A special note of thanks to the 3 guys who got me out of the RV when I broke my leg/ancle!! As I said, Dave's bum just happened to be the closest thing to grab as I was maneuvered out the door of the motorhome and I bet he won't forget that grab for awhile!

The shots I have posted are for Monday, when I was able to get on the water thanks to the generosity of the Hobie Cat Tiger Worlds providing a boat for us camera geeks. The wind was blowing 20+ plus out past the point and I would guess up to 35+ in the puffs. The photo shoot quickly turned into a rescue mission and I was asked many times to use my zoom to determine if 2 sailors were still on a capsized boat.

We saw at least half the fleet turtle during the first race and on the beat back to the beach after the postponement flag was raised. I witnessed the most perfect pitchpole I have ever seen and one boat did a reverse pitchpole. It is amazing to think that my stepping on a 2 inch wooden block was the worst injury of the day, but I was glad that it was and the sailors arrived back on the beach basically in one piece.

I posted new photos in the Tiger Worlds Album and please take a look at my son's photo coverage. I did think he did a great job!

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful support. What a great group you all are. Don't worry I will be back before the seasons end!

Sail fast and have fun and see you on the water,

Connie Brown

The rumor yesterday of everyone on the line at once bore out to be true and a long line was set and a course two posted. What an amazing site! 87 boats on the course this morning all on the line at once for the start. The racers were fairly aggressive with four boats being flagged as OCS. It looked as though some local knowledge might be helpful as local sailor Larry Harteck waxed the fleet in the first race. He was greeted on the finish line with not only a horn from the signal boat but with a blast from several spectators air horns as well.

The second race was run in similar conditions with the competitors being a little more cautious on the line - except one that is. Taylor Booth took a huge chance with a port start and smoked the entire line. And Taylor is all of 17 years old. There were quite a few exciting moments as the fleet rounded the downwind gate, and everyone stayed much closer together during this race. The finish line provided some entertainment with some overlap, room at the mark, and port starboard situations as most everyone came in at the same time.

In race three, the breeze started to lesson and the racers were struggling to get the race finished. Not much exciting happened other than a boat that got hit by a gust at the finish line and drifted over on his side. Finish any way you can, I say.

With the wind dying and large holes forming in the course, the officials decided to pull anchor in search of some wind. The wind clocked around again 180 degrees to come out of the east so the race was on to set a course for the new heading. A course one was called again and with a clean start everyone took off up wind. A few lucky ones sailed around "A" mark before a huge hole developed and sucked the rest of the competitors into a black hole. With giant wind shifts and monstrous gusts coming down off the mountain range behind us the abandon race flag was flown and the competitors headed for the beach.

The Spanish team had wine and snacks set up to celebrate the fact that they have been awarded the venue for the 2006 Tiger Worlds. The Puerto Rican team was serving rum and cokes just to celebrate being Puerto Rican. There motor home was easy to find, it had the Puerto Rican flag hung on it with a picture of three girls in thong bikinis. I just love how un P.C. Hobie sailing can be some times!

The city has now towed off the motor home Damon. They said it was an abandoned vehicle. That might have something to do with the fact that Eric was so diligent in selling the parts off of it. He just couldn't close that last deal for the body. I think that it had no wheels had something to do with it. We got free food (Triscuits and canned squirty cheese) from the Spaniards, and filled up on free rum and coke from the Puerto Rican's so dinner was covered tonight. Oggie, the skipper of the cruising cat that has been serving as our signal boat, has offered to let us sleep on the forward tramp tonight. I am a little scared though Damon. He has the disco ball up and he says I have to dress in the panda suit for him. Don't ask, you really don't want to know.

We took the signal boat out at 9:30 (it's a 45 foot Leopard cruising cat by the way, rough detail you know...) and were met with shifty wind directions and variable speeds. The wind was clocking back and forth between 210 degrees all the way to 300 degrees. At "A" mark the wind was measured at 17-20 knots 1.4 nautical miles away from us, and at the signal boat we sat in 0-2. The question wasn't if we were going to get some wind - it was how much and from which direction.

