Wednesday, June 26, 2013

FLEET RACING:

Last Sunday was, in a word, spectacular. Sunny with a SW breeze at 8-13, (mostly 10-13). 13 boats came out to race. Why there weren't 20 I'll never know because it just doesn't get better on Long Island Sound in the summer.  PRO Paul Steinborn and his RC did a great job running two W2s and a D1.

The first race gave us our lightest breeze. But the course was set correctly and, after an hour of racing, Ed Sweeney took the gun, followed by Bob Monro in second and Scott Harrison in third.

The good news was the breeze filled in, giving us a pretty consistent 10-13 for races two and three.

The outbound current also picked up becoming a factor in races two and three, causing lots of missed laylines, hit marks and in one case, the mark snagged and dragged.

Race two was won by Scott Harrison with Lee Morrison in second and Kevin Sheehan in third.

Conditions in our third race were pretty much a replay of race two. Nice breeze, lots of current and lots of action at the marks. This time Lee Morrison took the gun with Scott in second and Ed Sweeney in third.

At the end of the day, our winner was Scott Harrison with 6 points followed by Lee Morrison in second with 7 points. Ed Sweeney finished third only one point back with 8.

All results can be found here: http://www.fleet1.org/

Scott with Warren Costikyan and Adam Westerman.
(Not pictured is team member Kelsey Harrison)
REGATTAS:

There are two more chances to participate in major Sonar regattas prior to the world championships. The Atlantic Coast Championships are being held the weekend of July 26-28 at Eastern YC in conjunction with the Marblehead NOOD.

The New England Championships are being hosted by Vineyard Haven YC on August 9-11. The NOR is available from the SCA website: http://www.sonar.org/

As we all know, the world championships are being held September 18-22 in Rochester NY. After speaking with the regatta chairs, we now have commitments from teams coming in from the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

The goal is to get 45 boats on the line. Fleet 1 will play an important part in reaching that goal. I believe we can get 15 boats up there but we need your help. The time to start planning is now. The regatta is Wed-Sun so get your team together, get the time off from work, book your hotels and register. The registration fee is refundable if plans change but, like everything else, the sooner you do it, the easier everything becomes (and less expensive).

Pretty soon I'll be siccing Scott on anyone who hasn't signed up so to avoid the trauma -- register.



The NOR and online registration are both available at http://www.sonar.org/.

CALENDAR:

July 4th Series: Thu July 4, Sun July 7
Fleet barbecue: July 14 after racing
ACC: Eastern YC, July 26-28
New England Champs: Vineyard Haven YC, August 9-11
Fleet Barbecue: August 18 after racing
Labor Day Series: Sun-Mon, Sep 1-2
Kirby Cup: Noroton YC, Sat-Sun, Sep 7-8
2013 World Championships: Rochester YC, September 18-22

Friday, June 21, 2013

LONG ISLAND SOUND CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Click to enlarge


Noroton hosted the LIS Championships last weekend. We had a pretty nice turn-out of 27 boats.

Saturday was, in a word...challenging.

"I'm seeing the breeze at about 230º." "Wait... make that 200º." "Sorry, I was right the first time." "Hold on... now we're seeing 320º." "No... wait... UHG!"

Add to the shifts a breeze ranging 7 to 13 kts and you begin to get the picture. It was fun.

With all that, Our PRO Briggs Tobin got four solid races in (and a good work-out for the RC).

Sunday presented it's own challenge... no wind. Thankfully the RC kept us out on the water until 1:30 when the boats started moving forward a bit. By 2 we had a nice breeze which continued to build to about 10 kts. We had time for one race so the day wasn't wasted.

At the end of racing, our winner with 22 points was Jim Crane and team 632. Consistency was the key to their win as they were to only boat to have top ten finishes in all five races. Second, only one point behind was Scott MacLeod who also took the gun in two of the five races. Third was Sam Altreuter from Eastern YC in Marblehead.

Full results are on the Noroton YC website. Go to Regatta Info and Results/Sonar to access them.

Click here for a great debrief from Jim Crane: http://tinyurl.com/n6dgmgx

There are also lots of pictures. Carolyn Wilson took a bunch at the windward mark. Her photos can be found in the photo gallery of the Noroton website.

Scott Connery also took a bunch of shots which can be found here: http://sonareasterns.shutterfly.com/

RULES:

Okay, we all tend to s t r e t c h the rules at times. But one rule we collectively need to understand better deals with tacking in the zone at the windward mark.

As Peter Wilson so eloquently puts it... "There are many obligations for the tacking boat, and hence many ways she can get in trouble."

Peter has put together the following scenarios to help clarify those obligations.

CLICK ON THE IMGAE TO ENLARGE IT

To see the entire document, click HERE.

SONAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:

It's time to start planning for the World Championships. The regatta is being held in Rochester NY on September 18-22... just three months from now.

It's not as far as you might think. Rochester is about 350 miles from Darien so we're looking at a six hour drive.

The NOR and online registration are both available at http://www.sonar.org/.

How many fleet 1 boats will be there?

