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/