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International Tempest Last updated 07/27/2010

"the fastest one-design keelboat, period!"

Calling all USA Tempest owners, if you would like to become a member of the United States International Tempest Association, please contact me.

Anyone have a Tempest for sale or knowledge of an unused Tempest? We have someone interested.

something that all of us that sail should probably read:

The new captain jumped from the cockpit, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the owners who were swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

How did this captain know, from fifty feet away, what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC). Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:
1.Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. Th e respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
2.Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3.Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4.Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5.From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

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Whoohoo!

3rd place in division

18th overall in the singlehanded division.

Tempest Rock!

I'm racing again. 2010 Edition of the world famous Singlehanded Sailing Society of San Francisco's "Three Bridge Fiasco".

My wife and I assisted on the race deck last year, which turned out to be the largest regatta

in North America. This year "Mr. Bone" hits the waves again sailing singlehanded in the sportboat

division. 300+ boats again this year, big ebb tides will be a major factor as the current rains

in California are now swelling the streams and rivers.

Some quick pics of the race. Recap to follow.

Rounding Blackaller Bouy

Crossing in front of the Golden Gate

Flying the Spinny up Raccoon Straight, (try gybing a kite singlehanded 8 times, whew)

Video to come as well as how I finished. Great day on the bay.

10:13 start, 1.6 miles to first mark, 3.64 flood. 6 miles to next mark then get to Red Rock before the Ebb starts.

Check out the Sailing Anarchy forums, the list of entries and read the prelude "300 boats and 3 bridges" on NorCal Sailings web site.

We'll see how I stack up against the competition and how the old warhorse can do.

Calling all USA Tempest owners, please send me an email with your contact and boat info.

We are updating the database.

Coming soon, bits and pieces. We may be offering Tempest hardware and boat parts. Also, the USA International Tempest Association is reborn.

2010 will be the year I get back on the water, starting with the Three Bridge Fiasco which if the winds are light, I intend to sail singlehanded. Also looking forward to another go at the Ditch Run, possibly with crew from the UK Tempest fleet.

Got an email from fellow Tempest owner Ken Nilsen with pics of his restoration work. Nice job Ken!

Look what fun a Tempest is.

Wow! Been too long since I updated the site. Obviously, I have not been sailing much. Economy had me on the ropes like everyone else and so the boat sits in the yard. Maybe next weekend.

I did get out and sail the Big Dinghy Regatta with the Fire Chief from our local Fire Dept. We sucked, I still haven't dialed in the new mast and spreaders and need some assistance from anyone out there on the correct setup dimensions.

More to come....

Currently running market research for our computer cord organizer clips being used for trailer sailors to consolidate their halyards, wires and lines on their mast when transporting their boat.

Discounted for visitors to this site.

Prevents them from rubbing on each other and the anodized mast.

Hits on this site 2009:

United States 786
United Kingdom 138
Netherlands 85
Canada 71
France 45
Australia 40
Italy 38
Germany 31
Switzerland 19
Poland 12
Austria 12
Sweden 6
Belgium 6
Ireland 5
Norway 4
Spain 4
Greece 4
Romania 4
Russia 4
Croatia 3
Mexico 3
Portugal 3
Japan 3
Latvia 3
Estonia 2
Serbia 2
Bulgaria 2
Netherlands Antilles 2
(not set) 2
South Africa 2
Saudi Arabia 2
Czech Republic 2
Belarus 2
Finland 2
Chile 1
Singapore 1
New Zealand 1
Philippines 1
Lithuania 1
British Virgin Islands 1
Antigua and Barbuda 1
Indonesia 1
India 1
Cape Verde 1
Hong Kong 1
Algeria 1
Ukraine 1
Puerto Rico 1
Slovakia 1
Åland Islands 1
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1

Thanks for visiting.

Back Country Justice in Northern California

Well, another ride instead of taking my boat out. This time it was for a good cause, Sarcoma Cup out of Richmond Yacht Club onboard a FT10.

Photo by H2OShots.

Well, this year I decided to not take my boat on the Delta Ditch Run and instead hitched a ride on a J80. Light winds, late finish. But fun. I even got some helm time.

Photos by NorCal Sailing

Last shot (bottom right) is where we finally got some legs on the fleet you can see in the distance.

Spreading the word, see page 64

USA 160 is reborn

Moet Cup in SF

Another Tempest hits the water again.

Doug Faust checks in with his first sail on his Tempest with his nephew.

