Peter Nelson, US SAILING Multihull Area L rep, Teacher/Founder of Hobie 101, 102, Level A Sailor athlete, and all aroung good guy, published "From the Wire" for over four years. This was a Email newsletter published monthly, that started out as a Hobie 16 newsletter for the sailors that attended Hobie 101. It grew to a general newsletter with a large address list. I have a hard copy of each issue, and it continues to be a great reference. As with many Email letters, most of us make a hard copy to read later. The delay in news, plus the cost would just not work for this dedicated volunteer.
I hope Peter does not mind, but the following is his last newsletter, and gives you a good idea of the typical content. Could not link, as it may not exist in Cyperspace.
Caleb Tarleton
From the Wire
Last Issue – For some of you this will be a relief! But this will be the last issue of ‘From the Wire’ – not only for this season but for a looong while. After 4 years of putting out this e-rag, it is time to hang it up and move on to other things. It has been fun, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I also hope it has helped you become a better Hobie sailor. Best wishes for a safe, successful, and fun sailing season.
Youth Clinic @ Splash – Don’t forget that I will be doing a clinic for all youth sailors from 3-5 p.m. the Friday before the Kirkland Splash at the beach of the regatta site. If you have or know of any kids who want a primer on sailing 16s, send them by.
Alter Cup Qualifier – Online registration is now available for the Alter Cup to be held June 10-11 at Skamokawa. This regatta has fallen onto hard times, and I have picked up organizing and reviving it. I went to the Alter Cup in March in Florida, and I mean to tell you, it was FUN! I plan to build this event into a premier regional regatta for multihulls. The regatta is open to all multis under 22.5’. Scoring is done using the Portsmouth yardstick. US SAILING membership is required. I know it will pain some of you to have to support US SAILING, but it isn’t such a bad way to give back to the sport that which has given so much to you. So please consider supporting this event. Cost is $30 and T-shirts will be available. You can register online by either clicking on the link below or cutting and pasting the following address into your browser:
http://www.ussailing.org/calendar/result...amp;byOA=Search Easter Egg Hunt – Jerry and Laura organized a Hobie Easter Egg Hunt for Saturday, April 15th. Inclement weather kept the number of boats down to six, but those six had a fantastic time! Ably supervised by Todd Christensen and Mike Hensel in chase boats, the boats started from Stan Sayer Pits and sailed to different parks. At each park they grabbed Easter eggs. They then brought their entire haul back to the pits and traded in some of it for even bigger stashes from Hobie Cats NW, West Marine, and others. The final ‘take’ for each boat was much greater than the $20 entry fee.
Jerry and Laura are organizing another similar event – a Poker Run – in the summer, when the weather is nicer. My guess is it will be a sellout. Look for it on the schedule and plan accordingly.
Kid for Sale – Well, not exactly. But my son, Will, is ready, I think, to start crewing. OK, not at Skamokawa! But at most of the other regattas, it would be great to get him on a 16. So if you doubled up on cheesecake over the winter, and you are looking for a light (70#), affable crew, let me know at [email]nelson.peter@comcast.net.[/email] He has been taking sailing lessons from SSP as well as from me and is turning into a pretty good sailor. He would make a great crew on a 16.
Season Opener – At last, the season is near! The season opener this year is the Kirkland Splash on Memorial Day weekend. We race Sat. & Sun. so those of you at distance can use Monday as a travel day. This is a great venue for a season opener. Not only is the City of Kirkland a great place to hang out, but the confines of lake sailing makes it a little easier on the crews still warming up. Plus the central location in Seattle always assures a good turnout. Combine that with Dan Carpenter’s contacts and organization, and you have the makings for a fantastic regatta! Hope to see you there!
