Sailing vs Television - Words in Books Tell the Story

Sat, 1 Oct 2011 10:24:38 -0500

A blogger at Oak Orchard Yacht Racing turned me on to Google Books NGrams, a site where you can compare the use of words in vast quantities of literature.

In this case, I simply compared the words “sailing” and “television” from 1920 to 2000.

It’s a story I’m a bit tired of repeating. But sometimes data, simply presented, clear things up.

-ndh

A different life without Dad sharing sailing - A Reader Review

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 10:36:41 -0500

Highly recommended to sailors and non-sailors alike. Makes the reader reflect on your life choices

Certainly this is a fantastic book for the sailing enthusiast. But more than that it challenges the readers life choices for ones free time. I think most sailors will relate to the stories used to illustrate the way we choose to sail and what the experience of sailing bring to our life and our relations with others, but the lessons explored in this book can be applied to many worthwhile (like) pastimes (camping, hunting, playing a musical instrument, etc.) I read this book while on vacation with my family in the British Virgin Islands a 40 foot sailboat. While looking out at the turquoise waters and white sandy beaches of Jost Van Dyke I wondered how my life would have been different and were I'd be than if I had not been introduced to sailing by my father, who had been introduced to sailing when I was my son age. My wife and sons all sail with me because of choices I've made and the contiguous enthusiasm of others. I'd recommend this book to anyone who has this contiguous enthusiasm of any pastime or hobby. A nice read; not heady or preachy.

- Reader “danneskjold”, Barnes and Noble.

Why the Race to Mackinac Matters

Tue, 2 Aug 2011 08:32:28 -0500

I’ve just sent off the final edit of my new essay “Why the Race to Mackinac Matters” which will soon become chapter 8 in the new book Sailing & Philosophy, assembled and edited by Dr. Patrick Goold of the Department of Philosophy at Virginia Wesleyan College. The book will be the latest addition to publisher Wiley-Blackwell’s Philosophy for Everyone Series.

My essay explores the singular experience of racing offshore as a member of a small team. I hope to show how and why friendships and memories made during races like the Race to Mackinac can be among the strongest and most durable a person will ever have. I’ve also had to tackle the idea of risk, following the deaths this year of two sailors aboard the boat WingNuts in a squall. A bit of context: two people died, sadly, and we should learn from this. But in over a century of sailing, four hundred thousand others have lived. This is something to celebrate and foster.

The writing is complete. Eight of the essays have be written by philosophers. Another eight come from academics in fields like Physics, History and Religion. Four are from sailing insiders including a traditional sailboat builder and the president of U.S. Sailing, Gary Jobson, and me. A final review and foreword will be written by John Rousmaniere in the next month and the book should be ready for print in the next 6-8 months.

Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Goold for the invitation. It has been a pleasure to work with him.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Here is a what to expect if you Start Sailing Now

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:21:59 -0500

Each year Spinsheet Magazine publishes a free supplemental called “Start Sailing Now”. Editor Molly Winans asked me to share ideas for sailing newcomers about what to expect, and why sailing is something good to do. Here is the interview in the 2011 edition:

Really Learning to Sail - Cal Sailing Center in Spinsheet

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:58:45 -0500

Here’s the April 2011 issue of Spinsheet, along with an article about how the Cal Sailing Center goes about sharing sailing, and all of its tertiary benefits.

Hey Kid - Let’s Take Up Fishing

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:39:55 -0600

Here’s the March 2011 issue of Spinsheet, along with an article about how to get your kids sailing. And yep, that’s my kid Elizabeth in her original pink weather gear... uh... pajamas.

Skip Novak - On Sailing Mentors and Mentoring

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 08:26:05 -0600

Most sailors know Skip Novak as the intrepid skipper of the Pelagic Expedition boats - frequent visitor to the ice caps, and before that a Whitbread sailor leading to his books One Watch at a Time, and Fazizi - The Joint Venture (both of which I enjoyed greatly). Skip’s adventures with Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon are part of permanent sailing lore.

But Skip is also a father of two, a boy, 7 and a girl, almost 9, so he took the time to read and consider Saving Sailing.

Reflecting on it, he offered these two stories. I asked, and he agreed, that they might be shared here. The first takes us back to his childhood:

Your take on mentors brought up some memories. I grew up at the Chicago Yacht Club with a gang of kids (known as the Harbor Rats) who are all still great friends. Looking back at our childhood we had an amazing free reign compared to the paranoia that now seems to be all pervasive when raising children. As teenagers (from the age of 14) we lived on our parents boats during the summers, pretty much unsupervised, had boat cleaning and bottom cleaning ‘businesses’ prepping boats before the weekend races and generally were into all kinds of mischief. But we did have a few mentors in the background, so we were not alone as we thought. One of these was the marine superintendent of the club, a retired Naval petty officer who was a real character. He taught us all how to splice, fix outboards and handle all all sorts of boats (we rescued quite a few). He turned a blind eye to most of our shenanigans, but when we did something totally out of order (like having a middle of the night fire extinguisher fight between dinghies with the club’s extinguishers) he lowered the boom on us big time. In all those years I never remember wearing a lifejacket . . .

And, today, Skip reflects on his own family:

I have two kids, a boy 7 and a girl almost 9, and we sail a Laser together in a lagoon connected to the sea north of Cape Town. It’s just a fun thing with no pressure, but they really enjoy it. As you know they are at the age where they could start the Optimist program, but I have my doubts, for all the reasons you point out – yet another activity in amongst so many others. The problem though, as I see it, in order to become a really competent sailor you have to get into a racing program at some point to develop the skills, but then how to sustain that (at least sailing, let alone racing) as an activity in later life. My goal at the moment is just to keep them on the water in various crafts including kayaks, surf boards, the Laser, (might get a Hobie), etc and see how we go. This in addition to some ocean sailing and adventure sailing on the Pelagic’s from time to time, might do the trick. I guess the advantage I have is I can still do all this stuff (just the right side of 60).

I’m struck by the reality that parenting and mentoring are things that we must make up on the spot. There are no guidebooks or maps. But if we were lucky as children to have had a parent or a mentor, then chances are, we’ll take it seriously when our time comes. Like Skip is.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Socratic Sailing - A New Book Project Emerges

Thu, 3 Feb 2011 16:31:35 -0600

I’m honored to have been invited to contribute a chapter to a new book called Sailing & Philosophy being assembled and edited by Dr. Patrick Goold of the Department of Philosophy at Virginia Wesleyan College. The book will be the latest addition to publisher Wiley-Blackwell’s Philosophy for Everyone Series.

