Last night on TV I watched Derek Jeter tie Lou Gehrig's long-standing record for the most career hits in New York Yankees team history. Even the players on the opposing team, the Tampa Bay Rays, applauded him.
I also watched the President of the United States address a joint session of Congress. In the middle of his speech some idiot congressman shouted out, "You Lie!"
Maybe Congress could learn something about respect from baseball?
Thursday, September 10, 2009
I Need a New Hat
I need a new hat.
No, no, no. This is not another post begging for a cool sailing hat like the campaign I ran in January and February to force North Sails to send me a hat I had (IMHO) already well and truly won. North Rocks!
I am speaking metaphorically.
In the past ten years I have worn all sorts of hats.
For six years I wore the hat of Junior Sailing Instructor... for three years as a volunteer and then for three more years in a real job that paid real money. I taught kids how to sail, and how to have fun on the water, and how to race. I was the local cheerleader and organizer for junior Sunfish regattas in northern New Jersey. It was a very satisfying hat to wear but I hung it up in 2005. I will probably leave it on the peg.
I need a new hat.
For a couple of years I wore the hat of Laser Fleet Captain. I started a Laser fleet at my sailing club in New Jersey, looked under very rock to find potential fleet members, helped people find Lasers to buy, encouraged folk to try Laser sailing, organized a new annual Laser regatta, taught fleet members how to sail Lasers better... whatever else fleet captains do. It was fun wearing that hat but I had to hand it over to someone else when I left New Jersey.
I need a new hat.
Why do I feel like I need a new hat? Maybe it's the time of year. Ever since I was in school and college, September always felt like a time for new beginnings, new ventures...
I've been wearing a hat called Laser Sailor for well over a quarter of a century. Wore it a lot last year. Not so much this year. But I like this hat. It suits me. I'm going to continue wearing it for as long as I can. Last night I even dreamed about Laser racing.
I discovered a hat with a label saying "Blogger" in 2005. I like it. It fits me well. I will probably keep wearing it for a few more years, or at least until it doesn't fit me any more.
For many winters I used to wear a hat labeled Crazy Laser Frostbite Sailor. Haven't worn it much these last few years. Want to wear it more this coming winter.
For three years I wore a Marathon Runner hat. The last marathon I ran was London in 2007. It was a tough one. For a couple of years I have been a very lackadaisical runner. But I feel the urge coming on me again. I've been running well this last couple of months. There might be another marathon left in these old legs. Perhaps in Providence RI next May. I think I may put the Marathon Runner hat on again.
But the Marathon Runner hat and Crazy Laser Frostbite Sailor hat are old hats. I need a new hat.
Almost four years ago I was awarded the best hat all... the one labeled Grandfather. Man, I do like being a granddad. It was wonderful being with my grandkids last weekend at their uncle's wedding. When I asked my three-year-old granddaughter Emily what she most enjoyed at the wedding, she said it was "the dancing." The kid danced all night long. She had more energy than any of the adults. I hope I will live long enough to dance with Emily at her wedding. I will always wear my Grandfather hat with pride.
But I need a new hat.
Why is that? For some strange reason now that both my sons are married it feels like some kind of life transition, and I have an urge to take on a new challenge. God knows why. Nothing has really changed in my life. But having seen each of my sons complete undergraduate school, start one career, go to graduate school, start a second career, buy a house and get married (not necessarily always in that order) it seems like the end of a phase of my life.
I need a new hat.
I could dig out one of my old hats. Cyclist. Guitar Player. Skier. Hill Walker. SailX Hotshot. Maybe I will, but they are not new hats.
What new hat could I try on?
Jetskier? Ugh.
Kayaker? Possibly.
Rail Meat? Looks easy.
Astronomer? Comet Tillerman?
Calypso Poet? (If it all falls down.)
Environmental Activist? Will work for trees.
I dunno.
I need a new hat.
What should it be?
