ws lirakis – Page 189 – stephenlirakis.com

Pierre Sicouri

Pierre Sicouri died early this morning. Far to young. A vital, gentle, determined, charming man.

We first sailed together during the 1975 Fastnet Race aboard “Guia”, belonging to Georgio Falk.

Pierre sailed the single handed trans-atlantic race using “Guia”. in 1980 he sailed a multihull, winning class in both attempts.

Dogs and their owners

Along with photographing everything else, dogs and their owners is another subject that never ceases to amuse.

The 2005 trans-atlantic race from New york to Cowes, England,aboard “Tempest” the 80 foot S&S ketch provided an opportunity to sail on the ocean and to photograph nature and each other during the 15 day passage. I have written previously about the race. I only just found the photographs sent to me by Christian Jensen, who was also part of the crew.

We are probably sailing along at 17 knots in a 120,000 pound boat; dragging a lot of water. The porpoises loved our wake.

CAIN AND ABEL

This is a copy of a sermon given at the Chapel at St. George’s School in 1964. Obviously it made a strong impression on me as I have kept this copy all these years. The story of two brothers is found throughout literature. Romulus and Remus, another example. The bible is a marvelous piece of literature regardless of your religious beliefs.

The exceptional ability to explain the complexities of the human condition has always been what separates great literature from good .

NATURAL GRACE

Natural grace, is a term that I apply to those who always seem to effortlessly exhibit good behavior, good manners, and are able to easily empathize with others.

John Nicholas Brown is my benchmark, against whom all others are measured. Larry Huntington, has always shown me these attributes.

It is Leon Russell, however, who is a man who may not gotten past the fourth grade as an education. Grew up poor, sometimes spearing frogs for food. Despite this background, Leon, exhibited the most wonderful manners. He was nonetheless who he was, a little rough, but shining through were exemplary values.

When there was no limit on weight

I am not a big person. I have had to deal with my size all my life. I am not whining, I is a simple statement of fact.

In my early years of sailing there was no limit on the amount of weight one could carry. I carried as much as I could bear, more than most other people. I would wear knee pads the wrong way around. I exercised, I built a hiking bench. I would sit, hiking out stacking books or weights on my chest. It should come as no surprise that I had lower back problems.

I had made hiking jackets, by sewing groups of eight sweat shirts together. Then either bailing water onto myself or dunking myself in the water, to gain weight. Once I wore so many, when I turned my head I could not see over the collar of the weight jackets.

METER CLASSES IN NEWPORT

In September of this year the six metre class will have it’s world championship in Newport, RI. Following at the end of the month the twelve metre class will host a commemorative regatta, which will also be the North American championship.

Tim Street, the Six Meter Class president made a presentation along with Toby Rodes owner of a 1928 Fife and David Pedrick, naval architect. I can’t wait to see all those six meters in Newport.

How I Learned To Love Math

I don’t know about you, I struggled with math throughout school. I, like so many, could never see the necessity of knowing much math.

I loved sailing and wanted to know everything there was to know about boats. I worked building sails, building boats. I started lofting the designs; drawing them full size, This is the moment where any errors in the initial design appear. We would re-fair the lines. But for me, suddenly there was a reason for math. It all became so clear. I could define the “lines” of the boat with a formula. Math had a purpose, and therefore became a useful tool.

New York City

I ate breakfast every morning at the same corner restaurant. I always started early, I was living on 88th street. and going to school at NYU. I never took the same route twice, always carried my camera.

After a while the waiters and the owner asked if I was a photographer. The girl in the photo was also a customer, and the owner confided in me that he would leave his wife for her. Here she is posed with the “crew” of the restaurant. I gave everyone a series of photos.

Many years earlier, in college, I had the same problem; taking photographs and arriving on time for class.

THE FACES OF FLORIDA

This is a Florida that is not shown on the travel posters, the interior or central Florida. All of these photos were taken within minutes of each other. I was practically spinning on my heels.