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Previous Race Results

Sunday July 24, 2005

Sunday July 10, 2005

Sunday June 26, 2005

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Many races in between April and December...
just too busy sailing to write them up!

Sunday, December 12

Sunday, Aug 8th

Then, as the storm got closer, the wind picked up a little bit and the race was on.  Dave Silverman had rounded the windward mark first, but James Liebl was ahead of Dave and Chris Lowrie as they went past the RC boat on the downwind leg.  That's when the RC saw bolts of lighting headed our way and blew the whistle on the race.  Hasty and Paul were very close to each other on the downwind leg on their Lasers.

As we pulled the anchor on the RC boat and headed for the harbor, the leading winds of the storm were here.  The gusts were coming out of the southwest on top of each other and building, causing the fleet to bunch up as they headed towards the Chart House at the entrance of Melbourne Harbor.  The third gust was over 20 knots and the fleet was on a screaming
beam reach.  The boats were going fast, too.

Just imagine a power-boater coming out of the harbor and making the turn at the Chart House to see a fleet of 15 small sailboats coming right at him on bow-up planes going 15-knots plus…  Every one of the sailboats violated the "no-wake" zone of the harbor as they blasted downwind back to the club.  The sound of whipping sails was echoing off the condos as the fleet lined up to wait for room at the launching ramp.

The RC boat tied up and as they ran to the clubhouse, a huge lightning bolt hit square on the racecourse.  Thanks to Linda, Jordan, and Katelyn for doing RC duty.  Special thanks to Ross Herbert for opening the bar and to Jordan and Katelyn for preparing the brick pit for the racers to cook their post-race meal.

Results:
The racers were blown off the water during the first race…

Sunday, July 25

Seventeen boats sailed four races on a triangle course with perfect conditions.  The wind was out of the east at 10-14 knots and the sky was clear.  The reaching legs provided excitement with the clever sailors surfing the wakes of the constant boat traffic on the Intracoastal Waterway.

Wallie Everest showed up with the result of much hard work.  He refurbished another MYC Laser (the second time he has done this.)  The boat looks brand new and he also built two Laser launching dollies for our use.  MYC owes him many thanks.  That boat had twelve separate leaks and now looks stunning.  It not only had no water in the hull after the day of hard racing, it even had barometric pressure in it.

Once again the Sunfish fleet provided hot racing entertainment with incredible starts and tight boat-to-boat battles all day long.  Race Committee Chairman, Larry Etheridge, put up the black flag after a massive general recall on the third race start.  The Sunfish sailors are very good
at the line, but this time half the fleet was over early.

Hasty Miller made it easy for the other Lasers and the Portsmouth fleet to find the racing marks as he led the way around the course.  Some missed the bread-crumb trail he left since he was over the horizon by the time they hit the gybe.

Henry and George Picco sailed their Flying Scott and were surprised to see another FS buzz the fleet.  The single-handed FS didn't stick around for the races, but got a good look at the fun to be had.

Two of the MYC sailing class students came out in Opti Prams.  Natalie and Annie didn't race, but had a nice day on the water just the same.

Many of the racers stayed for the usual brick-pit cook-out and were served at the bar by Jay McClure.

Sunday, July 11

Thirteen Sunfish, three Lasers, a Flying Scot and an Optimist Pram came out for a storm-shortened race day.  Three other Prams were out early being sailed by students in the MYC Youth Sailing program getting extra "tiller-time."  Annie, a student out on her own in a Pram for only her second time, stuck around for the races and did a good job of running a windward/leeward course.

There was very aggressive racing including a general recall during the Sunfish start for the second race.  The Laser fleet had no trouble finding the racing marks since Lee was leading the way.  Special mention in the Sunfish fleet goes to Nancy Fox and Lynde West.  Nancy finished the second race ahead of her husband John, and Lynde had great boat-speed to windward.  Watch out guys, the ladies are getting better at this game.

James Liebl, once again, put on a clinic in how to race a Sunfish with Chris Lowrie ahead several times during the races.  He was dueling with James at the front of the fleet.  MYC's Dave Silverman was on the ball in the races and finished well.

Henry Picco put his son, George, at the helm of their Flying Scot and they flew the spinnaker several times.  Hello to all the other Flying Scots in the area; you have competition on the water!  Where are you?

Jim Edwards was the RC and held two double-sausage races before the lightning in a storm approaching from the NE called a halt to the sailing.  Jim was perfect in his timing.  The sailors got back to the club and hauled their boats, de-rigged and made it to the clubhouse bar just as
the storm hit.

