Today we destroyed an ecosystem again. Taking off the boat cover for the first time in the season, especially if it's this late in the season, can give you many surprises what critters have made their home in the boat. This time it wasn't to bad though just the usual the spiders and one wasp.
The whole family went out with me this Memorial day morning for the first sail of the year. It was gusty as usually on Big Creek. For some reason the crew didn't release the jib when a gust came instead decided to do an extreme hike. She was holding on for dear life on the windward shroud while having one foot on the railing and everything below it. We thought we would loose her, but thanks to skipper grabbing her foot and the rigorousness kettle-bell workout that from now on every crew has to go through, we got her back aboard.
This season's highlight will be the 2012 Flying Scot North American Championships (NACs) at Carlyle Illinois. We're excited to have a great week of sailing, raising and socializing. That week we will have to defend the Mississippi Border Battle trophy as well. Rumors also has that my crew will race at the Women's Championship which would be awesome. Most likely it wouldn't be with me but she would be crewing on the Flying Finn.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, July 31, 2011
2011 Wife-Husband Championship Regatta at Delavan Lake, WI
We had big surprises at the Wife-Husband. Not only did we regain the Mississippi Border Battle trophy but also captured third place of the Challenger division. The battle with our Wisconsin friends was quite even after the first day.
The second day was quite surprising. We knew we sailed pretty decent, especially for us, except for a few mistakes especially on our last race. One being that the skipper, Claus, messed up at the leeward (down wind gate) by thinking that the neighboring boat was hailing us to give room and we were required to do so. Neither of which was true. In order to give room and not to touch the mark we ended up with a 360 degree turn. Another being not giving room to the neighboring boat on the downwind leg. Finally the skipper just had to utilize the bailer in the middle of the race and because of it had to do a last minute tack which was a bit out of control and the wind overpowered the boat. None the less we got first place during that last race which secured third overall in the challenger division (the B-team of sailing). Melissa did an awesome job flying the spinnaker.
Of course we are all quite excited about it since we got our first (properly earned) FSSA trophy.
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| The Mississippi Border Battle in progress |
The second day was quite surprising. We knew we sailed pretty decent, especially for us, except for a few mistakes especially on our last race. One being that the skipper, Claus, messed up at the leeward (down wind gate) by thinking that the neighboring boat was hailing us to give room and we were required to do so. Neither of which was true. In order to give room and not to touch the mark we ended up with a 360 degree turn. Another being not giving room to the neighboring boat on the downwind leg. Finally the skipper just had to utilize the bailer in the middle of the race and because of it had to do a last minute tack which was a bit out of control and the wind overpowered the boat. None the less we got first place during that last race which secured third overall in the challenger division (the B-team of sailing). Melissa did an awesome job flying the spinnaker.
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| Melissa relaxing between races |
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| Skipper Claus |
Of course we are all quite excited about it since we got our first (properly earned) FSSA trophy.
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| Trophy award ceremony |
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| 2011 Wife-Husband Flying Scot Championship Division Results |
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| 2011 Wife-Husband Flying Scot Challenger Division Results |
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Slow start to this years sailing season
Not sure what happened to Oskar. On our first sail of the year he told us he was scared because the sailboat heels so much. Of course he really wants to kayak so that might have played into it. But it sure sound serious. I guess dad-son sails are not in sight for the near future. Heidi on the other hand really enjoyed it and joined us for the second sail.
Two sails is all we got in before going to the Wife-Husband Championship Regatta. At the Midwest District Regatta last year we decided with our friend Shannon and Mark (FS4113) to have our own perpetual trophy. So within two weeks Claus ordered Playmobile parts for the trophy topper and build the base. It barely got done in time for the regatta. It looks great. A little fragile for transport though. The title of the trophy is "Mississippi Border Battle - cheesy vs. corny"
Today we did the first two races of the Wife-Husband. We placed 15th and 14th while our friends placed 14th and 15th. So tomorrows two races will decide if Iowa or Wisconsin wins.
Two sails is all we got in before going to the Wife-Husband Championship Regatta. At the Midwest District Regatta last year we decided with our friend Shannon and Mark (FS4113) to have our own perpetual trophy. So within two weeks Claus ordered Playmobile parts for the trophy topper and build the base. It barely got done in time for the regatta. It looks great. A little fragile for transport though. The title of the trophy is "Mississippi Border Battle - cheesy vs. corny"
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| The Mississippi Border Battle trophy |
Today we did the first two races of the Wife-Husband. We placed 15th and 14th while our friends placed 14th and 15th. So tomorrows two races will decide if Iowa or Wisconsin wins.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Oskar's first regatta
We attended this the Wood Duck regatta of the Medicine Lake Sailing Club at Plymouth, MN. The first race Claus single handed since Oskar had an upset stomach and Melissa stayed with him. With us on the race course were Larry with Ketchup, Jeff, and a J boat. The other sailors were kind enough to us by not flying the spinnaker. Oskar felt better in the afternoon and after the lunch break he and Melissa joined us for the second and third race. This time it was only Ketchup and us out on the race course. Of course it was clear even before the start that we'd be in the last place as expected and second place by default. None the less it was still fun to sail the regatta.
Oskar's answer to how he liked the regatta was "awesome". But he also mentioned "it wasn't a real regatta" because it "needs to be longer" and "needs to be more boats, 14 boats, we only had 2 boats."
Oskar's answer to how he liked the regatta was "awesome". But he also mentioned "it wasn't a real regatta" because it "needs to be longer" and "needs to be more boats, 14 boats, we only had 2 boats."
