I finally was able to get to uploading the photos from Lake Carlyle, IL. Some of them tell quite a story (see below - links take you to the album).

This was a humbling event for me personally. We were coming off a high of a 14th place finish last year at the North American Championship where we made some obvious painful mistakes we felt like we could avoid this year. We felt like we could have been a top 10 team last year. Earlier in January, John Williams crewed with me at Tradewinds in Key Largo, FL (the NAF18 Mid-Winter Championship) where we earned a third and were close to taking the second place position in a largish and competitive fleet. Most recently, Frank Moore and I finished the Tybee 500 with an amazing 3rd place in a 9 boat small, but very experienced, field of sailors.

As I look back on this past week, I realize that both David and I were much too quick to give up based on the assumption that we were mostly doing things right but were suffering from ‘bad luck’ or that we wouldn’t be able to overcome any boat performance issues that we were experiencing. Normally, I’m not a big believer in “back luck” and feel that the phrase is simply an excuse for not having all the information coupled with a correct answer. In atypicall fashion, I found comfort in a bad upwind leg happening due to “bad luck” last week and apparently had a lot of it. Our other problems were not necessarily related to boat speed but we were having a problem pointing as high into the breeze as everyone else. This is due partially to boat setup and probably partially to my impatience as a skipper. I’m increasingly becoming what they call a “footer” and distance racing makes me worse in this regard. During the week, tactically speaking, if we could get clear and foot off (and make the correct windshift decisions) we had a lot of speed to A-mark. The issue with this is that this is a very weak position to be in when sailing around other boats that are capable of sailing higher as there are very few positions on the race course that you can find undisturbed wind. Our downwind speed/ability was never really a problem. I think the ‘giving in’ issue stems from a little burn-out on my part and I also think that perhaps I’ve been tactically ‘damaged’ from so much recent focus on distance racing. Whatever the reason, I’ve decided to shift myself toward doing more reading and studing about course racing and wind tactics as well as crewing on different boats for different skippers for a little while so that I can “get my head up and look around” on the race course. I’m going to use this winter to work on some other projects (the one-meter R/C boat and working on the house) too. Hopefully this will help me get my head back in the game ready for another good run for the Tybee 500 without frying myself. Regardless, although I walked away from last week a little dissapointed, I still really enjoyed the week and really enjoyed being with all the good friends we’ve made from across the country. Time to rekindle.

Speaking of which, I’ll be racing with Trey Brown from Team Velocity at the Outback cup this weekend. Trey has been having some great success with the I20 recently and he will be driving Plays With Matches while I do the crew work. You can see Trey immortalized at the helm in the Statue of Liberty Race video in the link up top.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

Don’t ever bet with JC when it comes to shaving something.

Our buddy that’s creating the SR71 Blackbird model came back with another update this week. He’s been busy - the bottom mold is done now too. He finishes the update with “Did I mention I’m getting darned close to making an airplane? :-)”… I’ve never undertaken such a project but I propose that an airplane is still quite a LONG way off. Perhaps he was being sarcastic? Either way, he is showing some fantastic skill and dedication in this project - I’m already on the edge of my seat waiting for the next update!

