Thanks to phlog that! for the photo and the claim that it shows "two starfish making love in the sand at Morro Bay, California."
Hmmm. Nice story, but according to Wikipedia (which is never wrong), starfish don't do it like that. Instead, "fertilization takes place externally, both male and female releasing their gametes into the environment."
Being a romantic at heart, I prefer to believe the phlog that! version. Did someone say, "Caption Contest"?
Who would you rather be, Ernesto Bertarelli or Reid Stowe?
In case you've been living under a stone for the past few months and don't know who the hell I'm talking about, Ernesto is the head of the Alinghi syndicate that won the America's Cup in 2003 and 2007; Reid is the guy who is attempting to spend 1000 days at sea under sail.
Aside from being sailors these two guys have something else in common: they have both been the subject of a massive wave of criticism and abuse, especially on the Internet, over the past few months. So in some ways I'm asking you to choose between two bad options; that's why it's an interesting question. Who would you rather be, Ernesto or Reid?
Ernesto has been under attack for the way in which he has handled the preparations for his eventual defense of the America's Cup. A fake challenge from a virtual club, a lawsuit which he lost, stalled negotiations, self-serving press releases, more threatened suits from aggrieved challengers... you can read all about it at Rule 69 Blog.
Reid is being reviled for almost every sin under the sun from drug-running to fraud, on a parody blog 1000 Days of Hell and in a long-running thread on Sailing Anarchy entitled Couple Cruise for 1000 Days, This is totally fucking ridiculous.
So which would you rather be?
On the surface it is an easy answer. Ernesto is younger (42 to Reid's 55), fabulously wealthy ($8.8 billion according to Forbes), has all the expensive toys that any sailor could desire.... and, oh yes, he just won the America's Cup, twice. Surely our friend Ernesto is living every sailor's dream?
But wait. Think about it. How is Ernesto spending his time these days? My guess is that he is embroiled in endless boring meetings with lawyers, PR guys and other suits, trying to find a way out of the hole he has dug for himself with respect to the next America's Cup match. That can't be much fun.
At least Reid is out on the open ocean with the wind in his hair, sailing a boat he built himself, dealing with whatever the sea and weather gods serve up, riding along with the porpoises and the albatrosses. Right now he is somewhere in the southern Atlantic along with his crew, a woman less than half his age variously described by his supporters and (some of) his detractors respectively as his "girlfriend" or his "sex slave". Man, that's better then every sailor's dream. Isn't that every old fart's fantasy?
(Just in case my wife's reading, I don't mean my fantasy, of course not dear.)
So who would you rather be? Ernesto Bertarelli or Reid Stowe? And why?
Longtime readers of this blog may remember from my first list of Top Ten Sailing Blogs a blog by the name of Stay of Execution written by Sherry Fowler. Truth is it never really was only a sailing blog, but a blog by an excellent writer who had a passion for sailing and who wrote about many other things too.
Sherry eventually retired Stay of Execution and started another blog Stay which has a very different style and which she updates much less frequently. She has married a man she met through her blogging, and is still the sailing coach at Bowdoin.
Sadly, a young man on her team, Nick Barnett, was killed in a car accident at Thanksgiving. In A Sailor, Remembered Sherry writes about Nick, what he meant to the team, the gift of "easy, visible happiness", and the "joy in the daily routine of practice".
Check it out. This lady can write. Her writing was one of the major inspirations to me in starting this blog almost three years ago. Her eulogy to Nick on her blog brings a stranger's personality to life again and almost makes me feel like I knew him.
My condolences to Sherry, the team, and all of Nick's family and friends.
I went for a run this morning. The ground was covered in frost and the trees were encased in ice and shining like glass ornaments in the sunshine. Very wintry-looking. As I jogged along the road at the top of the hill behind my house, the sun started to melt the ice on the trees and shower me with icy shards. Man, it felt good.
It felt good because I've been out of action for about seven weeks now with a couple of minor health problems. No running. And if that weren't bad enough, shock, horror, no sailing. It's been a tough time as I need physical activity to keep up my morale, especially at this time of year as the days become colder, shorter and darker.
I've tried not to whine about it (too much) in this blog. But regular readers will probably have noticed that this sailor's sailing blog hasn't been carrying any news about this sailor's sailing. Because there hasn't been any.
I missed the Fat Boys Regatta in Bristol at the end of October and I've also missed the first six weeks of the Newport frostbiting season. Yikes. Being able to sail in Newport in the winter was one of the reasons we moved to Rhode Island. Thank goodness it wasn't the only reason.
It seems that one of the penalties of aging is that comparatively minor aches and pains and infections just take longer to clear up than they used to when I was in my twenties. And I'm pretty sure that Laser sailing in 20 knots is not the best cure for a bad back. And I have a hunch that immersing myself in near-freezing water every Sunday afternoon is not the best treatment for a severe chest cold.
But today I went for a run in the ice and frost. Man, it felt good and I feel like I'm back to my normal self again.