Portsmith Racing in NorCal

Dear performance dinghy sailors and supporters:

As an owner of one of the 10 Ospreys located in North America, I initially set out to try to get other unique performance dinghies to join forces and make the centrally-located High Sierra Regatta on Huntington Lake a venue for some great performance fleet Portsmouth racing. Why the HSR? Because with easy access from San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, with the reliable 12 -15 knot summer breezes and lack of kelp, and with the family atmosphere and spectator vantage points of the lake it struck me that this location offered an ideal opportunity to showcase the performance-aspect of our sport. I figured that by ganging together with similar classes, each boat could race primarily for class bragging rights and the entire fleet could also race as one big performance Portsmouth fleet in a battle of the classes, rather like the "FastSail/Symmetric Grand Prix" group (FDs, 505s, European Javelins, Ospreys, 470s, National 18s, Fireballs & Hornets) in the UK.

Then it occurred to me that I had too great an expectation for one particular regatta and was not being forward-thinking enough as a whole. The advantage of the FastSail group and similar associations in the UK - a country where dinghy racing is highly supported - is that they arrange these joint-class regattas throughout the country to allow the enthusiastic sailor to travel to new venues and the busy sailor to race locally; why shouldn't we try to do the same throughout the west? Vancouver, Seattle, The Gorge, San Francisco, Huntington, Long Beach, San Diego, etc already have some great dinghy regattas, run by experienced clubs in sailor-friendly waters, but the focus on these regattas, naturally, is on one-design racing. Those of us who sail unusual classes are too disorganized and too fractured to band together and make Portsmouth racing a fun and viable big-fleet option. If we can change this approach we could make our aged or unusual flyers rewarding, not just for blasting around the course and competing with one or two disparate boats, but for some serious fleet fun (with the emphasis on "fun" because some of US Sailing's Portsmouth ratings leave a lot to be desired!).

Harping back to the UK (sorry, but that is where I was brought up), there are numerous Portsmouth one-off regattas (Grafham Grand Prix, Bloody Mary, Hoo Freezer, Tiger Trophy, Steve Nicholson Trophy, Chilly Willies, Frensham Frenzy, etc, etc), that attract anything from 150 boats to 500 dinghies representing every class you can possibly think of; because of the fleet sizes, innumerable World and Olympic Champions also compete in these regattas, even though they are mixed fleet racing! We don't have the same dinghy numbers over here, admittedly, but wouldn't you rather race against 10 boats than 2, 15 boats than 5, etc?

Even 'popular' dinghies like the FD, I14, 29er, 49er and 505 sometimes have trouble getting enough boats on the line for their own start, and they often have to make a concerted effort in recruitment to achieve this. When they fail, wouldn't it be a) nice to have them in our fleet and b) nice for them to get some fun fleet racing, even if it's not one design fleet racing? Just think of all the accepted and unusual performance classes scattered about the west (505, FD, IC, RS600, RS700, Musto Skiff, Korsar, Jollyboat, Trapeze, Swift Solo, Raven, Morrison Jet, Laser 4000, Laser 5000, Int 14, One Design 14, symmetric and penultimate rules I14 (that cannot race one-design with the other I14s), Boss, Exocets/B14, 29er, 49er, Hoot, Melges 17, 12' Skiff, 18' Skiff, Tempest, Int Moth (foiling and conventional), Contender, Skate, 470, Fireball, Voodoo Skiff, Vanguard Vector, Johnson 18, C Scow, D Scow, E Scow, Osprey etc, etc) and we have the potential for something fun here.

I understand that racing one-design is everyone's main interest, but for most of us one-design racing is simply not realistic. This idea allows each class to have fun, try to prove it's the best, most attractive, fastest, friendliest, coolest, most extreme, etc, and to gain some exposure. Even performance dinghy gurus such as Howie Hamlin and Mike Martin see the advantage of this idea and unequivocally support this quest for getting a fleet of performance boats together, even if they themselves tend to race boats that offer one-design racing. They also tell me that they both love Huntington as a venue (see photo to the right), so maybe the High Sierra Regatta is a good place for us to start...

That's it - if you don't like the idea yourself please don't get bent out of shape, but simply ignore and dump this email! If, on the other hand, you like the idea of joining me at Huntington as well as joining the push for big fleet Portsmouth racing at various regattas and locations throughout the west, let me know (directly at sailnick@yahoo.com so that people are not buried under unwanted emails), and I can add your class, location and email details to Howie's, Mike's and mine, and we can start to get organized.

