Figure 8 Knot

I mis-spoke yesterday when I said that today's item on the list of Top Five Best Sailing Innovations Ever would be even bigger than White Marine-Tex Handles Like Putty Hardens Like Steel Sands Like Wood.

When I said "bigger" I actually meant "smaller". But it is more huger in its contribution to the global sum of sailing happiness, and much more massiver in its sheer innovativeness.

Yes, number 4 on the All Time List Of Best Sailing Innovations Ever is... the figure 8 knot.

There she is. Ain't she lovely.

With all due respect to Adam Turinas and his rather creepy obsession with bunnies and The Bowline, there is surely no question that the the figure 8 knot is la creme de la creme of nautical knottery, the je ne sais quoi of sailing knots, the essential embodiment of marine entanglement par excellence...

Where was I? Where am I? Oh yes. The figure 8 knot.

It's a stopper knot. It stops a line from sliding through something you don't want it to slide through. For example here are a few uses of the figure 8 knot that will be familiar to fellow Laserites...

• In the good old days of Lasering, before all this new-fangled rigging was introduced, the only thing that prevented the mast and rig from falling out of the hull when the boat capsized and turtled was a figure 8 knot in the cunningham line. Pretty important knot, wouldn't you say?
  
  
• There is nothing more pathetic than the sight of a Laser sailor whose mainsheet has come unattached from the boom or the ratchet block in the middle of a race. Figure 8 knots prevent this unhappy situation. I always tie two in the end of the sheet that goes through the block because my mainsheet is quite smart and is quite capable of undoing one figure 8 knot if I don't speak to it sternly.
  
  
• I have written at length here previously about all the problems I create for myself at windward mark roundings. One thing I don't have to worry about though is setting the sail controls right for the downwind leg. I just tie... you guessed it... figure 8 knots in my control lines for the outhaul and vang at my desired downwind settings for the day and then I can just release the lines from their cleats and they magically go to the correct positions. How cool is that?
  
  
• I do have some other uses for the figure 8 knot on my Laser but they are secret and I'd have to drown you if I told you about them.
  
  
• One other use for the figure 8 knot... if you happen to be a sailing instructor who needs to fill in 5 or 10 minutes at the end of the day with a bunch of rambunctious junior sailors, set them a competition to see how many figure 8 knots they can tie in a piece of thin line about 3 feet long. Keeps 'em happy until their mummies and daddies come to take them home to bed 'cos they're tired little teddy bears.

So what do you think? Do you have any equally earth-shattering uses of the figure 8 knot to share with the world?

By the way, in case you hadn't realized, this post is an entry in a group writing project on Best Sailing Innovation Ever. You too can enter. Full details are at Best Sailing Innovation Ever. Browse the entries so far at Spinach? and More Innovations. Then tell us about what you think is the Best Sailing Innovation Ever.

Tomorrow I will reveal to the world (or more specifically all three of my regular readers) the startling invention that is #3 on my list of All Time Best Sailing Innovations Ever. It's a truly amazing gizmo. It has fundamentally changed my life.

WMTHLPHLSSLW

I went to my local branch of Worst Marine a few days ago to buy some White Marine-Tex Handles Like Putty Hardens Like Steel Sands Like Wood. As I took the familiar red, white and blue box to the checkout the Worst Marine store guy said, "That's great stuff!" I guess he was lonely and wanted some conversation. There aren't many customers in our local branch of Worst Marine these days.

But he was right. It is good stuff. In fact I hereby announce that White Marine-Tex Handles Like Putty Hardens Like Steel Sands Like Wood is #5 on my list of All Time Best Sailing Innovations Ever.

In case you hadn't noticed we are having a group writing project on Best Sailing Innovation Ever. You too can enter. Full details are at Best Sailing Innovation Ever. Browse the entries so far at Spinach? and More Innovations. If you can't decide on what is the Best Sailing Innovation Ever you can even enter more than once. That's what I'm going to do.

I love White Marine-Tex Handles Like Putty Hardens Like Steel Sands Like Wood. I always carry some in my toolbox. It's perfect for fixing minor dings and gouges in my daggerboard and rudder. I finished up my old box repairing some scratches in the bottom of my daggerboard caused by a huge submerged invisible rock that God had carelessly left a few yards away from my favorite launch ramp.

Did you know that this stuff handles like putty, hardens like steel and sands like wood? Magic stuff.

Tomorrow I will reveal to the waiting world what is #4 on my list of All Time Best Sailing Innovations Ever. You're going to love it. It's even bigger than White Marine-Tex Handles Like Putty Hardens Like Steel Sands Like Wood.