The race officials decided to set the course and they set it in the right direction, and that's when we saw the wall of wind coming at us. It was a repeat of yesterday, but with swells at the up wind mark being measured in the 8-10 foot range. After yesterdays carnage a cautious race official decided to call the race for the time being and send the competitors back to the beach. I think the coast guard cutter anchored to the north of us may have influenced the decision also.

We waited out in the channel for a few hours to see if the wind would subside to a manageable level for racing but it never did. We motored back to the harbor to wait it out, but the wind and waves never did let up and racing was called for the day.

An informal and unscientific poll taken by yours truly revealed that about a quarter of the fleet would have liked to race today but the rest were content to wait it out. I think today gave quite a few teams time to repair bodies as well as boats. There were a few main sails that blew out yesterday; with one team driving theirs to Ventura to Morelli's to be repaired. The sail was fixed as the competitor waited and they were back on the water this morning. What great service. Others weren't so lucky with one team's sail looking like Wiley Coyote had blasted through it in a deranged Hobie Cat / Road Runner cartoon.

The wind is supposed to diminish somewhat tomorrow so hopefully we'll get some races off. Time is running out on this competition and we need three for a regatta, and I am sure the fleet would like four so they can all throw out that first race. The fleet has been divided up into four groups with races being run in two flights of about 45 boats each. Rumor on the street says they might all be run together for the next two days so we get some results in. It will make for a very interesting line with 90 plus Tigers on it - should be very exciting!

We are completely out of money and booze Damon. We tried pan handling but got busted by the police. The dog bit me and I required 10 stitches. The doctor bill is in the mail. Eric came up with a brilliant idea to take the coil out of the condenser of the refrigerator of the motor home and fashion up a still. Corn is cheap here now, the shine is a little rough on the throat but you get used to it pretty quick. Some of the French team came over and we made a few bucks selling a few quarts but they paid us in Euros and as you know the exchange rate isn't so good right now. I'm starting to get worried how we will get home, the plane tickets are on their way, right?

The signal boat with Eric and me on it pulled out around 9:30 a.m. and the sea was already at 3 feet and breaking white caps all around us. We set up a photo op for the press and started all 90 boats at the same time. It was a beautiful sight until one Tiger mounted another in a mating frenzy! At one point the crew of the bottom boat was literally holding the hull of the top boat up so to prevent it from crashing down on him. And we hadn't even started racing yet!

We took the signal boat off shore about 3 miles to set up a course but with the wind and the depth of the water couldn't get the hook to set. In a futile attempt to get one race off we set up a start line but promptly drifted towards the pin boat and closed off the starting line. The decision was made to pull up and move the course closer to shore.

We finally got the course set with the up wind mark 1.8 nautical miles away. It was a fair distance but with the way the wind was building the race officials felt the Tigers would be there in no time at all. Carnage ensued with groups of boats going over as they all got hit with guts at the same time. There were sometimes five and six boats over at once, and the safety crews had their hands full as they raced to make sure everyone was all right.

Being on the signal boat gave a great vantage point of the down wind gate and we were treated to many near flips in today's trying conditions. Many teams suffered equipment failures with one team losing their mast. Two dagger boards were found floating in the water, hopefully they were returned to their owners. Others were injured physically with a broken nose and twisted ankles being reported.

We got one race off and the wind continued to build to a point that the Harbor Patrol came out to keep an eye on things. Many crew and skippers were being separated from their boats and were being picked up by other competitors. There were three official redress notices up for picking up stranded crew. After the first few finishers crossed the line the race officials decided to call it a day as the wind was still increasing in velocity and the safety of the competitors was coming into question.

Many boats were towed in and some even ended up on a southern beach away from the venue just to pull down the jibs and secure the decks for the ride home. Some boats waited on the beach for well over an hour for the wind to subside (it didn't) and to just catch their breath and collect their thoughts before making the trip back.

Right now they are calling for 25-30 mph tonight with gusts to 50. All the boats have been secured for the night and repairs have been made. Tomorrow they are calling for a lighter wind, but it will still be 20 plus. It should make for an interesting day once again.

Still no money Damon, I am beginning to doubt your integrity. The constant buzz that we have attained is starting to dull due to the fact we are now drinking Thunderbird wine and my stomach just can't handle it. I am afraid that a champagne taste does not go well on a Boone's Farm budget. I think we may need to renegotiate our compensation package when we are done here. Eric did get a good price for the generator out of the motor home though.