No, no, no. This is not another post begging for a cool sailing hat like the campaign I ran in January and February to force North Sails to send me a hat I had (IMHO) already well and truly won. North Rocks!
I am speaking metaphorically.
In the past ten years I have worn all sorts of hats.
For six years I wore the hat of Junior Sailing Instructor... for three years as a volunteer and then for three more years in a real job that paid real money. I taught kids how to sail, and how to have fun on the water, and how to race. I was the local cheerleader and organizer for junior Sunfish regattas in northern New Jersey. It was a very satisfying hat to wear but I hung it up in 2005. I will probably leave it on the peg.
I need a new hat.
For a couple of years I wore the hat of Laser Fleet Captain. I started a Laser fleet at my sailing club in New Jersey, looked under very rock to find potential fleet members, helped people find Lasers to buy, encouraged folk to try Laser sailing, organized a new annual Laser regatta, taught fleet members how to sail Lasers better... whatever else fleet captains do. It was fun wearing that hat but I had to hand it over to someone else when I left New Jersey.
I need a new hat.
Why do I feel like I need a new hat? Maybe it's the time of year. Ever since I was in school and college, September always felt like a time for new beginnings, new ventures...
I've been wearing a hat called Laser Sailor for well over a quarter of a century. Wore it a lot last year. Not so much this year. But I like this hat. It suits me. I'm going to continue wearing it for as long as I can. Last night I even dreamed about Laser racing.
I discovered a hat with a label saying "Blogger" in 2005. I like it. It fits me well. I will probably keep wearing it for a few more years, or at least until it doesn't fit me any more.
For many winters I used to wear a hat labeled Crazy Laser Frostbite Sailor. Haven't worn it much these last few years. Want to wear it more this coming winter.
For three years I wore a Marathon Runner hat. The last marathon I ran was London in 2007. It was a tough one. For a couple of years I have been a very lackadaisical runner. But I feel the urge coming on me again. I've been running well this last couple of months. There might be another marathon left in these old legs. Perhaps in Providence RI next May. I think I may put the Marathon Runner hat on again.
But the Marathon Runner hat and Crazy Laser Frostbite Sailor hat are old hats. I need a new hat.
Almost four years ago I was awarded the best hat all... the one labeled Grandfather. Man, I do like being a granddad. It was wonderful being with my grandkids last weekend at their uncle's wedding. When I asked my three-year-old granddaughter Emily what she most enjoyed at the wedding, she said it was "the dancing." The kid danced all night long. She had more energy than any of the adults. I hope I will live long enough to dance with Emily at her wedding. I will always wear my Grandfather hat with pride.
But I need a new hat.
Why is that? For some strange reason now that both my sons are married it feels like some kind of life transition, and I have an urge to take on a new challenge. God knows why. Nothing has really changed in my life. But having seen each of my sons complete undergraduate school, start one career, go to graduate school, start a second career, buy a house and get married (not necessarily always in that order) it seems like the end of a phase of my life.
I need a new hat.
I could dig out one of my old hats. Cyclist. Guitar Player. Skier. Hill Walker. SailX Hotshot. Maybe I will, but they are not new hats.
What new hat could I try on?
Jetskier? Ugh.
Kayaker? Possibly.
Rail Meat? Looks easy.
Astronomer? Comet Tillerman?
Calypso Poet? (If it all falls down.)
Environmental Activist? Will work for trees.
I dunno.
I need a new hat.
What should it be?
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
How to Sell Sailing
How do we sell sailing? How do we communicate the excitement and fun of our sport to potential new recruits? How do we keep existing sailors fired up about opportunities to continue enjoying the sport?
Our Lasering blogging friend Yarg has provided part of the answer in a perceptive post Sailing: Reports of Its Death Are Exaggerated. Yarg finds that sailing, far from dying, is thriving in his neck of the woods. His local Laser fleet has been growing steadily and he is seeing an "explosion of interest" in the local high school sailing scene.
