Monday, October 22, 2012

FLEET RACING:

The reports of hurricane force winds for our last day of the season were greatly exaggerated. In fact, we ended with 12-14 in the first race, 10-12 in the second and 6-8 in the third and final race. Then back up to 12-14 for the sail back to the dock!

Our PRO for the day, Scott Harrison and his RC ran two W2's and our first for the season W1 1/2

5 boats made it to the starting line. Lee Morrison decided to end the season with a bang - or 3 bangs - by taking the gun in all three races.

Team 619: 
Matt Silvaggio, Don Vasta, Lee and David Kelly


Second place went to Team 733 Sheehan/Sparkman/Howe with 7 points.

It ended out to be such a beautiful day. Here's a shot, taken by Gillian Jayson, of a few Commodores (and a couple other guys) who just couldn't leave:

Noroton's last stand!

If you're up for it, we have a 5 minute video taken on the boat of a guest of the fleet, Michael Aingorn from Manhasset, on the last day. Just click on the link to view it:


ONE MORE FROM THE LIS REGATTA:

We've seen a lot of great shots of racing at the LIS Championships. The following picture was taken by a Nyack competitor after the regatta. Nice.


SEASON AWARDS:

Lee Morrison and his various teams had a great year winning the spring series, the summer series and the overall. 

Ed Sweeney came in second in the spring with Bob Monro in third.

Scott Harrison finished second in the summer series followed by Galloway/Linville/Steinborn in third.

Here's where all the bling went: bit.ly/RftBk5

AND...

That's a wrap!





Wednesday, October 3, 2012

SONAR LONG ISLAND SOUND CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Photo by Oliver Schulz


September 29-30, Noroton Yacht Club hosted the LIS Championships. Conditions were extremely challenging with very light breeze out of the north(ish) for most of the weekend.

With one shortened race and another abandoned, PRO Briggs Tobin did an outstanding job getting two races in on day one.

Back to the club for snacks, beer and the class Annual General Meeting where a number of topics were discussed including next year's World Championships which are being held in Rochester, NY on September 18-22. (mark your calendars!)

A delicious dinner, followed by rave reviews, was prepared by Kitty Brown. Plus our very own sommelier Scott Harrison made sure no one was left needy!

Day two started out the same way. In our first race, just keeping the boat moving was difficult. Race two was underway when, thankfully, the RC saw a breeze building out of the SW. They abandoned the race and reset the course as the breeze began to build to a respectable 8-10 kts.

YEAH!! Finally some sailboat racing!

Over the next couple of hours we got two more races in even with the general recalls, I flags, Z flag and even a black flag.

A total of 34 boats raced, making this regatta the biggest for the class in 2012.

In the end, the winner was Colin Gordon and team 506, TK, Bill Lynn and Peter Lynn.


Second place went to Team Fast Forward: Peter Galloway, Ched Proctor, Paul Steinborn and Jim Linville.

Third was Team 690: Larry Ehrhardt with Sandy Weil and Andy Giglia.


A great debrief, written by Colin Gordon, can be found HERE

Full results follow:
Click on the image to enlarge it.

The LIS Championships was a huge success. I heard many, very kind words about every aspect of the regatta. Without all the people who volunteered their time and expertise, it could not have happened.

Special thanks to:

Briggs Tobin and his entire RC
Peter Wilson
Scott Harrison
Howard Seymour
Jan and Chip Raymond
Those who offered housing: Jane Lyons, Cathy Hoyt, Paul Steinborn (I know there are others)
Jeff Eng and his staff

I'd also like to thank Kitty Brown. From Friday night chili to Sunday after race snacks (and everything in between), she did an amazing job.


FLEET RACING:

Sandy Eisenberg took some pictures from RC on 9/23. You can view them HERE. If you would like copies, please contact Sandy at: sandy.eisenberg51@gmail.com

We still have two weeks of fleet racing left. Hopefully you plan to sail. If not, please make whatever arrangements you need to prepare your boat for winter. If you plan to have Ed Morgan shrink wrap your boat, let him know. The sooner he can get started, the better for all involved.

The club closing ceremony is set for Sunday, October 21, 4:00pm.


IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/







Tuesday, September 25, 2012

FLEET RACING:

Sunday September 23:

A beautiful day with the breeze coming from Stamford...sometimes (read: puffs and shifts and puffs and shifts).

We had four guests boats join us today, three from Nyack, one from Manhasset. With them we had 14 boats on-the-line. Our PRO David Eisenberg did an outstanding job setting the courses and running four races.

In the end, Lee Morrison won the day with a total of 7 points. Lee sailed with (L to R below) Don Vasta, Matt Silvaggio (who participated in this year's crew training program), and Susan Morrison.

Team 619
Just one point behind Lee was Scott Harrison who was tied with Lee going into the last race. 

Third went to Peter Galloway.

Last Fleet Race:

As we all know, this weekend is the Long Island Sound Championships, after that, we have two fleet racing Sunday's scheduled. Our last fleet race is on October 14.

