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Sailing Science Center News
February 2025
Vol. 8, No. 6
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Welcome to the February issue of the Sailing Science Center News! The theme this month is Leverage! In mechanics, leverage is often referred to as a force multiplier, where a force applied on one end of a lever produces an output that is a multiple of the force on the other end. The term is used metaphorically in other areas to describe getting outsize results in business, leadership, and investment. Read additional thoughts on the subject in Four Levers, the blog post for this month's Leadership Corner.
Our spotlight this month is on Joe Rockmore. Joe has been one of the more steadfast members of the SSC Exhibits Team and has twice volunteered his boat for SSC group sails.
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Do you like what the Sailing Science Center is doing? We depend on support from people like you to keep it going. If you haven't donated yet, please consider doing so. If you have donated, Thank You, we appreciate your support and hope you will continue partnering with us to make the vision of a larger, permanent museum a reality. | | | | |
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Give me a long enough lever and a fulcrum on which to place it,
and I shall move the world.
— Archimedes
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SSC VOLUNTEER - JOE ROCKMORE | |
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Experience can be a great form of leverage. While youth comes with energy, enthusiasm, and resilience, the steady hand of experience is characterized by wisdom, economy of action, and well-reasoned decisions. Joe Rockmore's experience is highlighted by his 36-year tenure as race crew on the Farr 38, Mintaka 4. Joe notes that he is one of the “newer guys” on the crew, while the skipper, who is in his 58th season racing on the Bay, is in his 90s.
Joe grew up on the south shore of Long Island. His boating life started with the family’s 25-foot Chris Craft, which Joe remembers scraping, caulking, and sanding every spring. The experience taught him that he never wanted to own a wooden boat. Meanwhile, paralleling many of this newsletter’s stories, when Joe was 8 his dad came home with an old, 18-foot wooden sailboat. A fixer-upper for sure.
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Joe and his brother set off, sailing downwind in their canal. Not knowing how to sail upwind to get home, they beached the boat, coming back for it later. A neighbor helped them figure things out, though Joe says they were largely self-taught.
Joe was blessed in his youth with knowing what he wanted to do. He earned bachelor's and master’s degrees in electrical engineering at UC Irvine, followed by a Ph.D. at Stanford University. He settled in Northern California, while his work morphed into research in computer science. He applied his skills with various contractors, working for the Navy, DARPA, the DNI, the CIA, and others. His work included the analysis of signals from towed sonar arrays, using early forms of artificial intelligence. He also taught at Stanford and at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.
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Joe and his brother
Photo courtesy of Joe Rockmore
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Joe’s career reflects leadership in a host of areas. Living along the Skyline Blvd corridor on the San Francisco peninsula, Joe calls the Half Moon Bay Yacht Club home. At the club he is a Director-at-Large, the Racing Manager, and the club’s webmaster. Joe is also a US Sailing PRO (Principal Race Officer), the Chair of the YRA (Yacht Racing Association) of San Francisco Bay, and a former Assistant Chief of the King’s Mountain Volunteer Fire Brigade. The Brigade is best known for their annual Art Fair, ranked among the top ten in the state. | |
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Joe Rockmore's C&C 40, Föhn, during the SSC Volunteer Group Sail on September 19
Photo by Lars Anderson
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But back to boats. Joe has owned, sailed, and raced, a whole range of boats. His current boat is a 1980 C&C 40 named Föhn*, which he has been part- or whole-owner of for 28 years. The boat was in the charter fleet at Spinnaker Sailing, but no more. Joe keeps the boat at South Beach Harbor, as a place to sleep after a ball game, or to take his friends, kids, and grandkids for a sail. Most recently, Joe shared his boat with other SSC volunteers for our Exhibits Team group sail and planning session. Joe has been a valuable member of the team with his regular attendance and contributions.
*Föhn - A warm, dry, mountain wind, specifically a southerly wind on the Alps.
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Joe Rockmore at the helm of his boat
Photo by Maggie Garside Heilman
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Understanding leverage in sailing is like learning to whisper commands instead of shouting them. The smallest input, properly timed and positioned, can create the greatest effect.
