(Sunday, 8/31/2008) The Governor's Cup
race started at 10AM with light winds (the last of the overnight
offshore) which died about halfway up the first leg. We were in the
middle of the bay on the way to Mark N when the winds died. Close in on
the Peninsula side there was still a little bit of an offshore, so the A
Fleet who got the mark first were able to hug the shore and keep moving.
After about a half hour, the winds finally started filling in from the
north. Since we were about the furthest from the shore, we got the new
winds last. After we finally rounded, we were able to fly the chute on a
beam reach. Of course, that's the one thing we do well -- so on that leg
we caught up with and finally rolled Entson before rounding Mark M.
After rounding we were able to hold him off and finish just enough ahead
of him to edge him out for fifth place.
The race committee moved the starting line for the Mayor's Cup
and it was a Windward-Leeward race (O-S) in light air. We had a decent
start, but the winds got light and fluky as we got closer to Mark O.
After rounding, we launched the chute well and then gybed downwind. We
almost caught up with Entson before sailing into a hole on the
second-to-last tack before Mark S. Entson got away and put more time on
us on the upwind leg to finish 4th, but we got the 5th place because
Joker was DSQ'd.
So, overall two 5ths for us (10 pts) and a 4th and a 6th for Entson (10
pts). We'll take it.
Thanks to our crew of
Judy, Ben, Andy, Kim and Donald.
They survived two hot slow races in a churned-up-bay (thanks to the
holiday power boaters).
(Wednesday, 8/27/2008)
Woo Hoo! A 2nd place! Another night of moderate to light
winds. We had a good start, especially since the line was quite long
tonight. We sailed the long tack
first, staying on the north side of the bay. That turned out to be
the slightly faster and slightly lifted tack. We slowed down a
little and got headed as we got closer to Mark S, but we rounded with the
leaders. After that we sailed two reaching legs with the leaders
with the crew trimming attentively. The winds got lighter as the
race went on, but they held long enough for a reasonable finish. We
finished a little behind Keya (but corrected over him on time) and in
front of Serendipity -- anytime we do that is a good thing! Thanks
to our very focused crew of
Judy, Ben, Andy and Steve.
By the way -- that gives us a 4th and a 2nd for this series. The
pressure will be on to hold on for a third place overall in the series.
(Wednesday, 8/20/2008) It was actually a
pretty good night for racing. We started in 15-20 knots of wind from the
East. We were a little late at the line (which is my fault these days --
I'm just not as aggressive on the starts as I used to be). On the way to
S, most of the boats in our fleet tacked to Port fairly early and went
in for the shore route. We followed Dawn Treader out to just shy of the
Port layline and then tacked. When we came together with the fleet we
were still behind Dawn Treader but we were even with the leaders of the
rest of the fleet (Keya and Rakish), and we had put a couple boats away.
After that we sailed two drag-race legs with not a lot of position
changes. The winds dropped down to 10-15 for the second and third legs.
On the last leg we got trapped below Rakish and sailed the whole leg in
his tractor-beam. At the end we were able to get our nose in front of
Rakish to shoot the line and to finish one second ahead of him, but he
still corrected over us. And apparently Blue Moon is learning how to
sail that boat because they finished too close to us and corrected over
us.
All-in-all a nice night of sailing with a valiant crew of
Judy, Ben, Andy and Steve.
Most of us will be sailing in the Red Cross Regatta on Sunday in Ben's
boat.
(Friday, 8/15/2008) Well finally we had a
Night Lighthouse race that performed the way it was supposed to:
Beautiful full moon, 8-10 knot winds, reasonably flat seas and not as
chilly as we expected.
There was no JAM fleet, and there 13 SPIN boats. We had a decent start,
but had to deal with Muireann who kept taking us up for no apparent
reason. We finally got free of them and then beam reached to the
channel. The wind was NNW so we aimed for the south side of the channel,
but that didn't help
much. We still stopped dead for about 20 mins.
while we struggled with little to no wind and opposing current of 1
knot. After we got free of the channel we continued the spinnaker reach
to G-1.
After G-1 it was a dead upwind beat past Gull Point, then a close reach
to the Lighthouse mark, a good gybe at the mark and then the chute went
back up and we reached to Gull Point, did a creditable job on gybing,
and carried the chute back to the channel in the Lee of the peninsula.
No wind in the channel, but this time the 1 knot of current took us in
the right direction. Then a close reach to the finish. Loggerhead
finally caught up with us and passed us in the Bay, but we held him off
as long as we could and beat him on corrected time.
We
finished the race in a little over three and a half hours, and a CMG
(course made good) speed of 3.82 kts (which is not bad, considering we
were stopped dead for twenty minutes.
All-in-all it was a beautiful night of sailing. Thanks to our nighttime
crew of Judy Tucci, Steve Yount, Dave Fresch
and Donald Barrett.
(Wednesday 8/14/2008) Did you hear the one about
the idiot who was joking about running aground right before running
aground? We got to the starting area early and reached up and down for
about 40 minutes. Mike O'Neill in Herself was sailing very close to the
shoal marker on the north side of the starting area. We joked that he
was trying to sucker deeper draft boats into following him.
With about 10 minutes to go we were on the south side of the shoal
marker and just about to tack when we ran aground in what felt like
sand. It took us quite a while to get the bow of the boat through the
wind and to heel the boat over enough to get free. By then the C Fleet
had already started. So, we actually ended up starting with the D Fleet.
After starting, it took us a little while to work our way through the
fleet and we finally caught up with Blue Moon at the back of the C
Fleet. It actually was a decent night for sailing, though the wind
started dying pretty fast with about a half mile to go. We finished 8th
in the C Fleet. Interestingly, if you take 5 minutes off our time (as if
we actually started with the fleet) we STILL would have been 8th!
Thanks to our crew of Judy, Steve and Ben for working hard to get us off
the shoal (and for not throwing me overboard for getting us into that
revolting situation). So let's see, I get a groundhog award and an
(undeserved) Captain Crunch award, but no flags. Hmmmm...
(Wednesday 7/30/2008) Unlike last week, it
was a beautiful night for sailing. It was a breezy, but puffy, night
with everything from about 6 kts to 14 kts of wind. There was more wind
at the start, so it was a little hectic with 43 big boats in a very
confined space (plus the little Opti fleet was racing in the starting
area). You all know that I'm not a fan of the shore starts anyway.
The course was a Leeward-Windward race from EYC to N and back. We
started a little back in the pack, but got into clear air fairly soon.
The leg was a little skewed with the starboard tack favored, so we did a
little better than usual on the downwind leg, rounding the leeward mark
next to Persistence and near Keya. Oddly, we did less well than usual on
the upwind leg. For some reason, we weren't pointing as well others
(odd, because we can usually outpoint those guys), plus we were on the
wrong side of the course. We stayed along the peninsula; those who went
to the city side were lifted earlier than we were.
In any case, it was still a beautiful night for sailing, and our crew of
Judy, Andy and Steve worked hard to
keep us
in contention.
(Wednesday 7/23/2008) Everybody showed up
at the boat, a few lines of severe thunderstorms came through before the
start, and the racing was postponed to a later date. With the way
my luck has been going this year (heart attack, boat accident, car
accident on Monday) even I wouldn't want to sail with me in a
thunderstorm! :) So Ben, Steve and I went to the Yacht Club
for dinner.
(Sunday 7/20/2008)
It was this breezy morning. The winds started at 10-15kts and ended
in the 15-20kt range. Crew: Judy, Andy
and Mark Kubeja.
The course was a triangle starting at EYC, then R-14, then O and
finish at EYC. The first leg was a long dead downwind leg. We had
a good start, and we did our best, gybing downwind, sailing the
angles, but we were last by the end of the first leg. KEYA flying a
170 wing-n-wing going dead down is just too much for us. Both of
the next two legs were upwind beats. We regained a lot of time on
the fleet on the upwind leg and Mark got his first taste of the joys
of main trimming on breezy upwind legs, but it was just not enough.
I'm not sure how Serendipity ended at the back with us, but I'm not
sad. After the race Kim came over (she sailed on Dawn Treader) and
we had sandwiches and warm water (the cooler plug had loosened over
the last week).
(Thursday 7/17/2008)
Last night was a beautiful night for sailing on Wednesday night. The winds
were light, but at least we kept moving the whole time. It was one
of those races where there was little change from the starting
positions. We started with the pack, but near the back -- so at
least we were able to tack to port first -- and at least the first
leg was an upwind leg because it was Bay start and not a lighthouse
start.
After rounding the weather mark we ended up on
a broad reach to "W." As always, we gave away a little, but not as
much as we used to. We rounded W with Persistence, then
beam-reached to "S," again with little change in position. We
rounded S with an overlap on Persistence. As soon as we rounded we
tacked away to get some clear air and to get to the middle of the
course. That was just enough to let us sail for the end of the line, and we crossed ahead of
Persistence. Woo Hoo!
All-in-all a very good night of sailing with everyone trimming and
working smartly. Thanks to our crew of
Judy, Steve, Andy and Ben!
(Thursday 7/9/2008)
Last night was supposed to be Bay spinnaker race. Well, all the boats
were there but (no surprise) the committee boat started experiencing
engine trouble, so they abandoned the race. Those of us who were at the
starting line started anyway at Mark S and did a Mark M-R14-Mark M
windward leeward impromptu, not-counting-for-anything race.
It was a beautiful night for sailing. The winds were 8-10kts from the
west, and the bay was
relatively flat. We did the race and then flew
the chute back down the bay on the way the way home, doing gybing
practice. All-in-all, a very nice night of sailing with
Judy, Andy, Steve, Ben and
Dave.
By the way, here's a picture of Red
Herring in action during the Dover Triangle race in Long Point Bay,
Canada. This must have been after the storm blew through because
I still have my hood on. Thanks to Dave Fresch for the great action
shot. For more on the Interclub races, click on the Log Archive link
below.
(Sunday 7/6/2008)
Boy, we couldn't have had a more beautiful day for a delivery (or a
better looking crew -- no offense, Steve:)! Thanks so much to Judy and
Kim for helping me bring the boat back from
Buffalo, and to Sue for
driving us up at 6:30AM on Saturday.
