Is George Lucas a sailor?
by John Curnow on 25 Apr 2016
Terminator 2 was a break out movie for its day Event Media
He’s very famous for a lot of things, and justifiably so. One of them is Industrial Light and Magic, which has been instrumental in the making of many of the special effects that have made the digital world so impressive. Gone are the smears of Vaseline along the bottom edge of the clear filter to hide the trolley that was actually transporting Luke Skywalker’s Speeder, for instance.
ILM became synonymous with the best in CGI and was the forefather of the image manipulation tools we all use now. It was no Jedi mind trick, either. Some very serious maths and programming went in behind it to make it so, and in the process help reset the way we thought about what we see in this galaxy.
So I have no idea if George did or still does sail, but it was during a recent night race that I got to thinking about things like light and chartplotters, in addition to the norm of sail trim and tide. There were some other elements too. Let’s just say it was nothing but a bit of harmless skulduggery. And we’ll get to that in a bit…
For now, what came to me was all the skills you get from experience and that these short night races are crucial for anyone wanting to head offshore. One of the first is to have all you need for night on you before it gets dark. We’re talking knife, PFD, PLB, strobe and so on. Much easier that way… Also, things like the boat torches, which usually end up in the rope bags, and to point them up when turning them on, so as not to blind anyone, especially the driver, with the flare off the deck or coaming. Your night vision is crucial to preserve.
Recognising/locating the lights and knowing what all the flashes mean is often difficult, especially off the backdrop of a well-lit shore with cars and industrial complexes. Looking down the light beam to spot obstructions is another skill to work on, especially if you’re driving a tender in a crowded anchorage. Then there’s the moon, stars and wind/waves to try and spot, the latter is especially so in a blow.
So yes, lots of skills to first gather and then practice on. The boat we were using has the chartplotter down below and on the Starboard tack you can look through the coach house windows to see where you are, which was important for us that night with all the sandbars around and a four-knot tide screaming in.
We were looking through the dark polycarbonate and thinking we need to get out of here, but a boat slightly to weather was intent on keeping us there. Nothing like a bit of friendly rivalry… Anyway, the sand gave the keel fin a nice scrub for us and we crash tacked, ducking their stern on the way, as they then too changed boards to avoid a similar or worse fate (for they draw a lot more than us). No waves and a light breeze could well have been the saviours that night.
When heading North in races like Sydney to Coffs you punch against the East Australia Current and this means you are short tacking along the beaches, which is interesting at night, when you are tacking just outside the surf break, sometimes tacking on the bump. The GPS has made it easier in a way, but there are inaccuracies still at close range, just think of Nico and Vestas…
So yes, experience matters, a lot, especially as the conditions deteriorate. So many Volvo veterans tell me the skill they most sought after in new crew was the ability to drive hard. Once more we’re back at experience, so do those night races and deliveries and don’t solely rely on the autopilot when doing the latter, either.
And now for the magic! Back in the late 90's there were boats racing with two different lighting configurations. A flick of the switch during a tack or gybe and the boat would look like a different one with an alternate set of stern and masthead lights. Why? To throw off the other boats looking to cover them.
One Skipper said of it all, “It worked a treat when close tacking during races like Sydney Southport or Mooloolaba, even the Hobart, when we used it to get away from close cover.”
Now racers were not the ones to develop the idea. In the two World Wars, both sides had merchant raiders that deployed this technique, amongst others to add to the overall mystery and intrigue. Today, it’s the Interweb that strikes again. Iain Murray is on record talking about how the trackers help your overall strategy in ocean racing. There’s also AIS to consider and it is about now that you wonder if there is not something in all that for the astute App developer! Hhhhmmmmm.
Right then. Sailing at night does require that extra degree of effort, concentration and skill. Now thankfully, there is one boat that none of us will have to worry about anymore. Phew!!! True, they were up in the Northern Hemisphere, but it was a bit like when you ask if someone is about to go driving. They ask why, and then you reply because you’re going to go the other way!
He’d been dubbed ‘Captain Calamity’. Steve Shapiro, together with his crew, Bob Weise, have been rescued like nine times recently. The 71 year olds bought Nora in Scandinavia and were intending to get the 40-footer back to the US. What was most distressing was how they could not see what all the fuss was about and during a TV interview that showed great disdain for all the attention. I hope it was that, because arrogance or ignorance are even worse and do not bear contemplation.
Anyway, after setting fire to the boat from a candle that fell over when the boat rocked at anchor, which was their last disaster, Nora has been sold and is still in Hayle, UK. Prior to that, they had sought assistance, mainly for propeller issues and also running aground, in these countries.
• Norway
• Denmark
• Scotland (twice)
• Northern Ireland
• Republic of Ireland, and finally
• Cornwall (three times)
A little bit closer to home, and with the boat watching season about to commence with vigour, it is good to see that the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron’s Brisbane to Keppel race is gaining a lot of interest. In addition to the racers and cruisers, multihulls are offered. Now there is a short-handed division to get even more sailors fired up. Also looks like the pointy end of the monohulls fleet will have a veritable cosmos of stars to help them celebrate the race’s 10th anniversary. Nice One! Is this Episode VIII in the making?
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