2011 Houston Yacht Club Offshore Race

The Houston Yacht Club's Offshore Race, previously known as the Freeport Triangle, was defined by a 100+ nm triangle course anchored by the Buccaneer Platform (180 degrees), the Freeport Texas Outer Sea Buoy (267 degrees) and the Galveston South 5A jetty marker (45 degrees). The unusually small spinnaker fleet consisted of a King 40 (Hot Ticker), a 1D35 (Tres Hombres), an Express 37 (Milleniumm Express), a J/109 (Surprise), a J/105 (Stinger) and a Catalina 36 (Island Time). Both the Catalina and the J/109 were forced to withdraw due to rig problems. Wind forecast was for 15-20 knots out of the South building to 25+ after midnight, but a more accurate prediction would have called for ESE winds ranging from 12-30+ knots. The start at the Galveston Channel 11 marker came off exactly as predicted at 13:00 with the J/105 hitting the line first about two boat lengths ahead of the 1D35. Stinger rounded the 5A marker first on her way to the Buccaneer platform and held her own with the 1D 35 for several hours. At approximately 7:30, she rounded Buccaneer in third (25 minutes behind the lead boat) and hoisted her 110 sq mt spinnaker in a surprising 12 knots of breeze. Running toward Freeport the wind began to build (20+) providing ample power for 13-14 knot surfs with steady 10-12 knot runs. The Freeport Outer Buoy saw Stinger within view of at least one of the lead boats and in good position to take over first in PHRF. After a beautiful douse in 23 knots of breeze, she rounded the mark with a excessively large 155% genoa on the furler. Unfortunately this sail was far too powerful for the 24+ knot breeze. Great crew work produced an almost perfect douse followed by a very fast head sail change. The 40 mile fetch back to 5A saw speeds in excess of 9 knots with gusts to 31 knots. For most of this fetch, the winds averaged 24 knots. After rounding 5A, Stinger finished under main and jib at 03:19:28 to take first place in the regatta. While the seas were rough and the spray was very wet, the awesome crew work made the win possible. The 24 nm run back up the Houston Ship Channel was done under main alone with a following 3+ knot current and average speeds between 8 and 9 knots.

Reprinted from J105.org Class News, 3-May-2011.

Loe Real Sets Border Run Long Course Record

NEWPORT BEACH -- 230 skippers and crews competed in the third annual Border Run April 9, racing everything from 90-foot catamarans to dinghies -- with many donating to a worthy cause at the same time.

Early morning hail on race day worried race co-founder Randy Reynolds. But by dawn, the sun and a decent amount of wind both made their presence known.
“A lot of hardy sailors showed up -- and we had 6 knots of wind at the start and up to 15 during the race,” Reynolds said.

Of the race’s 233 registered boats, 34 crews raised more than $50,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

“Imagine what we could do in the future for this charity if everyone helped with the fundraising,” Reynolds said. “We’re really going to push that in the future.”

Three courses starting in Newport Harbor offered racing for boaters of every experience level, Reynolds said. The 91-mile International Long Course around Los Coronados islands finished outside San Diego Bay; the 70-mile Short Course took boaters from Newport Beach to San Diego; and the new 14-mile Sprint Course took small boat skippers from Newport Beach to Dana Point.

H.L. (Loe) Enloe’s 60-foot trimaran Loe Real set a new Long Course record, finishing in 7 hours, 48 minutes, 52 seconds elapsed time -- topping Mike Maloney’s R33 record of 7 hours, 57 minutes, 2 seconds set in 2009.

William Gibbs’ Afterburner finished the Short Course first with an overall elapsed time of 6 hours, 11 minutes, 37 seconds -- but was unable to beat the 2009 record of 6 hours, 7 minutes, 36 seconds set by Reynolds’ Cat Attack.

The fastest Sprint Course overall time was 2 hours, 21 seconds, by David Martin in his Hobie Cat 18, Sueno Majado.

“The 14-mile Sprint Course has a bright future, judging by those involved,” Reynolds said. “We had windsurfers and paddleboards, Weta trimarans, lasers, dinghies, catamarans, monohulls and multihulls.”

Reynolds said feedback was positive, and everyone involved seemed to have a good time. He was pleased to see participation from boaters near and far -- including Maryland and Canada.

The race was presented by XS Racing and assisted by several yacht clubs, including South Shore YC as the organizing authority, Southwestern YC as host of the trophy party and Dana West YC as host of the Sprint Course after-party. Reynolds expressed gratitude to the many sponsors and has high hopes for the future.

“Next year we hope to get more kids out there in the sprint course,” Reynolds said, going along with the Border Run’s “all-inclusive” philosophy.

Long Course top finishers include:

West Coast 70 PHRF
1st: Holua, Brack Duker, California YC; 2nd: OEX, Peter Tong, Long Beach YC; 3rd: Condor, Lindy Thomas, San Diego YC.

