February on the Bay with Artemis

Experimental Sailing Craft A foiling cat with a kite sail… Artemis 45 on her new foils today Artemis with Golden Gate Bridge This is a sailing winged catamaran… exciting day out on the water

Big Bad Boats

Rocket Science a mini-monster from the Cook Islands. This is 50 feet, water ballasted, twin ruddered, carbon fibered, wickedly fast boat with a 13 foot draft!!!! I stepped aboard a monster Sunday. The beast tethered to a dock. Sixty-five feet of ocean going, purpose built, go anywhere, under any conditions sailboat. The beast had […]

I Feel So Sorry for Billionaires

Banque Populaire is currently blasting south in the Atlantic towardCape Hornin an attempt to set a new non-stop circumnavigation record for a sailboat. The skipper is with Team Energy the French America’s Cup boat. I don’t often deal with a realm that is described by numbers. The sailboat Banque Populaire is 131 feet in length […]

The End is Near and Dear

Refurbishing a wooden sloop for the first time is an act of faith. So, first off forget about having things go according to plan. It is like the rest of life things don’t usually go that way. Life goes its way and you try to ride the wave or get the hell out of the […]

You’ve Got to See it With Your Own Eyes

I went once for a look at the Race for the Pole at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Whatever it is I was supposed to see I saw. Whatever I expected the experience to be like turned out to be true. The pig barn at the county fair stinks. The top fuel dragsters in Fremont smoked […]

Cast Your Fate to the Wind

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHELIA LAVERY Must have been that some of the worlds greatest sailors listened to Vince Guaraldi’s hit song, Cast Your Fate to the Wind. I’m no expert. What do I know? I’m looking at the same thing everyone else is looking at. I see a mark on the water and imagine how I […]

The Happiness of Larry Ellison

Riding the passenger’s position aboard Oracle on Saturday as Spithill vanquished the French boat Energy there was an opportunity to view the heart and happiness of our billionaire entrepreneurAmerica’s Cup tycoon in full happiness while witnessing what he has wrought upon the world of racing. It does my heart good to know a man […]

You’re No Dennis Conner

“I know Dennis Conner. Dennis Conner is a friend of mine.” Said a patron at the tavern I bellied up to. His friend from Scotland older and more subdued knew Dennis too. The two men offered by way of beer induced barrier reduction their back of the envelope opinion on this current incarnation of sports […]

San Diego for AC 45’s Flaming the Fans Passions

HarborIslandwas where the northernmost buoys for theAmerica’s Cup 45’s would be making their turn in Race 3. The buoys consist of two power boats that take their positions on the race course and then hold that position not by anchor but under power. They did fine. The start took place a mile south of where […]

Life as Transition

My beginnings as an entertainer started in 1974 with the Royal Lichtenstein Quarter-Ring Sidewalk Circus. I am on the left and Nick Weber the shows creator is on the right. After a year long national tour with the circus I struck out on my own. Sold my motorcycle and bought my 1967 Ford pickup and […]