The sun shone all day, the lake was relatively flat, and the winds were
light from the NE. The auto-tiller stayed under control and drove most
of the first third and last third of the trip. In the middle of the
day, the winds built to 8-10, so we flew the chute and Kim drove. See
attached pic (it was clearly Judy's break time). We left Buffalo at 9AM
and were back in the slip by 9PM. The Niagara was going through the
channel under full sail went we went through the channel.
All-in-all,
it was a picture perfect delivery.
(Thursday 7/3/2008) Very
short version: we had a very successful
Interclub trip. We sailed all five races in a VERY competitive fleet.
Our best finish was 8th Overall in the fleet of 65 boats -- that was the Colbourne to
Abino race with a breezy 11-mile spinnaker reaching leg,
followed by an 8-mile upwind slog in 15-25 knots of breeze! Here's
a picture that Andy took of us leaving the bay at about 6AM on Saturday --
Thanks, Andy!
This is Thursday morning. I'm back at home but the boat is
parked at RCR in Buffalo due to threatening weather. We'll make
arrangements to do the delivery home over the next couple days.
Full results coming, but applause is due to
Mike O'Neill, Ken McCurdy
and Ben Shaevitz! They worked very hard for 5 days. There wasn't a day
when we were becalmed. Almost all of the races were raced in 10-20 or
15-25 knot winds and very lumpy seas! Everyone has new bruises and sore
muscles. They were very physical races.
(Thursday 6/26/2008) Consistency: noun, harmony of
conduct or practice with profession. Hmmmm... we could use some of
that!
Just when I thought we were learning how to sail this boat, we
are humbled by another finish in the bottom. The results say the winds were
at 8, but they were very puffy, and there were some holes out there. Plus,
you know how we love windward/leeward courses -- NOT. But other than that, we
just didn't sail well. I think it had to do with a lot of little things that
we just didn't do right. We didn't really check the cars on the jib -- and we
could have used a little more twist for the puffs. We didn't double check the
topping lift -- and it was a little too tight, causing bad sail shape. We
tacked into some headers. You get the point.
Regarding the race: We had a decent start in a crowded field,
but we got stuck in bad air right behind Rakish and Persistence. We should
have tacked away earlier. By the time we reached the windward mark we were
already in the bottom of the fleet. We gave away two minutes on the upwind
leg. We sailed the angles on the downwind leg, and the track almost exactly
paralleled the upwind track (so we tacked downwind) but it just wasn't enough
to match all the other boats going Wing-n-Wing. We gave up another 3 minutes
on the downwind leg. The final upwind portion was a little better, but just
too short to make up much time.
Thanks to crew for hanging in there: Ben Shaevitz, Andy Maille
and Steve Yount. Everyone agreed that we missed Judy on the foredeck.
(Sunday 6/22/2008) Woo Hoo! 3rd place in a spinnaker race. OK -- I know
what you're going to say. OK -- so there were only three boats in our
fleet. BUT, look at the numbers. You'll see we sailed against two of
the fastest boats in the B Fleet and we were third by only 21 seconds --
that's only 6 seconds per mile behind the leader (corrected). Not bad.
Regarding the race: Windward/Leeward race. Winds W 8-12kts. We had a good
start and sailed the upwind leg well. Once again, the middle of the
course seemed favored. We had a good bear-away spinnaker set after
rounding. Downwind we sailed into a few holes but we got one good
puff near the end of the leg that allowed us to sail straight at the
leeward mark and make up some time. Then we sailed upwind very well
again. All things considered, a very good race. Thanks to our smart crew of:
Judy Tucci, Andy Maille,
Ben Shaevitz and Ken McCurdy.
(Thursday 6/19/2008)
We're back! Red Herring is back in the water looking very RED once
again!
First, thanks to Ben Shaevitz for helping us keep our habit alive
and for allowing us to sail with him on Silver Wheel during our
unfortunate hiatus.
The winds at the start were in the 15-20kt range, decreasing to
10-15kts by the end of the race. We had a good start in reasonably
clear air. The first leg was a reach, so we did pretty well, with
speeds in the 7's (the knotmeter said that we maxed out at 7.9).
The second leg was a beat. The boats that stayed in the middle of
the bay seemed to do a little better. We sailed the long leg first,
and that probably cost us a little -- the winds got a little swirly
closer to the peninsula. The third leg was a very puffy very close
reach. We tangled with Keya a couple times and finished a few
seconds behind him. We finished third, and then sailed back to
marina at over 7-knots. All-in-all a nice night of sailing, and a
good way to recover from our hiatus. Thanks to our stalwart crew
of: Judy Tucci, Andy Maille, Steve Yount and Ben Shaevitz!
Sunday is a spinnaker race in the Bay.
We'll plan on leaving the dock at 10:00AM. Thanks for all your support
during the last month.
(Sunday 6/8/2008) Following the Lighthouse
Race, we sailed a JAM race with Ben. Then last Sunday
we all went cruising on Ben's boat while the Spinnaker Fleet sailed two
races. It was breezy, but a beautiful day for sailing.
Sailed out on the lake about six to seven miles from shore with Ben,
Lori, Judy, and Andy. As a special treat, the Niagara came out.
Always a beautiful site, especially on a nice breezy day.
Rita was in town with Wyatt and Owen on Wednesday, so we just went to the
Yacht Club for dinner and watched from ashore. Aside from the
disappointment of not racing, a fun night was had by all!
Regarding Red Herring -- we pulled the boat on Friday, 5/30.
Rich Keller started working on it on Monday, 6/2. He's making good
progress, and we should be back in the water soon. The damage below
the waterline is completely finished and repainted with VC 17. The
bow damage is almost completely rebuilt. Here's a pic 
of the
intermediate stage of the bow damage as of today. Click on LOG
ARCHIVE below to see the original damage, and to read how it happened.
So now we're starting to make plans for the Interclub.
(Sunday 5/25/2008) Sailed the Day
Lighthouse Race with Ben on Silver Wheel. Winds were light and it
was a long race. Ben finished 6th in the JAM fleet. We'll be
lifting Red Herring on Tuesday morning just to look at the bottom and to
make sure that there's no damage below the waterline. The
insurance appraiser will look at it then too.
(Thursday 5/22/2008) Crunch! First, thanks to our intrepid crew of very good sailors:
Judy Tucci,
Dave Hyland, Andy Maille and Ben Shaevitz.
Regarding the race: It was another VERY cold night, and it was breezier
than we would have hoped -- winds W at 15-20 with some pretty serious
puffs. The race was a windward/leeward cour
se to R14 and back. You
know how we love W/L courses ;( Well, we tacked downwind pretty
well, and about as fast as we can go. The track looked pretty good.
Still, we rounded R14 behind most of the boats. On the upwind leg we
got in the groove and we sailed very fast and higher than our closest
competitors and we made up almost all that we had given away downwind.
If you look at the elapsed time on the results you'll see we crossed the
line 2nd in our fleet.
Bad news: We crossed the line at the end of the starting line closest
to shore. To make a long story very short, we got in irons and the wind
slowly but surely blew us into the rocks at the yacht club. The bow hit
the rocks above the water line. No one was hurt. We
were able to sail/motor back to the slip afterwards. You can call me
for the rest of the story if you want. Here's a picture of the
damage, but note that it's not as terrible as it looks in this close-up.
The real damage in only about nine inches tall.
(Sunday 5/18/2008) Two spinnaker races in
weather that was even chillier than Wednesday night. Our crew of
Judy Tucci, Steve Yount, Ben Shaevitz and Andy Maille were a
little rusty with the chute in the first race -- lots of lines
everywhere -- and, because of the breeze, things were happening pretty
quickly. We fixed a lot of that for the second race and did
better. The wind was full of holes, with 5-8 kts of difference
between puffs. By the end of the second race the Low came through
and the breeze freshened to 15-20 by the time we were going into the
slip. While we were eating lunch in the slip, the winds whipped up
to 25-30
and we were just as happy that we in the slip!
(Thursday 5/15/2008) Last night wasn't
quite what we had in mind for the start of the season -- it was rainy,
chilly and breezy. But, hey, we were sailing! We had a good
start (third over the line) and the first leg was a reaching leg so we
held our own. We did a little better on the downwind leg, but we
just have to remember to sail hotter angles. The final leg was
upwind -- very puffy. We did OK and finished with the pack.
Still, we owe a lot of time to the other boats, so the results don't
show it, but we sailed well. Afterwards
we had heart-healthy red wine, turkey pepperoni and Triscuits (and
cheese). Thanks to our hearty crew: Judy Tucci, Dave Hyland,
Andy Maille, Steve Yount and Ben Shaevitz!
(Friday 5/9/2008) Splash! The boat is
in the water and in the slip! Thanks to Judy, Andy, John and Kim
for helping with the washing,
waxing, bottom painting and the splash! First race this Wednesday.
(Sunday 3/9/2008)
OK,
it's 61 days until we sail. I'll be updating the schedule and this
page soon. In the meantime, here's my idea of winter sailing in
Erie!
(9/20/2007)
Wednesday JAM Race:
Crew: AJ, Dave H, Judy, Ben, Steve. We recovered
from a cluster at the starting line in which I had to push off
Aquasition, so we did a 720-degree penalty turn. So, 6th place
isn't so bad after that start. 
Though
the air was light, it was a beautiful evening for sailing, and we kept
moving for the whole race. Afterwards Kim and Matt joined us for
meat, cheese and crackers. Welcome back, Kim!
That's my last Wednesday race for the season.
Thanks to all who sailed with us this year -- overall, it was a great
learning season! Next and final race will be the Reverse Handicap.
(9/15/2007) Bluff Bar:
Red Herring did not sail in the BB Race. All
of our valiant crew showed up (Steve, Ken, Ben and Dave), but at 5:45,
it was blowing 18-22 in the bay and it had started raining again. We
decided not to go. -- AND, now that we mention it, nobody sailed
-- there was no Bluff Bar Race this year.
