BAR Sailor

Laser SB3

2009-12-03T14:40:00.007Z

I was lucky to get a spot on a Laser SB3 in the recent Garmin Hamble Winter Series. The good ship Trio was looking for someone to trim main and asymmetric and call tactics. I cannot think of a better way of spending a Sunday, even if the weather was horrible once or twice.After four years of watching these boats blast around the Solent, it was my first time racing one. They are very popular here,

Hand of Frog

2009-11-24T20:15:00.007Z

Bloody Nora! Martin Hansson didn't half cause a controversy last week when he failed to spot Thierry Henry handling the ball (not to mention being offside) in the World Cup qualifier against Ireland. Henry initially responded by saying "I’m not the ref". Quite. We gathered that, based on the fact that he didn't have a headset taped to his face.The response in France was mixed: it has widely been

Flying a hull...

2009-07-22T20:43:00.000+01:00

Three vs Two

2009-07-07T12:26:00.012+01:00

BMW Oracle trimaran re-launch9o ft (27.5M) long x 90 ft wide(http://bmworacleracing.com)Alinghi catamaran unveiled90 ft long(http://www.alinghi.com)

RORC IRC Nationals 2009

2009-06-12T21:57:00.003+01:00

My face bears the evidence of the glorious weather that greeted us on two out of the three race days last weekend in the Solent. As this picture will attest, the sun was out in full force on day 1 of the IRC Nationals, so much so that by the afternoon I was racing in just shorts and a T-shirt - a first in this country.

Howler

2009-05-16T18:53:00.007+01:00

Royal Southern Yacht Club May Regatta - Day 1 "Blowing monkeys out of trees." It's a stupid saying, but today there were certainly not many monkeys aloft. As the WindGURU extract shows, it was howling on the Solent today. As a result, probably 10 out of the 17 boats entered in IRC Class 1 made it out to the race course.On Cajou, we were a little early for the start. The idea is normally to do

R.I.P. Andrew

2009-04-05T21:35:00.004+01:00

Andrew Owen Burke died this morning in Bayview Clinic after a long fight with cancer, losing his left arm and shoulder to the disease several years ago and fighting on as the cancer reappeared in different parts of his body.Andrew was an extremely talented sailor and boat builder, but the results that he clocked up after losing his arm would be impressive for any of us: 1st in class at Heineken,

View from the pointy end

2009-03-17T17:29:00.004Z

I spent much of my early big boat sailing on the bow. It was a logical place for me to be because I was young, relatively light, fit and had loads of dinghy experience. I had loads of fun at that end, bouncing around in choppy seas, climbing the mast, sighting the start line. And, of course, doing the most important job for a few minutes at the beginning and end of every downwind leg.Later on I

Countdown

2009-03-11T19:29:00.005Z

Despite my lack of posts last autumn, I participated in nearly all of the Winter Series. It's been nearly four months since I was on the water and it has been a long winter (although I was helped through it by Sam the Sailor). This weekend marks the start of the Spring Series, and I can't wait.I will be sailing on the good ship Cajou once again. We ended up 6th overall in the Winter Series but

Going down

2009-02-03T19:28:00.005Z

Bum boats add a splash of colour and tradition to regattas such as Grenada Sailing Festival and Bequia, but the buoyancy usually consists of several big rocks and when they get swamped, they're going down. I've been there! Fortunately, wood floats.Photo by Cory Silken.

Inspirational

2009-01-02T20:20:00.003Z

One of the truly heroic stories of the Games, Nick Scandone, while suffering with ALS, won a gold medal in the Skud 18 class. To win a Gold medal in any discipline is an amazing achievement. To do so while in the advanced stages of a neurodegenerative disease is nothing short of inspirational: remember that an Olympic campaign is not just two weeks in Qingdao, but years of hard work.RIP.

Starcom: Burke is our Man Of The Year

2008-12-29T19:44:00.002Z

BRASS TACKS SUNDAY, an at times controversial but interesting radio discussion programme yesterday, named one-armed sailor Andrew Burke as its Personality Of The Year 2008. Burke, who lost his left arm, collar and shoulder blade to cancer three years ago, put his sea-faring skills to work by sailing solo around Barbados on February 10, to raise funds for others

4.7 marketing

2008-10-10T08:37:00.003+01:00

"Ok boys, somewhere in this picture is a Laser sail. If you can spot it, and tell me correctly which rig it's from, you win a free coaching session."Sail? What Sail?! Apologies to SA for blatantly lifting their image, but I suffered from the same weak knee syndrome that they did when viewing the best ever SCOTW, and felt the need to share this feeling with others!