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
2010 Midwest Districts at Medicine Lake by Minneapolis
It's cool to have a regatta close by even if it's not the biggest. We went up there on Friday crossing our fingers that we'd be able to sail. In Iowa we had thunderstorms nearly every day and the satellite imagery showed a similar heavy cloud coverage over Minneapolis. To our luck it seems that thunderstorms, especially lightning was more rare up north.
Claus sailed the single handed portion of the regatta on Saturday evening. It was cloudy and the wind was good. He enjoyed it quite a bit and didn't do to bad which is surprising since this was only the second time on the boat for this season. Three times though he screwed up the tacks some how so that we came out of them in an extreme heel that causes the rudder being out of the water enough that steering is impossible until the boat points back into the wind. I bet that's were we lost some major time.
The remainder of the regatta was a test for the rain gear. The test failed miserably. By the second race Claus and Melissa were chilled to the bone. We didn't had a strong down poor but a continuous drizzle that wouldn't allow anything to dry. Saturday was also plagued with another issue. The spinnaker wouldn't stay up. Finally we figured out that the spinnaker halyard was routed incorrectly so that the cleat would prevent it from going up but not from dropping down. We used the vang cleat until we could fix it at the end of the day, since nobody volunteered to climb up the mast to reroute the halyard while being on the water. The coolest part was when we beat our Wisconsin buddy boat 4113 on the second race. We ended up with a total score of 63 just like them although they are ahead of us due to a better race position. We got place 12 (or place 11 if you correct the tie breaker scoring) out of 18.
Thanks to the Medicine Lake Sailing Club for hosting this year's regatta. We'll be back for the Wood Duck Regatta in July. Oskar will probably join us for the first time for a race.
Claus sailed the single handed portion of the regatta on Saturday evening. It was cloudy and the wind was good. He enjoyed it quite a bit and didn't do to bad which is surprising since this was only the second time on the boat for this season. Three times though he screwed up the tacks some how so that we came out of them in an extreme heel that causes the rudder being out of the water enough that steering is impossible until the boat points back into the wind. I bet that's were we lost some major time.
The remainder of the regatta was a test for the rain gear. The test failed miserably. By the second race Claus and Melissa were chilled to the bone. We didn't had a strong down poor but a continuous drizzle that wouldn't allow anything to dry. Saturday was also plagued with another issue. The spinnaker wouldn't stay up. Finally we figured out that the spinnaker halyard was routed incorrectly so that the cleat would prevent it from going up but not from dropping down. We used the vang cleat until we could fix it at the end of the day, since nobody volunteered to climb up the mast to reroute the halyard while being on the water. The coolest part was when we beat our Wisconsin buddy boat 4113 on the second race. We ended up with a total score of 63 just like them although they are ahead of us due to a better race position. We got place 12 (or place 11 if you correct the tie breaker scoring) out of 18.
Thanks to the Medicine Lake Sailing Club for hosting this year's regatta. We'll be back for the Wood Duck Regatta in July. Oskar will probably join us for the first time for a race.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Ready to Sail
Well, the wash down took a while and the winterization never happened. But this is a good thing as I got to stay in a nice sheltered garage all winter long while I got a small make over.
The varnish of the centerboard trunk cap got really bad and needed some attention. All the hardware on the mahagoni cap was removed and the board itself was removed from the centerboard trunk as well. After the old varnish got sanded off a crack got glued with epoxy. Then a couple coats of Interlux Inter-Prime Sealer #1026 followed by two more coats of Z-Spar #2015 Flagship Varnish was applied. Wile we were at it a couple of coats of the varnish was also applied to the tabernacle and the wood supports of the jib blocks. Now I look all nice again. The wash and wax of course helps, too.
While reinstalling the hardware we noticed that the plastic roller of the 360 centerboard swivel cleat was worn on one side so much the metal sheave was starting to show through. Yes, it wasn't much of a roller but it still worked fine. We replaced it with the snazzy Harken sheave kit. The kit is basically a Harken roller with bearings and some washer to pad the sides of the centerboard swivel cleats. We'll see how it performs once we get out to sail. So let's go sailing. I'm rigged and ready at the lake.
The varnish of the centerboard trunk cap got really bad and needed some attention. All the hardware on the mahagoni cap was removed and the board itself was removed from the centerboard trunk as well. After the old varnish got sanded off a crack got glued with epoxy. Then a couple coats of Interlux Inter-Prime Sealer #1026 followed by two more coats of Z-Spar #2015 Flagship Varnish was applied. Wile we were at it a couple of coats of the varnish was also applied to the tabernacle and the wood supports of the jib blocks. Now I look all nice again. The wash and wax of course helps, too.
While reinstalling the hardware we noticed that the plastic roller of the 360 centerboard swivel cleat was worn on one side so much the metal sheave was starting to show through. Yes, it wasn't much of a roller but it still worked fine. We replaced it with the snazzy Harken sheave kit. The kit is basically a Harken roller with bearings and some washer to pad the sides of the centerboard swivel cleats. We'll see how it performs once we get out to sail. So let's go sailing. I'm rigged and ready at the lake.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
End of Season Sail
Today we went out for the last sail of the season. It was again a gorgeous day for a sail. Oskar has been manning the tiller for a while and he did a great job focusing on the course by picking a spot on land and sailing toward it. He also accomplished his first docking maneuver. Now, I'm awaiting the wash down and winterization.
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