New Boat 4 Sled

[sleddog]

There's no way around it. D'arcy Whiting was a piece of work. During WWII, the New Zealand Navy wouldn't have him, so he enlisted in the Army and fought Rommel in the desert sands of North Africa.

D'arcy's glass was always half full. There was nothing more he enjoyed than a good laugh. I first met D'arce in Sydney, Australia, before the start of the 1973 Sydney to Hobart. He'd just delivered his 47 foot TEQUILA across the Tasman, cabin filled with cases of beer bunk-top high in anticipation of the annual Australian beer union workers Christmas Holiday's strike



The Sydney Customs knew D'arcy firsthand and were waiting. When TEQUILA came to dock at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Darcy shifted his Martec into reverse. But nothing happened, and the momentum of all that beer caused TEQUILA to mount and splinter the dock like some Antarctic icebreaker. The dozen Customs standing on the dock stepped aside, and no sooner had TEQUILA slid backwards and was secured in her slip than D'arcy invited all the men in white aboard for a little piss-up.

It seemed the Whiting family's TEQUILA and IMPROBABLE were similar in speed and we much enjoyed racing against each other in local regattas. As memorable as the racing were D'arcy's practical jokes...one of the best I witnessed first hand. Mansion House Bay on Kawau Island, 40 miles north of Auckland, was wall to wall boats on Christmas Eve when D'arcy and Mollie sailed TEQUILA into the crowded anchorage at cocktail hour. D'arcy prided himself on boat handling and crews from dozens of Kiwi boats were watching in anticipation of D'arcy possibly mucking up.

With wife Mollie on the foredeck ready to let the anchor run, D'arcy luffed his big blue sloop into a narrow slot at the head of the Bay. "Let the anchor run, Mollie," echoed cliff to cliff.

And then something happened no one expected except Mollie, who knew D'arcy's plan. The anchor splashed downward off TEQUILA's bow and into the water. Where it floated...."D'arcy, the anchor's not sinking, it's floating!," cried Mollie for all to hear.

This got everyone's attention! At the helm, D'arcy called back to Mollie at the bow, "What do you mean the anchor's floating?"

"I mean what I said, the anchor's floating!," replied Mollie.

Some years later I was able to witness D'arcy's wood carving skills that had produced the famous floating anchor of Mansion House Bay. D'arcy, Mollie, and family were cruising TEQUILA north from Fiji to Alaska and down the West Coast of North America.

They stopped at Midway Atoll, this time with more immediate propeller problems. One blade of the Martec had fallen off. There is no yacht equipment delivery service to Midway. But this did not deter D'arcy, who over a couple of days carved a most exquisite wooden propeller from a fallen branch of an ironwood tree. TEQUILA's new propeller was pitched exactly right and was used for the rest of their voyage without incident...

No wonder Rommel lost at El Alamein.

 

[sleddog]

A close call yesterday for Cal Maritime Academy in Vallejo as fire leapt I-80 and burned to the edge of campus. With the school evacuated, had the fire got to the nearby dock, their school ship GOLDEN BEAR could have had serious issues.

Yesterday's "Santana" winds here on the north shore of Monterey Bay were mainly in the 10, gusting 20 knot range. Not as strong as north of San Francisco. Nevertheless, we have been without power since Saturday as PG&E takes "precautions." Strange, their website continues to maintain our area is not impacted..Gayles Bakery up the road cannot be happy, and the fire station is running its generator.

Capitola Boat Club and Maritime Museum has an assortment of solar panels, 12 volt batteries, and inverters, so we've made a lashup to continue powering low requirement electronics.

But Trader Joes frozen chicken pot pies in the freezer may not be frozen any more.

Good sailing friends Joe and Nancy have spent considerable time and effort researching interesting patents and inventions and then artfully designing a line of clothing called PatentWear.

Here's Nat Herreshoff's 1877 patent design for a catamaran.



Would you believe the spinnaker was once patented by Alfred Luders?



The shirt I am wearing features a patent by the esteemed Italian inventor and bicycle racer Tullio Campagnola. Campagnolo had many inventions, all based on ingenuity and simplicity. His first patent was for an innovative quick release system for the bicycle wheel, while his second patent was for a rod-controlled front derailleur system. But the Campagnola's patent design on my shirt is not bicycle related, nor does it have anything to do with a patent for geared sailboat winches.

A bottle of wine to the first to identify Tuillo Campagnolo's 1967 patent design on my shirt. This item is likely found in the galley of many SSS yachts like TORTUGA, SEA WISDOM, DURA MATER, KYNTANNA, MOUTON NOIR, GALAXSEA. and CLOUD. BEETLE may have one also. Rob has everything else.

 

[DaveH]

the Self Centering Wine opener was patented by Campagnola in 1966
View attachment CampyCork.pdf

 

[sleddog]

the Self Centering Wine opener was patented by Campagnola in 1966
View attachment 4830

So David, how do you currently open a bottle of wine on HEDGEHOG?

 

[sleddog]

Our friend from San Francisco Bay has won 4 Olympic medals, 2 Gold, in two distinct sports in 4 Olympics over 20 years. As well, this individual has successfully defended the America's Cup. I doubt there is anyone with such a record, male or female, nor such longevity.

