Voodoo

Haul Out and Refitting Summer 2006

Hmm ... what was I thinking?

I have hauled out and been doing repair work to Voodoo, and I have been sailing my small dinghy a lot in this summer. I pulled my boat this summer to fix a crack on keel and put new bottom paint. But It has been very hot (90-95 F) here in Atlanta.The work has been very slow mostly on the weekends.

I was going to race the Sunfish for the North Americans and the Worlds. But my body is not ready for the hike out. My body is much older than I was thinking.

It will take my friends and I at least another month to finish fixing my WL30, but we will have a fun working & drinking under my boat.

I am thinking to either put few coat of Interprotect 2000 & VC17 or put Teflon epoxy on the bottom. I will update you the progress.

Mas Azuma

Just a note** A friend of mine told me that he raced "Shockwave" (WL30 hull #2) at Block Island Race Wk with Paul Lindenberg , Mark P in just after modifications to its keel.

That was the year the new J 29 came on the market. The J 29 won the class and "Shockwave" took 2nd.( The J29 was rated 125 in PHRF - not anymore!).

Work Work Work ...But she'll be fast!

Two more coats of Interprotect 2000 and some VC17

and Voodoo will be back in the hunt!

Key West Race Week 2005 Update

Voodoo @Lanier Cup 2005

VOODOO and LLSC repeated to win the 2005 Lanier Cup last weekend !

This race used to have us all together ( Spin & Non spin) on same course. But we had two different courses this year (we just started all together).

The every participating yacht club was represented with the two spin class boats and the two non-spin class boats.

We used a Wavelength 24 and 30 (Voodoo) for our LLSC Spin. Class team. There was two races ( 9 mile & 7 mile) with 13-18 kt breeze for the Cup.

We were fast and pointing well on upwind. We took 1st & 1st place well ahead of 2nd place on both races.

I hope I will be able to send you the on the water pictures of races last weekend. But I am not sure who took the pictures.

I raced 4 out of 5 major regatta at Lake Lanier this year. And we took 1st overall in the class for 3 of the regattas ( Reggae Regatta / LLSC, Special Olympic Regatta / S.S.C and Barefoot Open Regatta / Barefoot S.C.) and took a DNS for our Dogwood Regatta ( I raced with the wrong but more fun class).

My crews for the Lanier Cup were Tony (Jib trimmer), Greg (tack), Holly (pit), Ron (fore deck) & Alex (Spin. trimmer). Voodoo could have used 1-2 more crew members for last weekend with the strong breeze.

It is getting cold here ( H-50's/L-30's) so I plan to go to our Sailing Club-house and play some poker with my fellow sailors. Perhaps I'll make some money in front of the nice warm fireplace.

I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving !

Mas Azuma

The pictures are from our Sea Dog / Bare Foot Open Regatta on 10/9-10/10/2005.

The first is from right after the start, and then a shot taken between the races

This was the last major regatta this season. (we have our last fleet race this weekend for this year).

I plan to pull my boat out of the water soon for minor repairs to keel, fix bulk head and put on fresh bottom paint.

I am also working to make the trailer for my WL30.( I have the frame done and just need to make supports).

Mas Azuma

Voodoo @Lanier Cup 2004

I raced Voodoo, production hull #3 this fall for the Lanier Cup (a race against the other five clubs in the area) http://www.uyc-atl.org/LanierCup2004Results.htm

Each sailing club enters four boats for the Lanier Cup, making for a regatta of 20 boats in the fleet, My boat placed 4-1-1 and our club LLSC took the Cup. It was a fun day. The foot block on my boat broke during the race. The original turning block does not turn well anymore, I am thinking to replace it with a Harken air block. The check stay system was not working too well (I noticed the fore stay was not tight enough) I would like to have the tracks & cars on the dog house (like a Capri 30's) for my check stay.

Pam Eastman of UYC took many of these great pictures of Voodoo during this regatta.

The start line of race.

