The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the town,
Not a creature was stirring, not even Jeff Brown;
The wet Atlantis gear was hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that The Curmudgeon soon would be there.

The junior sailors were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Harken blocks danced in their heads;
And mamma and me tangled in New England Rope,
Had just settled down for a long evening grope.

When out on the docks there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed, and mamma less so.
To see what sailed in on the nor easterly blow,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should arose,
But a Melges 32, and eight hiking pros.

Up on a plane, the boat so well led,
I instantly knew it was the Scuttlebutt ed.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Ullman! now, Dana! now, Doyle and Johnstone!
On, Reynolds! on Carroll! on, Craig and Gladstone!
I style you in Kaenons! You are wearing Camet!
Now get it together as the kite must be set"

With Interlux paint, the hull was so clean,
A coating of McLube providing the sheen,
So out to the pier end the coursers they flew,
With the boat full of swag, and The Curmudgeon too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard from a far,
The stumbling and bumbling of this internet rock star.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
In the door came The ‘Mudge with a bound.

His kit was complete, nothing to sort,
Pimped out with the best from Team One Newport;
No shortage of gifts he had flung on his back,
The elves at APS had filled up his pack.

His eyes -- a bit red! his dimples quite scary!
His cheeks, they were sagging; his nose -- a big cherry!
His loud little mouth, drawn up like a bow,
And his unshaven face was as white as the snow;

A Mount Gay and Tonic he held tight in his hand,
Already wearing his Key West Race Week wrist band;
Emptying his drink, he focused his stare,
On the shirts he had screened from The Pirates Lair.

The Flexofold prop had been straining his back.
Out came the Laser from his oversized sack;
With a wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Out came the O’Pen BIC that the Optis so dread;

He spoke not a word, sorting it all,
The rigging and carbon from Southern and Hall,
Stacks of gift cards came from West Marine,
Another great calendar from shooter Sharon Green;

His cocktail now gone, the gifts now dispersed,
Down the dock he went, at the crew now he cursed.
But to the ‘Buttheads he screamed as he planned out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Santa Baby

By Paul Fleming

Santa baby, just slip a GPS under the tree, for me
Been an awful good girl
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, a super fast sled too, light blue
I'll wait up for you dear Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Think of all the fun that I've missed
Think of all the sailors I haven't kissed
Next year I could be just as good
If you'd check off my Christmas list
Boo doo bee doo

Santa baby, I want a mega yacht and really that's
Not a lot
Been an angel all year
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa honey, one thing I really do need, the deed
To the America’s Cup,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa cutie and fill my stocking with bar chits, and blank checks
Sign your 'X' on the line
Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Come and trim my Christmas tree
With some decorations from the chandlery
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me
Boo doo bee doo

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring
I mean with wind shift calls on my cell
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry ... tonight

WISSA History

From William Tuthill, President WISSA:

Either you have been to a World Ice and Snow Sailing Association (WISSA) event or you have not. If you have, then you know ... but if you have not ... then get ready. To describe a WISSA event is not easy, and words alone are not enough. Think about this:

The WISSA Ice and Snow Sailing World Championships is the oldest international event in the history of windsurfing. When windsurfing first became popular in the late 1970’s people living in cold climates discovered that windsurfing rigs were also ideal for sailing on ice and snow.

The sport of iceboating is centuries old, but “boats” for sailing in the snow always had problems because of the downward pressure from the rig- they would bog down. The windsurfing rig changed all of that. Standing on a sled and trapping the wind between the ground and the sail provided the lift required to make snow sailing possible for the first time in history.

So-the windsurfing rig made possible a whole new sport. Next came kites. Kites were developed for use on snow and land well over a decade before the sport of Kiteboarding [in water] was born. Around 1990, winterboard inventor Sami Tuurna of Finland came up with a new design for a wing to be used with skis, skates and land boards. Originally called the “Skimbat”, the first wing resembled the “Wind Weapon” that briefly came onto the windsurfing scene at the same time.

Fast forward to present, and the sport of windsurfing is in full recovery from a decline after its halcyon days. Kites have morphed into a new waterborne sport called Kiteboarding, and wings are more efficient and better refined than ever. All of these sports have seen their ups and downs, and each has their advantages and disadvantages. But here’s to you!

Here’s to you living life, and coming out into the winter winds to sail fast and take part in the most prestigious international ice and snow sailing event in history! Bring your flag, bring your culture, and represent your history at the 2011 Ice and Snow Sailing World Championship in Oravi, Saimaa, Finland on February 25 to March 6.

Ob Sea, Novosibirsk, Siberia 1978

Veranger, Norway May 200

Riga, Latvia. WISSA 2009

International Moth - Revolution or evolution

A development class is not for the meek, and the development class that is getting all the publicity these days in the International Moth. When Rohan Veal from Australia electrified the sailing world in 2005 when he became the first person to win an International Moth World Championship on hydrofoils, it required everyone to either add foils to their boat or get beat by those that did. This is what development classes do. They develop.

