We're back from Florida. And it was great! We had a very good time seeing lots of new things and lots of friendly people. The F16 invitational event at Gulfport was fun. We didn't sail that well, but other people like Matt & Gina sure did.
We took 3 pictures, I'll attach them here. For other pictures please see Pictures Travis Edwards
Joanna and I wrote a report on this event and I'll post it as soon as it is definately done.
Florida!
In March we will be in Florida for 2 weeks. Really looking forward to that! We will even get the chance to go sailing. Yay!
We will particpate in the Gulfport F16/A-class Invitationals. Not sure yet on which boat, but probably a Taipan or Blade F16. There will be a lot of other US F16 sailors so it will be really fun and interesting.
I hope to learn alot from the other female crew sailors, like Gina and Joanna. From what I've heard and read on the Catsailor forum these women are really good at what they do and have plenty of experience. So always nice to learn something from them.
In the first week of our trip we will be in the Orlando/Cape Canaveral area. The second week will bring us from Tampa trough Naples, via the Everglades, to Miami. Let's hope for some nice warm and breezy weather.
We will particpate in the Gulfport F16/A-class Invitationals. Not sure yet on which boat, but probably a Taipan or Blade F16. There will be a lot of other US F16 sailors so it will be really fun and interesting.
I hope to learn alot from the other female crew sailors, like Gina and Joanna. From what I've heard and read on the Catsailor forum these women are really good at what they do and have plenty of experience. So always nice to learn something from them.
In the first week of our trip we will be in the Orlando/Cape Canaveral area. The second week will bring us from Tampa trough Naples, via the Everglades, to Miami. Let's hope for some nice warm and breezy weather.
Sailing terminology
This is an overview of common used sailing words, in Dutch, with their translation in both French and English. This can be very usefull if we go sailing to Carnac (Eurocat, France) and while at the Global Challenge, where the used language is English. With thanks to Luc who provided me with this tool!
Unfortunately, there seems to be something wrong with my html table code, therefore you can find a link instead: Sailing terminology
Unfortunately, there seems to be something wrong with my html table code, therefore you can find a link instead: Sailing terminology
Why F16?
Why sail a Formula 16 catamaran? Well, there are different reasons:
- super fast
- awesome and cool to sail
- sails as good 1-up as 2-up. This way both Gill's father and Gill can sail the same boat. He can sail solo and does not need to search for a crew and Gill and I can sail together and race
- all the F16 sailors we met, are very nice people, very friendly and always willing to help and answer questions
- cool to have a boat that can be trimmed to go fast. For us it's new and we have to experiment and get used to it. But we like it to be able to adjust mast rotation, down haul, daggerboards up or down, move our weight...
- just unbelievable awesome to sail fast under spinnaker! I am practising trapezing under spin and that's great
- such a light boat! I can lift it alone while Gill pushes the cattracks underneath. Gill's father (who is 62 by the way) can lift it solo and take it to the water alone without hurting his back
- a relatively new class so we can help building the class, promoting the class, telling people about this new great boat and we can participate in the Global Challenge
That's it for now, but just to make it clear: we are loving our new boat and the F16 class! :-)
For our Dutch readers a short translation of the above.
Waarom F16? Waarom zeilen wij met een nieuwe Formula 16 catamaran? Daar zijn verschillende redenen voor:
- de F16 is een super snelle catamaran
- een fantastisch coole catamaran
- deze catamaran kan even goed alleen als met twee gezeild worden. Hierdoor kan Gill's vader er gemakkelijk alleen mee zeilen zonder telkens een fokkemaat te moeten zoeken. En Gill en ik kunnen met dezelfde catamaran samen zeilen en wedstrijden mee zeilen
- alle F16 zeilers die we al ontmoet hebben, zijn stuk voor stuk zeer vriendelijke mensen, en ze zijn altijd bereid om tips te geven en vragen te beantwoorden
- echt ongelofelijk tof om een catamaran te hebben die we kunnen trimmen. Let wel het is niet simpel en we moesten het gewoon worden. Maar het is zo leuk om nu eindelijk ook mastrotatie, cunningham, zwaarden, gewichtverplaatsing,... te trimmen en ermee te experimenteren.
- ongelofelijk fantastisch leuk om zo snel onder spi te zeilen. Ik ben nu ook aan het oefenen om onder spi in trapeze te staan en dat is super tof.