PHRF Light AA
1st: Medicine Man, Robert Lane, Long Beach YC; 2nd: Pendragon VI, John MacLaurin, California YC; 3rd: Katana, Laura Schlessinger, Santa Barbara YC.

Short Course top finishers include:
XS Light A
1st: Cat Attack II, Randy Reynolds, Lido Island YC; 2nd: http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifHoku Lani, Mickey Ryan, San Diego YC; 3rd: Afterburner, William Gibbs, Pierpont Bay YC.

PHRF Light A
1st: Dare, Kettenhofen, Balboa YC; 2nd: Heartbeat, Charles Brewer, Newport Harbor YC; 3rd: CoolManCool2!, Ken Johnson, American Legion YC.

Sprint Course top finishers include:
XS Mono
1st: Holder, James Conner, Oceanside YC; 2nd: Pendragon, Howard Lewis, Dana Point YC; 3rd: Bolero, Rich Fischbeck, Balboa YC.

For full results, go to regattanetwork.com and click on “results archive.”

Reprinted from the Log California's Boating and Fishing News.
By: Heidi Kulicke Thursday, April 14, 2011 11:44:00 AM
Last updated: Thursday, April 14, 2011 11:44:00 AM

Houston Yacht Club - Southwest Circuit Heritage Cup

This weekend Houston Yacht Club hosted the J 22 Heritage Cup. This is the seventh and last stop in our J 22 Southwest Circuit and had 29 boats. Other stops include regattas in Dallas, Oklahoma City, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. The individual regattas are scored but the overall winner is the best point total of your top four regattas. This year the district set a new high with twenty one boats sailing in at least four regattas. Last year only twelve sailed in four or more regattas. We also had two boats that made every stop.

This years Heritage Cup was one of the biggest regattas this year in part due to the fact that the R.I W.K.C starts next weekend also at H.Y.C so some of the teams were hoping to get an extra weekend of practice in. Sarah Bury and her team from RCYC in Toronto was the top women’s team and sailed very well. I expect to see her at the top next week also.

Matt Romberg sailed a great regatta in the light and shifty Easterlies to win. Rounding out the rest of the top five were Kelson Elam, Terry Flynn, Eric Faust and Brant Koepke.

I also want to invite anyone who is thinking of making the trip down to Dallas for the Midwinter’s to leave your boat and attend one of two of our early regattas while it is still cold up north. Please feel free to contact me or go to the Southwest Website at http://www.j22southwest.org . We are putting the finishing touches on next years schedule but should have it posted by the end of the year.

Quantum Sails finished 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, 9^th, 10^th for the Heritage Cup an 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th, 7^th, 10^th , 11^th Overall for the Southwest Circuit. This caps off another great year for Quantum Customers. We look forward to an even stronger next season.


Images courtesy of Marie Wise.

Article courtesy of Terry Flynn, Quantum Gulf Coast

Richmond Yacht Club's Great Pumpkin Regatta 2010

The annual Richmond Yacht Club barn burner got off to a wet, gray start, as the weather god tussled between giving the fleet a trick or a treat. Saturdays buoy races set out on 3 courses, Southampton The Circle and Deep Water for divided the 152 strong fleet into 21 classes, 7 on each.

With light breezes in the 5-6 knot range and courses of just 1.5 miles, once around, (except the Deep water course) the committee kept things moving, although slowly. A few bands of showers dampened the participants but not the spirits during the midst of race 2. In race 3 a huge shift swung through with a tad more breeze in the 8-9 knot range, and changed the course from a Windward leeward to and into a reach/ reach.

By days end, the clouds began to part and the party on boats rolled into gear…until darkness fell and the RYC’s upstairs became a 2010 edition of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, complete with Frank-N Furters, Riff Raffs, Eddies, Magentas and more.

Sunday’s hangovers were quickly quenched with dockside Gin Fizzes and large contingent of the 193 registered Pursuit Race participants sailed gallantly out to South Hampton to the 12:00 first start.

This time the Weather Gods shone brightly upon the fleet, basking them with brilliant sunshine and a gentle if not fickle breeze. The fleet initially broke into two factions, the Clockwise round Alcatraz then Angel Island takers and the Counter Clockwise, Raccoon Straits to Knox to Alcatraz gang.

It became apparent to many of the CCW gang that the wind was severely lacking in the lee of Angle Island, and many shifted back to a CW course and got an un-expected wind shift and breeze enhancement all the way to Point Blunt.

Rounding Alcatraz, the CW’s had enough breeze to carry white sails to the slot and with a little assist from the ebb and a gently building south westerly, were able to set chutes and carry them into Raccoon Straits. Attempt to buck the still flowing ebb, the edges were favored and for moments, it appeared enough breeze to punch though the swirling currents. Wind lessened for a while and the whole straights looked like a water skiers paradise for a while as the water glassed over, extending then race into late innings…

Meanwhile the CCW boats which were able to sneak through Raccoon Straights earlier were enjoying a bit of westerly in the slot from Treasure Island and across the circle.