(9/13/2007)
Wednesday JAM Race: It
was a beautiful night for sailing: moderate winds and puffy fall
clouds. Even though it was a windward/leeward race we fared pretty
well. The first leg was downwind and we found a little more wind on
the left side of the course so we arrived at the leeward mark with a lot
of our little friends. The upwind leg was puffy and shifty, but we were
able to keep some of our gains on about half the boats to finish in 5th
place. Crew: AJ, Judy, Steve, Ben and James Teasdale (in a rare
public appearance).
(8/24/2007)
Wednesday JAM Race:
Crew: Judy Tucci, Steve Yount. Dave Hyland, Andy
Maille, Ben Shaevitz. Hmmmm... A 10th, a 10th and a 10th in
the series. Well, at least we're consistent!
(8/20/2007) Governor's and
Mayor's Cup: It was soggy and little
chilly, but not badly. Our crew of Steve Yount, Ken McCurdy, Andy
Maille and John Konkel sailed well in the puffy and shifty air --
everything 2kts to 18kts of wind, and wind shifts of up to 30 degrees.
We got the chute up and down, and gybed several times.
(8/15/2007) Koehler Cup:
For Race 1 on Saturday we had not yet reached Walnut
Creek by 11AM (after 5 hours of floating). We motored part of the way
and then sailed at the end again. On Sunday we made it home in about 6
hours and 15 minutes, but of course the wind died just as we were about
to round Gull Point, so the final half mile or so was pretty
excruciating. But the pain was assuaged by a 3rd place finish and
a flag!
(8/8/2007) Wednesday JAM Race: The good news is that the C & D fleets both sailed the
shorter course -- and it was a triangle -- so we finished with other
boats around us. I thought our crew of Judy Tucci, Andy Maille and Ben
Shaevitz sailed better than the results indicate. We had a pretty good
start (probably in the top six) but then we had a tough ride on the
first leg. It was a very broad reach, and we got rolled by a lot of
boats with big jibs. The next leg was a beam reach, and there
weren't a lot of changes in the order, but again the boats with bigger
jibs stretched out their lead a little. We made up a lot of time on the
upwind leg and crossed well, but it wasn't enough to overcome the rating
differential with a lot of other boats. It was beautiful night for
sailing! On to Ashtabula...
(8/5/2007) Sunday 2 SPIN Races:
Our crew of Judy Tucci, Steve Yount, Rosemary
Briggs and Andy Maille was undeterred by a little rain. Both races had
lots of wind shifts, but not a lot of wind. In the first race we
were in the right place to take advantage of huge left shift on the
upwind leg, and we were able to stay ahead of Dawn Treader at the end
(but he would have caught up if the race were any longer). The second
race approximated my fabled "windward/windward" race once again. We
took a 4th and a 5th.
(7/25/2007) Wednesday JAM Race:
Another dying air W/L race where the "rich get richer
and the poor get poorer." Boats that are behind when the wind dies
get even behinder, but at least we finished. Thanks to our crew who
did everything they could to keep us moving in very light, and
sometimes very strange, air: Judy Tucci, Steve Yount, Dave Hyland,
Andy Maille and Ben Shaevitz. And, did we mention that we towed Wavelength back to
Bay Harbor after the race? Hmmmm. Maybe we can be an
affiliate of LakeShore Towing -- we are, after all, RED! :)
(7/18/2007) Wednesday SPIN Race: It was quite a night. Everything from 0-12 knots and
a 150-degree wind shift that came close to giving me my
fabled windward-windward race! But most of the time there was 0-3
knots. The race was a 3-mile W/L race, but it took 2 hours to
finish. Thanks to our extremely light air crew: Judy Tucci, Steve
Yount, Andy Maille and Ben Shaevitz.
(7/15/2007) Sunday JAM Race: Another
light air W/L race. Started in very light air. Had a very good
upwind leg (3rd or 4th around the weather mark). Upwind we
chose the
proper side of the side of the course. Downwind we gave a lot up
while we painfully tacked downwind (and into some serious holes).
Near the end of the downwind leg the wind picked up, but it was a little
too late for us to get back what we had lost. We had good
performances from our "light air crew": Judy Tucci and Andy Maille.
We beat three boats, one of 'em was a J-24. The guys with the
170 jibs and poles were the big winners. Actually a nice day for
sailing at the end.
(7/12/2007) It's been pretty breezy all week.
We raced in about 15-20 knots of breeze last night. Thanks to our
crew of Judy Tucci, Steve Yount, Dave Hyland and Andy Maille. And,
thanks to Dave Bierig for getting the spinnaker repaired in time for the
race.
Amazingly, the season is half-over already.
21 races to go. And, here's another benchmark: We've sailed
over 500 miles in Red Herring since we got it -- that's actually about 150
miles per month!
(6/30/2007)
We're back from the Interclub. We all had a very good time. Thanks to
our great
crew:
AJ, Judy Tucci, Mike O'Neill, Ken McCurdy and Dave Fresch!
Race 1 Erie: No wind, no race
Race 2 to Dover: Wind at start, then no wind, no one finished in
any fleet. A LONG (got in after 7PM) hot day. The deck (and my pants
bottom) was black with squashed bugs.
Race 3 Dover Windward-Leeward in light to moderate air: Finished
10 out of 12 ( We were in the top three at the windward mark rounding,
then the chute went up with a four-foot gash in it --longer version
later, but we got it taped and sailed the last two miles of that leg
with the chute.)
Race 4 to Colborne: Motored 20 miles then raced in light to
moderate air: Finished 5th out of 12. Mainly a dead-downwind drag race.
Race 5 to Abino: Raced in 15-25 knots of breeze (flew the taped
chute downwind in 23 knots of breeze) -- too much wind for us at the end
(MAX gusts 27.7 kts). Finished 9th out of 10.
Race 6 to Buffalo: Did not race.
Delivery: AJ, Ken and Dave. 13 hours home from Abino. Saw
everything from light winds to 3 or 4 hours of 15-20 on the nose, then
more moderate winds, then 20 knots from the east just to make our last
moments on the water unreasonably challenging.
Overall result: Much learning, and a great time was had by
all!
(6/23/2007) A great crew for the Interclub -- Mike O'Neill,
Judy Tucci, Ken McCurdy and Dave Fresch -- but an inauspicious start -- no
wind for the Erie Triangle. No race. We leave for Dover
tomorrow.
(6/21/2007) Just a nice triangle in 8-10 knots
of breeze. We sailed well, holding off Rakish on the broad reach
leg (we beat him by 1 second per mile corrected). We also picked
up time on the upwind leg. Before the race I installed the new
winch handle pockets, and we continued to work on tuning the stays for
the Interclub. We finished 9th, but there were 14 boats in our
fleet and the corrected times were all pretty close. Thanks to our
crew: Judy Tucci, Steve Yount, Eric Pollock, Ben Shaevitz, Andy
Maille. Now on to the Interclub!
(6/18/2007) Father's Day. Crew:
Judy Tucci, Steve Yount, Ben Shaevitz, Andy Maille. Winds W 12-15
and puffy. We sailed very competitively on both parts of the upwind
leg, but we were more challenged on the reaching legs. They were
both broad reaches, and we were sailing slower than we should have.
Still learning. Thanks for coming out on Father's Day!
(6/16/2007) OK, so it's been a while since I updated this
portion. Let's just talk about the last three races.
Wednesday was a JAM race. Crew:
Judy Tucci, Steve Yount, Eric Pollock and Andy Maille. We went out
and floated fast for two hours, actually rounding two of the three marks
before the two-hour time limit expired. You would have enjoyed the
"cluster" at the "S" mark -- there was much fending off, but it was pretty
"Corinthian" with not much yelling (until Keya). As you see from the
results, no one in B, C or D finished.
Thursday was a SPIN race. Crew: Mike O'Neill,
Steve Yount, Eric Pollock and Cathy Fresch.
We finally got some breeze last night and had a very nice night of
sailing. The winds were ENE 10-12kts. The wind was pretty
steady -- not too puffy. We sailed very well upwind, after the long
beat upwind to R14 we rounded the weather mark only a few hundred feet behind Outlaw and News (I bet
they were surprised to see us that close). Jib cars on "5" going
upwind in 10-12 kts -- target boat speeds 5.2-5.5 kts.
We rounded hoisted the chute and sailed. Mike drove.
The white tape on the wind meter helped keep us at 140 true. We tried a
few things, like loosening the tack and sailing deeper, but we slowed
down. When we hotted it up the boat speeds were 6.2-6.4, when we went
deeper we saw 5.3-5.5. We gybed twice, and headed back upwind and
rounded. the mark. I think maybe we'll use 6.2 knots as the
downwind target boat
speed in 10-12 knots of breeze.
Oh,
and did we mention the duck who joined us for snacks after the race??
It's real. Click on the picture on the right.
Friday was the LaFemme race (women only). Our
crew of Judy Tucci, Patti Holstein (welcome back!), Kim Yamma, Cathy
Fresch, and Diane Blanchard sailed well. The winds were light, so it
was slow-going, but all-in-all a very nice night on the water! Kim
drove well, and everyone performed well. And did I mention that
there was no yelling?!
(5/27/2007) The less said about last Wednesday's race the
better. Let's just say that long W/L race in no air is not a good
idea. We were DNF.
Today, however, we sailed the
Lighthouse Race very well. Thanks to Judy Tucci, Steve Yount, Ben
Shaevitz and Andy Maille! Lots of nice long spinnaker reaches in
10-15 knots of breeze -- and this boat is a reaching boat. We
frequently saw over 7 knots. Today we learned a lot, gained
confidence and had a great time! Oh, and we ended in 3rd place for
the series -- this is the first flag we've gotten with this boat.
(5/20/2007) It was breezy (12-15 and puffy) AND COLD.
Thanks to the undaunted crew: Rosemary Briggs, Steve Yount, Dave
Fresch and Ben Shaevitz. In the first race, we were scrubbed off at the boat
at the start, but we got the chute up, sailed, gybed, and got it down.
