We decided to take advantage of some decent weather today and took the boat out on San Francisco Bay to shake out the cobwebs. My daughter (8 months pregnant), my son-in-law and me were just having fun and enjoying the view...
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24760-Stern Wake.jpg[/img]When off in the distance I spotted one of the Team Oracle AC45 catamarans out doing practice and testing...
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24761-AC45.jpg[/img]I thought I'd give the kids a thrill and show them an AC boat up close. So off we went in pursuit...
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24762-Are We Gaining.jpg[/img]I was doing 18 knots, the AC boat was changing jibs, moving slow. Besides, there was under 10 knots of wind. What could go wrong? It was only a matter of time before I would run him to ground. Or so I thought...
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24763-Hull Up.jpg[/img]About this time, the cat was squared away, off the wind and flying a hull. Even his chase boats were losing ground...
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24764-Bye Then.jpg[/img]I was on a fool's errand. Off he went into the distance, chase boats struggling to keep up. Truly marvelous. The technology and engineering embodied in these boats is so far ahead of what it was when I first started messing about on the water - it's like going from the stone age to the iron age in a generation.
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24760-Stern Wake.jpg[/img]When off in the distance I spotted one of the Team Oracle AC45 catamarans out doing practice and testing...
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24761-AC45.jpg[/img]I thought I'd give the kids a thrill and show them an AC boat up close. So off we went in pursuit...
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24762-Are We Gaining.jpg[/img]I was doing 18 knots, the AC boat was changing jibs, moving slow. Besides, there was under 10 knots of wind. What could go wrong? It was only a matter of time before I would run him to ground. Or so I thought...
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24763-Hull Up.jpg[/img]About this time, the cat was squared away, off the wind and flying a hull. Even his chase boats were losing ground...
[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/655012=24764-Bye Then.jpg[/img]I was on a fool's errand. Off he went into the distance, chase boats struggling to keep up. Truly marvelous. The technology and engineering embodied in these boats is so far ahead of what it was when I first started messing about on the water - it's like going from the stone age to the iron age in a generation.
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