This from Dr. Goold’s project framework:

“Sailing is an ancient craft within which the science, the myths and the ideals of cultures are sedimented. Bringing philosophy into conversation with this grounded practice and with other academic disciplines as they approach this practice, the editor hopes, will enrich both thinkers and doers; the goal is to open up paths to a more concrete and vigorous philosophizing and to give sailors insights that deepen the meaning and enjoyment they find in sailing.

Eight of the essays will be written by philosophers. Another eight will come from academics in fields like Physics, History and Religion. Four will be penned by sailing insiders including a builder of traditional small sailboats and the president of U.S. Sailing, Gary Jobson. (I must fall into the insider group, although I’m hard-pressed to explain exactly how.)

My essay will explore the singular experience of racing offshore at night as a member of a small team. I hope to show how and why friendships and memories made during races like the Race to Mackinac can be among the strongest and most durable a person will ever have.

I’m not sure of the exact schedule, but it seems as if most of the writing will be complete by this summer. As more details emerge, I’ll post them here and on Facebook.

Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Goold for the invitation.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Under the Calabash Tree - Saving Sailing in Bermuda

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 10:24:30 -0600

Very excited to have received a gift copy of the book Under the Calabash Tree -- 150 Years of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, by R.W. Trimingham.

Here is an interesting and somewhat ironic item in Chapter 3:

“... many of the members were expressing concern over the declining interest in Club sailing and, as a result, The Royal Gazette reported that the Sailing Committee met in March and decided to ‘try and revive interest.. ...by instituting Cruising Races’”

This was the beginning of handicap racing on the sound surrounded by the island of Bermuda, and took place in 1880. Club leadership changed hands subsequent to the controversial decision. But more people started to sail, since anyone could enter a boat in the fun.

Fun.

Thanks again to Rick Thompson and Somers Kempe for the invitation to listen and learn in beautiful Bermuda, where people have been passionate about sailing for generations, and where I expect they’ll find new ways to share it for generations to come.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

The Kids Are Alright Iceboating 2011

Tue, 4 Jan 2011 07:55:39 -0600

A 2-day snow-melt followed by a deep freeze left Lake Mendota in perfect condition for some ice-boating on the first Sunday of 2011. Friends Dale and Erin Peters shared their fleet with first-timers Kate, Elizabeth and Angela Hayes. The dads got turns in as well.

So many ways to family sail. So little time.

Hayes talks with Larry Meiller on Public Radio’s Ideas Network

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 10:15:53 -0600

If you love sailing and would like to share it, Saving Sailing author Nicholas Hayes talked with Larry Meiller and many enthusiastic call-in sailors on the Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) Ideas Network last winter. Great conversation about family sailing, collegiate sailing, “green” sailing, the cost of sailing, women in sailing, community sailing, volunteerism in sailing, small boat and small lake sailing. Download or listen to complete the interview here:

Emulate skiing?

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:44:07 -0600

Sailing marketers like to suggest that sailing should emulate skiing in order to 'comeback'. But according to Men's Journal (Dec-2010), there were 735 ski resorts in '82, and there are 471 today. It’s a 35% decline in points of access, and by extension, popularity.

Every pastime suffers when people feel that they can't make time for family and friends. But the victim isn't the pastime, it's the family and friends.

And the solution isn't in the gear (think snowboards and turbo'd optis), it's in people’s time choices.

- Nicholas Hayes

See the article: The Future of Snow. Not linked online yet, but stay tuned.

Forty Little Children

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:20:34 -0600

Forty little children
all in a row
doing what daddy didn't
but look dear
what a show!

Twenty kids in team shirts
awesomely prepared
half go for the fauxhawk
the rest get Bieber hair.

Twelve ready tweeners
hit the line on time
starboard looks favored
but port!, dad yells, is fine.

Six near grownup ducklings
quack, quack, quack
saying, "take to the air, sis,
and
don't
look
back."

Gram and Grandpa wonder
where did they go?
our kids? and theirs,
the ones like ducks
who lived to be the show?

The bay need not be empty
It's fun from spring to fall
But to share it
really share it
We need not some, but all.

- Nicholas Hayes

27,000 Thanksgiving Days

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:41:56 -0600

Thin wallets and thin days, and what to do about them.

I recall waking one day in the middle 1980s and wondering how many more times I would get to do that. I ran some quick math.

If I lived to be 74, about the average life expectancy of a male at the time, I would have a tad over 17 thousand more chances to open my eyes and greet another day.

If you are male and lucky to live to 74, as half of males will do, you will have enjoyed about 27 thousand days. If you are a woman, you might tack on another 2 thousand or so.

Let’s use a dollar to represent a day.

Twenty-seven thousand dollars seems like a nice chunk of change, whether you earn that much in a year, 6 months, or one. It's a nice downpayment on an average home. It will pay for a decent new car or a loaded late model used one. It’ll get you a sailboat capable of going about anywhere.

And 27 thousand days seems like a nice block of time too. But reduced to one dollar and one day, we find starker, eerier similarities: A dollar seems to fly out of our hands, buying perhaps a small gas station coffee or a pack of gum. Likewise, imagine a typical Sunday in America, flying by. You might wake up, make coffee, troll around on Facebook. Unload the dishwasher. Watch a couple of NFL games. Toss a pizza in the oven. Iron a shirt and fold some socks. Play some X-box. Shower and hit the sack.

Come on, be honest. You've done it too.

You might now be thinking in terms of years and considering that both 365 days and 365 dollars can speed by with not much gained. One more year until retirement. One more car payment.

So sometimes we try to slow these things down. The trend away from debt in America that started in 2008 may be indicating a desire to tame the flow of money, and perhaps even the flow of time, though the pressures against these hopes are gigantic. Try stopping time.

I'm no expert, and I'm not advocating one monetary policy or another, just pointing out that the 600 billion dollars of so-called quantitative easing, or simply-put, the printing of money planned by the Federal Reserve may well spur spending, but for those trying to save, it will reduce the value of the dollars that they hold. Printing money may be good for an economy, but it won't be good for some individuals in it. The system is rigged against saving and it has been for decades.

Printing money is worrisome for many economists, because it is baseless, that is, not connected to a standard. Likewise, living among billions creates superficiality, the sense of being surrounded by things but void of meaning.

I hope that you wake to a full 27 thousand days. If you do, then during your time, life expectancy will increase and the world's population will grow. The more people and the older they are, the more days will come into play among all, and the less it may feel like yours can matter in the grand scheme. In theory, population and public health may be to our days, what printing money is to our dollars; they are both deflationary. The system seems rigged against a productive life, too.

