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| June 2007 |
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Changes Voted In By PHRF Time Allowed for Undersized Sails Spinnaker Area and More PHRF-NW Members, As you probably recall, PHRF-NW has been struggling over the past several years to upgrade our handicapping rule. The existing rule has proven troublesome when rating newer design boats. Plus, the use of two different formulas for calculating spinnaker area has presented considerable challenges. Last year, PHRF-NW attempted to implement a new rule. The rule itself was well thought out, but the implementation was not. When the handicappers attempted to actually convert to the new rule, we realized that the result would have been chaos. Ratings were going to change randomly. The situation was not manageable. Hence, in January, we decided to cancel that implementation and proceed more prudently by implementing parts of the proposal gradually over time (our normal process). On April 29th, the Handicappers voted to make several changes. Foremost is the method used to calculate spinnaker area. PHRF-NW has selected the IRC spinnaker area formula for both symmetric and asymmetric spinnakers. The IRC formula returns areas nearly as accurate at the proposal from 2006. PHRF-NW will use the rig dimensions ISP and JC for standard as-designed spinnaker hoist and pole/sprit length. Using ISP and JC to calculate the standard area will result in spinnakers that are much closer to code 5 compared with the alphabet soup of spinnaker codes today. There should be little or no affect of this change on as-sailed ratings. Boats with symmetrical spinnakers will not be required to be remeasured, but will be grandfathered. Over the next several months, your handicapper will be evaluating the effect on rating codes for boats with large asymmetrical spinnakers and boats with ISP > I and/or JC > J. Codes may change. But ?as-sailed ratings will be maintained until base ratings can be corrected to agree with the codes and as-sailed ratings. The Handicappers voted to eliminate the adjustment for carrying both asymmetric and symmetric spinnakers. Both may now be used. Members wishing to use both must supply measurements for the largest of each intended to be used. Your handicapper will determine which is physically larger and rate your boat based on that sail. The Handicappers also voted to reduce the time allowed for undersized sails. Undersized mainsails are now limited to 6 seconds per mile. Undersized spinnakers limited to 9 seconds per mile. The adjustment for undersized headsails remains unchanged. Other less significant changes were made. The minutes of the meeting can be viewed at www.phrf-nw.org after May 18th. The date of publication of the minutes to the PHRF-NW website is the official date of the new rules. Members are encouraged to discuss the changes with your respective handicapper. Your handicapper will know what is expected. Yours for fair sailing, Alan Grim Chief Handicapper, PHRF-NW 
Dieter Joins Crew of Three Ring Circus Dieter Lee Creitz takes a little rest after sailing back from the Race to the Straits. Sun, sailing and a little baby grog will put you to sleep every time. The newest member of the Three Ring Circus crew, Dieter is already a "round the buoy" veteran even though he's only five weeks old. Launched: April 4, 2007 LOA: 22 inches Displacement: 8 pounds, 6 ounces He's been given an "awww" rating Winds New Boater Information System Up and Running with Winds, Currents, and Tides Dear Boaters, Thanks to all 610 boaters who filled out the Boater Information System (BIS) survey. Every type of boater was represented—sailors, power boaters, kayakers, windsurfers, and recreational fishers. And a special thanks to our diligent, 18-member BIS Advisory Board. They stuck with us throughout the three year development of BIS and let us know what worked and what didn't until we produced a product they wanted to help make trip planning easier: winds, currents, tides, and temperature all together. We're also grateful to Sail Northwest for the booth they gave us at Race Week 2004 and to the Northwest Marine Trade Association for our booth at the 2004 Seattle Boat Show. Without all of your help BIS wouldn't be the tool it is. Go to: http://bis_portal.apl.washington.edu and check it out. We hope you'll use BIS and let us know what you think. All comments are welcome. Fair winds, Janet Janet Olsonbaker Co P.I., Boater Information System Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington We're very pleased to host a link for the UW's new Boater Information System on our 48° North home page. Just click on the BIS icon. Below is a more in-depth description of the system. NEW Boater Information System Winds, currents, tides – forecast overlays at a glance over time. See forecast winds, currents, tides, and temperature, and the impact of changing weather and water over time. Plus plan a trip on Puget Sound by drawing a route with waypoints. The Boater Information System or BIS helps Puget Sound boaters decide what route to take and when to leave. BIS is delivered via a web portal to help boaters understand the impact of weather and water and how that impact changes over time. The Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington (APL-UW) developed BIS to improve boater safety and protect critical resources. APL-UW surveyed 610 boaters—weekend cruisers, racing sailors, windsurfers, kayakers, and recreational fishers—and analyzed how they use information and what decisions they need to make. Together with an 18-member BIS Advisory Board APL-UW wanted to develop a decision-making tool that boaters would actually use. The Board critiqued the development of both the products and their delivery throughout the three-year