Other May Events – May officially kicks off the Hobie season – at least judging by the events! Let’s see…the first weekend has Caleb’s Fast and Fun program on Saturday, May 6th, out at the Kirkland beach where the Splash is held. The day is always a very casual, relaxed affair with plenty of opportunity to visit with Hobie buddies, go for a sail on Waves, and turn other people on to this fun sport. If you are a Seattle-ite, be sure to drop by and support Caleb in this important and fun venture. Caleb can be reached at Then the following day, Sunday, May 7th, is the first ever Hobie 101 in Portland. Chris Kelsey is pretty excited about this as he has promised the world to a bunch of excited sailors and sailor-wannabees down in the Portland area and he is hoping the 101 course will ‘set the hook’, so to speak. Contact Chris for more info at .
The 2nd weekend in May has Hobie 101 in Seattle on May 13th. No telling how many will eventually sign up, but judging by early registration, we should match last year’s sellout of nearly 40 people! This year we upped the ante from $10 to a whopping $25. Any excess $ goes to Sail Sandpoint’s Hobie 16 program. Let me know if you or someone you know is interested in the Seattle 101.
WA State Hobie Championships – Formerly known as ‘Westport’ (and still at that great site), I decided to give this regatta a facelift. Last year was its inaugraul year and we purposely kept it small and intimate. This year I plan to expand it. Dates are Sept. 23-24 and we will launch from the beautiful Half Moon Bay beach (weather/waves permitting). I will once again roll out the barbeque and mahi-mahi and ask sailors to contribute the side dishes, salads, and desserts. We are adding t-shirts with a very nice design as an optional cost item. And this year I have added online registration at
http://www.ussailing.org/calendar/result...mp;byOA=Search. So help me out and pre-register if you plan on attending.
Tuning Tip – Skippering will be the topic of this last Tuning Tip. Why? Cuz it is the loose nut at the end of the tiller that makes the biggest difference. Specifically, I am referring to being a good skipper to your crew. No one wants to crew for a cranky skipper. And sad to say, it takes one to know one, and I know one! I was a cranky skipper at one point. Laura will tell you I still am from time to time. But I am a LOT better than I used to be.
As a skipper, it is YOUR responsibility to keep the cohesion of the team, and to keep the crew positive and motivated. The latter is more easily achieved as long as learning is going on in a positive environment. The former – cohesion – is a little trickier.
It starts with respect. If you don’t respect your crew, then do them (and yourself) a favor, and get new crew. Otherwise you are doomed for the 3 F’s -- failure, fighting and frustration.
Once you have respect, then you need relativity, the big picture. In the heat of battle, you gotta remember this is all just for the fun of it. In the end, it’s just one silly race. None of us are America’s Cup sailors, so stop trying to be one! Relax, and enjoy the ride.
If you make the regatta fun – on and off the water – you are more likely to attract and retain good crew. People are naturally attracted to fun, positive people, and are repelled by negative, cranky people. Take a good look in the mirror, then at your crew list to determine which one you are. Then take some positive steps to improve your skippering this season. No matter how good you are, there is always room for improvement.
Bonus Tuning Tip (since it is the last issue!) – Laura and I got the chance in April to sail in the open waters of Monterey Bay (CA) at Div. 3’s Kickoff Regatta. There was an all-star line-up in the 16A’s including 2004 NA Champ Armando Noriega Jr., 2004 Alter Cup Champ Mike Montague along with 3 other top sailors – Pat Porter, Javier Cabildo, & Jim Sadjak. We had light winds (6-8k) and choppy seas. It was there that I was reminded of the need to change gears in a regatta. In flat water, it isn’t as big a deal. But in lumpy conditions, you gotta be prepared to shift gears.
Most of the guys were straight-lining it with the main and jib traveled out upwind a bit, and sheeted on. (I wasn’t. I wanted a deeper, more powerful main, so I kept my main centered and sheeted out.) After the start, when they wanted to go fast to get clear air, they were bow down in the traveled-out position. But when they wanted to point (like after rounding C-mark), they would center the main traveler.
Same thing downwind. We were doing a lot of surfing and sometimes the wind really moves forward on you when you are going down the face of the wave. I saw Armando Jr. (the one time I was close enough to him!) playing his main traveler to adjust for this change in apparent wind. I’m telling ya – if you are not constantly or nearly-constantly changing your sails to accommodate changes in wind direction or intensity, you are losing big to those of us who are!