But this is where the metaphor must be deliberately taken apart, one person and one choice at a time. We may not be able to control the value of our dollars, but we hold exclusive control over the value of our days.

A dollar isn't anything but a marker of energy or ideas. Its holder can't do anything with it except place bets and hope it grows. Beyond that, it sits there inanimate, like any other piece of paper, doing nothing.

But a day in the hands of a motivated holder is a maker of energy or ideas. Today, we can choose to do something that counters the force of time deflation. We can share. We can learn. We can teach if we've learned. We can use our combined time to make something new, whether we’re 14, 34 or 74. Imagine the good, if just a few of us choose this, starting today. Imagine the endless possibility if more than a few do.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

The pay-no-mind-to-tactics way to learn to sail

Mon, 8 Nov 2010 14:26:07 -0600

I received this message yesterday, and asked its author, Evanston sailing enthusiast and Y-camp volunteer John Donohue, for the permission to re-print here. He’s kindly agreed. Since there are a few chapters to his story, we’ll post in a series. Thanks, John, for the fun ideas, the inspiration, and for taking the time to reflect on what you learned while teaching sailing.

Nick:
I just read your series of articles- directed thereto by a note in Scuttlebutt.com. I'm forwarding them to our Y Camp, which is inaugurating a two week session where kids can "specialize" in sailing, spending three activity periods a day on sailing related projects. The tentative Director has asked me for ideas, and I responded with a number of things I think could be done, and could be made fun and interesting.

I have volunteered up at the camp for over 23 years, usually running the Sailing Area, but sometimes called on to work in other areas as well. At 73 I am afraid I'm a bit too old to try to work the full two week period, but I'm thinking of volunteering and going up there for an undetermined number of days during "Sailing Camp." I definitely will go and volunteer/work during the two weeks of Family Camp. I was taught to sail there - as an adult - 42 years ago, and I've loved it ever since.

Below is a story I wrote about an activity I dreamed up a number of years ago -- one which to this day remains a highlight of camp for sailors and just about anyone who wants to get wet on a nice Summer day. In the next Email I've sent you a copy of what I sent to a guy in Texas who was interested in doing "[S]omething both parents and kids could do in sailboats."

John Donohue

---

THE WEATHER GAUGE (Originally written for an internet group devoted to the writings of Patrick O'brian, and his series of 22 books about the Royal Nay during the Napoleonic wars.)

For all you Hornblower fans out there -- C.S. Forester sure had it right.

I've just returned from a week working as a camp counselor at a YMCA Camp, and this time I was able to spend the entire session working in the sailing area. Cabins choose a group activity to do together each day for an hour and a half, and one day a cabin of 12-13 year old boys asked if they could do something involving sailing. Usually I do a Sunfish regatta of some sort on our inland lake with races, tipping, swimming around the boat, switching helm, etc. This time, however, there weren't enough qualified "skippers" in the cabin to get everyone on the water, and there was an unusually high number of non or lesser skilled swimmers in the group, which meant they couldn't get in a boat without a staff lifeguard present. So, I decided to have a naval battle, with me and one staff member taking the 4 non-swimmers in a larger (and slower) 19' sloop, and three Sunfish and a Laser with 2 or three persons aboard given the job of attacking us. Ammunition was to be water, and armament was to be bailers cut from quart milk bottles, gallon bleach bottles, or the real heavy carronade -- a five gallon pail. Safety was first concern, no touching another boat, only water to be thrown, and immediate cessation of sailing and recovery if a crew member was lost overboard. Thus armed and forewarned, off we went.

The parallels to and the lessons learned from Hornblower, and Patrick O'Brian, were multifarious:

1. With the weather gauge you sure can determine when, where, and sometimes even if there is to be any action. My many readings of Hornblower and his desire to always have searoom and an upwind position helped us cope with the faster and more nimble smaller boats. The attacking skippers who remembered my many admonitions to get far upwind when I had earlier taught them to sail also were far more successful. Skippers who forgot this could make one pass, and then were effectively out of the action until I turned back towards them so we could all get each other wet.

1. Smaller armament (quart milk bottles) had a more rapid rate of fire, but didn't put nearly as much weight/volume of water on the other boat. Conversely, the bigger containers were harder and slower to refill, and the range of the five gallon carronade was extremely short - but devastating in effect. (One young man who forgot the old adage "One hand for the ship, one hand for yourself" was swept right overboard by a well placed one-bucket salvo.)

1. Nelson's "pay no mind to tactics, just go at them," is certainly true. Some skippers just bore in, and while getting soaked, were able to deliver lots of water on us. Others preferred to stay on the fringes of the action, and thus couldn't be too effective, as they had to throw water up to reach our level, whereas our range was slightly greater even with the same size container, as we were throwing downhill.

1. Any big boat can hold off single boats one at a time, but if and when they finally coordinate their efforts, the smaller ones can be extremely effective. (remember, I was dealing with 13 year olds, not professional naval officers.) When a couple of them figured out to come at us from both sides simultaneously, thus halving our fire, the odds evened out quite quickly. When a third (Laser) came by and raked our stern repeatedly I had no doubt that we were hence forward to be outnumbered. So, I called "Skipper wounded and taken below" on a couple of the more aggressive boats, and their crew had to take over the helms. Sailing skills diminished rapidly until Steven Maturin (a naval surgeon in the Aubrey/Maturin book series) was miraculously able to restore the stricken skippers to health.

1. I sympathize with Horatio Hornblower in never having enough good trained hands. Even on a simple 19' sloop there are a lot of things to be done, and telling someone to "pull that rope there in front of you" was only about 50% effective. When I was able to get across the concept of jib sheets to my landsmen, that then meant they could not heave water when they were required to work the boat.

1. The heat of battle also applies in water fights. Kids would let go their containers in the excitement (thus making of them instant pacifists until they could be recovered,) fall overboard from the Sunfish or tip their boats as they forgot that immediate pursuit would result in an unintended jibe.

1. Trim on the smaller boats was crucial -- if they moved their crew and armament forward to have unrestricted room in which to throw, their speed was reduced drastically.

1. I was struck throughout by the balancing of forces and concepts. We were bigger, slower, they were smaller, faster. They could turn on a dime; we, with our full keel, had to be careful not to tack through about 270 degrees (it was hardly time for a lecture on inertia, but I thought of it as one kid kept shouting "You're going too far, Mr. D!!") The water delivery capacities and rates of different containers have already been described.  All in all, it was a good time. The kids certainly enjoyed it, and I was gratified to learn the truth of so much of C. S. Forester that I have read over the years. It sure beat mowing the lawn back in Evanston on a hot summer day.

