Best boats of the year!!
All the boats we sailed on in 2013:
Baltic 35
 |
| Cap’n André’s boat! |
Hallberg-Rassy 29
 |
| Cap’n Davie‘s! |
Sigma 38
 |
| Sigma racing! |
Reflex 38
 |
| Junior Offshore Group racing! |
J80
 |
| Red Tabby team racing! |
J122
 |
| Racing at Cowes Week! – Image Source |
(transcribed by the Can Opener)
Highlights
Total days on the water: 47
Sea miles gained this year: 3600
Next year… we‘d love to double it!
Why count up where we’ve been? You gotta know where you‘ve been to know where you’re going. At least, we figure it can’t hurt. And it feels good too.
Next up: I’ve got the Can Opener working on our Cruising Resolutions for 2013.
When he’s done, he can have the smoked oyster I’ve got waiting for him, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight here!
The Cruising Kitty’s Lecture List for 2012
Best boats of the year!!
All the boats we sailed on in 2012:
Baltic 35
 |
| Cap’n André’s boat! |
Hallberg-Rassy 29
 |
| Cap’n Davie‘s! |
Sigma 38
 |
| Sigma racing! |
Reflex 38
 |
| Junior Offshore Group racing! |
J80
 |
| Red Tabby team racing! |
J122
 |
| Racing at Cowes Week! – Image Source |
Arcona 37
 |
| More Junior Offshore Group racing! |
Fountaine Pajot 40
 |
| The Spain-Greece 2012 delivery |
Eleonora
 |
| Eleanora, a 90 ft schooner and an exact replica of Westward that was launched in 1910. |
The Cruising Kitty’s Reading List for 2012
Here’s what the Captain snoozed on during 2012
(and that were subsequently assigned to and read by the Can Opener too):
–Captain Cat
(transcribed by the Can Opener)
Goodbye 2008~2012, helloooooo 2013~2016!
One of the books always on the First Mate’s bedstand is The Racing Rules of Sailing, by Paul Elvestrom. And last week at the Red Tabby Yacht Club, at the racing section’s most recent lecture, this was exactly the topic of the day.
So I spruced up the Can Opener, climbed up on his shoulder and steered him downtown to the club. (My ears are still stinging from your firm grip on them, Furrball!)
The discussion, led by a most able and illuminating umpire old cat, focused on what‘s new in the rules for 2013~2016.
So what’s the big deal?
As usual, there are some significant changes coming down the pipe. And it’s not just that there’s new rules to learn. It’s that the interpretation of these rules takes a while to iron out. It’s not a speedy process or all cut and dried. It‘s a seeing and doing on the race course.
How hard will your competitors push the rules? How will the umps interpret them this time? Will the umps in other countries play them the same way? Or even the umpires at the next yacht club…
Once things settle down and there’s some kind of precedent established then you can really get down to figuring out how to use these rules to best advantage tactically.
So what’s new?
Some highlights:
The new The Racing Rules of Sailing 2013~2016, by Paul Elvestrom is already on sale. The Rules in Practice 2013-2016 by Bryan Willis goes on sale Friday. We’ll be honing our boat handling skills next year on racing boats as well as cruising boats so I am requiring the First Mate to zip online today and order new copies of both.
This is detailed stuff to absorb and he‘ll need the winter to absorb it.
Have you got your new copy of the rules? Mmph? – not yet?? That new toy rodent may be good, but these rules take ages to sink in… Time to get cracking and assign it to an adoring and motivated underling like I did.
–Captain Cat
(transcribed by the Can Opener)
Book the Captain has snoozed upon:
The Reluctant Mariner, by Joanna Hackett
Another book review from the Can Opener! He certainly has been burning the night oil. This one’s a gripping travelogue on the voyages of an Australian couple…
Her understated approach to what must have been insanity-inducing immigration and border control bureaucracies made us smile and smile. If we thought we’d already seen the most challenging, we clearly haven’t seen anything yet.
Informative. Also balanced. Joanna was also quick to highlight moonlit nights aboard and truly magical meetings with people, flora, fauna and places.
Wishes
Perhaps we haven’t grasped the real purpose and meaning of a travelogue but we did long for some kind of red thread running through this narrative. Something to work towards so we knew how far along in the tale we were. We like a plot arc. We did get the feeling that new places unrolled endlessly before us.
But maybe that’s what travelogues are about.
Conclusion
Been there. Done that. And glad we bought it. Would definitely buy it again.
Are we gonna keep it? Nah. We‘ll probably donate it to the Red Tabby Yacht Club library so someone else can enjoy it too.
Ever read The Reluctant Mariner, by Joanna Hackett? How did you find it? Any good recommendations for other books for the sea library?
(transcribed by the Can Opener)
Previously: Cruising in Seraffyn
In the US
http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_mfw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822/US/httpthecruisi-20/8001/ebaa7a72-5efe-414f-9c77-1a7874855ede Amazon.com Widgets
In the UK
http://ws.amazon.co.uk/widgets/q?rt=tf_mfw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=GB&ID=V20070822/GB/thecrukit01-21/8001/5fe71066-c096-43ca-896f-220d6f772804 Amazon.co.uk Widgets
We’re racing on an Arcona 37 this weekend – a nifty Swedish racer-cruiser with a fantastic new captain!
I am eager to get down to the water, so am currently standing over the Can Opener while he packs the necessities: pet life jacket, fuzzy cat suit, smoked clam rations, Jackie Chan movies on the ipod and the working tiara.
I am becoming concerned everything will not fit in my taxi (You’ll be taking the train down to the water with me, bud. …Like all the other cats…)
This weekend is double great because we are not just getting in a race with a new team, and not just because we get to learn about a new deck layout and another boat’s systems – we also get to fit in two passages, there and back, to reposition this boat from its home berth, nearly a day’s sail from the race site.
We’re are pysched and ready to go! Right after the Can Opener finishes polishing the motivational sceptre.
–Captain Cat
(transcribed by the Can Opener)
–Captain Cat
(transcribed by the Can Opener)
Done!
The end of the summer sailing season has come and gone. There are still a few chances to get in some on-the-water training in the next few months, but it’s also time to look forward to Autumn/Winter and plan for all the best land training this new season will bring.
I have set up a first draft of the Can Opener’s lecture schedule. There’s loads of opportunities to learn in the big city!
I’ve booked the First Mate for:
It’s a good start.
Hopefully I’ll be able to load him with a few more learning opportunities as they arise this Autumn/Winter.
We’re taking it to the next level this year. We’re gonna do it aaaaaaaaaall!
–Captain Cat (transcribed by the Can Opener)
The Cruising Kitty 