Anna Wins Gold in China

Regular readers of this blog will have noticed that I have a thing about Anna Tunnicliffe. No, I'm not an Anna groupie. I'm too old for crushes on athletic young women who can sail a Laser better then me. Besides Tillerwoman wouldn't approve.

No. It's more that I became somewhat tired of the Paige Railey PR machine. A year or two ago it seemed that Paige was always in the news. Youth phenom. Rolex whatever. And nobody seemed to be paying attention to the fact that the US had another top class female Laser Radial Sailor named Anna Tunnicliffe. So, in my contrary way I started blogging occasionally about Anna.

In January 2006, Anna won the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. Wow, I wish I could hike like she is doing in that photo.

In February my granddaughter Emily and I had a discussion about hiking styles after she saw that photo. She's even more precocious now. Emily not Anna.

In December I had a little patriotic outburst about the dominance of British Olympic sailors in the ISAF rankings, along with a quiz asking who was the only American ranking number one in an Olympic class. Of course the answer was Anna.

In May of this year I did a post about the top two American Olympic campaigners in the Laser and Laser Radial classes. Of course Anna was mentioned.

In July I wrote a couple of posts about Anna's performance in the ISAF Worlds.

Get the picture? I guess I am an Anna fan. Been following her sailing career and blogging about her successes for a couple of years now. So imagine how thrilled I was this week when Anna won the gold medal at the Good Luck Beijing - 2007 Qingdao International Regatta in Qingdao, China, the second test event before the 2008 Olympic Games. Not quite an Olympic Gold but the next best thing I would guess.


Surely she is one of the USA's best hopes for a sailing gold medal in the Olympics next year. But first she has to win the Trials. I'm rooting for you girl.

Five Tips on How to Jibe a Laser in Heavy Air

"How the hell do you jibe in those conditions?" asks Adam Turinas in a comment to Monday's post about racing a Laser in over 20 knots.

Hmmm. Somebody is asking me for advice on Laser boat-handling? This guy must be desperate.

But it is true that, although I capsized a couple of times on Saturday, I didn't capsize at all at the gybe mark while others near me in the fleet did. So, even if am a total klutz at many Lasering skills, maybe I'm not totally hopeless at heavy air gybes. So what can I tell you?

Well, first of all the main way that people capsize a Laser in heavy air when gybing from reach to reach is by screwing up into the wind and broaching after the gybe. So here's Tillerman's tips on how to avoid this...

1. Gybe when you're going fastest. I know this sounds scary and counter-intuitive but it really is easier to gybe when you're planing or surfing down a wave. At this point there is very little load on the rig so the sail comes across pretty easily.

2. Gybe with confidence. When you decide it's time to gybe, don't futz about, just do it. Pull in the sheet a bit, bear away, and as the boat starts to gybe, give the sheet another pull.

3. Keep the boat flat. Forget about trying to roll the boat in the really heavy stuff. As the boom comes across throw your weight across to the new windward side. Remember what I said about most capsizes during gybes in heavy air being caused by screwing up into the wind? Well, you don't want to come out of the gybe with a major heel to leeward as you'll be heading for Broachville.

4. Do it like Turban. I learned this trick from an instructor named Turban at the Sunsail Watersports Center in Antigua. He was called Turban because he wore a turban. I guess you had to be there...

Where was I? Where am I? Oh yes. Turban's trick. Turban he say, "Downwind tuck your back leg so that your thigh is over the hiking strap and your calf is under it." This is actually a very stable position for a heavy air run or broad reach, and if you have your leg like that before the gybe, when you throw body across the boat to the new windward side, your front foot (old back foot) will already be under the hiking strap. So if you need to hike hard to flatten the boat you will avoid the ignominious fate of falling out of the boat backwards because you didn't have a foot under the strap.

5. Bear away. As soon as the boom crosses the center-line, reverse the tiller and start bearing away on the new tack. Remember your high school physics lessons about angular momentum? No? Well, when you gybed you started the boat, boom and sail all spinning in one direction. If they keep spinning that way you are going to to do one of those screw-up into the wind leeward-heel broach capsize glug-glug-glug maneuvers that I warned you about. So you need to stop that spin by bearing away before it happens. You will end up steering an S-shaped course through the gybe.