Look for John’s postscripts in the next couple of days.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Book Review: Lesson Plans Ahoy!

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:33:15 -0500

Seen first on the Scuttlebutt Blog.

-------------

A few years ago, while pitching early drafts of my own book, I received a rejection noteworthy for its sincerity from a popular nautical imprint. “Interesting project, but we’re only looking at 'how-tos’ in the sailing category these days.” It seemed logical at the time. The economy was in the can, and self-help books are an inexpensive and useful way to reach and enable aspiring sailors. I took note of the trend, jotting down recent titles, adapted here. I’ve seen “How-to sell everything and sail away forever,” “How-to live aboard with a large puppy,” and “How-to survive a sailing divorce (or two, or three).”

I must admit, I’m not one to read how-to books. I don’t even open the manual for my car to change the clock to spring forward and fall back. I adjust the time in my head six months out of the year. And faced with a sailing problem, I’m prone to give it a best guess first and think and apply later.

But when the book Lesson Plans Ahoy!--Hands-On Learning for Sailing Children and Home Schooling Sailors, from Slavinski-Schweitzer Press, came in the mail along with a review request from Craig Leweck at Scuttlebutt, my interest was piqued.

Read the complete review on the Scuttlebutt Blog.

Nicholas Hayes, author of Saving Sailing.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

An Open Letter to Larry Ellison

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:22:53 -0500

Seen first on SailingAnarchy.com, 10/15/2010.

-----

Let’s cut right to it. I’ll make no judgement regarding boats or venues. I’m not qualified.

But I believe we have a common interest in sailing, and you are gearing up to invest in shoreside infrastructure and large scale marketing. Please consider this three step plan to make the most of AC34, submitted with highest respect and humility.

1.) Don’t wait for trickle down. Make it something we all do now, with you. Engage.

Link every sailing not-for-profit in the country to your project, and popularize the best ideas in the grassroots through a nationwide collaborative design and discovery effort. Within a year, the best ideas will find their way not just into your boat, but also into dinnertime and classroom discussions and practical use all over the country.

A mass remote boat building project that mirrors the work that you are doing will engage multiple generations, and may, in fact, provide you a new idea or two in return.

Local sailing centers are the eager hubs of sailing energy and innovative. Together, they are a ready channel that when focused on a common cause, like active involvement in your campaign, will accelerate sailing breakthroughs, while at the same time sharing sailing’s central lessons: energy, information, teamwork, exploration, trial and error, friendship, freedom, etc.

Make a seed round active donation to these organizations by supplying raw materials and kits, the basic guidelines, teaching tools, and short bursts of direct involvement from your team, to build miniatures of your boat that will eventually sail in local events at about the same time as the actual event by the kids and mentors who build them. Leading up to the actual cup, stream live design/build/test events throughout the network as aspiring sailors all over the country use their hands and minds to build a distributed fleet that they will sail and share into adulthood.

Insist only that the local teams include all ages and genders, that the entire event is staffed by volunteers, the work is done safely, and that materials and tools are ready and ample. Let time invested, new ideas and risk-taking be their own reward, but of course, the coolest ideas should trickle up, and the inventors should be celebrated as sailing's new heroes.

After the work is done and the race is over, a new breed of American sailboat and American sailor will have become part of our local communities and the national fabric.

2.) Don't confused spectating with participation and inadvertently block the latter. New local infrastructure should leave a community sailing and ready for more.

Wherever the main event is held, the last thing we need now are more shoreside strip malls, beer tents and nautical museums - barriers to actual experiences. Instead, we must have ample places and spaces where people can be launching and boarding sailboats on the way to the water, and that they will sail themselves. Use this opportunity to change the political and policy discussions about land use, water rights, co-ops, clubs and parks. Build a real and actual model into your own development plans, even if it means that the enduring legacy of this project is a new battery of public launches and parks filled with dinghy racks, (filled with newly-minted mini ac cats) lining the host city’s shores, and setting the example for the rest of the country.

Sure, on the day of the event and for training, clear the racecourse. But on the days before and around it, the space should be a festival of sailing, and the shores should be a launchpad to fun and friendships.

Along the way, tell the truth: that these docks and this fleet of modern, fast solar-powered boats, unlike all of the conventional alternatives, bring massive social and economic benefits, teaching us to engage the earth and its inhabitants, instead of eating it and them. Invest.

3.) Then lead. Take the biggest risk in this plan and invite your wife and kids. Not as a silly stunt. Seriously.

I read once that you said that your ultimate life goal was to have great relationships with family and friends. It is honorable, and one that we can all learn from.

Sailing, even competitive sailing at the very pinnacle, is as much about relationships as anything else. Use this global platform to demonstrate the potential of cooperation, mutual support and respect in successful relationships between men and women and young and old, and the power of the authentic personal connection.

You can set a new bar for sailing, sailors, and perhaps even for modern America. Erase false gender and age barriers in sailing, engage your family in your dreams, and remind us along the way that prosperity is best defined as the luxury of time spent well with the people you care about.

You may already have done this. I don't know.

Together, these three thing done well would have immediate and large positive impact on American lives, and cost very little in the grand scheme. Engage, invest, lead.

I'll be rooting for you.

Nicholas Hayes, author of Saving Sailing.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

RYC Family Program Coming Online

Thu, 7 Oct 2010 17:22:09 -0500

This in today’s email, from a friend at the Racine Yacht Club:

“...wanted to let you know we have instituted a family sailing program this year. We are organizing it as a mentor and protégé program with the emphasis on long term relationships between the players. We also intend to use that fleet for ‘member sailing’. This program will be full steam to meld into our Adult Sailing School this coming Spring... -- Chip”

RYC is a great sailing club a few miles from here: they run the mighty Hook Race (a Hayes family favorite), and they are home to a classy fleet of Stars and to some great PHRF racers and friends. Not surprising that they’re doing innovative things!

Thanks for the update, Chip!

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

What to Expect from this America’s Cup

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 08:09:37 -0500

When the Mars Rovers began beaming back images of an alien planet, we were mesmerized in technical, scientific and even spiritual wonderment. This is the correct metaphor and should be the measure that defines today's America's Cup platform and venues debates.

Claims that this AC will Save Sailing miss the central point, and ignore what history shows us to be true.

1.) This spectacle can't be judged on whether it attracts more people to sailing, because it won't. It hasn’t in 30 years, and it’s unlikely that it did prior.

- Sure, more people try tennis after watching Wimbledon, but the fact that the same thing happens the next year while there are fewer people playing less tennis, shows that the game’s glory is lost in translation. There is no evidence that spectating inspires commitment.