We continue to learn. At the start of the second race the wind was
above 15 most of the time, and the lines were pretty jumbled, so we just
sailed downwind on the jib. Even then, we had trouble gybing.
And there were swirlies.
(5/18/2007) We had a pretty good sail for our first race.
The crew of Judy Tucci, Dave Hyland, Rosemary Briggs, Kim Yamma and James
Teasdale performed well. It was breezy (15 and puffy) but we stayed
under control. Even the downwind leg didn't go too badly. It
was a competitive fleet of eight boats, and we took 5th. Overall
very good. We'll get to test our spinnaker work this Sunday.
(5/12/2007) We went out last Wednesday for some practice.
Crew: AJ, Judy Tucci, Kim Yamma and Steve Yount. The air was
light (5-8 knots), but we had a very good night. We sailed upwind to
R14, then rounded and deployed the asymmetrical chute. We did gybing
drills all down the bay, probably 12 or 13 gybes. The first two were
downright ugly, but we got better at it. Then we sailed back up the
bay, on a lifted port tack all the way. We started logging some
target speeds, jib car settings, etc. Back at the dock the air was
still warm, and the cheese, crackers, wine and beer reminded us of why we
like this sport so much.
On Thursday I got the PHRF-LE
rating in the mail: 180 spinnaker, 183 non-spin. We're in the
C Fleet this year for JAM, and the B Fleet for SPIN. We'll see how
that goes -- the first race is just a few days away.
(5/5/2007) Yes, we did get the boat in
yesterday. Thanks to Judy Tucci who helped with several things,
including fixing the port side lettering. And thanks to Mike O'Neill
who helped motor from the lift well into the bay and into the slip.
We haven't actually sailed yet -- but the motoring went well. It was
blowing 20kts from the NE and there were whitecaps on the bay, so we just
went to the slip and worked on making the boat comfortable.(5/2/2007) Mike O'Neill helped me rig the main tonight (in
light air on land). We have an
appointment for 1PM on Friday, May 4.
Splash soon.
(4/30/2007) The name was lettered on the boat today. Now
we are officially Red Herring. As James Teasedale said:
"They'll certainly know who's passing them!"
Only a few more days now -- Just Add Water!
(4/21/2007) Thinking about rig tuning. Used the Loos Gauge
today to check. Yep -- the rig needs to be tuned. I'll be working on
that.
While I was at the boat I re-rigged the mainsheet. We really struggled with
that last year, even though the boat manual had a drawing with "line-routing"
and everything. Well all last year the lines still crossed over each other,
making the mainsheet less responsive. Today I reversed the placement of the
blocks on the boom (contrary to the instructions and drawing), and now the
mainsheet works much better. I think maybe the instructions in the book
were for the cruising version.
(4/14/2007) It's Saturday. I took the folding ladder
down to the boat, went up, went in, and looked around. The cover
crew left the lines a mess, lost a clevis pin from a lifeline (that they
shouldn't have removed anyway), and left a pretty nasty scuff mark in the
cockpit area. The interior survived the winter pretty well,
including the bottle of Captain Morgan that I forgot to take off the boat
last Fall! I leveled the boom, made the lines ship-shape, and
dawdled for a while. At least it shouldn't be long now!
I hope
that we can get a practice or two in before the first race. Watch
this space!
(4/5/2007) Snow! The cover came off yesterday.
So, what's the first thing that happens in Erie? Snow!
That's OK -- we'll be sailing in four weeks.
(3/24/2007) 40 Days til we sail again. The full season
schedule is now below. Check it out and make your plans.
(3/12/2007) 52 days until we sail again. Getting antsy
to sail again! Spent 16 hours over the last two days attending the
North U Trim and Tactics seminars (for the 2nd time). Can't wait to
try out some of the trim solutions on the new boat. Sent in the form
for the new PHRF rating today.
(2/18/2007) 74 Days until we sail again. We still have
about 3 feet of snow on the ground right now. The cover seems to
have been doing its job so far. Please note: The North U Trim
and Tactics seminars are March 10 and 11. I'll be attending both of
them. Dave Hyland and I have been to both before -- they're well
worth your time and your money.
(12/21/2006) Happy Solstice!
The shortest day of the
year. That means we're on our way to toward longer days, and only
about 4 months until we sail again! First race tentatively
scheduled for Wednesday, May 16.
(11/29/2006)
Red Herring is now protected for the winter --
thanks to Custom Covers from Buffalo. Blow, ye winds, blow!
(10/1/2006) Well, we got a few races in before the season ended. We
started learning how the boat wants to sail. Here's a look at the
crew at the end of the season.
(9/1/2006) Red Herring moved to her regular slip late this
afternoon. Oh, and on the way, we did a little sailing. The wind was
15-20kts. We just put up the jib (because we could even think about
bending on the main in that wind). We were consistently in the 5s and low
6s -- with just the 110 jib (even upwind)!!! There are still parts of the
boat that are missing, e.g., a mainsheet block, a tack shackle for the
chute, and spinnaker sheets. But I think that this boat's gonna sail!
Thanks to Tracy and Alex Miller (who just 'happened' to be around) for the
first unofficial sail of The Red Herring!
(8/31/2006) The yacht Red Herring was splashed today at Bay Harbor
Marina. Still some rigging to do before she moves to the slip.
(6/18/2006) There've been a few races (and non-races) since
the last entry. Results are below. Interestingly, the crew
took first place while I was in Chicago. Maybe my future is in
boat-owning rather than sailing... :(
(6/3/2006) We finally got a race finished! Last
Wednesday we started in a moderate breeze then the wind died. We did
what we could to keep moving with some success. When the wind
returned we were positioned to take advantage of it. How did that
happen?? It was a beautiful night, and it didn't hurt that we also
finished 4th! Thanks to our crew: Judy, Eric, Andy, Kim and
Ken McCurdy. And did I mention that we
actually took 4th for the series too? Cool, huh?
I'll be in Chicago for the next two races. We won't be racing at all
on Sunday, but Dave Hyland will skipper on Wednesday night for the
spinnaker race in the bay. Have a good race!
(5/30/2006) Well, how do like the season so far? See
the description of the first race of
the season in the log archive.
Then I was in South Bend for the
2nd race -- but the wind was blowing so much that the races
were cancelled anyway, and I didn't miss anything!
Race 3 was a dying air
night. Anthony Pastore returned to sail with us, but the wind died
before we got to the first mark. We were one of only three boats in
the B Fleet to actually round the first mark -- then we stopped. We
broke out the snacks and drinks and floated until the time limit expired.
Race 4 was the Day Lighthouse Race.
Judy, James and Kim crewed, plus we were joined by Todd and Steve from the
yacht Isabella. We started out well enough in light air, opening up
a sizeable lead over the back of the B fleet; but as the wind died people
floated by us, including The Evil Green Boat. It was at least an
hour and a half to get to the channel, then we ended up tacking through
the channel with light air on the nose. Then a couple more hours to
get to Beach 10. When we couldn't even keep the light air chute
filled we retired and motored back. Dawn Treader and Venture didn't
finish either. But Nyanza, News and Loggerhead finished in the
Spinnaker B Fleet (though it took Loggerhead 6 hours and 58 minutes to do
it!).
Well -- let's hope that we can get a race in this
Wednesday...
(5/18/2006) Race! Well,
it's been hectic. I got the tabbing finished on Monday night.
Thanks to Mark, Alex, Mike, John, Kim, Mark, and Judy (and did I miss
anybody??) we have a mast and boom ON the boat. The mast stepping
happened started at about 4:30 on Tuesday and finished that night about
9:00. Yesterday the work continued: re-running lines, tuning
the stays, cleaning up down below, carting all the stuff -- including
cushions and sails -- from home, and just generally getting ready to sail,
much less race. In fact, right before we left the dock, Annie was
still trying to get the main outhaul line through the rope clutch, and I
was replacing cotter pins in the turnbuckles for the stays. We found
that we needed a lot of "re-training," for instance, I think the Lifesling
is on wrong (on the inside of the rail, instead of outside). Oh,
well. See the updated
To Do List Here.
So, with all of that, we were finally ready to sail. Crew:
Judy, Rosemary, Eric (new crew) and AJ. Unfortunately, the first
race was also our shakedown cruise, so I really didn't want to stress the
rig until we could confirm that all the parts were in the right place and
that safety features like cotter pins were holding; so we flew the number
2, even though the winds were 10-12kts and likely to die. We went
around the course, sailed pretty well, and finished 8th. It was a
great night for a sail, and I'm happy report that all systems worked
pretty well.
Welcome, Eric! And see you all next
Wednesday!
(5/8/2006) Splash! The
boat went in today. Thanks, Mark. Thanks, Judy. Now we need to
work on the tabbing and the mast. Then we need to step the mast.
(5/5/06) Update: finished the keel repair and got a
coat of VC Tar on it. One more coat should do it.
Definitely
painting on Sunday. Tall Paul replaced the Cap Stays today, so the
mast should be ready next week.
And, I now have a
firm appointment to launch Monday at 10AM.
(5/5/06) Work is progressing. Washing and waxing is
finished (Thanks, Judy). Keel work is two-thirds finished.
Tall Paul will be attaching the new stays. Hope for a 5/8 or 5/9
launch.
(4/30/06) Lots of "Preparing To Work," but not a lot of work got
done until yesterday. Today is Wax-On, Wax-Off day.
(4/13/06) Welcome to 2006!
The schedule is correct, I think. Please make your plans now
to crew with us. I took the cover off the boat today -- it's the
first time that the cover has made it through a full season. Thanks
to James and Kevin for helping to build a frame that finally lasted!!!
I'll be writing more later, but now I have to go work on the boat.
I just noticed there's only 20 days 'til splash. I'd better
get going! Arrrrrgghghghgh!
P.S. Thanks to Marcian for bugging me about updating this site.
(11/24/05) Happy Thanksgiving! You will
see below that I finally got all the results updated for the 2005 season.
The banquet was last Saturday night -- and a good time was had by all!