OK. That's two or three hundred words that have exhausted the sum total of all I have learned about heavy air gybes in a quarter of a century of Laser sailing. Some of you reading this must know more, or can tell me if any of the above is utter nonsense. Bring it on.

Small Craft Advisory

Saturday morning and the wind is howling from the NW across Mount Hope Bay and blasting the front of our house. Litoralis (a.k.a. son #1) and I check the weather services online. NOAA has a Small Craft Advisory out for Rhode Island and all the services are forecasting 20 mph winds gusting to 30 to 35, with the afternoon being windier than the morning.

We debate whether to go to the regatta or not. We agree that it feels like one of those days where you go to the regatta, hang around for a few hours as the race committee keeps you on shore while they postpone racing an hour at a time until finally calling it off mid-afternoon. To go or not to go? We vacillate. Don't want to waste a day sitting around on the shore waiting for an indecisive race committee to call it off; don't want to miss the regatta if they do sail. Need to leave the house around 11am if we are going to be there on time.

At 10:50am I make an executive decision. We're going. Last minute flurry of activity to pack water bottles, energy bars (no Uncrustables for us), hitch up the two Laser trailers to our cars and we're off.

As we arrive at the regatta site we see the bay covered in white caps. There are a few other Laser sailors in the parking lot looking uncertain. Some have taken Lasers off roof racks and trailers. Some are waiting. Another sailor arrives and announces that he thinks there is a 20% chance we will race. We check out the launch situation: two narrow ramps with a pier between them, rocks on one side, facing almost straight into the wind and with waves crashing on the ramps. We all have mental images that it's going to be something like this video. Going out will be tough. Coming back in will be worse.

Another sailor arrives and proclaims in more positive tones that even if we don't race we will sail. He knows more sheltered areas to launch from. Sounds good. We can still go out and have a blast around even if the RC think it's too windy to race.

Wait. What's this? I see a few Lasers rigging at the beach just up the bay from the boat launch area. That beach is usually reserved for swimming but nobody is swimming today. We jump in our cars and drive over to the beach. Local official tells us we can't launch from the beach. After some discussion he relents as long as we keep to one end. It's going to be a hell of a lot easier to launch through the surf from the beach than off those narrow ramps.

We rig. I encase myself in several layers of neoprene and goretex. The RC boat arrives offshore flying a "Come Within Hail" flag. Launching is something of a challenge but is helped by a couple of guys (non-sailing Dads I think) who help hold our boats in the crashing surf and then push us off at an opportune moment. Litoralis capsizes while launching.

We follow the RC boat out to the race area. Hmmm. This is going to be interesting. Don't think I've sailed in winds like this since Cabarete. The kite surfers reaching up and down add to the impression that this is Cabarete. But the first cold wave breaking over my head dispels any illusion that we are in the Caribbean.

First race gets under way. Two lap triangle. I race the first beat conservatively just trying to stay upright, keep the boat as flat as possible, and not bury the bow into the wave fronts. Litoralis does better and arrives at the windward mark in second place. On the first reach he capsizes, loses the end of his mainsheet and retires from the race. Tie two stopper knots next time son.

I stagger around the two laps, capsizing twice myself on the second lap. I start telling myself that I'm getting too old for this game. What am I thinking, going to two Masters Worlds in the next six months? I can't do this any more. But then on the final beat I find myself only one place behind that guy again. OK. I guess this is tough for everyone. A few boats call it a day after the first race including one guy with a broken mast.

As I munch a Clif Bar and try and recover before the second race, the RC announces that it will be a one lap triangle. That perks me up. Maybe I can sail hard for one lap without getting too shattered. Off we go on the second race. I'm getting the hang of the conditions now. Litoralis arrives at the windward mark in second place again and capsizes on the first reach again. What's wrong with this kid? The reaches are fun. Waves are coming sideways on the first reach and you can catch some rides, but on the second reach they are more from astern so it's one long roller coaster ride to the leeward mark.