To encourage participation, we are going to invite all skippers who travel to the LIS Champs to leave their boats with us and race those final two weekends.

We hope to see you out there as well.

Long Island Sound Championships:

We currently have 31 boats registered (including mail-in), 17 from Noroton. Pretty good.

There are still a couple of travel teams looking for housing. If you have room and would like to volunteer, please raise your hand.

The SI's are now available. To download a copy, click HERE

For those of you racing, your boat must be in the water by 0900 Saturday morning. To avoid the inevitable lines at the hoist, consider coming down to the club Friday evening an launching.

We are serving chili and beer on Friday beginning at 5pm.

TEAM RACING:

Noroton hosted the Kirby Cup on SA-SU September 15-16. The Kirby Cup is the Sonar Class Association's team race championships.


The following is a great recap by Jim Linville:

The weather was amazing - clear clear air, flat water, moderate breezes with plenty of puffs and shifts to keep even your Noroton Home Team ever hopeful.  The top of the fleet was littered with Noroton members but sadly for your home team, that group was not sailing for Noroton: after our first day of racing (1 win), Bruce Kirby was greeting our team members by introducing himself as follows: "Hi, I'm Bruce Kirby from New York Yacht Club".  Please note that his broad grin left no doubt that he was only giving us a gentle ribbing and had enjoyed watching the action all day. However none of this made more than a slight dent in the good times we had, and Noroton should be proud of the Vineyard Haven team skippered by Karl Ziegler, Greg Stevens and Alex Meleny - Noroton members all - who won the first day and lost first place overall in a tiebreaker with Eastern Yacht Cub after Saturday's races.   

For most of us who sailed for Noroton, team racing is a wonderful extension of the sport we all love: it puts a very strong emphasis on boat handling, situational awareness, teamwork inside and outside your own boat, and knowledge of the rules and the moves.  The races usually last only 10 minutes or so but they seem to go on much much longer because the action is literally nonstop. At the top level the outcome of a race is only rarely decided early on and lead changes can happen with breathtaking speed at mark roundings.  

It is remarkable that in team racing, and in particular in umpired events where fouls are called and penalties are taken in real time, that there is very little yelling going on.  Most folks know the rules and the moves well enough to keep out of trouble or know that they have been put into trouble because the opposition got to them before they could get to the opposition.  And if you don't agree with a particular call, after the race the umpires go out of their way to make themselves available to discuss what they saw and why they made the call.  It is so refreshing to have things resolved so quickly and by the way it is remarkable how often you can take a penalty and get right back into the game.

Team Noroton went into Sunday's racing with their heads up and smiles on their faces figuring that it would be statistically improbable that we could do worse than we had done the day before, and to our great pleasure we actually put a brief winning streak together.  We also threatened the 5th place team - Seawanhaka - for a fleeting moment by beating them twice, but in the end we held on to anchor the results. 

Special thanks to Lee Morrison for organizing the event, Peter Wilson and his great team for umpiring, Glenn Morrison for running all the races - 60 in all and to all of the many other volunteers who made this event possible.

And finally, events like this could never happen at Noroton if it weren't for the owners who make their Sonars available.  For my part, they perform an under recognized and under appreciated service to the club and to the sport and on behalf of all of the competitors we thank you.  Thank you to Colin Gordon, David Eisenberg, Scott Harrison, Cathy Hoyt, Bill Jason, Bruce Kirby, Basil Lyden, Bruce McArthur, Bill Maguire, Jan & Chip Raymond, Kevin Sheehan, Steve & Melissa Shepstone, Palmer Sparkman, TK, Randy Tankoos, Howard Vickery, Dave Wente and Karl Ziegler for loaning your boats for this event.

Jim 

And now a quick follow up by Vice Commodore Lee Morrison:

My perspective watching all the races from the bosun boat: most races were close enough that there was team racing going on into the finish.  The fleets were tightly packed, starts were close and there were position changes going on all the time. The weather was beautiful.  Boston was on their game.  They won most of their starts and when they didn't, they were able to convert into a winning position usually by mark 2.  With a couple of notable exceptions (generally against VHYC) once they got ahead, they stayed there.  This was a weekend to remember regardless of finishing position.

Lee

NOROTON HARBOR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18:

CLICK TO ENLARGE


IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/






Wednesday, September 12, 2012

FLEET RACING:

Sunday September 9:

Wind: 7 kts
Direction: SW
Flood tide
Sunrise: 6:29am
Sunset: 7:14pm
Moon Phase: Waning crescent:


But wait, didn't someone say they saw a full moon during the race?


With 13 boats on-the-line, our PRO for the day, Howard Vickery ran two races, a D2 and a D1.


At the end, we had a tie for first between Ed Sweeney and Galloway/Linville, each with 4 points. Ed and Team 454 won the tie-breaker by winning the second race. Third went to 733 Sheehan, Howe and Sparkman

Tean 454: Leo Schlinkert, Art Collins, Bill Tomson and Ed Sweeney
The top three results were:

454: 3, 1
701: 1, 3
733: 2, 5

Long Island Sound Championships:

We currently have 15 boats registered, 12 from Noroton. Not bad but I was hoping for 18 Noroton boats by now.

