Hi Folks -

Just wrapped up the SoCal's last training and coaching day in advance of the ABYC Labor Day Regatta (Worlds warm-up event) and the F18 World Championship. Thanks to Globaltech, we will have live tracking! Thanks to Zhik, we will have daily videos with interviews and commentary, and a slew of photos dumped directly from my house to yours (yay, interwebs!).

We had lovely sailing conditions today - next weekend, the Labor Day event will set a separate course just for us, complete with the mad-dash twin-wire spin reach that fans of World Championships have come to dread/adore.

If you're not coming, I will miss you. If you are coming, I look forward to seeing you again. Everything's in place and I'm starting to feel more anticipation than panic, which is a welcome thing, indeed.

Watch this space.

I'll be in Wednesday.

Hey John thanks for all your work on this and all you do for the sport looking forward to seeing you again.

My pleasure, Dave - your accommodations await.

Karlus Maximus - you complete me.

ON ANOTHER NOTE! I hate to be a downer, but I'm wearing thin on one issue that shouldn't be a hassle.

There are many new boats arriving at the event; some are arriving as hulls in one container and rigging in another, making pre-measurement impossible. For those of you with boats that COULD have been certified before the event and WEREN'T, I have little comfort to offer. You're in for a long wait in line when you could have been out sailing. In 2010, Robbie and I sat in line for two, full days. No kidding.

For those of you that DID get your certificate in order (as required by our Class rules); thank you - your wait to check the ready-to-sail weight of your boat and crew live-weight should be minimal.

Measurement and check-in: Some Tips.

• 1. Patience, please. Remember - it is NOT the responsibility of the Club, the Class or the volunteers to get you sorted; it is incumbent upon you to have a certificate.
  2. If you have a COMPLETE certificate, you'll hand a copy to the check-in folks - you get it back at the end of the event. The jury holds these in the event of protest.
  3. You'll then have your ready-to-sail and crew live weight recorded for the Notice Board. If you are required to carry corrector weights (boat weight or crew weight), they will be checked and noted; please have them ready. You don't want to have to get back in line, do you?
  4. BE PREPARED - dry boat, mast down, no sponges, tools, ditty bags, race watches, Go-Pros... please read your Class rules and be prepared to weigh in as described. No hiking boots, biker wallets, etc., please. If you're not prepared, you're gumming up the works and risk being sent away. You don't want to get back in line, do you?
  5. The folks volunteering to check you in or measure your boat don't really need to hear your opinion of the requirement for certification or your unhappiness about sitting in a line. They would rather be sailing, too. You only have one boat to deal with. They have 125. Which, while daunting, makes me smile.
  6. The whole set-up is intended to run smoothly, as quickly as possible, and create certainty that there is a level playing field; there is no part of this that is designed to make you upset.

The people in charge of measurement? Your International F18 Class Measurer, Pierre-Charles Barraud, and the US Measurer, Ela Sliwerska. They will both be on hand to answer questions in an official capacity.

That dispensed with, an updated social schedule is being posted as I write this - we're going to eat well.

More later - cheers from SoCal.

We all want a repeat of the 2010 worlds measurement a true showing of French efficiency!!!

Those guys in Erquy took two hour lunchbreaks haha
Or during the event's most important briefing answer the phone and chat for a couple of minutes while 400 people are staring at you!

Yes, that year was difficult... one measurer would post a sign-up sheet for appointments, and an couple of hours later, another measurer would take it down without explanation. The line seemed to never move. Fortunately, I was with fun people and in a new country... and the mussels were spectacular.

John,

Does Ela have a list of measurements from NAs last year? Can we find out the status of our certificates before leaving for LA?

-Jeff

Hi Jeff -

I did not make it to Hyannis last year, and I'm only one of many regional measurers - I'm sorry I can't answer your question. If you were measured, you should have a certificate. I still have records of boats that were measured in Racine, as I was the Class Measurer then.

Ela will be with us in Long Beach - hopefully she can sort you out before you get here. Failing that, keep in mind that certification is not supposed to be an impediment to sailing - we'll get you sorted one way or another.