Every race I wonder if this will be my last, and I will call it a day after the race. But somehow I recover some energy between races and keep going all afternoon. Litoralis stops capsizing and finishes in front of me a couple of times. I stop capsizing and start actually thinking I know how to sail in the heavy stuff. The wind drops significantly for the fifth and final race, which is probably just as well for the return to the beach.

Definitely glad we decided to come. Great workout and practice in heavier winds. Results nothing to write home (or blog) about but, hey, I'm a old guy who can still Lasers with the kids and survive to tell the tale.

Cheat the nursing home, die on your Laser. But not this week.

Virtually Perfect

To answer my own request for good news about regatta organizers and race committees, I did sail in one regatta this year that was virtually perfect. Even though the winds were sometimes shifty, the start lines and courses were as square as could reasonably be expected. Start sequences and signals were spot on. Finishes were recorded accurately and, as soon as one race had finished, the RC started the sequence for the next race without any waiting around. There were no peanut butter and jelly unmentionables posing as regatta lunches, and the regatta results were posted on the web an hour or so after the last race. About the only thing to complain about as far as race management was concerned was that the start lines were a little short for the size of the fleet.

Off the water there was absolutely nothing to which one could take exception. No parking problems. No extra charges for food or drink. No dead skunks Brian.

On top of all that I had my best overall score in any regatta this season with a fifth place ranking. Then today I discovered that the regatta was written up on the Yachts and Yachting web page, with a brief description of a typical clumsy blunder by myself in one race. Still, there's no such thing as bad publicity and I will try not to let the fame go to my head.

Here's a picture from the Y&Y site of myself making a perfect mid-line start away from all the chaos at the pin end. That's me in the pink boat with my bow just hitting the line as the gun went off.


Oh, didn't I mention? It wasn't a real regatta. It was the first weekly Tacticat regatta last Monday, hosted in Europe this week. For those of you not in the know, Tacticat is an Internet environment where sailors of different countries and sailing classes meet to train tactics by virtually racing each other.

As I said, virtual perfection in regatta management thanks to the brilliant minds that invented Tacticat and continue to improve it in response to feedback from users. Come join us.

Wanted: Good News

So here I am, trying to redress the balance after several posts I wrote whining about race committees and regatta organizers, deciding yesterday to be more positive and letting the world know of a story about how Malletts Bay Boat Club was able to post the results of the 2007 Laser US Nationals so quickly...

When some dude called Brian leaves a comment telling me about all the problems at the self-same regatta and letting all the air out of my balloon of optimism and positivity. Apparently Brian had to walk an eighth of a mile every day, and failed to make the time limit in one race, and suffered other gross indignities such as having to look at a sign saying "Member Parking Only"...

Well, I have to admit that dude Brian has the jump on me because he actually sailed in the regatta and actually has some hard facts, while I have just been soaking up the propaganda promulgated on the web by the regatta organizers. But even so...

I refuse to be brought down by dude Brian's negativity. I demand to hear good news about race committees and regatta organizers. So please tell me...

What was the best example you have seen this year of excellence in race management?

Which regatta organizers did a superb job in your view?

What regatta did you sail this year where you left thinking, "These folk just know how to run a regatta properly. I will be back."?

Give me some good news. I insist.

Bad News Good News

Captain JP asked a great question today: Are bad posts good?

His point is that the most popular post on his blog recently was about his Worst Ever Race. Apparently people love to read about others' misfortunes. I've had a similar experience. No -- I never tried racing a triple-reefed Topper in a Force 2 wind. What I mean is that on this blog too, the most widely read recent post was the one where I was whining about the Uncrustables in a regatta lunch. Folk apparently love a good negative story, especially if it bashes some poor, overworked, volunteer regatta-organizer.

I guess we shouldn't be too surprised. Check out your major newspaper or TV news program. It's the bad news that makes the headlines. And the talk shows are full of politicians rubbishing the performance of your country's selfless, dedicated, masterly government leaders.

