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.

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!

Gybing - Thoughts from Steve Cockerill, Frank Bethwaite... and me

By Doug

In the post about Laser Mainsheet Snags, comments were made about how Steve Cockerill's video suggests letting the boom out to initiate a heavy-air-gybe. I commented that surely letting the boom out would not work because it would be too unstable.

The boom is waaaaay too far out. But even a little out makes things unstable.

Then one of the sailors that Steve sponsors said this comment was correct and the reason for letting this boom out was to intentionally make the boat unstable.

So, let's recap:

• We're in strong wind on starboard and want to gybe.
• Almost all top-level events are held in open water, so there are probably big waves - a tricky situation.
• Steve suggests letting the boom out which is how you invite a death roll and swim (the twist at top of the sail is pushing everything to windward).
• The center of effort is now to the right of the boat which now wants to bear off.
• This initiates heavy air gybe with little or no rudder movement.

I have never tried or even seen this, but it's brilliant!! Except for one problem - it's a controlled heavy-air-death-roll-that-ends-up-in-a-gybe. Steve is a better man than me because my priority for a heavy-air-big-wave-gybe is getting the boom across without tipping.

This brings to mind comments from another world-class sailor. Several years ago, there was a Sailing World cover story article by Frank Bethwaite about how you bear off in a strong gust rather than the more intuitive heading up. 

Trying to head up in a strong gust.

Frank called this 'steering for balance' and it was controversial at the time, with lots of people saying that Frank was wrong. Frank was, of course, correct.

One of the key points Frank made was that by turning sharply in a gust, the boat wants to 'trip' over the centerboard. And the higher the speed, the more the importance as you lose control from the pressure in the rig.

I learned this by accident about ten years ago practicing on a local lake in a 30 knot breeze. With each gybe, the boom would slam across and there was a huge pressure on the rig and in the steering as I tried to get the right balance again. We've all had this problem.

So I tried something different and for me, counterintuitive: as the boom slammed across and I was on a new tack, I bore off to head straight downwind - steering for balance. The helm went neutral and everything worked beautifully, even in 30 knots.

So here's a combination to try when it's really honking - sheet out a little to start a gybe, let the boat bear off on its own, and as the boom slams across, bear off sharply to neutralize the helm. Oh and Ute, try to not wrap your mainsheet around the end of your boom!

In the 90s, the Worlds courses included a gybe mark and in a breeze it was referred to as the graveyard because so many boats would tip at the mark.  My practice sessions would include gybing at a certain point in a breeze and not waiting for lulls.  The goal was to have enough practice and confidence to gybe at any time while maintaining control at all times so that I could maneuver around boats that were scattered in the graveyard. That era inspired Laser sailors to practice and perfect various techniques.  That's the key ... pick a technique that works best for you and then practice it until you're comfortable.

Laser Mainsheet Snags

By Doug

This good question comes from one of our German readers: When gybing in medium or stronger winds, I often encounter the problem that the main gets caught around the end of the boom. In regattas it is one of the many reasons for frustration.

There are 3 ways for a Laser main to get caught:

1. The main gets caught around the transom when jibing. This happens to all of us. In light air, I like to pull the main in as much as possible in front of the ratchet block so there is less slack to get caught, and the boom goes out much easier without having to run through the ratchet. When the wind is higher, a sharp tug when the boom starts to come across usually lifts the mainsheet just enough to clear the transom. If it gets caught, the way the pros free it is by hitting the inside of the main with the tiller extension rather than moving to the back to free it by hand.
2. As mentioned, the main gets caught around the end of the boom. I've had this occasionally happen and am not sure how to prevent it, so I'm open to suggestions. But one thing is for sure - the only way to fix this is by reaching back and freeing it with one hand. This can be tricky in a breeze.
3. The main gets caught in the clue boom block. In my 38 years of sailing Lasers, this has only happened to me once and yes, it was at a critical moment in the final race at the Jeju Worlds. Pulling harder only jammed it more, so my best advice when you cannot figure out what's wrong is to stop, go back, and look at the problem. In my case, pulling hard just made things much worse.

Peckover's Law: easy problems happen during easy times. The really difficult problems nail you at the worst possible times.

Update 5/28/14:  I'm putting this back up to the top because we're still getting comments and it appears there is more to discuss.

Hurricane Sandy - Before and After

by Pam

I have no words ...

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/weeklynews/nov12/ngs-sandy-imagery.html

Brett Beyer Coaching

by Pam

Most people have already seen this but it's still cool to watch.  Here's the caption on the video on YouTube: "Training off Hayling Island, 15-20 kts in big seas!  Big thanks to Brett Beyer for the video!"