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April 29, 2013
Does God think that because it rains in torrents I am not to go to Peru And destroy the world? Doesn’t relate, quite, but it’s a gangbusters line and I’ve always wanted to use it. From the wonderful, fierce poet, Ai. And it did rain in torrents, straight down, with no wind on Monday in [...]
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April 8, 2013
Photos © Kimball Livingston What’s in a shadow? Some things cast a long shadow, relating to Grant Dalton’s comment— If New Zealand can’t win the America’s Cup this time out, “The team cannot survive.” Heavy stuff, but before we follow that up, I want to know something completely different. I wanna know, when our Kiwi [...]
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February 27, 2013
I witnessed two moments of beauty at the awards lunch for the sailor of the year awards, AKA the ceremonials for US Sailing’s Rolex U.S. Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. In one moment, it was Johnny Heineken distilling this kiting thing by describing how “all the power goes straight through you.” Compared to the [...]
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February 24, 2013
Photo © (presumably) Gilles Martin-Raget/Oracle Team USA I don’t think anyone connected to America’s Cup competition was quite prepared for the poise and capability of the young sailors who showed up this month to try out for a spot in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup. An event that once sounded vague and dicey is [...]
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February 17, 2013
It could happen anywhere, any time. The Consul General reads a letter of congratulations to a country’s celebrated new heroes, and the letter comes from higher up, from the Ambassador in the Capital, and it sounds like diplomat-speak, but it sounds good. Let it be recorded that in San Francisco, California on the 16th day [...]
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November 16, 2012
A NEW SAILING SPEED RECORD Hand it to Paul Larsen. He’s been at this game for years. Since 2002. I remember talking to him in 2005 in Qatar, UAE, at the start of the round-the-world Oryx Quest, and trying to convince him to run Sailrocket in the protected waters close to the western shore of [...]
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October 26, 2012
The Spaulding Center in Sausalito lies not so far across the water from The San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere, host to what has become an alpha sailing event on San Francisco Bay, the Leukemia Cup. It’s pretty hard to compete with Ted Turner as a keynote speaker—basically, you don’t; Turner is one of the [...]
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October 3, 2012
When I look at what the America’s Cup race committee is expected to pull off in the October America’s Cup World Series on San Francisco Bay, inside tight boxes and even-tighter time frames, I am inspired to say: Good luck, race committee. Meanwhile, my latest exchange with Stephen Barclay, CEO of America’s Cup Race Management, [...]
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October 2, 2012
Fascinating it is to try to sort out the moving parts in the latest wrinkle between America’s Cup, the teams, and the city of San Francisco. My Inbox at dawn was hardly as tranquil as this scene caught by Daniela Gonda and relayed by AC vet Mike Erlin . . . Photo © Daniela Gonda [...]
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September 11, 2012
REMEMBERING GEORGE “I’LL GUARANTEE YOU TEN BOATS” GRIFFITH George Griffith rocked my world. The man had a vision for a next boat, and he didn’t care about the doubters. The result was the Cal 40, arguably the most influential raceboat of the second half of the 20th century, and I have it on good authority [...]