So what is the secret according to Yarg? It's simply the power of a few enthusiasts to communicate that enthusiasm to others.
He writes...
He is damn right. Yarg, and a few others like him, are doing what is needed to develop and grow sailing in their area, by reaching out to others and advertising their ardor for the sport. Enthusiasts spawn enthusiasts. Go viral!
But how does this work on a global level? How does a class communicate that excitement about their activities on a national, continental or global level? How do they grow their class and continually attract new adherents to their brand of sailing?
Well, of course they use the web. And the reporting on the recent Laser Masters Worlds is a case in point on how to get it right.
Who best communicated the enthusiasm that surrounds the Laser Masters Worlds on the web? The answer might surprise you.
Sure, the regatta organizers did a professional job of telling the story of the Worlds. Regular reports were posted on the regatta website, sometimes while the racing was still in progress, and the results were posted promptly. There was an official photographer who took hundreds of spectacular photos of the sailing action and these photos were posted on the web too.
But remember the E-word? Enthusiasm.
The real feel for the fun of a Laser Masters Worlds and the sense of enthusiasm for the event were communicated by the sailors themselves (and a couple of their wives) via their blogs and some terrific YouTube video interviews.
Kim Ferguson wrote about the exploits of her husband Scott who won the World Championship in what was the largest and probably the toughest fleet at the event, the Masters Standard Rig Fleet. If you don't think that the top guys can also have fun, read Kim's account of Thursday's racing and find out who Scott called, "Boner!!"
Marc Jacobi was also in the Masters Standard Rig Fleet. He didn't do quite as well as Scott but he had his moments. Check out his account of Day 5 for a gripping tale of how hard Marc made Scott work for one of his wins.
Dr J was sailing in the Great Grandmasters Radial Fleet. He also had his moments. Read his account of Day 4 for a terrific story of why Laser Masters Sailing is so much fun. "My best day of Laser sailing ever!" says the good doctor.
Dave Sliom was at his first Masters Worlds and so much enjoyed the experience that he is already working out what he needs to do to improve his sailing for the next Worlds in Hayling Island in the UK in 2010.
Finally we have Tracy Usher, the president of the North American Laser Class, who also blogged about the racing at the Master Worlds. The tagline on his blog is much too modest: "Random discussions about an old and overweight guy still pounding the chop of San Francisco Bay in his Laser". Yeah right! Irony works too.
Even better than the enthusiasm transmitted by those five bloggers were the video interviews with sailors and others by LauraLee Symes. Now this is the way to tell the world about your regatta, and how much fun it is, and why you absolutely have to be there to join us next year.
I already posted about one of LauraLee's videos at Hot Laser Masters Worlds Interviews. Little did I know that this was only the first instalment.
In part 2 LauraLee catches up with half a dozen more sailors including a few who have appeared on this blog before such as Susie Pegel - a REAL Laser Sailor, Nils Andersson of Lura pensionärshemmet, dö i din Laser fame, and some incomprehensible Frenchie who looks a lot like my adversary in England Expects and other posts.
Part 3 has lots of laughs and way too much full frontal nudity.
And the Final video seems to be of a bunch of old drunks at a party desperately trying to remember something of what actually happened in the previous week's sailing. But Wolfgang Gerz did reveal the secret of how to win the World Grandmasters: run every morning at 7am, work out in the gym several times a week, sail a lot all year, and win every Grandmasters title in Europe in the year leading up to the Worlds. Piece of cake!
Seriously, these blogs and LauraLee's videos are a superb way to communicate the fun of this event and the enthusiasm that all these sailors feel for the regatta and the sport in general. Remember what Yarg said? "Enthusiasm for sailing is viral."
So this is what the old geezers in the Laser class can do to proclaim their passion for their brand of sailing. Are other classes doing as much, or perhaps even more, to enthuse sailors for their branch of the sport? More the point, what are you doing to sell sailing to the world?