- deze boot is zo licht! Ik kan hem alleen opheffen terwijl Gill de cattracks er onder duwt. Ook kan Gill's pa (die 62 is) de boot alleen tillen en naar het water brengen, zonder zijn rug te bezeren.
- De Formula 16 klasse is een relatief nieuwe catamaran klasse. Hierdoor kunnen we meehelpen en aan de basis staan van de groei en de promotie van de klasse. We kunnen vol enthousiasme vertellen over deze nieuwe klasse en we kunnen deelnemen aan de Global Challenge
Dat is het zowat. Voor wie het nog niet duidelijk was: wij houden echt van onze nieuwe boot en van de leuke nieuwe F16 klasse! :-)
- super fast
- awesome and cool to sail
- sails as good 1-up as 2-up. This way both Gill's father and Gill can sail the same boat. He can sail solo and does not need to search for a crew and Gill and I can sail together and race
- all the F16 sailors we met, are very nice people, very friendly and always willing to help and answer questions
- cool to have a boat that can be trimmed to go fast. For us it's new and we have to experiment and get used to it. But we like it to be able to adjust mast rotation, down haul, daggerboards up or down, move our weight...
- just unbelievable awesome to sail fast under spinnaker! I am practising trapezing under spin and that's great
- such a light boat! I can lift it alone while Gill pushes the cattracks underneath. Gill's father (who is 62 by the way) can lift it solo and take it to the water alone without hurting his back
- a relatively new class so we can help building the class, promoting the class, telling people about this new great boat and we can participate in the Global Challenge
That's it for now, but just to make it clear: we are loving our new boat and the F16 class! :-)
For our Dutch readers a short translation of the above.
Waarom F16? Waarom zeilen wij met een nieuwe Formula 16 catamaran? Daar zijn verschillende redenen voor:
- de F16 is een super snelle catamaran
- een fantastisch coole catamaran
- deze catamaran kan even goed alleen als met twee gezeild worden. Hierdoor kan Gill's vader er gemakkelijk alleen mee zeilen zonder telkens een fokkemaat te moeten zoeken. En Gill en ik kunnen met dezelfde catamaran samen zeilen en wedstrijden mee zeilen
- alle F16 zeilers die we al ontmoet hebben, zijn stuk voor stuk zeer vriendelijke mensen, en ze zijn altijd bereid om tips te geven en vragen te beantwoorden
- echt ongelofelijk tof om een catamaran te hebben die we kunnen trimmen. Let wel het is niet simpel en we moesten het gewoon worden. Maar het is zo leuk om nu eindelijk ook mastrotatie, cunningham, zwaarden, gewichtverplaatsing,... te trimmen en ermee te experimenteren.
- ongelofelijk fantastisch leuk om zo snel onder spi te zeilen. Ik ben nu ook aan het oefenen om onder spi in trapeze te staan en dat is super tof.
- deze boot is zo licht! Ik kan hem alleen opheffen terwijl Gill de cattracks er onder duwt. Ook kan Gill's pa (die 62 is) de boot alleen tillen en naar het water brengen, zonder zijn rug te bezeren.
- De Formula 16 klasse is een relatief nieuwe catamaran klasse. Hierdoor kunnen we meehelpen en aan de basis staan van de groei en de promotie van de klasse. We kunnen vol enthousiasme vertellen over deze nieuwe klasse en we kunnen deelnemen aan de Global Challenge
Dat is het zowat. Voor wie het nog niet duidelijk was: wij houden echt van onze nieuwe boot en van de leuke nieuwe F16 klasse! :-)
Winter
Winter has entered Belgium. This week minimum temperatures around 4°C. Our boat is dismantled (mast is down) and everything is stored in our garage for the 6 long, cold winter months. It is always hard to get used to not sailing, not being at the beach, in the sun, on the water. To bad we cannot sail year round.
Nonetheless, we are still busy with everything sailing related. This weekend for example, there is an open door weekend at Boulogne Concenption Marine, the manufacturer of the Cirrus boats. So we are going to pay them a visit, on Saturday.
The program is:
meet new products Cirrus 2008, see how the catamarans are fabricated, animation (reparations composite, maintenance,...), show room with 2nd hand boats and exclusively the new Magic Marine equipment collection. This last thing could be nice, since I am looking to purchase new gloves and a new wetsuit.
Very interesting too is to see how the cats are constructed. Seems like a very nice thing to see from up close.
And to make it even better... on Saturday there will be a tombola! Yeah baby yeah.
