Foiling for the Masses

By Doug

Question: Foiling takes how long to learn?
Answer: About 15 minutes.

Pedro is in Bermuda with the latest Glide Free kit for the O'Pen Bic. This video shows a junior foiling on an O'Pen Bic for the first time. Foiling is no longer a sport for the the full-time professional sailor

Micah Raynor is a 15 year old Bermudian Laser sailor and is foiling at the Americas Cup Endeavor Program. After receiving a briefing from Shaun Priestley, the foiling coach at the Bermuda Yacht Club, Micah was foiling within minutes.

Foiling in Conroe

By Doug

Pedro traveled from Sydney via Dallas to the first annual Texas Aero Championships. So Pam and I drove down to Conroe Yacht Club with him to get some foil mentoring, and Pam got some great videos. As you’ll see, CYC was an ideal place for this. Many thanks to KO Sailing for providing some excellent Aeros to play with. This was my first experience in an Aero which I'll write about in my next post.

This was actually the Laser foiling kit with a prototype Aero centerboard insert. So you can foil on both the Laser and Aero with the same kit. For more info, contact Pedro.

Update: Marc Jacobi won the first Aero World Championships!

2016 - Those Who Inspired Us

By Doug

Sydney gets our vote for the best New Year's fireworks.

I keep reading that people who appreciate things live longer, happier lives, so since 2010 I've kept an appreciation journal. At the end of each year, Pam and I look back and write about the people who have inspired us that year, so here goes.

Before the Master Worlds, I trained at the International Sailing Academy. The guys that run this all-inclusive clinic do an outstanding job in every way.  It's a worthy part of any training program.

The Worlds this year were actually three back-to-back events for the open, radial, and full rigs. Linda, Andy, and their team put on what many are calling best Laser Worlds ever. They kindly shared how they did it.

Tillerman writes what I have called the gold standard for sailing blogs. He's done this for years and has been a long-time supporter of our little blog. In spite of going over to the dark side to sail an Aero, his blog is an asset to the Laser world.

Rule 42 problems come and go, and 2016 saw a few juniors (and their coaches) permitting and even encouraging this behavior. Griffin Or is the new district secretary for Texas and he has decided that 2017 will have less rocking and rolling. It's not the most popular thing to do, but the right thing to do.

Pam and I were thrilled to be made honorary members of the Double Bay Sailing Club in Sydney - the best Laser fleet on the planet. Members currently include the current Youth World Champion and the current Great Grand Master World Champion. And there's a ton of really good sailors in between. Like the Black Pope, who provided us with our new profile picture.

There's a current shortage of Laser parts and sails in North America. I was told by a dealer this week that they've been waiting for sails since April, and another dealer told me that he's had to buy a new Laser to cannibalize it for it's parts. Whether you support Bruce Kirby or not (we still do), we appreciate the game he created and we miss the good old days when the designer, builder and class all worked together.

As Masters continue to sail way beyond the originally targeted age group, health and insurance is becoming more and more important. Pam signed me up for accident insurance that actually paid her whenever I got hurt, so in 2016 I was actually a profit center. Bob Blakey (NZL) and three others had health issues at the Master Worlds and could not compete.  And then there was Pedro...

Peter Stephenson (AUS), the lovable Foiling Laser Guy, had chest pains at the Worlds and was taken to a local clinic where he flat lined and died for three and a half minutes. The doctors were able to revive him with what the Aussies call a Packer Whacker. Being reborn in Mexico, his name is now Pedro and he's alive, well and back in Sydney. We can all learn from his warning signs that he described here.

The 2017 Worlds will be in Split, Croatia. Pam and I will be staying with a friend on Lake Garda to train with others including defending GGM Champion Mark Bethwaite (AUS).  Pam will be joining me to see Italy for the first time - it should be a blast.

In 2016, we lost many good sailors. We also lost one of the best sailors - Paul Elvstrøm. Such a classy guy, and such a strong supporter of fair sailing.

People often leave comments which we appreciate. Some are critical from which we try to learn, while others just make us feel good, like one from Joshep who commented on how our articles inspire him. We appreciate all of the comments, especially ones like that. Joshep also referenced a blog that has lots of good content and graphics for those new to our sport. Definitely worth a look.

Finally, we admire all of our fellow masters who show up to race year after year. Some measure success by getting a top five result, others by not tipping, and others by not getting hurt. In our view, just showing up makes you a winner.

Sailor Down!

by Pam 

'Sailor down! Sailor down!" And about 10 or 15 minutes later, he was dead. 

Dear, dear, lovable, wonderous, full of surprises, Peter Stephinson. You know, the foiling Laser guy a/k/a the Australian GGM Laser National Champion a/k/a the guy who fell out of his boat and finished a race at the Kingston Laser Master Worlds while simultaneously driving and hanging onto the stern.