Our Lasering blogging friend Yarg has provided part of the answer in a perceptive post Sailing: Reports of Its Death Are Exaggerated. Yarg finds that sailing, far from dying, is thriving in his neck of the woods. His local Laser fleet has been growing steadily and he is seeing an "explosion of interest" in the local high school sailing scene.
So what is the secret according to Yarg? It's simply the power of a few enthusiasts to communicate that enthusiasm to others.
He writes...
I find that enthusiasm for sailing is viral, but in a good way. It is spread by person to person contact, and a few carriers go a long way. When enthusiasts spawn other enthusiasts, fleets can grow very quickly.
He is damn right. Yarg, and a few others like him, are doing what is needed to develop and grow sailing in their area, by reaching out to others and advertising their ardor for the sport. Enthusiasts spawn enthusiasts. Go viral!
But how does this work on a global level? How does a class communicate that excitement about their activities on a national, continental or global level? How do they grow their class and continually attract new adherents to their brand of sailing?
Well, of course they use the web. And the reporting on the recent Laser Masters Worlds is a case in point on how to get it right.
Who best communicated the enthusiasm that surrounds the Laser Masters Worlds on the web? The answer might surprise you.
Sure, the regatta organizers did a professional job of telling the story of the Worlds. Regular reports were posted on the regatta website, sometimes while the racing was still in progress, and the results were posted promptly. There was an official photographer who took hundreds of spectacular photos of the sailing action and these photos were posted on the web too.
But remember the E-word? Enthusiasm.
The real feel for the fun of a Laser Masters Worlds and the sense of enthusiasm for the event were communicated by the sailors themselves (and a couple of their wives) via their blogs and some terrific YouTube video interviews.
Kim Ferguson wrote about the exploits of her husband Scott who won the World Championship in what was the largest and probably the toughest fleet at the event, the Masters Standard Rig Fleet. If you don't think that the top guys can also have fun, read Kim's account of Thursday's racing and find out who Scott called, "Boner!!"
Marc Jacobi was also in the Masters Standard Rig Fleet. He didn't do quite as well as Scott but he had his moments. Check out his account of Day 5 for a gripping tale of how hard Marc made Scott work for one of his wins.
Dr J was sailing in the Great Grandmasters Radial Fleet. He also had his moments. Read his account of Day 4 for a terrific story of why Laser Masters Sailing is so much fun. "My best day of Laser sailing ever!" says the good doctor.
Dave Sliom was at his first Masters Worlds and so much enjoyed the experience that he is already working out what he needs to do to improve his sailing for the next Worlds in Hayling Island in the UK in 2010.
Finally we have Tracy Usher, the president of the North American Laser Class, who also blogged about the racing at the Master Worlds. The tagline on his blog is much too modest: "Random discussions about an old and overweight guy still pounding the chop of San Francisco Bay in his Laser". Yeah right! Irony works too.
Even better than the enthusiasm transmitted by those five bloggers were the video interviews with sailors and others by LauraLee Symes. Now this is the way to tell the world about your regatta, and how much fun it is, and why you absolutely have to be there to join us next year.
I already posted about one of LauraLee's videos at Hot Laser Masters Worlds Interviews. Little did I know that this was only the first instalment.
In part 2 LauraLee catches up with half a dozen more sailors including a few who have appeared on this blog before such as Susie Pegel - a REAL Laser Sailor, Nils Andersson of Lura pensionärshemmet, dö i din Laser fame, and some incomprehensible Frenchie who looks a lot like my adversary in England Expects and other posts.
Part 3 has lots of laughs and way too much full frontal nudity.
And the Final video seems to be of a bunch of old drunks at a party desperately trying to remember something of what actually happened in the previous week's sailing. But Wolfgang Gerz did reveal the secret of how to win the World Grandmasters: run every morning at 7am, work out in the gym several times a week, sail a lot all year, and win every Grandmasters title in Europe in the year leading up to the Worlds. Piece of cake!