Don't You Know Who I Am?

I've written here before at length about the fun I've had traveling to various exotic spots around the world with Tillerwoman to have interesting vacations linked to my sailing in Laser Masters Worlds Championships at aforementioned exotic spots. I've also written in Unqualified about how the Laser Class is attempting to tighten up the entry to the Masters Worlds in order to prevent totally incompetent bozos who don't know the pointy end of a Laser from the pointy end of their whatsits from entering these prestigious events. Or maybe just to prevent barely competent marginal Laser sailors with embarrassing blogs from entering?

Today the International Laser Class Association opened up applications for the 2009 Masters Worlds in Canada. OK, Nova Scotia isn't exactly as exotic as Mexico, Spain or Australia but it's still going to be a popular event among North American sailors.

As of 2:30 pm on the first day of applications...

• There are 45 applications for the 35 places allocated to the USA.
  
  
• There are 45 applications for the 11 places allocated to Australia.
  
  
• There are 24 applications for the 15 places allocated to the United Kingdom.
  
  
• There is 1 application for the 0 places allocated to American Samoa. (Good luck Ari.)

And so on.

Probably someone's going to be disappointed.

Each country's class association has to decide which sailors will be allocated places if too many from that country apply. I wrote at Unqualified about the North American system for ranking applicants, and I've already fired off an email to the North American class office documenting my eligibility on the two options of previous Worlds participation and ranking in major Masters regattas in the region. And I was in the first 35 to apply.

So I should be OK. But you never know what will happen when the wheels of sailing politics start to turn to divi up a scarce resource. But if our esteemed leaders decide I am unqualified to represent the USA then I will just have take up bodysurfing or snowmobile racing instead.

Come to think of it, that might make for a more interesting blog...

Update 10:56pm Sep 15: I have just discovered that one piece of the information above is incorrect. According to a post on the Laser Forum in the last hour by Tracy Usher, President of the North American Laser Class, the 35 allocated places shown on the international class website as allocated to the USA are actually the allocation for both USA and Canada (the host country). There are already 95 applications for those 35 places and it's only the first day. According to Tracy, "The entries are time ordered, so the first 35 between both countries are 'in'". But as the USA and Canada entries are listed separately it's not clear to me whether I am in that first 35 or not. Hmmm.

Not Throwing in the Towel

New England Laser Masters 2008. What a regatta!

Light airs on Saturday with only two races completed. Driving rain and waves and almost too much wind on Sunday when we managed four races. Sailing out of Third Beach Newport, home of the US Olympic Trials for Lasers and Radials last fall. I've written about Third Beach before. Suffice to say it provides one of the best wave sailing locations for dinghies on the entire east coast, with only a short sail from the beach to the race area.

My boat speed in both the light stuff and the heavy stuff seemed pretty good compared to the usual suspects that I battle in these regattas. Of course I didn't make the best use of this advantage as a result of numerous mental errors, boat-handling mistakes, and sheer stupidity.

Race 1: Great start, clear lane, going fast. In the groove. All set to round the windward mark in the top ten (in a fleet of over fifty boats). I don't want to spend too long in light air being gassed by a crowd of boats on the starboard tack layline approaching the mark. So I approach on port tack about five boat-lengths below the mark. There's a gap in the line of starboard tackers. I go for it. That Guy T-bones me about six inches in front of my transom. (I almost crossed him). Damn. My fault. I do my 720 losing a ton of boats in the process. Even worse I've lost my concentration. I sail a terrible run. End up about thirtieth.

Race 2: Light air from the opposite direction after waiting all day for the wind to settle in. Can't remember what happened. Probably just as well.

Race 3: (Second day.) Driving rain, big waves, big wind. I do the squirrel thing, head right in clear air, going fast. This time I don't screw up and finish around tenth. Woo hoo. Maybe this will be a good regatta for me.

Race 4: Even more wind. Doing OK though, until I round the windward mark and discover that my mainsheet has tied itself into a triple buntline carrick bend double surgeon's clinch knot inside a double fisherman's alpine butterfly rolling hitch and so I am unable to sheet out and bear away. Hmmm. Deja vu all over again. I luff up and undo the bloody knot. Then I capsize. Then I capsize again immediately. A lot of my friends sail past me while I'm having all this fun and they don't even say, "Hi!" Eventually I get the sharp end pointing downwind and set off on one of the scariest downwind legs of my life. There are boats capsized all over the place. There's a guy drifting around with a broken mast. Somehow I finish.