BigSmall

2008-10-08T08:37:00.004+01:00

This is a brilliant shot of the machine that has been dubbed DOGzilla. Sitting at the dock there it looks...quite normal, really. Just your average trimaran, perhaps a similar size to an Extreme 40. But click on the picture and look closely, you can just about see someone standing infront of the starboard daggerboard. He looks like an ant!

Canned

2008-10-05T19:44:00.005+01:00

This is the first time, in the three years I have been living in this country, that I have been genuinely pissed off with the weather. With good reason too: the weekend of sailing that I have been looking forward to since April was canned due to the bad weather you can see in this satellite image.Normally I don't really care: sun, cloud, rain, cold, warm...I just take it as it comes and don't get

I like it!

2008-09-18T09:00:00.008+01:00

Denmark, the country that gave us X-Yachts and the lovable IMX 40, has now brought us Luctor Yachts. They only have one boat at the moment, the Luctor 42. Designed by the same people behind the Maltese Falcon, it's fortunately a lot better looking, like a smaller version of the amazing TP52 (they even copied the colour scheme with this particular boat).The cockpit layout is simple and clean,

The Homecoming

2008-09-14T20:27:00.005+01:00

Vasilij, with Trevor by his side, returns triumphantly to his home town of Izola, Slovenia, following his Silver-medal performance in Qingdao.

A great result

2008-08-19T08:25:00.016+01:00

Paul Goodison sailed a tactical medal race, finishing 9th, enough to take the Gold. Whatever your views on match racing in the Medal Race, this is an awesome result for Paul and well deserved, all the more so for the challenging conditions in which the competition was sailed. Paul posted seven top-ten results in 9 races, including two firsts, giving him a massive 18-point lead going into the

Update from Qingdao - August 19

2008-08-19T08:06:00.004+01:00

Greg & Peter sign off in Qingdao.Dear All:Greg sailed his 9th and last race yesterday. They were not able to complete the full series of 10 races within the schedule. Today the medal race will take place for the 10 top sailors.It has been an honour for Greg to represent Barbados here in Qingdao. Six weeks ago we did not know that he was going to be here. Sailing with the very best in the world

The right result

2008-08-18T15:39:00.003+01:00

Jonas Warrer and Martin Ibsen (DEN) have been crowned 49er champions following a controversial medal race in which anyone watching from home would have thought they were sailing for Croatia. There were the obligatory protests as a result (I probably would have done the same) but in the end the results were allowed to stand. Despite the various rules and regulations (which, I admit, I am not

Update from Qingdao - August 17

2008-08-18T10:28:00.002+01:00

Extreme conditions in Qingdao:Dear All:Qingdao either has too little or too much wind. Never very good sailing conditions. Today was a day of too much wind and a great deal of rain. We were affected by a low pressure area and had a steady stream of squalls come through. They scheduled three races and managed to get in only one. It was a good race for Greg and he finished 30th. He has been

Update from Qingdao - August 16

2008-08-16T19:43:00.002+01:00

Peter D reports from One-Race-a-Day-Qinqdao.Greg had another good day today with another 34th place in the one race we had today.Today was a bit of a repeat of yesterday in that there was wind in the morning, the PRO sent them out for a noon start with the intention of having three races and they got in only one. Except today the postponement was on the water. Greg launched at 11:00 am and

Laser Day 5 - Go Vasilij!!

2008-08-16T10:05:00.006+01:00

It was a Balkan 1-2 today with Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) and Luka Radelic (CRO) taking the top spots, as yesterday's leaders finished 8,9,10 and 17th. Diego retains the advantage - just. After the topsy turvy results of the last four days, the discard has been applied and the battle is definitely hotting up: the top five sailors are separated by five points. 2004 bronze-medallist Vasilij is only two

Day 4 - 'twas ever so...