development cycle. "On-line tools should be easy-to-use, fun even, and we hope boaters will find BIS to be just that," said Janet Olsonbaker, Co-Principal Investigator for BIS. Boaters can overlay different types of data on the same chart at the same time for a composite view of various kinds of forecast data. BIS shows the interaction of four types of boaters' most requested data: winds, currents, tides, and temperature for up to 72 hours of forecast data at 12 km resolution. Boaters can also draw a route on the chart of Puget Sound and see the latitudes and longitudes for each selected waypoint. "When boaters load winds and currents data and have them displayed at the same time on the chart, BIS can tell them at a glance if their selected route is a wise choice. That's the real genius of BIS," said Olsonbaker. Sponsored by a grant from Washington Sea Grant Program and APL-UW, the Portal was developed in Flash; currents and tides data is from Flater's XTide program; and winds data is from the UW's Atmospheric Sciences Department's MM5 model. Check it out: http://bis_portal.apl.washington.edu, or click on link at 48north.com The site is pretty nice now and, after talking with Janet, will only continue to get better with more interactive, overlapping, update information for boaters. What Do You Know About Blanchet's Caprice? I am reading M. Wylie Blanchet's "The Curve of Time". I would consider this book required reading for Northwest boaters. I would like to know if you or your readers know anything about the disposition of her boat "Caprice. Thank you Allen Goldstein Corinthian Yacht Club, Seattle Don't have any info in house but I have no doubt our readers can help with the information you are looking for. Happy to See Her Heritage 20 Just wanted to say, "Thank you!" After many years of enjoying 48° North, I was completely surprised and delighted to see April's featured photo, which is my boat, Aeolus, a Heritage 20, at the dock on James Island! Not sure if you remember but I emailed you earlier this year about the Heritages and was interested in trying to locate other owners. You replied quickly with some suggestions, which I appreciated. 
Now I'm sure you see lots of pictures of boats, and hear even more stories of them, but the Heritages are indeed pretty special little ships. The fact that Aeolus was out there sailing, (and boy can she sail!) and that she ended up in your magazine, is a happy culmination of a comical and heartfelt journey of far more than fiberglass and canvas. The other boat anchored (which did drag, thank you) was my sister and brother-in-law's charter - we gunkholed around the San Juans with another friend's boat and had a blast last summer. The others originally were going to be support vessels - our joke was that it takes a village to own a sailboat. Fortunately no support was needed - the boat did great, the captain (um, me) was another story... Thank you and happy sailing! Christy Haase We're pleased we could be part of "a happy culmination of a comical and heartfelt journey of far more than fiberglass and canvas." I use your words in quotes because I can't think of any better way to describe the sailing memories we bring back with us from summer's excursion. Governor Signs "Boating Activities Fund" Bill On May 3, 2007, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed HB 1651 into law. I want to thank everyone of you who contacted your elected representatives in Olympia over the past three months. The law creates a new "Boating Activities Fund" and authorizes a study, to be completed before the end of the year, to determine how the State can "Serve Boater's Better" in the future. Boaters in Washington State pay millions of dollars every year in boating specific taxes. Our objective is to see that an appropriate portion of those dollars are invested in boating programs. Again, thanks to all of you who encouraged the Legislature to pass the bill. It is the first step of a carefully planned strategy to improving boating and boating services in Washington State. I will keep you posted as we continue to make progress. Michael Campbell President Northwest Marine Trade Association And we appreciate NMTA's efforts in bringing back boater's dollars to boating. Which Cal 40 – Thunderbird or Palawan? Someone else must have asked about this by now, but here goes. Michael Kennedy, your letter-writer, knows a lot more about Cal 40 history than I do, but that reference to Bermuda Race-winning IBM president Vince Learson and his Thunderbird raised a flag in my memory. Surely Thomas Watson was the guy, and Palawan was the Cal 40? Keep up the good work. Yours truly, Claude Maurice Victoria, B.C. Nope. Watson was chairman and Palawan was a custom 50 footer. Learson was CEO and T'bird was a 40. It is now in Puget Sound and named Queen of Hearts. She was cut down to a 37 after the Bermuda win. Wonderful Whales! The pictures in Rick Fleischman's article on Baranof Island in the May issue were spectacular, especially the feeding whales. Is he a professional photographer? Wow! Terry Olsen Seattle, WA No, Rick runs charters on "Sailboat Bob" out of Sitka, Alaska. I asked him about the whale picture and he said, "We see that all the time." Right place, right time. Wow, is right. 
Back to the "SandBox" Here's a picture of me and my son, Sgt. Benjamin Bosler, in front of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, before he left for his second tour in "the Sandbox." I am a liveaboard in Olympia. My boat is named after my son because he was in Iraq when I bought it and I couldn't think of a more fitting tribute!! Thank you! Robbn Miller Olympia, WA Thank you and Ben. We look forward to him getting out of the sand and back on the water soon.
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