News

May 9, 2008

The thing about cats is they can accelerate far quicker than a monohull sailboat, as their hulls weigh very little and they are able to carry much more sail area. So when you sheet in you are going fast, right away. In addition there is very little boat in and under the water so the ride is super smooth – amazing in fact. On Wednesday afternoon, in only 12 or so knots of breeze, the boat got up speeds around 22 knots! The RBS 40 also participated in the first race of the RHADC Wednesday night series. RBS was here on a promotional tour, their next stop being Hyeres, France.

Michael Sanderson spoke on Monday evening, at RBYC, to a large group of adults and youth. The event was sponsored by RBS and adults we asked to donate to the Bermuda Sailing Association’s Youth Fund. Mr. Sanderson was the ISAF Rolex Yachtsman of the year in 2006.

Mike began by telling us briefly about his start and accomplishments in sailing. He is 36 and like many of the children in the audience, started as a child. He is from New Zealand and tells how his father used to drop him and his boat (on a trailer) at the ramp and then pick him up at the end of the day. One day he forgot his tiller in his dad’s car at that point he realized he needed to do for himself and ended up whittling up a stick to use for the day’s races. He said at times it was tough and when he complained to his father, his dad would just say “let’s wait 30 years and see if any of the other fellows are still sailing, if they are then I’m wrong, if they aren’t, then I’m right!”. None of the other fellows are still sailing and Michael has several major accomplishments to his name:http://www.bermudasail.bm/documents/Mike.SandersonPresentation.doc

Points that he wanted to make to the children were:

The fastest boat wins
Team work and believing in your team will lead to the best teams
If your boat is fast and you have a solid, consistent team you can get your head out of the boat and that’s when you win!