Seriously, these blogs and LauraLee's videos are a superb way to communicate the fun of this event and the enthusiasm that all these sailors feel for the regatta and the sport in general. Remember what Yarg said? "Enthusiasm for sailing is viral."
So this is what the old geezers in the Laser class can do to proclaim their passion for their brand of sailing. Are other classes doing as much, or perhaps even more, to enthuse sailors for their branch of the sport? More the point, what are you doing to sell sailing to the world?
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Little Guy
He was only 7 years old that summer. He had learned to sail an Optimist a few weeks earlier and so I took him and his elder brother on a week long Optimist sailing camp at our home sailing club on Rutland Water in the UK.
My role was to be a sailing instructor and coach for a group of about 8 or 10 kids. Neither of my own sons was in that group, which was probably just as well for all concerned. My little guy was in the beginners' group. His big brother was in the top group working on his racing skills and all that good stuff.
It was a fun week. One day we organized a treasure hunt where the kids had to sail from place to place around the reservoir picking up clues. For the older kids it was a good challenge; as for the little ones they probably sailed further and over more open water on that day than they had ever done before.
As luck would have it, the treasure hunt was held on the windiest day of the camp. Some of the younger kids were struggling to handle the windier conditions. At the second or third stop for clues around the lake, about a couple of miles up the lake from the club, some of the kids in my little guy's group came over to me and told me he was freaking out. He didn't want to sail any more.
I wasn't sure how to handle it. Part of me wanted to be the protective parent and tell my son that he could forget sailing and that he could ride in the rescue boat with me; part of me wanted to encourage him to face his fears and tough it out; part of me felt that the adults in charge of his group should deal with the situation as they felt best.
I probably wasn't a very good Dad or a very good coach that day. I refused to intervene and he had to sail all the way back to the club in his Optimist just like all the big kids did. He sailed straight back to the beach and didn't participate in the climax of the treasure hunt, some hokey thing to do with a ghost appearing on a moored boat to "scare" all the kids.
I don't suppose the experience did the little guy too much permanent harm. He didn't give up sailing. He went on to sail all kinds of boats, learned how to kayak and windsurf too, won his share of races, turned out to be a better sailor than me.
He's not a little guy any more. That Optimist camp was 21 summers ago. Little guy is getting married this weekend to a wonderful woman whom we all love.
I'm so proud of him.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Those Guys
I've written here at length about some, perhaps mythical, sailor I call "that guy". He's the one I'm always trying to beat on the race course but never do. (Well hardly ever.)
The truth is that there isn't just one "that guy". There are a whole bunch of them... "those guys." Old geezers like me who I'm always meeting at Laser regattas up and down the east coast. I've been crossing tacks with them for years. They are all tough competitors on the race course and good fun afterwards.
Here are photos of three of my "those guys" at the Laser Masters Worlds in Canada this week thanks to capizzano.com.
John Bentley
Alain Vincey
Amnon Gitelson
Good luck to all "those guys".
The truth is that there isn't just one "that guy". There are a whole bunch of them... "those guys." Old geezers like me who I'm always meeting at Laser regattas up and down the east coast. I've been crossing tacks with them for years. They are all tough competitors on the race course and good fun afterwards.
Here are photos of three of my "those guys" at the Laser Masters Worlds in Canada this week thanks to capizzano.com.
John Bentley
Alain Vincey
Amnon GitelsonGood luck to all "those guys".
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Hot Laser Masters Worlds Interviews
So far we have been following action at the Laser Masters Worlds in Canada by catching up on some of the blogs of participating sailors. But hey, look at this, now we have a YouTube video interview with six of the sailors, including some of the guys who are racing in the Grandmasters Standard Fleet, my fleet if I'd actually been able to go to the Worlds this year. Kudos to our intrepid video reporter at the Worlds, LauraLee Symes, for this scoop.
The thing that makes me chuckle about this video is the varying reactions of the sailors when LauraLee sticks the camera in their faces and asks one of those hard-hitting reporter-type questions like, "What are you going to do today?"