Well, Peter decided he would race in both the Radial and Standard fleets this year at the Laser Master Worlds in Mexico. But, things didn't go as planned. He finished the practice race and ... well, that was the end of his World's competition. 

So here's what happened ... and by the way, Peter is very much alive, having died for a few minutes but the Powers That Be sent him back. Having been born again on Mexican soil, he is now considered a Mexican citizen and says he'll be applying for his Mexican passport soon.

We talked with Peter, I mean Pedro, today who was still feeling a bit weak but he wanted everyone to know he was okay and, more importantly, he wants to share what happened. He's an inventor, researcher and explorer at heart and he learned a lesson he wants everyone to know about.

First of all, he didn't have a history of heart problems but a brother and some good mates who had heart problems motivated him to see a heart specialist for a full workup and he was pronounced healthy. He's fit and if you've ever been around Peter, he's always cracking jokes and laughing and has the best attitude and just goes with the flow. Not a candidate for a heart attack ... and yet.

Practice race for the Radial Masters in Mexico and he finished the race and had a dull ache in the center of his chest, said it felt like his chest had been bruised. He wasn't pleased with his performance in the race and decided he'd better get in some more practice so he headed back upwind by himself. His plan was to just go to the top mark and then reach back to the club at a better angle. By the time he got to the top mark, the wind had picked up to 20+ knots but the pain was gone. He headed back to the club and lined up in the queue for take out but had started to feel badly again and knew something was wrong. He decided to relax and stay calm and wait patiently.

A female sailor in front of him noticed he didn't look too hot and offered to let him go ahead of her. Being the gentleman that he is, he insisted she go first. The sailor asked multiple times but he kept insisting on waiting his turn. Finally, he got his boat on the trolly and he simply couldn't get it out of the water and told the young fellow helping at the ramp that he was going to have to pull his trolly all the way up to the boat yard, where he had a prime position right next to the club. When they reached his destination, he was feeling fairly weak and just laid down on the ground. One of the American gals close to him jokingly called out "sailor down" which got the attention of Andy, the local organizer. Bless his heart, Andy took the comment seriously. Peter inquired about an ambulance but it was out on a call so he told Peter they would have to walk a couple of blocks to the emergency clinic. They got about 100 yards and Peter could go no further. Andy got a taxi and Peter jumped in, still in his wet sailing gear except for his life jacket and off they went.

At the clinic, they got his shirt off and got all the wires hooked up on him and then they started tugging at his boots and getting his hiking pants off. As the pants came off, remember they have a bit of compression to them, Peter told the doctor he was feeling tingling in his hands. The doctor told him he wasn't surprised since he was currently having a heart attack. And Peter lost consciousness and remembers nothing more. He flat lined and was dead for three and a half minutes. They had to use the paddles on him a couple of times but they got him back, he had surgery to put in a stent and was put on a ventilator and into a medically induced coma for 24 hours.  Pedro woke up in the hospital, no clothes, no wallet, no iPhone or access to his contacts. 

Pedro most certainly would not be here today if not for Andy and being in the emergency clinic the moment he had his heart attack. In hindsight, and this is what he wants everyone to know, he calculated that he had about an hour and a half warning before having a heart attack. The dull pain in the center of his chest was the early warning sign. Something he shouldn’t have ignored. Instead of going upwind by himself in an increasing breeze, he should have called for immediate assistance and gotten to a hospital straight away. The hiking pants, he theorizes, provided compression which gave him a little extra time to get to help because the moment they came off, things went south immediately.

Pedro was in good spirits when we talked this evening and his family is with him. Well actually, they were at the mid-week festivities at the club and his fantastic travel insurance is void if he leaves the hospital for the night so he called us instead. Once he gets clearance to travel, although he would like to stay for a while in Mexico and enjoy his new home country, he was overruled and will be skipping this Worlds and heading back to Australia ... most definitely a winner!

Looking good Pedro

Update: Robert Scheidt with Pedro just before heading back home to Sydney.

Steering for Balance

by Doug

There's a mistake that even the experts make when sailing in a breeze, and it has to do with sailing downwind when it's windy. It's something that both Frank and Julian Bethwaite explained to me about sailing 18 foot skiffs on Sydney Harbor.

You see, there is far too much power in the sail to control with crew weight alone. They explained how it's done by trying to balance a pencil on your finger, taking all the variables into account as shown in this video.

You have to actively stabilize by steering the boat under the top of the rig, which means bearing off in pressure. Here's how Frank described it in a 2008 Sailing World article called Steering for Better Balance:

"Some years ago I coached several mature and experienced sailors on the 59er, and I was astonished to find that so many of them were unaware of the steer-for-balance principle. More accurately, most thought they knew what it meant--and that they would be able to use it naturally, if and when it became necessary. But when faced with real speed and a sudden gust they turned the boat the wrong way and simply "lost it." 