Also, if you know of a fast boat in your neighborhood, please forward this email to the owner.

Best regards,

Nick Mockridge nick mockridge
Osprey #1222 "Flying Star"

TURBO TEMPEST Downunder Style

Hi Rick

Yes, you heard right. A few guys who have broken their masts in Oz have bought 18foot skiff No 2 or No 3 rigs ( usually only a few hundred dollars for mast and sails). These really make the Tempests fly, and because these rigs are virtually self adjusting ( like immediate and automatic gust response etc) actually make the boats easier to sail.

We have a fleet of Magic 25s in my club and on the right day even with a standard rig we beat them: their only real advantage is in the asymmetrical kite, and their greater waterline length to windward. In an Olympic course with its preponderance of windward work, the Magic's do have an advantage. Another club member, Kelly Ryan, ( KA6) won last years club championship, against Etchells, Magics etc using a larger than normal asymmetrical kite ( ex 18 foot skiff No 3 kite) with a Tempest mainsail and an 18 footer No 2 jib. She ( female skipper) actually used standard Tempest rig for the first half of the season, but needed to find more power).

That boat has now gone to Queensland, unfortunately, but we all learned a bit during the tuning process. The masts don’t actually comply with the Tempest class rules because, being round with an extruded luff track, they come in just 2 millimeters under class rules on the fore and aft measurement. We don’t care down here, because there are heaps of cheap 18footer rigs around the place, and there are NO Tempest masts whatsoever. Ultimately , I predict all Oz Tempests will have 18 footer masts, because the cost of importing a Tempest extrusion is prohibitive, and makes for a worse mast anyway. I will certainly be changing if I break my mast ( Ive already bought an 18 footer No 2 rig complete for $350). Most people convert the mast but keep the Tempest sails, which seems to work OK with a bit of adjustment to the luff round.

Cheers, Keith Manion

I'll begin to report on all project Tempest I can find. Would really like to start a Turbo Tempest page with input from all that are interested in these projects.

Although I cannot see a real need for improving the Tempest hull, it would be a very sot after boat once a makeover is completed. How many hull manufactures are there for the pre-'85 Tempest?

Mader, O'Day, Schock?

Here is a Tempest under the knife.

By kind permission of the authors, I offer you;

The Sandbag by Dave McComb

History of the Tempest Part I by Keith Manion

History of the Tempest Part II

Just in from Dominic Meo III, mast drawings for all dimensions including diamond to spreader conversion location.

All we need now is the sweep angle and length of the spreaders and we'll have updated info. Anyone know these dimensions?

Spent last weekend sleeping with the bears. If you have never been to Yosemite, you must see it before you die. Majestic scale and grandeur.

Still a lovely view from my deck without all the rocks...

From the deck of Mr. Bone

East Bay / Oakland Estuary Race

Nice race, finished 6th out of nine boats in class and 10th out of 29 boats in division (doublehanded).

We set our sights on beating the Ultimate 20 and just squeaked them by 34 seconds corrected at the finish. We are surprised we beat the 6-50 Mini as well. Lost my crew during a screaming reach down to TI. He came off the wire, over my head and into the drink at the back of the boom. Looked kinda funny watching him drag alongside. No harm and nobody got hurt. Got back on our feet and continued down the Estuary.

The ride home was a KICK. Check out the boat speed (yellow track) as we headed back up the bay to Richmond. Wind was coming right in the gate and the waves were catching us abeam. Wet and wooly ride. I guess you're not suppose to cut through the pier but we were wet, cold and thirsty.

Doublehanded Class (9)/ Division (27) Results

1 - 1 WYLIE WABBIT 126
2 - 3 SC 27 135
3 - 4 MOORE 24 150
4 - 5 OLSON 30 99
5 - 7 SANTA CRUZ 27 135
6 - 9 Int. TEMPEST141
7 - 12 ULTIMATE 20 144
8 - 18 OPEN 6-50 MINI 90
9 - 20 CUSTOM SYNERG 45

Fellow Tempest owner, Groeten van Viv Maas sends his greetings from the Netherlands and compliments on the site:

greetings from holland

I am a little jealous ...
We sail on a little lake from 1 x 1 km, with an old Tempest (H 16 'Temptation')
- build by the Italians

We bought a little motorboat to tow our tempest to bigger water next month. But we might start saving for tickets to fly to SF next year, and meet other friendly Tempest folk. It must be fantastic to sail in the SF bay.

