KB in February Spinsheet
December 18, 2008
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Gale Force Sailing and Kristen Plugged In Spinsheet
December 18, 2008
Spinsheet Magazine, a magazine about sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, features a story about my sailing lecture series for JWorld Annapolis and includes a great mention of our sponsorship of Team Tsunami’s J22 Entry in the J22 Midwinters being held in Texas.
Molly Winans, Spinsheet’s Editor, wrote the article about the Sail Trim and Balance lecture I gave for JWorld in December when Ms. Winans was a participant in the class. Check back soon for a link to the actual article.
The other plug was for Team Tsunami’s team of young guns headed to J22 Midwinters. I was introduced to the team of Steve Roth, Matt Schoene, Mike Carr and Mike Atwell during the 2007 Charles Schwab Junior Sailing Cup, where I was coaching. Read a PDF of a past Spinsheet article about Tsunami here.
Gale Force Sailing Team Building Program on NPR
December 18, 2008
Washington area NPR affiliate WAMU is featuring Gale Force Sailing and our teambuilding programs as part of their five-part Hurricane Katrina anniversary coverage. Click here to listen!
Cruising Maine
December 18, 2008
So if you haven’t seen her…here she is. Spartina! Spartina! We love you!
Now that we aren’t racing we are in cruising mode, and what a mode it is. So we are cruising through the most amazing sailing grounds in the Northeast. Of course we got the THICKEST fog I have ever sailed in. Thank goodness for radar and GPS. There were times when we couldn’t see more than 50 feet. Horns, bells, and the VHF got us through.
Out of the fog these HUGE boats would appear. Some of them would communicate with us and others were just rolling on. We’re on a a BIG boat, but what I was amazed by was that we saw only MUCH bigger boats.
At times we could sail, and it was wild to race through the fog, the sails drawing, the gurgle of the water around the hull, and the occasional fog horn or buoy gong. We sailed the Eggamogon Reach, and never saw more than 100 yards from the boat. Now I can say I’ve cruised Maine, but I’ll need a postcard to see what it looks like.
Tomorrow we’ll sail a long day, most of it in the ocean to make Portland. There I’ll hop a train for Newport, where I’ll be racing Melges 24’s. What a change that will be.
Reese put it perfectly, “This place is quite scenic, now if we could only see it.” But the fog did give us a great navigational challenge. Jim was working the electronic chart, watching the radar, 
and navigating our course. In between, we had some fun.
Tonight we are having dinner in Camden, ME. We are eating in a neat little place called Cappy’s. They’ve got great beer and a dynamite atmosphere. I’ll tell you about the food as soon as I have some. I saw a REAL Moose. I missed the shot though. But the last few shots will give you a sense of where we’ve been and where we are.
Some shots from the race
December 18, 2008
Safe and sound with smiles all around.
So after hours of bashing in to headwinds, acknowledging our own limits, looking at the time limit for the race, the forecast, etc. we decided to turn North and head for the coast of Maine. We trucked towards Bar Harbor, and the Hinckley boat yard, where we were welcomed with open arms, warm showers, and safety. Our spirits are high, even if we are a little disappointed in the result. I am pretty sure that our dissapointment will fade soon. While some of the crew is jumping off here to either continue (via ferry) to Halifax or via plane back to New York, the remainder of the crew will spend the next few days cruising the Maine coast and all of its treasures.
How bad was it?
Pretty gnarly in fact. The winds were on the nose, in other words coming directly from where we wanted to go, and blowing about 20kts. While the boat was capable of sailing in those conditions we were quite slow, and the heel of the boat made the experience quite exhausting. We were sailing under a reefed main, doused mizen, and partially furled (reefed) jib. Speed through the water was about 6kts, but given our angle to Brazil Rock we were only making about 4kts of progress. We were intermittently in sight of several other boats, and looking now that the race tracker, I think we were in it. Had the wind shifted left (North) we probably would have been VERY advantaged. The boats to our South were in a favorable location if the long predicted but never seen S/SW breeze filled. Looking at the buoy report from the area near Brazil Rock – they are still beating in nasty seas.
After we made the decision to turn back, we shifted the boat’s mode into a slower, more comfortable pace. While sailing a beam reach towards Maine we continued under a reefed main, and reefed jib. Larry and I, watch mates, sailed through a series of rainy squalls. One of which had the most amazing lightening. The storm licked the waters around us with blinding bolts of lightening, and the rain came on heavy, but we suffered little as the auto-pilot drove and we huddled under the dodger. Our biggest concern was making the coast before daylight, so we did almost all we could to slow the boat down so that we could raise our harbor in the light. Heavy fogged prevailed, but with the help of GPS, all manner of bells and gongs we slipped into the Hinckley facility in SouthWest Harbour, ME.