My forecast is for sunny skies, temperature 75ยบ, SW wind at 10-12 kts with flat water.

Until I hear otherwise, that's what I'm going with.

To register online, go into the Member's Only section of http://www.sonar.org/.

Click HERE for a copy on the NOR.

KIRBY CUP:

Noroton is hosting the Kirby Cup team race this weekend so there will be no fleet racing.


LAST FLEET RACE:

Speaking of ending the season, there will be two fleet racing Sunday's after the regatta. Our last fleet race is on October 14.

To encourage participation, we are going to invite all skippers who travel to the LIS Champs to leave their boats with us and race those final two weekends.

We hope to see you out there as well.


UPCOMING CALENDAR:

Sat-Sun Sep. 15-16, Kirby Cup, Noroton (**no fleet racing this weekend)
Sat-Sun Sep. 29-30, Long Island Sound Championships, Noroton
Sunday, October 14, Last day of fleet racing :-(

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

FLEET RACING:

Last weekend was our Labor Day series.

Day 1: Saw 14 boats on the line including a team from Pequot YC and one from California. All were greeted with a nice breeze from the SE at 8 kts. PRO Peter Galloway and the RC ran 4 races, 2x W2 and 2x W1.

At the end of the day's racing, we had Bob Monro in first with 16 points, followed by a tie for second between Scott Harrison and Lee Morrison with 17 points each.

Not all was coming up roses though:



Carolyn Wilson took this shot of Art Collins looking for wind between races...NOT!

Remember this?


Who can guess the common denominator?

Day 2:  Many called this the best day of the year. SE winds at 14-16. PRO Jim Bishop ran 3 W2's, with 12 boats racing.

After the drop-out, our winner of the Labor Day series was Scott Harrison, with Warren Costikyan, Chris Shapiro and John Szewczuk.

Team 772: Warren, Chris, Scott and John
Second place, just one point behind was Lee Morrison. Third went to Bob Monro.

Here are some pictures from Day 2, third race, start and leeward mark. You can click on the images to enlarge them:








LONG ISLAND SOUND CHAMPIONSHIPS:

We are hosting the LIS Championships on September 29-30. Last year's regatta had 23 competitors. This year our goal is 30! But it can only happen if you sail. We need a big turn-out from fleet 1 and we need you to register early. The sooner the better. The more boats that register, the more travel boats will decide to make the trip.

Keep in mind, if you register and for whatever reason can't make it, you will not be charged.

We had 20 boats out fleet racing in July. I don't see any reason why we can't get 20 to register for the regatta. If we can get 20 boats from Fleet 1, then I believe we'll get another 15 to travel here. How cool would that be? 35 boats racing in the final regatta of the season?

Online registration is now open in the Member's Only area of http://www.sonar.org/

We still need a few more people to help with RC for the regatta. Please consider helping one or both days.  Briggs Tobin is the PRO.  Lunch will be provided and people that serve both days will receive an invitation to the dinner on Saturday night.

LAST FLEET RACE:

Speaking of ending the season, there will be two fleet racing Sunday's after the regatta. Our last fleet race is on October 14.

To encourage participation, we are going to invite all skippers who travel to the LIS Champs to leave their boats with us and race those final two weekends.

We hope to see you out there as well.

TEAM RACING:

The Kirby Cup is being held on Saturday and Sunday, September 15-16. We have 6 teams participating: Noroton, Eastern YC, Boston YC, NYYC, Seawanhaka and Vineyard Haven.

As a reminder, fleet racing is canceled on Sunday 9/16.

We still need volunteers to help launch boats and for housing. If you would like to help, please contact Lee Morrison.


UPCOMING CALENDAR:

Sat-Sun Sep. 15-16, Kirby Cup, Noroton (**no fleet racing this weekend)
Sat-Sun Sep. 29-30, Long Island Sound Championships, Noroton
Sunday, October 14, Last day of fleet racing :-(

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/




Tuesday, August 28, 2012

FLEET RACING:

Sunday August 12:

Our first race today was the Rear Commodore's Race. PRO (and Rear Commodore) Peggy Hersam got us going on a D2 in light air. With 13 boats competing, Peter Galloway and Team Fast Forward finished first Followed by Bob Monro in second and Gary Coventry in third.

With the wind behaving, in fact increasing to about 9 kts out of the SW, Peggy was able to run two more races.

Our overall, and Daily Double winner, was Team Fast Forward.

Peter, Cooper Pellaton and Paul Steinborn
Peter with Kevin Marks
As always, full results can be found here: http://www.fleet1.org/

Sunday August 19:

Your's truly, as PRO, is now 0 for 2:


Sunday August 26:

One of those all too rare beautiful August sailing days. With wind out of the SE between 9 and 12 KTS our CO-PRO's of Chip and Jan Raymond were able to run four races (some of us were hoping for five!).

