Ants on a Boat
Getting my Laser ready for the spring and I’ve found that an ant colony has taken up residence on it.
Category: Sailboat Racing
Annapolis Laser Fleet 10 Frostbite Video
On March 4 I shot this film in Annapolis with the Severn Sailing Association Laser Fleet. I was on the committee boat with a camera and then we had 5 GoPro cameras on various boats getting footage. Thanks to Dorian, Luke, Eric, Carlos, Reid and Bob for helping out!
Nikon D7000 Pelican Case
I’m planning on doing a lot of sailing this summer and when I’m on bigger boats than my Laser I want to be able to have my Nikon D7000 DSLR close at hand. I can’t use the camera while I’m actually sailing, but there will be plenty of downtime while aboard when there is no splashing and I could easily pull the camera out if it were handy. I plan to use the camera for both stills and video so I’ll need to have extra batteries and a Sennheiser MKE400 Shotgun Microphone. To make this work, I need:
- A hard case that would absolutely protect the camera no matter what was thrown on top of it
- A waterproof case that could take some splashes, rain or even a little water over the bow
- A case that is as small and light as possible to save weight and space
- A case with a handle so it could be tied into the boat or tethered in place
I found the Pelican Storm iM2075 for $45 that was just the right size for Nikon D7000 and a 17-55mm lens without the grip or my side-plate mounted microphone holder. It’ll fit the camera with the lens hood, plus the microphone, 3 EN-EL15 batteries and a couple of AAA batteries for the microphone.
Completed case with camera and accessories in place:
Basic case with foam:
The case comes with two pieces of foam blocks. I cut one of them roughly in half to form the bottom of the case that the camera will rest on.
Used toothpicks to plot the size of the camera on the foam on the uncut block foam:
Remove the 1cm x 1cm foam squares for a custom fit around the camera:
Put 1/2 of the foam in the bottom of the case, and then cut 2 of the 1cm blocks at half of their height so that the AAA batteries are sitting on foam and not the bottom of the case where they’ll clank and make noise:
Put the customized piece of foam over the flat piece of foam and put the Camera and batteries in place:
I then added the strap to the camera and placed the Sennheiser mic alongside the camera:
FBYC Crew Training Video
Recently finished a video which will be used in early 2012 to promote Fishing Bay Yacht Club’s Crew Training Program.
2011 FBYC Annual Meeting & Awards
Saturday, Fishing Bay Yacht Club hosted their Annual Meeting & Awards Dinner. I put together this highlight film. I also won the Blanton Bowl as the clubs top Laser sailor in home and away regattas.
FBYC Laser Frostbite Regatta
Fishing Bay Yacht Club‘s Laser Frostbite Regatta was the last sailing event of the year for the club and the last sailing event of the year for me as well. We had nice winds about 5-8 out of the north east. It was cool, but sunny and comfortable with a full set of layers on. Having not sailed the Laser in 6 weeks I was pretty inconsistent on the water today. Won 3 races, but wound up 3rd after some deep finishes were factored in. Kudos to Ron Thompson and Michael Moore who both put up top 3 finishes in every race to finish first and second. It was a great day of racing and it was nice having the Hampton Roads sailors come join us.
Results are here.
With that event my sailing for 2011 is complete. I finished the year having sailed 54 days. Up 5 days from last year.
Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship Trophy
The Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship has been sailed by Laser sailors over the age of 35 since 1981. In the early years of the regatta Alain Vincey had beautiful plates made that were given to the competitors as prizes. The last of these plates was made into a perpetual trophy for the regatta. About 10 years ago the trophy fell over, and the ceramic plate was shattered. The plate was painstakingly repaired and has hung in the clubhouse ever since.
As great of a trophy as it was, I wanted to be sure the plate would be protected and that the regatta would have a trophy that would last for years to come. With those goals in mind, I planned a trophy that looks like a serving tray with sides that would protect the plate mounted to it. And although I’m not yet of age to sail in Masters regattas, I made sure there would enough room for winners to cover well past the time that I ‘age out’ of Laser masters sailing.