2.) This isn’t sailing, per se (bear with me here.) Only a handful among 6.5 billion persons can play this specific game.

- Linking the AC to recreational sailing is like linking a space-station botany experiment with a back-yard garden. Trickle down theories ignore two realities: 1.) people learn from peers (back yard gardeners learn from each-other), and 2.) AC’ers and sailors aren’t in the same peer group.

3.) And it mustn’t be judged on whether it attracts more transient tourists with open wallets to stand and gaze from shore. That's both a financial shell game and forgettable, if not regrettable--like a cash infusion in a company with an obsolete or unsustainable business model.

- Estimates of $1.4B worth of economic impact ignore the truth that from the bleacher seats on a renovated shore, or worse, from behind a screen somewhere far away, there will be less, not more, access to the water, and to an actual rich sailing experience with family and friends (which are the only proven ingredients to inspire commitment.)

But the America’s Cup should, in my view, be judged on how it engages our imaginations, our minds and our hearts; how it drags the horizon closer, bringing into view new vistas of opportunity; and if it leaves the human race more optimistic and energized. It can be a signal from the future, showing us what can be done when smarts, creative problem-solving, hard work, and commitment come together. Like the Mars Rover. This, it can do.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

  LINKS:

Paul Oliva’s recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle : http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/24/DDUF1FIJC0.DTL

And you might also enjoy: Why Sailing Feats Matter, originally seen on SailingAnarchy

Hard Things and Easy Things

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 08:28:12 -0500

The hard things are:

- Learning to sail
- Learning to tie flies
- Learning to play the violin

The easy thing is to turn off the TV and the text message to recover the time to try the hard things.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Read: Sailing is Hard. That’s Why It’s Good.

Newsworthy Young Sailors

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:58:31 -0500

Now this is a story of young sailors achieving great things that deserves a headline.

http://www.morningstarpublishing.com/articles/2010/08/30/grand_traverse_insider/news/grand_traverse_area/doc4c7c1d58e8ce3597961600.txt

Congratulations to Jim Sorbie and the kids from Traverse Area Community Sailing (TACS) center!

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Sailing is Hard. That's why it's good. - Spinsheet Magazine

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 05:50:23 -0500

“Sailing is dynamic; every moment potentially different from the previous or the next. It’s an exercise in free-form adaptability, best guesses and finesse informed by past experience and better judgement. But alas, sailing has been organized in an attempt to try to make it easy. “

5th in the Saving Sailing series in SpinSheet Magazine. The complete series is available here.

The Simplest Way

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 09:33:26 -0500

The simplest way to heal...
... or to grow ...
... or to love ...

... is to off the screens and walk into the outside with kids.

Who's in?

- ndh

Families Can Learn to Sail in Milwaukee

Sat, 7 Aug 2010 09:36:45 -0500

Hayes visits The Morning Blend, and dispels, once and for all, the notion that sailing is for the wealthy. It’s always a privilege, but it’s not just for the privileged.

Learn to Sail WITH Your Kids

Tue, 3 Aug 2010 15:25:01 -0500

Hayes talks about an innovative new program at the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center on WISN’s morning show.

On Kits and Commitments

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:08:53 -0500

In email today:

Another of many reasons why the sport of sailing is suffering in the U.S.:

A delivered Vanguard-15 is now priced at close to $9,000! The boat is a bare-bones toy, specifically designed to be cheaply built for inexpensive family club racing! The builder must have realized that at original prices it was cannibalizing sales of their pricier boats (420's, 470's, etc.), and so optimized prices for maximum revenue, rather than maximum production. Well, who can blame them?

But that does not mean we have to stand for it.

There is an opportunity here and a need for a new market entrant one-design with medium-high performance, simply built and cheaply built.

Perhaps a kit.

Perhaps an up-dated existing simple hard chined, plywood design, There must be hundreds of proposed dinghy designs over the years in various magazines and among sailing anarchists. Let's dig those up: seek wide input. (Something bigger than the Cape Cod Frosty, please. Perhaps even a foiling one, too. It's a big tent.)

Either home-built or group-built in community sailing program come-build-one programs. A Quick-And-Dirty one-design could be viral, leading to Scout troops, community groups, church groups. We don't have to invent the communities: they already exist. We just need to expose them to accessible sailing.

"Hand-builts" got the one-design dinghy sport ready for its plastics-driven heyday, and could do the job again.

Best wishes, and Best Thanks for your labors.
Philip H
-
p.s., This message is just in response to your recent article which keeps popping up everywhere online. I am half-way through your book, which I have vigorously annotated. So be prepared for more comments.

----- Reply ---

Philip,

Thanks for reaching out.

To this message, I'll offer a short response, in anticipation of more when you've finished reading the book.

On "kits" I wholeheartedly agree. Nothing creates a sense of pride and ownership like a bit of sweat equity. It's an excellent way to lower cost and accessibility barriers too.

As for the design, I guess that must be driven by the need, and the numbers don't necessarily point to club racing as the only thing we need to be able to do. I tend to think that there are two charrettes: one to address the kitted fast trainer, and one to address the need for 3 to 4 mixed age, mixed size persons to be together for about a decade.

What do you think?

Warm regards,

Nick

Saving Sailing in Shanghai

Tue, 6 Jul 2010 15:49:28 -0500

In email today:

“Seldom have I read a sailing book so completely (and I have a library of approaching 500). I brought my daughter up alone so the poor girl had to sail. She now works in business Mon-Fri and does pit on a 45 footer at the weekend. I am in China, not trying to save sailing but build sailing (I founded the first non-government sailing club in China) and your book is so SPOT ON.

It is the absolutely perfect way to build our sport and what we are attempting to do here but as you can imagine there are even less mentors when the sport is so new.

I would be amazed if this is not just one of hundreds of such messages you have received, your thoughts and your book are both perceptive and thought provoking. If you ever find yourself in China and want a sail you are always welcome on our boat. Thanks you, Fair Winds”

- Alistair in Shanghai

> Thank you Alistair. If you find yourself in Milwaukee, the offer is reciprocal. - Nick

Sandbaggers -- Sailing Sportboat from the 19th Century

Sun, 4 Jul 2010 12:16:07 -0500

If you're in Annapolis, make certain to visit the National Sailing Hall of Fame (http://www.nshof.org/) and get a ride on a Sandbagger. These boats are the original sailing sportboat: light, over-canvassed, team-oriented. Bull and Bear are replicas of an oystering workboat that evolved speed, so that oystermen could be first to market.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Will Mom and Dad Save the Sport? - From SailingAnarchy.com

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:48:23 -0500

When you read stories about parents exploiting kids in the hope of reality TV fame -- like pushing a teen into stupidly dangerous stunts and basking in the glow of the camera lights -- it becomes awfully hard to believe in the American parent. One can only feel deep cynicism when popular culture myths overrule basic, good parenting decisions.