Overall, we slipped in JAM, finishing 8th in JAM B. But we did
better in SPIN, finishing 4th in the Spinnaker B Fleet. I think we
can all agree that all-in-all it was a great season of sailing and
camaraderie. Lots of beer and Dr. Pepper was drunk, and Pepper Jack
cheese, beef sausage and Garden Herb Tricuits were consumed.
As I write this, the winds are blowing NW @ 20kts with out first lake
effect snow of the season. We got the cover on the boat about a
month ago, and I battened it all down a week and a half ago. Let's
hope it lasts all winter!
Here are a couple pix of the new
inch-and-a-half PVC frame and the cover on the boat. Thanks to James
Teasdale and Kevin Miceli for their help with the frame! (You can
click on the pix for a slightly bigger view.)
(11/4/05) OK, OK -- so I got really busy and didn't
log the rest of the season. There will be plenty of time for that
over the winter. WebSailor is on the hard now... More later...
And, look for the automatic countdown to Spring to start soon. OK,
Marcian??
(8/27/05) We've actually had a good
week-and-a-half, maybe as balance to the Koehler Cup pain (see below).
We actually took 2nd in the Night Lighthouse Race. It was quite
breezy, but it turned out to be quite a nice night for sailing. And, I L-O-V-E those red flags!
Thanks to our undaunted crew: AJ, Judy Tucci, Dave Hyland, James Teasdale, Jude Dippold and Eric Dippold!
The Mayor's Cup was a fish story about "the one that got
away." We had a great start and clear air for the first leg. We
rounded first, got a good wing-n-wing set and stretched out on the
downwind leg. Probably no one was going to catch us. On the second
upwind leg the race was abandoned -- the windward mark had broken free
and was being blown downwind toward the line :) We, of course, were
very sad, but it was quite funny to watch the tetrahedron crossing the
starting line! The Mayor's Cup will be re-run sometime. I doubt,
however, that we will pick it up at the place where we left with us out
ahead :) That's the 2nd time this year that a race was abandoned when
we were doing well!!!
And we took a third in the RCR #2
-- It was on the breezy side (12-15kts), but we had a great crew and were
able to sail the whole race with the #1. Thanks to:
AJ, Kevin Miceli, Caroline Miceli, Anthony
Pastore, Dave Hyland, Mark Kubeja, Judy Tucci and James Teasdale!
Let's not get too excited, though, because that 3rd gets
averaged in with our 10th in the first race of the series :(
(8/20/05) Stuck in 6th gear :) The
women finished 6th in the 3rd race of the Regatta de la Femme and we
finished 5th for the series -- Woo Hoo! We had a good Eckerd Cup --
a 3rd and a 4th -- thanks to Judy Tucci, and Jim
and Linda Moorhead (and some reasonably light air). A
great day of sailing with good friends. The Koehler cup trip to
Ashtabula had some high points, but the trip back was a disaster.
Click
Here for a fuller version of the Koehler Cup disaster :( And,
OK, so there was a 10th place in there last Wednesday; but we think we
redeemed ourselves on the Night Lighthouse Race. More on that later.
(8/4/05) Fuller info coming (including
details of the replacement of the bow pulpit). In the meantime,
we're turning into a 6th place boat this year. Kalivoda #1 = 6th
place Kalivoda #2 = Cancelled (no one even rounded the 2nd mark!)
Kalivoda #3 = 6th place. Get the picture??
(7/14/05) Well, it was a strange weather night with threatening
storms, a couple drops of rain, light air at the start, no wind in the
middle, 180-degree windshift, and 12-13kts downwind finish! But we did
well -- 3rd place! Woo Hoo! 3rd OVERALL last night, beating
all the A fleet boats. The 3rd place finish also left us in third
place for the series in the B Fleet -- so we should be getting a yellow
flag for the series. Thanks to the crew:
Mike O'Neill, Judy Tucci, Anthony
Pastore, Dave Hyland and Ken "Beginner's Luck" McCurdy!
(7/10/05) Two SPIN races today with Mike
O'Neill, Kim Yamma, Judy Tucci and Dave Hyland. Very light (3-4 kts),
patchy air in the first race. We did what we could and finished 4th
in our fleet. The onshore came up for the second race. We got
rolled pretty badly by the A Fleet at the leeward mark on the first
downwind leg. Then we had a spinnaker halyard/furler FUBAR at the
leeward mark on the second downwind leg, and had to keep sailing waaaaay
past the mark while we dealt with it, and while everybody passed.
Just not our day... :(
(7/9/05) Congrats to our LaFemme crew:
Judy Tucci, Patty Holstein, Rosemary Briggs
(skipper), Caroline Granahan Miceli, Kim Yamma and Heather Hyland
-- 5th place in race 2 of the series! Our crew successfully
navigated away from the crunch between Glory and Venture at
the start, kept their composure and sailed a very good race. The
foredeck crew had to weather two wing-n-wing legs with poles and lines,
etc. Kudos!
(7/8/05) The race schedule below is finally
complete, and finishes are up-to-date. The overview of the season so
far puts us decidedly in the middle of the fleet (though that's not a
terrible place to be, especially given the kind of competition on the
Interclub!). But, not to worry, there's lots of racing still to go
this year! See you on the boat and on the water. BTW -- I'll
be updating the "crew" buttons next week (sorry, I still have 'real' work
to do too :) And Good Luck to our
LaFemme Crew tonight.
(7/6/05) OK, OK -- so I've fallen WAY behind
in keeping this up-to-date. Since the last entry, we've done several
JAM races, we survived Kevin's wedding, we took second in the Brier Patch
Spinnaker Series, Mike O'Neill and I doublehanded the Erie-to-Buffalo
Race, and we finished 6th out of 14 boats in our fleet on the Interclub
series. I hope to keep this up a little better soon...
(5/22/05) Well the boat went in on May 5 this
year! Since then we've had two JAM races (a 4th and a 5th) and two
SPIN races (a 1st and a 2nd). The new slip is working pretty well.
We've had mainly NNE winds. I'll be updating the races below as soon
as I get a chance! In the meantime, we're sailing! Stay
tuned...
(5/1/2005) Welcome to the new season!
It's been cold and damp, so Spring conditioning is behind schedule.
Click Here to the progress on the "To Do
List."
This year we'll be moving the boat to Bay Harbor East.
I took some pictures of the beautiful new facilities.
Now I'm off to work on the boat for a couple
hours before the rain starts up again!!!
(10/3/2004)
Thanks to Judy and Patty we had a
great end-of-season crew party, including many pounds of London Broil, a
deep-fried turkey, many salads and desserts, and a pink box o' wine.
Here are a few pix.
|
Web Weasels -- a Great Crew! |
AJ finally learns how to tie a bowline! |
The Skipper of Wavelength challenges the crew of WebSailor to a
"winter activity"! Ouch! That hurt! |
(9/26/2004)
GAME OVER! End of Season!
First, apologies for not logging in a month. What
can I say? Life got in the way. Please click on the "Log
Archive" below to read more detail up to 8/26. There have been no
entries since the M.S. Regatta (which, by the way, raised nearly $50K!!)
September was a month of contrasts -- many races were light
and dying air races, while others had way too much air, partially thanks
to the remnants of various hurricanes that even made it up here.
Ultimately, the season is about sailing well (which we
did) and, more importantly, the camaraderie of good friends! My
deepest thanks to all old and new friends who sailed with us this year!
May you always be on starboard tack, in clear
air, going fast toward your goals! :)
(8/26/2004) Even though it was breezy and
threatening, over 45 boats came out tonight! Wow! We had a
decent start and sailed as well as we could in the conditions. We
did well on the upwind legs, but struggled a little on both reaching legs.
We flew the #1 even though the puffs at the start were 15 to 18 kts.
As it turned out, there were more holes than puffs, so anyone who sailed a
number two probably lost a lot in the holes. We took 5th (out of 9).
Not bad!
(8/22/2004) We sailed in the spinnaker fleet
for the Governor's and the Mayor's Cup. The air was light and
shifty. Well, we got the chute up and down twice, though it took
us a little while in the 2nd race and we overstood the leeward mark.
But, overall it was a good day to practice. We took 5th in both
races (and did I mention that there were only 5 Spin boats... :)
(8/18/2004) Crash! Bad
Night! Well, tonight was a terrible night for WebSailor.
It's a long, sad story, but the bottom line is that we ran into Venture at
the start. We lost a little gelcoat on our bow, but we took out part
of Venture's toe rail, a lifeline, and bent his stern pulpit. No one
was hurt, but a crash is never a good thing. It's difficult to write
about how it happened, so ask me about it in person. Sorry, Dave!
(8/16/2004) The Koehler Cup -- two days of
floating to Port Dover, Ontario and back! Great crew of Mike and
Krista Krugger (from Venture), Mike Kohler and Kim Yamma (both from
Wavelength). We think we took 7th going up, and coming back, the
wind died (never to return) we were 5 1/2 miles out so we didn't finish.
Coming back we cut Long Point a little close -- the depth meter said 6.5
(we draw 5.5). It's always amazing going from 200 feet in depth to
6.5 feet in the distance of about 3 miles!
(8/12/2004)
Our LaFemme crew comes through
again! Winds 12-20 and funky looking skies
can
scare away many JAM boats on a regular night, but it had no impact on our
LaFemme crew. They flew the number 2 with a reef in the main, had a
great start, and kicked but on the first upwind leg. On the first
downwind leg, they shook out the reef and sailed fast. Rosemary
drove the upwind legs, and Heather drove off the wind. Our crew was
Rosemay, Judy, Patty, Caroline, Heather, and Julia -- what a great team.
We took 4th in the race (out of 9 boats) and we took 4th in the series
(out of 13 boats). Great Sailing! (Thanks, Patty, for the picture
from LaFemme 1)
(8/9/2004) The Eckerd Cup was interesting.