2008-08-15T15:10:00.010+01:00

Definitely no tornado here...USA gets towed back to base (photo: AP).Paul Goodison took the lead after Race 4, with Rasmus from Sweden hot on his...erm, transom after they finished 1-2. But it is Diego Romero who retains the advantage once the discard is applied. He and Lima were the most consistent (consistently good, anway) until today, and they would move back up to 1st and 2nd with the

Update from Qingdao - August 15

2008-08-15T14:16:00.003+01:00

Dear All:It was a long day at the office again here in Qingdao. We appeared to have good winds this morning. The PRO announced that the first race would be at noon and that he would try for 3 races. The sailors were in the boat area at 10:00, launched at 11:00 for the 30 minute tow to the race course and finally got off the water at 6:30 pm tonight. In between, they had a postponement, were sent

Update from Qingdao - August 14

2008-08-14T10:46:00.007+01:00

It wouldn't be a Laser event without a day lost to poor conditions.Dear All:We woke up to a low mist over the city and limp flags on their poles. There was no breeze. During the day it picked up a bit so that the flags were gently flying, but there was never enough wind for racing.We went down to the boat park and rigged the Laser in hope that things would improve, but at 11:3o am the

Update from Qingdao - August 13

2008-08-13T15:02:00.007+01:00

Dear All:Greg had a better day than yesterday. The sailors were sent onto the water at noon but then were postponed on the after for 3 hours before they got off one race. Conditions were similar to yesterday, with light winds. Greg had a reasonable start and did quite well for 95% of the race. Then he blew it at the end and ended up in last place, again. Although the result was the same as the

Laser Day 2

2008-08-13T15:02:00.006+01:00

Another light wind day in Qindao, another reshuffle of the leaderboard...for some sailors. After a three hour postponement only one race was sailed and yesterday's leader Andrew Murdoch plummetted to 13th, following a 40th place finish. Nevermind, with the discard he is still in first. Romero and Lima held their nerve to move up to 1st and 2nd respectively overall, while Campbell and Geritzer

Update from Qingdao - August 12

2008-08-12T11:59:00.001+01:00

Dear All:Greg had a very tough day at the office today. We woke up to the usual light winds and hot temperatures. The conditions were similar to what they had been training in over the last few days.I went with Greg as usual to the boat area and assisted with the preparations etc. There was a postponement on shore for about 30 minutes before they were sent onto the water for the first race for

Olympics: Laser, Day 1

2008-08-12T09:16:00.005+01:00

The conditions in Qinqdao appear to be pretty much as expected: hot, light, shifty winds and strong currents. So, no surprises. That these conditions are challenging was evident from the results of the other classes where, for example, last year's 49er World Champions dropped from 1st to 9th after registering scores of 14-15-15. Damn.The results from the first day of racing for the Laser class

Update from Qingdao - August 10

2008-08-10T10:14:00.004+01:00

Greg and Peter were at the Opening Ceremony on Friday.We are back from a very exhilarating trip to Beijing for the incredible opening ceremony. We flew to Beijing in the morning and were taken to the Olympic Village where we met our team. I had already met the officials in Barbados but this was an introduction for Greg. We also met the athletes for the first time. We got our uniforms for the

Olympic Anthem

2008-08-08T17:24:00.001+01:00

Greek lyricsΑρχαίο Πνεύμ' αθάνατο, αγνέ πατέρατου ωραίου, του μεγάλου και τ'αληθινού,κατέβα, φανερώσου κι άστραψ'εδώ πέραστην δόξα της δικής σου γης και τ'ουρανού. Στο δρόμο και στο πάλεμα και στο λιθάρι,στων ευγενών Αγώνων λάμψε την ορμή,και με τ' αμάραντο στεφάνωσε κλωνάρικαι σιδερένιο πλάσε κι άξιο το κορμί. Κάμποι, βουνά και θάλασσες φέγγουν μαζί σουσαν ένας λευκοπόρφυρος μέγας ναός,και

Update from Qingdao - August 7

2008-08-07T09:19:00.002+01:00

The start draws near for Greg in Qinqdao.Greg has had two great days of training on the water. The winds remain light as expected while the temperature has increased by a couple of degrees. I am soaked in perspiration every time I venture into the boat storage area with him. The humidity is very high and so it must be close to 40 degrees Celsius. The cooler for the coach boat is working out to

Forces of Nature

2008-08-06T22:53:00.003+01:00

The Forces were strong last weekend: those pulling me towards Cowes Week, the biggest sailing event in the World (see pictures below), were cancelled out by a longing to be home for Barbados' carnival.Perhaps you can tell why....:

High flying sailors

2008-08-05T08:53:00.003+01:00

Catamaran sailors have a unique training regime. In addition to the hours spent in the gym, on the bike, rowing machine or jogging trail, as well as days on the water in exotic locations, cat experts spend quite a lot of time on the climbing walls. With good reason...Photo Ingrid Abery.

iLike!