The Sled

Friday’s racing was…interesting. NOAA was calling for 15knots with gusts to 28knots. We were a little busy trying to keep the boat upright (and fast) to consider what the wind was really doing, but I wouldn’t be surprised to have seen some of those upper 20s. We started the day by raking the mast back a little further to experiement to see if we could get the boat to point higher into the breeze…with the heavy air, this was a good idea anyway to help depower the boat. I think only 25 boats dared to venture out in the breeze so we stood to pick up a few positions by simply finishing. The Race Committee set us up for a three lap course and we started conservatively. We were doing pretty well and were mid-fleet coming into the second rounding of the windward A-mark when we noticed one of the new Nacra Infusions had broken their wing-mast and demasted (their mainsheet had come uncleated during a jibe leaving the mast unsurported to handle the high wind spinnaker loads). There was one boat capsized at A (and several around the course) so we were going wide to give them some room. A big sustained blast of wind came down on us and we were struggling to get the boat to turn through the wind to get back down the course. I tried twice to turn but had to quickly jam the helm to weather as the wind drove the bows in and started to pull the rudders out of the water. The gust seemed to subside a little but David and I had a miscommunication on the boat and as I turned down, he moved forward to release the jib sheet on the front beam. We plowed in and flipped just a little beyond a boat that had broken their spinnaker pole and were trying to recover. As we were trying to turn the boat into the wind to right it, the boat with the broken spin pole (still upright) drifted into us. They brought up their daggerboards but their rudder caught our trapeze lines and while their skipper desperately tried to free them from our rigging, they capsized on top of us. Incredibly, no damage occured other than breaking the bunji’s holding our trapeze lines in place. We righted the boat and setoff downwind again without the spinnaker while we caught our breath and tried to get the boat back in order. We rounded the downwind C-mark gate and headed back upwind slowly catching boats again. The trapeze lines were streaming out behind the boat and if I timed it just right, I could snag one or two with the tiller extension everytime we tacked so at least one of us could trapeze. As we rounded A-mark for the last time (more on that later) we were in the back of the fleet but had two boats just ahead. Unlike the other boats, we set the spinnaker to try and pick up a couple more positions. We passed those two boats and during a lull just leading a big gonzo blast were making the last jibe for the finish line - I was concerned that we might overstand the layline to the finish and thought we could get the boat jibed before the blast got us - but I was wrong. Without enough boat speed, the wind nailed us and we went swimming again. We righted the boat again and started back for the finish line but the Race Committee had finished us on the course and sent everyone back for the beach.

Now, remember that last A-mark rounding? The race committee had set a new A-mark to compensate for a wind shift but because all the chase boats were busy trying to assist the capsized and damaged boats, they blew the horn and flew the Charlie Flag (change course) from the committee boat that was a little further away from the C-gate (we never heard the horn due to the howling wind and the deluge of water). Further complicating things, the previous A-mark buoy and offset mark were still in the water. It turns out that not one boat sailed the proper course for the last leg and the Race Committee threw the race out - on paper, it never happened. That was terribly dissapointing.

We left shortly after the awards ceremony last night and got about 1.5 hours down the road - we were watching one heck of a light show from a major storm ahead of us (to the south) and a check of the radar on the computer showed multiple tornado watches and multiple flash flooding warnings. We elected to shut down for the night just north of that system at a rest stop (John Williams joined us about 45 minutes later). We got up at 5am and headed out - that same line of storms was STILL there but had subsided a little overnight. We got through and are currently just south of this pretty severe building line. I feel sorry for the guys that are trailering with RV’s that left this morning! I hope they’re safe.

I’ll put up some reflections on the event maybe later today or tomorrow. I need to check the radar again.

Results can be had HERE.

We had a decent day today - the wind was up again and the shifts were large and obvious so we were able to capitalize on them considerably. We wanted to go to the right side most of today so we camped out at the committee boat and simply patiently waited for the log jam to clear the boat end of the start line. We would start 10 to 15 seconds late but we would be clear to immediately tack to port and foot off in the breeze. We would sail that way until the wind shifted and then we would tack back across the course. We had a finish in the teens today and the rest, except for the last, were mid-fleet. During the last race today, our mainsheet line cover started to fray and it eventually separated (naturally right after I asked David “I wonder how much longer that will hold up?). We were pretty cripled because we couldn’t reliable sheet and unsheet the main as pieces of the cover were getting jammed in the blocks. We elected to finish that race and then head for the beach because it could become a safety liability if we had to bear away to avoid someone and couldn’t uncleat the main. While sailing back to the club, I was sulking about how I had never had a DNS (Did Not Start) before. A few minutes later, David turned around and remarked that they abandonded racing for the day and the whole fleet was following us in! We’ve put on an old mainsheet that should work just fine for tomorrow - if there is any racing. There’s a huge storm system moving in on us and most are doubtfull about getting any racing in tomorrow…we’ll see.

Be sure to check out the video link above. AdventureOnline.tv has been putting together video from the week - there’s some good stuff there.

The wind was pretty light and shifty yesterday but we had a couple of decent mid-fleet finishes. David took the helm in the second race and did a good job to post a 20th place finish. We’re going to continue to see if we can improve today - the wind is up again and we’re expecting 10 to 15.

