Rocket Pig sailed two races today in the first day of the championship division. John and I had our shining moments and sailed smart and hard, but in the end... an equipment failure (a broken outhaul) and being over the line early twice put a damper on the day's overall results. Such as life...John and I dug deep to find a greater meaning in today's destiny.
One must present his boat to nature....for nature will present itself to you...and one must listen to her...for she will speak...
No one wakes up in the morning and decides one's own fate...your only control is how you choose to participate in the experience we call life.
Another Great Day in Ephraim! Wish you all were here! "Blues that Heal...Baby"
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Pigs do fly!
The Qualifying Series is over, and Rocket Pig is moving on to the Championship round.
Joe had a great write up of yesterdays 2 races that he lost when he posted….so I will try and relive the last 2 days and then add some of today’s details.
To start off it’s been great. This area is an awesome region of Wisconsin that you need to see to believe. Beautiful water, good weather conditions, good people and good food. Of course there is the downside that most everyone here is a Buckey Badger fan. Anyway…
Yesterday started off with lot’s of anticipation and thoughts about how we would do against the hotshots and how we would stack up against the white fleet. The first 3 races of the event is a qualifier where you round robin against the 3 other fleets (black, pink and green). To qualify, you have to be in the top half of the all competing sailors. Joe and I have our own personal goals and one of them is to be in the Championship fleet.
Monday started light with a shifting westerly wind. With the potential of a cluster with 75 boats all trying to get in the water at the same time, Joe and I were ready to go immediately after the skippers meeting. It paid off as we were the 2nd boat on the water and spent some time getting re-familiar with each other and making some minor rigging adjustments.
With a light shifting westerly wind, the Race Committee was struggling to setup a good course. By noon the wind had settled down to a South westerly 5-8mph. Not exactly what was predicated and not what the Carolina boyz were asking for. Once the 5 minute warning sounded we quickly determined that we wanted to be at the boat and with clear air. And we got it. A huge hole opened up right in front of us, we tacked into it, held our ground and were in great position with speed. We went left and came back late and rounded in the top 15. Downwind we stayed high, rolled about 2-3 boats and rounded with the idea of going right. Joe saw a building breeze coming in from the West, we got to it and it paid off. We picked off a couple boats and headed down wind. The Race Committee shortened the course to the downwind gate and we settled for a 9th place finish. Not a bad start.
The second race started with a building Westerly wind. We decided the pin is where we wanted to be and fought for a good spot had a decent start. With a lot of boats tacking out and going right, tactician Brake called for us to go left where it looked like more breeze was rolling in. He was right. We worked our way up the course and rounded fourth. We picked off a boat downwind and held that position for a couple legs. It was a good feeling to look up and see the only 2 boats ahead of us were Pro dudes. At the last leeward mark we had a bad rounding and a tactical mistake and lost 3 boats for a 6th place finish. We had a 9-6 and were 12th overall. Well within our goal.
Today with only one race scheduled, we were ready to complete our short term goal and move on. Forecast was for 10-15 from the NW. With rain coming thru about 5am and the sky clearing, everyone was predicting a dying breeze. They were wrong. Out on the course with a Northerly breeze and good chop rolling down Egg Harbor, the race committee setup a course for the 11:00am start. Joe wanted a pin start….and we won the pin by a lot. We scooted left and favored the left side of the course. Chop was vicious (for a inland lake sailor like me) and made driving difficult. We worked up the left and rounded in 15th. Downwind we picked up a boat or two and again rounded and went left. At this point it was breeze on with gusts hitting 15 and big chop. We rounded in probably 12th, and held our position downwind. On the last beat we went right and by this time I was starting to get a feel for the waves. We picked off several boats and finished in 9th. It felt like a 20th, so I was extremely happy with our finish.
So our line for the qualification series was 9-6-9 and 9th overall out of 74 boats. Joe and I are ecstatic and ready for the next 3 days. But with everyone starting with 0 points tomorrow, it’s game on starting at 11:00am.
Complete results and pictures are available on the EYC web site (www.eyc.org).
Joe had a great write up of yesterdays 2 races that he lost when he posted….so I will try and relive the last 2 days and then add some of today’s details.
To start off it’s been great. This area is an awesome region of Wisconsin that you need to see to believe. Beautiful water, good weather conditions, good people and good food. Of course there is the downside that most everyone here is a Buckey Badger fan. Anyway…
Yesterday started off with lot’s of anticipation and thoughts about how we would do against the hotshots and how we would stack up against the white fleet. The first 3 races of the event is a qualifier where you round robin against the 3 other fleets (black, pink and green). To qualify, you have to be in the top half of the all competing sailors. Joe and I have our own personal goals and one of them is to be in the Championship fleet.