However, the weeks with no sailing and little exercise have taken their toll. I've put on a few pounds and I'm nowhere near as fit as I was after a summer of active sailing followed by the trip to Spain for the Masters Worlds. I dread to think how clumsy I am going to be next time I try and sail my Laser.
Meanwhile the Australians are in their summer and are sailing all the time in preparation for the next Laser Masters Worlds near Sydney in February. The way things are I'm thinking I'm not going to surpass or even equal my performance in Spain. So I'm approaching the Worlds with a different attitude this time.
I'm going to the Dominican Republic again in January for a clinic and for the Laser Caribbean Midwinters. Then off to Australia in February for the Laser Masters Worlds. My mindset is that both these events are just for fun and to get me in shape for the start of the 2008 summer season in North America.
I went for a run today. Man, it felt good.
Nobody seems to know what will happen with the America's Cup. Apparently the two warring parties led by Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison will have a sit-down this week to try and negotiate a way forward. Failing that the next cup will be be a so-called "Deed of Gift" match, best of three races, between Larry's men and Ernie's men under the terms of the challenge made by Larry back in July.
The challenge (officially from the Golden Gate Yacht Club) even includes a Certificate of Name, Rig and Specified Dimensions of the challenging vessel (even though, by all accounts, this vessel is not yet built.) The vessel described in the challenge as a "keel yacht" will be 90 ft long with a beam of 90 ft, with a hull draft of 3ft and a draft of 20 ft with boards down.
Hmmm. Keel yacht? Sure sounds like a catamaran to me.
And if Larry has a 90 ft cat then everyone assumes that Ernie will have to have a 90 ft cat in order to be competitive. For some reason, the whole world seems to think that this outcome, a best of three series sailed between two monster cats next July, would be a retrograde step for the America's Cup and a disaster for the sport of sailing.
I beg to differ. So here are my Seven Reasons Why a Cat Fight Would Be Good for the America's Cup.
1. Tradition
A match sailed under the Deed of Gift would be more traditional. We have strayed a long way from the original concept of the Cup since the 1850's. The way it was supposed to work was that some rich old coot would write a posh letter to the New York Yacht Club essentially saying, "My boat's faster than your boat. Nah nah nah nah." The NYYC would accept the challenge by writing another posh letter saying effectively, "See you next July off Sandy Hook. Nah nah nah nah." The NYYC would then find some other rich old coot with a faster boat, meet the first rich old coot off Sandy Hook, crush him, and all would be well with the world.
So let's get back to that tradition. One defender. One challenger. Two crazy rich old coots. The way it was meant to be. Yachting needs to honor its traditions.
2. Excitement
There's no argument, multihulls are faster and more exciting than big monohulls with all those tons of spent uranium or whatever metal they use now in their keels to slow them down. Let's face it, the 50 knot speed barrier will be first broken by some kind of multihull (not counting windsurfers). Can you imagine a round-the-buoys race between two cats sailing at that speed (or anywhere near it)?
3. Simplicity
Cats are not going to frig around doing dial-ups and dial-downs and all the other rigmarole of match racing that only 27 people in the whole world really understand. They are going to accelerate off the start line in clear air and go for speed, speed, speed baby. Bang the corner. Tack. And then off on another wild ride to the first mark. I know, I've sailed cats on Tacticat. All that boring tacking and ducking and covering stuff just slows you down. And if we are going to make yachting appeal to a wider audience we need racing to be easy to understand. Anyone can understand the concept of "faster boat wins".
4. Cost
If we have a deed of gift match next July, then Larry and Ernie are going to spend a few millions building a couple of cats, some port that Ernie chooses will get to host them, and someone vaguely impartial but really working for Ernie will lay on three races. That's it. No endless expensive series of "acts" over many years and then a costly challenger series dragging on for months. No "challenges" from no-hope syndicates from Luxembourg or Namibia or wherever. No chasing around for sponsors. Easy. Cheap.
5. Unique
The deed of gift match between catamarans of essentially unrestricted design will be a test of technology and yacht design more than seamanship. This is a good thing. The Olympics and each class World Championship are the events designed to find out who the best sailors are. The America's Cup needs to differentiate itself from these events. The America's Cup should be all about the nerds in the design office. Rich old coot with the best nerds wins.
6. Technology Trickle Down
You know trickle down? That's the economic theory that says its a good thing for rich people to have big expensive toys because eventually the money trickles down to the little guy who pumps out their holding tanks. More importantly, while Larry and Ernie are building the biggest baddest cats you ever saw, they will be spurring invention and creating technical improvements that you will eventually use on your Hobie 16. Yeah right. OK, well the other 6 reasons are still good.
7. Spectator Appeal
The cat fight is going to be the most stupendous event ever in yachting with huge appeal to on-site spectators and TV viewers around the world. Why? Well, because of all the reasons above. To summarize, the audience will love it because
- it will be traditional
- it will be in fast boats
- it will be exciting to watch
- it will be easy to understand
- it will be a one-off event lasting a few days
- it will be a show-down between two crazy rich old coots whom we all love to hate
- a crash between two monster cats approaching each other at around 50 knots will be spectacular and the best thing ever to demonstrate to the general public why yacht racing is so much fun. After that, sailing will be bigger than NASCAR.