I'm totally exhausted. I'm thinking of calling it a day. I learn later that the race officer is also wondering whether to abandon racing for the day. He asks the regatta chairman (who is racing himself) and our esteemed chairman recommends one more race but with an even longer course. Is this guy nuts? The race officer then decides to run two more races. Hmmm.

Race 5: I start the fifth race anyway. I'm thinking that I will definitely skip the last race. That can be my throwout. Halfway up the first beat my arms start cramping up. Oh geeze. I actually cleat the mainsheet for a while. Just before the windward mark I bang my head hard with the boom. This is getting silly. I'm so tired I'm in danger of causing myself or someone else serious injury. I'm definitely going to skip the last race.

I have a serious talk with myself after the fifth race.

Me#1: There's no point in doing the last race. It's unlikely to have any major impact on your overall score. And who cares about the score anyway?

Me#2: But I'll feel better about myself if I hang in there and finish every race.

Me#1: That's just crazy. You're tired and starting to make stupid mistakes.

Me#2: Yes I'm tired. But that's not why I'm making stupid mistakes. I've been making stupid mistakes all weekend.

Me#1: What are you trying to prove?

Me#2: I don't know. I just hate to throw in the towel.

Race 6: I start the last race. What was I thinking? It's all a blur now but I was still fast compared to the usual suspects. I finish the last race. At least I achieved something this weekend.

As I derig the boat back at the beach I mull over what I learned at this regatta. Definitely some stuff I can work on. Lost places several times through misjudging the layline to the windward mark or the favored end of the finish line. That's something I can practice on my own. Also noticed that I wasn't pointing as well as the competition when I cranked on too much downhaul. I'm thinking of what else I might have learned when someone says the results have been posted.

I head over to the board. Whaaaaat? I can't believe the results.

In these Laser Masters regattas, there is an overall scoring for the fleet, but most of the awards are for places within age groups. I am in the 55-65 age group which should be known as "old geezers who should be toddling round a golf course and knocking little ball into little holes with a stick instead of beating up their bodies trying to sail a young man's boat like a Laser" but instead is euphemistically known as Grandmasters.

When I check out the overall scores I see I am in the top third of the fleet, about fifteen places better than last year. So that's good.

But then I scan down the positions of the guys in my age group, the Grandmasters. One guy who I thought was way ahead of me is scored with two OCS's and one BFD (in six races) so he's actually behind me. Tough luck on him. Two Grandmasters who were ahead of me last night packed up and went home early. And the real schocker is.... I'm Second Grandmaster.

I can't believe it. I've been doing one or two of these major Masters Regattas a year for the last twenty years and I think I've only placed in the top three once before.

I'm so pleased that I didn't throw in the towel.

The prizes for the top three in each age group are very smart. They are embroidered with the title of the regatta and the award winner's place and age group title.

It is actually a very useful item.

A big soft luxurious... towel.

Bad Races or No Races?

A frustrating day and a good question...

Today was one of those frustrating days for sailboat racing. For the competitors... and for the race committee I suspect. First of all there was drizzle and no wind. Then a light northerly set in. We launched. We sailed one race.

Then the wind died. And shifted to eastish. And went patchy. And more shifty. We waited around. After an hour and a half or so the RC sent us in to the shore. It was a long slow sail to the shore. Eventually most of us were towed in.

After a short stay on shore, the RC told us to launch again. Another long slow sail out to the course. By now the wind was from the south but still very light.

One start. A general recall. Eventually the second race started around 4pm under a black flag. There was a right shift but we completed the race. Afterwards there was pizza. And beer I heard, but I never found the beer.

Just one of those days. But during the long wait after the first race, one of my friends made a very interesting (at least to me) comment...

It's always tough for a race officer to make the call as to whether to race in marginal conditions such as we had to today. Is it better to give the the competitors a bad race or no race? A bad race would be one in light shifty winds, with big holes in the wind around the course, unpredictable shifts and puffs, a total crap shoot, one of those races where you just know that some of the good sailors are going to be at the back of the fleet, and some bozo like me is going to be in the top five (woo hoo). That's what it would have been like if we had held some more races in that long wait in the middle of the day.

Of course it depends to an extent on the event. If it's the Olympic Trials, absolutely you want good fair races in reliable winds. There's too much at stake to race in "bad" conditions. But if it's just Wednesday night club racing then maybe most sailors would prefer to get some races, even if the winds are fluky, patchy and unpredictable.