Monday started light with a shifting westerly wind. With the potential of a cluster with 75 boats all trying to get in the water at the same time, Joe and I were ready to go immediately after the skippers meeting. It paid off as we were the 2nd boat on the water and spent some time getting re-familiar with each other and making some minor rigging adjustments.
With a light shifting westerly wind, the Race Committee was struggling to setup a good course. By noon the wind had settled down to a South westerly 5-8mph. Not exactly what was predicated and not what the Carolina boyz were asking for. Once the 5 minute warning sounded we quickly determined that we wanted to be at the boat and with clear air. And we got it. A huge hole opened up right in front of us, we tacked into it, held our ground and were in great position with speed. We went left and came back late and rounded in the top 15. Downwind we stayed high, rolled about 2-3 boats and rounded with the idea of going right. Joe saw a building breeze coming in from the West, we got to it and it paid off. We picked off a couple boats and headed down wind. The Race Committee shortened the course to the downwind gate and we settled for a 9th place finish. Not a bad start.
The second race started with a building Westerly wind. We decided the pin is where we wanted to be and fought for a good spot had a decent start. With a lot of boats tacking out and going right, tactician Brake called for us to go left where it looked like more breeze was rolling in. He was right. We worked our way up the course and rounded fourth. We picked off a boat downwind and held that position for a couple legs. It was a good feeling to look up and see the only 2 boats ahead of us were Pro dudes. At the last leeward mark we had a bad rounding and a tactical mistake and lost 3 boats for a 6th place finish. We had a 9-6 and were 12th overall. Well within our goal.
Today with only one race scheduled, we were ready to complete our short term goal and move on. Forecast was for 10-15 from the NW. With rain coming thru about 5am and the sky clearing, everyone was predicting a dying breeze. They were wrong. Out on the course with a Northerly breeze and good chop rolling down Egg Harbor, the race committee setup a course for the 11:00am start. Joe wanted a pin start….and we won the pin by a lot. We scooted left and favored the left side of the course. Chop was vicious (for a inland lake sailor like me) and made driving difficult. We worked up the left and rounded in 15th. Downwind we picked up a boat or two and again rounded and went left. At this point it was breeze on with gusts hitting 15 and big chop. We rounded in probably 12th, and held our position downwind. On the last beat we went right and by this time I was starting to get a feel for the waves. We picked off several boats and finished in 9th. It felt like a 20th, so I was extremely happy with our finish.
So our line for the qualification series was 9-6-9 and 9th overall out of 74 boats. Joe and I are ecstatic and ready for the next 3 days. But with everyone starting with 0 points tomorrow, it’s game on starting at 11:00am.
Complete results and pictures are available on the EYC web site (www.eyc.org).
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Practice Day - getting ready to rock and roll
Today was scheduled to be a practice day after the long ride to Cheese country and the home of Buckey Badger. We started the day with the iPhone marimba wake up call at 6:00am and made our way to Sisters Bay a few miles north in pursuit of good coffee and breakfast. After 1000 miles and lots of prep work we are actually considering taking Rocket Pig out for a practice run. We checked out the Al Terhune (2008 NAC Champion) trim/rig seminar and did a mast ring replacement and then ran into a couple friends who had just arrived from the Carolina's and headed to lunch. At this point we have been in town 27 hours and still have not got the Pig wet. Yet.
Finally Joe and I did some last minute preps, filled the cooler, grabbed the foulies and headed for the boat for some practice. Conditions were 10-20, almost 75 degrees.....can you say perfect?
We got underway and Joe was in the mode of trying to figure out the sails, conditions and this new skipper dude who has a goatee. With a change in the rig tension and the crisp Gus Dacron we were powered...fully powered....like overpowered. I was rusty and Joe quickly helped get me thru some pinching moments and we had a great 3 hour practice. Since we had never sailed together before it was good to figure out the moves and communication before Monday.
We hit the dock, put the Pig away and headed to the Commodores party. Tomorrow it gets serious. Qualification races start at 11:00 am with 75 boats competing to get into the Championship series that starts on Wednesday. Forecast is for 15-25 out of the Southwest and with the Carolina boyz tipping the scales at 420 pounds, it's what we are looking for.
Race 1&2 recap and details coming your way tomorrow.
