The wing sail for Oracle was test lifted today. more testing to come. Hydropetiere is on a mooring in San Francisco waiting for a weather window for an attempt to set a new record from San Francisco to Hawaii. The search for speed under sail has not diminished; a long way from Howard Chapelle’s “Search For Speed Under Sail 1700-1855”.
SpeedDream is a story that I have been following for a while, I have posted about it earlier. The next step in Monohull sailing. The America’s Cup has just finished a week of racing in San Francisco and today three of the teams will unveil their respective 72 foot boats; which will take the America’s cup to a whole new level.
Cloud Computing, a phrase that is easily thrown around, has been around for along time already, but still in it’s infancy. Amazon is one of the big suppliers. All of this is changing the face of how business is conducted.I wonder what the future consequences will be; when one does not really have control over one’s own material.It is truly in someone else’s hands.Or, someone else’s server.
I am my age, I am used to the idea that in order to sell something you must have a product to exchange for money. Clearly I am old fashioned. I find it harder very day to justify my existence on earth. My ideas do not find as easily as they once did.
I suppose it is one of the reasons I like long distance sailing. Life is reduced to very elemental levels. Perhaps it reminds us who or what we really are. I have very little desire to go into space, I find the world has much to much to offer. I would like to see the earth from space, however.
The grapes are heavy on the vines in Napa and Sonoma.
I am starting to be confused and amused. At any given moment, particularly in a big city, there are so many random events taking place simultaneously. More than anyone can grasp. San Francisco is no different. The scheduled trolley that kept moving past the stop, the conductor waving and smiling as it sped by.
The America’s Cup event would not deter the future bride. The low flying helicopter ignoring everything.
Another multihull arrived in San Francisco, waiting for a weather window to attempt to set a new record for the trans-pac. Hydroptere is a boat that has been in development for a number of years. I have written about her before and how Eric Taberly with Paul Ricard was the first modern attempt at building a successful foiling multihull. Modern materials have allowed Hydroptere to take the next step.
Yves Parliez is part of the crew,an old family friend, a name one should recognize from short-handed sailing.
Just going to see the America’s Cup event yesterday was a full event. If I pause to think of all the layers and parallel lives occurring simultaneously, I marvel that large cities can function at all. Where Market Street meets the Embarcadero the best dressed and the worst dressed are side by side. The homeless, the occupiers, who at first glance look homeless. It took me a moment to understand why the Federal Reserve was blockaded. Gabriel Angelo looking natty hoping for fame.A few blocks down the America’s Cup teams have a staging area where the real work is done. Marina Green is for show. The teams spend as little time as possible there. I have the sense that at the Green they really do feel like circus performers and they are not so sure they like the thought.
Then of course the weather in San Francisco changes the landscape at every moment of the day.
Strange day of racing. It lasted under an hour total. Caught up with many old friends. The golden Gate Bridge is the most marvelous backdrop for the boats.
The forecast for today is for more wind. It could be exciting. As you might see there is a camera arms race on. This is BIG glass as they say. Canon is making their presence known. You can borrow this equipment for the week. I happen to shoot Nikon.Where are they? Next to this equipment is it easy to feel inadequate. It is a good thing I am comfortable in my own skin.