Update 11 Dec. Extract from interview by Ernie in LeTemps yesterday, translated and republished in a Sailing Anarchy forum.
Le Temps: You thus prepare with a duel in the multihulls in 2008?
Ernesto Bertarelli: With Larry, we will clash with two beautiful monsters. He who spends the most money will win.
Yeehow. Let's do it.
Here's a little weekend teaser for you.
Who painted these two pictures of boats? 
Update 12 Dec
Clue #1: Both pictures are painted by the same person.
Clue #2: The person is famous but not for being a painter.
Update #2
Congratulations to tugster for working out that the painter (of both paintings) was Winston Churchill. I found them in a quiz in which you have to guess which of 10 paintings were by Churchill and which by another World War ll leader and sometime painter, Adolf Hitler.
I always wonder, when I write a post on this blog, whether it is going to make any sense to even half of the readers. It's clear from some of the comments that I confuse the hell out of certain people.
I just came across something that might help me, an online tool that analyzes the readability of blogs in terms of the education level necessary to understand a blog. So I ran some of my favorite sailing blogs through The Blog Readability Test.
Here are the results...
Elementary School
Junior High School
High School
College (undergrad)
College (postgrad)
Genius
Hmmm. I expect I will be hearing more about that last one.
Anyway, run your own or your favorite blogs through the tester and let me know what you find out.
My post on Ten Reasons Why Sunfish Are Better Than Lasers generated quite a lot of interest...
Scuttlebutt sent out a link to it.
Somebody posted a link to it on the Sunfish forum.
The folk on the Yahoo group for the Arizona Yacht Club started discussing it.
I received a very nice email from someone who I can only describe as one of the elder statespersons of the Sunfish class thanking me for the post.
Someone posted it on the New Orleans Yacht Club website but renamed it 10 reasons why Sunfish are better than Finns. Apparently I've been sucked into some long-running feud down there between Finn sailors and Sunfish sailors.
During the ensuing flame war, one of the Finn sailors posted more reasons why Sunfish are better...
Mostly girls sail them.
They have pretty sails.
Its funny to watch them when Finns gobble them up and crap em out.
They look cute on the beach.
No pesky Olympic sailors to compete against.
They are cheap.
Grandma, Grandpa, and 6 year old can all share the same boat.
Just kidding....we love our little sunfish friends. Just keep out of the way!
And now apparently there is a challenge to be held between the Sunfish and Finn fleets...
When: Superbowl Saturday
Where: BWYC
What: Just Bragging Rights
Two Teams (Finns and Sunfish)
9 boats to a Team.
8 Races!
Teams must be comprised of sailors from AL to LA.
Team Captains: Bad Dog and Anne Edwards!
Geeze. What have I started?
From time to time, readers tell me (usually in the comments) what they think about this blog. I've collected some of that feedback in two of the sidebars over there >>>>>>. The ones headed What the Critics Say and More Reviews. Gathered together they read a bit like those blurbs you find on the back cover of a book.
I know, I know. It's very pretentious and egocentric of me to gather random observations from the comments and flaunt them like that. Hey, what can I say?
But I've tried to be even-handed and include the (rare) note of negative criticism along with the vast number of positive notes of praise.
Indeed some of the comments about this blog are embarrassingly hyperbolic. "Best sailing blog on the planet" for example. What nonsense. But I usually reward such examples of obsequious approval by including the author's blog in my Top Ten Sailing Blogs of the year post. Flattery works.
Other comments are more ironic or even ambiguous. What am I to make of "I just blew the ice tea out of my nose" or "I would miss your blog more than toothpaste"?
Hmmm, as someone would say.
A few weeks ago Scott Adams ran a contest on his Dilbert Blog inviting his readers to submit "humorously over-the-top" blurbs for his new book STICK TO DRAWING COMICS, MONKEY-BRAIN! His suggestions of the kind of thing he was looking for included...
"I laughed so hard, one of my kidneys shook loose and I pooped it out. I can’t wait for the sequel!"
And "My acne cleared up, and I threw away the Viagra!"
The winner of his competition was..,
"'What a perfect companion for my afternoon milk bath,' I thought while picking up this little gem on my way home from work. Within the hour I had laughed myself into a neck-deep tomb of butter. My wife came in, sipping her eggnog, and topped me with meringue."
One of the runners-up was...
"This book was so good, I showed it to my wife and said, 'This is how sex is supposed to feel like.'"
Another entry was ..,
"All the brilliance and wit of a blog, but in book form for old people like you!"
You get the idea? Here is the full list of winners and runners-up.
OK. OK. I know it's taking me a long time to get to the point. Here it is...
Can you think of an outrageously funny, totally over-the-top blurb for a sailing blog? Doesn't have to be this one. I think it would be best if the quote had some nautical flavor to it. I'm sure the creative readers of Proper Course, many of them boating bloggers themselves, can do even better than Scott Adams' readers.
Go for it.
