March

In This Issue:
1. Fleet 12 Schedule, once "Carved In Stone", is now Final
2. First Regatta is this weekend! includes Vince Brun Clinic
3. Boat Show Update - Pacific Sail Expo
4. Fleet Membership Form Attached (Again)
5. Letters, we get letters...
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1. Schedule once "Carved In Stone" is now Final

The new schedule is attached and will be posted on the website at
www.sfetchells.org, too.

The main change from the previous one is that the Marin Regatta had to be
cancelled. We had agreed at the Annual Meeting to try to change the date,
but we could not agree on a date with Marin YC. They have agreed to try to
host one of our already scheduled Fleet Run Regattas. This will be
finalized later.

Please note that most of our Fleet Run Regattas are Saturday racing only,
with a clinic to follow on Sunday. The exception to this is the August
9/10 event, when the clinic will be on Saturday, and the racing on Sunday.

On clinic weekends, we hope most boats will sail both days. Your board of
directors, and the invited guests are putting a lot into these clinics. We
want you to get a lot out of them. And as usual, you must be present to win.

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2. First Regatta is this weekend 3/29-30 and includes Vince Brun Clinic

The first regatta of the year is a fleet run event, to be run by Kers
Clausen on Saturday March 29, followed by a clinic on Sunday.

Mark Sloane [966] has arranged for Vince Brun to lead this event. Vince is
the 2000 Etchells Class World Champion from San Diego, and the main
sailmaker at North One Design, just outside the gates of SDYC. Vince is
also a great teacher, and he leads annual clinics for the San Diego
Etchells fleet every year, as well as clinics for many other boats. This
will be a great learning event for Fleet 12.

IMPORTANT: If you have either a computer projector (go ahead and borrow
the one from work), or a (stabilized) camcorder, please notifiy
mark_sloane@cnt.com ASAP, and plan to bring the item to RYC on Saturday
(camcorder) or Sunday (projector). We need your help!

Vince will watch and videotape our races on Saturday. After the racing on
Saturday, plan to come by the Richmond Yacht Club for the usual
debriefing. All boats are invited to come to Brickyard Cove after the
racing (don't tie up at RYC, there is an event there). RYC people should
plan to shuttle some SFYC people back to SFYC.

Sunday Morning at Richmond Yacht Club at 9AM, Vince will do a video
debrief, plus a chalk talk using the North One-Design package and his own
intimate knowledge of what makes Etchells go fast. Then Sunday we'll go
out for some more racing, with Vince doing on the water coaching. He'll be
using a VHF radio, so you should bring one on the water with you on Sunday
if possible.

Here's the West Marine page for VHF handhelds starting at $90.

If you don't have a VHF, Vince will also have a loud hailer, which Dale
Hoffman has thoughtfully provided to the fleet. (Many fleet members don't
know it, but Dale moonlights as a Peace Rally Organizer during the week.)

Sunday Kers will run "a lot" of short races. Mark Sloane has prizes (beer
and maybe more) for these races on Sunday which do not count toward the
season championship. We hope everyone will attend this clinic. Remember
the crew list at www.sfetchells.org !
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3. Boat Show Update - Pacific Sail Expo - We need your help!

We’re gearing up for Pacific Sail Expo @ Jack London Square, April 23 - 27.

The boat show is Fleet 12’s big promotional event for the year. We’ve got
a ½ page ad in Latitude 38 describing our racing on Friday and Saturday
(April 25 & 26). We need the fleet to help by bringing their boats Friday
and Saturday afternoon for racing and to help set up the racing. If you
can help for a couple hours, please email Ed Kriese at kriese@oceanracing.com.

There will be a handout available in the Fleet 12 booth. It’ll have a
racing schedule, contact information and a list of boats for sale. Please
forward any information you’d like to see in the handout to
kriese@OceanRacing.com .
If any Fleet 12 members would like to clean out old sails from their
storage space email kriese@oceanracing.com . We’ll take your old Etchells
sails, make them into cool looking duffel bags and sell them at the boat
show with a percent of the proceeds going to the fleet.

Fleet 12 now has merchandise; Canterbury rugby jerseys & hats with the
2005 World Championship regatta logo on them and these will be on sale at
our booth (568) at the boat show. You can check them out at
www.OceanRacing.com under products.
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4. Fleet Membership Form Attached
The fleet membership form is attached. Go ahead, print it out, fill it out
and send it in as soon as possible. Put your crew on the Associate Member
list. Then they'll get the magazines. Make sure your emails are all up to
date, then you'll get this newsletter all year.

See 2003 Fleet 12 Registration Form.doc
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5. Letters, we get letters...
=================================================
From: Bob Hyde Subject: You just won the America's Cup. What are you going to do now?

Hey Scott,
Here's a nice plug for the Etchell's from a Sailing Anarchy interview with
Russell Coutts...
***
Sailing Anarchy What do you see yourself sailing on in the next year or so?
Coutts I think it will be good to get back in the little boats again. It
really
sharpens your skills. I will probably be participating in the Etchell's
Worlds in Connecticut this year. I am not ready to give up the sport yet!
But we would like to develop a younger effort to our team. Jochen has some
interesting ideas on this.
***
gotta love that...
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