Jerry and Rachel Ross had been out with their women's racing crew for spinnaker practice aboard the J-30, "Sleighride."  Most of their crew joined the usual small boat racing burn-it and bar after the races.

Sunday, June 27, 2004

After 23 boats raced on June 13 -- on June 27 twelve boats showed up and were on the water at 1pm when a storm blew up and lightning started flashing within two miles.  The Race Committee made the call to head back to MYC and postpone for an hour.  Some folks folded up and headed home.  The hardy sailors stuck it out and were rewarded when at 2:15 the word was out that the race was on!

Nine boats hit the water for the second time and had a good time in 10-14 knot winds racing on a triangle for the first two races and a windward/leeward for the last two races.

Tight racing was the order of the day with the fleet finishing in a flourish.  There were four people who had never sailed small boats helping on the race committee.  Four of the sailors conspired to come by the committee boat after the last race and take them aboard.  The skippers put the novices at the helm for the ride back to the club.

Thanks go out to Chris Gates, Chris Lowrie, Dave Silverman, and James Lieble for putting themselves and their boats at risk in the hands of the newbies.  The result is that all four newcomers are now signed up to take the MYC sailing classes.  Well, three out of the four.  The fourth is hooked on race committee work.  Hurray!  John is training his replacements so he can go back to racing after three years of being lazy on the RC boat.

Special thanks to Steve Shippee and his wife for coming out with their Irvin 30 "Cool Change" to be the RC boat.  Two weeks ago, Steve stepped up to be the RC boat on the spur of the moment when one of the MYC powerboats suffered a hardware failure.  He enjoyed watching the small boats blasting around and offered his time to be the RC boat for the Small Boat Sundays.  Thanks again Steve and we're looking forward to seeing you in two weeks.

I keep trying to let other folks know that these small boat races are the best show in town.  Then the brick pit is lit for you to cook what ya brung and the bar is opened for you to get lit.

Sunday, May 30, 2004

An absolutely perfect day greeted the 25 small boats that launched from MYC on Memorial Day Weekend.  The winds were from the southeast at 8-10 knots, the water was warm and very clear.  Most of them raced and we have names for the Sunfish racers, sail numbers for the Lasers, and we know the skipper and crew of the MYC Snipe.

Many thanks to Jim Edwards, Donna Fletcher and Joan Lister for doing Race
Committee duty.

John MacNeill took the day off after three years as RC to go sailing on a
Raider 16 Sport with Jackie Herbert to teach her tacking skills.  James
Liebl, Hasty Miller, David Hartman, Mike Taylor, Jack Clark, David Lister,
and James McParrish were on Lasers.

Next race Sunday, June 13 - 1pm

Sunday, May 2, 2004

The forecast was winds out of the SSE at 15 with gusts to 25.  It turned out to be 25 with lulls of 15 and several rain showers.  With the wind right up the river the waves were huge.  The 18-foot race committee boat took a wave over the bow while anchoring.  The 16-foot crash boat was busy helping right boats and bailing itself out all day.

David Hartman set a local record when he stuck the mast of his Laser a full four feet into the mud.  Jack Clark was running a Laser Radial rig and still managed to stuff it a few times.

On a downwind leg of the last race, Dick Tillman pearled the bow of his Sunfish deep into the back of a wave just as I was booting up my camera.  Drat!!!

Cindy Taylor was smart and sailed her Sunfish back to MYC when she realized she didn't weigh enough for the wind even with a Jenn's rig.

Sat/Sun April 17-18
MYC Spring Regatta

Sunday, Apr 4, 2004

The races this day can be summed up in five words. Blown out of the water. The wind was out of the west at 10-12 knots as four Sunfish, three Lasers, a Laser II, a Snipe, and a Flying Scot milled about during a 10-minute delay of the first start. The race committee set a modified gold course to let the racers enjoy some screaming reaches. As the first race
got underway, the wind took steroids.

There were already two boats capsized and one drifting with a dropped rig. The wind was now at 18-20 with gusts over 25 knots. The Sunfish fleet (three boats having crossed the starting line) were making their way into the face of the monster wind. The Lasers, Snipe, and Flying Scot made their start as the chase boat was working with the Laser II to extract its
mast from deep mud exploration.

The R/C boat held position and monitored the various disasters occurring on the race course. Just as Dave Silverman was leading Steve Clendenin to the finish line, the R/C observed a distress signal coming from one of the capsized boats. Up anchor, race abandoned, and off to the rescue. For the next 20 minutes both MYC powerboats were busy pulling crew from the water and towing boats.