Our first race was a D2, followed by two D1's and finishing with a W1. 

A very competitive fleet resulted in lots of crowded, tactical mark roundings. 

Our days winner, with a triumphant return from Vineyard Haven, was Alex Meleney with crew Nils Dahl, Andie Dahl and KC Hart (is it me or does KC jump on a lot of boats that end out winning...just saying!)

Team 390
Alex was followed by Lee Morrison, one point behind in second and Scott Harrison in third.

NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS:

The North American Championships took place on August 24-26, hosted by Rochester Yacht Club. 

Successfully defending his title was Noroton's own Peter Galloway!

Peter with Paul Steinborn and Ched Proctor


Here is a summery write-up from Peter:

We won, but it was not a pushover.

Colin Gordon with TK was second, one point back.  A local sailor, Jeff Sullivan, a very nice young man was right in the hunt also.

We led the series by two points (after throw out) over Colin going into the final race, with Jeff four points back, so the final race was an interesting three way shoot out for the title.

Colin and we both passed Jeff right at the finish (less than two boat lengths separated the three of us).

A 12 boat regatta, but good talent.  Rick Doerr was there as was Al Constants (from Seawanhaka) and, of course, Skip Shumway who, as the event chair, did an outstanding job.

The first race on both Friday and Saturday had winds from the south, but diminishing. But in each case the winds swung to the north within minutes of dying as the sea breeze filled in with a healthy 10-15 knots. Fresh water! It does not get better.

PRO work was outstanding. Reasonable length courses with lots of course changes to suit conditions and no more that 15 minutes between races meant we could get 5 decent races in on Friday and Saturday, with the finale on Sunday AM. We started right on time every day.

It was a lot of fun and worth going to.

A full write-up by Peter Galloway can be found HERE.

For complete results and photos, click HERE.

Don't forget - Rochester will be holding the World Championships next year.

LONG ISLAND SOUND CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Noroton is hosting the LIS Championships on Sat-Sun 9/29-30. We are looking for a big turn-out from Fleet 1.

Let's get our registrations in early! The more of you who sail, the more outside boats will be willing to travel.

The NOR and online registration is now available at http://www.sonar.org/

We need volunteers!!!!!

We need a few more people to help with RC for the Sonar Long Island Sound Championships, September 29 & 30.   Please consider helping one or both days.  Briggs Tobin is the PRO.  Lunch will be provided and people that serve both days will receive an invitation to the dinner on Saturday night.

The Sonar LIS Champs will draw between 20 and 30 boats including the current North American Champion and many Noroton Sonars sailors.  It’s a great opportunity to get involved.

Please contact me if you are interested: 2bruce@optonline.net


TEAM RACING:

Hinman Masters:

The Hinman Masters took place on August 17-19 at Harbour Court in Newport RI. Ten clubs competed including a team from Noroton. Our skippers were Lee Morrison, Steve Shepstone and Tom Kinney (TK).

With a strong showing on day 2, winning 6 of 9 races, the Noroton team made it into the championship gold fleet round robin which is comprised of the six best finishers after two days of racing.

The gold round robin didn't quite go as planned. Even with impressive wins against eventual winner St Francis YC (winning 2 of 3 races), Noroton finished in sixth overall, 6.5 points out of first.

Full results and a regatta summery can be found here: http://www.nyyc.org/hinman-masters-aug17-19/

Grand Masters:

The Grand Masters team race on August 25-26, was also sailed at NYYC's Harbour Court.

Noroton's Grandmasters team once again won the Grandmasters Team Race Championships.  This annual event pits the best Team Racers (over 55 years old) against each other.  

This year's event featured 8 teams racing against each other in a double round robin with the top 4 teams advancing to a gold division to race for the championship.  

After 56 races, the championship came down to the final race between the host New York YC and Noroton. 

We are all proud of our winning team that was composed of 8 former Commodores and included skippers Peter Wilson, Bill Jayson and Ed Sweeney. 

Lee Morrison
Vice Commodore

Summary and full results here: http://www.nyyc.org/grandmasters-aug25-26/

UPCOMING CALENDAR:

Sun-Mon Sep 2-3, Labor Day Series, harbor start 12:30p
Sat-Sun Sep. 15-16, Kirby Cup, Noroton (**no fleet racing this weekend)
Sat-Sun Sep. 29-30, Long Island Sound Championships, Noroton
Sunday, October 14, Last day of fleet racing :-(

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/

Thursday, August 9, 2012

FLEET RACING:

OMG, has it really been a month? I guess I'm having too much fun!

Sunday, July 15:

12 boats made it out to the race course today. Our PRO Howard Seymour faced a challenging hot, light air day. With a slight breeze, Howard started us on a D1. The wind immediately died to almost nothing.

No one made it to the windward mark in the required 30 minute time limit. Team 360 tried desperately to round the mark as the time limit expired. Lucky for them they failed, had they been successful they would have earned the ire of the entire fleet :-)

With that, racing was abandoned and we were all towed in:



Sunday, July 22:

Today was the Vice Commodore's Race. 17 boats were on the line as PRO Lee Morrison started us off on a D2. The wind behaved, in fact increased slightly, allowing the fleet to complete the race in under an hour.