Mark Bethwaite is the coolest and most relaxed of the bunch. But then he has been winning major sailing championships for decades and so probably has lots of experience in dealing with the "press".
But some of the others have that "deer in the headlights" look, and deal with the question in a variety of different ways. Tracy Usher is politically correct, as always, and tells the reporter he is going to "have fun". Poor Rob Hodson is caught as he is lathering up with sunscreen and spends most of the interview trying to rub the sunscreen out of his eyes and mumbling incoherently.
But best of all is the last interview with LauraLee's husband Bill Symes. After LauraLee asks him the delightfully vague question, "What are you doing here?" he silently maintains a clenched teeth grin for all of ten seconds... what is he thinking?
But then, amazingly, he goes on to predict that he's going to beat Bethwaite and Gerz and win the race. Which is exactly what he did!
Thanks LauraLee. Maybe we will see some more video reporting before the week is over?
The thing that makes me chuckle about this video is the varying reactions of the sailors when LauraLee sticks the camera in their faces and asks one of those hard-hitting reporter-type questions like, "What are you going to do today?"
Mark Bethwaite is the coolest and most relaxed of the bunch. But then he has been winning major sailing championships for decades and so probably has lots of experience in dealing with the "press".
But some of the others have that "deer in the headlights" look, and deal with the question in a variety of different ways. Tracy Usher is politically correct, as always, and tells the reporter he is going to "have fun". Poor Rob Hodson is caught as he is lathering up with sunscreen and spends most of the interview trying to rub the sunscreen out of his eyes and mumbling incoherently.
But best of all is the last interview with LauraLee's husband Bill Symes. After LauraLee asks him the delightfully vague question, "What are you doing here?" he silently maintains a clenched teeth grin for all of ten seconds... what is he thinking?
But then, amazingly, he goes on to predict that he's going to beat Bethwaite and Gerz and win the race. Which is exactly what he did!
Thanks LauraLee. Maybe we will see some more video reporting before the week is over?
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Picture Contest
I found this photo on a sailing blog yesterday. Where was it taken?
Prize for the first correct answer - 5% discount off the price of the fabulous amazing awesome Proper Course: The Laser Experience!
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Bullet
I have a stupid question?
Why do people say, "he scored a bullet," when somebody wins a sailing race?
Where does it come from? Does it have anything to do with the expression "bite the bullet"? Can you only say "score a bullet" or is it OK to say "did a bullet" or "got the bullet" or other variations?
Anyway my compatriots from Laser District 7 (aka New England in non-Lasering circles) were doing bullets all over the place in the Laser Masters Worlds on Monday.
Our blogging friend Marc Jacobi (I told you he was good) made a bullet in one of the Masters Standard Rig fleets and told us all about it in Second Day - Patience (and confidence) are virtues.
Meanwhile in the other Masters Standard Rig fleet, Scott Ferguson bulleted too. His blogging wife Kim tell the story in The "bullet" Boys! Kim also gives a shout-out for fellow Newport fleet member Peter Seidenberg who has been shooting bullets every day in the Great Grandmaster Radial Fleet.
Dr J didn't make any bullets on Monday but he was racing in Peter's fleet and tells us in Second Day how Peter crossed him by inches halfway up the first beat but after that things went downhill for Dr J.
After twenty years of experience racing against Peter, I have one piece of advice for Dr J. If Mr. Seidenberg is going right and you are going left then he is probably right and you are wrong. Tack before he crosses you and lead him out to the right. Good things will probably happen.
Tracy Usher didn't bullet on Monday either. He starts his post 2009 Masters' World, day two saying, "In summary: ugh!"
Dave Sliom had a "not bad" Day 2 but no bulleting, and is looking forward to using his Chesapeake experience in the forecast light and shifty stuff on Tuesday.