The trophy was built at the beginning of October out of 13 pieces of 3/4″ mahogany.
Next chocks were made to hold the plate in place and the plaques were aligned and drilled.
The trophy was then finished in a natural glossy finish.
Then the rope border was mounted.
Finally the plate and plaques were mounted to complete the trophy.
Winners at the 30th Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship on October 15-16, 2011.
More pictures of the trophy and the build process can be seen here.
I want to thank my father, Stan, for his help and tools. And thanks to Alain Vincey for the kicking off the regatta years ago and providing the plate and original trophy for it.
30th Chesapeake Bay Laser Master’s Championship
This weekend Fishing Bay Yacht Club hosted the 30th Chesapeake Bay Laser Masters Championship for Laser sailors 35 years of age and old. Since I don’t yet meet the requirements to sail, I’ve been made the event chairman. The event went off without a hitch and 36 sailors participated. The RC did a fabulous job getting 7 races in, including 3 in 20+ knots of wind on Saturday. Alain’s pork Ossobuco was fantastic as all of his meals were. I just want to thank everyone who helped out and all of the sailors who came.
Results and photos have been posted. Here are a few of my favorite photos:
Building the Laser Radial District 11 Championship Trophy
District 11 has a new perpetual trophy to honor the Laser Radial District 11 Champions. It was built around the original Standard Laser District 11 Championship trophy and features the names of the 7 champions we’ve had so far.
The original Standard Laser District 11 Championship trophy was built in 1979 by Mike Waters using a relief of a Laser created by his wife, Jane Waters. Over the years this trophy was lost to time and in the mid-1990’s a new Standard Laser District 11 Championship trophy was created. The original trophy was found about 5 years ago and the champions listed on it were used to populate the new trophy going back to 1972.
The original trophy was given to me when I became District Secretary and I thought it was a shame not to put such a nice piece of art to use and to loose a valuable contribution to our District. We’ve started to have a consistent showing of Radials at our District Championship. I thought – why not recognize Laser Radial champions and give Radials a trophy to sail for.
The new Laser Radial District 11 trophy was designed to use the relief in the original trophy. Since Mike was a boat builder and used the best boat-building adhesives to affix the relief to the original board, it would have been too difficult to separate the relief from the board without breaking it. So the new trophy had to be built around it.
The new trophy would feature the relief in the center, a plaque with the name of the trophy at the top, room for the 7 known Laser Radial District 11 Champions and room for the next 36.
Construction of the trophy began at the end of August. First the old board was cut away around the relief. Then mahogany boards were joined and a hole cut for the relief.
Next a groove was routed around the edge and a frame was added to cover the threshold between the new wood and the old board that the relief was affixed to.
Then the trophy was polyurethaned and the plaques were mounted to it.
The final touch was adding the rope to complete the trophy.
More pictures of the trophy and the build process can be seen here.
I want to thank my father, Stan, for his help and tools. I also want to thank Mike Waters and his wife for creating the original trophy and for the fleets and individuals who have helped fund the materials to build the trophy.
2011 Crab Claw Regatta
The racing at the Crab Claw Regatta at Severn Sailing Association was marred only by a lack of wind this weekend. On Saturday we had just enough wind to get out to the course and sail 1 shortened race. On Sunday we ‘sailed’ out to the course in almost no wind and after waiting around for 2 hours we abandoned having not sailed a race.
In the one race we did sail, I got a good start on the favored port end and headed out to the left with the leaders. I came right a little too early and was 9th around the top mark. Downwind I picked up a couple boats and then the wind went right for the shortened course upwind to the finish and I was able to pick off one more boat to finish in 6th.
Even thought the sailing wasn’t so great, the weekend was still a fun time hanging out with the Laser sailors and catching up Saturday night with Lud and Blake who were delivering Impulse from Newport to Deltaville.
