Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!

For those of you freezing up North wishing you had your boat in the water, I thought we'd post some videos of some practice time on the water yesterday. We had some fun in heavier air. Randy and Mark Porter were in the chase boat, shooting video and providing some much needed critique on driving, while I was on board with Craig and Scott. Scott had some fun doing "ironman", working both the bow and headsail trimmer position. Wind was about 20 knots with all kinds of wonderfully shifty/fluky gusts to play with. We only stuffed the bow a couple of times downwind, and on an upwind leg, we certainly spent some time on one ama playing with the limits of the boat.

The only downside was that it was damn cold for FL. I think we topped out at 50 degrees, although when my feet got wet if felt like Maine as a kid after playing outside till my extremeties got numb.

UPWIND

No, that's not Santa driving - it's just the warmest hat I had down here.

Here's a little Downwind clip for you as well.

As the year draws to a close, we all have so much to be thankful for. I have to thank my crew Craig/Scott/Dave/Don/Mark/Randy and all their families for putting up with a changing schedule at the end of the year. Team Strategery is made up of some great guys, and I know how lucky I am to have them as friends. So Merry Christmas to the crew, their families, you readers and all those on the water out there. Be safe and have a great holiday.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Faithful Friends and Crew of Strategery 3

So... the helmet craze is catching on. Houston NOOD and Trimaran Showdown champion Tom Reese had his crew sporting a melon cup at a recent regatta warmup for KWRW. Craig wore one in the ESPN video from Key West last year and now they are all the rage! Not sure who the guy with the helmet is, but love the lemon. Thing is, when you need it, you could care less how it looks. As someone who has at least 5 CAT scan's on file from boom ducks that simply weren't lowe enough, I say "way to go"!

Last weekend the team out for a test sail with our new jib and our 2001 blown out main. Note the missing batten and baggy shape (ugghh). This may be the ugliest sail in existence. The panels are see through like swiss cheese! I think Craig is angling for the sail to be donated for his cat...you never know with that boy. So, couldn't get into the rhythm of speed, but it still was good to get some stick time in prep for KWRW. Thanks to Mark on the Everglades chase boat shooting the video. He shot some really long footage - this is the shortest clip and it's 10 meg. May go for smaller size video in the future to see if it makes a big difference on the load.

This is my first attempt at a video load. Not sure how long it will take to load, so please be patient.

We practice with Randy on Sunday, Wed, Sat and then North for the holidays.

From the Crew of Strategery to you - we wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season.

The aftermath

Whew,

So the showdown is over. What a blast it was - the race committee did such a fantastic job and the club was nothing but welcoming to the out of town boats.

We had some highs and lows. Port tacking the start and crossing the entire fleet in 18 knots of breeze - priceless. Losing your halyard when in first place 100 yards from the line...not. Or knot. You choose. We blew out our main halyard - the cover cut away in the clutch. Had to drop the mast tonight to pull it for repair. Soon to be good as new!

The racing at the Showdown was fantastic, with Tom Reese the run away champion. Still hot from the St. Pete win, they took bullets inm every race and ended up beating Randy Smyth on corrected time for their mark on the perpetual trophy.

The conditions varied from light to heavy and with 15 tri's on the line with a single start, it was exciting.

Now we start our training program with Randy in preparation for the races in Key West. Looking forward to a real challenge this year - not a single rock star on our team - only a bunch of average joe's. Hope we do well. Kim and the kids are coming down this year - should be great fun.

More later,

C.

Trimaran Showdown 07

So, the opening blog will be focused on the first annual Trimaran Showdown. It starts tomorrow AM and boats have come from around the country to participate.

Our PRO (primary race officer) Tom Garner has the following to say:

"We already have some of the best sailors in the Nation registered and this looks to be an outstanding regatta. There will be a five race format and the weather predictions are Sunny and Clear with temperatures in the mid 80's. We are also expecting much better winds then Houston encountered last weekend. This is your last chance to race againt the big boys before heading to KWRW. The water in Choctawhatchee Bay is crystal clear and still warm enough to swim in Pack up your boat and head this way. Need crew, no problem! Just email me and we will round up crew for whatevr position you need covered.
Randy Smyth will also be teaching a clinic to the 28R fleet on Thursday. All classes are invited to attend.
What more could you ask for? "