Sailing Blog
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February 19, 2013
It has been roughly over a year since the last blog at 42Marine.com and with too many details to cover, here is a summary: Obama is back in office for another 4 years, and if this flo-chart of Obamacare is any indication, we are in for a confusing, wandering second term. Adrian Peterson was the best player in the NFL, the Vikings beat the Packers to get into the playoffs and continuing with a longstanding trend, when given a choice of food, Packer fans will always choose sausage. The earth is getting warmer, Lance Armstrong is Manti Teo’s girlfriend, and my 3.5 yr old daughter Lily was invited to a play-date from a boy in her pre-school claiming he wants to show her his trains…wtf.
As for sailing, America’s Cup teams are finalizing their practice sessions in foiling 72 ft catamarans, and these boats truly are amazing. The jury is out on if this version will be good for the cup in the long term, but leaders at Oracle have certainly taken it in a different, much more futuristic direction, and fingers crossed, it will bring some positive exposure for sailing, and a good experience for the city of San Francisco.
The Volvo Ocean Race, one of the best sporting adventures on the planet, is going to a smaller One-Design platform, and an all-women’s team is actively training and putting a team together for the next edition of the race. To keep sponsors involved, smaller, cheaper, and safer (slower) boats are being used, and ports that are friendly for sponsors are the main driving factors deciding the routes of the legs. These will all be smart changes if the exposure of the race can grow.
It was a good year at 42 Marine, and although 2012 was up and down results wise, there was plenty of sailing on the Melges 20, 24, 32 and Match Race Circuits, and 2013 is shaping up to be busy. This past year also provided the experience as Interim Director at the Lake Minnetonka Sailing School, and after having to take on responsibilities ranging from Director, to President of HR, to Webmaster, to Executive of Fiberglass Repair, to Therapist to Passionate Parents, to Lieutenant of Bathroom Cleaning, to Minister of Bee Control on the Volleyball Courts, I have new appreciation for Sailing School Directors. It was a great experience, and with a skilled team in place for the coming season, LMSS is primed to get a record amount of students sailing and racing.
At the moment, Melges 32 teams are tuning up in Virgin Gorda for the first segment of the Melges 32 Caribbean Winter Series. Last year the class agreed to move its popular winter series from South Florida, to the Caribbean and at the outset it looked like there would be 20 boats. Once all the logistics were put in place, a few teams opted out and while there are only 10-12 boats, for those who made the journey, it will be well worth it. The first event is going to be held out of the newly constructed Yacht Club Costa Smeralda satellite facility, and if you can’t enjoy yourself here and the surrounding area, you have problems.
For our team on Volpe, we have licked our wounds from a disappointing finish at the 2012 worlds, and we are a looking for a positive start to the 2013 season. We are all a bit heavy for our weigh ins on Weds morning, and it is not easy to try and cut weight in the Caribbean when all you want to do is eat some roti and have plenty of rum and Ting.
Stay tuned for some awesome photos from the race-course and more importantly the shoreside activities. Our crew headquarters for the week are a bit drafty, but we should be able to make it through the week OK.
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