Cape Town In-Port Race! plus a bonus drinking game!

The in port race was held on saturday at some ungodly time in the morning. Which is why the replay is being posted here...a day later...and well into the night. I dislike timezone and how it is affecting my sailing obsession.



If you want to play a fun drinking game try taking a shot every time Alan from Sailing Anarchy (the American Voice) underhandedly disagrees with the owner and super power ($$$,$$$,$$$) behind Volvo Ocean Race Knut Frostad (the heavy Norwegian accent, you'll know it when you hear it). They have an interesting relationship to say the least...I can't believe they sat on the same boat together and no one drowned.



Enjoy!

Cape Town In-Port Race

A day late and a dollar short but that's just how life can be. Enjoy the Replay!

Jasmines Birthday!

Jasmine turned 4 on the 15th! Which means that this post is super late and that my little girl is growing up! So in honor of her birthday a little photo montage of some of my favorite Jasmine moments...

Jasmine's First Week home...she was almost an entire month early and was so tiny
which ironic because she is so freaking huge now

Jasmine has always been cooler than you...always

My Travel Buddy always ready

We took her on her first sailing adventure for her birthday since she seemed to be into boats and is always excited when she comes by the marina. Also we had gotten a set of child sized PFD's and it was about time the girls got used to to them. A little while ago we had tried them out to see if either of the girls would freak out while in the water and they did wonderfully...

      

We went out on Grace a 50' Columbia and really just a pretty boat. I figured that since it was a fairly big boat meant that it should be pretty stable and easy for the girls to move around. It has a flush deck so there would be space to sit etc etc. It seemed like a good plan. I'm sure that the other 20 or so people who were out for the evening sail with us said the same thing before they left the house.

Yea what was that saying about, "best laid plans...something something...think again dummy"

I saw the forecasted weather 15+ kts from the north and sort of shrugged it off, Grace big boat can handle big north driven swells. Right? Eh not exactly. Yes, the boat powered through the waves without much effort however that power meant a serious amount of heel which tossed people, parents, and my future sailors around quite a bit on the deck. The cupcakes that Tiff made were catapulted to the salon floor. At one point I saw people passing Dramamine out like tick-tacs. Jasmine and Violet did fine until the boat really started to heel over and water blew across the deck. Jasmine apparently has developed a bit of a sense of fear and it kicked in then and she demanded to be taken below deck. Violet, who has not developed the same fear made every attempt to get closer to the source of the water.  Thank God my wife is patient with me. I feel like maybe I forced this trip on the girls because I really want them to have something, anything in common with me besides a general love for cereal as a snack. That caused me to disregard the weather and my common sense. The good thing is that basically anytime we get the girls on a boat it will most likely be a much smoother ride. Jasmine did seem to enjoy some of the ride mostly in and out of the protected harbor. So maybe it wasn't that bad. Only time and experience will tell I suppose.

She really was extremely excited about the boat ride

 

She did spend a fair amount of time impersonating my grandmother and inspecting everything on the boat before we left the harbor. She also got to take in a pretty amazing Lake Pontchartrain sunset which is something the sailing community cherishes here.  So yea, maybe it actually went fairly well. I guess the only way we'll ever know is ask her if she remembers it in 20 years. I know I will.

The Team Brunel Song...Finished 3rd

Keeping their spirits up as they cruise to the line!

Dongfeng Finish Line 2nd place!

First Three Boats Cross Finish Line in Cape Town!

The first three boats have crossed the finish line in Cape Town, South Africa! Here's some footage from the crews...and don't forget there are still four other teams that haven't finished yet.

oh and this is just LEG 1...

Fast & Furious | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

Looks like we'll start seeing boats coming into Cape Town tomorrow!

Volvo Update 19 days into Leg 1

19 days at sea the teams have faced dead calm in the doldrums, crossed the equator, raced before the wind down the African coast, grazed the coast of BRAZIL,  and are now heading far south catch the right breeze to turn the fleet east. Oh and now they might have to look out for icebergs...no big deal.