In the end, Scott Easom, sailing his newly acquired Mumm 30, 8 Ball was able to eecked past Richard Coucirers Farr 36 Wicked and Sylvain Barrielle’s Archambault 40, Ciao!

85 Boats were able to complete the course out of 176 starters, but keep in mind there was Trick or Treating to do and a World Series Game to watch!

Courtesy of Eric Simonson and Sail-World

USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival Presented by Subway*

Pensacola's Harrison Prochaska and his Flying Scot crew took the SUBWAY Celebration Trophy as the top boat in the 2010 U.S. Sailing Junior Olympic Sailing Festival held on Saturday and Sunday in Pensacola Bay.

Prochaska's crew — which included Eric Amos and Seth Dobson, also from the Pensacola Bay area — dominated 1-1-1-1-1-2.

In the first annual U.S. Optimist Dinghy Association Gulf Coast Championship, Greiner Hobbs from Davis Island snatched the win from Jonathan Pottharst of New Orleans, who led going into Sunday's two races.

Hobbs came through the last day with a 1-2 while Pottharst suffered with a 5-4. Hobbs ended the regatta with eight points (6-2-2-1-1-2) while Pottharst had 10 points (2-1-1-2-5-4). A total of 50 Optimists Dinghys entered the regatta.

In Junior Olympic Opti, William Diaz from Bay Waveland, Miss., won the Opti 'beginners' Green fleet on a 10-point tiebreaker over Dominic Leccese of Pensacola. Caroline Johnson of Pensacola won the White Fleet, Phillip Dobbins of Fairhope, Ala., used six bullets to win the Blue Fleet and John Pereia won the Opti Red fleet.

Brandon Addison (4-1-[5]-4-3-1-2) of Pensacola took first in the seven-boat Laser radial fleet with 15 points.

Dodge Rees, Pensacola's nationally ranked Laser sailor, led after racing Saturday but had to leave Sunday for the Laser World Championship and Youth Worlds. At 16 years old, he is eligible for both.

He finished in second place, winning a tiebreaker over Adrian Pereira of Fairhope, Ala.

Four 420 class boats sailed the regatta. Joseph Bello of Ft. Walton Beach Yacht Club led 6 to 13 over clubmate David Beaudry.

Placing second to Prochaska in the Flying Scot Class was Seth Cooke of Fort Walton Beach.

The Opti USODA Gulf Coast Championship is the second USODA team qualifier event. The top 13 sailors from the Pensacola championship are eligible to compete in the team qualifier event for a chance to be on the U.S. International Team for the USODA.

Pensacola Yacht Club Commodore Sam Foreman said of the event: "We did not let the Gulf (oil spill) make us cancel this regatta and the decision was a good one. We had some of the best junior sailing ever. Pensacola Yacht Club was at its best and the SUBWAY SailFest was a spectacular event."

Mark your Calendar *July 24, 2010*

The Edgartown Yacht Club's

'Round the Island Race
Sponsored by Mount Gay Rum

Coveted Red Hats to all participants

Open to PHRF, IRC, Cruising, and One-Design Classes

Friday evening cocktail party and buffet dinner

Trophies Galore - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd

For information, Notice of Race, and registration:
www.rtirac.org or call 508-627-4364

2010 Laser North American Championship

The 2010 Laser North American Championship, for Standard, Radial and 4.7 rigs, was hosted by the Texas Corinthian Yacht Club in Kemah, Texas, on June 24-27, featuring sailing on Galveston Bay. The final summary is:

It’s all over now with racing in the sweltering Texas summer heat for the 182 contestants at the 2010 Laser North American Championships on Galveston Bay.

The RC did a fine job in squeezing in as many races as possible after the first day was lost to calm. Three more races were added sunday in all classes with the following final standings: Laser Standard (67 boats), the top three were cast in stone on Friday with Juan Ignacio Maegli GUA (11 pts.) crushed the fleet with only top three finishes to count. In second followed College Sailor of the Year (Yale) Thomas Barrows USVI (19) who was only slightly less impressive, a whopping 29 points ahead of third place finisher Raul Aguayo DOM (48). No changes also in the podium spots of the Laser Radial where Alec Anderson USVI (21 pts.) calmly closed it out with a big cushion on Mateo Vargas USA (37) and Cameron Pimentel BER (40). In the Laser 4.7 it was a seesaw battle between winner Brendan Shanahan USA (29) and third place finisher Juanky Perdomo PUR (40 pts.) who was called for a BFD in the seventh race, which allowed Madison Gates USA (31) to slip into second.

Written by Tracy Usher