New Year's Eve (day)

While I probably should have been skiing, shopping, parenting or partying, I was lucky enough to have a sailing demonstration planned with some great guys on New Year's Eve. I have spent way too many New Year's Eves in Seattle in the rain, so it was wonderful that today dawned glorius, bright and frosty. Indeed the temperature was about 27 degrees when we reached the dock, but we are hearty up here in the Pacific Northwest and we are blessed with beautiful mountains. All of the crew were upbeat, and there was no question that we were going out on Puget Sound to check out this cool 1982 Cal 39. Unfortunately, there was little wind but check out the views of the Olympic Mountains and Mt. Baker off the bow. The docks were pretty busy at Shilshole Bay Marina and I was reminded again what a day in a sailboat can do for your temperment. Even in the cold of winter on the last day of the year, what a treat it is to commune with nature. Stop making excuses, go for a sail! A wonderful 2011 to all of you sailors!

Kaneohe

Can a picture say a thousand words? Above, you see Kris Henderson and Allan Johnson out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean outside Kaneohe Bay, HI in our little International 14 on our way to winning the Hawaii State Championship Race. This picture was taken from my little point and shoot camera by Kris's fiance' Kim. Just prior to the photo we had capsized in the "great white shark breeding ground" when Kris's trapeze wire broke and he went splashing into the ocean. I don't know if it was the sharks or the adrenaline of the race, but Kris got right back on the boat, we set the spinnaker and almost "pearled" down some of those big waves out there. A fantastic distance race in a spectacular venue, Kris and I enjoyed every moment and particularly this one, where we have the boat back together, we are leading the race, waving to our short support team and making about 18 knots in full control. Thanks to Kris for excellent navigation down the channel where I got very disoriented. Note the "Sailing Angles" lycra supersuits that made their first debut for us at the 2000 Olympic 49er trials. They are quite astonishing on land, and my wife/stylist has forbidden me from wearing such a thing, but honey: form follows function, and these suits are perfectly suited for conditions where you will get wet, and the water is over 80 degrees and the air temperature is over 90 degrees.

http://www.kaneoheyachtclub.com/

2010 Annapolis SailBoat Show

One of the big perks of selling sailboats for a living is that I get chances to travel to really neat events and locations. This October my work "forced" me to attend the Annapolis Sailboat Show. This is the largest "in the water" sailboat show in the World and all of the major (and minor) sailboat manufacturers are there to display their new products. It is an honor to be a Beneteau dealer at these types of shows and meetings because they are the largest sailboat manufacturer in the world, and they show it off at this big show. Beneteau was introducing four new models to North America at this show and had a beautiful display of all of their models. They were highlighting the new Sense 50, The new Flagship 58, and the new sporty First 35 and new First 30.


The Sense 50 is really something new! (Sense 42 coming next) Beneteau worked with Berret/Racoupeau to lower the cockpit floor, remove the aft cabins, design a huge, open cockpit, take the sleeping areas all the way forward and make the living area (formerly saloon) open, airy, bright, spacious and as comfortable as your living room at home. Due to the low cockpit floor, it is just three small steps into the living room. Among the unique design features are the hard chine on the hull which adds form stability and allows the boat to "rest" on this chine while sailing. The boat heels less for more comfort and security. The Sense 50 also features "flip up" helm seats to make a huge deck/beach in the aft part of the cockpit. The companion way door is a cantilevered, polycarbonate door that mechanically stows itself under the cockpit floor. Simply press a button to close up or open your boat.

The Beneteau Flagship 58

This is an unbelievable boat! Perhaps the nicest sailboat I have ever been on and while out of my budget, pretty reasonably priced at $800,000.

I have been selling Beneteaus for over seven years but they continue to surprise me with the value, innovation and quality that they offer. I was drooling over this boat and envisioning how I could buy one and get my family and friends out sailing/cruising. I wasn't the only one, as the line to get on this boat was about a 30 minute wait. Elegant, functional, open and big. The 58 is more traditional than the Sense 50 but quite modern and very well thought out. I loved the big open "beach" on the transom. I loved the transom windows from the aft stateroom. We had nine people in the saloon and there was room to move about. The aft staterooms are large with the starboard one featuring a split bed that could be two twins or a nice double. The mast and deck hardware were top notch!

The First 35 designed by Farr Yacht Design and Nauta Interiors

This boat replaces the very successful First 36.7, and it features some outstanding changes, modern touches, and a sleek, pretty profile. The big open cockpit is a sailor's dream with a big wheel, "german" mainsheet system leading to large Harken winches on both sides. Gone are the days of sore shoulders and arms for the mainsheet trimmer. A floor mounted traveler is within easy grasp of the helmsperson or main trimmer. The rigging is upgraded with high tech, no stretch line, PBO backstay, rod rigging, and a carbon spinnaker pole. The keel is a deep 7'2' fin with a big bulb on the bottom. The engine is a 29hp Yanmar Saildrive. Below the boat is beautiful and can be ordered with a teak finish or the blond ash you see in the photos below. The main saloon area is the same size as a First 40, while the two private staterooms offer plenty of room for two couples. I often get asked what boat would I want for my family and Pacific Northwest cruising and racing. This new Beneteau First 35 is at the top of my list!

