(See the "what's new" section of the home page for the pictures)
Boat of the Year competition.
As most of you know by now, we were invited to enter Sailing Worldâs Boat Of
The Year competition (be sure to pick up a copy of Sailing World -- the
Swift Solo is the featured picture for the story). What a great adventure it
was with over 7700 miles traveled and 3 weeks of âSuburbanâ living (Chevy
Suburban)
The trip began here at the base of Mount Rainier pulling my 20 foot van
trailer, moved on to Frankfort Michigan and VMGâs facility where I picked up
USA
038 and then on to Annapolis for the competition. I decided to take USA 002
with me so that we could exactly duplicate every detail on the never
launched USA 038. The idea was to get the new boat to Annapolis, complete
rigging
it, and then sail it for a couple of days for âshake downâ before turning
it
over to the judges.
The trip to Michigan was easy with nice weather and the opportunity to stop
and do some rides on my mountain bike along the way. I arrived to find, as
always, that Pat and Anita at VMG had done a fantastic job of preparing the
boat and the finish was 1st class (Boat of the Year quality). Pat and I spent
the day rigging the new mast while Anita continued work on USA 013--my new
boat. We felt no guilt since Anita was at the fun, long boarding, stage of
fairing 013 while we had the difficult job of pop riveting parts to a mast
and splicing rope (honest Anita, youâd hate itâkeep sanding). If you look
at
the picture you can see Anitaâs fairing job on the bottom of 038.
We loaded 038 that evening and after a long night and day, I arrived in
Annapolis. Greg and Christian met me at the Navy Stadium parking lot where we
spent a long day rigging. It was really good to finally meet Christian and
they both provided a lot of much needed help. Christian had to leave that
evening so the next morning Greg and I moved the boat to the âdesignatedâ
location. Upon arrival, we discovered that this was a great place to launch
60 foot
yachts but that it had no launching or sailing facilities for small boats.
Greg helped me for another day preparing the boat and looking for an
appropriate sailing location before he had to go back to work.
The Annapolis Sailing School has a great location and sailing facility
with a sandy beach at the junction of the channel we were on and the
Chesapeake--only a few miles down the road. The next day I located their
offices, told
them about the BOTY competition and tried to get permission to sail off of
their nearly deserted beach for a day or two. Late that evening I received
their decision---Permission deniedââweâre too busyâ. Since this
process took
a large part of the day and the next day was the scheduled âviewing dayâ
for
the competition, I realized the probability that this boat was going to see
water for the first time when the judges showed up and towed it to an
appropriate location for sailingânot a great strategy for winning the
competition.
With this in mind, I spent the next day focused on exactly duplicating every
line length and detail of USA 002. This boat would have to be perfect,
right off.
With the weather not cooperating, both the viewing and the sailing were
postponed until Thursday.
Thursday morning the Judges arrived in a large power launch with two 150 hp
outboards. We launched 038 over the 6 foot bulkhead and they towed me for a
couple of miles to the Severn Sailing Association where we were warmly
greeted. Clearly, this is the place where we should have been all along. In
view
of the miscommunication that sent me to the Yacht Yard, the judges agreed
that I should get a chance to sail the boat for a short while to make sure
everything was working OK. After a short sail to weather on the trapeze I
bore
off and raised the kite. This boat felt perfect and everything was working
well (the centerboard needed to be tied down because we had miscalculated the
packing needed around the top cassette block). After asking me to capsize and
right the Swift, it was their turn. Chuck Allen traded places with me.
Chuck is a past collegiate âSailor of the Yearâ and it showed. After a
half
hour in the boat he was really getting the hang of it. Both of my major
fears
were over. The boat worked perfectly and Chuck was not only sailing the
boat well, but having way too much fun. After a long sail from the wire with
the kite up, the other judges reminded Chuck of their other BOTY obligations
and I sailed the boat back to the Severn Sailing Association. It was a
satisfying sail backâknowing we had done our very best in a rather difficult
situation.
Now we get to wait and see how we did. Overall, it was a great trip.
Special thanks to Greg and Christian for helping me get it together.
Also, it needs to be said that Pat and Anita will be seriously missed by the
class. They are 1st class both as craftsmen and as friends to all of us who
have had the pleasure of doing business with them. I also want to thank
John at VMG for his integrity and pioneering spirit. They clearly blazed the
trail for others to follow. Roger (Aquilo Boats) is filling the void and will
be making parts for the class. Since Roger is actually sailing Swifts, we can
be assured of high quality products.
With so many Swifts hitting the water now and in the next several months,
Our future is bright. It canât hurt that Iâll soon have three boats to
take
around the country to help get other skiff sailors addicted. Weâll have the
first active fleet of week night Swift Solo racing in Seattle by the end of
this coming summer (unless someone beats us somewhere else). There is little
doubt that with Gregâs energy and the number of Swifts being built in the
Northeast that we should see a fleet around NYC fairly soon as well. Weâll
be
spending a lot of energy this summer promoting the boat and helping form other
fleets as well. It will be a sight to see 15 or more Swift Solos sailing at
our Regatta/Clinic in Florida.
Jane and I will be reporting on what we find when we travel to evaluate
sites in Florida before Christmas. Stay tuned
Best regards,
Bram
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