The sailors meet King Neptune | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

This is what makes sailing awesome. When was the last time you saw this sort of shenanigans in a sporting event. Oh wait you don't, ever. And if they did do this in basketball or football it would get waaaaay out of control and they would call it hazing. But sailing we keep it civilized, like baked beans to the face.

The Sailing Season is Ending...

This week is the last "in season" race. Am I bummed? Oh yea. This marks the time of year when I completely lose focus and start doing weird stuff to compensate for not being on the water. My phsyical activity runs the gamut from hybernating couch potatoe to manic all nighters. I probably have mood swings too, but that's not your freaking business gosh! I'll read, cook, study, sleep, bike, maybe even run....and who knows what else. All on top of a regular work, husband, father schedule. Wish me luck.

Oh by the way have you looked at Volvo Ocean Race today?

Here's some photos from our race this week. Epic sunset that only water can buy.

In-Port Race Alicante | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

Also I made it thru the entire wedding without looking at my phone once for the in-port race results. Leg 1 starts in 1 day 7 hours and counting...get excited!

This is my Superbowl VOLVO OCEAN RACE

I wait for two years to watch these boats sail nearly 40,000 miles, 9 months, 5 Continents, 4 Oceans. This is my Super Bowl, this is my World Cup, This is my Tour D' France,

Last time around I was in for Puma, this time around I'm behind Team Alvimedica. Charlie Enright, Mark Towill,  Armory Ross are my player favorites. I am giddy with excitement.

That said in case you are new to this craziness I've posted a link here for you to get caught up with. It's a three part series from CNN it should just play all three back to back for you.  

COUNTDOWN TO VOLVO 

Seriously though, I'm excited. This is the culmination of two years of reading the message boards, following behind the scenes drama. Nail bitting stuff seriously. The big change that the media will focus on is that the VOR is now a one design race. What does "one-design" mean? It means that instead of a 7-10 boats built and designed by different firms by different yards, one design was chosen and one boat yard was allowed to build the boats. This makes it easier to raise funds for a cheaper race campaign and in theory lets the team that gets the first boat practice while the next 6 boats are being built. 

That is a major change to the premise of the race. At the surface it says that the sailors are going to be the ones tested and less so on the boats since all the teams are using the same boat.   BUT I AM NOT SO EASILY FOOLED! 

My theory: the yard that is building the boats, Farr Design, has a great history and a solid track record. I personally love some of their ocean cruising designs. But they are building 7 boats! The last boat to come out is definitely without a doubt going to be better than the first. There is just no way to avoid it. The processes are adjusted and kinks fine tuned in the building system to streamline production and create a better product. Its the nature of the beast! 

Interestingly enough though....and arguably (everywhere just look to the forum and builders blogs) The first team will have had their boat for something like 18 months (don't quote me) by the time the race starts. Which means they'll be able to practice to their hearts content and work out all the human factors well before the last boat is finished...in theory. 

Here's the catch: The first boat finished went to the ALL WOMEN team SCA the last boat finished is going to the team who's skipper came in 2nd in the last edition of the race. How's that for engineered balance.  Knut Frostad is definitely scheming in his Volvo Home office. 

Someone else that is probably scheming but in a far more sinister fashion is Juan Kouyoumdjian and his team. They are the massive sore losers in the one-design plan. Juan K has designed boats for the couple of editions of the VOR and has put more than one boat in each race. Believe me when I say, he lost a LOT of money in this deal. Here's the thing though, his designs, they have a tendency to break. But maybe thats not his fault. Maybe it's the boat yards fault. Maybe the crew pushed the boats, dare I say it, TOO HARD?

Here's the juice, this is going to be a sick race. New tech is going to allow us to have live interviews with the crew mid race, there is going to be high definition video and graphics. Think of all the graphics that go into explaining where the 1st down line is in football or the arc of the kick in soccer, or the wind line in golf. All of that is going to be added to Volvo this edition... and it's going to be nutz!

oooo I got goosebumps... there's rumblings that we might fly out to one or two of the stops on the race.

photo credits: volvo ocean race 2014-15

Family matters | Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

Being a Husband is hard sometimes...being a Dad is even harder. I get the feeling sometimes that our society has made it seem as if there are no good dad's out there anymore. Like we are all deadbeats that don't take care of our kids and let them grow up to be criminals. But I think the reality is that there are a lot of dads out there busting their asses to be the heroes their kids can look up to. But the mainstream media portrays us differently.  Here's a good dad that inspires me to be better. 

