January 18, 2024
by Earl Thomas #5121
Commodore & Fleet 62 Captain
Commodore & Fleet 62 Captain
A great time was had by all in Oakland on this last Sunday for the LMSC MidWinters. The weather on the Saturday before was rainy, but it cleared overnight. The drive up was good and clear with mixed clouds. Though I drove through a fog bank in San Leandro but then it cleared in Oakland. Finding the narrow pathway to clubhouse and launch area, off the road is the secret, I missed it the first time around. The weather was clear with mixed high clouds with relatively warm temperatures. Just a t-shirt, sweatshirt and long pants was needed.
Russ, and Roy were there in Sunfishes. Two other El Toros came out to play as well. And we were the lonely Lido.
I met Chris Boome there. He brought his newly acquired gently used Lido for a review and suggestions. And hopefully to weigh it. But the hoist was not working today, so ramp launches for all. His boat is in pretty good shape, needs some work like rigging and a new tiller and extension. His mast is the biggest problem. Bent up at the jib halyard block/sheave. Might not be repairable. And the base of the mast is cracked. might be able to weld it, j-b weld it and a steel band clamp. He wanted to use his sails to check them out. #2762 is the hull number. They are Ullman sails but a few years old. Stretched out and a little stained at the bottom/foot. So we did use his sails on my boat and the sails were fine.
Chris was very good at reading the conditions and adjusting. 'In a little, out a little, shift weight here, hold the jib out, slide forward', etc, etc. He knew a lot of the old-times at LMSC. He said he had sailed there 50 years ago and broke his leg while climbing a tree. Hopefully he will fix up his Lido and join us this summer, but he is primarily a Laser sailor. Russ was complaining that I had brought a secret weapon today and didn’t think it was fair.
We raced with the Sunfish and had 4 good starts. I skippered the first race and Chris skippered the last 3. He is a very good sailor with 50 plus years of experience. He taught me a lot about the little subtleties of sailing in light air. The 4 races were in very light wind but building all day long. Drift-plus was my wind speed classification with sporadic wind breaks. But still it was sailable and worth the effort. We won every race by 1min. 30 sec. at least. So comparing Portsmith ratings I think we prevailed. We did 2 races windward leeward, then a triangle and then a sort of reverse longer triangle.
Russ and Roy battled it out in their Sunfish challenge. Roy was ahead almost all the time. We were happy that Roy had found the secret to besting Russ. But they both got mixed up at the finish line a couple of times. I will let Roy explain the close quarter sailing maneuvers. Russ said all he could find was a lack of wind and the holes between the puffs.
The LMSC race committee was very appreciative of our appearances and wanted to see more Lidos next time, hint, hint.
Some sad news, Bob Cronin a Sunfish sailor, who was suppose to sail with us, had a bad bicycle accident with a car late last week. He is in the hospital with surgery needed. We will try to get more info when it’s available.
The drive home was nice and easy, it was 48 minutes coming and going. I stopped by Blue Pelican Marine on the way home to check out the used sailing gear, but nothing sparked my fancy.
I hope to see some more of you at the next mid Winters.
Earl Thomas
___
Earl Thomas #5121
Fleet 62 Captain
Russ, and Roy were there in Sunfishes. Two other El Toros came out to play as well. And we were the lonely Lido.
I met Chris Boome there. He brought his newly acquired gently used Lido for a review and suggestions. And hopefully to weigh it. But the hoist was not working today, so ramp launches for all. His boat is in pretty good shape, needs some work like rigging and a new tiller and extension. His mast is the biggest problem. Bent up at the jib halyard block/sheave. Might not be repairable. And the base of the mast is cracked. might be able to weld it, j-b weld it and a steel band clamp. He wanted to use his sails to check them out. #2762 is the hull number. They are Ullman sails but a few years old. Stretched out and a little stained at the bottom/foot. So we did use his sails on my boat and the sails were fine.
Chris was very good at reading the conditions and adjusting. 'In a little, out a little, shift weight here, hold the jib out, slide forward', etc, etc. He knew a lot of the old-times at LMSC. He said he had sailed there 50 years ago and broke his leg while climbing a tree. Hopefully he will fix up his Lido and join us this summer, but he is primarily a Laser sailor. Russ was complaining that I had brought a secret weapon today and didn’t think it was fair.
We raced with the Sunfish and had 4 good starts. I skippered the first race and Chris skippered the last 3. He is a very good sailor with 50 plus years of experience. He taught me a lot about the little subtleties of sailing in light air. The 4 races were in very light wind but building all day long. Drift-plus was my wind speed classification with sporadic wind breaks. But still it was sailable and worth the effort. We won every race by 1min. 30 sec. at least. So comparing Portsmith ratings I think we prevailed. We did 2 races windward leeward, then a triangle and then a sort of reverse longer triangle.
Russ and Roy battled it out in their Sunfish challenge. Roy was ahead almost all the time. We were happy that Roy had found the secret to besting Russ. But they both got mixed up at the finish line a couple of times. I will let Roy explain the close quarter sailing maneuvers. Russ said all he could find was a lack of wind and the holes between the puffs.
The LMSC race committee was very appreciative of our appearances and wanted to see more Lidos next time, hint, hint.
Some sad news, Bob Cronin a Sunfish sailor, who was suppose to sail with us, had a bad bicycle accident with a car late last week. He is in the hospital with surgery needed. We will try to get more info when it’s available.
The drive home was nice and easy, it was 48 minutes coming and going. I stopped by Blue Pelican Marine on the way home to check out the used sailing gear, but nothing sparked my fancy.
I hope to see some more of you at the next mid Winters.
Earl Thomas
___
Earl Thomas #5121
Fleet 62 Captain
