Windmill Class Association

Thanks for the reminder! I noticed during the Southerns that my latest Windmill's pole was still lacking an end to that lethal hollow tube. I once was given a really impressive black eye by a Flying Dutchman retracting pole which, happily, had a knob on the end. Dave Ellis

:: There were stars on the race course and I'm not talking
:: about Rock Stars.

:: It was at the reach mark in the latest regatta in
:: Clearwater when we went to launch the pole and thought
:: it was set..... I'm making an adjustment and untangling
:: a mess around my main sheet block and look up just in
:: time to see my pole blasting toward my head. I tried to
:: duck but instead caught square in the forehead. It
:: didn't hurt me as bad as my faithful crew, she couldn't
:: stop apologizing. I told her no blood, I'm still
:: conscious, and we're still in first place. I managed to
:: finish the race in first too.

:: My first thought after the stars cleared was, it's a
:: good thing I put a plug in the end of the pole or I
:: would have had a nice 1-1/4 diameter divot in my
:: forehead and would have been bleeding profusely. I've
:: had head injuries before and they have always bled
:: badly. (Insert joke here). That would have been the end
:: of a perfectly good race if that would have happened.

:: So what I'm trying to lead to is... if you have one of
:: those rocket launcher poles loaded with a shock cord,
:: it's a really good idea to have a plug of some kind on
:: the end that retracts. Being a machinist it was easy for
:: me to manufacture one for my own but you may be able to
:: use a rubber cap for the end of a table leg or something
:: similar. I highly recommend it, that way you too can see
:: the stars and not blood.

:: Happy Sailing