So enough about the hotshots at the Worlds. Let's get back to the real subject of this blog... me. I've done a few bullets you know, had my bullet moments, shot the proverbial B thingie. If you don't believe me check out Just One of Those Days and Marblehead. Oh yeah, I can be a real bulleter some days.
So how did this expression "bullet" originate? And have I been using it correctly?
Why do people say, "he scored a bullet," when somebody wins a sailing race?
Where does it come from? Does it have anything to do with the expression "bite the bullet"? Can you only say "score a bullet" or is it OK to say "did a bullet" or "got the bullet" or other variations?
Anyway my compatriots from Laser District 7 (aka New England in non-Lasering circles) were doing bullets all over the place in the Laser Masters Worlds on Monday.
Our blogging friend Marc Jacobi (I told you he was good) made a bullet in one of the Masters Standard Rig fleets and told us all about it in Second Day - Patience (and confidence) are virtues.
Meanwhile in the other Masters Standard Rig fleet, Scott Ferguson bulleted too. His blogging wife Kim tell the story in The "bullet" Boys! Kim also gives a shout-out for fellow Newport fleet member Peter Seidenberg who has been shooting bullets every day in the Great Grandmaster Radial Fleet.
Dr J didn't make any bullets on Monday but he was racing in Peter's fleet and tells us in Second Day how Peter crossed him by inches halfway up the first beat but after that things went downhill for Dr J.
After twenty years of experience racing against Peter, I have one piece of advice for Dr J. If Mr. Seidenberg is going right and you are going left then he is probably right and you are wrong. Tack before he crosses you and lead him out to the right. Good things will probably happen.
Tracy Usher didn't bullet on Monday either. He starts his post 2009 Masters' World, day two saying, "In summary: ugh!"
Dave Sliom had a "not bad" Day 2 but no bulleting, and is looking forward to using his Chesapeake experience in the forecast light and shifty stuff on Tuesday.
So enough about the hotshots at the Worlds. Let's get back to the real subject of this blog... me. I've done a few bullets you know, had my bullet moments, shot the proverbial B thingie. If you don't believe me check out Just One of Those Days and Marblehead. Oh yeah, I can be a real bulleter some days.
So how did this expression "bullet" originate? And have I been using it correctly?
what a plonker
This blog has many uses. Some people find it amusing. Some people find it interesting. Some people even say it has inspired them to do crazy things like take up sailboat racing or writing a blog.
In the last few days, some dudes called Anonymous (or perhaps it is one dude called Anonymous talking with himself -- there are certain similarities in the writing styles of our protagonists) have been using it to abuse some other dude called Anonymous for a helpful comment that the latter Anonymous made on a post I wrote over three years ago: Taplow Lake Sailing Club. Here is the unedited conversation in its entirety...
I guess it takes all sorts...
In the last few days, some dudes called Anonymous (or perhaps it is one dude called Anonymous talking with himself -- there are certain similarities in the writing styles of our protagonists) have been using it to abuse some other dude called Anonymous for a helpful comment that the latter Anonymous made on a post I wrote over three years ago: Taplow Lake Sailing Club. Here is the unedited conversation in its entirety...
Anonymous said...
"I've no idea why all those cars are parked on the right side."
The local Farmer has found it more profitable to use his field for car boot sales rather than grow things - it clogs up the A4 (The main road you can see in the picture) every Saturday during the summer (just about anyway)!
Thank you for the history - TSC is one of the clubs we are looking at to join as a family.
6:55 PM
Anonymous said...
to the that idiot who says he gets stuck in the car boot sale traffic every saturday i would just like to let him the sale is on a sunday!!
5:27 AM
Anonymous said...
what a plonker if he does not know his saturdays from his sundays can you imagin what it would be like to sail with him!
5:41 AM
Anonymous said...
here here
8:59 AM
Anonymous said...
i know him he does not even know the date his son was born prat
12:40 PM
Anonymous said...
i bet he supports millwall
12:42 PM
Anonymous said...
if he knew what day they play
12:43 PM
Anonymous said...
in that prats back garden
4:29 AM
Anonymous said...
where is his garden i would like to dig it up what amoron
4:31 AM
Anonymous said...
are you sure he is not related to the captain of the titanic
3:44 PM
I guess it takes all sorts...
