TY Delegates report 8 October 2011
Saturday’s race reminded me of a saying you may be familiar with, about people who choose to travel the path less trodden. Except I was mistaken, it’s not a saying at all but a misrepresentation of a line in a poem by Robert Frost (1874 – 1963) titled “The Road Not Taken”(see below). I digress. The connection made with what I thought was a saying was that there are many different ways a boat and crew can choose to plot their course. As today’s race was a handicap start it allowed for even more choices, especially if you disregarded the direction flags displayed on the starters boat. Most of us took the boring best likelihood of the shortest “most travelled” path to the first mark while the more adventurous of us, for example Dave, Keith and Mitch aboard Offshore Account, took the braver more interesting option of the “path less travelled”. Offshore Account even added some additional spice by approaching the top mark rounding against the generally accepted interpretation of the course directions, which caused some confusion amongst the other competitors rounding the mark in the other direction. Dave recons it was a “senior’s moment” and not a conscious decision to take the path less travelled. Sociologists might call taking the path less travelled deviant behaviour. I prefer to think of it as selecting the direction to get the most joy from the journey over a mundane but shorter trek to the top mark that might win a race. We salute you Offshore Account.
Regarding the rest of the race, from Frou Frou’s perspective anyway, we watched the rapidly approaching faster boats Rosstered Off and Out of Exile making easy work of the light winds with Out Of Exile just overtaking Rosstered Off on the final downwind leg to the x mark.
If the wind hadn’t died off in the last 30 minutes or so of the race I think the allocated handicaps (worked out from previous race finishing margins) would have resulted in much closer finishing times. As it was, Frou Frou crossed the line first followed by Out Of Exile, Rosstered Off, then Offshore Account on the dying afternoon breeze.
Most of us would agree that even though it did rain a little near the end the gentile winds made for a very pleasant if not slightly wet race.
The end Trev.
Robert Frost (1874 – 1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.
1. The Road Not Taken
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Starting the journey and staying alive and healthy
As you may recall at the end of last season I put out a challenge to you all to get out and be active during the off season, and, whilst doing so, help collect some important data for my study about the outdoor activity levels and fitness of the sexes. To recap, my theory is that more females are participating in outdoor activities, like running walking and cycling, than males. As a consequence females are becoming slimmer and fitter and males are getting fatter and les fit. From speaking to club members and employing action research techniques at last Saturdays sailing event it did not appear that many of you were able to fulfil my challenge and data collection request.
So I have another proposal for those of you that may be interested. On Saturday morning before sailing we go for a 30 minute walk (or run for those who are more mobile) along the lake foreshore and, whilst thusly engaged, do some observations of the passing active sexes then. If my casual observations are correct most of you will have some free time between 10:00 and 11:00 and be available to fit in a stroll for the betterment of society and science.
In the words of Michelle Bridges, “Pump up princess, get out and get active, your life depends on it if you want to stay healthy”.
I will be kicking off this Saturday from the club house at 10:00 if anyone is interested.
Trev
Saturday’s race reminded me of a saying you may be familiar with, about people who choose to travel the path less trodden. Except I was mistaken, it’s not a saying at all but a misrepresentation of a line in a poem by Robert Frost (1874 – 1963) titled “The Road Not Taken”(see below). I digress. The connection made with what I thought was a saying was that there are many different ways a boat and crew can choose to plot their course. As today’s race was a handicap start it allowed for even more choices, especially if you disregarded the direction flags displayed on the starters boat. Most of us took the boring best likelihood of the shortest “most travelled” path to the first mark while the more adventurous of us, for example Dave, Keith and Mitch aboard Offshore Account, took the braver more interesting option of the “path less travelled”. Offshore Account even added some additional spice by approaching the top mark rounding against the generally accepted interpretation of the course directions, which caused some confusion amongst the other competitors rounding the mark in the other direction. Dave recons it was a “senior’s moment” and not a conscious decision to take the path less travelled. Sociologists might call taking the path less travelled deviant behaviour. I prefer to think of it as selecting the direction to get the most joy from the journey over a mundane but shorter trek to the top mark that might win a race. We salute you Offshore Account.
Regarding the rest of the race, from Frou Frou’s perspective anyway, we watched the rapidly approaching faster boats Rosstered Off and Out of Exile making easy work of the light winds with Out Of Exile just overtaking Rosstered Off on the final downwind leg to the x mark.
If the wind hadn’t died off in the last 30 minutes or so of the race I think the allocated handicaps (worked out from previous race finishing margins) would have resulted in much closer finishing times. As it was, Frou Frou crossed the line first followed by Out Of Exile, Rosstered Off, then Offshore Account on the dying afternoon breeze.
Most of us would agree that even though it did rain a little near the end the gentile winds made for a very pleasant if not slightly wet race.
The end Trev.
Robert Frost (1874 – 1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.
1. The Road Not Taken
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Starting the journey and staying alive and healthy
As you may recall at the end of last season I put out a challenge to you all to get out and be active during the off season, and, whilst doing so, help collect some important data for my study about the outdoor activity levels and fitness of the sexes. To recap, my theory is that more females are participating in outdoor activities, like running walking and cycling, than males. As a consequence females are becoming slimmer and fitter and males are getting fatter and les fit. From speaking to club members and employing action research techniques at last Saturdays sailing event it did not appear that many of you were able to fulfil my challenge and data collection request.
So I have another proposal for those of you that may be interested. On Saturday morning before sailing we go for a 30 minute walk (or run for those who are more mobile) along the lake foreshore and, whilst thusly engaged, do some observations of the passing active sexes then. If my casual observations are correct most of you will have some free time between 10:00 and 11:00 and be available to fit in a stroll for the betterment of society and science.
In the words of Michelle Bridges, “Pump up princess, get out and get active, your life depends on it if you want to stay healthy”.
I will be kicking off this Saturday from the club house at 10:00 if anyone is interested.
Trev
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