More College Years

College Sailing was so much fun. I had the good fortune to have great teammates; Skip Whyte, Henry Bossett. Mike Fenton, Johnny Hayes,Clay Evans,Chris Wells, Turtle, Norm Windus, and of course our coach Ned Caswell.

We sailed at the Naval Academy several times a year, unsally late fall, and early spring. Annapolis is far enough south that it made a tremendous difference in the weather. They also had fabulous facilities and could host large regattas.

Baltimore was not far away, and Saturday nights would often find us there. Baltimore in the sixties was rough. It had the "Block"; Boston had the "Combat Zone". I doubt that many people could tell you where these places were, as not a trace exists any longer of their existence. Blaze Starr was famous and she had her Joint in the Block. The Photograph is proof that we were indeed there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaze_Starr

La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art

In 1986 I received a request from The La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, for material for an exhibit they were producing on the subject of sailing. I stumbled upon this letter searching for something else. I doubt the curator had any idea of exactly what or why he was requesting these items. In fact, my harnesses changed the way racing boats were handled. No bowman, today would not be wearing his harness all the time. Sail changes evolved as a result, closing the gap between closed course racing and offshore racing.

last snow of 2008

It is snowing. I am waiting to shovel, burning off the calories of the holidays. 

It seems Bernie Madoff is the poster child of the unraveling of the economy. perhaps even a candidate for man of the year, he is the manifest icon of what happened.

On to the purpose of my post: Ted Turner at the end of the 1974 America's Cup trials, In the photograph Ted has just been notified that "Mariner" the Britton Chance design has been eliminated from the trails. The syndicate tried everything even major surgery to the boat in the middle of the summer, all to no avail.The boat was just slow, finishing last in the consolation race, even losing to France 1, sailed by Baron Bic.  I sailed aboard the boat for that race.

During the winter of 1973-74  while I was building "Courageous" at Minneford's in City Island; I took a class in tank testing at Stevens Institute in Hoboken taught by Peter Desaix. Peter, at the time was exuberant about the results produced by "Mariner" in the tank, claiming a breakthrough. He would later recant his claim realizing a flaw in the test data.

It was a bitter blow for all involved. The relationship between Ted and Brit soured,hence the poster circulated during the Southern Circuit. Ted felt betrayed by Dennis Connor, who had been his tactician, but recruited by "Courageous" as a starting helmsman. Brit Chance's career was put in jeopardy; although he recovered with his design of the one tonner  "Resolute Salmon". 

These events probably contributed to Ted's choice of "Courageoous" for 1977; a proven quantity. Not taking any chances. Surrounded by his "inner circle" those who stayed loyal to him. 

Hobnail Boots

After arriving in Ireland at the finish of the Trans-atlantic race; I was informed that I was included on the list of invited to all the events in Cowes; which meant that I would need a dinner jacket and other appropriate clothes.

On the first saturday after our arrival in Cork I went to the flea market. There I found A pair of Hobnail Boots, perfect for black shoes. Once we arrived in England we hauled out immediately at Camper & Nicholson's Yard in Gosport; once the boat was secure, I took the train to London buying a very nice double breasted, double vented blazer, which I still own. After the Channel race we moved "Carina" to Souter's Yard in Cowes. After racing one afternoon I shopped for a pair of black trousers, so ugly that they were really a one time use. My tie was a piece of ribbon(red, white and blue) that had decorated a bottle of wine that was used to celebrate the 4th of July during the race.

I did attend the Royal London Yacht Club Ball, sharing a table with Sir Alec Rose, who raced "Lively Lady" single-handed a number of times across the atlantic.

"My Life" Ed du Moulin

I unexpectedly received at Christmas a copy of Ed du Moulin's book "My Life". During the Jubilee in 2001 at Cowes Ed came aboard "Columbia" the 12 meter along with Jim Hardy and presented me with a copy of his book " The America's Cup and Me".

I am a big fan of autobiographies.I have already read the book cover to cover; finding so many familiar names entwined in the stories found there.

I raced to Spain with Rich in 1972 aboard "Charisma" belonging to Jesse Philips. I found the stories that Rich would have told his father in the book. I look back at these events fondly, and have only the best memories of all the crew.

Jesse was in the process of divorcing his wife of 27 years. He spent so much time on the SSB that he would run the batteries down. We told Jesse that he had to be careful. His response was that Huey Long on "Ondine" seemed to have no problem , why was it that he did?

Copies of these books are available by contacting the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol Rhode Island.

The Morning After

It snowed all day long today adding at least another inch the the total. We received about 9 inches as of this morning. The wind never materialized, amazing considering the weather map. I shoveled a total of about 12 hours, certainly burns calories, although I can think of more amusing ways to do it.

First Real Snow

This afternoon the snow started as predicted. Several inches an hour, no wind yet. Not particularly cold. Tomorrow morning will tell the whole story.

 Yesterday I spent some time with a group who are trying to leave Newport for Florida. Naturally the suggestion was that they hold off this weekend and start watching the weather forecasts for a window of 48-72 hours; about as much as you might hope for at this time of the year. If they can get to Norfolk, the rest of the trip is easy. It it this first few hundred miles that is trying.