Squeezed in an all-day Match Racing clinic out at Oak Cliff Sailing Center on Saturday (in a driving rain storm). Great info. The clinic was led by legendary sailor Dave Perry (Dave is actually seated in front of the computer in this picture and in videos below, NOT standing with red jacket).

There are so many references to him and his accomplishments on the Web, I didn’t know where to link to. It’s humbling to sit in the audience, and later this year looking forward to getting some of his insight when we’re out on the water. Oak Cliff’s Exec Director, the super accomplished Dawn Riley , took over after to talk about the upcoming season and sounds pretty exciting. Dawn Riley on Twitter here.

If you’re curious what one might learn in a Match Racing clinic here is a small clip — Dave turned to the presentation over to a couple of the umpires in the audience. During the race two boats follow the race looking for penalty’s and the call the race out loud on the boat to keep track of what’s going on in front of them:

Oak Cliff – One from John Pasmore on Vimeo.

Oak Cliff – Two from John Pasmore on Vimeo.

The clips just give a sense of the day and apologize for their lack of substance, but you know, you gotta sign-up for the clinic! Takeaways were read the rules and know the rules because your tactics are dictated by the rules as much as the wind.

A North U (university) sailing seminar looks something like this picture. Less than riveting. Looks aside the time spent was solid. It’s hard to learn sailing in a classroom or by reading a book.

But it’s is part of what you need if you want to push sailing skills forward. There are some basic parts of sailing that are best introduced in a class and then repeated again (and again) on the water. Instructor, Bill Gladstone was great and while sharing theory preached to simply “sail fast.” Sounds obvious, but that simple statement is what racing trim is all about.

Why do you want a “twist” in the mainsail? Because you go faster. And we could spend hours discussing the aerodynamics involved, but we stopped with fast. The best resources I found getting me started in sailing was taking an ASA course, “Introduction to Keelboat Sailing” while on vacation in Miami. If I were to do it over again I would opt for the same course given by US Sailing, but the learnings are the same.

And there are no shortage of boat owners (Captains) who need crew. It’s a challenge to round up three or four people every time you want to take your boat out, so it’s an opportunity to learn. There is a unique zen-like connection to the elements when sailing that I haven’t felt in any other sport (err…maybe kayaking, maybe even scuba diving, and xc skiing but different zen). Zen or adrenaline, looking forward to warm weather…being back on water if/when schedule works with the wind…humbling being around these coaches and teachers though, so much to learn, so much to know…

As I toss on a few layers to run across the Brooklyn Bridge I’m guessing that my wife thinks I’m nuts. Given the weather. The fact she doesn’t say anything…at all…cements the POV. Yeah, we’re probably both thinking about the torn calf muscle last year and the 8+ weeks of rehap or… maybe not. Who knows really, it’s not worth asking.

I made it and had little company on the bridge. First none at all which was a little disconcerting as it was only 7PM and usually there are reams of folks. But I made it to Brooklyn and to Tillary Street certainly without seeing another runner. The way back, still no runners, a bicycle (one), feet down, trying to guide his way down the hill. Good luck, I’d walk. I didn’t look back to see if he’d agree with my thinking.

By now the snow is stinging my face and coming at a steep angle. Occasionally a large-ish piece of snow/ice comes off the bridge from somewhere up above and lands with a thud. I understand why they might close the bridge to pedestrians. I read later that some unfortunate dude is killed in Central Park by falling branch weighed down by the snow and, as always, realize life can be shortened in the most bizarre and capricious ways.

“…The man, Elmaz Qyra of Brooklyn, was killed around 3:30 p.m., along a picturesque stretch called Literary Walk, named because of the statues of Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns overlooking it…”

But gear is holding up well (could have used cramp-ons). In the midst of what was becoming a driving snow storm a lone Indian (looking) tourist tries to flag me down to take his picture — err — I passed on the opportunity. I was “running” the bridge – thought that was obvious, and welcome to New York. I mean c’mon.

Anyway, gear:

Clear lenses in ESS glasses,

Wool hat (which actually was keeping me warm even though it was very wet),

Some Patagonia liners for gloves,

New Balance sneakers,

Inexpensive Duofold Long Johns that were doing as well as much more expensive merino long johns I left at home (was 32 degrees out),

Icebreaker merino long sleeve short (like my Patagonia merino better, but Icebreaker did the job and scored it at steep discount from Gilt Group wedged amidst the tight and attitudinal designer wear that is the stock/trade of their email offers),

And an old Marmot pull-over waterproof shell (am a pretty big fan of Marmot),

Basic pair of Red Ledge water-proof/slip-on/velcro/zip-up pants,

Wrapped up the iPhone running Runkeeper App in an OtterBox Defender which did its job as well. Personally I just keep the iPhone in a Nathan runners pouch, not purpose-built but works for me.

