LimpetRacing.com

Well the time came to see if project PAY would pay off at the Seattle NOODs.  Last year I was dead last in the working sails boats at the NOOD never placing better than 5th in a 10 boat fleet over 10 races despite the fact that I flew spinnaker all three days.  In 2009 due to very light and shifty winds we only got 4 starts and my over the line results were 8,4,4,4 in a 15 boat fleet.  However, this year I didn’t fly the spinnaker and the folks at the NOOD scored the 5 working sails boats separately from the  10 spinnaker boats, so in my class I finised 1,1,1,1, and came home the 2009 first overall winner for the SJ21 Working Sails class.  I guess it pays to PAY! Continue Reading »

The second step in project “Perfection Attained Yachting” a.k.a Project PAY cost me a bit more than phase one as it involved ordering a beautiful set of new Doyle sails from Mark Weinheimer of NC.  Truth be told the $1200+ I spent on new sails from Mark was not far from the $1700 I spent to buy Limpet in the first place.  But pulling the crisp new Dacron out of the box and seeing Limpet’s sail numbers almost made me cry… how far I have come from the days of black duct tape numbers on Clark sails from 1974.  Continue Reading »

Ok… It is time to face facts.  Sailboat racing is not exactly compatible with the insane schedule of a young family and a career in technology.  In a few years I can drag my kids along as crew, but it has become as clear as the reflection in the Americas cup that for the time being I need to seriously pull back on my commitment to racing if I wish to keep my family and sanity intact.  So if I am only going to go to the occasional race/regatta I want to make sure to make the absolute most of every single opportunity.  Thus I have undertaken project “Perfection Attained Yachting” a.k.a Project PAY.  Which will entail making Limpet absolutely perfect for the few short days/hours I can reasonably commit to sailing.  Project PAY won’t be cheap… oh wait I have a San Juan 21… Maybe it will be after all.  Continue Reading »