Overall, Jim Crane did it the fastest, followed by Team 500 and Bob Monro.

Our second race of the day was a D1 which was won by Bob Monro, then Jim Crane and Scott Harrison came in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Jim Crane scored the Daily Double by winning the Vice Commodore's Race and the overall.

Team 632: Jim Crane, Patrick Collins and Brenda Crane


Sunday, July 29:

Two light air races ended with a three-way tie for first. Bill Vernon, Bob Monro, and Scott Harrison all finished with 4 points! After the tie-breakers kicked in, our winner was Bill Vernon, followed by Bob Monro with Scott Harrison in third.

Here's the race write-up from Scott:

Sunday started out slowly with no boats in the water at 12 noon.  The breeze teased us, but Pro Steve Shepstone was quick and raise the AP before anyone left the dock.  We did eventually get a S/SE breeze of ~4-5 knots that allowed the group to finish 2 brief W2 races. Most thought Steve was setting up a team race with the  windward leg so short, but all eventually came to agreement that the course length was appropriate given the light breeze. The second race was shorten at the second windward mark as T-storms passed to the North and had most concerned.

Team 627: Bill Vernon, Matt Nestor, Christie Colley and Bryan Nestor


Sunday, August 5:

Finally a great sailing day with wind in the 12-14 range out of the SW! Our PRO Tom Ross sent the fleet of 13 boats on two D1's then ran a third race which only 4 boats (what??) participated in.

Our winner for the day, with a very dominant 2, 1, 1, was Lee Morrison. Lee was followed by Jan Raymond with 17 and Paul Norton with 22.

Team 619: Lee and Susan Morrison, Don Vasta and Jim Gleason

NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS:

The 2012 Sonar North American's are only two weeks away. This year's NA's are being hosted by the Rochester Yacht Club. RYC is also hosting next year's World Championships so this is a great opportunity to get some sailing at that venue.

Anyone interested can register at: http://www.sonar.org/


FLEET BARBECUE:

Our next fleet barbecue is scheduled for this Sunday, August 12, after racing.

FLEET RACING CALENDAR:

Sun.August 12, Fleet barbecue after racing
Fri-Sun Aug. 24-26, North American Championships, Rochester YC
Sat-Sun Sep. 29-30, Long Island Sound Championships, Noroton


TEAM RACING CALENDAR:

Sat-Sun. Aug. 18-19, Hinman Masters, Newport, RI
Sat-Sun Aug. 25-26, Grand Masters, Newport, RI
Sat-Sun Sep. 15-16, Kirby Cup, Noroton

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/

Monday, July 9, 2012

FLEET RACING:

On Sunday July 8 we set an all-time new record for boats on-the-line fleet racing. 20 boats made it to the starting line for the first race, another light air affair. PRO KC Hart started us on a traditional D2 in 6 knots out of the SW.

Combine the light air with a flood tide and a leeward mark with a short anchor rode and you end out having a very interesting windward-leeward course with an unintended reaching leg to keep us on our toes.

With a little more pressure, our second race was a W1 sprint requiring lots of "tactical awareness" at the windward mark.

After our second race, the fleet came in ready to enjoy "tea" on the terrace.

Our winner for the day was Team 454 with Bill Thomson, Ed Sweeney, Alan DeSantis and Art Collins.
Ed, didn't you get the memo...PINK shorts!
The top three finishers and scores were:

1. Ed Sweeney- 2, 1 = 3
2. Bob Monro - 3, 5 = 8
3. McArthur/Milne - 7, 2 = 9

As always, full results can be see here: http://www.fleet1.org/

FLEET CHARTER OPPORTUNITIES:

We've received a couple of Sonar Charter requests. One during our Labor Day series from friend of Bruce Kirby and Scuttlebutt founder Tom Leweck. Tom would be bringing a very experienced California crew who are headed for the Sonar event at Harbour Court. They are very competitive and responsible (they'd
be happy to insure the vessel used). Please contact BK if you are interested in pursuing this.

Our second opportunity came to us from Brian Hayes. Drew Daugherty is also interested in a possible charter or even crewing opportunity. Drew is the current (and many time) Y Flyer champion and Chair of US Sailing Champion of Champions. He is very interested in sailing in the New Englands on August 4-5 and can even bring some of his crew if needed. If you are thinking of going to the New Englands but are short crew, this is a great way to put a top competitor on your boat.

Speaking of crew...

NEED CREW?

I've seen a number of our spring trainees out on the water, which is awesome. There are still others hoping to sail. I've also received requests to crew from two other people. Both have sailing experience but will be fairly new to the Sonar. Each will be a great #4 and possibly become a regular if you are interested in helping them grow. 

FLEET BARBECUE:

Our next fleet barbecue is scheduled for this coming Sunday July 15 after racing.

