Wooden Boat Series 1
Four boats ventured into a cool, damp, light wind for the first race. […]
First of the 6-race Wooden Boat Series is this Saturday
SIRENS WOODEN BOAT SERIES starts this Saturday, March 31st at noon This is a 6 race series: Race 1 March 31 Saturday at noon Race 2 May 5 Saturday at noon Race3-5 June 2-3 Saturday and Sunday CLASSIC MARINERS REGATTA Race 6 July 7 Saturday at noon You must complete 5 of the 6 races to be eligible to win. The Classic Mariners Regatta will continue to have its own winners as well. To participate in the single races, just show up on the waterfront and look for the Race Committee either on [...]
New One Design Fleet Grows in PT
Simple, easy and relatively inexpensive to get into, RC sailing can be a lot of fun. Now, a fleet of T37’s from Tippecanoe Boats is starting up in Port Townsend. The new fleet plans to race locally, but other fleets are active in Port Madison, Seattle and Bellingham. The Seattle Yacht Club and Port Madison Yacht Club and West Vancouver yacht Club all have impressive fleets of T37s now. Our understanding is that 9 boats are on order already and the plan is to start a regular local race series. Note that this is a plywood kit boat that needs [...]
Tuning the Rig to Balance Your Boat
From Elliot / Pattison Sailmakers website, another early season boat tune-up post. The basis for tuning a boat starts with an understanding of what it is you are trying to accomplish. While many one design classes publish tuning guides the top sailors realize that those guides are merely starting points and have to be adjusted to fit individual boats, sails, and even the way that different people sail. The basis for tuning your boat should start with balancing the boat. This means having your sailplan balanced with your hull shape or having the Center of Effort of your [...]
What Are You Going to Do About Your Bottom?
Thursday night. Free for everyone. 2012 racing season skipper's meeting follows the talk.
Tales of Life at Sea with Cap’n Fatty
Come one come all to the Cap’n Fatty Happy Hour Sunday March 18th, 3 to 5 pm, at the NorthWest Maritime Center Hear stories from this highly entertaining author, NPR commentator and Cruising World editor during a rare in-person appearance. Even non-boaters will love hearing Cap'n Fatty's tales of life at sea and having the chance to ask him questions and chat with him afterwards. Admission is $10; beer and wine will be available for sale. The audience will be limited to the first 200 attendees on a first come, first served basis. Sponsored by Three Sheets Northwest [...]
Spring PTMTA Newsletter Is Out
The latest issue of the Port Townsend Marine Trades Association Spring 2012 Newsletter is out and as always full of interesting stories on the projects and talented trades people who work in PT’s marine trades. You can download your own copy here. Here’s a small sample to wet your appetite. More pictures and stories on the work being done on MARTHA are available here. The Schooner Martha By Rick Petrykowski In the aftermath of the mid-January snowstorm, we sat down with Robert D’Arcy and Chris Grace to get the skinny about Schooner MARTHA’s current restoration at the Shipwright’s [...]
PTHS Sailing Team Shines in the Season’s First Regatta
On March 3rd, the Port Townsend High School Sailing team competed in a season “kick off” regatta hosted by the Seattle Yacht Club. Sixteen races were sailed in shifty and gusty winds ranging from 5-18 knots. Port Townsend finished towards the back of the fleet in the first few races. Rather than allowing this to foretell their position in the regatta, team members chose to learn quickly and apply the lessons to the next race. Maintaining this philosophy of foreword thinking and constant learning, the team quickly positioned themselves towards the front of the fleet where consistency and calm nerves [...]
Keep Calm and Put the Bow Down
A reminder that pinching doesn't pay ... “Keep your head out of the boat!” That’s a phrase we’ve all heard from coaches in sailboat racing. It’s an important concept. In fact it will be one of our Rules to Sail By this year, but it is just as important to keep your head in the boat if it means keeping the boat going full speed. Without consistent driving, tactics cannot reach their full potential. Last weekend, I sailed the stars with my dad who had very little tiller time in the class. The vast majority of his sailing experience has [...]
Sirocco at the 2012 Shipwrights’ Race
Thanks to Craig Wester for putting this together and making it available. Beautiful sail trim in the first shots, look how the main and genoa leeches match. Great boat, great crew.
Dan Newland Reports in From the Bleeding Edge
After helping finish up one of the first GP 26s with Brook Dees, and Jim Antrim’s Class 40 built at Berkeley Marine, Dan is again in the Bay area working on the Kiteboat Project, a foiler trimaran that is powered by a kite. Here’s a short report from the always entertaining Mr. Newland. “The boat is a kick. The hulls are 25′ long and weigh about 90 lbs each and (I’m not kidding), overbuilt. We could take probably 20 lbs out of them. Everything is carbon and the core is Nomex. VERY stiff but you can litereally put [...]