correctamundo on that carbon fiber conducting electricity! i got two good shocks a few weeks ago finishing the slip to ship regatta in a rageing squall, my crew got it in his foot. thats when i saw up close how big in diameter a lighting bolt is, you hear the SIZZLE before the BOOM THEN SMELL THE OZONE! and correct again andrew, a broken up piece of bamboo makes an excellent rehabilitation tool(see philappines), TEAR THAT BOOTY ON UP!!!
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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Stepping Hobie 16 mast
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Posted: Jul 07, 2010 - 04:25 PM
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Posted: Jul 07, 2010 - 06:00 PM
hahah.
thats crazy to have that much electricity around you that you felt it 2x, your crew felt it, you saw and smelled a bolt.
did your arm hairs stick up or anything?
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Posted: Jul 07, 2010 - 09:34 PM
it was 2 separate bolts about 30 seconds apart...felt like a good 110v bite...right after we just missed the finish line, my crew said "YOU GOTTA TURN AROUND AND FINISH THE RACE!!!.....PLEASE MAN!!!"...rewind 10 minutes. we were DEAD last rounding cadet point and everyone else was in biloxi bay when WHOOOSH!!!... all hell bust loose, wind shifts from se to nw with huge fat rain coming in sideways and lightning all around, winds gusting?(35-45-55kts?). immediately we see boats start flipping, sails tearing, spinnakers blowed out like a torch in the wind. it was like a nascar crash!! we let the traveler out all the way, let the main all out, and sailed pretty tight in the wind with the jib barely sheeted straight for the finish line while mayhem ensued. most boats got blown downwind of the finish, at least a third of the fleet of 29 didn't finish and here we were all 500lbs of crew and 37lbs beer(left) about to steal glory!! 100 yards shy of the finish the wind starts to shift just enough to miss the finish by 20' so i figured we would just sail in and continue living, lightning was ALL around us near and far for crying out loud. thats when tony(crew) lobbied hard for finishing the race and somewhere between the sun, fun, 67lbs beer, surreal hollywood 3-d film cg effect lightning storm, it seemed like the right thing to do. gybe ho!...gybe ho! here we go...!finished!!! whooo hooo!! much celebration...then sizzle-boom!...OUCH!, got my tiller hand and crews foot "OH S*#T!!!"...30 seconds later...sizzle-boom...ouch again!! then tony said something to me i'll never forget "NOW LETS SAIL REAL FAST TO THE BEACH!!" roger that. the people on the committee boat thought it hit us direct, some people at the club said it was "fingers" from the main bolt, i think it was fingers because i saw the main bolts right beside us mayby 30 to 50yrds. could be the beer goggles but i estimate the bolts(at the water) to be 5 gallon bucket size and making the coolest "SIZZLE" noise...as far as hair sticking up we were soaking wet and don't remember any sensations leading up to it but one strange side affect after all this is a much improved ability to judge just how close lightning strikes are...great at parties...BOOM!!!..."DON'T WORRY, THAT WAS WAY DOWN 21ST AVENUE."
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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Posted: Jul 07, 2010 - 09:51 PM
wow.. wild... thats why i don't race... :)
your beer weight increased during all this? did you find floating beer? does beer float? -
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Posted: Jul 07, 2010 - 10:09 PM
67 pounds consumed, 37 remaining...some warm...really need to convert hulls to ice chest or zero gravity kegerator, you know, for that competitive edge!! here's the gang at ship, halftime.
edited by: coastrat, Jul 07, 2010 - 09:17 PM
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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Posted: Jul 08, 2010 - 11:03 AM
you may be the only person i know who gets their beer by the pound :)
Drink rum.. weighs less :)
edited by: andrewscott, Jul 08, 2010 - 11:03 AM -
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Posted: Jul 09, 2010 - 03:59 PM
coastrat: You weren't dead last! My buddy Michael was back at Channel Marker 12 when the downdraft hit....solo on a Hobie 16. And he wasn't at 12, he was ON 12 (literally). Those were the fattest lightning bolts I've ever seen, and I thank God that I made it in before they hit. Glad noone was seriously injured.
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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16
Clinton, Mississippi
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Posted: Jul 10, 2010 - 04:58 PM
we have a simple goal for a race...we are useualy the highest rated boat with the highest weight...we just want to beat someone, don't be last, and have more fun than everyone...simple. haven't finished last yet thanks to some leaky boats! just finish, somebody's having a bad day, hopefuly not you. so when the squall popped up and decimated the fleet we got excited. it seemed like the bad was happening to everyone else until we crossed the finish. i would hate to have been solo when it hit. i can't believe your buddy was behind us, leaky hulls? ended up takeing 4th out of 8 in open b. what happened to your buddy?
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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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