FLEET RACING CALENDAR:

Sun. July 15, Fleet barbecue after racing
Sat-Sun Aug. 4-5, New England Championships, Falmouth YC, Falmouth MA
Fri-Sun Aug. 24-26, North American Championships, Rochester YC
Sat-Sun Sep. 29-30, Long Island Sound Championships, Noroton

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/



Thursday, July 5, 2012

FLEET RACING:

We completed our July 4 series and unlike last year and this past Memorial Day, we did it on the days originally scheduled!

Sunday we had 16 boats on the line, enjoying 7 knots of breeze out of the SW. Our PRO Michael Rudnick sent us on two D2 races giving everyone lots of opportunity to mix it up.

After the first day of racing, the top boats were:

Galloway/Linville/Steinborn  3
Harrison  6
Girling    8
Morrison 8

Wednesday, July 4 was almost an exact copy of Sunday. 16 boats, wind out of the SW. The only difference was when we got to the race course we were looking at 12 knots and when we left the race course we only had 5. The breeze was also doing a slow shift to the south which made it a little difficult for our PRO, Commodore Randy Tankoos and his RC.

But still, we got another two races in. The first race was the Commodore's Race where Randy sent us on a D2. After about an hour of sailing, the first boat across the finish line was Lee Morrison with Susan Morrison, Willem Sandberg and Don Vasta.
Lee Morrison and Don "Can You See Me Now" Vasta 

The second race was a W1. With light air and a fairly strong current, some boats finishing at the pin had a difficult time crossing the line. It made for some enjoyable viewing though!

For the four races in the Series, Fast Forward with Peter Galloway, Jim Linville, Paul Steinborn and Paul Barringer raced to first place with a total of 10 points.
"Paul, halyard...not you, the other Paul!"

Second place went to Lee Morrison with 16 points and third went to Team 500 who finished with 19.

All scores are available here: http://www.fleet1.org/

FLEET BARBECUE:

Our next fleet barbecue is scheduled for Sunday July 15.


FLEET RACING CALENDAR:

Sun. July 15, Fleet barbecue after racing
Sat-Sun Aug. 4-5, New England Championships, Falmouth YC, Falmouth MA
Fri-Sun Aug. 24-26, North American Championships, Rochester YC
Sat-Sun Sep. 29-30, Long Island Sound Championships, Noroton

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/

Friday, June 29, 2012

LET'S GET CAUGHT UP:

Fleet Racing...

Sunday June 17

Another easterly greeted the 11 boats that made it out on Father's Day. Having about seven knots to work with, PRO Peter Wilson decided to go with a D1 course.

In all, Peter ran three races. It ended out being a great day of sailing for 10 of the 11 boats. The lone exception:

Tom Ross with his "modified" mast.

(I think the general consensus is for Tom to go back to a more traditional mast.)

At the end of the day, our winner was Lee Morrison who sailed with Susan Morrison, Alex Morrison and Dave Kelly (how'd he get in there?)

David, Lee and Susan


The top three looked like this:

Morrison: 1, 1, 2  total 4 (tough to beat that!)
Sweeney: 2, 5, 1 total 8
Harrison: 3, 4, 3 total 10

Sunday June 24:

We tied our all time record today with 18 boats on the line, including three guests from NYYC. PRO Kevin Sheehan decided to start us off with a D2 course, which seemed like a good idea until just after the start when the wind eased to about 5-6 knots. Still, we got the race in.

The second race was a more manageable D1. The winner for the day was Bill Crane, sailing with Michael Rudnick and first year junior instructor Connor Brady 

(sorry everyone, my battery died so no picture)

Overall results:

Crane: 7, 1
Sweeney 1, 8
Jayson 4, 6

ATLANTIC COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Dave Curtis and crew.

We had five fleet member's participate in the ACC which were held in Marblehead on June 23-24. 20 boats challenged for the title. After six races (with one throw-out), the regatta was won by Dave Curtis who needed every bit of his local knowledge to finish ahead of Noroton's Peter Galloway. Peter finished just one point behind Dave.

Other Noroton Fleet 1 entries and finishes:

Rick Doerr 5
Scott Harrison 6
Alex Meleney 9
Zach Shapiro 13

Full results can be found here: http://bit.ly/KEOeW8  

JULY 4 SERIES:

Just a reminder that our annual July 4 series will take place on Sunday July 1 and Wednesday July 4. Awards for the top three boats will be awarded after racing on the 4th.

NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS:

The NAs will take place on August 24-26 in Rochester, NY. Commodore Keith Burhans from the Rochester Yacht Club has sent out the following invitation:

Click on the letter to enlarge


CREW TRAINING SEMINAR UPDATE:

The names and contact information for the participants in the crew training seminar have been posted on the Noroton YC website. To find them, go into the Member's only area then click on the Sailing tab, then below that, select Crew List.

We've received positive reviews on everyone so don't be shy about getting them involved in Sonar racing.