Sunday race with a crew of five good sailors. The winds were a
little more than expected -- 12-18kts -- and with a crew of only 5 we
worked hard to get the chute up, keep the boat under control, and get the
chute down. We came in 7th in the first race. There was no
change in the sailing conditions, so we decided not to start in the 2nd
race. Instead, we motored over to Beach 11, anchored, and ate lunch,
listened to my new Jimmy Buffett CD and "spectated." We rarely quit
or avoid a race, but our decision looked better after we saw that the 2nd
race was twice around (over 8 miles). In fact, Venture didn't finish
-- their chute fouled on the 2nd downwind leg and they sailed nearly four
miles beyond the mark before they could get it down! As it turned
out, it was a beautiful sunny day for anchoring. We had a good time!
(7/31/2004) Well, the Night Lighthouse Race
was quite a night! Started in the bay with light winds. Winds
piped up when we got out the channel. Then the storm cells started
coming one after another. Most had 10-20 knots of wind and some
stronger gusts. Then the lightning came. Most of it too close
for comfort. Then the drenching downpours. In between were
holes that went down to 5 knots. The lighthouse mark was upside
down, so the light was not visible. By the time we found it, it was
dead ahead. We hit it (a tetrahedron), but at least we didn't snag
the line. We did a 360. On the way back into the channel we
were stopped dead in the channel for about 10-15 minutes due to current --
a rare occurrence in Erie. Lots of storm runoff was rushing out the
channel. We had one knot of current and one knot of boat speed, and
no forward progress. We finished at 2:21AM -- nine minutes ahead of
the time limit!
(7/30/2004) Wednesday night was a great
night for sailing. The winds held at 6-10kts, we had a good start,
sailed well, made some right tactical decisions, and ended tied for 2nd
with the Evil Green Boat! Less than one minute separated the top
five places in our fleet!
(7/24/2004) Yes, I have been lax in updating the site.
Finally actually sailing has gotten in the way of virtual sailing!
I'll soon update you on the Solomons, MD trip and the LaFemme race --
watch this space. Results are up-to-date below.
(7/11/2004) A beautiful day for sailing in
Erie -- the kind that reminds you why we tolerate these winters! Two
spinnaker races. Race 1: early light winds with lots of holes.
Race 2: building to 8-12. Crew: Rosemary Briggs, Judy
Tucci, Patti Holstein, James Teasedale and Betsy.
(7/8/2004) Last night was the first JAM race
after the Interclub. The cold front came through right before the
race and brought some light, shifty air about 6-12kts. The fleet
stayed pretty tight. The course was a little skewed, but we got a
decent start and sailed well. Ended in 4th place. Not too bad.
And, did I mention that it was a BEAUTIFUL NIGHT for sailing?
(6/30/2004)
Back from the Interclub -- Crew:
Mike O'Neill, Kevin Miceli, Caroline Granahan,
Mike
Kern.
Headline Version: Three Races, Two Flags (one yellow,
one blue), One spinnaker sheet overboard, Many bruises (some black, some
blue), More windburn than sunburn, Much satisfaction all around! Read
on...
Erie to Dover -- We used all three spinnakers. At least
one takedown was so exciting that the other skippers around us
considered coming to our aid. As always, it was breezy near, and after,
Long Point. There were at least two, and maybe three, waterspouts that
nearly came through our part of the fleet before dissipating just this
side of Long Point. We stayed on the high line after Long Point, and it
was enough for 3rd Place. Woo Hoo! Our first IC flag ever! (Picture
of crew and Flag attached.)
Dover Triangle: Short version we used the new #2. We
weren't in a terrible place in the fleet when we rounded the weather
mark. But there were 25 knots at the mark and on the downwind leg. We
took our time and finally started setting the chute. Then very bad
things happened and we were lucky that the worst that happened was that
one brand new Spectra spinnaker sheet went swimming, never to return.
Boat and crew survived a terrible tacking downwind for 8 miles, only to
be met by a huge windshift and hole halfway through the final leg.
Ended by tacking (badly) upwind in 7-8 knots. 11th Place (luckily
someone withdrew after starting, so we beat somebody). We were the last
sailing boat to finish. OK -- we were DFL, but at least we
finished! Endured much chiding by the crews of other boats.
Dover to Colbourne:
Started out motoring in very cold
and rainy weather for four hours. The rain felt like sleet! The race finally got started in 8-12
knots of wind at the Tecumseh buoy. One long non-spinnaker reach to Colbourne. We had a good start, and sailed the close reach very well.
We passed much of our fleet and caught up to the Evil Green Boat (who
started 5 minutes before us). After a couple hours, the wind died with
about 8 miles to go to Long Point. Everything flattened and boats
started dropping out. We waited. When the wind came back, it was a
close spinnaker reach on the OTHER tack. The crew set the spinnaker
about 2 or 3 seconds before The Evil Green Boat! We took off, it rained
some more, the wind got fluky. But we finished with about a half hour
to spare before the time limit of the race. Bottom line we did just
about everything right, and it paid off with our 2nd Flag, and our first
first place in an Interclub race ever!! (Sorry, no picture -- we left
before the awards -- The Evil Green Boat will bring it home to us).
Another trying, but satisfying day!
We had dinner in a very nice restaurant along the
Welland Canal in Colbourne, then Sue drove Kevin, Caroline, and Mike
Kern home (then Kevin drove on to Cincinnati for work on Tuesday).
Mike O'Neill and I left Colbourne at 11PM on Monday and
arrived in the bay (greeted by 26 knot winds) on Tuesday at 3:30 PM
after a tough, pounding delivery that was much too reminiscent of the
delivery two years ago when we lost the engine. I won't elaborate on
the delivery -- you can ask Mike!
Bottom line: Thanks Mike O'Neill, Kevin Miceli, Caroline
Granahan and Mike Kern for your seamanship and your friendship. It was
a great trip!
(6/16/2004) If you had asked me, I would have bet
that it was going to rain and then the wind would die. Well, the rain
held off, and the light and variable wind stayed light and variable.
There was a general recall at the start of B Fleet (yes, we were WAAAAY
over). The second start found us sailing in bad air. We sailed as well
as possible for position. Venture rounded the first mark ahead of us and
stayed ahead on the reaching leg to the second mark. After rounding, we
all went wing-n-wing. We were among the first to see the wind clock to a
reach. We dropped the pole, trimmed the sails and reached straight and
fast to Mark M, rolling Venture. We rounded M a boat length ahead of
Venture, crossed tacks a few times on the last leg and finished three boat
lengths ahead of Venture. Thanks Mark, Judy, Rosemary, Caroline, and Dave
(from Bay Harbor) who sailed with us for the this time. And, thanks, Dave
(from Bay Harbor) for helping get the old halyards in the new rope
clutches. :)
(6/13/2004) Well, it's crew "feast or famine." Today
was a Sunday race, and the crew consisted of Judy, Patty and me! The winds were
up and down, everything from about 5kts to 18kts. We flew the #1 for the whole
race, and it was the right sail (most of the time). The race gods chose an
olympic course, so at there was a decent reaching leg during which we saw 7.0
kts of boatspeed. On the first downwind leg Judy was busy setting the pole for
wing-n-wing when we accidentally gybed (oops!) -- Patty was on the wrong side of
the mainsheet and went for a quick ride to the lifelines, joining Mark Kubeja
and Dave Hyland in "the black-and-blue from the mainsheet club." Judy did some
de-knotting, and some re-knotting duty, and she cranked on winches very well.
And, undaunted, but not undented, we did go wing-n-wing on the second downwind
leg. After all was said and done we actually beat a couple boats. So, hats off
to Patty and Judy! We did, however, learn why Patty is not allowed to drive
most of the time... :)
6/9/2004) Three Spinnaker races in a row --
two on Sunday on the lake, and one on Wednesday night on the bay.
Sunday was a long day with light and variable winds all day.
We split with Venture by sailing hotter angles when possible.
Overall, it was a long day -- we didn't get back to the dock until close
to 4PM. We had a great crew: Mark, Dave, Judy, Patty, Mike
Kohler, Kim, Rosemary and Steve Giewont (Skipper of Coyaba). Thanks
for coming, and Welcome, Steve!
Wednesday was bay race. Lots of
shifting wind at the start due to storm cells moving through. Of
course, we got started late because the RC changed the course about 4
times before the official start. The wind freshened right before the
start, and we swapped the jib to the #2. We got to the line a little
because of that, but we made up a lot of it with the right sail plan.
By the first downwind leg the wind was down -- we should have gone back
the to #1, but we didn't, so we gave up some ground on the second windward
leg. Then the wind kept dying. Net result: 10th out of
15. Overall, in the series, however, we took
6th out of 17 competitors, once again proving the "Just showing up is 85%
of life!"
We had two more new crew tonight: Kevin Harrell and
James Teasedale -- welcome. And, thanks to Dave, Judy, Patty,
Rosemary, Tim Downs (first time this year!), and Mike O'Neill.
(6/2/2004) Another "Where were you when the
wind died?" race. This time we were behind when it went flat.
And did we mention the seaweed?? Thanks, Rosemary, Mike and Judy for
coming. Sign up now for Sunday!
(5/30/2004) Make up your mind: No wind
last Wednesday (2nd Place JAM) -- 20 knots
from the east for the Day
Lighthouse race today (8th Place in the Spinnaker Fleet)! Hehe...
Thanks to all who came along. It was quite a ride, and we finally
got to fly the new Number 2. Thanks, Mike, Judy, Rosemary, Dave and
Patty. We took 4th in the Brier Patch JAM series and 5th in the
Brier Patch Spinnaker series. I'd say the season is off to a good
start! And, Welcome Back, Evil Green Boat.
Click on the picture at the right for a good look at us
during the Lighthouse Race. Thanks for the picture Stu! And, don't
worry about those rocks -- they'll get out of our way :)
(5/23/2004) Two spinnaker races in light and
dying air this morning. The most we saw was about 8kts. Even
though the places don't indicate it, we had decent starts, and sailed
well. We got a good start and the spinnaker gybe during the second
race went very well. We had a good crew: Mike O., Mike K.,
Judy, Rosemary, Jack and Kim. Everybody worked well together.
It was a good morning of racing. The wind died by the end of the
second race, but we were back in the slip before the rain started up!
Thanks for coming today, all!
(5/9/2004) Today was our first sail of the
season: Mark and Judy (traditional first crew) and Sue. Winds
10-15kts and chilly.
