Mirela requested this... so blame her for the redundancy!
this post is more "me"... VS the calm sunset post from this morning. I think this will show my true passion for sailing..
here is one of my favorite boats to sail, it is a J24... this is J24 USA 4306.. "Disturbed" the boat I race
The above picture is just as we crossed the finish line,
Speed with a sail boat is all relative, at this point we were probably sailing at about 6-7 knots. But on this boat, I can feel everything, and we will often say... "we feel fast" or "we feel slow... whats wrong" you really sail by the seat of your pants and by feel... (at least when you are racing) And you do have to control the boat, and set things up differently depending on wind conditions. halard tension, Stay tension and sail trim are just a few of the basics to make the boat go fast.. we even will adjust the mast for certain conditions.
here is a great upwind shot in a pretty stiff breeze:
You may be thinking, they look a little close... That's one of the reasons I prefer one design racing... it gets VERY close... It can be a game of inches.
Just to be sure every one understands that sailing for me is not the Calm martini sipping afternoon, the next two shots are of a boat in our fleet wiping out.. This fun maneuver is called a "Death Roll" Lucky for us there was some one with a camera out on the course, and doubly lucky is it is not us wiping out.. (we did the same thing on that leg... you get a little to aggressive and BAM! you pay for it!)
That's step 1 in a death roll, Partially the skippers fault (its always the skippers fault!) for steering to far down wind when its blowing, and partially the guy trimming the chute... He let that clue go past the forestay and mother nature takes over.
Step 2:
At this point you can probably see the keel of the boat.. NEVER a good thing! The rudder comes out of the water and the boat spins out of control and tries to flip to windward... Hopefully everyone is still on the boat, and you did not shred a sail or do any other damage and you recover after everyone passes you!
Mirela, You had to make me do this??? now I really am missing sailing!!
here is another fun shot, Winter sailing... on HARD water. now we are talking about speed.. 50+mph inches from the ice. Can you pick me out in the photo?
That's the Metedeconk River in Brick NJ ... Same place with the sunset photos from last night. We had great ice that year... unfortunately I don't have any good action shots of the Ice boats... But WOW what a rush, the fastest you will ever go with out a motor, other than jumping out of a plane...
You asked... (one of the secrets to life... Ask and ye shall receive!)
I hope you enjoyed the quick photo journey
Rob
Robert Rauf
You asked for it Mirela! Now you know my true passion!
I used to sail but don't have time anymore now I watch the boats go out of coconut grove.Thanks for bringing back some good memories.
Oh man--what great views! Keep 'em coming! I'm landlocked, so you are broadening my horizons without me having to get sea sick.
Cool post. Regards, C. :-)
wow. so much to think about. I like the 'foo foo' martini kind of sailing, lol
Foo Foo ? Haaaaa!
Grand Cayman boating. Touristy thing, so it never took on any significant speed...
I had a smile on my face reading every word of your blog. Big smile.
Thank you for putting it there, Rob!
I'll come back and re-visit tomorrow too.
I might come back a lot in the next few weeks.
Thank you for posting it, Rob! Thank you!
I can just imagine...
You are welcome! I am glad you enjoyed it... its always fun to share
Hey Rob, I've heard you talk about sailing, and how it was relaxing for you! Heck, those pictures look great, but I'd be a little on edge! How long have you been at it? (And thanks for the photos!)
good morning Laura!
I have been sailing since I was a kid... but started racing towards the end of Highschool... and ended up commodore of the Rutgers Sailing team in college. Thats when I started racing j24's so I guess sailing...FOREVER... Racing, almost for ever... well more than 20 years in the J24! Ice boats are a new phase for me... thats the past 8 or 10 years. And we dont get ice like in the picture above all that often, some winters it is only a weekend of sail-able ice. You cant sail on snow and unfortunatlty cold and snow go together! (it takes at least a week at sub 20 degree temps to get salt water to freeze, and that is with out much wind, moving water wont freeze.)
WOW WOW WOW I love all these sailing pictures, makes living in Dallas just land lock without any escape for the natural beauty we live in . Have a great day and wonderful 4th
Somehow I can picture you standing on the sailboat speaking Tom Cruise's words from Top Gun - "The Need For Speed". Somehow, I just know you have done that :)
actually I am more apt to quote Caddy Shack.... when its raining: "I dont think the heavy stuff will come down for quite some time yet"
When a big boat plows through the fleet: "Its my buddy Scmales" (not sure of the spelling there!)
I miss sailing now! wow, some rough seas. I don't have any pictures left from when I was young and sailed. too bad!
Sandy, Time to get back on a boat! I race boats, and from the moment I step on I forget about work... Great for mental health!