BillBlevins.com :: Mostly about 2.4mR sailing

J-22 Worlds first day wrap-up

Bill Blevins — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:41:52 +0000

Before yesterday I couldn’t have said, “Well, I remember this one time when I was in a regatta that was so large that in one race we tied for 64th place with 42 other boats”.

Now I can tell that sailing story!

After waiting for the winds to build and settle in a somewhat straight direction, the race committee tried to get all of the 105 J-22’s heading towards the windward mark. A general recall and then a timing error on the second try delayed the race for 30 more minutes. We were in position to nail both of those starts on the pin end but that didn’t matter in the end.

The third try send all of the boats off without incident. We were one boat length behind a bunch of over-early boats that didn’t get caught and we were mid-line on the pin end side of the line.

After about 5 minutes, the wind went left and got lighter and we tacked to port and headed up the middle of the course. Wrong call!!

The middle went almost totally dead and we struggled with the steering and trimming in the light conditions finally making it to the top mark and then half-way down to the leeward mark before the breeze dropped to under 2 knots.

Finishing somewhere near the back of the fleet, we crossed after the time limit expired and joined company with a third of the fleet in the same predicament as us!

Race committee called it a day and then I had another “first” for my sailing career - being the 17th boat in an 18 boat tow line back to the harbor!

Today, the weather isn’t looking much better as far as sailing goes. Winds of 5-7 from the East (which means ‘no wind’ up here in New York). I hope we get another race in today.

Tonight, I’ll post photos and links to other blogs and report on what happens out on the water. Time to head to the boat!

J-22 World Championships

Bill Blevins — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:54:12 +0000

I’ve never been in a race with 15+ OCS (on course side) boats and no general recall, but, I guess when there are 105 boats on the line, that isn’t many!!

Nelson, Mike and I went out yesterday and practiced with everyone. We had light and shifty winds and 3 foot seas, so there was a lot of bobbing up and down.

The winds died down to less than 5 knots right at race time after blowing all day from the North.

Not much fun for a practice race but probably the toughest sailing we’ll see for the rest of the week.

Today, for the first day of races we are supposed to see very light and shifting winds from SW changing to NE so we may not even get a race in.

Here is the boat I’m helming: “Changes in Attitude” #1378, Bow # 82

Here is the results page: http://myyc.org/result

More updates to follow!

Startup Schwag #10

Bill Blevins — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:23:38 +0000

I finally caught up posting links last week and a new “bag” arrived today with a shirt from Plurk.com and other stuff from:

Armor Games - 500 game titles

Magnify - video for your site

Nimbuzz! - social IM and VoIP

PriceAdvance - comparison shopping site

Zilok - online rental marketplace

2008 2.4mR Canadian Championships

Bill Blevins — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:41:45 +0000

We’re heading around to the other side of “the lake” this morning, pulling one of our 2.4mR boats and visiting with friends in Toronto, Canada. I’m going to participate in the 2008 2.4 Meter Canadian Championships on Saturday and Sunday.

The National Yacht Club is hosting the event and sailing is off the shores of Toronto on Lake Ontario.

Today is boat rigging day and tune-up sailing with local Toronto sailors and those of us who shows up early.

I’ll be posting photos and updates in the evenings.

Startup Schwag update

Bill Blevins — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:57:05 +0000

For months I’ve failed to blog about the stuff “in ze bag” that I receive from StartUp Schwag. Recent “bags” included things from:

Steely Dan Concert

Bill Blevins — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:45:10 +0000

Steely Dan, originally uploaded by sailorbill.

We saw Steely Dan last Friday night at CMAC in Canandaigua, NY. Great show!!