From Left: Henderson25,S2 9.7,VooDoo,Catalina,Ultimate20 & Wavelengh24

Voodoo leading the pack.

Flying the kite.

Just dropped our spinnaker, before the leeward mark.

Just around the leeward mark

From the Left:

Mas Azuma, Lee Estes, Greg Cash, Tonny Miligan, Mike Mankin & Dean Holcomb

The dark clouds began moving in, as we were waiting for the next race.

You can see by the glow our voodoo magic was working.

A very good day & great time ( Especially for Tonny)

From Left: Dean, Lee, Mas, Tonny, and Greg, with Mike in the cabin mixing drinks

Dean, Lee, and Tonny were checking the posted course for the next race.

Mas was watching the big fish jump.

Looking for more wind on the left shore line, a key move in our win.

The Party: The winning 2004 Lanier Cup team from Lake Lanier Sailing Club

We were jibbing down wind w/ light air (10-13 knots) at Lanier Cup 2004.

When it's time to jibe, I have only one trimmer in the cock pit who trims the
spin-guy & spin-sheet using the winches on dog house. Another person controls
the pole & main sail. The bowman does the jibe with the pole with helper (not
needed w/ light air). I drive & clear the leech-main from back stay. I constantly
check speed all the time while sailing down wind. When the speed drops to
less than 5-5.5 knots, I will heat up the down wind boat angle.

I am 5' 7"(165lbs) and my bowman 5' 7"(150lbs). The rest of the crews are
6'+ (190-230lbs). I may still be able to use one or two more persons on the rail.

I hope my tips help you one day. (might not too)

Mas Azuma

Key West Race Week 2005 Update

I went to Key West Race Week 2005, racing with Dean Holcomb and Doug Kessler (Melges 24 North American Champ) from LLSC. We raced on a chartered Evelyn 32, "Phaedra". We were accompanied with other crew from LLSC taking in this event. We drove the entire 12 hours from Atlanta. The road being one lane (45-50 mph) from Key Largo to Key West.

I have an Oceanography degree and was stationed at the marine research station in Key West for two years back in the 1980's, so I looked forward to returning to Key West.

We had very windy conditions during KWRW 2005. The wind was 20-35 kt in the first 3 days of race week. And it was 10-20 kt in last two days. The first day of race, we had 4hrs delay of the start. The Mumm 30, J 80 and several other classes of boats did not race because of the heavy wind conditions.

We placed 5th out of a dozen PHRF A (Div.4) fleets. http://www.premiere-racing.com/05_KW_ResultS/kw_2005_DIV4_Series.htm

The other 2 Evelyn 32's were pointing better and a faster in mid to heavy wind. Our PHRF class had Olson29 & 30, NM 30, Bene.10m (PHRF 90'-it is a KWRW PHRF rating). The Olson29&30's were not able to keep up with Evelyn 32's in the mid to heavy wind, but they did well in the last two races (10-15kt). A Nelson Marek 30, a hot custom MORC racer from Chicago, did very well in medium wind. The other two Evelyn 32 (One from CT and one from NJ) were very well sailed with crews of sail makers and New Zealanders.

The crew weight limit was 1450 lbs (6-9 people), so every boat had least 8 people, and some had 9. The more weight you have on the high side, you sail much better PHRF racing anything over 14kt.

There were many club champion racers (25-35ft) in attendance there. I have fun checking the other boats. One day, I went to the dock where the Maxi's, TP52's & Farr 40's were docked. I met John Kosteki who was racing with TP 52 "Samjack" from Annapolis. I used to race against John at the Sunfish World's several times about 20 years ago. He told me about his involvement with America's Cup-Oracle boat's and his around the world race. He had been winning the races in both the inshore and offshore events. It was a great afternoon of fun for me.

I also went to fishing with my old friends from Key West on Saturday. We caught 50lbs COBIA and many other fish in the Gulf of Mexico. Saturday was also the best day of week with the temperature at 75 F.

We have our first snow-ice today (January 29th). It is very cold here in Atlanta.

Mas Azuma

02/09/08