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Showing posts from 2009

Just when you thought the season was over...

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One of my clients sent this spy photo of the Big K out for a fall cruise a couple of weekends ago. (Pictured: Jason Veatch and Marty Sandoval). Jason is all business as if you look close- you can see the Blackberry on his hip.

The Karma "YouTube" Channel

For a direct Link to other Karma Sailing Group Videos  or visit the YouTube Link on the links box to the right>>>

Determined & Ready

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KSG is ready for this weekend. Light hearted and ready to sail, the team enjoy a verse of the traditional Battle hymn "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Stones. Forecast looks to be challenging, competition is tough. But as the saying goes: "... It's better than the best day at work" So 36.7s - Please allow us to introduce ourselves.... ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

We Have Company!

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The two blips in this photo are Free Radical and Program, Further inshore is Legacy. (Program and Legacy are in the DH division). They worked their way up on us via the inshore route. We've got everyone on the low side and are putting the accelerator down. Glassy conditions are less than optimal. More soon. 1622 hrs CDT 7-20-09 ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

1300 hrs CDT 07-20-09

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Manitou Passage- 5kts on 7 kts of WS HDG 39 Degrees. The fleet has closed the gap a bit on us. Had the DH- Legacy in shore of us for part of the am. Breeze is getting light. Working to maintain Boat speed. It's looking like a Tuesday finish unless the breeze picks up. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

0445 CDT/ 07-20-09

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Sunrise at Pt. Betsie (Photo credit L. Sandoval/ Scott Seifert trims in the approach to Pt. Betsie) Team Karma spent a great evening and night off the coast of Michigan. A Spectacular sunset led the way to a starry night where optimal boat speed was the objective. With many faster boats in eyeshot of our position, the team remains focused on the completion of "leg 1" of the race. At the writing of this brief- the early morning watch is enjoying the start of a great sunrise and bidding farewell to the crescent moon. Until later.... ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Land Ho!

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Big Sable in site. Crossing tacks with the lead two 40.7s, SeaLark , and a 395 in our plan to clear Big Sable point. Offshore of us we have a couple of multis. Nice afternoon heat- time to peel off some layers. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Land Ho!

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Big Sable in site. Crossing tacks with the lead two 40.7s, SeaLark , and a 395 in our plan to clear Big Sable point. Offshore of us we have a couple of multis. Nice afternoon heat- time to peel off some layers. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

1439 CDT 7-19-09

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Sunny MI Coast- We have Raven a beam of us and have had her as such for much of today. M32,Farr 40's all around. Sunny afternoon helps keep the chill off from last night. Spent much of last night with Split Decision in shore of us. Great wind to which we were able to maintain good boat speed. When the lights came on this am- We noted her to have fallen back significantly. Visible- but a speck in the horizon. Crew is in good spirits compliments of the Eggs & Sausage Breakfast from Chez Marty. Good Boat speed now- have to go. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Fw: Rail Time

------Original Message------ From: Lou Sandoval To: Lou Sandoval ReplyTo: lou@karmayachtsales.com Subject: Rail Time Sent: Jul 19, 2009 2:21 PM Well it's been a bit of an up winmd race. We've all been getting our share of the port side rail. As the sun came up today. We got some good news- but there is so much work to do. As of 1413 CDT- the Sandy coast of Michigan welcomes us. The sun is out to warm us up from a chilly night. More Soon. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

2009 Team Photo

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Smiles from the Team as We prepare to leave DuSable. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

RTM- 1930 hrs 7-18-09 update

We've had light and variable winds working our way up the West coast of the Lake. Nice view of the North Shore for most of the afternoon. Chez Marty's menu had Turkey brst Sandwiches for lunch. It's been ALL ABOUT weight to leeward side. We may get to see the Sat night Fireworks in the Southern Horizon. The lights will be going down soon- time to get movin! ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

09 RTM 1402 hrs 7-18-09

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Pomp & Circumstance: HDG 019 1.32 kts. Oscillating breeze. Just changed from #1 to 1.5 to 0.5oz and back in the first bit of time. Wind is very light. Split D and the rest of the gang are just offshore of us. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

T-Minus 24 Hours..or so

The Warning Gun Party was held last night at CYC. As luck would have it- Mother nature threw us an interesting curve ball- a storm front that moved through just as everyone was arriving- Imagine that- not this spring? How can that be? Well- after it got everyone's 'Sunday best' a bit damp- it proceeded through - dropped the temp quite a few degrees and left a very comfortable evening in her wake. The afternoon- was a bit of a hodgepodge of stuff today- As "Mr. Murphy" (and his silly law) had his say- there were a series of 'character building bumps in the day' on many fronts. Thanks goes out to the KSG 'ground team' Jason "Flying V' Veatch and Mac Team member 'Scooter' Seifert for being available to head down to the harbor and help with an instrument calibration on the Big K. A few more things to check off the list. Chez Marty will be busy working on the meals for the Team as the rest of the team works on the list of things left