— Robin Knox-Johnston, first solo, nonstop, circumnavigator
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EXHIBITS TEAM GROUP SAIL & MEETING | |
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On the morning of January 19, thirteen members of the Sailing Science Center Exhibits Team, met at the San Francisco Yacht Club for a two-boat group sail and 2025 planning session. The event was organized by team leader, Lars Anderson, and followed exactly a week behind the SSC Leadership Team's 2025 strategic planning meeting.
Key decisions and assignments were made regarding 2025 priorities and exhibit goals.
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San Francisco Yacht Club Marina
Photo by Vasilia Emmanouilides
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L to R: Maggie Garside Heilman, Mounika Thorupunuri, and Joe Rockmore on Föhn
Photo by Lars Anderson
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Clockwise from Upper Left: Steve Malton, Fred King, Lars Anderson, Dan Pruzan, Chris Davis, Michael Malaga
Photos by Lars Anderson, Maggie Garside Heilman, and Vasilia Emmanouilides
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Team Meeting and Lunch Following the Group Sail.
Clockwise from Lower Left: Pam Schaffer, Lars Anderson, Maggie Garside Heilman, Vasilia Emmanouilides, Mounika Thorupunuri, Chris Davis, Fred King, Dan Pruzan, Joe Rockmore, John Zuorski, Steve Malton, Michael Malaga, Jim Hancock
Photo Courtesy of Maggie Garside Heilman
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Have you thought about volunteering?
The SSC is always on the lookout for good crew!
Click below to sign up.
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Choosing what you do matters a lot more than how you do any one given thing... [choose] high-leverage targets that tend to make other things irrelevant or a lot easier.
— Tim Ferriss
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There are countless places where leverage is used in sailing, from tillers, to winch handles, to the weighted bulb on the end of a deep fin keel. Levers act as multipliers to increase the force that is applied from one end of the lever to the other.
The presence of levers on sailboats is most often to increase the force we can apply with our muscles. For this reason the Sailing Science Center groups mechanical advantage, like that provided by levers, into the same gallery with human factors. It is because of our human limitations that levers, and so many other forms of mechanical advantage, are found on sailboats.
It's a great way to introduce simple machines to our future scientists. One of the SSC's goals for 2025 is a new exhibit on mechanical advantage.
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PREPARING FOR THE 2025 SEASON - PART 2 | |
As mentioned in the last issue, the Sailing Science Center held its 2025 strategic planning session in January, during a day-long offsite at the Encinal Yacht Club. We welcomed our new Executive Director, Pam Schaffer, to the process. As this is being written, Pam is assembling the results of that meeting into specific action items to move the SSC forward. We will share more about Pam and our goals in a future issue. | |
The SSC is continuing to scan the horizon for a workshop to build new exhibits. This could be a dedicated space or shared space. Expected use is one to two days per month. Please contact us if you have leads or ideas. | | | | |
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WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SCIENCE | |
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February 11 is the United Nation's International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The Sailing Science Center celebrates access to STEAM education and professions for all persons who are interested in those fields. We believe that having the best people in the roles that are shaping our future is the most intelligent way to leverage our human capital.
Click here for more information about the UN's day.
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Sailors hike out on 505s during a July 2024, small boat regatta at the St. Francis Yacht Club. The use of hiking straps and a trapeze helps the sailors increase the leverage of their weight against the force on the sails. | |
Photo by Martha Blanchfield / Renegade Sailing | | | | |
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The SSC 2025 calendar is starting to fill. Most of the events are with school children and are private. We will publish the public events here. As always, the most up-to-date source is our online calendar. Check it for the latest information on all public SSC events.
Apr 26 - Tall Ship Celebration, Sausalito
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These are things YOU can do to make a difference and Move the Needle
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I had the good fortune to grow up in school districts that offered shop classes. As an eager young man, the classes I took, the articles I read, and the examples I saw from my parents, imprinted me with an important concept about making things.
Read more...
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That's all for this month.
Cheers!
Jim Hancock
President and Founder
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The San Francisco Sailing Science Center is a Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation recognized under IRS Section 501(c)(3), Tax ID 82-3631165. Your donation to the Sailing Science Center is tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. | |
The Sailing Science Center News is published monthly. It is sent to team members, partners, volunteers, sponsors and supporters of the San Francisco Sailing Science Center. You are receiving this because you are considered to be in one of these groups. If you wish to be removed from the mailing list, please click the Unsubscribe link below. We do not sell, share or otherwise give out our mailing list beyond our organization. | | | | |