FLEET RACING CALENDAR:

Sun. July 1 and Wed. July 4, July 4 Series at Noroton
Sun. July 15, Fleet barbecue after racing
Sat-Sun Aug. 4-5, New England Championships, Falmouth YC, Falmouth MA
Fri-Sun Aug. 24-26, North American Championships, Rochester YC
Sat-Sun Sep. 29-30, Long Island Sound Championships, Noroton

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/





Wednesday, June 13, 2012

MEMORIAL DAY SERIES - REDUX:

Sunday, June 3: Fleet 1 kicked off its 1st race which challenged all, particularly in wind direction and velocity.  Going out to the course, the wind was roughly SW and pre start, it picked up to 12+ knots, shifted right, and had many teams moving mast blocks. We sailed into a strong tide, making the unwind part of the D2 a long course with many guesses made as to wind direction and pressure.  The right side paid off both times and coming out on top was Fast Forward, followed by Spit Fire and Jack. Bruce Kirby had a tremendous second beat, staying right and picking up 5 boats. Clouds, thunder and unsettled air force the group in early.

Scott Harrison

In the end Kirby withdrew so the results, and trophy winners, of our Memorial Day Series are:

1. Galloway/Linville/Steinborn
2. Hoyt/Zeigler
3. Sheehan/Howe/Sparkman

Sunday, June 10: Looked like it was gong to be another wash with a light easterly and adverse current. 11 boats made their way to the race course where PRO Bob Monro decided to go for it with a W1. Getting to the starting line in the first race was tough but, thankfully the breeze picked up enough to sail. 

In the end we got in four W1's and only 1 point separated the top three finishers! Here they are:

1. Sweeney  1, 1, 6, 4 total: 12
2. Morrison  4, 4, 3, 1 total: 12
3. Kirby       2, 7, 1, 3 total: 13

Team 454

As always, full results can be found here: http://www.fleet1.org/

SONAR CREW TRAINING:

Fleet 1 held our first Crew training seminar on Saturday, June 9. We ended out having 18 participants with all levels of experience from never sailed to years of racing.

Scott Harrison began the seminar with a two hour classroom covering the race course, crew positions, rules and sail trim.

We followed that up by rigging five boats and sending the students out for 3 hours of on-the-water training. Special thanks to Peter Gallowy, Ed Infurna, Rick Doerr, Lee Morrison and Bruce McArthur for volunteering their time and boats to the cause. Also thanks to Britt Hall who helped yours truly, and to Don Vasta and Scott Harrison for setting up and running our practice races.

Given the amount of positive feedback we received, we will be making this an annual event. Look for it next spring.

AVOID THE PATIO (AFTER RACE) PROTEST:

The following is an excellent article by Peter Wilson. Everyone should read this as it deals with changes to our sailing instructions and, more importantly, changes to US Sailing Appendix T in the RRS for 2013*.

Click HERE to download the entire article

*APPENDIX T – ALTERNATIVE PROCEDURES FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION

This appendix is a US Sailing prescription. One or more sections of this appendix apply only if the sailing instructions so state.
The rules in this appendix are intended to improve compliance with the Basic Principle, Sportsmanship and the Rules, and may be used for fleets of boats in major or minor events.
Sections A and B provide alternative penalties that encourage competitors to take a penalty when they may have broken a rule of Part 2 or rule 31. They can be used together or individually.
Sections C and D each provide a modified hearing procedure that is less formal and less time-consuming than the usual hearing procedure. They are designed to encourage boats to enforce the rules by protesting. Sections C and D are not designed to be used at the same event, but either Section C or Section D may be used with Section A or B, or with both. Note however that, if Section D is used, Section B automatically applies.
Please report your experiences with and evaluations of these rules to US Sailing by sending an e-mail to rules@ussailing.org.


REMEMBER?

Before:


After:

FLEET RACING CALENDAR:

Sat-Sun, June 23-24, Atlantic Coast Championships, Marblehead
Sun. July 1 and Wed. July 4, July 4 Series at Noroton
Sat-Sun Aug. 4-5, New England Championships, Falmouth YC, Falmouth MA
Fri-Sun Aug. 24-26, North American Championships, Rochester YC
Sat-Sun Sep. 29-30, Long Island Sound Championships, Noroton

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/











Wednesday, May 30, 2012

MEMORIAL DAY SERIES:

The following are some great action shots from last weekend's racing:





Oh well, there's always next week!
















TAPPAN ZEE CHALLENGE RESULTS:

Here's a great write up by Rick Doerr:


Day one of the Sonar Tappan Zee Challenge got off to an auspicious start, possibly a portends of things to come when the first race of the series had to be abandoned when a demonstrable wind shift resulted in a fleet inversion and running to Mark 1. After the breeze settled into the new breeze direction, a steady Southerly breeze allowed to the race committee to get 3 good races off. With significant pressure differentials and famous Hudson River current, a large premium was paid to stay in touch and balance the favored current. The challenge was to sail correct angles against foul current on the runs and set up for the next pressure bands. David Eisenberg sailing 672 with Glen and Lee Morrison had strong day finishing in second for the day, followed by Al Constance (400) and Scott Harrison (772). Alex Melaney (390) had a strong day besides a halyard failure leading to a DSQ with a subsequent 1,2. Skip Shumway rounded out the top group with yours truly holding a narrow 2 pt lead after finishing 1,2,5.

