Forecast: Sexy with a Chance of Puns

I'm not going to put up the  "Come On Eileen" video mainly because I think the "Come On Irene" joke isn't all that funny. Nor will I mention that Gene Kelly above could be "Singin' in Irene...Just singin' in Irene"......I'm feeling classier than that, so.... please enjoy the Rolling Stones' "Rain Fall Down".
 

Dammit Irene!

Dear Skipper,

First, thank you for your support of CRAB through your entry in the Boatyard Bar & Grill Regatta to Benefit CRAB/Battle of the Chesapeake. 

We are sorry to tell you that after careful consideration and waiting as long as possible to make this determination, we have decided that attempting to conduct the on-water portion of this event would be unwise in light of the impending arrival of our unwanted guest, Irene. While we probably would have been able to start a very nice race, the current forecasts indicate that we would have been unlikely to be able to finish it safely. With several marinas in Annapolis already calling for the evacuation of their wet slips, we believe that you should be able to take the time you would have spent racing with us to secure your home, boat, and other property.

By the end of the day, we expect everyone to be ready for a great party. We've moved the festivities indoors at Eastport Yacht Club, where we'll still have the same great band, food, and drink, but a little less watered-down and windblown. 

Thanks again for your entry and support of CRAB. We're disappointed, too, but we hope to see you at the party.

-- EYC RC/Registration

Discouraged Yet Hopeful

I know Irene is going to be really intense and totally flood the crap out of my area but I still really want to go racing this weekend. It's Battle of the Chesapeake and I could really use more sea time before law school starts burying me in work. They haven't called the race yet so there is still hope......

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 4

Non Sequitur Captures Cowes Week

MD Governor's Cup 2011

The Governor's Cup was the 5th to the 6th of August. Hard to believe it's been two weeks already.

This was my first overnight race and we couldn't have had better wind! It was blowing 15-20 knots almost the entire time, including the few hours of sleep I tried to get between 2:30 and 5am. The wind only dropped as we were approaching St. Mary's of course, right in front of the finish line.

The whole time we were just pounding through the waves. If you get sea-sick, this definitely wasn't the trip for you. We had some seasoned sailors onboard, but even this chop was enough to a make a few of them green in the face. Personally, I had a blast! It was exciting, although a bit cold since, as foredeck guy and railmeat position #1, I kept getting the most of every wave that splashed over the bow.

Sailing at night was cool new experience. We had to make sure we weren't going to hit any of the other hundred and fifty odd sail boats that were racing with us as well as any of the big shipping vessels making their way up to Baltimore. There were a couple boats that seemingly came out of nowhere (low powered running lights) and at about 2am, we had caught up the bulk of the boats that started at 3pm (we started at 6pm since we were in a faster class). It was pretty hectic. We dodged about 30 boats within an hour. It probably wouldn't have been so many but we were just getting to the smaller part of the Chesapeake.

The race to the finish was pretty lackluster since our wind started dying and boats were already coming back at us from finished but we pushed through and finished pretty decently. 14th out of 16th in our division but 46th out of 155 boats in the fleet with corrected time.

Thanks to Photoboat.com for most of these pictures!

 Race Committee had some pretty sweet boats

 Foredeck View

 If you'll notice, the RC boat here is a pirate ship

 Wave for the camera!

 Apparently someone forgot to clean the bottom...

Stock Market Songs

So like the stock market, I've been all over the place this week. Baltimore, DC and Annapolis. Very busy at work, to looking for stuff to do. Finished law school orientation on this week with a pretty decent Baltimore BBQ as well. Now I'm looking forward to the first official day of classes which start on Monday.

Anyway, here are a mix of songs that won't necessarily give you the roller-coaster ride that watching CNBC will, but it's where I've been musically this week.



A bit of studying and a bit of partying will top off this week pretty nicely I think. Hope you all have a good weekend!

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 3

I'll admit that I have yet to watch this one since law school orientation has been this week and I've been pretty strapped for time. I'm sure it's awesome though!

