Jeff's Log~ Saturday, December 8th, 2007

Naihan Beach, Thailand, 7 46.515N 98 18.160E

Pipe Dream is in her new home, at Naihan Beach. Chalong Bay just got too rough with the north east winds, and I could not sleep at night with all of the rolling that was going on. We’ve only been here the better part of today, but what a difference.

The King’s Cup Regatta ended today with the last race being a buoy course. It was windward-leeward three times around. This is really the kind of racing that Pipe Dream was designed for and she showed her stuff. There were times when we had more than 20kn of true wind, and we maintained course and speed with a very minimum crew. Today Dave really did a good job on the starting line. We were right on the line going full speed when the gun sounded, and it sure was nice to see the rest of the fleet below us and going a lot slower than we were. The wind kept building throughout the race, and on the third windward leg, Dave did a great job of feathering the boat up to keep her going the right direction.


It’s really quite funny how one good performance can make one forget the past foul-ups . It was nice finishing such a prestigious regatta on an upbeat note. At the after race party, I met people from all over the world, and they all knew the J-boat from the US. Some even commented about the US flag which we flew every day until just before the start. Yacht racing rules technically deny the flying during racing.


We finished in fourth place for the day, but eighth or ninth for the regatta. Not too bad considering we had no racing sails, and a very minimum crew. All in all, it was a very good experience, and definitely something that I would like to do again.


Next week, I begin the necessary repairs on Pipe Dream. She is a good boat, and responds very well to the care that I give her, so I am confident that all will go well. The biggest job is the oil leak from the front seal of the generator, and I actually am looking forward to repairing that. December 6 was my Brother Paul’s birthday, so a belated happy happy to him