But the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center (winner of US Sailing’s Outstanding Outreach and Inclusion Award in 2009) is placing its bets on American moms and dads anyway, with its new Family Learn-to-Sail program. We think, given the option, most parents will do the right thing.

Like soccer programs, music lessons, little league and irish dance, most junior sailing programs, including MCSC’s traditional offer, are age-segregated and skills-oriented. One of the primary conclusions of the research that was the basis for the book Saving Sailing is that “...we tend to do things for our kids and we almost never do things with them.” MCSC’s board of directors and program committee agreed to try something completely different. So after almost a year of planning, Family Learn-to-Sail offers a clear and logical alternative to the youth-sports paradigm. Instead of parents dropping kids off for lessons; this program, new in 2010, helps parents who have sailed before introduce their children, children who have sailed before introduce their parents, or parents and children who have never sailed to learn how together.

From the onset, the program is designed to be intergenerational and experiential -- oriented towards making (as opposed to receiving) big gobs of fun while building great memories of family time. The kind that can only be had on a sailboat.

Before the family arrives, they are paired with a mature, capable instructor, one with both strong sailing and leadership skills, who takes the time to understand everyone’s concerns and aspirations and will be with them for the entire four session experience. When the family arrives for the first class, the first experience isn’t rigging or points of sail; instead the goal is to sail to a location that would be otherwise inaccessible, and snap pictures for a family sailing photo album that becomes a memento when the class is over.

Subsequent days offer similar, progressively more difficult and interesting and well-documented challenges. Along the way, everyone; adults and kids, learn how to be safe, to steer, trim, tack, jibe, dock and rig. After the first four sessions, the family might elect to continue to a more advanced course, and may try to test into a “rating”, which enables the family to sail independently using MCSC’s shared fleet in their own free time.

To be sure, it’s an idea in early infancy. Our first class was yesterday, June 28th. But we’re already learning and adjusting. We found that finding four Sunday afternoons in a row is almost impossible, and we’re making schedule changes for the latter half of the season to make it more accessible to more families. And the MCSC board and directors Peter Rieck and Holly Davenport have made a multi-year commitment to stay with it and get the program just right, along the way sharing lessons-learned with other sailing centers and schools around the country in a broad effort to strengthen the family through shared, fun free time activities like sailing.

If you want to learn more, if you know a Milwaukee-area family that might be interested, or you just want to bet on American moms and dads again, friend us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/MCSC-Family-Learn-to-Sail-Program/110503212322915?ref=fm.

- Nicholas Hayes, Author of Saving Sailing, and Milwaukee Community Sailing Center volunteer.  *Photo courtesy: Chris Gribble.

Missing Big E on the Queen’s Cup

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:40:27 -0500

At about 10pm on her first Queen's Cup, 9-year old Elizabeth -- called Big E, for her rather large born-with reserve of confidence and personality -- slid into the cave-like aft port berth, weather gear, life preserver, boots and all, and said, "I'm just going to stay here for a while in my comfy-comfiness."

There, she nodded off and didn't wake until about 8:30am the next day, just as we sighted the finish line after a night of light-air offshore racing. The rest of the crew had stayed on deck all night, on watch and in the game. While others bailed mid-lake due to lack of wind or speed, we worked it… playing the 1.5 knots of easterly current and waiting for the cat’s-paws to announce the new breeze.

So Big E took first place in the division in her first Queen's Cup, and arrived rested and happy, having slept through most of it. More important than the good showing, the phrase "comfy-comfiness" joined the list of sweet utterances that we repeat, over and over, when we reminisce about great family sailing experiences.

This year Elizabeth is at summer camp, so she'll miss the race. It was a tough choice to make, but she made it knowing that she would free up for another big race later in the summer, the Hook. She'll do her first at age 13. But instead of sleeping through, she will take her three hour on and off watches, like everyone else on the team.

In the meantime, the rest of us, her mom, sister, crew-mates and dad, will miss her well-chosen words and good company mid-lake at midnight tonight.

Have a safe and fast Queen’s Cup, Lake Michigan sailors.

---

Note: Big E’s mom, my wife and lifelong sailing partner Angela, talked about the Queen’s Cup last week on Milwaukee television. Here she is with SSYC Commodore Bruce Nason on “The Morning Blend”: http://www.themorningblend.com/videos/96297393.html.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Talking Sailing on Public Radio's Lake Effect

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:12:47 -0500

Saving Sailing author Nick Hayes had a chance to visit with Bonnie North, on WUWM’s Lake Effect program on 6/17. If you missed it, you can listen to the short, 12 minute interview here:  
http://www.wuwm.com/media/lake_effect/le061710_d.mp3

Call to Action

Fri, 4 Jun 2010 08:17:24 -0500

From a reader yesterday:

“Nick, your book's enduring legacy will be that it prompted sailors all over the world to rise to your call to action, and find a way to act locally, each in their own way, as part of a larger effort to save sailing. We are seeing the fruits of efforts already here in Minneapolis...” - Clay

Clay: thanks for all you are doing to improve the lives of family, neighbors and friends. In the end, that is what sailing is for.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsaving.com)

Hayes Talks Family Sailing with Gus Gnorski - WITI CH6 Milwaukee

Tue, 1 Jun 2010 10:31:38 -0500

Grace, Callie, Clay and Eliz Green set sail this morning, to show that family sailing is often the finest sailing. Learn more about this innovative new program at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MCSC-Family-Learn-to-Sail-Program/110503212322915?ref=mf

Modern Sailing Clubs Can Save Sailing - in SpinSheet

Fri, 28 May 2010 12:09:08 -0500

4th in the Saving Sailing series in SpinSheet Magazine, this month Hayes talks about the modern sailing club. You may be surprised at what he suggests. It’s not about the kids.

Saving Sailing In SpinSheet

Fri, 21 May 2010 15:50:47 -0500

A series of 6 articles about Saving Sailing is mid-run in SpinSheet Magazine, one of the best sailing monthlies in the country.

But since not everyone can get SpinSheet (it is headquartered in Annapolis, and reaches mostly easterners), we’re pleased to be able to reprint the articles here for sailors from all over. Thanks to SpinSheet’s Molly Winans and Mary Ewenson for helping to spread the Saving Sailing message!