We have finished with the weighing and measuring of boats today and it looks like all the teams have registered. The water was flat and the air still in the morning, but picked up mildly in the afternoon. We headed out on the signal boat about one p.m. for some practice racing and starts. As we anchored about a mile off shore and set the course about half the fleet came out to play.

We had about 45 boats on the line for the first practice start and sent them off on a number one course. The up wind mark was set a little under a nautical mile away and the fleet was an impressive sight as they all crossed over clear for a clean start. The fleet soon split up with about half going over to a port tack. The starboard boats seemed to have the advantage (perhaps from a shore lift?) and reached "A" mark first and there wasn't anyone who was hesitant to pop the chute to head down wind. Conditions at this point were just about perfect for the down wind sleigh ride with the wind speed in the 10-12 knot range. Greg Thomas and Jacques Bernier were over the finish line first and looking very good. We did one more practice start and headed back in because it was almost party time!

We took off for the welcoming party that evening that was held in a very nice park that overlooked the ocean as well as the city. The beer flowed freely (Gordon Biersch, very nice choice...) and we noshed on BBQ tri-tip, chicken, and veggie kabobs for the weird people. And we had some more free beer. There was a small raffle and some great prizes were given away like hobieHobie sunglasses and a Gore-Tex dry top. And we had more free beer. Steve Leo, the host of the event, got up, said a few words, thanked a bunch of people, and we had more free beer. And after all that free beer, Connie Brown was kind enough to drive us back to the motor home.

Yes you heard right - we had to give up on the hotel and move into a motor home in a parking lot just like the lowly masses. I would like to tell you Damon that we made this choice just to be close to the working man, and to get down in the gutter with Joe Racer, but the truth of the matter is we got kicked out of the hotel. You will be getting a bill for some repairs, but what ever they tell you, those holes in the wall were there before we got here, and we never saw the 60 inch plasma screen that they say is missing.

It's a good thing that the beer was free tonight Damon, because we are still waiting on that money transfer. Eric goes to the Western Union office every day like a lost child looking for the drunken mother that has abandoned him. Please don't break his heart like this Damon, besides; we are down to Pabst Blue Ribbon in a can in the fridge. It was on sale at the Piggly Wiggly $4.98 a case. If we don't get some funds soon we will have to resort to drastic measures. Eric thinks we can part out this motor home for some pretty good money..."Eric! Put down that wrench! Not yet, let's give Damon another day!" Send money soon Damon, soon!

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

All the rock stars are here, and we mere mortals are walking shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Jeff Alter, Mitch Booth, Enrique Figueroa, Greg Thomas and Jacques Bernier. The view is somewhat surreal - in a parking lot adjacent to the venues lays some thirty brand new Hobie Tigers in various states of assembly. Three huge shipping containers hold more hulls and parts in a never ending stream of construction. It is a seemingly impossible task to get all these boats built in the few days that we have before official competition begins.

We are in the process of setting up an internet cafe on site courtesy of Hobie Fleet 2 from Nevada City, Ca. The parking lot where the motor homes are parked it set up as a WiFi hot spot so everyone with a laptop can stay connected to home with out leaving their rigs. Three parties are planned for the week, with the rum drinks and beer flowing freely.

Tomorrow we will begin to weigh the boats and measure the sails - I hope there is a keg close by because this will be a long day with 100 boats now competing. Speaking of beer - the daily stipend you have given us is great, but 250.00 per person per day is a little less that we are used to. Eric is blowing through his like the proverbial drunken sailor. This is really making the living conditions unbearable. I am afraid we will need more money to last us out the week. The Mount Gay rum is gone, as well as the Blue Sapphire gin, so we have already resorted to drinking the cheap stuff. It is only the first day and already we have had to lay off the college girls we hired to wheel the boat up and down the beach - the inhumanity of it all!

That's all for today, I'll send more tomorrow, and remember - send more money! We don't want to have to pawn these nice laptops you gave us to afford the "entertainment" we have planned for later in the week, if you know what I mean, and I think that you do...

Dave Atwater
Somewhere in Santa Barbara