Sailing

J/24 Sailing

Any time I go out on the water (or ice), I’m amazed at the power of the wind and the ingenuity of sailors over the years to harness it. The technology in sailing these days is amazing (e.g., boats foiling across oceans and around the world), but it is equally fun to cruise around in a decades old boat (or early generation Windsurfer).

I grew up sailing on a Sunfish and Barnett 1400. Since then I’ve tried to expose myself to as many different boats as possible, including a variety of dinghies (Laser, 420, Byte), keelboats (Cal 20, J/22, J/24, Capri 22, New York 36, Mull 34), scows (C, E, I-20), and even iceboats (DN) and remote-controlled boats (Odom).

I’ve raced on a number of different boats over the years, including distance ocean races in the PNW on the J/105 Abstract and buoy-racing on a Merit 25 in a competive one-design fleet on the Columbia River.

A scurvy pirate sailing a J/22

I’m also a huge fan of windsurfing. I’m still learning, but get better every time I go out. As one old-school brand used to say: “Happiness is a hand-held sail”!