How To Launch A Starboat

by

VanFalk

Well two more races down and both have turned out to be a bummer. The wind shifted as a cold front came in making race two a frustrating race. The RC did what they could, but can't control the weather. We sailed the race in 6-15 knots. Sailing towards shore to reach the weather mark meant we were getting blasts off the beach that at one point auto tacked us while I was in the mini hike and quickly found out what it is like to be trapped in the harness under the leeward side of the boat. Skipper, a Miami local, insisted that we hit the hard left during the first upwind. We were almost sailing on an entirely different race course, but the gamble paid off and we rounded 8th. It is pretty amazing to round the weather mark and see 90 boats following you. Had we not had the autotack incident we probably would have rounded the mark in first. Something to be said about building leverage by banging the corner. The next run was ho hum and no places changed. On the second upwind we sailed into a hole and watched as 40 boats passed us. Ultimately we ended up in the middle again. A really disappointing experience.

Race three never should have been sailed. The conditions failed to stabilize and the RC did a poor job managing the course. The wind was from 3-8 knots and constantly shifting. On the last run it shifted so hard it almost became a beat. We spent the entire race very deep expecting the wind to stabilize and favor the left, but it never did. We were in good company though as we rounded the weather mark in the 70's ahead of Cayard. Cayard worked hard the remainder of the race and finished 55, but to his credit he did finish, which was more than could be said for Loof. Loof dropped out on the last run rather than accept a score in the high 60's. Although to be fair to Freddy, he has a lot on his mind as he is going home today to join his wife for the birth of their new baby.

The parties continued with a cocktail reception (Bacardi only of course) on Monday and a reception at the South Beach dance club Touch on Wednesday. Great parties, great company, all you can drink Bacardi, how can you go wrong?

On the dock much of the chatter seems to be regarding class president Ricardo Simoneschi. All Olympic Classes are required by ISAF to be Category C only, meaning you must allow advertising at all events. The Bacardi Cup is traditionally Category A. Meaning no advertising. While the Bacardi people can not enforce it, they ask that all competitors remove their advertising. Everyone has always complied out of respect to the Bacardi family and their contributions to the class. For some reason, Ricardo has decided to make a point this year and refused to remove the Audi logos from his boat. He is making the class look bad and showing himself to be the ass that he is. For that, I give him the Armand Tilzarian Schmuck of the Week Award. More than one person has already suggested to the Bacardi people that he not be invited to this "invitational" regatta next year. Apparently the sailors are not the only ones to have issues with El Presidente. In one race he got involved in an altercation with a fisherman resulting in the fisherman taking a fish and smacking Ricardo with it. Certainly this leader of the Italian Star Class Mafia can appreciate the irony of sleeping with the fishes.

A wise man once told me that you will do far more damage to a star boat at the dock, than you could ever do on the race course. He was absolutely right. Walking around the hoists yesterday, I noticed many guys struggling to get their boats in the water, with one team nearly dropping it on the concrete, and others bending their spreaders on the hoist. Now launching is actually quite simple, and I'll detail it here. First, you watch someone who knows what they are doing launch their boat. Mark Reynolds is an excellent example. Step 2 is you do what he did. Step 3 is repeat when necessary. That seems simple but some guys can't seem to get it right. Mark Reynolds has refined launching to an art and there is no need to reinvent the wheel.

The other thing I noticed was how many trailers have busted out their trailer lights from hitting things in the parking lot. Those poor lights only want to do their job and instead the boys (and girls) are impaling the poor things. Now the trick to avoid killing your lights is to remove your light bar and tie it to the fence. Or, add an extra foot of beam to each side of the boat as you push it through the lot. So let's be careful out there boys (and girls). Save the lights.

Looking forward things are really wide open right now. Howie Shiebler is the top American and is sailing well. Actually, I think all of the top Americans are sailing well right now, despite what their scores may indicate. The conditions have not really provided a fair test and while winning the Bacardi would be nice, their goal is to win the trials. After the Bacardi, I'll try to write an article on what the top teams are doing logistically to get to Athens. It is actually great to see how professional the programs are which actually isn't too surprising since most the guys are applying what has been learned in previous Olympics and AC campaigns to the Star. As a teaser, I will say that some of them use "Boat Fluffers."