Category: boomerang

MY LIFE IN BOATS

I assembled this a few years ago because even I forget some of the boats and events I sailed. Still fond memories; and still making more.

SAILING THROUGH LIFE

This is in response to those who asked:”Who are you?” It is a least a dimension.Boats have always been a part of my life. Naturally interwoven with the story of Newport.

July 1st 2010

I just can’t seem to move off the Bermuda Race Thread. Here is a remark from Scotty Kaufmann taken from Scuttlebutt. Scotty is of course entirely correct in his statement. He designed a similar surgery to the first “Boomerang”, designed and built by Bob Derecktor and had a serious case of the slows. Scotty’s changes made it a competitive boat. 
    My fondest memory sailing with Scotty is the St. Petersburg to Ft. Lauderdale race, was it in 1980?  It was a fresh breeze from the north. Bob Derecktor was aboard. It was a shy reach at the start. (remember these are the days when everything was big and heavy.)  “Boomerang” was 66 feet; so a mini-maxi in the class with “Kialoa” at 80 feet.
    We were able to hold the spinnaker with two people steering. It was real work. Jeff Neuberth, Scotty and myself were rotating every 15 minutes steering, while the one out would watch the compass. We were holding the big boats in front of us, pushing water, going 17 knots. 
  There are many associated stories, some of which might be too colorful for print. 
      Larry Ellison and the America’s cup were at the White House yesterday. Today they will be in Newport, RI.  Newport must be very excited, Larry Ellison also happens to own a house in Newport, which has led to speculation that Newport could be a legitimate contender for the America’s cup in the future. It is unlikely, Space and money are the primary obstacles.
  All of these musings should be put in the context ofthe BP oil spill, now 73 days and counting, and the still fragile economy of the world.
I am in California, north of San Francisco, visiting my children, I am reminded each time of the variety and beauty of California. This is wine country, and for many there is the association with France, however these colors and shapes are for me much more like Spain. 

Commodore Tompkins

Warwick Tompkins, one of the finest sailors I ever had the pleasure of sailing with. Not only a complete seaman, but a great closed course sailor as well. Independent minded and clear thinking, which occasionally caused friction, but usually right. It may be that this personality trait kept him from being recognized as the truly great sailor he is.

I would, in the words of another friend, sail with Renzo, anywhere, anytime.

Boomerang

I raced the 1978 and 1980 Bermuda Races on George Courmantarous’ “Boomerang” originally designed and built by Bob Derecktor, substantially modified by Scott Kaufmann. I also sailed several SORC on the boat. We were a mini-maxi at 66 feet. caught between the two size breaks. Sailing the boat to it’s optimum, we had brillant moments. George went on to have a long line of boats by the same name. Jeff Neuberth playing a big role in the organizing of those campaigns.

My only other Annapolis-Newport Race was in 1981 on “Boomerang”. We finished close on the heels of “Flyer” and ended up second in our class.

As I have inferred I shortly withdrew from all competitive sailing to concentrate on Lirakis Safety Harness.