SLSAILING.COM – The Portal Magazine for SL Sailing.

In a few days 2008 will draw to a close, and another annual chapter of SL sailing history will reach it’s conclusion.

Some time ago, Taku Raymaker told me he felt this New Year was particularly significant.  Waypoint Yacht Club had just turned one year old, and in that very short time it had earned the respect and admiration of sailors across the grid. I’m a huge fan of NYC Racing, as everyone knows… but today I’m willing to admit it: Waypoint under Commodore Raymaker’s direction has the best race fleet anywhere in SL. Does any one dissent?

[Grin. OK Taku, I said it, you're the "Fleet to Beat.." but watch out in 2009!]

So? How do you celebrate such a great year? Well, Taku of course knew there was really only way: You have a boat race!
But not just any race. This race needed to acknowledge more than the end of the year. It would celebrate the end of an entire phase of sailing in Second Life. United Sailing Sims of 2008 was about to disappear; all of those wonderful evening cruises and photo finish races held across the 130 sims would soon be just a memory. In early January 2009 the United Sailing Sims will move across the grid, shuffle its sims, and a new USS will join waters with the mainland Nautilus maritime region. A new and different phase will begin.

Yesterday’s Leetle Cup Distance Race was Taku’s thoughtful tribute to the past year of USS sailing, and it was perfect.

The course covered much of the territory of the USS, and traveled through the race waters of all seven USS sailing clubs. As the race progressed, the SL map showed a remarkable procession of raceboats laid out across the course. The weather conditions were great for the racers, and the long string of race sails whizzing past made it just as exciting for the observers.

One of my favorite memories of WYC this past year was an early morning many months ago when Taku sent a notice he was racing in Hollywood. I suspect most people in the Western Hemisphere were asleep, and the only note  I got was in Japanese. It was just a regular club race, nothing special. Grin… except sailors noticed it was Taku’s race…

So many sailors showed up for the race that morning that Hollywood sim overloaded (cough). God bless Nber Medici for jumping in and contacting the concierge to increase the sim occupancy so Taku’s fleet could set sail that morning!

And guess what? The same thing happened for The Leetle Cup Distance Race yesterday. Long before the race started, WYC’s sim overloaded with the incoming rush of contestants and excited spectators. Taku must be an old hand at this now, because he managed it smoothly; and the race start was near perfect.

I counted eighteen boats in the prestart, not a bad tribute to the event and Taku’s skill, I’d say. (Wasn’t Epi complaining recently that sailors weren’t racing as much?)

The competition was outstanding, and top awards went to the first three finishers. Ahjep Kattun’s first place time was nearly ten minutes faster than the top finisher in last week’s LCDR practice heat (which was won by Yacht Harbour). Commodore Raymaker read a message from Jacqueline Trudeau commending the fleet for the remarkable effort.

She certainly got that right. The Leetle Cup Distance Race was indeed an event to remember, and a wonderful final racing tribute to both SLSailing 2008 and the USS sailing waters we’ve shared together over the past year. It was a wonderful moment to pause and reflect, as we prepare for a new set of racing challanges in 2009.

Race Results:

1: ahjep Kattun – +00:51:59
2: Takeshi Schnyder – +00:52:25
3: Hypatia Rieko – +00:58:57

4: Alain Gloster – +01:01:17
5: Odysseus Yiyuan – +01:01:49
6: Miwha Masala – +01:01:59
7: Massy Johin – +01:02:24
8: nobuko Criss – +01:02:31
9: Kei Cioc – +01:02:45
10: reia Setsuko – +01:03:45
11: jeremia Spotter – +01:04:11
12: Heidi Stiglitz- +01:04:20
13:  shinobi Woodget – +01:06:15
14: REVO Blitz – +01:08:19

Lap Times:
Takeshi Schnyder– lap 0: +00:00:25
Massy Johin– lap 0: +00:00:34
jeremia Spotter– lap 0: +00:00:48
macro Nacht– lap 0: +00:01:08
Yacht Harbour– lap 0: +00:01:08
nobuko Criss– lap 0: +00:01:08
nemu Yoshikawa– lap 0: +00:01:08
Liv Leigh– lap 0: +00:01:08
ahjep Kattun– lap 0: +00:01:32
Heidi Stiglitz– lap 0: +00:01:32
Odysseus Yiyuan– lap 0: +00:01:32
Kei Cioc– lap 0: +00:01:32
reia Setsuko– lap 0: +00:01:32
Miwha Masala– lap 0: +00:01:59
Hypatia Rieko– lap 0: +00:01:59
shinobi Woodget– lap 0: +00:01:59
Alain Gloster– lap 0: +00:02:29
REVO Blitz– lap 0: +00:03:31
ahjep Kattun– lap 1: +00:51:59
Takeshi Schnyder– lap 1: +00:52:25
Hypatia Rieko– lap 1: +00:58:57
Alain Gloster– lap 1: +01:01:17
Odysseus Yiyuan– lap 1: +01:01:49
Miwha Masala– lap 1: +01:01:59
Massy Johin– lap 1: +01:02:24
nobuko Criss– lap 1: +01:02:31
Kei Cioc– lap 1: +01:02:45
reia Setsuko– lap 1: +01:03:45
jeremia Spotter– lap 1: +01:04:11
Heidi Stiglitz- +01:04:20
shinobi Woodget– lap 1: +01:06:15
REVO Blitz– lap 1: +01:08:19