Our friends, Mike and David, had an altercation yesterday with another boat on the start line. A boat jammed up hard to weather right in front of them and they didn’t have time or opportunity to avoid them. They ended up kissing the side/rear of the hull with their bow as they attempted to duck the boat. A couple of protests were filled but the judges determined that they were not given adequate time to avoid and are assigning them a finish position based on their previous results. The boat (a brand new Nacra infusion) has a split in the bow but it looks like they can fashion a temporary repair and be back out on the water today.

We’re sailing in marginally cool conditions and have been wearing our dry suits. I have to say that I’ve used a feature on the Astral Bouyancy life preservers that I haven’t had a chance to use until now - they have a hand warmer feature where the outer shell is lined with fleece on the inside and you have access to tuck your hands inside to keep them toasty. It’s very very nice!

I snagged another copy of the results and you can see them HERE.

We certainly had some breeze yesterday. It was generally about 15knots but with occasional and sustained gusts to 25. We had a high point with a 7 place finish when we were almost alone in choosing the right side to go upwind. Then, with a decent race going, we pitchpoled on the last rounding of A mark. David was on the trampoline getting the boat setup for the spinnaker hoist and I was on the trapeze trying to keep it fast. A ‘Gonzo Blast’ of wind drove the bows in deep and I went flying landing 20′ in front of the boat as it suddenly decelerated. We righted the boat quicky and finished. Later while sorting out the trapeze rigging David slipped and bruised his knee on the beam of the boat. He worked through it and we continued the day with some high points and low points including an OCS in the third race. Our boat speed is good, but our pointing ability is not quite up to par with the other boats (including some of the similar Nacra Catamarans like ours). If we foot off, we go faster and get to A mark at the same or better time - but tactically, not being able to point high into the wind is pretty cripling with such a large fleet. We’re also not picking up on the shifts very well yet. The pointing problem probably has more to do with the age of the sails we have on the boat, but the picking up the shifts is something we can certainly work on - and we’ll continue to do so.

The wind today is going to be very light - NOAA says the peak will be about 5knots. Currently there is a mist on the lake that is slowly meandering around. It’s pretty … but not a good sign for sailing.

I haven’t been able to find any results online but was able to secure a copy of the preliminary results through yesterday. You can see it HERE.

I’ve just got a minute before we have to head out for the 9:30am start this morning. Yesterday was pretty frustrating for us - we weren’t sailing with our minds and we made a lot of bad decisions. Unfortunately, the bad decisions were the easy ones to make. We had a few good moments where we were in the top 10 but dropped back quickly. The breeze is supposed to be up to 15knots today so hopefully we’ll be a little more in our element. We hope so - and we changed cereal this morning and went with Captain Crunch instead of the Lucky Charms…which didn’t prove to be quite so lucky.

We’re getting our minds right this morning - The Sirius satellite radio is locked into the Octane channel and the Cerwin Vegas are chuffing. Coffee’s made and the Lucky Charms are clinking into the bowls. Team Seacats is getting pumped. We’re not sure what the week has in store for us in the standings but we’re trying to not get overly concerned with that. We’re going to do the best that we know and try to avoid any catastrophies on the race course. There sure is a ton of talent out here. We are re-evaluating our starting tactics to go back to what we were doing last year (we seem to have been really crowding the start line too closely lately). The fact that we’re racing on a lake with what should be a little shifty and puffy nods at us a little because we mostly sail on lakes - but on the other hand, we’ve really been struggling lately in light air racing. We’re going to launch early this morning to study they lay of the lake since the wind is blowing out of the NNW and is nearly opposite of the the SSW we’ve been seeing all weekend. Racing today will take an hour or so break for us to come back to the beach for lunch and I expect they’re going to give us a long day if possible.

The weather was pretty spotty today. The day started with a nice 12+ breeze but a front came through later in the afternoon with some pretty heavy rain. It didn’t get as bad as predicted but David and I didn’t get out on the water - the weather, like it is today, won’t tell us much about the lake. We’re hoping to get out early tomorrow before the racing starts to try and get a feel for things.