CALENDAR:

July 4th Series: Thu July 4, Sun July 7
Fleet barbecue: July 14 after racing
ACC: Eastern YC, July 26-28
New England Champs: Vineyard Haven YC, August 10-11
Fleet Barbecue: August 18 after racing
Labor Day Series: Sun-Mon, Sep 1-2
Kirby Cup: Noroton YC, Sat-Sun, Sep 7-8
2013 World Championships: Rochester YC, September 18-22

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

FLEET RACING:

Sunday, June 9

The day started out very promising with SW wind right around 10 kts at the start of Race 1. PRO Howard Seymour sent the fleet of 15 boats on a D1 course which turned out to be the right call.

Race two became something of a drifter where TL(almost)E before anyone made it to the windward mark. But the perseverance of the fleet (and a shortened course) paid off as a little breeze filled in allowing nearly everyone to finish.

In the end, Team 701 with Peter Galloway, Paul Steinborn, new member Michael Aingorn and Sara Rakov finished first with three points.


Second was Team 506 with Scott MacLeod on helm. Third went to Jim Crane and team 632.

Full results are here: http://www.fleet1.org/

FLEET BARBECUE:

We had our first fleet barbecue following racing on Sunday. Hosted by the Schultz's and the Galloway's, the feast was a perfect way to end the day. 



For those who couldn't make it, mark your calendars... our next barbecue is July 14.

LONG ISLAND SOUND CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Last call. To date, we have 25 boats registered. The forecast looks great...

Everyone gets a shirt

Discounts at Landfall Navigation 

and a great meal Saturday evening:

HERB CRUSTED FILET OF BEEF horseradish sauce
GRILLED CHICKEN PESTO with fresh bruschetta
OVEN ROASTED NEW POTATOES
VEGETABLE MEDLEY sauteed with garlic olive oil
SPINACH SALAD with red onion. crispy bacon and feta cheese, balsamic vinaigrette
FRENCH ROLLS with butter
DESSERT DISPLAY chocolate chip cookies, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and brownies, garnished with fresh berries

It's not too late to register.

CALENDAR:

LIS Champs: Noroton YC, June 15-16
July 4th Series: Thu July 4, Sun July 7
Fleet barbecue: July 14 after racing
ACC: Eastern YC, July 26-28
New England Champs: Vineyard Haven YC, August 10-11
Fleet Barbecue: August 18 after racing
Labor Day Series: Sun-Mon, Sep 1-2
Kirby Cup: Noroton YC, Sat-Sun, Sep 7-8
2013 World Championships: Rochester YC, September 18-22

Monday, June 3, 2013

FLEET RACING:

Sunday, June 2:

Here's a report from co-fleet captain Scott Harrison...

We had a wonderful south breeze with some shifts and changes in velocity. The wind was +/- 10kts so PRO John Geissinger was able to run 3 D1's. The starts were tricky with a heavy pin favor which was corrected after several general recalls.

13 boats made the line and the fleet was tight around the course.

At the end of racing, Lee Morrison and Jim Crane were tied for first with 7 points each. Lee won the tie breaker by virtue of his bullet in the first race. Joining Lee was Susan Morrison, Don Vasta and Matt Silvaggio.




Scott Harrison was third with 9 points followed by new member Greg Danilek in fourth with 15 points.

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

CREW TRAINING:

Click on the photo to enlarge

Our crew training seminar took place on Saturday. We ended out with 30 participants and 10 skippers who came down to take students out on the water. The on-the-water portion turned out to be perfect with plenty of sun and breeze around 10 kts.

Thanks to Scott Harrison for running the classroom portion of the seminar, Andy Fisher and Kelsey Harrison for their help with setting up and running the races and all the skippers who came down to sail and train the students.

2013 LONG ISLAND SOUND CHAMPIONSHIPS

Our annual regatta has been moved to June 15-16 this year due to the World Championships in September.

We have brought back the same team that ran last year's very successful regatta, including Briggs Tobin as PRO; Peter Wilson as course director and jury member; Dave Sinclair as safety chair and jury member; Palmer Sparkman as official scorer; Jan Raymond for registration and t-shirt design; and of course, Kitty Brown for refreshments, Saturday dinner, snacks, etc.

Participation by Fleet 1 members is critical to convince outside teams to travel here. The regatta is less than 2 weeks away. PLEASE SIGN UP NOW!

The NOR and online registration is available at: http://www.sonar.org/. The NOR is also available from the Noroton website: http://norotonyc.org/ 

BARBECUES:

Our first fleet barbecue is this coming Sunday June 9. Please plan on staying at the club after racing to enjoy a burger (and whatever else our barbecue volunteer John Schultz has in store for us).

DUES:

Fleet 1 dues is $50. If you have not already done so, please send a check made out to "Sonar Fleet 1" (include your name, boat number and partner's names.) to:

Jean Galloway
26 Friendlee La.
Wilton, CT 06897

Just a reminder, fleet 1 dues is separate from SCA membership. SCA membership is required to race in sanctioned regattas like the LIS Championships.

CALENDAR:

Fleet barbecue: June 9 after racing
LIS Champs: Noroton YC, June 15-16
July 4th Series: Thu July 4, Sun July 7
Fleet barbecue: July 14 after racing
ACC: Eastern YC, July 26-28
New England Champs: Vineyard Haven YC, August 10-11
Fleet Barbecue: August 18 after racing
Labor Day Series: Sun-Mon, Sep 1-2
Kirby Cup: Noroton YC, Sat-Sun, Sep 7-8
2013 World Championships: Rochester YC, September 18-22