2008-08-04T20:36:00.008+01:00

Due to the rubbish weather we had all weekend I didn't make it down to the Solent (the joys of being a family man). Here is what I, and I suspect most of you, missed: Photo credit: onEdition Photo credit: onEdition Photo credit: onEdition Photo credit: Mark Lloyd images Photo credit: Rick Tomlinson Photo credit: onEditionAnd here I am:

Update from Qingdao - August 3

2008-08-03T13:06:00.003+01:00

Peter & Greg explore Qinqdao.Today we woke up to bright sunshine and no breeze. It is just as well we scheduled a rest day of sightseeing. The sky was blue and there was relatively little smog to be seen over the city. The horizon is still hazy and so we cannot see the nearby islands easily. The city sure looks a lot better in these conditions. After breakfast we departed on our tour. We

Update from Qingdao - July 31

2008-07-31T22:54:00.005+01:00

Greg and Peter are settling into QingdaoDear All:Who said that there is no wind in Qingdao? It was blowing between 15 to 20 knots today and the waves were large. We are being affected by a typhoon that increased the winds overnight and they stayed with us all day. We got together with our coach, Luis Chiapparro, this morning. Along with Alejandro, the URU Laser sailor, they went in the URU

Report from Qingdao - July 30

2008-07-30T15:23:00.004+01:00

Greg and his Dad have arrived in Qinqdao.Dear All:I am very pleased to report that our transportation and arrival in Qingdao went very smoothly. We traveled from Toronto via New York and Beijing. It was a long 24 hours but any long trip is a good trip when you walk away from the plane and all your baggage arrives with you!The Olympic Village in Qingdao is magnificent. The facilities are the best

Classic Action

2008-07-25T17:12:00.005+01:00

I finally got down to the beach today (thank goodness for "working from home"!) to check out the action in the Solent. I knew that the Classic Yacht Club Regatta was on and didn't want to pass up a chance to see these graceful boats in action. The weather has been amazing this week and has provided the perfect environment for photography, as you can see from this picture. Although I prefer carbon

Thought for the day

2008-07-24T15:41:00.002+01:00

According to a research 1/3 of fires in the home occur when we are drunk. Does that mean that you are twice as likely to be involved in a fire if you remain sober? Hmmm...

Talula Does the Hula

2008-07-24T13:14:00.003+01:00

This article is too funny to pass up. Apparently some parents around the world don't give as much thought to the names of their children as Lisa and I did with Samuel. Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii is so embarassed about her name that her friends call her K, but that's still not as bad as being called No.16 Bus Shelter. And who would want to be named after a brand of cigarettes? Or a 6-

It'll make you go blind!

2008-07-21T14:20:00.003+01:00

An interesting article in the ABC's news website last week highlighted some interesting attitudes towards sex in America. Or rather, some local governments' attempts to crack down on activities that are "detrimental to the health and morality of the State". Do the incidents described show the prevalence of over-zealous bible bashers, or am I just too liberal? Frankly, I don't care, because I

Congrats Vasilij!

2008-07-19T21:01:00.003+01:00

Vasilij Zbogar (SLO) has finished 3rd at the Laser Europeans (Standard, Senior) behind Tom Slingsby (AUS) and Paul Goodison (GBR). The Athens Bronze medallist was thus the 2nd-placed European in the championship, one of his best results ever (he won this event in 2003). This is just the latest in a string of good results over the past 6 months, which includes a 4th place at the Worlds and a 2nd

Should he go?