MOB Drillz

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The Karma MAC Team did their MAC- Man overboard drills this evening in prep for the race. The above photo serves as the reminder of what this race is all about for KSG. Going North FAST! A pleasant night with much accomplished. One of the team's last great views of our fair city. Gotta love the view. G'night Chi-town! ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

It's Starting to Get So Bad You Can't Sleep

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First 36.7 Section Start in the 100th Running of the Race to Mackinac (2008) It's a bit over one week away. On July 18, 2009 at 12:40pm Central time, the Beneteau First 36.7 Section will cross the start line for the 101st Running of the Race to Mackinac. For a fleet that has been in existence since 2002 in Lake Michigan, the twenty boat section for the 2009 Mac Race will once again be competing for the Mackinac Cup. While many other brands have tried to lay claim to being easy to sail or one of the fastest growing on Lake Michigan, they pale in comparison the First 36.7 Fleet . Having grown from just an eight boat fleet it's first year of launch, The 36.7's have have maintained a consistent growth rate over the past eight seasons. Even this year, amidst all the economic challenges in the country, they have added to the fleet where other fleets have lost members or been flat in growth. I'd like to think that it is due in part to the camradrie in the fleet, the competit

Veatch named as "Player of the Month"

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Team KSG sits in 1st at the MAC break for the BC series. In what was probably the nicest sailing evening of the season, KSG got around the course in very fine form. Adding a new bottle of MGR to the cabinet, The team got it together tonight. Outside of a minor "tactical kink" in week 4, the team has had a good Wednesday night series. Team KSG named Jason Veatch as " player of the month" for his stellar performance in the Chicago Nood. He has become quite the bowperson and commands the pointy end. Mid- Season BC STATS (Weeks 1-7) 2-2-1-18DNC*-2-4-1 ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Winner of the MAC Essay Contest Announced.

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Winn Shown here validating the merits of foul weather gear when it rains. The winner of the essay contest for the 8th man spot on Karma for this year's MAC has been selected. Karma Sailing Group is proud to announce that Winn Soldani has been selected from a deep and talented pool of applicants. This year's pool had former Nobel Prize winners, prominent sports figures and (of course) your token local politicians. Winn's essay stood out amongst the collective pool of applicants, because of the sensitivity and moxy that he showed in his curt but direct essay. Winn will be a valuable addition to this year's MAC team as he brings with him a lengthy list of skills of which 'sandwich maker' was NOT on the list. (hmmm). His experience in racing and understanding of meteorology compliments the skills of the 2009 MAC team. Winn joins Steve Mathias, Christina Cordero-Chadwick, Scott Seifert, Seth Morrell, Jack Buoscio, Martin Sandoval and Lou Sandoval as the 8th

Continued Proof Of Budget Cutbacks

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We've often heard the media use the term, 'things are tough all over' to describe the existing economic climate in our country. Sailing is not immune. One of our more 'sartorially challenged owners' forwarded this as an example of how we plan on maximizing the Karma dollar for the 2009 MAC. These spiffy shirts and sailing regallia are being modeled by some goofy Sailors out East. We found a great set at the Salvation Army depot on Clybourn avenue for very little $. I particularly like the boots on the guy closest the bow.. Sweet! Coming soon to a Mac Crew dearest to you.

You Can Pick Your Friends But You Can't Pick Your Neighbors

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Oh, The Joy this Holiday weekend will be. Family, Fireworks and our Slip Neighbors, Nice big yellow sign. Port & Starboard! WOW! ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Rum-Meter

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Team Karma is to the halfway mark. After two brutal back-to-back, glassy, light wind Wednesdays- the Rum meter is showing 1/4 full. Our carry over tally from the 2008 season was one bottle and we have successfully garnered one for the 2009 season. Situation critical. Next Wednesday is our last BC before MAC prep- Si Se Puede! (We can do it!)- How about putting a few more in the tank?

Check-in for Wednesday night

Checking to see who is in for tomorrow night. Know the Matias bros are out. Who is in/out? Lou Sandoval

Of All the years

All the years we've done the Chi-Wauk-Chi series and it has been a tear jerker (mostly because it's so painfully slow that you just can't wait to get there, jump on the Metra and come home). From this video shared by some boats within LMSRF- it looks like the ride up and back were fun. Figured as much when I woke up Sunday am- looked out the window and saw our SOX flag ripping in the wind like Milton Bradley ripping through the parking lot during a tirade(Sorry Jason and Scott ). Watch this video and check out the power reaching that these boats did. Looks like fun and makes you look forward to the Mac.