We made this picture this weekend - we sailed and slept on
board of our little motor boat. We anchored in the ">Kralingseplas.

And sailed e few hours every day.

The Tempest was for the Dutch Olympic team...
They did not use this boat - after trails they used Mader boats.

The lake is very nice - we even have two windmills
It is not to thrilling to sail here - however you learn to sail
good - the wind might just turn 180 degrees in an instant
The irregular wind gusts are a treat as well. I did lose a mast here!
I will send you more pictures later

Groeten van Viv Maas

Did some old school sailing on a Raven the other day.

Video

Can't have one without the other.

My '74 Triumph TR6 (bought in 1977) in front of my '74 Mader Tempest. No, I don't tow the Mader with the Triumph.

Folsom Lake Yacht Club's Camellia Cup this weekend. First of the "Lake Circuit" regattas.

Stormy day Saturday with a cold front coming through. Started out in the mid 50's and went down to the low 40's. Long delay in getting off the third race so we bailed and went to the docks to haul out early. Sunday was a bust with winds in the 20 - 30 knot range. We didn't even launch. Raced against the lake's best sailor on a J22 and a Wavelength 24. Still working on getting my old sail numbers off and USA316 on the main but look at that monster spinnaker. All photos courtesy of Mark Erdrich, Vice Commodore FLYC. Thanks Mark.

Richmond Yacht Club's Big Daddy Regatta - Sunday Pursuit Race

Light to no wind, hit the committee boat anchor rode and the back of a boat when drifting over the starting line so decided to just have a fun day on the bay. We were able to catch and pass our first Wabbit. Enjoy the pics.

Cameraman didn't know the camera was in movie mode.

Here is the drifting start and the look back at the mess.

	Glassy conditions and we were still able to almost hit 4 knots. Had to paddle back to the docks.

Tempest 2007 Worlds - Warnumunde, Germany

Please visit our good mates in the UK as well and make sure to sign in.

The first MKII to hit the USA shores in on a carrier and due to arrive in NYC about April 15th. I'll have pics as soon as it arrives.

Jack Carter just purchased USA 181 out of So Cal, welcome to Tempest sailing Jack!

Good on ya McCabe!

Ok, we have container cost; $3,600.00 from UK to NYC. Four Tempest (sans trailers) could be shipped in one container.

MkI Tempest are selling for $3,000 to $8,000 in Europe. We need to get some people to commit to a boat and get this container on the water.

We are checking into the container cost to the West Coast as well. Be the first to have a MKII in the states!

German International Tempest Association

French International Tempest Association

United Kingdom International Tempest Association

Austrian International Tempest Association

Swiss International Tempest Association

Monetary Converter

I travel a lot so try to pick up older hard bound sailing related books to read. I just came across Dr. Stuart Walker's "The Tactics of Small Boat Racing".

His writing style took some getting use too, like reading Dana, but gleaned some nice new information to take on the water next race.

Each section has a quote by notable people and the one from the "Wave Riding" chapter caught my eye and my heart.

From Keith Shackleton,

"Ahead as each untrammeled wave rises before her, she bursts upon it, scattering it into whiteness to either side.

This is the most exhilarating living while it lasts, for it has all the right constituents - exertion against the elements, a challenge of concentration, insecurity of tenure."

I doubt any of us who have caught those righteous waves, felt the acceleration, the timeless suspension on the wave face, knowing at that moment that you will keep this memory alive for the rest of your life. It's just below the surface and reading a phrase like this puts you right back there, one hand on the main sheet, one on the tiller. Sweet!

Richmond Yacht Club's Great Pumpkin Regatta

Cool shot of us rounding Angel Island.

Is this much wetted surface slow?

Photos Latitude38/Chris

We Are Looking for Tempest in the USA

Do you know where one is?

Please contact me...Rick Nelson

Some old shots from one of my favorite sailing venues

Cat's on my ass...	Proper attire for trap'n and trip'n...

I get a ton of visitors but nobody sends me any email, how do you like the site? Rick@deltanine.com

Old Class Spinnaker	New Class Spinnaker

Ok, a short break from sailing.................

I took my wife white water rafting cause she doesn't like sailing..........

She's now ready to give it another try..........	The Tempest logo at the top of the page is available as a 4" x 3" window sticker or as a transom application (above). Contact me if you would like one.