Monday, August 31, 2009
Where's Waldo?
Where's Waldo? No wait. I mean, where's Tillerman?
The photo above is (most of) Team USA at the Laser Masters Worlds being sailed in Nova Scotia this week. Regular readers of this blog will know that the Masters Worlds is one of my favorite events as I wrote extensively here about all the fun I had at the last two Worlds in Australia and Spain.
There are a lot of familiar faces of old sailing friends in that photo. But I'm not there.
I should be there. I qualified to enter (not actually very hard). I beat the rush and entered on time. My entry was accepted.
But then I had to withdraw because my son decided to get married next weekend. I did briefly consider whether I could make both of these major events. After all the wedding isn't until Sunday... but no, it wouldn't work. The last race on Saturday could start as late as just two hours before the rehearsal dinner which is 824 miles away from the regatta site. Not practical.
So I will go to the wedding instead and look forward to the 2010 Laser Masters Worlds in England. Only 378 days to go!
But I can follow the 2009 regatta vicariously (not often you see that word on a sailing blog) through the bloggers that are sailing in it and/or writing about it. It's a very complicated event because there are 297 sailors who are actually competing in seven different fleets depending on their age group and which rig they choose, Standard or Radial. It's actually even more complex than that because one of the fleets is so large that they have had to break it down into two fleets with a qualifying series first.
So here are the bloggers covering the event that I know of so far. Please let me know if you find any others...
Kim Ferguson, whose husband Scott is racing in the Masters (age 45-54) Standard Rig Division, has a post about the first day's racing Some pretty good sailors comin' from little Rhody which concentrates on how well the top sailors from the Newport Laser Fleet, including her husband, are doing against some very high quality competition.
Dave Sliom from the rival Laser fleet in Annapolis, Maryland is also in the Masters Standard Division. He is one of those guys who sailed Lasers many years ago, then went off and did keelboats for a while, but came back to Lasers about 18 months ago because of the "simple beauty of the Laser". Sounds as if he is really having a blast doing Masters event. Read all about his first day at the Worlds in Day 1.
Let's see. Newport - check. Annapolis - check. Anybody there from the other top-notch Laser frostbite fleet on the east coast of the US, Cedar Point YC at Westport in Connecticut? Of course, there's a bunch, including blogger Marc Jacobi who tells us all about his First day. When I sailed at Cedar Point, Marc was regularly the fleet champion and very much the informal coach and advisor who was always helping the rest of us to improve our sailing. I think I am right in saying that Marc is one of only two Laser sailors who has qualified and sailed in every US Olympic Trials since the Laser became an Olympic boat (the other being Kurt Taulbee.) Marc is also in the Masters Standard Division and doing pretty well so far.
And here's yet another sailor in that division. Tracy Usher from the San Francisco Bay area, also by the way president of the North American Laser Class, has posted 2009 Masters Worlds Day One. Wow, this guy must have a photographic memory. His account of the second race retells every shift, every tack, every competitor ducked or crossed... or so it seems. Well I guess when you can score a second place finish in this level of competition you do remember all the details. Well done Tracy.
Finally we have Dr J, the author of Favored End, who is sailing in the Great Grandmasters (over 65) Radial Fleet, and who (I think) is also from Annapolis. He is a recent convert to Laser Masters sailing after racing other dinghies and small keelboats for most of his life. He has posted an account of the First Day of Racing but my favorite post on his blog is Couch Potato, about his unique method for getting fit for Laser sailing.
Reading all these blogs makes me wish I was out there on St. Margaret's Bay racing with these guys. Oh well. Can't be helped. I had better give some thought to that father-of-the-groom speech for the rehearsal dinner on Saturday. Anybody got any ideas?
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