2008-07-18T17:28:00.006+01:00

Dwayne Chambers will not go the Beijing Olympics. Today he failed to secure an injunction against the British Olympic Association by-law banning him from life for taking performance-enhancing drugs. Is this the right decision? Should Chambers, who is still the fastest man in Britain, be allowed to go to the Olympics? To prove that he is just as good drug-free? Or, also as important, to revive his

Bajan is Champion

2008-07-16T09:24:00.009+01:00

We are not allowed to call him the World Champion because it is not an ISAF recognised International class (because it's only really sailed in three countries), but Barbados-born Dave McGregor has won the Solo Nations Cup, recently held in Holland. The Solo, designed by Jack Holt in 1956, is a one-design dinghy which is popular in the UK, Holland and Australia. There is a pretty decent circuit

We goin'!!

2008-07-14T22:35:00.002+01:00

Barbados will be represented at the 2008 Olympics in the sport of sailing. The Tripartite Commission recently informed the Barbados Olympic Association that the Island had received a wild card for the Olympic Regatta. Accordingly, youngster Gregory Douglas has been selected to represent Barbados at the Games.This is an amazing opportunity for Greg, after we were unable to qualify for the Games at

13 in a Volvo

2008-06-24T13:54:00.005+01:00

A man in London was banned from driving for a year and fined £900 after being found guilty of Dangerous Driving - for having 13 people in a Volvo S70. According to the BBC "The defendant denied his action was dangerous saying he had been driving sensibly at no more than 20 mph." Thirteen people in big European sedan/saloon? In the Caribbean we would say that he wasn't trying hard enough.But the

Big bang

2008-06-07T17:11:00.006+01:00

Ouch!! Professionals may not have as many collisions as we do, but when they do crash, they make a proper job of it. That's going to be expensive.See http://2008.medcup.org/home/.

Minime

2008-05-30T10:20:00.002+01:00

At 0241 BST on 29 May 2008 Samuel Aidan Streeter was dragged kicking and screaming into the world after a marathon 16 hours of labour. Actually, that number belies the longevity of the whole process: Lisa's waters broke at 0345 on Tuesday 27 May. She was induced after more than 24 hours of no progress. Unsurprisingly after such a long labour, the birth was anything but standard and the doctor to

The Falkirk Wheel

2008-05-23T12:53:00.003+01:00

I love a good engineering problem, whether it's tinkering with gadgets around the house or studying the complexities of bigger projects such as the London Eye, Sydney Opera House, the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. Or the whole of Venice. I can't drive past a simple damn without stopping to have a look. I enjoy driving over bridges of any size, from the Europabrücke in Austria to the toll bridge

Enough, already

2008-05-07T21:36:00.008+01:00

On 14 March 2008, in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, ethnic-Chinese (Han) shopkeepers boarded-up their shops and ran, fleeing a fleeing a mob of angry Tibetans. The protests, the largest anti-Chinese demonstrations for many years, soon turned violent as Tibetans rampaged through the streets, smashing into non-Tibetan shops and lighting them on fire. 13 people are reported to have been killed,

Laser For Sale

2008-05-06T21:37:00.001+01:00

BRAND NEW HULL, NEVER BEEN USED Due to a warranty claim, this package includes a brand new hull, which has never been in the water (or touched the ground!). Also includes the following equipment, 2 years old unless stated: - Two sails (one new in Jan '08, the other Jan '07) - All spars, foils, ropes, pulleys, battens and assorted spare parts for a Standard rig, GXD spec (bottom section new April

Lust

2008-05-04T11:21:00.014+01:00

Research suggests that the average man thinks about sex every eight seconds. I say this is just the kind of steroetypical crap that publications such as Cosmo print in order to sell magazines. It trivialises our most basic instinct, lust, by equating it to a sweaty act. Cosmo would have women believe we think about them every eight seconds and then no doubt publish a long article misleading women

Re: Fish and Dicks

2008-05-02T20:44:00.000+01:00

The following post is my response to an article published in a Barbados newspaper by farmer and social commentator Richard Hoad. The article can be viewed at http://www.nationnews.com/story/302273915218924.php. Dear Mr. Hoad,Your recent article states that Barbados is in danger of making the "mistake of opening up Barbados to immigration from conflicting cultures". While I sympathise with your

Warsash Spring Series

2008-04-30T14:48:00.002+01:00

This is an article I wrote for the sailing column of a magazine in Barbados. Hey, it was a slow new month! Check it out at www.selectmags.com. Earlier this year, after my Olympic Campaign came to an end, I decided to take a break from Lasers and dingy sailing in general and get back into sailing bigger boats. Late March marks the beginning of spring in England (although the first weekend of April