I’m trying to upload pictures but our internet connection is a bit give and take - we’re in a pretty remote location. I’ll have to reduce the picture size and start uploading them…hopefully tomorrow.

After snoozing my alarm clock on my phone twice, I begrudgingly hopped down from the overcab bunk, brushed my teeth, and slid into the driver’s seat this morning at about 6:30am. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and got back on the road. A short while ago, our navigation software crashed on the PC so David and I swapped driving while I got the PC back in order. It’s working again and we’re about 15 minutes from a fuel stop and about 1.5 hours away from the site.

No…we haven’t stopped at Waffle House…yet… (stacked, smothered, and covered is common Waffle House wait-staff slang for pan fried potato shavings covered with god-knows-what). We got on the road about three hours later than we had expected and we’re currently about 20 minutes east of Nashville, TN and it’s 11:30pm central time. David and I had a to-go dinner (term used loosely) from Krystal’s because they were conveniently located next to the gas station we were using at that particular stop. David has never experienced Krystal’s before (I lived a while in Tennessee so my ‘antibodies’ are developed) and unfortunately hasn’t built up the proper resistance to it - he’s suffering at the moment with some subterainian quakes. We’re going to push for a little more than an hour to reach a Wal-Mart parking lot in Clarksville, TN to shut down for the night. That will leave us with about 4 hours to go on this 12 hour journey and should catch us back up with our caravan of cat sailors headed to IL. There are two other RV’s from our area pulling boats that are staying in campgrounds in that general vicinity but we don’t see the point in the time and expense to check in and shut down the RV for 5 or 6 hours when a parking lot will serve just fine (especially considering we got a late start - but having the time to grill out a steak would have sounded pretty good!). We’re not sure if we want to try and tag up with them to caravan into Lake Carlyle, or if we want to tip-toe away early in the morning to beat them there - we are racers afterall. Anyway, the double stack rig with the 150cc scooter is doing just fine - it’s actually towing better than I had hoped and barely wiggles back there. We’ve had to tighten up a couple of straps when we check at fuel stops but the bearings are running luke warm and the tires seem to be agreeable. The RV got about 9mpg through the mountains of western NC … which is an improvement over the previous 5 and 6 I was getting on flat ground - looks like I did find the problem in the signal to the engine management computer from the O2 sensor. Hopefully we’ll hit 10 or perhaps 11mpg when we reach some flatter ground. Still though, it’s not bad considering what we’re pulling.

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

Sorry I’ve been absent - I’ve been really struggling to get everything ready to go for the North American Formula 18 Championship. Everything is packed and David and I should be getting on the road this afternoon for the 12+ hours away for Lake Carlyle. We’ve got quite a gypsy-ish arrangment with the RV, two boats, and a scooter. Pics coming this evening from the road. I also hear that AdventureTVonline.net will be doing video features again from the racing. Our player will have those videos the second they go live (the annoying “Click…For…Video” thing up top).

Kristofer J. Harley speaks out about what really happened during his failed launch of Sea Biscuit. Personally, I think that planning a three day departure window from the North West US/Canada in order to clear the “Mexican Hurricane Season” is a little short sighted for such a vessel. Click the image and read on.

An excerpt from Duckworks Magazine:

“Before I could dry her out, the tide was already rising again. It was now that I made the decision to take her home on the trailer. It would allow proper repairs with more cloth and epoxy and wouldn’t use up underwater epoxy intended for emergency repairs at sea, but I had now lost my window. The Mexican hurricane season was already starting, and I had already wasted too much time. I called my Wife, Chuck at Duckworks Magazine, and David of The Captain Humphreys Project and told them the sad news. We had lost our chance at a 2006 departure.”

Duckworks Magazine

Found this over at Tim Zim’s website (http://timzim.blogspot.com/) - it’s a great ongoing read about a guy who is restoring an old rusty fishing ship to live in. I think we’ve talked about him in the past but he’s doing a top notch job and his motivation is inspiring. He found this picture somewhere on the web and linked to it on his site - help me with a caption…something like; “One minute you’re being hand fed strained peas, the next minute you’re licking the pig”.

Originally uploaded by Tim Zim.