The list of Moth class rules is short, limiting little more than hull length and width and sail area. They begin by stating their intention “is to give the designer and builder the fullest liberty in design and construction, within these rules to develop and produce faster boats.” And while the idea is to stretch the boundaries for better boat speed, this reality is not always well received.

The 2011 International Moth World Championship is next month in Belmont, Australia (Jan. 8-14), and the class Executive Committee is hurriedly trying to navigate the next big development: wing sails. Since Simon Payne (GBR) won the 2010 Worlds in March, which followed the domination of a wing sail at the 33rd America’s Cup, factions in the class went into the garage to make their own wing. And now they are coming out.

The problem is threefold. First, the class rules are not well suited to the wing, so interpretations must be made. The sticking point is that the rules permit one mast and one sail, and the naysayers find that all the flaps and elements amid the wing are over the limit. There is concern among the sail manufacturers who fear their livelihood is in danger, and are seeking to halt this development as not being in the “general interest of the class”. Then there are all the soft sail competitors who fear their kit will not be sufficient at the 2011 Worlds. And all this uproar comes before the wing sails have entered a race.

As Class president Mark Robinson (SIN) noted during the 2010 Annual General Meeting in March, “We’ve got a healthy class. The fleet is still on an up-turn, but the trick is to maintain this. The class philosophy is that as a development class just about anything goes. If it works, and the class members like it, it will be embraced, if not it may be banned. Thus ‘retrospective legislation’ is the philosophy. We also have to be careful how many revolutions we have within the class in a given period to ensure sustained growth. Hydrofoils have been a great success, but incurred a significant cost increase upon their introduction, so we have to be careful how many major revolutions we have, versus constant evolution.”

So will the class embrace the wing, or will self-interest kill it first? The clock is ticking, and the ethos of the class is set to be tested.

Additional reports on the subject:
http://mothchronicles.blogspot.com
http://www.yachtsponsorship.com
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/10/1201/

San Francisco vs. Larry Ellison

It seems like a lifetime ago when yachting journalist Kimball Livingston reported on the love fest that occurred on February 20, 2010 at City Hall in San Francisco. Mayor Gavin Newsom handed BMW Oracle Racing team owner Larry Ellison the key to the city. Ellison gave the Mayor a team jacket which he promptly put on his back. And both made a lot of noise about finding a way to make it happen that the new defender, Golden Gate Yacht Club, would be hosting the 34th America’s Cup on their home waters.


“We will do whatever it takes,” Newsom said, “because of the magnitude of the opportunity.” To which Ellison replied, “We don’t need taxpayer support. We need access to waterfront land. The 2007 match brought 680 million Euros to the economy in Valencia. That’s almost a billion U.S., and this should be even bigger.”

Ten months later, and now less than three weeks from a vital deadline to disclose the venue location, the level of negotiations between the City and the Golden Gate Yacht Club have gotten rough. Some might say it was only a matter of time. Ellison, the sixth richest person in the world with a personal wealth of $27 billion, didn’t achieve that status by always playing nice.

It is hard to know what is really going on when it is not clear who San Francisco is bidding against to host the Match. Recent rumors are that the City realized it is not bidding against anyone, which may have affected how much they are willing to give up. Also, with the number of entries now looking to be less than projected, the City may have reassessed the value of hosting the event.

If Emirates Team New Zealand had won the 2007 match, a venue location other than Auckland would have been a non starter. And what no one disputes is that the City is able to host the event, or that Ellison declared his desire to defend in San Francisco. For the Bay Area sailing enthusiasts that have faithfully dedicated their support to the cause, let’s hope the deal gets down for the right reasons and not the wrong.

Barcelona

Yachting photographer Christophe Launay will occassionally submit images from his travels. Here is his report from Spain:

La Barceloneta is a neighborhood in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The neighborhood was constructed during the 18th century for the residents of the Ribera neighborhood who had been displaced by the construction of the Ciudadela of Barcelona. The neighborhood is roughly triangular, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, the Muelle de España of Port Vell and the El Born neighborhood.

Barceloneta beach gained status as the best urban beach in the World and total third best beach in the World.

Images below or here.

Christophe Launay
____/)__
http://www.sealaunay.com/

Water or Coke

Interesting infomation regarding Coke and water.



WATER

#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated..
(Likely applies to half the world population)

#2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.

#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.

#4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?


COKE

#1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.

#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.

#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers:
Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds
Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

#8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle.. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.


FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

#1 the active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.

#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.

#3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years! Now the question is, would you like a glass of water?

or Coke?

From sailing to song

Nice story...

It began simply enough, a bit of wanderlust for a young couple in their early 20s. After saving up for six years, Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore could finally afford a modest boat and sail the seas for as long as their money lasted. Never mind that neither of them were skilled sailors; they bought and read instructional books for that.

At the beginning of last year, Riley and Moore made that plan a reality, setting out on an eight-month voyage that led them up the East Coast — and eventually to marriage — before they made their way home to Denver.

What happened next, though, they never could have predicted. Their ocean adventure gave birth to one of indie-pop’s most heavily hyped acts this year, all based on a few singles ahead of a full-length album. Read more