Of course we flew the new sail. It's
about an inch too long (we'll have to work on that). But
look at the picture here -- look at boat speed. When was the last
time we saw over 7kts without a chute? Yes, that says 7.62 kts.
Click on the picture to see it bigger (for proof!
(5/3/2004) The boat is in the water.
Thanks, Mark!!!!!!!!!
(5/2/2004) The rain stopped about 3PM, so I
went down to keep at that list (Click HERE for the
updated 2004 ToDo list). The replaced the batteries, reinstalled the
VHF radio, and checked the Quadro System. Good news: the
Quadro System made it through the winter (BTW the winds were 15kts and
COLD), and the VHF appeared to be working fine. BAD NEWS: it
looks like the electric bilge pump may have cracked during the winter, so
I disconnected it. I'll take it out after the boat is in the water
-- it'll probably need to be replaced -- after all, it's always something.
It's gonna be a busy day tomorrow. Two reasonably big jobs:
finish the keel work, and get the engine running.
(5/1/2004) Rain threatened all day.
After work on Froggy, I went down and started the keel work. Then
Mark Kubeja came down so we painted the bottom. Right after we
finished, it started raining. Thanks, Mark!!!
I have an appointment
the dockmaster to splash at 3PM on Monday, May 3.
(4/29/2004)
There was a very nice article
about me in the Gannon Knight yesterday. If you're just visiting
this site for the first time, and you think you might like to sail with
us, write me at miceli@gannon.edu.
This weekend will be a busy weekend -- that ToDo list isn't getting any
shorter...
(4/24/2004)
Wax on; Wax off! Waxed and
buffed the entire hull today. Now, if the weather will just cooperate sometime
over the next week...
(4/19/2004)
Boat prep is underway. Mike
O'Neill and Mark Kubeja helped get the boom back on. I spent much of
the weekend on the hull. The waterline is nice and shiny (evil algae
all gone), and both sides of the hull are clean (phew!). I waxed and
buffed the stern (OK -- well that took ten minutes) -- now I have to wax
both sides. That WILL take longer. Then some keel work, then
the bottom painting. The new Number 2 sail is ready at the sailmaker,
and I've ordered new jib and main halyards, and new triple Lewmar clutches
from Tall Paul. So, a little after May 1st we should be ready for
Mark and Judy's traditional first sail of the season!
NOTE: I'll
be coding the new schedule below as soon as possible.
(3/27/2004) Welcome
to 2004! Well, I just returned from my
first trip inside the boat for this season. Considering that I did
not cover the boat this year, everything turned out pretty well --
KNOCK ON WOOD! It appears that both wind instruments made it
through the winter this time. The engine seems OK. There
wasn't even that much water in the boat. I took out less that
two full buckets of water from the bilge, and only a couple pumps-worth
from the bow. I'll start the cleanup tomorrow, if the weather is as
predicted. I have a new kevlar #2 furling jib on order, and we'll be
getting new main and jib halyards from Tall Paul. More later.
Stay tuned -- we'll be sailing soon.
(9/25/2003) The last three races have been
very interesting:
We had only two crew for the 9/17 JAM race.
Dave Hyland and Judy Tucci were aboard. They were moving very fast,
doing the work of four people, and we finished 5th in the race.
Good Work!
Then on Saturday we sailed the Bluff Bar. As of the
night before, Hurricane Isabel came through with 15-20 knot winds, and we
only had two Dave Hyland and Mike O'Neill coming along. By 5:45A on
the day of the race, the winds were only 10-20 and the lake waves were
only 2-4 feet. Jim Stewart came through with one more crew member
for us at 5:45AM!!! Jeff Beltz was a big addition -- we were really happy
to have another qualified hand on board. Well, we sailed well, and
took 3rd place in the 62-mile race. Great Work!! (And thanks,
Jeff and Stew.)
Last night was the last Wednesday JAM race of the season.
We had a full crew, but also a big blow. We flew the number 3 with
the main reefed and we did well. The winds were 15-25 throughout the
race, but just before the start we took a big hit from 28 or 29-knot gust!
It was quite a ride, but WebSailor held up well and we finished in
third place. Not bad for a "light boat" like ours. We
heard later that Taco hit Barney (both retired), and Venture tore his main
(finished, but way down in the pack). Sorry, Paul, Barney and Dave
:( With that third place
we locked up third overall for the season in JAM B. What a great
season, huh?
(9/6-7/2003) This year's Koehler Cup was
amazing! We had a great crew: Dave and Heather Hyland, Krista and
Mike Krugger,
and
Judy Tucci. Leg one started on a light air run out the channel (see the
picture at the right) and ended on a screaming reach into Dover in 18 knot
winds. We sailed very well, didn't make our usual mistakes and took 3rd.
On Sunday, the winds were 10-12 and we flew the assymetrical chute on a
close reach to Long point. We were flying. Dave was driving, and
reported that we did over 8 knots a few times. After rounding the point,
it was a 4 hour beat upwind in heavy chop. We trimmed the boat well and
we held our own against the others. So, a good upwind leg combined with
one of our best reaching legs to give us 2nd place in the race against a
great field of boats and skippers. And, even better,
we took 3rd place for the series and got a flag in a
spinnaker fleet! This is a personal best for us.
(8/27/2003, 9/3/2003)
The rest of the Full Moon JAM
series. We sailed well in race two and came up with 4th place.
Pretty good -- keeps us in third place overall for the season, and it
didn't cost us any seconds. Venture lost some seconds, so now we
only owe him 1 second per mile! Race three was a floater. No
wind. We all floated for awhile, then the race was cancelled, and we
went back to the slip and had pizza and beer.
(8/24/2003) 2nd Place in our class in the
M.S. Regatta. Thanks to Jim Berlin and Logistics+ for sponsoring
us. And, thanks to Jim for coming along. How about that?
A sponsor who grinds...
(8/20/2003) Calling tonight a "light air
night" would be too kind! We got started WAY late because Venture
and Glimmer were in irons in front of us at the line. When we fell
off to avoid them we hit the starting mark, so we did a 720 (OK -- so NOW
I know that I only had to do a 360 for hitting the mark). Then we
sailed as well as we could to make up for lost time. Following a
slow downwind leg on which we first went wing-n-wing and then took a
"flier" to the middle of the bay on a reach, everyone (except Serendipity)
ended up becalmed at Mark M. We fended off for awhile and then a
5-knot breeze came back. Of course, all the front boats got it
first, and we finished 9th. If it weren't for the fact that three
boats withdrew we would have been DFL. Ah, well...
(8/17/2003) We sailed JAM in the
Mayor's/Governor's Cups. I had gotten the time for the start wrong,
but luckily the race committee delayed the start by about a half hour, so
we actually sailed both races. The JAM fleet included Coltrek,
Barney and a lot of people who owed us time. But the breeze kicked
up to 15-20 and we were way over-powered with the Number One in the first
race. We flew the Number Two in the second race and still had
trouble with huge 40 degree wind shifts. After the race we couldn't
furl the Number Two so we had to jury-rig it. When we got back to
the slip I went up the mast to retrieve the halyard. In any case, we
finished in the lower middle of the pack. Both races, however, were
more work than we wanted for a "fun" Sunday JAM race. Thanks
to all who came, and thanks for your patience.
(8/15/2003) We had a good crew for the
rescheduled Night Lighthouse race. The wind was WSW at about 4-8.
The strong offshore did not really become a factor. We sailed on
spinnaker out the bay, jibing very well and under control three or four
times and exited the channel in about the middle of the pack, next to
Lanada II and ahead of Venture. The long port tack on moderate chop
from G1 to the lighthouse mark did us in again. Everybody passed
us on the that leg. On the way to the finish we had to tack through
the channel. We actually made up time in there, and we closed the
gap on the fleet once we were in the bay, but just not enough to place
higher. So, our 9th place finish doesn't really reflect the fact
that we sailed very well, except for that tough upwind leg.
All-in-all, a great night, thanks to a great crew!!
(8/13/2003) The second LaFemme race was
another light air/dying air night and the course was again too long.
But, that aside, our crew sailed very well again, taking 6th in the race
and capturing 2nd PLACE in the series!
Woo Hoo! A red flag for Rosemary and the crew: Rosemary
Briggs, Patty Holstein, Judy Tucci, Annie Hartley, Caroline Granahan,
Heather Hyland and
Pat Benekos. Next up: a
light air Night Lighthouse race (now rescheduled AGAIN to Friday night).
Also PLEASE sign up the for Mayor's Cup/Governor's Cup races on Sunday.
(8/6/2003) Another light air night -- but at
least the course was shorter, a 2-mile W/L. The course was skewed,
so it was more of a "beat-reach-beat." We did well, but our rating
is down to 134, so we corrected to 6th place. That was good enough
for a 2nd Place flag for the August Series. Good work, everyone!
(8/1/2003) We had a great crew for LaFemme
and they handled themselves very well! Of course, it was a
light air night
(as predicted). Rosemary skippered. Judy,
Patty, Caroline and Annie crewed. The RC chose a windward-leeward
course (R-M). We were cautious and a little late at the start, but
we had a good upwind
leg to Mark R. After rounding, we went wing-n-wing (good thing we
practiced on 7/23 and 7/30, huh?). Judy and Annie handled the pole
well, Patty was the preventer. It was a dogfight all the way
downwind, but Venture and us were neck-n-neck at the downwind mark.
We crossed a few seconds behind them, but our finish was good enough for
3rd place ahead of Honahlee, Get n Close, and Rakish. All-in-all a
great night!
(7/30/2003) So, we started in 15 knot
winds. The RC set pretty much the longest olympic course they could
(R-O-M-R-M), about 8 miles in the Bay. Then the RC screwed up the
start by sounding the one-minute horn at two minutes (though they STILL
don't admit it!). Of course, the wind died. Over two hours
later, the whole A Fleet had finished, but only Venture and us had
finished in the B Fleet. They eventually abandoned the race.