Baby Bauer is here! New Karma Crew Member

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Conrad- Our newest crew member. Congrats to the Bauers! Subject: Baby Bauer Lou & Jack, We had the baby last night. We're all tired, but doing very well. Little Conrad Bauer weighs in at 8 pounds 12 ounces. We've got some photos to send out soon. -Brian Sent from my iPhone

Karma NOOD Photos on Wilkes Site

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See the link below for pictures of the Karma Tator on the course this weekend. http://www.timwilkes.com/ Key word Karma

D3- Chicago Nood

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Where's the wind? We start day three flying the AP flag. Waiting for consistent wind over 3kts. (Note the city shaded by a bank of fog waaay in the horizon.) ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Chicago NOOD-Day 2 Report 2

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Finally got the last race off. Good breeze- very good start for the Karma-tator. Good ending to a warm and light breeze day. Pin End start with good distance. Rounded first weather mark in 5th. Mark approach and Down wind tactics were tricky due to very short legs (1/1.25mi). Lanes were tight. Lost a few boats dw. Tight leeward mark rounding, but great boat mechanics by our combo team. "Flying Veatch" is doing VG on the pointy end and chipping his teeth well during this Regatta. Finshed in 8th in a very tough Fleet. Dueled it out with Bella at the finish after two boats forced the to cede way at the finish. Bella beat us by a half boat length. Karma-tator Finished Ahead of Rally, Raptor, FOG, Joie,de vie,Erizo, Sail Monkey,AYW. First was a 4-way tie- all at 8pts. After day 1. It Looks like "maggie mae" is running away with it after a good day. They rounded both ww marks in first. Stingray was in hot pursuit ,but not hot enough to close in on them.

Chicago Nood Day II

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So this was the view from DuSable harbor this morning. Pretty telling of what we've seen so far. Great day for catching some rays. Sailing on the other hand- very light and variable. We managed to pull off one race this am in very light and variable conditions. 6kts of breeze by time our section started. We're currently on postponement as of 2:00pm. Waiting, swimming, telling tales. We've moved in closer to shore. The hot temps on land will hopefully bring us a shore breeze. We'll see. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

D1 Chicago NOOD Report 2

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Karma is in dire straits- very low on Pringles. Rationing in effect. May withdraw if levels become critical... Seriously, right about now "Abercrombie" Steve and SCOOTER are looking like geniuses (miracles do happen) for having ditched their crewmates in favor of somewhat tamer (and drier) land-based activities. Begs the question: "Who's the dummy". No progress. Just the usual- Cristina is smiling politely thinking "Boy do these guys smell like sailors". Great Sandwiches BTW. Glad I brought a book- "Hardball...How Politics is played...by Chris Mathews" ZZZZZ......ZZZZZZ ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Day 1- Chicago NOOD-

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From the Looks of it, the saying " A bad day on the water is better than the best day in the office", holds true as Team Karma (tator) has enjoyed lunch in the midst of the weather postponement. Spirits are high. What else can you do ? As we wait for Mom Nature to grace us with safer race conditions. More to come. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

KSG Weight Plan 10 days

Enclosed is a link to the new Karma make weight in 10 days diet. So since the NOOD is just around the corner is eight days away we can do the abbreviated plan. http://healthandlight.com/TheMasterCleanse.pdf

6-3-09 Tally

Grocery list: Need Fermented adult beverages Here's the headcount for tommorrow: YES- Marty,Jack,Jason, Brian, Scott, Steve, Doug ?- Kip NO- Drew, Lou ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Wed Night Roll Call

Team K: Quick Note to see who is in/out for tommorrow night. We are getting pretty close to NOOD time. Please reply with your availability. Regards, ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

NOOD Regatta Info

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124-NOODBanner368.jpg For Info on the Chicago NOOD Regatta June 19-21, 2009 at Chicago Yacht Club. Visit the Following Link: http://www.sailingworld.com/nood_regatta.jsp?location=601

Sailing tonight

GAME ON! Grocery list: Adult beverages -need Arturos-check Wind- bring your own Weather- fleece and foulies most likely. See you there: 530p ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Karma is Tucked Away

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Team K: Karma made the trip up on this beautiful day and is tucked away in her slip. Have some tasks to check off. Plan on meeting at the boat Wed eve apres work. We'll send a list out with to do's as Jack and I are super bizzy getting client's boats ready. Will need help from all. Stay tuned. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

Karma Ready to Launch.jpg

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Team Karma: Karma has her bottom done and will be launching early next week. More Details to follow. Dock call for Wed. will go out under seperate cover. ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

The Days are getting warmer...