I do three+ miles in the wet snow. Is kinda fun. And as long as I don’t trail water through the apartment wife is fine….I think.

Escaped to Hunter Mountain in upstate New York for a quick ski lesson. I need all the help I can get so a quick day trip to follow-up on whatever was learned the last time I skied. The drive from New York City was a solid two hours and more with traffic (got Zip Car back late thx to traffic).

Am always trying to find some time to get outside and this week managed to pull this off. I had a great instructor who I would recommend, George Schneider, who didn’t waste any time taking me to the top of the hill (though a short one).

It would be great to have two weeks of skiing, but I’m not really seeing a ski vacation on the horizon — am much more beach/sail focused. I will work on practicing though and looking to try Mountain Creek in New Jersey. It’s closer and the hill (mountain) doesn’t make that much of a difference — at my skill level snow is snow.

The trip to Hunter Mountain (800-486-8376) was mostly via I-87 and there were no shortage of State Troopers writing tickets. I think my GPS (iPhone running CoPilot – poorly) clocked in around 120 miles door-to-door. Did the whole thing as a day trip but the town looks like a good option for a mini-vacation with antique stores, small B&B’s, bars and restaurants. Maybe not now, or for me, but for anyone who wants to get out of the City and explore upstate, Hunter is a good option and is past New Paltz (someone should build them a website) in the Catskills and not far from Woodstock. And you can learn to ski.

(Taking Pictures from Ski Lift: advice caution when trying to take pictures from Ski Lift — as above — number one you’re holding ski poles (2), and you’re fairly high off the ground, and then you’re moving. So in addition to maintaining control of the ski poles you need to remove and hopefully not drop gloves, and then don’t drop iPhone or camera while taking picture pretty much one-handed (if attempting solo) — and with iPhone you’re only guessing as to what you’re taking a picture of as in the extreme bright light is difficult, at best, to see the screen – same issue in sailing, but without the risk of dropping gear or yourself from height. Obviously, you need to do all the above and then be prepared to ski off the lift when it arrives at top of hill/mountain. But skiing is all about risk taking anyway…or managing risk. Stay safe…)

Gear: Have all I need and rented ski’s, boots, poles AND helmet. Patagonia gloves were not up to keeping fingers from freezing after a couple of hours, but other than that all good.

I’m a bit of a gear junkie so finding a new outdoor store in NYC was a Sunday highlight. The Fjällräven store was a little tricky to find. It’s downstairs and doesn’t yet have a sign. This Swedish classic is located 262 Mott Street between Prince and Houston, but again the important part is that it’s downstairs.

The brand isn’t big on modern fabrics like Gore-tex, though they have a breathable textile they use. Most of their garments can be waxed to get a waterproof or water-resistant finish and they’ve been rocking some of the designs for decades. Hipster outlets like Steven Alan (which I like) have pieces from the collection, in the same way you’d find pieces of throwback brands like Filson at hipster shops across the City.

I’m always looking for gear that can achieve some sort of multi-sport utility. I really don’t understand why the waterproof “foul weather” gear for sailing doesn’t really work for hiking or cross-country skiing. Or boots for boats can’t be boots for fly-fishing. They can actually. I use Chota boots for both sailing (knee high) and for scuba (ankle-high), though they’re built for fly-fishing. In any case, Fjällräven has some great stuff (though not inexpensive). Love the pants that are trail ready but won’t get you tossed from some bar on the LES. Much of the line can be used cross-sport as it was created at a time when a coat was a coat. That’s good enough for me and they’re built to last a lifetime.

Another weekend and another warrior get-away: Lake Minnewaska (again). Didn’t have to go too far — Minnewaska is about two hours north of NYC, and at least there was snow.  Rock and Snow on Main Street in New Paltz provided the skis, boots and poles for I think $17, and you can pick up virtually anything you need there for this trip or any trip really.

The 17 degree weather added a little wrinkle, but as expected it was warm as long as we were moving. Or warm-like. But this was the first time this year we’d got out cross-country skiing so we really weren’t moving very fast.