Race 1 Twilight Series

Every wednesday night I crew for the racing series out of New Orleans Yacht Club. It's generally the best day of the week for me because I get to sail. Which to me is a bit ironic. Mainly because the majority of the people that come to New Orleans do not equate it with sailing. Much less do they realize that there is a huge lake here or that sailing is open to the public on wednesdays. Everyone seems to think that New Orleans= Mardi Gras 24/7/365......very not true. So if you are in town on the right night do yourself a favor skip the French Quarter and head about 10 minutes north to the other side of the city and come out for a sail, a beer and burger

This race was an interesting one to say the least. The wind had been blowing hard on the lake all day bringing in water from the gulf of mexico and creating waves around 2-3ft high. By the time we had gotten the boat set up and ready to leave the wind dropped down to about 18kts with puffs in excess of  20kts.  The boat started to pitch and roll the moment we left the protected harbor and our bow man had a pretty good ride up front. The first start was recalled on account of the race committee loosing their anchor and had to reset. We (except the skipper) were okay with that on Heavy Water since we had been a little bit late to the line. The second start we hit the line in under 10 seconds and headed out to mark with the other spinnaker class boats.

 As we trimmed and set the sails, checked our heading, and got relatively comfortable on the rail as the boat cut a 30 degree heel we were totally oblivious to the calamity behind us. Apparently two boats (Footloose Too a J34 and Easterly 4) had a fairly serious collision at the line. The Easterly ran it's bow into the starboard side of the J and caused some very serious damage. I would post pictures and my opinions of the situation but I don't want to accidentally offend either driver or crew. Especially since I sailed with Footloose last week. Let's just say the hole is big and looks expensive. Hopefully someone's race insurance will cover it.

We rounded the mark without much issue but lost our spinnaker halyard while hoisting the sail, rounding the offset mark. Luckily we keep an extra on the deck and after a bit of fumbling on the deck in the dark the boys on the bow straightened us out and we were making trees back down the course. We did however, during the confusion, foul a boat on starboard. Thankfully they knew we had issues and didn't protest us. We'll owe them a beer. Finished the race in 4th place packed up the boat and headed home satisfied and a bit sore from the bumpy ride. All in all any day on the water is good day.

Pre race set up

Scow gettin' lifted

Heeled over

Waiting for the start gun

Maneuvering into starting positions

Yacht Racing, It's A Thing I Do

Like I said earlier I'll be posting things related to boats and sailing. It's a lifestyle for me and thus will be a frequent topic here. I race regularly thru New Orleans Yacht Club usually on a Peterson 34' named Heavy Water (D20). I also sail on Girl, a Stoner 25 and occasionally will ride with Witch Doctor, a Beneteau First 30. We are starting our last five week series this week so I'll post race results here and hopefully I'll be able post the race tracker provided by a new app called RaceQS. It allows people to see the race in virtual reality which is pretty neat and formally reserved only for the fancy schmancy America's Cup crews. If you are interested in trying RaceQS for your own boat you can check it out here on their website RaceQS. It's a handy way to keep a log of your hours and routes as well, in case you had one too many sundowners to remember how you found that perfect anchorage.

In The Boat Yard Today

Almost forgot this pirate ship showed up in the boat yard while we were in Orlando. I think its a Formosa. By the way....It's FOR SALE!

Changes and Updates

Some of you may notice in the coming days, even last night, that the format and style of the blog is in a state of flux. I am currently working steadily to tweak and fine tune the blog. A couple reasons for this include making the blog more visually appealing, ad friendly ( trying to make pocket change), and generally easier navigate. I hope to add links to companies that I can shamelessly promote as well as products that I love. Maybe a map of places we've been and a few other things. I really want to be able to focus the writting on travel, sailing, and being a dad who enjoys his family. I might toss in the obligatory food photo or some other nonsuch from time to time too.  Change is coming and I hope it's for the better.