Today was somewhere between those two extremes. New England Laser Masters Championships. A big deal for some guys. For most of the fleet probably their only chance to sail this week.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming the race officer. He is the best in the world. Literally. Last month he was PRO at the Olympics. Today he gave us two pretty decent races in the best winds that were available all day.

But my friend's comment made me think. During the long wait in crappy winds after the first race he said, "Tonight I'd rather be pissing and moaning over a beer and pizza about how unfair the second race was, than pissing and moaning about how we never even got a second race in."

What do you think. Is it better to have a "bad" race than not to race at all?

More Innovations

Five more entries for our group writing project on Best Sailing Innovation Ever. And what a diverse and interesting range of topics our contributors have chosen.

Hail to the Flag! by Jos

The Planing Hull by Tim

Blow by Kevin of News and Verse

The Bowline by Adam

SnapIts! by Christy


I'll write my own post on this topic next week. But it's so hard to decide on the best innovation ever. I have a shortlist of five, so maybe I'll write about the Top Five Best Sailing Innovations Ever.

In any case, there's plenty of time for you to participate too. Full details at Best Sailing Innovation Ever.

What Will You Do This Weekend?

Just saw the following on the Houston Yacht Club website...

What will you do this weekend?

• Put your sails up just 50 yards from your slip?
• Spend the evening at anchor in a protected cove with friends and family?
• Snuggle into your berth after an evening of dining and dancing in the clubhouse?
• Visit with friends after a day of first-class racing?
• Watch your children play in the pool and sail dinghies in the harbor?

I don't think so... Not in Houston. Not this weekend.


Good luck to everyone in the Houston area this weekend. Stay safe.

Blow

When I start one of these group writing projects, like the one this month about Best Sailing Innovation Ever, I am always surprised with the ingenuity and creativity of my readers in interpreting the theme of the project. For example, here is Kevin Pierce's contribution, BLOW.

When the oysters blow from rocks
Because of wind, we're shaking.

Sometimes the boat's becalmed
Because the wind was faking.

When the other guy makes good
It's was from wind, mistaking.

When the seabreeze finds its way
It's caused by wind, awaking.

Regatta dinner beans
Have prompted wind, breaking.

And a perfect day of sail
Was of the wind, partaking.

The best innovation yet?
That's of the wind, making.

Thank you Kevin for sharing that with us. More of Kevin's poetry can be found at News and Verse.

Smuckers Fights Back

Regular readers of this blog, all three of you, will know that I was somewhat rude last year about a certain foul-tasting, unhealthy, inedible "snackfood" known as Uncrustables that was served up in the guise of lunch at a regatta I attended. Given the huge influence that this blog has in sailing circles I assumed that I had put an end once and for all to the role of Uncrustables in our sport.

But no.

Those devilishly clever marketing chappies at Smuckers are fighting back. They will not relinquish the sailing snack market to the likes of Clif Bars and Joe's Deli's Foot Long Subs. Guess who are the title sponsors of this year's J/24 North American Championship?

Yup. Smuckers Uncrustables.


Aaaaaaarrghh.

Rest assured dear readers, I will not take this lying down. I did not ask for this struggle but I will answer the call with confidence. I will keep the pressure on these people. I will not relent.

Spinach?

I'm not sure that all my readers are taking this month's group writing project on Best Sailing Innovation Ever as seriously as the subject deserves. But for what it's worth here are the first five entries...


The Mast! Invented After the Sail by Jim

GORE-TEX® - Best Thing Since Salted Beef by Steve

The Triangular Sail by Captain JP

Reservoirs – providing places to sail no matter where you are by Carol Anne

Spinach, A Sailor's Best Friend by Edward

Along the way my friends considered (and rejected) such candidates for the honor of Best Sailing Innovation Ever as auto-pilots, roller furlers, electric winches, crew, galley slaves, AIS, the sail, the rigging, the rudder, GPS, radio, and lifeboats. (And there was an anonymous commenter who proposed Female Sailors for first place.) So there are a few other ideas if you want to argue the case.

Still plenty of time to participate in the project. What are you waiting for? Maybe I should offer a prize. A pig with lipstick perhaps?


Full details on how to participate at Best Sailing Innovation Ever.

For anyone in the USA who is living under a brick, or for those in other countries not blessed with 24 hour cable TV coverage of the current US presidential election, the pig in lipstick reference is a nod to the issue that has been the #1 topic in the election today. Not the war. Not terrorism. Not global warming. Not the economic situation. Not taxes. Not health care. Not education. Not even how to make sure that the US wins more medals in Sailing at the next Olympics. No. They've all been talking about lipstick on a pig. God help us. We may well yet get the leaders we deserve.