Karma Update: So we've finally been able to string together a series of nice days. Hopefully, that trend will continue so we can finally put the snow/cold weather gear away and think Sailing. Wanted to get a quick update out on the progress of the Karma Program- We've received the wood kit parts needed for the boat from France. The KYS service team is working on the boat in prep for the start of the season. Our prelim worklist for Saturday 4/18/09 is: -Boat/hull cleaning and wax -Cockpit wood clean and seal. -Spring cleaning of Karma Sailing Group Trailer -We may have a few other items. But we'll keep it short and sweet for now. Enclosed is an interesting clip on cross-training to prepare for the sailing season: SAILING FITNESS: FIVE TIPS FOR GRINDERS Harry Legum of Annapolis Sailing Fitness has been a trainer/coach for over twenty years, and has created a 'fitness for sailing' program utilized by many teams and illustrious sailors such as Terry Hutchinson and An

Team Karma Boatwork day

Team Karma: Wanted to put this out there so that you all can "clear the calendar" with the homefront. We are looking at a 900am rendezvous time at Crowley's on Saturday 4/18/09. Hit us back via email to let us know your availability. Info@karmasailinggroup.com Mr. Miyagi will be coordinating our first session: Hull waxing 101. Benjamin Moore will be leading the session of teak refinishing while Heini, AmyLite and Stella provide motivational umpf. CU there.

T-Minus ...

With the mild forecasts as of late, Can't help but think of sailing. Hope everyone can join us at Yacht-A-Palooza this Saturday 9-2pm at Crowley's. One topic that may be worthwhile sitting in on is: 2009-2013 Racing Rule Changes 12:00-2:00PM Learn about changes to the racing rules for 2009-2012. by Dr. Warwick Coppleson & Glenn McCarthy To see the details including the schedule for YP visit: http://tiny.cc/KYS_YP While we are on the subject of spring prep, how are we all doing on the " winter 15 "? Below I've attached a workout routine to think about... I've modified mine as follows: 1. Toddler lunge - While bending knees, lift screaming toddler up. Feet , shoulder width. Lift toddler from waist height to shoulder height. Repeat until crying stops. Repeat as necessary. [relevant Sailing activity: prepares for tactician's diatribes about how you never do anything right]. 2. Childcare Stairmaster - (note: need a home with multiple stairs). Run up/down s

Tips From the Bow

Hello All- not sure if you saw this in Scuttlebutt. Some good tips that apply to many of the roles on a boat.... Is it Sailing Season yet? TIPS FROM THE BOW Amy Ironmonger, a twenty seven year old trainee lawyer is making a name for herself in the Melges 24 fleet. Joining the class in 2005 she sailed with a number of teams before landing a regular place on board Scott Nixon and Terry Hutchinson’s Quantum Racing with whom she won the 2008 North American Championship. Here is a portion of an interview on the class website where she describes the secret to being a good bow person on a Melges 24: “One of the biggest misconceptions about the bow role is that you’re really only involved during the roundings. A bow person should be involved at all times during the race, even if being involved means hiking as hard as you can to hold a lane. There is a lot that goes into doing bow well and most of it comes from time in the boat, but there are a few simple techniques I’ve learned along the way

Sailing Continuing Ed: Safety at Sea Seminar

Safety at Sea Seminar Chicago Yacht Club is holding a Safety at Sea Seminar Saturday, March 14 at Belmont Station Clubhouse from 8:30am - 5:00pm. Its $90.00 for current members of US Sailing and $95.00 for everyone else. If you'd like to make reservations, please call 312-861-7777.

LMSRF Crew and Owner's Survey

If you have a second and wouldn't mind taking the LMSRF survey. ( It closes at midnight on the 7th.) It's a good chance to provide feedback on the the quality of racing in Lake MI. Keep in mind that LMSRF is the authority that coordinates the "non-major" regattas such as the Abe Jacobs, Mayor Daley, Hoblemann with the direct cooperation of the organizing authority (ie yacht clubs). Your candid feedback would be great. Take the survey at the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=oVlcxmEdZjcg16hfO70Kzg_3d_3d Lou Sandoval KARMA YACHT SALES, LLC Mobile: (773) 230-7761 Office Number: (773) 254-0200 Ext. 2010 WEB: www.KarmaYachtSales.com ~Your Lake Michigan Sailboat Dealer Specializing in Beneteau & Alerion Express~ ____________________________________ Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T Wireless

2009 Schedule is Up.

The 2009 Karma Schedule is now up on the website . We've not decided what the Sheldon Clark will look like, but we'll most likely do one of the two days. Check with the schedule keepers on the homefront and book it Danno. USA-55367 Update : The KYS service team is working on getting her back in tip-top shape. Parts just arrived from France. We'll be having a boat 'work day' as soon as the weather breaks. One of us will be in touch regarding the dates/times. Talk to everyone soon! Team KSG