I've done a lot of whining about regatta organizers and race committees lately. I do feel guilty about writing so much negative stuff. My only excuses are that I do also write about my own screw-ups in various capacities, and one can only hope that talking about other people's mistakes will make us all better sailors, race committee staff, sailing club leaders, sailing instructors, or purveyors of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for hungry sailors. No. Scrub that last one.

So to change to a more positive tone, let's give credit to a race committee that knows how to do things right. Check out the account of how Malletts Bay Boat Club managed to record the finishes of the 2007 US Laser Nationals accurately and post them so quickly to the web. It's a story of attention to detail, superb organization and planning, practice, well-designed processes, delegation, intelligent use of technology, and commitment to excellence.

Congratulations to Malletts Bay. Other RCs please note. It can be done.

Papa's Got A Brand New Bag

Laser sailors treasure their bags. No Adam, not a giblet bag, though I must say I too, like Captain Giblet Bag, cut a fine manly figure in a Speedo. No Joe, there will be no pictures.

Where was I? Where am I? Oh yes. Bags.

Not long after Bruce Kirby launched the first Laser, way back in the early 70s, some bright spark invented the Laser foil bag. You see when you pack up your Laser after sailing you want to take home with you your daggerboard, your tiller, your rudder, your sail, your battens etc. etc. You don't want to leave them on the boat for the boards to warp in the summer heat or for some jerk to "borrow" your pristine new sail and your finely polished rudder. So you need a bag to carry all those unwieldy parts. Hence the Laser foil bag.

Fast forward to the twenty-first century and the technology of foil bags has advanced somewhat. As the Laser is a strict one-design we can't do much to improve the boat, but, hey, we can have a cooler, snazzier, better designed foil bag than the kid next to us in the boat park. It's all about psychology dude. Impress that kid with your equipment (no not the giblet bag) before sailing and the battle is half won before the race starts.

So it was with considerable excitement that I unpacked the parcel that arrived a few days ago from Intensity Sails with some new Laser gizmos including a bright red, high-tech-looking Intensity Sails Foil Bag. I packed all my gear into the bag before the Buzzards Bay Regatta last weekend and gave my new toy a trial.

Man this is one amazing feat of modern fabric engineering. The compartment for the daggerboard itself is well padded to protect the vulnerable edges and corners and has a vent of mesh down one side. I like that. As someone who is too lazy to dry my foils before I pack them away it's good to know that the board will dry out in the bag, and it's also supposed to protect against overheating. (Don't want a warped edge dude. Nothing worse than a warped edge.) The daggerboard compartment is closed with a sturdy looking zipper -- an "oversize 3 sided coil self healing zipper" according to the website. I've no idea what that means but it sounds good and could be a useful put-down line at some point. "How many sides does your coil have, dude?"

The rudder goes into a compartment closed with a hefty Velcro flap. Wait, there's another compartment under the flap, just the right size for a folded sail. Cool.

Wait. What's this. Another compartment on the outside of the bag with another zipper. Just right for storing battens, and maybe some lines. A place for everything and everything in its place. And then over on the other side, placed diagonally so as to maximize its length, is a long pocket for the tiller and those extra-long tiller extensions that all us Laser guys prefer. Size does matter baby.

The one feature that I found a little strange and that is different from all other foil bags I have seen is that this one is designed to carry the daggerboard trailing edge down. It always made sense to me to have it the other way up so the board rests on its thick leading edge, and the relatively fragile trailing edge is protected from accidental knocks when some klutz like me drops his bag on the floor too hard, for example. I asked Jim Myers of Intensity Sails about this aspect of the design. His reply was, "We looked at this and found with the seam, seam taping and padding that there was enough support for the trailing edge for normal use. I have used mine for over a year with no trailing edge issues." Sounds good. But I still put the bag upside down when I put it in the back of my car.

