Kathie's first triathlon

It was fun!
I was unexpectedly nervous a few hours beforehand, but I didn't vomit and the race itself felt quite serene. During the swim and the bike sections, all that self-conscious chatter in my head was quiet as I focused on breathing! The running is a different story; it's not my strength and my conscious mind can easily keep up with me.

Dad's Murals

For Dad's birthday in 2001 Natalie and Charles painted murals above his bed. This year, Robert got his turn to join in the fun and painted a "heart fish." Charles' sailboat has changed in nine years! Natalie's tree includes lots of little details that don't show in the photo.

Peter's visit

Parkour in DC

Parkour is the art of moving through your environment as swiftly and effectively as possible using only the human body. More broadly it might be defined as the discipline of developing the physical and mental capacity of the human being while training to overcome obstacles. It is non-competitive and attentive to both progress and aesthetics.

In our usage, to parkour means to jump and climb on walls and structures that were not intended for such use, hopefully without drawing unwanted attention from skittish security guards.

April Vacation in Washington DC

Robert's Science Fair Project

They won so often, by so much, it got boring!

from www.na.northsails.com:

ELAN WINS AT AMERICAN YC SPRING SERIES

Powered by a 100% North Sails inventory, John Hammel and crew score 9 bullets in 11 races

John Hammel of Arlington, MA, and crew aboard his Beneteau 36.7 Elan had a banner weekend in Rye, NY, winning the American Yacht Club Spring Series, both in class and the coveted 1888 Trophy for best level performance. Racing in a very competitive 7-boat fleet, team Elan easily won the class by scoring nine bullets in the eleven-race series. John took a few moments after his excellent win to share some of his strategies on how to stay on top of the fleet.

Beneteau 36.7 Elan

What was they key to your victory/success at the AYC Spring Series?
I am fortunate to have an excellent crew who have been together for several seasons. In this event, we added two new sailors who I met while frostbiting on J/24s in Boston this winter. We put the two new folks in the floater and mast positions so they could get a sense for how we do things. While we had good boat speed (Gill Watt, David Sipes and Tim Platt are our trimmers), and reliably solid tactics (Ed Doherty), I think it was the crew's boat handling (Ron Imbriale, Cameron O'Connor, Trevor Perkins and Duffy McStewart on Pit, Bow, Mast and Floater respectively) that allowed us to consistently finish first. Eleven races means 22 spinnaker sets and eleven douses, each one was flawless with the chute drawing while still overlapped with mark, excepting the very last one, where I called for the hoist a hair early and thereby introduced a twist on the way up. Douses are “no brainers,” and I can call an extra gybe at the last minute or ask for a "Mexican floater" with six lengths to go and they respond every time. This gives us more options and confidence than most other boats on the course.

Our complete North Sails inventory was also instrumental for us, especially our new 2S AirX 600 chute, which we got in the Fall, and used at the Spring Series in 15 knots true and below. The #3, while having hundreds of races on it, still performed well in the one breezy we race had. (Note: Team Elan races with a 100% North Sails Class Sail Development inventory.)

Do you plan on staying with the Ben 36.7 indefinitely? Is there another class that interests you?
The Beneteau 36.7 is just a fabulous boat. I use it to day sail with friends, cruise with the family and race as often as possible. As long as there continues to be a strong one design class, I'll likely stay with it.

What’s next for Elan?
Elan will participate in our Club races including NYYC Annual Regatta and NYYC Race week and then we will begin an intensive program of one design racing in September to prepare for the Beneteau 36.7's North American Championship in Annapolis in October. This will be the first North American Championship we’ve raced in since finishing 3rd in the 2006 event.

What advice would you give a new Ben 36.7 owner just entering the racing scene?
My advice for new 36.7 racers? Stay with it. I bought the Elan new in Spring 2003. In June of that year, we went to Block Island Race Week and after five days of racing, finished dead last in our class. That was seven full seasons ago. In the past three seasons, we've never finished worst than third at a Beneteau 36.7 one design regatta. It was a long, slow learning curve. So, stay with it, don't accept mediocrity from yourself, crew or equipment; always push yourself and your crew to improve. For example, when we got really dialed-in and were consistently winning at the AYC Spring Series this year, we made sure to check the time delta to the 2nd place boat at every mark and worked hard to extend on each leg, whether the delta was 3 seconds or 3 minutes. Always push for improvement and you will get it.