Day 2 started out with a promising 5knt Northerly which quickly died out during the 9am start sequence yielding a prolonged postponement, with the next sequence not commencing till 11:03. With RC under duress to complete racing by 1pm (or sooner) to make sure boats could haul before low tide at the hoist, they pushed hard to get the only race of the day off in a SW'ly. With some boats drifting down current to make the start, the race started with the leaders in a dogfight to hold their lanes. With an impending SE'ly about to settle in Alex Melaney won the fight for the left side, barely making the offset mark before protracting their spinnaker set to jib reach to mark 2, followed closely by Eisenberg then Harrison. With the RC unable to change course, the boats were finished at the gate and sent in for the day. The jury would then had their hands full trying to determine if the final race stood up to reasonable standards as an acceptable race with the race being abandoned, then reinstated, then RDG/average score, but in the end, actual results were given to the competitors resulting in the Team of Eisenberg, Morrison, Morrison taking first followed by Scott Harrison in second. 

The finishes for other Noroton boats are: Doerr - 4; Meleney - 5; and Coventry - 13.

Full results:

Click to enlarge
CREW TRAINING SEMINAR:

Our first ever Sonar Crew training seminar is coming up on Saturday June 9, from 9a-4p. Our agenda includes a two hour on-shore class then three hours on the water. Topics the class will cover include a discussion on the race course itself; rules; crew positions and tasks; points of sail; and wind. 

Our class is limited to 21. If you are interested in attending, you can sign up by going to the Member's Only area of the Noroton website: http://norotonyc.org/

We need Sonar owners to volunteer to take out attendees. We are looking for at least seven boats. Each boat should have a skipper and one regular crew member to help with boat handling instruction. Please contact Scott Harrison if you can join us.

RULES QUIZ:

Senior Judge Peter Wilson has submitted the following question related to our new SI's:

Protests and Penalties under the 2012 Noroton Sailing Instructions.

Boat A approaches the weather mark on port tack and tacks to starboard just ahead and to leeward of B who is fetching.  B is faster but sees there is no room for her to pass between A and the mark, so B heads up to avoid A and is compelled to sail above close-hauled.  B immediately hails protest and within 5 seconds displays her protest flag.  A neither acknowledges nor does she take a two-turn penalty.

B reports her protest to the race committee immediately after finishing, and then 15 minutes after the RC boat docks confirms her protest against A with the PRO (RC chairman of the day).  In doing so B says, "I want a hearing because A gained a significant advantage by fouling me at the weather mark".  The PRO finds the skipper of boat A and advises him that there will be a hearing in 15 minutes, and finds Steve Shepstone to head up the protest committee.  Just before the hearing starts, and prior to the 30 minute protest time limit, A's skipper hands the PRO a note complying with Noroton SI 16.2a that he will take a 20% scoring penalty for that race.

Shep convenes the hearing, there are no objections, and the PC takes testimony from the two skippers.  The PC finds facts and concludes that Boat A broke a rule (18.3a) and did gain a significant advantage by doing so.  How should the PC direct the RC to score boat A?   Would the score be the same if the PC found that A did break 18.3a but did not gain a significant advantage?

TEAM RACING:

Team Racing at Noroton is in full swing. 

We sail on Tues evenings in Noroton's Ideal 18s, and scrimmage at Noroton in Sonars on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.  Across the sound, Seawanhaka Corinthian YC is running a Friday evening series in Sonars.  Women's sailing programs start next Monday with the Summer Supper Series. 

We are signed up for the usual summer regattas and filling out teams to represent Noroton.

Noroton Team Racing is open to all members of Noroton YC and there are events for all levels of skippers and for people that prefer to crew.  Team Racing places a great emphasis on good boat handling and small boat sailing skills in fast paced, short course races.
   
If you would like to get involved, simply send your email address to norotontr@gmail.com and we'll put you on the distribution list.  Notes are sent out regularly with updates and announcements about upcoming events.  (btw, if you received a note from norotontr@gmail.com yesterday with a link to the 2012 Noroton Team Race Calendar, then you are already on the distribution list!).

If you would like more information please don't hesitate to contact any of the people listed below. 
Lee Morrison, Vice Commodore
Howard Seymour & Bruce McArthur - Team Race Coordinators
Clemmie Everett, Sailing Director


FLEET RACING CALENDAR:


Saturday June 9, 9a-4p, Crew Training Seminar
Sat-Sun, June 23-24, Atlantic Coast Championships, Marblehead
Sun. July 1 and Wed. July 4, July 4 Series at Noroton
Sat-Sun Aug. 4-5, New England Championships, Falmouth YC, Falmouth MA
Fri-Sun Aug. 24-26, North American Championships, Rochester YC
Sat-Sun Sep. 29-30, Long Island Sound Championships, Noroton

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Fleet 1 results: http://www.fleet1.org/