Sailing Photo Of The Day.

Jim Wagner and crew Jill Moorhouse hang in there during a puff.

Old school sailing from Dave's Way Back Machine.
Courtesy of Bay Dog.

A pride of Penguins piled the waters of Great Kills, Staten Island N.Y. for the Penguin Region II championships, May 6 (1973).

Tillerman Tuesday.

Goodbye, yellow Laser. You've reached the end of the road. It's time to dream about Fiberglass Heaven.

4 Picos are also on their way out. I hate rotomolded boats. Indestructible, my ass!

Breaking News: Famed Circumnavigator of Oahu To Sail Across The Pacific In A Laser.

For the first time ever, a hybridized Laser sailboat has been admitted to the 2014 Pacific Cup. In a move intended to broaden the financial base of the famous race to Hawaii, the Pac Cup qualifying committee has agreed to admit the famous circumnavigator of Oahu, Mark Denzer and his adapted Laser Sailboat to the San Francisco to Hawaii Yacht Race.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxb6BRe7Weo]

Also from Hawai'i: In an effort to make the America's Cup a more accessible race, Larry Ellison has decided to ditch multihulls in favor of foiling Lasers. "I want to move away from the image that sailing is for rich guys with tons of money. From this day forward, the America's Cup will now be known as the People's Cup. In keeping with that sentinment we will switch from boats that cost more than the GDP of Togo to Lasers."

The WaterTribe. Expedition-Style Adventure Racing In Small Boats. (Moving Pictures)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6tLgJX9niM]

“The purpose of WaterTribe is to encourage the development of boats, equipment, skills and human athletic performance for safe and efficient coastal cruising using minimal impact human and wind powered watercraft based on sea kayaks, canoes, and small sailboats.” ~ Chief, February 2000

Throwback Thursday.

Okay, so I'm jumping on the "Throwback Thursday" bandwagon. Hopping into the Wayback machine, we find ourselves in the distant past of 2013. Here we see two wahines learning to sail. They look like they're doing a bang up job after one lesson on the water. I wonder who their instructor is( was...I'm confused by all this space-time continuum stuff)? He must be (have been...shades of Dr. Who) top notch! 

If you want to learn to sail, and live in the San Francisco Bay Area; classes begin in April. We sail out of Loch Lomond in San Rafael, so if you want put a face to this blog, sign up today. I'll be there, unless I get swallowed up whole by some rip in that space-time thingy.

Happiness Is:

Life on the water.

Santa Of The Day.

Santa's new sleigh.
Someone must be pleased.

Tillerman Tuesday.

I drank the kool-aid. We're getting 4 more Lasers for my sailing organization with 3 different rigs to give us more flexibility. Someone might be pleased.

Sailing In A Sea Of Chocolate.

Matias Capizzano takes the coolest photos. Check out his "The Optimist Image Book."

Tillerman Tuesday.

I think I've become a convert. Do you think I should make a pilgrimage to Newport and sit at the feet of the Guru? I've heard that he is full of wisdom ....or is it something else?

My students love the Pico versus the sluggish Catalina 16.5. Who'd a thunk it, a Laser made from recycled milk jugs is more fun to sail.

Photos of my student..the last dinghy one of the year. Next up, keelboats. 

Funny Thing How Everyone Wants To Foil, Now. (Moving Pictures)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oyWMusaDTI]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3AV1LJwQus]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SN1gSkqvy0]

https://dailymotion.com/video/xrsc

by h2ojoe

Let's hop into the wayback machine, watch some vids, eat some popcorn, drink beer, and see what people were doing 6 or 7 years ago. Hello, Johnny-come-latelies! The dance has been going on awhile.

My Next Boat: The PT Spear. (Moving Pictures)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ns8zBmPLnE]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLgClJVfk1A]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP3N_qTqPEo]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0dMkZcmKu8]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biowpXUWJ4M]

Row it, surf it, or sail it; at $1500 for the base kit, the PT Spear by Port Townsend Watercraft is a great boat for the urban dweller who doesn't have a lot of space and would rather cartop a boat than use a trailer. It also comes in a nesting version (the PT 11), which would make a great tender for the ocean going sailor.

Read a review by Sandy Goodall - Sailing the PT 11.

Tillerman Tuesday.

How appropriate!

The picture above was transformed from a photo by Gilles Martin-Raget.

Sailboats For Groms.

O'pen BIC.

RS Tera.
Modern sailing dinghies.

Optimist Dinghy.

El Toro.
Old designs.

What boats would you use for a youth sailing program, new or old school?.....or maybe a mix of old and new?

Tillerman Tuesday. (Moving Pictures)

Evidence captured on "film" (okay...digitally) that Laser sailors are crazy.
Hmm, maybe a hiking out isn't a bad thing to do. ......That sure looks like a lot of fun.

Hiking Out While Sailing. (Photos And Moving Pictures)

Who wants to do that? Trapping is superior to pure hiking, it's faster, thrilling and better for your knees. I wonder, does this mean a Farr 3.7, Contender or a Paper Jet (boats I can build) is in my future? The Farr and Contender are shown, any guesses as to what the boat at the top is?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bsH0fNubuc&w=480&h=360]

Tillerman Tuesday.

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think that the Laser would be a great boat to have for the advanced students to move into after sailing the Capri 14.2. Oh no, say it ain't so, Joe! But why?  I really like the idea of having 3 different rigs. This makes the Laser more versatile than my former boat, the Force 5, and it will give the students some excitement sailing on the Bay.

I really have joined the dark side.

Tillerman Tuesday.

How the hell did I go from teaching classes to being the boat keeper for the Lasers? Welcome to the Dark Side!

Fish And Skiff. (Moving Pictures)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3EHVyJuXTo&w=480&h=270]

The Kiwis know how to live.

The Dabchick: Is This The Best Sail Trainer For Groms?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k554e8yvY2M]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm wearing my sailing instructor's hat. The Dabchick is a sailboat (...board...scow) used in South Africa to train youths after outgrowing Optis (Oppis). I think it would make a great trainer and a wonderful way for the groms to learn some boat building skills. How cool is it to sail a boat that you've built.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWyW_f1QQzA]

From Go Sail: "The Dabchick dinghy designed by Jack Koper of Cape Town, was launched in 1956 as a double handed junior class. The idea was a simple flat decked, no cockpit, scow with a planing hull that could be home built from a few sheets of ply.

The Dabchick dinghy has found great popularity with some 4 000 boats having been built since then. Fairly quickly adept juniors found they could handle the two sail configuration single handed, and that has been its niche for most of the class existence. The sail plan is of a genoa, sheeted on a tracked fairlead, and mainsail. A dagger-board sits in an extended case allowing for it to be raked back in a breeze and on a reach.

The broad scow hull gives the boat enormous stability for the ab initio sailor whilst also being exceptionally quick onto the plane. In comparison to similar junior classes of the Mirror and Topper it well out performs both boats on all points of sailing. Like all scows is prefers a slight heel when working to weather. Not drawing much water it is snappy through the tack, and quick off the mark once the genoa is trimmed in. On the reach they are exciting but kind, due to that beam again. It is not unusual to see youngsters going out in conditions over twenty knots to enjoy some screaming reaches. Down wind placing the hull on a slight heel, as on a beat, reduces wetted surface and the Dabchick dinghy scuttles effortlessly along like the wildfowl it is named after.

The restricted class allows for different masts and fitting of control systems that feed onto either side of the deck, which is a great entry point for future performance dinghy sailors. The class has also recently allowed the introduction of Mylar sails as well as the adoption of a loose footed mainsail."

Hat tip to Tweezerman for the idea.