds in Newport RI

Another photogenic class, the Six Metre keeler, is hosting their World Championship at Newport Rhode Island as we speak. Of the 32 entrants, 26 are classified as Classic Six Metre's (built before 1965). Within the Classic division, the Six Metre's split it even further into four time periods where different versions of the rule were in effect. I find this interesting because we also have divided the Classic Moth into three divisions; the Vintage, the Generation 1 (Gen1), and the Generation 2 (Gen2). In our case, the Vintage division is those hulls built prior to 1950, whereas the Gen1 and Gen2 is somewhat loosely based on design date but also wetted surface and stability. So in Gen1 you have 1950 designs such as the Challenger, Mint, and Cates mixed in with newer Europe dinghies and Masers (Laser conversions to Classic Moths). Gen2 is a true restricted class which you can design and build to a box rule though the 1960ish Mistral design still rules the roost.

A nice video of a German Classic Six Metre sailing out of the Solent.

Yes, Rich People Do Live Differently than You and I

The above was a sage observation repeated every so often by my friend John Williamson.

The super rich, racing super yachts in a super swanky Caribbean setting.

St. Barths Bucket Trailer 2009 from acquafilms on Vimeo.

Log Canoes; Some Pics by Al Shreitmueller

Eastern Shore Log Canoe Racing is tops when it comes to photogenic yachting racing action.

Following are some of the brilliant photos of log canoe racing taken by Al Shreitmueller. As always, click on the picture to view a larger version.

"Island Lark" boiling down the Chester River.



The main trimmers get to sit off the back of the canoe. Like a cox on a racing shell, lightweight body frames are desirable for main trimmers and so we we have these comely lasses lumped in with a crew of hulking boardmen and squelchers.

Main trimmer 1



Main trimmer 2

Laser Worlds Concludes

I'll wait for a debrief on the return of Great Grand Master FavoredEnd who lead at the weather mark in one race (at the Worlds, I'll take that to the bank anytime). In commemoration of the second Laser World Championship to be held in the birthplace of the Laser, I dug through my archives and came up with this picture.

Laser designer Bruce Kirby firing a "funnelator" at the 1972 Canadian Championships of the International 14. His accomplice to the right is Rob Mazza, for many years one the principal naval architects at C&C Yachts.