Photo © Tania Samus / www.photoblink.co.uk
The Musto Skiff is a single-hander that I would sail...
- if I were a much better sailor than I really am
- if I lived anywhere near an active fleet
- if I knew how to trapeze
- in my dreams.
The photo above is from the report in Yachts and Yachting about the Musto Skiff Open Event at Whitstable Yacht Club last weekend. Just a few snippets from the Y&Y article will give you an idea of how much "fun" these babies are...
Andy Peake will learn to tie bigger knots or will buy 6mm rope for his trapeze adjusters; whilst sending it on the run in the second race (in second place) his adjusters were down to the knots and as he bounced over a wave the first knot pulled through the cleat .... oh no ... before he could do anything he bounced over another wave resulting in the final knot running through the cleat and from there on it was swimming all the way...
Graeme Oliver was another unfortunate who having sailed 3 good races was on his way to a 4th good result when he went over the handlebars with his foot in the strap ... this lead to twisted knee ligaments and no sailing on the Sunday...
Comedy moment of the race (well for those behind them anyway) was class chairman Simon Reynolds squandering a nailed on 4th place with an impressive windward wipe out taking Russ Clark out in the process...
Mick Keates & Ron Barnes who both completed all 4 races on Saturday in conditions that can only be described as full on ... they showed some of the whipper snappers that experience, guts and bloody mindedness are key qualities for MPS sailing in these conditions...
"Experience, guts and bloody mindedness." Hmmm. Maybe I could handle a Musto Skiff?
Photo © Tania Samus / www.photoblink.co.uk
Here are seven very lame light bulb jokes to kick off Carol Anne's group writing project...
How many high school sailors does it take to change a light bulb?
Three. One to change the bulb, one to be a witness, and one to file the protest.
How many Finn sailors does it take to change a light bulb?
Four. One to hold the bulb and three to rotate the ladder.
How many Star sailors does it take to change a light bulb?
115. One to hold the bulb and 114 to rotate the house.
How many Force 5 sailors does it take to change a light bulb?
Irrelevant. There aren't any Force 5 sailors left. They all burned their boats and bought Lasers.
How many Sunfish sailors does it take to change a light bulb?
None. The class rules don't allow the light bulb to be changed.
How many Moth sailors does it take to change a light bulb?
Meaningless question. The light bulb was eliminated to save weight.
How many Laser sailors does it take to change a light bulb?
None. Laser sailors aren't afraid of the dark.
This week's group writing project is not from me. It's from Carol Anne of Five O'Clock Somewhere. She challenges you to create a light bulb joke with the format "How many ____ sailors does it take to change a light bulb? ____, (because) ____."
For example, "How many Etchells sailors does it take to change a light bulb? It doesn't matter, because they're all busy bragging about their fraculators."
Hmmm. I have no idea what a "fraculator" is, but I guess you get the idea. Full details of how to participate at the bottom of Technology has been unkind to me.
So go across to Five O'Clock Somewhere and help Carol Anne set a new world record for number of entries in a sailing blog group writing project. The current record is only 31 for the Lists project last month. I'm sure we can beat that. I mean, how hard is it to think of a light bulb joke and insult some fellow sailors in the process? Go for it. Do it now.
And while you are at Five O'Clock Somewhere check out some of Carol Anne's stories about sailing such as Ready to sail? and Dismasted! "It's like sex" says Carol Anne. (I think she means sailing, not getting dismasted.)
OK. So dream up some light bulb jokes and enter them in Carol Anne's group writing project. No whining Joe; just do it. Don't leave the jokes here. This is all about helping Carol Anne set the new world record. Do it now.
Many, many moons ago when I was a young lad of 30 years or so of age and I was thinking about whether to take up sailing, I attended a meeting for potential new members at Maidenhead Sailing Club which is west of London in the Thames Valley.
I suspect that most clubs hold "meetings" like this and that they are all much the same. I was forced to drink a few beers while various enthusiastic chappies told me about what a jolly old time they had at Maidenhead SC and especially how the particular class of boat that each chappie sailed was the perfect one for me. I almost fell for the pitch from the Solo chappie. It was after the third, or maybe fourth, pint of beer I believe, that he took me outside to show me his pride and joy in the boat park. It looked pretty snazzy even in the dark.
After that evening I was pretty well set on buying a Solo and joining MSC.
I didn't. I ended up buying a Laser and joining the club at Taplow Lake just down the road. It made sense at the time for reasons I don't fully recall. It was almost 30 years ago.
But if I had gone the Solo route, and if I had not moved to America, I might have been in that photo...of some Solos racing at the Delph Sailing Club Open Meeting on Saturday.
It wouldn't have been so terrible, don't you think?By the way, where the hell is Delph?
After trying Facebook and Twitter I have finally figured out what these anti-social networking services are really about. The chart says it all.
Scuba on the Rhone, dancing on the decks, Jimmy Buffet night on the boat from bvi captains log blog. What a life! Warning: includes pictures of ladies in swimsuits.In Whether to Pay Attention to the Weather Jay agonizes over whether or not to travel to that regatta depending on whether or not the weather forecast is saying whether or not the weather will be wetter or not. Or something like that. I'm just the same.And for you racing sailors, especially Laserites, some great observations and ideas on how to recover from a bad start with The Great Escape by Scott Young, someone who actually merits the title of 'Laser Master'.
Last Sunday the family stopped in for lunch at the famous Rhode Island landmark, Evelyn's Drive-in, just down the road from us in Tiverton. So for today's Fish on Fridays feature you can enjoy the photo of Evelyn's lobster salad plate with french fries.
Thanks to one food guy for the photo, and for a much longer review and many more photos of Evelyn's at The BEST Lobster Roll at Evelyn's Drive-in.
Doesn't that beat one of Joe Rouse's pictures of ladies in swimsuits?
One of the features of this blog for a while now has been the "group writing project". I suggest a topic. Other bloggers and blog lurkers write a post (or two) on that topic. I post links here to their contributions. Everyone can read a bunch of articles on the same topic. That's it. Easy. Maybe even occasionally fun.
Here are some (maybe all) of the group writing projects we have run so far.
May 2009 Lists 31
Nov 2008 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 16
Oct 2008 Bucket List 14
Sep 2008 Best Sailing Innovation 25
July 2008 Heyitwasgreat 9
June 2008 Sailing Goals 11
May 2008 Learning Experiences 19
June 2007 Race Committee Screw-ups 6
May 2007 Worst Sailing Mistakes 14
Dec 2006 Inspiration 10
The numbers after each link in the list above are the number of entries I received for each project... 155 in all, I make it. Did I miss any?
Lately there's been some whining and complaining about these projects. Certain people have been acting as if I am some kind of heavy-handed taskmaster forcing them to stay up all night to complete these onerous writing assignments. For example, see Damn You Tillerman.
Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. People, at least some people, seem to like responding to my occasional suggestion of topics for them to write about. I wonder why?
I have no idea really. So why do you participate in these pretty pointless prose projects? What's in it for you? What do you like about these projects? What don't you like? Answers in the comments please.
Oh shit. I seem to have set you another writing assignment. Damn you Tillerman!
Oh well. Can't be helped now. There will be another group writing project coming up in the next few days. Watch this space...
Photo © Tania Samus / www.photoblink.co.uk
Photo © Tania Samus / www.photoblink.co.uk