Here are the first 3 articles.

Why Save Sailing? Ask Captain Dave’s Kids.

Mon, 10 May 2010 18:22:51 -0500

Tom Friedman (The World is Flat) commenting on the EU financial crisis, said in his NY Times Op/Ed last week:

“Our parents were “The Greatest Generation,” and they earned that title by making enormous sacrifices and investments to build us a world of abundance. My generation, “The Baby Boomers,” turned out to be what the writer Kurt Andersen called “The Grasshopper Generation.” We’ve eaten through all that abundance like hungry locusts.”

And generally, I agree with him. But then I got a letter from a sailor bucking the trend, and I’m reminded that we sailors have, in our immediate and present grasp, an opportunity to do real good. This fine example came from Captain Dave at the Texoma Sailing Club”

“I loved the book! It's had a profound affect on my thinking about how we spend time as families. 

Although I'm a first generation sailor, we raised our three kids sailing, with motivation along the lines of 1) they aren't able to play video games on the boat 2) they are never more than 20 feet away from us (how much trouble could they get into?) 3) and it was actually pretty inexpensive (compared to cruises, DisneyWorld, etc.). That was 16 years ago and my three kids have sailing as a lifelong interest; we still sail as a family when they visit. 

I took for granted the impact this had on our family (because I figured they were just humoring me all these years). After reading your book, I've had many conversations with the kids about this topic and they have validated your conclusions with sailing being a lifelong sport for them and how they intend to raise their families sailing/camping/hiking.” 

(Things, I would add, that don’t eat through abundance, but instead respect and nurture it.)

Why Save Sailing? Because as Captain Dave and his kids point out, sailing can play a real role in strengthening the fabric of American society in the 21st century. They are the beginnings of the next greatest generation.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Coyer's Good Ideas

Fri, 7 May 2010 16:11:22 -0500

Our good friend Chuck Coyer explains why it is important to bring junior sailors into intergenerational sailing and other sailing club activities. (From March issue of Spinsheet.)

On Making Sailors - Featured in SpinSheet Magazine

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 07:38:42 -0500

3rd in the Saving Sailing series in SpinSheet Magazine, this month Hayes talks about what makes a mentor, and how to begin if you aspire to be one.

Silver Medalist!

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:35:46 -0500

Saving Sailing: The Story of Choices, Families, Time Commitments, and How We Can Create a Better Future, by Nicholas Hayes and published by Crickhollow Books, has won a “silver” prize in the 2010 Living Now Awards from Independent Publisher.

Award winners were announced today, April 22nd, 2010, in conjunction with Earth Day.

From Independent Publisher:

“We celebrate these awards on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day as a reminder of the importance of protecting our planet Earth, and of the progress we’ve made toward a more thoughtful, “green” approach to living.   The gold, silver and bronze medalists in this year’s Living Now Book Awards offer a list of books that inform readers about enriching their lives in wholesome, Earth-friendly ways.   The Living Now Book Awards celebrate the innovation and creativity of newly published books in lifestyle categories from cooking and fitness to parenting and spirituality. In all, 103 medals were awarded in 30 categories, chosen from 428 total entries.”

Saving Sailing author Nicholas Hayes reflects, “It’s an honor to be selected among this great list of books and writers. I’m especially pleased to be riding the Indie publishing wave. This book proved to be a bit too provocative for the mainstream press. It needed the creative energy and the smarts that Independent publisher Crickhollow Books provided in order to succeed. Thanks, Phil and Crickhollow.”

Saving Sailing is Hayes’ first book. It has been an Amazon bestseller in the sailing and outdoor sports categories every week since its release in October, 2009.

More information is available at http://www.savingsailing.com.

Living Now prizewinners are listed here: http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1357.

How important is Teamwork?

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:48:47 -0500

Each winter, I volunteer to teach three classes at the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center: Sail-trim Theory, Advanced Sail-trim, and Crew Teamwork.

Since we can’t easily sail on a winter evening in Milwaukee, these classes are designed for the heated classroom. So I try to keep students awake and interested by introducing new ways to learn important sailing lessons.

This year, I asked students if they would mind being filmed while we tried a new exercise. They kindly obliged to "move the rope", a team task which emphasizes cooperation and communication and creates a metaphor for the planning and teamwork required to sail a boat well.

Watch how long it takes to do a simple task with opaque instructions and no communication, vs. how long it takes to do the same task after some simple planning and discussion.

Do you have favorite ways of explaining how to sail? Feel free to share.

Hope to see you next winter at an MCSC sailing class.

-ndh (nickhayes@savingsailing.com)

Video Blog -- Herreshoff Genius on Display

Wed, 7 Apr 2010 21:34:24 -0500

Seventy to a hundred years later, one can argue that N. Herreshoff still influences sailboat architecture at the very apex. See what you think:

Why Start Sailing Now

Sun, 4 Apr 2010 12:26:29 -0500

Each year, Spinsheet Magazine offers a supplemental booklet call Start Sailing Now, with great information for sailing newcomers about how to prepare, where to go and what to expect from sailing. This year, editor Molly Winans interviewed Saving Sailing author Nick Hayes to find out what it is about sailing that keeps sailors interested. You can read the interview below on pages 18 and 19. Or find a paper copy of Start Sailing Now at a chandlery near you!

Sailing Mentors: Not All Old Men -- From Spinsheet Magazine

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:43:46 -0500

Check out Hayes’ article, Sailing Mentors: Not All Old Men, on page’s 80 and 81 of the April 2010 issue of Spinsheet. This is second in a series of essays about Saving Sailing appearing in Spinsheet through 2010. You can pick up a paper copy of Spinsheet at bookstores and chandleries up and down the east coast and in the midwest.

Why Sailing Feats Matter -- As seen on SailingAnarchy.com

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 07:18:42 -0500

Sailing almost never makes news, and in the shadow of the economy and the healthcare debate, the headline “Groupama Breaks Around World Mark” is no different. Indeed, the feat barely registered on Google Trends... so small it fell off the charts altogether against chatter about the latest PS3, Justin Bieber, and Wrestlemania. By that measure, Groupama 3’s win might deserve the unenviable designation as the greatest human accomplishment to have earned the least possible attention.

Think about it. Last week, a French sailboat scooted around the globe at an average of almost 25 knots propelled only by pure solar energy and the determination of a tiny team of athletes and technicians. Their stated goal was to complete the circumnavigation in under 50 days, only a 5 year old record, set by Orange II.

