By Joe Berkeley
The big boats stored at Sail Newport that were covered were flapping away, making all sorts of noises. Except for one which had a cover made by Kinder Industries. It didn’t make a peep.
In the spirited Northerly, a Laser blew off its dolly and landed a couple of boats away on top of another Laser. And the doors of a container trailer banged back and forth. Dino Orbassano was ready to sail. Born in Italy, Dino is a software engineer who moved to the US in 1980. His favorite Italian of all time is singer Lucio Dalla. Dino said, “The reason I sail, even though it’s very painful is this is some of the best competition in New England, and in the world. This location is a great place to sail.”
During deliberations, Tom Lemaire had time to show off his trick GoPro camera mount. Chris Sheldon in the fleet asked Tom if he had a GoPro mount. Given that Tom has a shop on Spring Wharf, he figured he would make one.
He sketched the parts out in CAD on the computer, then turned to his water jet table in his shop. With some leftover carbon fiber from a job he did for Chad Atkins, Tom cut a base plate and a clip.
Pleased with his work, he sent a movie of the part to Jim Myers at intensity sails. Jim liked the part, put it up for sale on his website, and made his first sale that afternoon. Tom’s work is now available on intensity.com
He’s probably not going to retire on the income, but he loves making Laser parts in his shop. In the past, Tom has built shipping brackets for Puma’s mast when it broke, and prototypes of special parts. His work is a riwaterjet.com and he is happy to make anything out of carbon fiber. He is looking forward to putting the part to the test aboard Christine Neville’s Laser, as Tom figures some video footage would help her campaign.
Neville is at a regatta in Australia and fleet 413 wishes her well, from afar. Annie the dog wishes Christine were back because she was shivering in the cold, and wanted to get back in the van. Maybe Christine will knit her a sweater on the long plane ride home.
Parker Colantuono, the Portsmouth High freshman, looked up the breeze and said, “I want to go watch some football.”
Dave Moffett was reminiscing that in the old days at the armory, the fleet would rig up and sail the no jibe course, which he called the butterfly course.
As the puffs increased, fleet captains made the decision to cancel the day. Will Donaldson broke out his scale and weighed some boats. Then half the fleet went to Oakley Jones’s home to watch football.
Scott Pakenham Baker is sure no one will tell his wife that he was drinking beer rather than doing his chores. Don’t worry Scott, no one will tell.
Hope to see you on the water next weekend.