Now where?
We notified the Race Committee that we had withdrawn from racing this morning. Now some our folks are flying home, but I think I will stick for another day or two in order to see more of the Maine coast.
I am working on loading some video I shot of the race, the boat, and our decision to return. Look for that in the coming days. In the meanwhile, feel free to call or email – I will be in intermittent touch.
Thank you for watching and listening, and stay tuned for more Gale Force Sailing.
US SAILING Certified
December 18, 2008
I spent this Memorial Day weekend in an intensive three day evaluation session with US SAILING. I successfully completed my evaluation and am now a US SAILING certified Basic Keelboat instructor. I have been teaching the Basic Keelboat curriculum for four season’s at JWorld Annapolis, but have never been a fully certified instructor.
The evaluation was fun, challenging, and interesting. In addition to being tested on the material and my knowledge of sailing we spent a great deal of time discussing and critiquing learning pathways, teaching styles, risk management, and presentations skills. I was also tested on my sailing ability by single handing a J80 through a series of tacks, jibes, overboard recoveries, heaving-to, etc. Read more
Your first piece of sailing gear
December 18, 2008
I am asked almost daily by new sailors what sort of gear I recommend. The VERY first thing I recommend that every new sailor get is their own personal flotation device a PFD – A LIFE JACKET SILLY!
Given the tossing and turning of the deck of any boat, the flying boom, the regular flow of alcohol why WOULDN’T you wear a PFD? Well, there are hundreds of excuses that I hear – they are hot and they don’t fit are what I hear most often, but with a bit of shopping you’ll find that these excuses are no longer an issue.
PFD manufacturers are going out of their way to make PFD’s specifically for each of us (big guys, little guys, women and children.) We owe it to ourselves to shop a bit and find one that works.
For me, the Astral Buoyancy Aquavest 300 is the ticket. First of all I love the company. They are the word’s only company engaged solely in the development of PFD’s for paddlers and sailors. They KNOW their business. They are concerned with art, science and craft of making great PFD’s.
They use less toxic, easily recyclable foams. They make strong and durable products that are trustworthy and backed by a guarantee – you got a problem and they fix it. They don’t bother to flood the market with sub-par or unnecessary products. If you check out Astral’s mission, you’ll see that I’ve lifted (ok STOLEN) some of their ideas for Gale Force Sailing’s business model. I think they are doing it right.
So why do I use the Aquavest 300 and would I recommend it?
I use it because as a sailing coach I need gear that provides durability and reliability. I love the way the 300 works for me. I would recommend it, although I would first suggest that you try on all the other PFD’s you can.
YOU MUST first and foremost find the PFD that fits you best. A PFD is pretty worthless if you don’t wear it. I wear mine almost all time because the 300 is comfortable enough that I forget it is there – so its always on. It sits low so it doesn’t obstruct my arms. It is padded in the right places so I can lean against lifelines and hike hard.
Gale Force Sailing in SAIL magazine
December 18, 2008
Gale Force Sailing is mentioned on page 96 of the April 2007 issue of SAIL magazine. I encourage you to check it out at your local newsstand.
In a review of the hot new Rocket 22, our sportboat clinics are mentioned. In addition to the Best of the Okanagan clinic, Gale Force is offering several sportboat clinics on Rocket 22’s in Annapolis, Maryland, and elsewhere.
The dates and locations for some of these events have not been set, but if you or your club would be interested in participating or hosting a clinic, please contact us today.
December 18, 2008
<img title=”Sail mag cover” src=”http://www.sailmag.com/currentcover.jpg” alt=”Sail mag cover” width=”110″ height=”150″ align=”left” />Gale Force Sailing is mentioned on page 96 of the April 2007 issue of <a href=”http://www.sailmagazine.com/” target=”_blank”>SAIL</a> magazine. I encourage you to check it out at your local newsstand.
In a review of the hot new <a href=”http://www.rocketboats.com” target=”_blank”>Rocket 22</a>, our sportboat clinics are mentioned. In addition to the <a href=”http://www.galeforcesailing.com/2007/03/23/gale-force-and-rocket-boats-offer-sailing-clinic/” target=”_blank”>Best of the Okanagan</a> clinic, Gale Force is offering several sportboat clinics on Rocket 22’s in Annapolis, Maryland, and elsewhere.
The dates and locations for some of these events have not been set, but if you or your club would be interested in participating or hosting a clinic, please <a href=”http://www.galeforcesailing.com/contact/”>contact </a>us today.
About me
I am the owner of Gale Force Sailing and write about all things related to coaching, instruction and team building. contact me>>
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