For a bowl of Marianne's Macapuno with pomegranate seed topping, who is this noted Bay Area personage, what were the Olympic sports, and what winning America's Cup yacht?

 

[skatzman]

Paul Cayard.

 

[BobJ]

Before I do any digging, Will Baylis? If so, sailing and windsurfing, and a New Zealand AC boat - not sure which.

 

[sleddog]

Before I do any digging, Will Baylis? If so, sailing and windsurfing, and a New Zealand AC boat - not sure which.

Sorry, Steve. Paul Cayard has not won an Olympic medal, nor sailed in an America's Cup finals as defender.

Sorry, BobJ. Will Baylis has an Olympic Silver medal in the Soling in 1988. But that's all. No America's Cup. Note: Windsurfing and sailing are not "2 distinct sports." Windsurfing is part of the sailing discipline.

MMMmmm, boy these pomegranate seeds are good. Thanks Marsha and Ants, and congrats on your Monterey Half Marathon finishes.

Let's make it up as we go: if you've guessed incorrectly once at a trivia answer and no one guesses correctly in the next 24 hours since my original posting, then go ahead and guess again. The original post was at 4:06 pm today, Monday, 11/11/19.

 

[BobJ]

Cayard was a good guess. None of these are as the defender?

2013 Artemis Racing, CEO, San Francisco
2007 Desafio Espanol, Technical Advisor, Valencia
2000 AmericaOne Skipper, Auckland
1995 Stars and Stripes Helmsman San Diego
1992 Il Moro di Venezia Skipper/Manager San Diego
1987 USA Tactician Perth, Australia
1983 Defender – Sail trimmer Newport, RI

And with all his Star championships, an Olympic medal would have been no surprise - but it looks like the closest was a 5th at Athens in 2004.

Otherwise I guess it comes down to parsing out your wording.

 

[sleddog]

Otherwise I guess it comes down to parsing out your wording.

4 Olympic medals total over 20 years, 2 of which are gold.
The 4 medals were won in two distinct sports, not two different sailing classes of one sport like say Laser and Finn. Two distinct sports: for example fencing and weightlifting.

This person was onboard an America's Cup defender that won the America's Cup. Not just in the AC trials or Louis Vuitton Cup.

 

[AntsUiga]

Our friend from San Francisco Bay has won 4 Olympic medals, 2 Gold, in two distinct sports in 4 Olympics over 20 years. As well, this individual has successfully defended the America's Cup. I doubt there is anyone with such a record, male or female, nor such longevity.

For a bowl of Marianne's Macapuno with pomegranate seed topping, who is this noted Bay Area personage, what were the Olympic sports, and what winning America's Cup yacht?

Conn Findlay
America's cup was Courageous
Olympic Sports were sailing and rowing

 

[Howard Spruit]

I think a guy from the San Jose State PE department won a gold in the decathlon, as a Male , He called himself "Bruce" Jenner back then!?

 

[sleddog]

Conn Findlay
America's cup was Courageous
Olympic Sports were sailing and rowing

Before we get too off track.

One of the greatest watermen of all time, Duke Paoa Kahino Makoe Hulikohoa Kahanamoku, won 5 Olympic medals, including 3 Gold, in swimming between 1912 and 1924. Duke Kahanamoku also competed in the Olympics in waterpolo, and was an Olympian 20 years (1932) after his first Gold.



Then too, Mark Spitz raced two Transpacs.

But Ants is the winner. Conn Findlay, of Bethel Island in the San Francisco Bay Delta, is the correct answer.

Conn is a Cal Berkeley grad and four-time Olympic medalist, and one of the special few to medal in two distinct sports, winning Gold in rowing at the 1956 and the 1964 Summer Olympics, and Bronze in the 1960 Games.

As Howard Spruit should know, himself being a Tempest sailor, in the 1976 Olympics, Conn Findlay was on the trapeze wire for Dennis Conner to win a Bronze medal in the Tempest two-man keelboat class. Unfortunately, with a Gold medal in reach, Conner picked the wrong side on the last weather leg and dropped to 3rd, depriving Conn of 3 Golds and earning him and Dennis Bronze instead.

Conn, at 6'5", had amazing strength, coordination, and reach. His sailing skills were much in demand, and he could grind a winch and hoist a spinnaker faster than anyone. Conn was mast man aboard the 12 Meter COURAGEOUS, successfully defending the America's Cup in 1977 with loquacious "Capt. Outrageous" Ted Turner as skipper.

Conn, a man of few words, was on the foredeck of COURAGEOUS during the 1977 America's Cup trials when Turner left the helm to Jobson and walked forward. Said Ted: ""I think we have a problem." (It involved the front end of the boat.) "Do you know what you did wrong?"

Conn's succinct answer was, "'Yes." End of conversation, Turner was speechless for once, and walked aft, shaking his head.

I've sailed many miles with Conn Findlay, and remember him as the best of shipmates. His boat design and building skills, and as coach to countless rowers at California colleges and up and down the Pacific Coast, meant Conn could do pretty much anything on the water. We sailed together on AMERICAN EAGLE with Turner, WINDWARD PASSAGE, and MERLIN.

