Leighton’s Blog

~ Posted by Leighton O'Connor using iPhone BlogPress. Hopefully from someplace blue & windy. ~

~ Posted by Leighton O'Connor using iPhone BlogPress. Hopefully from someplace blue & windy. ~ Location: Congress St,Boston,United States

~ Posted by Leighton O'Connor using iPhone BlogPress. Hopefully from someplace blue & windy. ~

M y ride today for Manchester Yacht Club Patton Bowl was Denali a KERR 55. It was a little bit of a practice race for me....seeing that I'm doing the Marblehead to Halifax race on Denali and it was my first time on the boat. I was on jib trim today. I think I did well today. Only one person lobbed a "F" bomb at me all day. That's pretty good for me. Race was postponed for about an hour waiting for breeze, hence the photo of the crew doing nothing. We took a first in our class. We beat the 2nd place boat, Vida Zee, by 21 minutes uncorrected and 3 minutes corrected. Our PHRF rating is -72. Yes negative 72. Scherherazade took a 3rd crossing the line 39 minutes after us....9 minutes corrected. The 12 Metre Valiant was in our class but didn't do so well. Really not the right air for them. I'll be doing a three page photo essay for SAIL Magazine on board Denali about the Halifax race. I'll be shooting some v ideo too. Sign up for my blog update

My ride today for Manchester Yacht Club Patton Bowl. Denali a KERR 55. Little bit of a practice race for Halifax race. I'll be doing a photo essay for SAIL Magazine about the Halifax race. Shooting some video also.

My ride for the 2011 Block Island Race Week is Indra, a Beneteau First 44.7. The boat is owned and skippered by Tom Linkas from Hamilton, Ma. We are racing in IRC3 with a crew of 12 characters. Not too much wind this week so far. Only one race on Monday and we ended up on the bottom of the fleet. Two races on Tuesday and we took a 3rd and an 11th. Racing was canceled on Wednesday so the crew went exploring on the island in the rain. Weather is not looking to good for Thursday or Friday. Not sure if they will be able to do an Around the Island Race this year. Quite an experience doing a full week of racing on "one" boat. Lots of fun though. I actually get to hang out with the crew and go to the tent parties after the races rather than being stuck in my hotel room editing to the wee hours of the morning. I get to sleep too. I could get use to this. Thanks for the music Lotus Crush: http://www.lotuscrush.com http://www.lotuscrush.c

See more photos at: http://www.leightonphoto.com/Sailing-Regattas/Marion-to-Bermuda-2011

My ride for the Marblehead to Halifax Race...Denali a KERR 55. Well actually I'll be part of the crew. And what a funny crew it is! This is a new boat for Michael D'Amelio and her first season in the area so I don't have any action photos of her underway. Michael's previous boat was a Custom Nelson Marek 70, which he did very well with. This photo was taken before the fogged in FIGAWI race in Hyannis, Ma this year. While crewing on board Denali, I'll be capturing the crew in action for a three page photo essay for SAIL Magazine. I may even take a few videos. I'll be doing some live posts of photos and videos when I have cell service. The race starts on July 10th. Be nice if we could get to Halifax in less than 33 hours 29 minutes and 57 seconds to break Starlight Express' 1989 record. They did it in a Santa Cruz 70. We need to keep things light on Denali. More salads for me over the next few weeks. More info about the Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race

~ Posted by Leighton O'Connor using iPhone BlogPress. Hopefully from someplace blue & windy. ~ Location: Merrill St,Hingham,United States

~ Posted by Leighton O'Connor using iPhone BlogPress. Hopefully from someplace blue & windy. ~ Location: State Highway 1A,Salem,United States

On RC duty. Not a bad gig for the day. ~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone. Hopefully from some place fun & blue. ~ Location: Harbor Ave,Marblehead,United States

Winds look gd off Marblehead Neck ~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone. Hopefully from some place fun & blue. ~ Location: Harbor Ave,Marblehead,United States

Checking wind outside of Marblehead Harbor. 14 knots. Time to race I think. ~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone. Hopefully from some place fun & blue. ~ Location: Harbor Ave,Marblehead,United States