Jim "Chief" Murphy
Spinnaker Trimmer, Crime Fighter
Jim
has been with the boat from Day 1. He and Chris used to race
together off of Portsmouth NH on their friend Cliff Farrah's
boats. When Chris built Superstition, Jim was the first one
to sign up and has been racing with us ever since.
Jim puts the muscle developed in doing
bench-press competitions to good use in trimming the
spinnaker on Superstition. Whether is is coaxing the boat
along at four knots in 2 knots of breeze with the reacher,
or rotating the kite around to weather so we can sail almost
dead downwind in 20 knots of breeze, Jim has made the big
red chutes his own.
When Jim is NOT sailing he is usually out
saving the world, fighting crime and bringing evil-doers to
justice.
Nick "The Professor" Austin
Jib Trimmer, Mad Scientist
Nick
joined the team in the summer of 2004. I forget if I
responded to his ad looking for a boat, or he responded to
mine looking for crew, but Nick has been an invaluable
member of the team ever since.
Nick on the jib trim (along with his wife
Brie on the main trim) comprise the Team Superstition "Speed
Team", and they have really been able to get every last drop
of velocity out of the boat over the years. Sadly, after an
extended scholastic career at MIT, Nick is finishing school
this summer, and will be moving with Brie back to our 51st
state, Canada, in August. They will be sorely missed!
Brie Tupper
Mainsail Trimmer
Extraordinaire
When
Nick responded to my ad for crew (or visa versa, I'm getting
old and forgetful) he mentioned his wife might like to do
some sailing, could she come along. Well thank goodness she
did, because Brie is an extraordinary mainsail trimmer.
While I may be giving feedback to other members of the crew
on what they need to do, I end up apologizing to Brie
because I can go a whole race without talking to her. She
always seems to be one step ahead of me on sensing what the
boat is doing and how the main needs to be trimmed to get us
our optimal speed and pointing.
With all this skill I assumed that Brie
had been sailing her whole life. But it turns out that while
she had some previous sailing experience, racing sailboats
is a relatively new thing for her. When she and Nick head
back to Canada this summer, there will be some pretty big
shoes to fill (metaphorically speaking, of course).
Kyrre Culver
Pit,
Fashion Coordinator
Kyrre
first sailed with Team Superstition in our third regatta
ever, the 2004 Flip Flop Regatta. That also happened to be
the first regatta we ever won!
Kyrre has been our primary pit person over
the years, working with Nick to get the sails up, down and
around the boat. She is also an excellent jib trimmer,
sliding into that position seamlessly when needed.
In addition, Kyrre has taken on the
awesome task of coordinating the color of the day for the
team, making the call on whether it is a red, white or black
shirt day. As she will be doing a lot more "small boat"
sailing this summer (word on the street is she has fallen in
with some Sonar sailor) don't be surprised if Superstition
is not such a well dressed team this summer.
Karen "KK" Kirby
Bowgirl, Team
Photographer
Karen also first sailed with Team
Superstition in the 2004 Flip Flop Regatta. A few weeks
later we had the Constitution Yacht Club Fall Regatta, and
only had five people on the boat. And we had no one with
experience on the bow, what to do? Well, I sent Karen up to
the front of the mast, and she has been there ever since!
She does a terrific job of keeping everything together up
there, leading the rest of the foredeck crew and always
ready for whatever sort of douse we may call, even if we
change it mid-drop.
As I was searching through four years of
photos, I had an easy time finding candids of all of the
other crew members, but where were all the photos of Karen?
She does more races than anyone on the team. Then it
occurred to me that in addition to performing flawlessly on
the pointy end of the boat, Karen was usually the one
pointing the camera at us, snapping the photos. She sails,
she shoots, she scores!
Tim O'Dea
Trimmer, Alternate
Helmsman, Team Councilor
Mike Hodgens
Trimmer, Team
Diver, Drinkmaster
Kathryn Carlson
Trimmer, Fiddler,
Worldwide Energy Expert
Christopher Zibailo
Driver, Webmaster, Check Writer
Dr. Steve Spangler
Pit, Team Counselor, Co-Check Writer
Bon Voyage to Nick and Brie
Two key members of Team
Superstition take off for the Great White North
It
was a sad day for Team Superstition on
Sunday, as we were forced to bid adieu to our speed team,
Nick and Brie Austin. Nick has finally competed his
doctorate to M.I.T., and he and his wife Brie are moving
back to Canada, with new jobs in Calgary and a closing on
their new house coming up on August 28th.
Nick and Brie starting sailing with
Superstition back in 2004, the first year
we had the boat. Nick had previously sailed on a J36, and
his experience was invaluable in his role as the primary jib
trimmer in making Superstition go
very fast upwind. Nick had responded to an online ad looking
for crew, and mentioned that his wife Brie was interested in
crewing as well. So I said bring her along.
Well, it's a good thing he did, because
Brie turned out to be an amazing trimmer in her own right.
She quickly made the mainsail her own, and if Nick's
trimming helped us go fast upwind, Brie's was responsible
for the boats pointing ability. She always seemed to know
just what adjustment was needed as the conditions changed
from moment to moment. We all assumed she had been doing
this most of her life, and it was only after about a year
that we found out that other then some occasional cruising
with her family, she had not done a lot of sailing. Well, it
didn't show!
In addition to his role as primary trimmer
on the boat, Nick really was the "second in command" over
the years. He was someone I could always rely on (not too
much I hope) whether it was for early morning deliveries,
someone to send up the mast for repairs, or for strategic
and tactical advice. If there was a problem on the boat
during a race (and during those first couple of years that
was likely!) Nick would always jump right in and work with
the crew to get it resolved, so I could continue to keep the
boat heading towards the next mark with as little lost
ground as possible.
While Nick and Brie may now be gone,
neither they nor their contributions to the team shall soon
be forgotten. A large portion of our success over the past
couple of years can be directly attributed to our ability to
sail VERY FAST and point VERY HIGH when beating to weather.
Nick kept excellent notes over the years on the rig and
halyard tensions, car positions and sheeting angles and
worked with me and the rest of the crew to share this
information so we can continue to have success for years to
come.
I have had a blast sailing with you over
the years, and I will miss you both. But, with any luck I
will see you when we race in Annapolis in May. Best of luck
to you in all your future endeavors. And if they ever strike
oil in Boston and you get relocated back to Cambridge, know
there will always be two spots on
Team Superstition waiting for you!
Thanks!
- Chris
MORE TO COME!!!
