Charlotte Harbor Regatta makes the local news

Nicely done Mr. Gleason

Local News Coverage

I would have been nice if they had picked more sailing shots, and left out the capsized H16 at the end of the piece. WHY did the have to include that? Idiots.

Nah - that's what makes it interesting. Very few people watch(ed) NASCAR for the thrill of seeing cars go around in a circle.

Too bad they didn't get the shot of it going over. Otherwise, using your analogy, it's just like seeing a driver push his car back onto the track...

Mike

They did get a shot of it going over. :-)

What Jake said! Come on Tim don't be another old angry white guy, be different.

Good form, Mr. Domingo!

Thank you for coming.

http://www.charlotteharborregatta.com/

You racist cracker

My wife is ethnic so I get a pass.

I'm glad to see irony still slips by some people... sarcasm don't let me down...

On the news? That is what we're discussing, right?

Mike

The one reason my -used to sail- friends tell me they don't like catamarans??

"They tip over"

It doesn't help our cause (grow the sport) if all the media shows is capsized cats.

If a new person wants to get into sailing catamarans and they don't want to get wet or flip, they picked the wrong sport. Might as well save them the steep (and wet) learning curve and just avoid it all together. You're not going to hide the fact that a new sailor will spend some time upside down for very long!

Besides, it's the price for going fast.

Yeah, that's why my wife won't even try it.

I don't understand the fear of capsizing. Windy days you're f-ing soaked anyways. Swimming is only marginally wetter.

Hitting objects at speed when you go over is what most people fear, not so much the falling in the water part.

And then the boat righting part seems to scare them, too.

But the same (steep learning curve) could be said for many of the sports today (kiting, foiling, etc) so yes, this should come as no surprise to newbies...

As I get older/fatter/slower I move to older/fatter/slower boats.

First boat - high performance wave sailing windsurfer. Beam = 24 inches
Second boat - Nacra 20. Beam = 8'6". DPN 59.3
third boat - F24. Beam = 14'. PHRF 84
Future boat -???


And yes, Ding, I hate PHRF too... But I do enjoy sitting with the tiller in one hand, a sandwich in the other and telling people what to do while going (slowly) in circles without getting soaked (Timbo makes a good spray protector FYI).

For the most part agree, but I've been a part of some nasty pitchpoles and I've hit hard things at speed on my way to splash down and it has left more than just a mark. The crew definitely gets the short end of crashes because the skipper uses the crew as cushion between the hard bits far too often. I've also been in a situation where I've said to myself... it might be time for the knife and once sorted thought to myself 'that could have gone badly for me'. So, there are times when it's not just about getting wet.

Brother just because I hate PHRF doesn't mean I don't do it! There have been many races were i've been the designated rail meet and I've enjoyed myself thoroughly. Not having to be responsible for fixing the bad decisions of the skipper allows me to enjoy the ride and wave at the pretty girls on the other boats. Riding the rail is a great way to catch up on email, txt you're friends and harass people on social media. Just wish my skipper would buy proper sandwiches and decent beer.

Mental note: remember to buy bologna and Blatz light beer for Saturday's regatta

Ding,

I agree with everything you wrote regarding "fear" of capsizing, but your PHRF crewing post could have been copied from any one of 10,000 whiner posts from SA. Speaking of which, does that place still exist?

Mike

Mike, it was a meant in good humor... except for the sandwiches and beer part! For the record I do enjoy sailing on a leaner from time to time. And my post wasn't a whiner post it was freaking hilarious!

I got into this from motocross and doing really stupid stuff on sportbikes. My view of danger is a bit skewed. I've only had a serious oh crap moment in a sailboat wrapped in a sheet as the tramp started to come down on me. I've had more moments where I thought death was certain than I care to remember. Sailboats have been bumps and bruises for me.

My only point was, in the video, with all the great sailing shots available, some nit wit editor (probably a mono-slug cave man cat hater) decided to include a shot of a H16 trying to be righted, poorly. For any novice sailor, or potential crew/wife/girlfriend/kid who might have been watching that piece, they probably had the same thought I had when I raced Mono's, before I got into cats:

Who would want to do that? Looks like you do more swimming than sailing...

Yes, SA is there and John Casey has great interview with Randy Smyth today.

How cool is a scaring Kevin Costner, capsizing a 40 foot cat in The Thomas Crown Affair and stuffing the bows on a 110 footer in the Southern Ocean.

I bring Subway samiches, fresh fruit, and water for my J22 crew for Saturday club races. You probably wouldn't care for my beer rule though. Beer happens only after the boat is put away after racing for two reasons. A) the boat is tidied up, secured in the slip, and the deck tent snapped on REALLY fast after racing. B) that first beer after all of that is sooo good.

A rule I could easily live with. Subway would be huge step up from air sandwiches. :-)

I have to stop taking you guys so seriously sometimes (and vice-versa)....

Mike

Fruit? You got Grey Poupon or something? You eat with your pinky up? Sheesh...

Beef Jerky unless it's an overnight distance at which the cabin becomes a nuclear hazard.

With a bucket as a head, think "low residue" food like astronaut training.

I mostly agree with Jake on the beer thing... maybe one on the way to the dock, but I usually don't pound them until the boat's put away. There's enough drunk boaters at the ramp to require my senses be sharp...

That's it.... you're getting Vegimite (whatever that is...)

We bring 5 beers for the ride in on the J24. In a small cooler down by the keel for big events. (includes the Worlds in Newport last year, which could be an hour+ sail/motor to and from the course).

For club and smaller races we may have a couple extras.

We dry sail the boat during the week, so have to hoist it in and out each time we race.

We never have a problem with putting the boat away or any of the other associated chores.

We don't have a "problem" putting the boat away but it was often that we're sitting/standing by the half put away boat wondering why we're always the last ones to leave.

That's not a problem here with no-see-ums and now Zhika virus...

Kind of like a zombie movie: "Be back before dark...or else"

Wow. If I only had a dollar for every time I've been guilty of that, even without drinking (I hate leaving regattas and friends)!

Actually, I've never "wondered" why I was last, just never cared. My wife, on the other hand...

Mike

But it's so much more painful to finish putting the boat away after all that. Better to just get it done and THEN spend the time with the people.

That's one way to look at it, I guess...

Some of these people I only get to see once or twice a year anymore. The boat can wait.

Mike