Only a handful of experienced sailors know how to control a sailboat at speed and get peak performance while doing so. Most top sailors believe they know what steer-for-balance is, and they believe they can do it. But when put to the test, they don't know and they cannot do it."

Bearing off in pressure does more than get the hull under the rig. It puts pressure on the windward side of the centerboard to push the rig to windward and, of course, going more downwind stretches the puff.

This can be seen in an excellent Laser foiling video taken recently by Ryan Minth of C-Vane when Peter Stepinson of Glide Free was introducing the juniors of the Gulf Coast Youth Sailing Association to their first experience on a foiling Laser:   

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Foiling will definitely teach you better boat handling downwind. Imagine how having such an intro to the speed and foiling experience at a young age would have affected your sailing.  What an opportunity for these kids.  Ryan now has a set of these foils for his kids to use for training which might just give them an edge on their competition. 

I love the commentary when Peter, a Great Grand Master, jumps into the boat and effortlessly shows the young-ins how it's done. These same kids all call me "sir" when I compete against them on the water and now I know why.

Houston We Have Lift Off!

Peter Stephinson from GlideFree stopped into Houston, Texas for a little foiling camp with the local juniors and shared some of their comments with us:

K.O.:  Yesterday's sailing experience was amazing. I personally had never done anything like it before. I really liked how you could feel the boat accelerate as you began to foil. Thank you for the experience.

A.M.:  Thank you for this amazing/awesome/rad/gnarly experience. I figured out how to get up about the second I got on. It felt like the helm of an i420 on a reach balancing the crew and the boat from flipping on top of you but instead you're just balancing yourself and the boat. It's exactly like balancing a broom on your hand. I don't think there was much wrong with it, it seemed very well developed. 

M.M:  The glide free foils I tried out yesterday was an amazing experience. The feeling of flying across the water was one that I have never had before. The extreme speed on top of the height above the water was unbelievable. 

M.G.:  … it was an amazing experience ... I do like the product very much and believe that it is a fantastic way to get someone into foiling boats in a relatively affordable way. I myself am very interested in a set, however that does depend on whether or not my father is interested too … I really appreciate you taking the time to introduce us to the fantastic experience of foiling. 

A.H.:  … it was great experience. The speed was greater than any other sail boat that I’ve ever been on. The blood rush was insane. … All in all the experience was fun and exciting. 

S.B.:  It was awesome, only problem is for a beginner figuring out how to work the center board is a little confusing. 

F.M.:  I really enjoyed the glide free because it was an exciting feeling to be foiling in a Laser. The ability to foil, and do it so easily is a luxury. The reliability of the foils is incredible. With the amount and power that I crashed I was impressed by the durability of the product

Laser Foiling in Texas

by Pam 

Despite that AUS on the sail, this is Texas Laser foiling and those aren't Aussies.  Peter Stephinson (AUS) from Glide Free Design is in Houston, Texas for the weekend and letting the kids in Ryan Minth's sailing program at Texas Corinthian Yacht Club try their hand at foiling.  Peter reports that the overwhelming response from the kids was "Awesome!"  Peter's response was sort of funny ... he wanted to know what was up with the dirty water.  Welcome to Texas!

DIY Laser Foils

Don't want to pay $5,000 for a foiling Laser kit?  Now you can build your own! Here's the affordable Laser foiling system. I understand this was the original 'concept prototype' for the Laser foiling system. It actually worked and this design will foil! 

Peter Stephinson, is one of the inventors of the foiling Laser kit. He also happens to be the current GGM Austrialian Laser National Champion.  Peter is always looking for creative ways to sail as can be seen in this video of a truly unique finish (starting at about 2:50) at the 2015 Kingston Laser Master Worlds. 

Peter will be making a stopover in Houston, Texas on April 9-10 at TCYC on his way to the Laser Master Worlds in Mexico.  He will be demonstrating the high dollar foiling Laser system and allowing sailors to give it a try.  At that time, you will also be able to purchase the DIY design kit and have first hand instruction on how to make it.  Here are a few pics of the installation process.  When you make that first cut into the hull, just remember, it really does work!

Foiling Lasers

By Peter Stephinson, the Foiling Laser Guy

Despite all the hype, foiling is currently the preserve of the elite as foiling boats are currently limited to high-end, custom multihulls or expensive, delicate, difficult to manage dinghies.

There is now one very practical option available today for all sailors to try. A retrofit, clip-on kit for Lasers from Glide Free Design. Compared with all other foiling craft, this is much cheaper and is now readily available. You don't even need to buy a new boat!

We have been quietly developing and releasing this product around the world and believe it has the potential to give all sailors a taste of what only the elite have experienced to date.

This is an amazing product and superb design. I'll be joining Peter before the Laser Worlds in Mexico and will be taking lots more videos with my hat cam... Doug