What is Dear Leader doing?

The answer is simple: he has gone back to his engineering roots to help Grasshopper 2.0 snatch the pebbles in Kingston, Ontario at the World Radial Youth.

The Reynolds number is different on Lake Ontario than on Sydney Harbour, leading to difference in flow over various parts of a Laser.  Understanding the difference should be able to enhance performance by adjusting technique in what should a difficult regatta.

Dear Leader has moved his gin palace to the Charles River in Massachusetts.  Each morning, he jumps on his Segway and heads to MIT where he spends hours working on the Reynolds number issue and the impact on viscosity, cavitation and, ultimately, boat speed.  

Speaking from the laboratory, Dear Leader said:

"Studying the self-organizational phenomena in fluids from vortices to turbulent flows to cavitation in complex systems requires several different disciplines in close collaboration, and is more than looking at bubbles.

It has been a terrific experience.  My good friend, Larry, has sent over a couple of his guys from San Franscisco to help.  They were suppose to be great engineers but I had to show them how to use a slide-rule and then buy a few on eBay for them.  Let's hope they can transfer some of their experience in Hobies to a Laser.  Larry also offered to send Slingo over to help test, but I said no because I didn't have time to make a Laser that would have given us the same proportions of Grasshopper 2.0 on his Radial"

Noting the lack of training Dear Leader is doing himself for the Masters regatta, Madam Leader, said:

"No training but with the best pizza in world locally available, and a long term weather forecast of heavy weather, Dear Leader will be able to put on the extra kilograms required to be competitive."