The Sandusky Sailing Club recently hosted the 2023 Snipe National Championships. It was filled with five days of sailing, along with good fellowship on land after the races. As Commodore, I had the honor of welcoming the class to the club. A club that is proud to be celebrating 90 years of existence with its main…
I just returned from the annual Yacht Broker’s Assn of America (YBAA) University session. This is a gathering of yacht brokers and new boat sales people, along with industry experts in various fields. The meeting alternates each year between Newport and Annapolis, this year we were in the latter. The YBAAU is part of the continuing…
As I write this, we’re about to embark upon the last of our longer passages for the year—fingers crossed! We’ve done several 5-7 day passages now, this one will be around four days, taking us from the northern tip of eastern Australia to Indonesia. I’ve learned since our first week-long passage last year that it’s…
We are in a world where everything seems to be bigger, better, more of this, more of that. Event planners need to avoid the “same old, same old” if they want to maintain, and hopefully grow, their regatta or other event. Here are a few ideas for a successful activity that you might try in your…
I am a truly lucky guy; my whole family loves the boat. Sailing on it, swimming off it, sleeping on it—the whole package. There are two keys to creating this situation. First, spouses with less sailing or boating experience need to be comfortable, feel safe and trust that you won’t put them—or children/grandchildren—in a bad spot. You…
Mid-June on Lake St. Clair marks the annual Canadian Club Regatta, hosted by Windsor Yacht Club. The race is a medium distance nighttime affair that stretches from WYC at the mouth of the Detroit River, north and slightly west to the Point Huron lighted buoy, then back toward WYC for a total of 30.5 nm. …
We were finally able to take our stock boat out for a sea trial in Buffalo recently. We had Kris Werner of Quantum Sails in Rochester along with Tim, Dave and me. Kris made the sails, and we were all very pleased with them. We set up a base tune on the rig and went…
Beginners generally find docking the boat one of the more challenging parts of learning to sail. It is worth the time spent in practicing, and when we sell someone a new boat this is an area we focus on. With proper technique anyone can learn to dock like a pro.
We pulled out of Rochester last Friday afternoon for a five-day Independence Day weekend sprint up to Grindstone Island on the St. Lawrence, via Fair Haven, Sackets Harbor and Clayton. Visiting our friends on Grindstone and watching the Clayton Fireworks has been a tradition for us for many years. Friday when we left Rochester, I dialed…
Not so fast… At a recent meeting, I had dinner with a rep for one of the major diesel engine manufacturers. I asked him why we were are still seeing new models and developments in internal combustion engines when the world seems to be diving headlong into electric propulsion. He made several interesting points. Current battery technology does not…