Day two has come and gone Damon with very little to report. Most of the
day has been spent measuring sails and weighing boats. There has been
very little drama of excitement, although there have been a few
European chutes that have a newer cut that are not legal at this race.
It seems that the Tiger class continues to evolve over time little by
little and making small refinements all the time.
Eric and I were jacks of all trades yesterday doing multiple jobs while
we floated around the venue. We did a short stint in the sail measuring
room and had a great conversation with Eric Olsen, the official
measurer and also a member of the ISAF board of directors. His take of
the future of all small two handed boats (dinghy as well as cats) is
that they will all be sailed with three sails. Apparently in Europe it
is all that the sailors want and the traditional rigged cat is a thing
of the past. The Tiger is currently very dominant in the F-18 class
with about 75% of the boats competing being Tigers and taking the top
spots in all competition. Mr. Olsen feels that the future of youth
sailing lies in a spinnaker rigged Hobie 16 as well. Time will tell if
we see this movement in the US as strong as in Europe, but from the
beach here in Santa Barbara, it sure looks to be headed that way.
The great wind we enjoyed yesterday when Eric tried to kill me on the
Super Cat has subsided to a mild breeze in the 7-10 range. Quite a few
of the teams made it out on the water playing games with each other to
see who was faster. I can only imagine at this level of competition
that there is a fair amount of sand bagging going on as well. The
chutes were out in full force with a few teams showing their prowess at
flying the windward hull while going downwind. Most of the competitors
on the beach are jovial and very friendly, but there are also quite a
few very serious game faces on already, but with a title of “The Best
Tiger Sailor in the World” on the line I can understand why.
Eric and I also did a stint selling the official clothing of the event
with t-shits, sweatshirts and ball caps available. High quality
merchandise at a reasonable price. I know that you sent us some money
to buy you some mementos, but we found an adult bookstore on State
Street and all of a sudden your money was gone. I don’t even remember
what I bought…
Speaking of money, that last Western Union transfer that you sent is
already gone. How long do you think we can last working in these kinds
of conditions? Eric and I have even moved out of the presidential suite
to a “mini” suite to save money! Do you know how much they want for one
of those little bottles in the fridge?
Until tomorrow,
Dave Atwater