Finally Joe and I did some last minute preps, filled the cooler, grabbed the foulies and headed for the boat for some practice. Conditions were 10-20, almost 75 degrees.....can you say perfect?
We got underway and Joe was in the mode of trying to figure out the sails, conditions and this new skipper dude who has a goatee. With a change in the rig tension and the crisp Gus Dacron we were powered...fully powered....like overpowered. I was rusty and Joe quickly helped get me thru some pinching moments and we had a great 3 hour practice. Since we had never sailed together before it was good to figure out the moves and communication before Monday.
We hit the dock, put the Pig away and headed to the Commodores party. Tomorrow it gets serious. Qualification races start at 11:00 am with 75 boats competing to get into the Championship series that starts on Wednesday. Forecast is for 15-25 out of the Southwest and with the Carolina boyz tipping the scales at 420 pounds, it's what we are looking for.
Race 1&2 recap and details coming your way tomorrow.
Arrive in Ephraim, registration, measuring, and taking it all in!
Saturday Morning...John and I are up feeling good after a good nights rest and we are stoked to know that today is an easy day on the road. We say goodbye to Racine, WI and we continue our journey on the road with only 3 and a 1/2 hours to the Ephraim Yacht Club. It is refreshing to see a different part of our amazing country and we take note as we pass cherry groves, beautiful dairy farmland (right up to the lake's edge), and say a quick hello and goodbye to each lakeside village as we make our way up into the peninsula of Door County. Each little lakeside village has so much character with beautiful flowers everywhere soaking up the sun, promenades at the lake's edge peppered with locals and tourists admiring the ocean-like Lake Michigan, and quaint little Scandinavian inspired cottages that just exude warmth and happiness... With big grins and anticipation John decides to pump us up with some good music... and discovery was made... "Rocket Pig" has a new theme song..."Blues that Heal" by Johny Lee Hooker...Baby! Seeing that Rocket Pig is a blue boat...it was too perfect! We are happy to see that we are greeted as we arrive at the local High School to check in and register and go through the measurement process. This process takes us a couple of hours, but lots of catching up with sailing buds and admiring the "Pig" sidetracks us from a speedy getaway. Measurment for us meant that we were chosen to measure our main sail and had to a check in our standard safety equipment. ALL IS GOOD! WE PASS! During the registration process we discover that we get to keep our boat at the Yacht Club right across the street from our lake side lodge! WOO HOO...we can litterly walk out of our room (which has a view of the lake) across the street to the Club in less than 2 minutes! Nice work John! We spend the afternoon checking all of our rigging, set up the boat and genuinely admire our beautiful surroundings. Rocket Pig is in her berth for the week...wind is in the forecast....time to drink a beer and find some grub! Tomorrow the Woman's and Junior's championships begin and we look to doing some on the water tuning and get dialed in to the local conditions. Stay tuned...John is posting tonight!
P.S. We love and miss our Wives!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Travel Day 1
4:15...alarm goes off. One last snuggle with the wife and up and out of bed. Grab important personal items, bags, sunglasses on head, and out the door. Off to Charlotte to meet John. What an early morning ...arrrrr...but the NAC's are here and overall morale is up! We hit Charlotte at 6:30 from Rockingham, NC... a quick kiss goodbye to the wifey and dogs ( the boys), and John and I are off to Cheese Head Country! John and I continued to get to know each other deeper on personal and philosophical levels and miles continued to fly by as we hit Chicago 12 hours later.... which by the way we were glad to see Chicago go by an hour and a half later due to some not so fun road conditions, traffic and detours...but as always John and I remained optimistic...because Ephraim, WI was just around the corner...as in 5 more hours around the corner! With a long day under our belts, some good music, and banter... were arrived in our berths for the night in Racine, WI for a couple of well deserved cocktails, a quick dinner and off to bed at the Holiday Inn! Stay tuned for more. Arrival at the NAC's, Registration and Measuring tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Off to the NAC's...Cheese Country Bound!
Hey Gang, Packed and ready for the 17 and a half hour drive to Ephraim, WI in Door County. Team Rocket Pig sailed by John Kriedler (South Carolina) and his "Arch Nemesis" (NC) as crew, and are set to invade Cheese Country for the 2009 Flying Scot North American Champs. John has spent hours in relentless persuit of the perfect racing bottom...done....new sails...done...hotel across from the club...done....man John certainly knows how to throw down...my captain on "Slowpoke" is such a cheap bastard...Team Rocket Pig is prepared for the event!
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