The Intensity Sails Laser Foil Bag looks sturdy and well-constructed and as if it should last many, many years. There is a bold "Sail with Intensity" logo on one side. Maybe it will remind me to do just that if I look at it often enough? The other side has white spaces to write my sail number and name so that some other envious Laserite can't "accidentally" make off with it. There is a carrying handle and a shoulder strap. Every feature you could imagine wanting. Superb product.

But wait, there's more. Here's why you should rush off now to the Intensity Sails website and order a foil bag. The price. The regular price is $99.99 and they are currently on sail for $69.99. What? Is that a mistake? Has Jim lost his mind? One of my other favorite vendors of Laser goodies is charging over twice that price for their foil bag. So buy one now before Jim recovers his sanity. Even better buy two, one for you and one for your best friend, wife, husband, father, son, whatever as their next birthday present.

What's that, you don't know any other Laser sailors? You will. There are 190,000 of us. Buy two bags anyway.

What? You don't sail a Laser? You mean, you don't sail a Laser yet. You will. It's addictive. In any case buy, two or three foil bags so you can give them to your current and future Laser sailing friends. There's no better value and there's no better present for a Laser sailor.

OK. Got to put my Intensity Sails Foil Bag back in the car and go sailing. See ya!

Come here sister.....Papa's in the swing
He ain't too hip...about that new breed babe
He ain't no drag
Papa's got a brand new bag

Come here mama....and dig this crazy scene
He's not too fancy....but his line is pretty clean
He ain't no drag.
Papa's got a brand new bag

We Have The Technology

There's been some whining in some quarters recently about the ability or willingness of organizers of major regattas to post results and news about their events on-line in a prompt manner. (Not here of course. I never whine about regatta organizers.)

So let's give kudos (and smarties and M&Ms too) to Malletts Bay Boat Club, host of the 2007 US Laser Nationals who have someone on the finish boat posting live updates about action on the water today and who by 2pm had already posted some of the results of today's races while other races are still going on.

Way to go Malletts Bay.

Laser Sailing Questions

JP, the author of Captain JP's log has been trying out a Laser and has some questions about Laser sailing...

One thing I've noticed is not everyone sails the same way: for example during tacking when does the tiller flip from behind the back - before or after? In the lesson we were told tack first then get the tiller on the right side but my nephew flips it over before the tack and says that's how he was taught.

Not sure if you're talking here about flipping the tiller extension to the new side, or swapping sheet and tiller hands.

Don't flip the tiller extension to the new side before the tack. Hold it in the natural position that you have been holding it for beating as you go into the tack.

As for the swap of sheet and tiller extension to the new hands, the way that's usually taught is to do the hand swap after you have crossed to the new side of the boat. That's what Ben Ainslie describes in his book. But in Ben Tan's book, the chapter on tacking shows the hand swap being done behind the back as the sailor crosses the boat. I think I do both in different circumstances. I've never heard of anyone swapping tiller and sheet hands before the tack.


Also which method is best for pulling lots of sheet in at once - wrap round knee or tiller? Which do you use or does it vary by circumstance or preference?

Knee? Tiller? Neither. Don't use your teeth either. (I've seen people do that too.)

The way to sheet in is to use both hands. With practice you can grab the sheet near the block with your tiller hand (while still holding the end of the tiller extension). Lift that hand upwards pulling in several feet of sheet (of course while steering straight at the same time). Then grab the sheet near the block with your sheet (front) hand and pull in several more feet. Repeat, alternating each hand. Of course you need a tiller extension long enough to be able to reach to the block without dropping the extension.

Both of these techniques, the hand swap and sheeting in, can be practised on dry land if a student is finding them difficult. When I was teaching kids to sail Optimists (that require exactly the same methods) we always went through these techniques on the land first.

Hope that helps. Any more questions, class?

Sailing in Decline

Sailing is in decline. The sport is dying. Just look at these numbers...

263 Toppers are sailing in the British 2007 Topper National Championships this week at East Lothian Yacht Club.

462 Optimists are sailing in the USODA 2007 New England Championships at Sail Newport.

Entry for the Laser Masters 2007 World Championships in Roses, Spain has been closed at 417 boats.

Shocking. I don't know what we are going to have to do to revive the sport.