I will always remember on MERLIN, the 3rd day of the Transpac, when the propane regulator broke and we had no stove for the rest of the race. Early the next morning I smelled bacon cooking as we went on dawn watch. There was Conn, bent double in the port tunnel, frying bacon and eggs on the hot engine as it charged batteries....

Conn Findlay will never have a bronze statue on Waikiki Beach like Duke Kahanamoku. Nor make millions from endorsements like Mark Spitz. But as a sailor and shipmate I revere, Conn is the best.

 

[DaveH]

It took awhile for the penny to drop... I've been chewing on a vague memory from high school rowing in Seattle.
I could clearly remember one of the Pocock "fours" in the boathouse was named the CONN FINDLAY, but couldn't figure out why that would be, and how that name would end up on a rowing shell in Seattle.

Took a bit of googling... turns out one Arthur D(an) Ayrault was Conn's partner in the 1956 Gold Medal pair-with-cox.

25+ years later, Dan Ayrault was the headmaster at my high school; his daughter Megan was in my class (and in fact was my date to sophomore prom).
That has to be to be the origin of "The Findlay" shell, in which I won 2 regional lightweight championships.

Smalller and smaller and smaller...

 

[sleddog]

Excitement ahead for the "raucous" conclusion of the Baja Ha Ha tomorrow at Cabo San Lucas?

 

[sleddog]

New Boat 4 Dazzler. It's always a happy event to welcome a boat to the SSS fleet. In this case Wyliecat 30 #18, as yet un-renamed, will soon join the fleet in Brickyard Cove.

DAZZLER's experience in his previous Wyliecat 30 is a good match, and bodes well for everyone.

Sweet.

Welcome back DAZZLER! Looking forward to seeing you and Sue on the water.

~sleddog

 

[sleddog]

"A Man, A Dog, a Boat."

Thanks to Annie for this photo of a Beetlecat in a pastoral setting at sunset during a dogwalk at Santa Cruz Harbor earlier this week.

The first Beetle catboat was designed and built in New Bedford, MA in 1921 by John Beetle and family for their children. More of this class began to appear along the shores of New England and currently over 4000 have been built.

In 98 years since the first Beetlecat, the design has remained unchanged. The Beetlecat is 12ft-4in long and is a design adaptation of the larger Cape Cod cats used for fishing in shoal water. The wide beam, with the rudder not extending below the bottom of the hull and a centerboard, are features that lend Beetlecats to shallow waters and being beached. The six foot beam makes it unusually stable and gives it a large carrying capacity.

Beetlecats are built of wood, with oak frames and cedar planking. With no ballast, the Beetlecat is unsinkable. The large decked area forward on the boat means spray falls on the deck rather than inside the boat. The rig has the mast well forward, cat boat style, and uses a gaff rig, If the tiller is released, the boat will head into the wind and stop. This feature makes it an ideal boat for youngsters, and a near sister, a "Snowbird," was my first boat.

Snowbirds were the Olympic Class dinghy in 1932. Their course was inside Los Angeles Harbor, off Cabrillo Beach, in "Hurricane Gulch. No, I wasn't there.


My Snowbird, #335, was so heavy it once broke the yacht club hoist. I was well familiar with the back of the fleet. Thank goodness it didn't ever rain in S.Cal during the summer ...the cotton sail would have shrunk a foot on all dimensions before growing mildew.

Unlike Beetlecats, which continue to thrive, there's only one wooden Snowbird left, in a museum.

 

[sleddog]

Ants was our most recent trivia winner. And we've shared Marianne's Macapuno ice cream with pomegranate seed topping and TJ's Triple Ginger Snaps with Ants and Marsha here at Capitola Boat Club and Maritime Museum (CBC) the weekend they were running the Monterey Half Marathon. I hope Ants' blister has healed!

For a Holidays' taste treat, and brief demonstration of a safety requirement you may not have seen, we need the answer to the below question which occurred onboard WILDFLOWER, my custom Tom Wylie 27' sloop, in 2007, 200 meters seaward of the Crow's Nest Restaurant at Santa Cruz Harbor breakwater.

TWS = True Wind Speed. AWS = Apparent Wind Speed BS= Boat Speed

Onboard WILDFLOWER, AWS was 0 (Zero) and BS was 4 knots. Additionally the crew in the cockpit smelled french fries. However no french fries were onboard.

What was the TWS? Bonus for a brief explanation.

As always, if having guessed incorrectly and no correct answer appears in the 24 hours following the original posting, go ahead and guess again. The original was posted this evening,11/23/19, at 6 pm .

 

[AlanH]

I'm going to postulate that Wildflower was in the Santa Cruz Harbor channel, after a winter storm. There was so much runoff , and it was an ebbing tide, that there was 4 knots of current whisking Wildflower past the Crows Nest resturant...

 

[Intermission]

The wind was coming from the North at 4 knots instead of from the West, Wildflower was moving South at 4 knots, and the french fries were from the Crow's Nest?