And now, for fleet news…
By Joe Berkeley
Tomorrow he may be limping, he may be in pain, he may even be packed in ice, but today, Moose McClintock threw caution into the westerly wind and sailed. In the newly renovated fleet boat with new LP spars, new LP blades, and the minimum weight, 130- pound 2004 hull, Moose was out and about on the harbor. He finished the day in sixth overall, with a 4th in the longest race of the day.
Andy Pimental, Ted Hood and Bill Berry the RC set some courses that Moose enjoyed including H, M, and the old standby, W. The courses were long, the breeze was sporty, and Moose grabbed one of the nicest days of the year.
Having practiced the week before in 40 mile per hour winds, the top three sailors made mince meat of the 20 mile per hour puffs. Peter Shope, Big Bad Steve Kirkpatrick, and Christine Neville all landed upon the podium.
Shope took a break from carefully painting his solid wood, eight-panel interior doors of his home to enjoy some full on hiking. He won every race but one and showed us all just how flat a Laser can be sailed.
Steve Kirkpatrick was second, Christine Neville was third, Dan Neri was fourth, Will Donaldson was fifth, Moose McClintock was sixth, and Dave Moffet was seventh.
Thomas Lemaire sailed the first race of the day despite the fact that he is having surgery on his shoulder tomorrow. Lemaire joked with his doctor the he should install a zipper on his shoulder. This is Lemaire’s third shoulder job. Perhaps he can create a new one on his CNC machine. We hope Tom gets well fast.
Will Donaldson was the Executive Producer of Fleet 413 hats. He had 100 made, which the fleet paid for. Please come sailing next weekend so you can get your handsome hat. Each is embroidered with “Fleet 413.” Charlie Brightman of logos4UtoWear out of New Bedford did embroidery work and it is quite sharp. You get your choice in color so come sailing and get your slick cap.
Dan Neri did his best to destroy his back yesterday. He dug up a plant around the house that was attached to a 150-pound root ball.
Your roving surveyor, mechanical engineer Dwight Escalera had a new trick on how to get moisture out of your Laser. You fill a pantyhose leg with Silica Crystals, put it in the boat through an inspection port, and leave it for a couple of days. The cheapest way to buy Silican Crystals is AMAZING CAT LITTER which Lasts up to 40 Days!
The 2014-2015 season is coming to an end. There is just one day left in the regular season, then the Pete Milnes regatta. Most of the Intensity sails in the fleet are a bit crispier than normal at this time of year. We lost a lot of days to cancellation during the coldest winter in recent memory. Let’s finish the year strong by having a great turnout for the last day.
Ed Adams is selling a couple of boats. As you would expect, his Lasers live indoors in a garage, and display fine rake measurements, attractive hull weights, and rigging befitting a man of Ed’s stature. If you are looking for a bespoke standard rig Laser, hit him up at adams.ed@aol.com.
Aspiring Olympian Christine Neville has a 2011 Laser for sale that is about to hit craigslist. The boat comes with radial rig, nicely rigged control lines, and other accessories. Christine is at chrisnev@gmail.com
Bonus Content:
Awhile ago, I was rounding a leeward mark, pulling in my mainsheet when there was a knot with my outhaul, my cunningham, and the tail end of my mainsheet wrapped up inside the mainsheet block. Not good.
Noticing that not everyone in the fleet was afflicted with this condition, I had a look at the mainsheet block of Ed Adams. He built a nice little no-tangle device from a plastic bottle. I did the same and have been pleased with the result.
Here’s how you do it. Find a plastic bottle with nice, smooth, milky white plastic. I prefer Stop & Shop’s white vinegar bottles, but have also found that the blue Krystal Kleen windshield wiper bottles can be just fine.
Cut the bottle into a long, straight strip. Clean up the edges. I use this handy sewing matt that I found somewhere and a straight edge. Trace the mainsheet block onto the material with a black Sharpie.
Use your favorite pair of scissors to cut it out. I have a pair of Wiss scissors I bought at Jamestown Distributors 20 years ago and boy are they a pleasure to own.
They’re here. http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=2100
If your mainsheet block has a hole in the center, you can use an awl to punch a hole in the plastic.
Then slip a nice, skinny zip tie through the hole to hold the plastic in place. Make sure you assemble it with the ratchet facing the right way.
To put your boat back together again, use zip ties to compress your mainsheet spring, then cut them away when you complete the assembly. Now you have a no-tangle system just like Ed’s.
Joe Berkeley is a member of fleet 413 and a freelance writer. His work is at joeberkeley.com