Instead of ranting about the media and its apparent disdain for amazing things like this, let’s use the opportunity to reflect on something far more important: the almost stupidly simple concept of getting good things done when you want to.

To start, it is important to note that the Jules Verne record reflects an objective that seemed impossible for most of human history; codified in Jules Verne’s fictitious 1873 novel in which Phileas Fogg dares to travel around the world in under 80 days on a bet, using all manner of coal-fired and wind-driven transport. Of course, a hundred-fifty years later, with petrol, airlines, credit cards and freeways, anyone can do it.

Ironically, Verne’s book reflects a time (for him, a recent memory) when only wind was available, so Fogg’s hybrid any-fuel approach seems to be cheating. One of Verne’s key observations is that technology provides leverage to bring goals into reach. But that’s just half the story.

Indeed, the far grander feat -- sailing around the world without the benefit of coal, steam or engines in under 80 days -- was first accomplished just 17 years ago, in 1993, by a catamaran called Commodore Explorer (named for defunct sponsor Commodore Computers), which managed to do it in 79 days. Since then, the record has been broken 6 more times, shaving 32 days (40% of time) off of Verne’s original steam-driven fictional record. More stunning: only a handful of teams have tried, led by a handful of men and women, and the same man, Bruno Peyron, led 3 of the record setting teams. So in 17 years, 5 tiny consortiums have have set and met statistically impossible goals 7 times.

Finally, consider that no other water-born machine can do what was done here, except, perhaps, for the nuclear warship, and in that case, the wealth and vital resources of nations and the complete science of nuclear power are committed. A safe metaphoric equivalent might be the tiny nation of Costa Rica safely landing a man on Mars next year, and then again 5 more times before anyone else does it, without using rocket fuel.

So a miniscule sailing story is huge in the context of lessons of the plausible and the possible in what feel today like impossible times.

Middle east peace remains a distant dream. American energy independence is bogged down impossibly in the lobby. A cure for cancer. A decent education for kids. A Cubs world-series. What else can’t we do?

Jules Verne trophy winners did and keep doing. How? Let’s be simple: by simplifying; enlisting the time-honored, oft-forgotten process of reduction and condensery*. They did everything that they had to do, and nothing that they didn’t. By understanding the fundamental ingredients that would go into reaching an audacious and, dare I say, massively important and informative goal in the context of the human condition, I suggest that they zeroed in on two key needs: light and smart. Everything that most of us are usually not.

Indeed almost all human progress comes back to these two rare ingredients.

- Light simply means efficient, sustainable, powerful, safe and durable.
- Smart simply means aware, logical, and practical.
- Together, light and smart sum to fast, agile, confident and bold.

Taken one at a time:

With each iteration, record attempters have used the lightest materials available. Lightness makes them fast in all conditions, and it makes them notably safer when the weather is harsh, because instead of stressing, lightness turns the added energy into speed. Lightness is what makes cars and trains and planes that consume less fuel or get much more from the fuel they use. Lightness is what makes it possible for a skier to ski faster, and a runner to run longer. Lightness is what makes rockets that can reach the moon or Mars. Lightness is what makes it possible for humans to see new horizons.

Most of all, lightness yields efficiency, which enables peak performance over long periods of time. To be able to travel long and uninterrupted, these teams and their machines must work in the most efficient possible manner at the very threshold of breaking. Light and lean systems, both mechanical and human, are designed to make the most of the energy that is carried, created and received -- food, generated electricity, and wind. Everything and everyone, by design, performs at or near peak for the duration. So the teams know what peak is. They measure it and manage to it precisely. Calories and watts are densely packed and strictly limited. Finally, wind, the ample resource that propels, is deliberately concentrated for maximum usefulness.

Of all of the advancements contributing to these feats, perhaps the most important is the flow of information, which gives the advantage of knowledge and flexibility. It is no coincidence that before the Verne record was broken, only NASA had the wherewithal to deliver ample real-time and predictive information through computers and communications to teams in places where there are no others. Today, the same technologies that I am using to upload this file also transfer critical information to Jules Verne sailors -- feedback, questions, ideas, scenarios -- that make it possible to find the ideal route around the globe. Weather, routing and boat performance data come together to provide the best possible choices and enable the best possible decisions that the sailors can make. As information becomes more granular and comprehensive due to gains in computer power and bandwidth, greater advantage is delivered. More than anything, computers underlie continuous record-breaking since the Commodore Computer company first sponsored a winner. With computers, these are the smartest sailors in the world, and they get smarter with each attempt.

And we can look forward to more. An upcoming record attempt by Hydroptère promises a new level of lightness and smartness. Smaller versions of the wind-powered hydrofoil have already set world records for top speeds. This ultra-light and smart design completely depends on computer simulation to find a point of sail with the lowest friction and the highest transfer of solar power to motion. Theoretically, this team has the potential to break the 40 day mark, although if they do, probably few will hear about it.

No irony that most great human accomplishments often go back to two underlying factors: lightness and smartness: consider the use and improvement of tools, faster travel, safe flight, deep sea exploration, the renaissance, space travel, mass literacy...

Jules Verne winners offer us a glimpse into a tiny closed loop, a miniaturized planet, if you will, with both fixed and variable inputs (finite carried goods, ample information, human ingenuity and solar energy), that drive sustainable progress (fantastic but safe sailing speeds pointed in the right direction) towards an improbable goal. It’s a clear metaphor for human progress and the quest for quality of life.

Why does any sailing story matter? Because sailing is, at its core, among the most complete and accurate analogies that we have for the problems that we face, the solutions that are within our reach, and the thinking and effort that is required to put them into action.

Perhaps we can learn something here and use the same tools: lightness and smartness... to do what seems impossible.

###

* Credit Lorine Niedecker with the word condensery.

Thursdays are for Family Sailing

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:23:39 -0600

Want to try sailing? Are you a sailor in need of crew? And what good is a boat tied up to a dock?

Here's a simple concept: all sailboats should be sailing every summer Thursday evening with neighborhood families as guests. It is a terrific way to introduce newcomers of all ages to a fun and challenging lifelong outdoor adventure.

Call it THURSDAYS ARE FOR FAMILY SAILING. It’s a simple idea that can catch fire community by community. All it takes is one family to ask another, and then some good old word of mouth. See if you can get it started in your town.

If you have a boat, make sure that your friends know that you will be sailing every Thursday evening, and that they are welcome. If you don’t have a boat, visit your local club or sailing center to find someone that would be willing to welcome you on board.

To share ideas, or to network with other people who are making it go, join the Facebook Group by the same name.

For information about Saving Sailing and sailing advocacy, visit www.savingsailing.com.

###