If not, let me know in the comments.

Also, do you (the reader) prefer the whole AC World Series replays or just the short news snippets? The AC Committee are putting up a ton of videos and interviews on Youtube and I don't want to just repost everything they throw up there but if you guys have any particular preference, let me know.




Update 8/20/11: Now that I have finally watched this episode, I can confirm that it is indeed awesome. Shows you some of the prep work for Cascais which is neat, admittedly not as neat if I hadn't been keeping up with the race, but neat none-the-less.

AC World Series - Cascais (Race Day 6 & 7)

Race updates for the AC World Series Day 6 & 7 in Cascais. Then onto Plymouth!

AC World Series in Newport, RI (Race Day Updates 4 & 5)

Below are the news updates from Cascais for Race Day 4 & 5. Big update: the last leg of the AC World Series will be in Newport, RI in July 2012!

WHFS & Blink-182

The late 90's are back! My favorite radio station from high school is back on the air (after an abrupt cancellation) and I'm going to the Blink-182 show tonight with my littler sister. Should be blast!

AC World Series - Cascais Update, Race Day 3

8

"It is decidedly so"

8 posts in one day. I am a blogging machine!

Mark Twain Inspired

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." 

- Mark Twain

The guy in the below video (courtesy of gCaptain), certainly didn't want to be disappointed by the things that he didn't do. He went for it and although it certainly wasn't the best idea as gCaptain points out, you do have to give him credit for trying. Pretty ballsy for, what looks like a 40' boat, to take on a supertanker...

(Photo courtesy of Conjuminando)

AC World Series - Cascais, Day 2

Below is the news for Saturday, the 2nd Race day at Cascais. The match racing officially starts on Wednesday. Apparently these were the preliminaries.

Winston Mcfarlane fell off of Emirates Team New Zealand's boat during one of the races when his winch handle broke. That is some intense grinding.

Emirates Team NZ ending up winning the preliminaries and the speed test so it was a pretty bangup weekend for them. Below are the results of the preliminaries and the speed test.

America's Cup World Series - Cascais (Full Replays)

Below are the full replays for Day 1 of the AC World Series at Cascais. The first one is with the sports commentary and the 2nd one is just video from onboard a mix of the different boats.

It's not quite the high intensity that they advertise but not everyday can have them going 30+ knots right?

America's Cup World Series - Cascais, Speed Trial & Day 1

Here is the quick news report about the AC World Series in Cascais for the speed trial and Day 1.

America's Cup Uncovered - Episode 2

Another awesome episode about the America's Cup!

This one covers the French, Chinese, and Korean entries for the Cup.

Note: Watch this stuff full screen. It's worth it.

"Bombast" Cable

El Guincho - Pop Negro

I'm not normally one for Latin music but Pop Negro by El Guincho has been pretty addictive lately.

I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the beat, maybe the musical hooks, or maybe just because it was the background music for some good poker games at a friend's place. Either way, I find myself moving towards music that was not created purely to be blasted to, at, and from the club/bar/dance floor.

Maybe it's the radio and their love of overplaying the same set list of songs but I think it has more to do with getting older.





Pictures from this past Wednesday Night race and the Governor's Cup 2011 to follow (eventually).

The Great Bay Race

Had the Great Bay Race this past Saturday. It was hot as the blazes out but I managed. Rub in a little sunscreen, drink some water, and pray for wind.

We didn't have the greatest start but managed to keep up pretty well. Started with 7 boats but at least 2 dropped out. Possibly 3. The first boat to finish (Jubilee), I'm pretty sure, didn't round the first mark. Avalon, the first boat to round the first mark, called them on it. We finished third but will probably do worse with corrected time. We'll see though. I blame the 40 mins we were all just drifting because the wind died.

Anyhow, below are some of the pics from the race and the ride back to HHN:

 Spence, my co-foredeck guy

 Nice to be in the front of the pack every once in awhile..

 Coyote. See you again at Annapolis Race Week.

End of another good day. Let's wrap this up at Calypso Bay...