Fleet 12 Newsletter
May 2004
|
Alrighty y'all, it's time for that email you've all been waiting for, so curl up and take a gander. Here are the headlines: * Race Wrap Up from Alson Silva (scores are attached) * 7/10 Moseley Cup Information * Meet the Fleet - Chuck Eaton * Grist for the mill from Scuttlebutt * Tune up opportunity this weekend? * One more birthday to celebrate - Kers Clausen __________________________________________ Race Wrap up from Alson Silva: How’s it going? Was that last race on Sunday LONG enough for you guys? I was feeling like Chandler Bing on Friends yesterday – “ COULD you make the legs on this course any longer? “ or something like that. On USA 1234 the Rampant Damage Curse is still upon us. Even though Kers had installed his Super Strength Outhaul on the boom we managed to find another weak spot when Strong Man Bob Brandstad pulled the rope section out of the wire joint to the jib halyard on the second leg of Race #2 on Saturday. The good news is that we broke the halyard with the jib up, not down! The bad news is we could not decide how to repair it at the end of the day. We sailed the boat to Kers’ house debating all the while the relative merits of repairing the existing halyard, taking a halyard off of another boat or in the case of some original thinking using a spare boat for Sunday’s races. The questions were put to rest when Kers managed to rummage around KC Boat Yard and find a new replacement halyard which we rigged up. The moral of the story here, when in doubt, check the inventory of your friendly local Etchells dealer. Saturday afternoon after our racing I took a tour of the Junior Sailing Center at SFYC and stood in amazement of that club’s commitment to their program. An amazing display of about 40 Opti’s on custom racks, plenty of secured stowage space for sails and foils, a well laid out launching area on their newly re-built Junior Dock, not less than 7 support powerboats tied up after the day on the water, 30 or more kids having a pasta and salad feast on the grass and a new two-story Junior Center under construction on the West side of their parking lot! Combine that infrastructure with their location in the protected Belvedere Cove plus their normal great weather and you have the logic that shows why this is the premier Junior Program on the Bay. This club looks like they are working their way up to #2 in the State for Junior Sailing, right behind San Diego YC. Sunday was the official day that summer visited the Bay with the famous weather and sea conditions. We pulled on our foulies before we left the Richmond breakwater and we were happy we did. About the only thing that was missing from the afternoon’s racing was the ebb tide! Still plenty of chop and spray. A headsail change between races set us back schedule-wise and we were late for the start of the second race. Overall though a good regatta with some action-packed starts and no major issues. I managed to distribute our left over beer to your Middle Crew while we were visiting at the hoist. He seemed happy to take them off of our hands! After that it was Happy Birthday to Hank and home to Father’s Day. All in all it was a very good weekend and as I always tell my wife, it sure beats mowing the lawn. _____________________________________ Moseley Cup - July 10th - From Kers Clausen This is a Tiburon YC and fleet run event that will result in a significant party at Tiburon YC in Corte Madera. The party is one of the few times our whole fleet ends up in the same spot after racing - it's great fun. I'm hoping we'll have the full fleet on the line for this one. We will sail (or tow) out of Brickyard Cove Marina Saturday at 9:00 - 9:30 AM. We will then sail 4 short courses off Tiburon Yacht Club near Paradise Kay in a shifty wind venue. The fleet has been invited to a party afterwards at Tiburon YC where spouses and significant others may come by car. The party will include food (bbq) and drinks. After the party, say 8:00 PM, we will tow back to Brickyard Cove Marina. _____________________________________ And now for our newest edition of Meet the Fleet. Chuck Eaton, owner of 1281, Whip, has been the boat to watch this year, and a beautiful boat she is. Welcome to the fleet, Chuck and congratulations on your fantastic finishes at the Easom Cup!
1. How long have you been sailing? How / where did you learn?
The first time I ever sailed I was 20 years old (long ago, unfortunately) and was invited to sail on a Sunfish with a girl I was dating. I thought she was pretty keen. Oh, and the sailing was fun, too. I kept on sailing but, alas, couldn’t keep the girl.
2. When did you first hear about Etchells?
Not sure when I first heard about or recognized an Etchells. Probably after I started racing and paying attention to other boats, sailing magazines, etc.
2a. First sail an Etchells?
First Etchells sail was early this year.
3. How long have you sailed this boat? Can you tell us about the name?
First sail in this boat was early this year. The name “Whip” was given by the previous owner. Not sure what that it’s about, but I didn’t come up with anything great, so just left it alone.
4. Do you do any other sailing besides Etchells?
I also own an Alerion Express I day sail out of Sausalito and I bang around in Lasers at Tinsley Island in the Delta during the summers. Most recent race boat was a J105 I sold a couple years ago.
5. Tell us about your family situation. What do they do while you're sailing?
Single, married once a long time ago, still looking for the right woman, suggestions welcomed.
6. Tell us about your crew. How long have you sailed with them?
John Callahan (mid) - we ski/wakeboard in the summers, he crewed for me a couple times in the J105 and a couple very wet (as in swimming) races in 420’s, we also do lots of club functions, dinners & parties with wives/girlfriends, etc. Steve Fentress (bow) – Steve was my mainsheet trimmer/tactician on the J105, also occasional water & snow skiing buddy, dinners with wives/girlfriends, etc.
7. Tell us about your best race. Where was it what happened?
Best race day was probably Sunday of the 2001 Memorial Day Regatta in J105’s at the StFYC. We beat Chris Perkins both races (!) to win the regatta (!!).
8. Tell us about your worst crash. Who did you hit/ get hit by?
Worst crash was in J105’s. We had rounded the weather mark and were setting the kite. Another J105 still going upwind crossed just behind, but a bit too close. They were way heeled over, the tip of their mast hooked my backstay as they went by and pulled my mast over at the top spreaders. Ugh!
9. What's your favorite curse word?
Whatever it was I said about that guy in the previous answer.
10. Finish this sentence "The other boats in this fleet sail ________ too much."
… faster than we do…
11. Anything else you want to tell the other crews?
Thanks for being out there. This Etchells stuff is way fun! Let’s keep it going!! __________________________________ From: "Peter Vessella" From scuttlebutt #1608 * From Jason Stratton: If you are trying to attract more people to racing sailboats then here are a couple of suggestions that would make it more interesting to me. First, sailing is typically an entire weekend commitment of long days away from home. It would be easier to commit on a regular basis if regattas were sailed on only one weekend day (of course you can have several weekends a year for bigger regattas over the entire weekend). Next, find a way to shorten the legs to a mile or so. For most people, Almost every sailor uses e-mail. These e-mail addresses should be collected on sign-up sheets and placed in a database so results and a brief blurb about the race can be cheaply sent to each crew member on a boat. Even if he/ she misses a regatta. _______________________ Tune Up Day 7/3 I've gotten a few emails about this, so I suppose it's worth mentioning here....It looks like we'll have at least 4 Etchells sailing out of Brickyard on Saturday 7/3, for a tune up and starts practice. If you are interested in joining in the fun, let me know and we can talk about the logistics. epbrooks@yahoo.com ______________________ A Birthday We all love celebrating birthdays - there have been a few fun celebrations these last few weeks. Kers Clausen, just turned...I don't know....45 (again?)....last Monday, June 21st. This is certainly one worth celebrating - Kers has done great work for fleet building up and down the coast, has a wealth of information about the boat, and just has so much fun doing it all. So when you see him next, be sure to wish him a happy belated birthday and buy that guy a drink! _____________________ That's all she wrote. If you've got updates, send them in and I'll send 'em out! Paige
|