And if we weren’t moving slow enough, I broke my pole sitting down for lunch — or slipping down for lunch. Wow, we were just maybe mile and 1/2 from trail head and was a little tricky getting back (for me) but manageable. Really we were headed from Minnewaska over to Lake Awosting via a loop (about 8 miles) — took Castle Point Carriageway there with the idea of coming back via the Upper Awosting Carriageway.

But one of the three of us bailed and headed back for the less steep trail off the parking area (without the cliffs). And there was a brief time while all three of us were separated, which is not a big issue on a sunny day on groomed trails, but generally want to avoid that. And the one of us ended up at the car without the key. Given the temperature in the teens, it basically meant that we would push forward just a bit and the bail ourselves sooner or later.

Well the broken pole nixed the later option and sometimes you gotta take what mother nature gives you; in this case a gentle push backwards. Which is what we did. This means another trip to the Lake to finish the started mini-trek.

On the gear front (other than the pole) all worked out pretty well. I went with Marmot insulated pants and shell/jacket. As a side note, I don’t think most Gore-Tex should be considered water “proof” maybe water “resistant” up to some point.

A little insulation here and there — polypro base later, wool undershirt from Patagonia, wool sweater from Woolrich, and the Marmot shell. Was fine. Hat + balaclava and couple pairs of gloves and was within the realm of warm-ish.

Looking forward to getting back.

Got out for a post-Christmas excursion with brother-in-law. And, of course, testing some gear for some eventual bigger trip (Greenland). All good. Great gear store there in New Paltz, Rock and Snow, def worth stopping through. Did the short loop around the lake — a little snow — was hoping for some x-cross country skiing but rain wiped that option off the map. For now. Rock and Snow rents ski’s — so just waiting for the snow.

iTopoMaps was ready if needed (wasn’t needed) downloaded Quad night before. Otter Defender Case also seemed fine in 30 degree weather, though having to take gloves off to motivate the iPhone will become a pain point in anything much colder.

Wow. What a turnout for a rainy Wednesday (12.2.2009). Hosted an event with my friends from LastExit.tv (Paul, Nuri and Willie) in an attempt to share connectivity all at once as opposed to one e-troduction at a time. Worked! Thanks to John McDonald at the Merc Bar for the perfect space down in Soho (my full attendee list below).

Willie Mack from LastExit and I have traded many, many contacts and what started out as an idea for a dinner turned into something much larger. Merc Bar has a bunch of memories — my first business in NYC Oneworld had an office at 73 Spring Street — was a fav haunt of then partner/ad director Bill Gibson.

LastExit’s list below is followed by mine (with live links where possible):

LAST EXIT‘S LIST:

Adam Bell, Branding Agent

Adam Shore, Owner the Daily Swarm

Amy Kolker, Owner Jane Street Projects

Ann Ogunsulire, LVMH/Belvedere Global Brand Manager

April Guidone, Senior Events/Projects Glamour Magazine

Catherine Lillie, Exec Producer McCann Erickson

Catherine Patterson, Exec Producer McCann Erickson

Chris Drago, Parter Neo @ Ogilvy Worldwide

Dan Barasch, Director of Partner Engagement/Media Start at Pop!Tech

Gil Linton, Partner at The Joneses

Guia Golden, Presence Marketing Director at Diesel

Mike Eastwood, Director/Producer

Nigel Marcenssem, Engineer/Architect

Rafa, Jewlery Designer Brazil

Ranfi Rivera, Exec Dir Business Dev & Institional Dev at WNET.org

Richard Coughlin

Shawn Gold, CEO Cocodot

Thomas Bunn, President Mission Media

Tommy Everett, Product Designer at Bureau

Warren Seubel, TV Producer/Hedge Fund

——————-

JOHN PASMORE’s LIST FOLLOWS (Voyage.tv):

