"A Heck of a Wake-up Call"

Number of medals won by USA at Olympic Games/ number of sailing events.

1948 Torquay   4/5

1952 Harmaja  3/5

1956 Port Phillip  2/5

1960 Naples  2/5

1964 Sagami Bay  5/5

1968 Acapulco  2/5

1972 Kiel 3/6

1976 Kingston 3/6

1980 Tallinn - USA Boycott

1984 Long Beach  7/7

1988 Pusan  5/8

1992 Barcelona  9/10

1996 Savannah  2/10

2000 Sydney  4/11

2004 Athens  2/11

2008 Qingdao  2/11

2012  Weymouth  0/10

Sources: US Sailing 1948-2000  and Wikipedia 2004 and 2008


Dean Brenner, outgoing chairman of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Program - "This is not the distinction this team was going for. Listen, there's no hiding. There's no way to spin it. There's no way to suggest anything other than we didn't perform."


U.S. Sailing President Gary Jobson - "A heck of a wake-up call. In essence, we weren't competitive in any class. I was a little surprised, and, like all American sailors, disappointed. The question for me is, what do we do about it? I can't predict how the review will go, but I can tell you it's going to be thorough. This isn't going to stand long-term."

Owen

Grandson Owen

Two years old

Son of a son of a blogger

China Rising

2008 - Olympic gold medal in Laser Radials - USA
2012 - Olympic gold medal in Laser Radials - CHN

Is this a metaphor for something more fundamental?

Laser Cookie

While I was out sailing on Saturday, my 6-year-old granddaughter Emily made a batch of cookies, including this one especially for me.

Pigeon Toed

Thanks to Doug of Improper Course for this overhead shot of Tom Slingsby sailing to Olympic Gold in the Laser Medal Race today.

I was puzzled by one aspect of his hiking style. Why is he pointing his toes inward?

Is this his normal hiking style? Is there some advantage to this? Do other top sailors do this? Does everybody except me do this?

Mr. Happy

Sam Chapin wrote a blog post a few weeks ago, Laser Sailors Look For Happiness, in which he talked about a 21 day program dreamed up by some Harvard professor that is supposed to make you happy.

One of the the things that is supposed to make you happy is to do 30 minutes of exercise every day for 21 days.

Hmmm.



Here is what I did in the last 7 days...

• Monday. Ran 10 miles.
• Tuesday. Went Laser sailing.
• Wednesday. Went Laser sailing again.
• Thursday. Ran 30 minutes.
• Friday. Sailed my Laser in the Buzzards Bay Regatta.
• Saturday. Sailed my Laser in the Buzzards Bay Regatta.
• Sunday. Sailed my Laser in the Buzzards Bay Regatta.

Why do I feel so tired today?

Moth Guide

I love reading Simon Payne's blog. He has such a wicked turn of phrase and a dry British sense of humour. He has just published a form guide for the Moth Worlds later this month. Here are some of his descriptions of his fellow sailors...


Aesthetically better off not wearing Lycra.

His boat has more lines than a zebra wearing corduroys.

He isn’t good at boat work believing they heal over night.

Was racing Moths when the Dead Sea had only just called in sick.

Don’t call starboard on him as he’s wearing headphones, and he won’t hear you.

If they ever translate the rule book into Italian he might benefit from a quick flick through.

Stick your boat next to him in the dinghy park and by the end of the week you will be faster, and also probably a scientologist.



You can read the full guide at 2012 Moth World Championship Form Guide.

Buzzards Bay Regatta 2012

Three days of Laser racing on Buzzards Bay...

Racing against lots of kids. Beating some of them in some races.

Superb winds every day.

Wasn't last in any race.

Didn't break anything.



Lots to blog about including...

My new philosophy about sailing in regattas including (if you are lucky) a crappy drawing of a graph that explains my new philosophy about sailing in regattas.

Some boring charts (not crappy drawings) of what the winds were like.

My new secret weapon for grinding down any random kid.

Things I am doing better now than I used to.

Things I am still doing badly.

More bad mommies.

Crispy bacon.


Watch this space...

Edgy, Aggressive and Unique in Style

On Wednesday afternoon a friend and I went for a sail from Bristol Harbor in our Lasers.

It was blowing about 12 knots from the SW with gusts up to 15-18 knots at times.

It was sunny.

There were some waves.

We blasted upwind until our quads screamed for relief.

And then some.

We sailed under Mount Hope Bridge and across to RWU's dock.

I pointed out where the Tillercottage is on the far shore of Mount Hope Bay, although you can't actually see it from there.

We blasted upwind a bit more.

We sailed back through the bridge and around Hog Island Lighthouse and then reached around the backside of Hog Island and across to Poppasquash Point.

And then it was downwind all the way back to the beach.

It was fun.


We met up with Tillerwoman and walked over to Aidan's Pub for some burgers and beer.

We sat outside.

We saw Elvis.

I spotted a beer on the pub's menu that was described as "exploding with Warrior, Glacier and Cascade hop character."

I like exploding beers so I ordered one.

It was called Monkey Fist.

The menu also said the beer was "edgy, aggressive, and unique in style."

Just like me.

Heidi

I only met Heidi a few days ago but there was an immediate attraction. On Tuesday I decided that I just had to start a relationship with her and I asked her out. She didn't mind my suggestion at all.

Dressed in red and black she looked ready for action. I was excited to be giving her a whirl. After all she's never been rigged before. At least that's what she said.

There are some rules for the first date. I'm not quite sure where they come from but current etiquette has it that you don't want to get your vang too tight and it's not a good idea to yank too hard on the downhaul in the first couple of hours. Something about letting her relax on your first encounter so that she will be in better shape on future outings. Apparently it does wonders for her performance over the long term.

So that's what we did. On Tuesday afternoon I took her over to the iconic waterfront of Bristol, Rhode Island where I've had some success before. She looked crisp and white and so young, with not a wrinkle in sight. Made her predecessor look old and tired by comparison.

We took it gently to start with but, at least on my part, it was love at first sight. She seemed more smooth in the luff than her immediate predecessor; I'm a sucker for smooth luffs. Her bottom had a perfect curve, not too full, just a perfect shape. Her leech was nice and tight as it should be. But I think it fluttered a bit once I started working her a bit harder.

I tried some gentle beating and I was surprised by how well she responded. But mostly I reached around a bit and that was the most exciting part of the date for me. Man, she seems fast.

I haven't been block-to-block with her yet but I suspect that is a definite possibility the next time we go out. I wonder when our next date will be....


OK. OK. OK. I know this is only a rework of my 2008 post First Date. But, hey, recycling is good isn't it? And some of you may not have read that earlier post.

Hmmm. So the sail I bought in 2008 lasted four years before I felt the need to buy a new one last week. There's a lot of whining in the Laser class about how expensive legal sails are and how they don't last very long. There's some truth in that, especially for the guys at the front of the fleet where the wear in even a couple of regattas may make a significant difference to their performance. But for a guy like me thrashing around in the bottom half of the fleet... nah, not so much. I'm only doing this for fun anyway.

I used the sail that was new in 2008 at the 2010 Master Worlds (not the sail's fault that I did so badly there) and at numerous other regattas, and for trips to Cabarete and Clearwater for clinics, and for practice and frostbiting for the last year or so. Four years of fun for around six hundred bucks. A few dollars each time it got used. When you add up all that I have spent on my sailing addiction in those four years, regatta fees, charter fees, airfares, car rentals, hotels, meals out, rum, beer, Advil... etc. etc. etc. the cost of a sail is really not a major part of my sailing expenses.

So let's have less whining and more sailing.