The Juan K designed Beneteau First 30

I was very excited to see this new boat from Beneteau. It is a new direction for Beneteau going with Juan K Yacht Design and allowing him to work with Michael Desjoyeaux, A French offshore sailing champion. They started with a blank sheet of paper and came out with a highly innovative 30 foot sportster. Some of the things that sets this First 30 apart are the twin rudders, hard chines on the hull, square-top mainsail, no backstays, and the traveler aft of the helmsman on aft beam. It should be a hoot to sail and has a comfy interior as well. Signature Yachts has ordered one of these and will be available for review and purchase by Spring of 2011. Our boat will probably be plain white without the crazy graphics seen here, but either way this boat is a head turner. Juan K, the designer of the boat was in Annapolis to help us learn about the boat, and it was a special experience to be able to spend some time with him and see him talk, touch and feel his latest design. He was clearly pleased.

Skiffs in the Gorge

Once again summer is not complete without a trip to the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. Scorching hot temperatures with Nukin' Breeze was the order for the Skiff Festival hosted by the Columbia Gorge Racing Association. http://www.cgra.org/ We trailered down the mighty "Shilshole" our International 14 and were joined by the Musto Skiffs, Swift Solos, and the 29ers.

It was so windy, over 25knots! every day, that all of us struggled to sail our powerful sailboats. Only the 29ers seemed to handle the breeze and get a good regatta in with many races and many finishers. I think the pictures and video below will give you a little idea. Go to the Gorge in the Summer. It is amazing! (Thanks to Charlie Dore for billeting us on the Mustard Seed)

Race to the Straits

So.......Opening Day of Yachting Season has long been celebrated by my family and me on the shores and waters of montlake cut, lake washington and SYC. I enjoy the crew races, the festivities, the dress, but for the last nine years an alternate "opening day parade" has been evolving to the point where this year, 109 sailboats raced "to the straits" and back. It was indeed quite a parade and you can see the route in the chart below. Sloop Taven Yacht Club started this cool race for any PHRF handicapped boat, but you can only sail singlehanded or doublehanded. You race from Shilshole to Port Townsend, party all night, and race back the next day from Port Townsend to Shilshole. The slowest rated boats start more than an hour earlier than the fast boats, so it is indeed a parade! My good friend John Murkowski invited me along on his beautiful Jeanneau 45p. This was a great boat for the race. Comfortable, big, seaworthy, fast. We were plagued by light winds on the first day and like many others, did not finish. We were in the hunt on the second day until the whole fleet becalmed at point no point, and we decided to power on home.

"Gray Wolf" the Rodger Martin designed 40 footer with a stayless mast won our division easily as they were the only boat in our class to finish the race both days. In these shots below, the wind has just come in after 9 hours of drifting. A gorgeous boat under a pillowy sky.

The wind got fresh in the evening and with an incoming flood, the little boats could only sail to get to the party. It was pretty impressive to see these Moore 24s and Olson 25s handle some trying conditions with only a crew of two.

On Sunday after the majority of the fleet had quit the race due to light wind and major tide, a big front came from the south, and I was very glad to be in a big, seaworthy boat. But even then, I was a little concerned and we needed to have our "wits" about us, as we powered and pounded into a 35 knot gale. I heard that "Tachyon" recorded 39 knots on the anemometer, and they were right there by us. I was seriously worried about all of those little boats, and in fact many of them ducked into kingston, or edmonds..for what they hoped would be the night, but it ended up being the next day too.....becasue it kept on blowin....I tried to catch it on video on the scene below. All of the images here by Allan Johnson with my ultra lame camera. Come on out an do "race to the straits" next year! You can find out more about it here: http://www.styc.org/race_info/RaceToTheStraits/index.shtml

Feeling Small in the Deception Mini 12

Do you remember the 12 metre sailboats that reigned the America's Cup for many years? They produced some very close racing and some excellent imagery for the Cup. The boats were never the fastest or most exciting boats around, but many believe they were the best boat for match racing.

The Deception 12 is very close to the same lines as a 12 metre, but 1/5th of the size. Instead of a crew of 14 people, there is just one person and you sit inside the boat and steer it with your feet! It takes a little time to get used to the steering with your feet, but you have to also figure out all the sail controls. Imagine coming into a leeward mark, and you have to douse the pole, douse the spinnaker, unfurl the jib, get the backstay on, trim the jib and the main, and turn the boat around the mark, all by yourself.

At the Seattle Yacht Club there is a prolific fleet of these unique keelboats. They have about twenty five of them that sit on cradles and you launch them with a small crane. Nestle yourself inside the boat and off you go. The fleet welcomes newbies, and if you show up on a Sunday in the winter, you are bound to go racing. This is exactly the opportunity that was afforded to me, and I had the chance to sail the boat three times.

My results have been marginal, and I am still learning how to keep the boat going all the time. The fleet is very good, and have been at it for some time. But it is loads of fun and you certainly can't blame anyone for your follies, which is exactly what I loved about Laser sailing. This is kind of like that, but provides a completely different challenge. Come try it yourself! If you are interested, I would be happy to make an introduction to the fleet. E-mail me at allan@signature-yachts.com

48 Degree North did a nice little write up on the boat. You can find it here:http://http//www.48north.com/jul_2004/mini.htm