The rest of the sailors enjoyed some really fast beam reaches awaiting the next start. It became obvious that the powerboats were very busy in rescue work and no more races could be held.

The remaining upright fleet headed back to MYC as the R/C boat had two in tow and Scott Bell on the chase boat had one in tow. Some of the single-handed boats had new pick-up crew members, literally picked up from the water. Two members of the R/C went aboard sailboats to enjoy the huge winds on the ride back to the club.

Very sorry that we were too busy to shoot photos. Meanwhile, these shots are of Ryan Everest on his very first solo sail the previous day. "Ryan2.jpg" shows the effect of an 85-pound skipper on a Laser.

Sunday, March 21, 2004

Seventeen boats hit the water on the first day of spring.  The water hit back.  Well, actually the wind was the one to that had the upper hand.  Scott Bell, Jim Edwards and John MacNeill were the Race Committee and were on station with marks set at the ready for the 1pm start of the first race.

That's when the 90-degree winds shifts from SW to NW that we were seeing dropped to no wind at all.  The RC put up the postpone flag and got involved in good-natured repartee with the lolling racers.  It was obvious that we were going to have to wait it out.  30-minutes later, a seemingly fresh wind filled in from the west and we started the first race.  That breeze held long enough for one W/L/F race.  Then the wind started dancing with us again.

Scott Bell was busy on the mark boat shifting the course 90-degrees to the north and we got off race two.  Well, sort of.  The wind died again just as the Sunfish fleet started.  Sunfish were drifting backwards into each other and three minutes later half the Sunfish fleet hadn't cleared the starting line as the Laser/Portsmouth boats started.  One Sunfish backed into the Snipe as Bill Haberland made his way off to the eastern side of the course.  Chris Gates went left.

Lo and behold, two different breezes filled in from both the west and east.  Chris and Bill both made it towards the windward mark on opposite reaches.  Then it came back from the north and Bill was caught out as Chris made the mark followed by Mike Taylor on a Laser.

Race three saw the seabreeze kicking in from the east.  Once again Scott was busy shifting the marks another 90-degrees.  From the first race to the third, we saw a 180-degree shift.  There was almost enough wind for reaching legs, but it weakened from 12-knots to 5 during that race.

The RC decided to do a double-sausage for the forth and final race of the day.  With a shift to the SE during the race, two legs became reaches.  Local knowledge was less valuable than pure skill and luck.  With one throw-out available, Chris Gates traded his Sunfish with David Hartman's Laser for the last race.  Mike Taylor scored a significant personal victory when he overcame the three-minute difference in the class starts and nailed David Hartman right at the finish for first boat across.

Sunday, March 7, 2004

Another perfect day in paradise drew 21 boats out in twisty windy
conditions.  This was despite several of our usual racers attending the
Sunfish Mid-Winters in Pensacola.  From what I heard, the racers here had
more fun.

It was in the low 80s with winds building from 10 to 16 with gusts over 20,
which were animated by the westerly direction.  Locals know that when the
wind blows from across Florida, those big mouse-ears cause lots of turbulence.

In an unusual development for our races we had delays while the RC tried to
adjust the race marks to stay on top of winds oscillating 30 degrees.  Most
of the racers had observed the huge shifts and just wanted to race; come
what may.

Some downwind legs turned into broad reaches and some reaching legs turned
into runs after the start.  Some of the reaches were spectacular.  Comments
during the bench racing in the bar confirmed this.  Hasty Miller said that
his Laser was going so fast that it was moaning.  A relatively recent
Sunfish sailor said he'd never gone so fast on a sailboat.

The racing was very competitive with tight bunches swapping the lead
several times during each race.

As you might expect, capsizes were very common.  Art Ahrens volunteered his
30-foot "Sea Bird" as the RC boat and it was a very good idea as both MYC
powerboats were busy doing crash-boat duty.

Four races were held - which means a throw-out was allowed.  This was
helpful when several sailors headed for the bar as the forth race was
delayed because no mark boats were available to move the windward mark
after another 30-degree shift.  Both MYC powerboats were busy helping a
Laser sailor who had crashed so heavily during a gybe that his rig had come
apart.  He drifted across the ICW as an 80-foot yacht was approaching.

Safety comes first, but the RC should've run the forth race without waiting
for a chase boat to move the windward mark.  Frequent racers know that
these casual Sunday races are not meant to be perfect "regatta-quality"
events.  The usual MYC RC guy was on a crash-boat and had switched to
VHF-16 from the RC 72 because the rescue was in the ICW and he wanted to
monitor the "Distress / Hailing" channel to respond to the large powerboats
dodging the rescue effort.

