SolidWorks


This year I'm taking a design tech class that is proving very useful for my creative mind. The course curriculum includes testing for CSWA and possibly CSWP in SolidWorks, a CAD program that is used by many successful worldwide manufacturing and design companies. In my free time as a way of practicing my designing skills in the program, I have been messing around with models of different structures. So far I've designed a basic exterior for a water tower, a toy car set that can be milled out of a piece of 2x4 (which is not yet completed), a make-up holder and pocket-watch holder, and a mast. This program has been a lot of fun and fortunately my school has provided student versions of the program for my use.



Thanksgiving Break

This Thanksgiving Break I stayed home to work on a school project while my parents and younger sister sailed on our family's 46 foot Outbound sailboat down to the Useppa/Cabbage Key area. While I was home I spent the time getting ahead in my schoolwork and practicing every other day on the water, in both lasers and multihulls. On Thursday I drove down to Punta Gorda in order to meet my family for a Thanksgiving brunch. I must have gained a few pounds after that meal! Saturday and Sunday were spent sailing in the Thanksgiving Regatta at Davis Island in an F18. Now it's time to get back down to business; I'm sailing at the Laser District 13 Championship back up at Davis Island next weekend and after that my next big regatta is the ISAF Youth World Qualifiers in Clearwater where I will be competing in a F16. A lot is coming up on my schedule!


Home Improvement?


Having the F18 at home has given me a great opportunity to work on some new setups on the boat, including a continuous cunningham and a better in-beam retrieval system. Today, after setting the boat up in the yard and working on these setups, I derigged the entire boat and loaded it on the trailer. I'm planning on attending the Thanksgiving Regatta in Davis Island this weekend so the boat will be on the road again soon!
A link to the regatta site here.

F16 Nationals

This past weekend Dalton and I went up to Panama City to compete in the F16 National Championship. We arrived Thursday to a good fleet of boats already rigged and heading out to the practice race. We were quick to rig and head out as well, but came in after only a 15 minute sail because of a setting sun. Friday brought about challenging light wind conditions and we had two races where we didn't place as well as we had hoped. Saturday consisted of a 5-10 knot breeze that lasted throughout half of the first race but became more patchy quickly after. Fortunately, the seabreeze kicked in somewhat later in the day and we were able to pull off some better results, coming in 1st in the second race of the day and 7th in the third. Sunday provided the best conditions of the event; a consistent 10-15 knot breeze. We pulled off 4th, 2nd, 2nd, and 5th place finishes in the four races of the day, landing us in 6th place overall. This event, even though the wind did not follow the forecast, was a great learning experience and a ton of fun. This event was run very well and I would highly suggest attending future regattas at this venue!
Photo thanks to Charmaine Le Patourel

Last Few Days

This past weekend Dalton and I have been practicing for the F16 National Championship, which is being held in Panama City, FL. Sandy gave us some bad weather around a week ago, canceling a few of our practices. We fortunately had the opportunity to put in long hours this weekend. Today's practice in the gulf was especially beneficial since we don't get a lot of time out there in those kinds of conditions. We're ready for some tough racing next weekend!

Buzzelli

After a long week of practice and off the water training, Dalton Tebo and I managed to come out on top at this past weekend's 6th Annual Buzzelli Multihull Rendezvous. The first day we had variable breeze, beginning with 10-15 knots from the Northeast that died to 5-10 from the North; we were dialed in with the breeze and pulled off a 2nd followed by four bullets. The second day we had a similar amount of wind and direction, 10-15 from the Northeast, and some cool air for a change. We remained fairly consistent with our scores and kept our position, even with an exciting pitchpole by the leeward gate during the first race of the day. After sailing in a competitive 16 boat fleet, we really noticed that our good starts were key to our success. It was important for us to push it at the line, but to still be careful!


UM

This weekend my family and I took a trip to Miami to visit schools, particularly the University of Miami. This school's beautiful campus and top ranked programs really attracted my attention during my visit. The Schools of Engineering and Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science both stand out to me because of my interest in both the engineering and meteorological fields. I will definitely be applying to this school in the near future!



Mondays and Fridays

Just another day on the water! We are having our multihull practices on Mondays and Fridays after school and they are going really well so far. This past weekend the SYS held a garage sale fund raiser which was pretty successful. The Buzzelli Multihull Rendezvous is coming up in two weeks and the F16 Nationals in around four weeks so it's time to get down to business!