Differences between French and Americans buoys

In France we say "rouge sur rouge, rien ne bouge" which means that when you're going in the harbor you have to leave the red buoys on port, meaning on the left side of your boat, where your lights are red. In the US it is the opposite !

Dunes VIII

Do you remember how I tested an Open 5.70? Well our family welcomed one early January: she is called Dunes VIII.

The first time I went sailing on her, my whole family was with me. Here is a short video of us. When we went sailing, the wind was around 10-15 knots. But it was not a issue because we were 5 people on a boat for 3 people.

The second time, I went with a friend and my Dad. Sailing next to us was Fred, who got my Mom and myself testing the boat last December. He was faster although solo. We have a lot to learn! Here are some pictures of my friend and I

                     

Here is a short video of my friend and I with my Dad.

  

The third time, with the whole family the current was very strong: it was about 3knts for 10 knts of wind. So you can imagine going up the current. It took us 1h30min to get along Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.

The fourth time, we went sailing again, but this time my sister wasn't here, as she was racing for High School Sailing at Treasure Island. The wind was low when we rigged, and then it went high in about 1 or 2 min (around 15knts). I was at the helm during the whole session. Too bad that the GPS didn't work, as i'm sure we were faster than 11 knots, which my previous record. Then we decided to go back to the port and entered it sailing. Here is a short video.

The boat is in dry storage so to put it in the water you need to use a hoist. But to bring it to the hoist you need a little electric car. When the boat is not getting towed by the car I get to drive it. Here is a picture:

I think the boat is awesome. I'm looking forward to sailing again on her.

Storm Sailing

If you didn't hear about the storms that hit San Francisco on February 6th, 7th and 8th, you might want to look it up.

The wind came up to 40knts at the Golden Gate bridge. On Saturday my dad and I went to see if our catamaran was fine. When we went there we saw some boats with damage. Our F16 Viper was OK.

On Sunday the RYC cancelled the Opti training, so I went sailing in Sausalito on my own. I totally beat my speed record, as I went up to 8.2 knts (which is a lot for my Opti)... and almost capzised! Here is a short video :-)

January Improvement

In January it is the month of my birthday. So I decided to improve my roll-tacking and strategies. To improve my roll-tack, I try to practice twice a week sailing. Here is a short video of my roll-tack.

Testing different boats on the SF Bay: Open 5.70 and 29er

On Friday 26th, December I sailed an Open 5.70. This sports boat has the stability of a keel boat but the sensation of a sailing dinghy with the hiking. Which is pretty cool. It was just a test to see if I like the boat. I got to try it because one of my Dad's friends has one. My Dad had tried the boat in August and he had went over 16 knts. Here is the video.

My opinion is that the boat is fast, stable, and fun. The fun part of the day is that I got to do everything on the boat : I even got to steer. The Bay was beautiful but the wind was really low. On the boat were my Mom, the owner Frederic Bouju, and me. My Mom saw a sea lion eating a sting ray and a big piece of timber. We went around Alcatraz: it was beautiful.

On Saturday 27th, December I went to my yacht club even though  there was no opti class. I went there to try sailing a 29er. The 29er is a really hard boat to sail because if your weight is in the wrong  place you can capzise easily. I actually did capzise because during a tack I got stuck on the boom and my crew was not heavy enough to keep the boat flat. Therefore, we went over. The water was freezing. I was really lucky because my crew was really nice. He taught me the basics such as when you steer you have to be on your feet, sitting down, or standing. Here is a video of 29er sailing at RYC.


                                                       This is me on the open 5.70.

This is my Mom and I.

Big boat crash and roll-tacks

Saturday 13th, December I was set to participate to a regatta on big boats.
The boat was an Islander 36, just like this one :

We were racing in the Berkeley circle in  SF Bay, when we crashed into another boat.
This is what happened: 30 seconds before the start, we were on starboard and there was a boat coming in on port (we had the right of way). So usually, in this case the other boat is supposed to move out of our way but he didn't. Our skipper Bill decided to change his course. Unfortunately, the other boat did the same. So we moved the other way but so did he. At the end we ended up hitting each other so hard that his port lifeline broke. Our boat had a big scratch on the front and a crew member lost part of one of his big toe, but every thing is fine now.
I learned that it is always a bit tricky on the starting line, on big boats or on optis. I will be even more careful moving forward.

The crash:

Sunday 14th, December was the weirdest Sunday ever. I went to my yacht club (RYC), as usual.
The wind was very shifty. The afternoon was much better and we were lucky enough to race. I was so happy!

My results were 1st,2nd,1st, and 1st. I almost did a roll-tack, but at the end of my roll tack my Opti tipped over. I tried to dry capzise but I almost sunk my boat. What saved me from sinking,were my air bags.

If you don't remember what a roll tack is, you may look at this video (lucky Rayne, sailing in the BVIs :-)) Here is a video of a dry capzise.

I sail in SF Bay and I wish the water was as warm as in the Carribeean!

First MidWinter

On Saturday December 6th, I raced my first Opti Richmond Yacht Club Midwinter in Champions Fleet. My results were good. They were 3,1,1,2, and 2 which got me in the lead by 3 points. The second has 12 points, the third 14 points, and the fourth 15 points. The conditions were around 5-10 knots of wind and quite some current. Last year I was racing the same regatta but in Green Fleet, which is the beginner racer fleet. My result was 2nd place. This year in Champs Fleet my goal is to win.

                          Here are some pictures.

                                              This is everybody waiting for the wind.

                                      I have just won the race 3 and I'm waiting for the others.

                                           On this picture we are getting on the race course.  

This is me rigging.

Thank you RYC for the pictures.