Even with the wrinkles in the operation of the races, several sailors
commented that this was one of the best Sunday races they had attended.  We
should pass along a note of thanks to the RC for their work in very
difficult conditions.  The chase boats only had two folks each.  Phil
Scalise on chase 2 was aided by Katelyn Henderson, age 10.  John MacNeill
on chase 1 was aided by Jordan Henderson, age 12.  Art Ahrens on the RC
boat was assisted by Simon Koumjian and two Canadian visitors.

Sunday, February 22, 2004

Sunday, February 8, 2004

Nine Sunfish, four Lasers and a Laser II braved the raw conditions. The temperature was below 60 and the wind was over 15 gusting to over 20. The RC took pity on the chilled sailors and held only three races. The racing was very competitive with tight groups at the head of each fleet. A Modified Gold Cup course with a triangle, windward/leeward and windward finish was the order of the day.

There were spectacular screaming reaches and the boats were going fast, too.  Art and Alice Ahrens provided their 29-footer as the RC boat. Scott Bell, Bill Haberland, Simon Koumjian and a cast of thousands joined them to serve as the RC. John MacNeill, Phil Scalise, Donna Fletcher and Nancy Fox were on the MYC 18-foot chase/mark boat.

25 boats -- 19 Sunfish, four Lasers, a Laser II and a Flying Junior from Florida Tech participated in four races this day. The RC set windward/leeward courses since planing speeds were iffy. (Anytime the wind stays over 10 knots, we will set a triangle course.) The races this day were single sausages to keep things moving towards a goal of finishing the day on the water at 3:30 pm.

The first race provided an astounding sight as the wind died right at the start of the Sunfish class. World-class racers were drifting backwards in the residual wind-driven current with their sails limp. Those who chose the pin end were favored when the sea breeze resumed. The boats on the left side of the course were suddenly sailing in 6-knots of wind while the rest of the fleet watched in frustration.

The RC declared a postponed start for the Lasers since the starting line was still peppered with drifting Sunfish. It took a full three minutes for the new wind to hit the other Sunfish and the RC could provide a new Laser start sequence.  That race really rewarded the lucky (or those with local smarts.) The race had been postponed due to 90-degree shifts right at the 1pm planned start time. 

The RC had set a starting line too short for the 19 boat Sunfish class, which resulted in two general recalls in the second and third races as the boats pushed each other over the line. This was a very competitive group of sailors including many preparing for the upcoming Sunfish International Masters Regatta, which MYC will host March 11 - 14. That regatta will have a different, better RC.

A highlight of the day was race 2 when Lynde West finished a boat-length ahead of Jim Edwards. Way cool, Lynde! That will make history in MYC lore. 

With relatively short courses, the finishes kept the RC busy at times as boats crossed the line side-by-side at times. With one throw-out available, several shivering skippers skipped the last race and headed for the bar at the club, apparently satisfied with their results. The bar was open, the fireplace glowing, and the brick pit was lit to cook dinner after the races. (Non-racers are welcome to enjoy the post-race "bring your own everything" burn-it at about 4:30.)

Several club members passing through on their way to and from their keelboats and some of the racers returning from the first 2004 Women's big boat race (held the same day) commented on the number small boats out racing.

The best comment of the day was: "If there are these many boats racing at the end of January, what's going to happen when the water warms up in the spring."

My response was: "Please let me have more help from club members on the race committee." We would also welcome someone to shoot pictures of the masses of boats during the starts for Sherry's web site. I have the cameras, but I'm too busy at the starts to take photos.

Thanks to Jim Miller for running the mark/chase boat and Simon Koumjian, Jordan and Katelyn Henderson for helping on the RC boat. Special thanks to Jack Leahy for tending the bar post-race. Next small boat race - Feb 8 at 1pm.

Jan 1, 2004

MYC members hatched a plan at the New Year's Eve party to hold a race the next morning. The result was six Sunfish, one Minifish and a Force 5 ran four races without a committee (the usual RC was sailing the Force 5) and the first of many races to come in 2004 was a success.

It was named the MYC Hangover Regatta and plans are afoot to do it again next year.  Small boats, boat for boat racing, run what you brung. No scoring.

Racers were Jim Edwards, Lynde West, John and Nancy Fox, Steve Clendenin, Jack Bibb, Kevin ? and John MacNeill.