Next post will be about our own "tactics guide to sailing on the North Sea in front of our club"...
Nonetheless, we are still busy with everything sailing related. This weekend for example, there is an open door weekend at Boulogne Concenption Marine, the manufacturer of the Cirrus boats. So we are going to pay them a visit, on Saturday.
The program is:
meet new products Cirrus 2008, see how the catamarans are fabricated, animation (reparations composite, maintenance,...), show room with 2nd hand boats and exclusively the new Magic Marine equipment collection. This last thing could be nice, since I am looking to purchase new gloves and a new wetsuit.
Very interesting too is to see how the cats are constructed. Seems like a very nice thing to see from up close.
And to make it even better... on Saturday there will be a tombola! Yeah baby yeah.
Next post will be about our own "tactics guide to sailing on the North Sea in front of our club"...
Learning to helm
That's what I am trying to do :-)
"Normally" or generally expected the last years is that the crew does the main sheeting also. Since I am not used to that and since Gill, being male, has more power, we decided to try to switch roles. So Gill would be crew and I'd skipper.
Well, I think I would like it, but I stil have a lot to learn to be as good a skipper as Gill is right now. This weekend I had my first "full" try out. I beach started as a skipper and I came back to shore after 2 hours, still being the skipper. I practiced upwind, tacks, downwind with kite and gybes.
It all went well and I was thrilled to skipper with the kite up, it is one hell of a kick when you feel the hull going up and trying to stay there!!! Mind you, there was very little wind (2 or sometimes 3 bft, max. 10 knots) and we enjoyed a flat sea (for once) so I'll still have to see how it goes with rough seas and alot of wind...
"Normally" or generally expected the last years is that the crew does the main sheeting also. Since I am not used to that and since Gill, being male, has more power, we decided to try to switch roles. So Gill would be crew and I'd skipper.
Well, I think I would like it, but I stil have a lot to learn to be as good a skipper as Gill is right now. This weekend I had my first "full" try out. I beach started as a skipper and I came back to shore after 2 hours, still being the skipper. I practiced upwind, tacks, downwind with kite and gybes.
It all went well and I was thrilled to skipper with the kite up, it is one hell of a kick when you feel the hull going up and trying to stay there!!! Mind you, there was very little wind (2 or sometimes 3 bft, max. 10 knots) and we enjoyed a flat sea (for once) so I'll still have to see how it goes with rough seas and alot of wind...
Club championship 2007
As tradition wants, we had our annual club championship on the 29th of September.
Conditions were rough (lots of wind and waves, we had spring tide just the day before) and we started off really bad. A bit our own fault because we decided to test a longer spinnaker sheet (so I could have enough sheet when on the wire) but after we snuffed the kite in the first lap, the spinnaker sheet got caught behind the hull and Gill had to go out in front on the hull to get the sheet and shorten it. The 2nd lap we did not sail, so a first DNF. Luckilly we managed to do 4 rounds so we had this first desastrous lap as a trow out.
Scores are not online yet. We finished 5th. Bart & Luc were 1st, Astrid en Thierry 2nd, Gert 3rd and someone else (sorry forgot) finished 4th. As soon as I have the scores I'll post them.
The evening ended well with some nice pizza and lots of beer (on the house, because of Wim&Astrid's and our good results the past season).
Conditions were rough (lots of wind and waves, we had spring tide just the day before) and we started off really bad. A bit our own fault because we decided to test a longer spinnaker sheet (so I could have enough sheet when on the wire) but after we snuffed the kite in the first lap, the spinnaker sheet got caught behind the hull and Gill had to go out in front on the hull to get the sheet and shorten it. The 2nd lap we did not sail, so a first DNF. Luckilly we managed to do 4 rounds so we had this first desastrous lap as a trow out.
Scores are not online yet. We finished 5th. Bart & Luc were 1st, Astrid en Thierry 2nd, Gert 3rd and someone else (sorry forgot) finished 4th. As soon as I have the scores I'll post them.
The evening ended well with some nice pizza and lots of beer (on the house, because of Wim&Astrid's and our good results the past season).
Global Challenge / NAM-REM race - All pictures
Hereby a link to all the pictures from these events. Click on the link or on the picture to see the albums. Pictures Global Challenge 2007
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| GC General images |
Capsize Paul and Ann
Paul and Ann have a camera taped on top of their mast and they shot (among others) this video of them capsizing. Very cool to see what happens when a catamaran capsizes isn't it...
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