Adam Bauman, co-founder, STI Management

Adriana Kaegi, president at dearaddy

Alexandra Akira, Cushman & Wakefield Real Estate

Alexis Stember, Producer at Berlin Cameron United

Ari Horowitz, CEO at BlackBook Media

Ariane Marder, Voyage.tv

Barney Monte, Vice President at Rodman & Renshaw, LCC

Bob Ennis, Managing Director at Petsky Prunier LLC

Brent Zachery, Model

Brett Barndt, New Product Development and Change Management

Charles Damato, Partner, Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP

Chioma Nnadi, Style Editor Fader Magazine

Chris Becker, CEO Filemobile.com,Twitter: beckercs

Chuck Baker, CEO Fileblaze.net

Darman Lopez, CEO, Axon Ventures LLC

David Blend, Editor at Thrillist,

David Gallimore, EVP of Sales & Marketing Encore Marketing

Dominique Debay, CEO Dominique Debay Hotel & Resort Marketing

Eddison Bramble, Real Estate Developer

Evan Schreiber, Sr. Director, Business Development 5min.com

Guy Alveraz, CEO, Premium Lifestyle Croup

Henry Watkins, Voyage.tv

J. Mathew Yohanon, Portfolio Manager: TMT at Balyasny Asset Management, L.P.

Jason King, Artistic Director at NYU’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, CEO of Superlatude Music Group, Inc.

Jayson Jackson, Founder, Seven Days Entertainment

Jeff Kolton, Principal, Franchise Market Ventures, LLC

Jesse Kirshbaum, CEO/Talent Agent at NUE Agency & Co-Founder of SoundCtrl

Jessica Robinson, OWNER at JESSICA ROBINSON JEWELRY

Juan Carlos Anglero, Founder & CEO Evenagamba

Kobi Wu-Pasmore, Adjunct Professor at New York University

Madhu Puri, Journalist

Michael Green, CEO Brooklyn Surfer

Michael Scott, Partner/C.V.O

Mindy Wyatt, Owner, Rafikvideo.com

Mobolaji Dawodu, Stylist, Fader Magazine & Freelance

Moni Reyes, Model/Filmmaker

Nick Hetherington, Managing Director at NY Living Solutions

Nitro, Nightlife Entrepreneur

Norine Fishman, Premium Lifestyle Croup

Renita Bernard, Manager II at PricewaterhouseCoopers

Roy Edmondson,Partner/SVP Brand Practice/Global Account Director at Ketchum

Sheldon Gilbert, Founder & CEO of Proclivity Systems

Sil-lai Abrams, Owner at Sepia LLC

Sun Kang, Analyst at Merrill Lynch Private Banking & Investment Group

Terry Singh, Internet Entrepreneur

Valerie Idehan, Founder, ValStyle, Twitter: ValStyle

Willie Mack, Exec Dir of Engagement at Last Exit LLC

thanks again…look forward to the next one…! Apologies to anyone I forgot (drop me a note).

Nothing like a good ghost story as the leaves change and the weather adds a chill. I went to visit Raynham Hall Museum with Executive Director Harriet Gerard Clark after a recent meeting in Oyster Bay.

An after hours and after sundown visit to some speculative property in a sleepy town is always a good test of one’s courage — especially a property with a specter-filled reputation. But this property is as steeped in Colonial intrigue from the days of George Washington as it is in modern day ghost stories. But I will say it was strangely chilly.

Oyster Bay has been my sailing launching point for late-season frost-biting and somehow it just gets more interesting the more I go. I’ve always been fascinated with Long Island’s north coast — from the Charles Lindbergh mansion to Sag Harbor there are great stories, with great treasures like Caumsett State Park –  there’s much more to see…or not…

First time out this weekend on a Shields 30. Pretty exciting on a windy day. 4 boats (all Shields), 12 or so crew (one down for stitches after a boom/accident). Stepping on a boat you don’t know (especially for a race) is always a little nervy. You get about 10 minutes of instruction, given while you’re getting underway, over the noise of the wind,  and then you’re off.

We were doing three person crews generally with the buoys laid out earlier than the 10AM start and the committee boat standing by. First call was there was too much wind for Spinnakers (gusts probably to 25 maybe 30 knots I dunno).

I was on the Main Sheet, so was in the very small cockpit between the helmsman and Kirk working the jib. Kirk then jumped (literally) to the committee boat to assist getting Bernie to the hospital — leaving just the two of us. And as two we won the first two.

The jib was very unlike the bigger boats as you’re really releasing with one hand and trimming with the other — hopefully at the same time. There’s kind of an art to this while ducking under the boom. Good bit of water coming over the bow as well. And loud (wind).

In good wind the boat comes about quickly and heels so the rail is in green water before you know it. In wind. All good — nothing like a few hours in the wind to make you forget anything else but wind and water. I don’t even really know where this nautical fascination came from — think it’s all part of a general wanderlust. Is perfect for now. The boats are courtesy of Oak Cliff Yacht Club (more on Oak Cliff here: http://very.fm/little-rainlittle-fog).