Only Venture and us were actually scored -- everybody else got 3rd
place! Luckily we had a good large crew onboard. In fact, Dave
and Heather sailed Spirit with Mike O'Neill. Oh, and NOBODY in the C
Fleet got scored at all!!! Bad, RC, Bad!
(7/23/2003) A light air night, but we sailed
well and finished 3rd. Dave and Mark helped us a get a good start,
though it was crowded and tricky, at the pin. Dave thought there was
more wind on the left so we stayed there. He was right -- we were
third around the upwind mark. Rosemary drove on the downwind leg
when we were Wing-n-Wing and got in some practice for Friday's LaFemme.
Right now it looks like Friday will be a light air LaFemme.
(7/20/2003)
Finished 6th in the JAM race
today. We sailed well and started training our LaFemme crew.
Rosemary got the feel of driving; Patty started learning how to get the
traveler upwind; and Judy's biceps are already bigger after all that
grinding! Patty and Judy are busy recruiting more women for the
crew! We should have a good night for LaFemme.
Yesterday I crewed on Venture -- yes, they let me on the
Evil Green Boat :) I guess I was bad luck: not much wind for
the race, and Dave got a DNF. The second race was cancelled and
rescheduled.
(7/17/2003) It's been busy and WEIRD since
we've been back from the Interclub. 7/9 was another dying air JAM
race with 42 boats (30 of them in B & C Fleets)!! We sailed well,
made a couple good tactical decisions and came in 5th. Then Friday
night's Lighthouse race was cancelled due to 30-knot winds and six-to-nine
foot waves on the lake! The crew sat on the boat eating muchies,
cheese and crackers, and drinking our favorite boat drinks. The
winds continued on Saturday, cancelling the fun race, but many still rafted up and stayed overnight. My grandson was in town on Sunday,
so we ducked the SPIN race and did some cruising.
Then last night was another Spinnaker BAY race. We
had a great start (after 2 general recalls) and sailed fairly well on the
first trip around (M-S windward/leeward 2x). On the second downwind
leg, the spinnaker went up with a twist and we gave away a good deal of
time, finishing 10th. There was a damaging incident between Downtime
and Coltrek. Ask a crew member for the details.
(7/4/2003) Back from the Interclub
Series. There will be a longer report later.
The sailing was wonderful! The camaraderie was wonderful! The
deep fried mushrooms at the Erie Beach Hotel were wonderful! Our
finish in the overall (23rd out of 42
boats) was better than we've done before. Our finishes in our (new)
fleet were disappointing. Overall, however, a pretty good
Interclub. Click on the picture at the right for a larger view of
the crew (thanks to Sue, who drove up and spent the days in Dover, Colborne and
Abino). And, did I mention that the engine performed
well this year? :)
(6/22/2003) Two JAM races today. We got
a good start and took 2nd in the first race. By the second race, the
winds piped up to 15 to 20 and we were overpowered with the #1 up.
Overall, however, a good day of sailing.
(6/11/2003) Another night of dying air,
Windward-Leeward, JAM, slow and excruciating racing. That was
complicated by the fact that we didn't think it was time yet to worry
about seaweed. WRONG! After dropping to last during the first
leg we found that we were towing a forest of seaweed. From now on we
check before the
race!
6/8/2003) At the start of the race the winds
were 6-12 knots from the south. The race should
have been a cakewalk, but a dead calm in the middle of the race, combined
with 2x around Windward-Leeward course in the Bay made it more
"challenging." Dave drove the race, we fought pretty hard
to end up in 5th place. Thanks, again to Barney for the picture at
the right.
(6/2/2003) Last Wednesday's JAM race was pretty challenging. We eked out a
7
th, but that was good enough
for 1st place in the Brier Patch Series.
And, yesterday we had very good day flying the
spinnaker thanks to a good crew: Dave Hyland, Mike O'Neill, Rosemary
Briggs, Judy Tucci, and Kevin Miceli. Click on the picture on the
right for a bigger view of us ahead of "The Evil Green Boat" --
we're on the right, flying the light green spinnaker. Thanks, to
Rick Barner of "Barney" for the great picture!
(5/27/2003) We
could've done better in the Lighthouse race. It seemed like we
slowed down everytime we put up the spinnaker. We ended in 7th Place
(out of 13) for the Brier Patch Spinnaker Series.
(5/22/2003) Well, we bounced back in the
second JAM race of the season with a 2nd place. Decent winds, but it
was cold! We're pretty certain to get a flag for the Brier Patch
series. Thanks to Dave Hyland for going up the mast before the race
to install the new Windex. That's a big help.
(5/20/2003)
OK -- so we need some work on spinnaker races. Last Saturday we
finished the first race in 7th place. Then I left for 
Chicago and
the crew sailed on, that is, until they ran aground and had to be
rescued by the committee boat. So the first award of the season goes
to substitute skipper Dave Hyland and the crew. This story will be
famous for some time to come. (Click on pic for full text)
(5/15/2003) Woo Hoo!
First Place in the first race! Generally, we hate
windward-leeward races in dying air -- Unless we win :) Next:
two spinnaker races on the Bay. Click yourself onto the crew now.
(5/9/2003)
Shakedown cruise with Judy and
Mark Kubeja and Rosemary. Winds 12-17kts. It was cold and
windy. We were doing 6.5 knots on just the main! But we were
sailing! It's now a tradition that Mark and Judy get the first
cruise of the year.
(5/6/2003) The boat is in
the water. I guess I should get the sails now. Don't
forget to sign-up for races! Anyone up for a shakedown cruise??
(4/21/2003) Welcome to the 2003 Season. I have
updated the schedule for the new season. Go ahead and start signing up
for those races. Remember how to do it? Click on "See Crew" for the race
you want. Then click your name so you can see a check mark, then click
submit. You should then see the confirmation page. REMEMBER that
you need to click submit again to make the change
permanent. Please seriously consider coming on the Interclub. I would
like to lock in enough crew early this year to make sure that can be
competitive! Here's hoping for a FUN season! BTW-- you can still see all
of last year's results
here.
(3/16/2003) Well the cover's off for Spring, but maybe
it's a little early --
Click Here
for the Spring pictures and a couple of the "to do" items.
11/16/2002 -- 2nd Place OVERALL in JAM
B. Not bad! Thanks to all who sailed with us this year! See you in 2003...
(9/10/2002)
Click Here
for a picture of some of the crew -- thanks to Patty Holstein!
(8/26/2002) M.S. Regatta: Congrats to
Dave Hyland and the crew for taking first in our division for the
M.S. Regatta while I was out-of-town. Should I be worried about my
job security as skipper?? Thanks to Logistics+ for sponsoring us!
Click Here for a picture of WebSailor in the MS
Regatta -- it looks like they were sailing fast!
(8/15/2002) Regatta de la Femme:
Our
first race back was the la Femme race. We got the race in despite
scattered storms in the area. Congrats to the crew: Rosemary
(driver), Pat (foredeck), Julia (mainsail trimmer), Patty and Gail (jib
trimmers and grinders). The la Femme crew took 3rd in the race and
4th in the series (imagine if we had sailed both races). It was good
to be on the water again! And, yes, AJ did wear the pink Marge
Simpson wig that Patty brought!
(8/9/2002): After six weeks of engine
trouble, WebSailor is back in the water, back in Erie, and ready to sail
and race. You can read the log entries from this odyssey by clicking
here. We missed a lot of races due to
the hiatus, however, most of the crew sailed most of the races with Bill
Coleman on Coltrek. Thanks, Bill, for your hospitality during this
trying time.
|
WebSailor was out-of-commission and out
of the water for six weeks in the middle of the season. Here's a
summary of the log entries that relate to this frustrating ordeal:
6/28/2002) Bad News: While motoring
back from the Interclub yesterday, the engine made a fearsome clanking
noise and stopped. So, I'm in Erie, and the boat is at RCR Yachts in
Buffalo. It may be a broken or bent rod. A rebuilt engine may be in
order.
At this time, I don't know how long we'll be out of
commission -- expect a month. First I have to get the boat to Dunkirk
where the work will be done. Let's hope that I can be sailing
again by August!
(7/5/2002) Closer to Home: The boat is
in Dunkirk. It was quite a trip from Buffalo -- started on a nice run
with 12 knots from the NE and ended with 5 knots on the nose! The
boat will be pulled on Saturday. Stay tuned for a repair
timetable... Thanks to Mike O'Neill, Jim Miceli and George for
helping on the delivery trip.
(7/6/2002) On the hard: We pulled the
boat today, and it's sitting on jack stands at Chadwick Bay Marina.
Now we wait...
(7/29/2002) Engine Swapped: Drove to
Harrisburg today and traded in my dead engine on a completely rebuilt
engine from Moyer Marine -- over 600 miles round trip, but worth every
minute of it if it helps us get back sailing.
(8/2/2002) Installing? The engine is in
the boat, but, due to some unexplained and undetailed SNAFU, we won't
be in the water this weekend. I am disappointed... Never let the
work be done at a remote location. We should have brought the boat to
Erie...
(8/7/2002) Waiting: The engine is still
in the boat, but the boat is not in the water. The latest
problem is a couple of days of NE winds that blew all of the water out
of the eastern portion of the lake, leaving the lift well in Dunkirk
without enough water to launch a five-and-a-half foot draft sailboat.
Just can't catch a break here...
(8/8/2002) Coming Home: Finally, after
exactly six calendar weeks, we sailed (and motored) WebSailor back to
our slip at Bay Harbor Marina. Thanks so much to Mark Kubeja and Mike
Krugger (who worked a full third shift and then went to Dunkirk with
us to bring the boat back). Thanks to Sue for driving us early on her
day off. The trip back was quite pleasant with 5-8 knot NNE winds
(though they did oscillate more than we would have liked). Got back
to Erie about 6:30 on a clear and cool night. Thanks to everyone for
being supportive during this ordeal!!!
|
from the east for the Day
Lighthouse race today (8th Place in the Spinnaker Fleet)! Hehe...
Thanks to all who came along. It was quite a ride, and we finally
got to fly the new Number 2. Thanks, Mike, Judy, Rosemary, Dave and
Patty. We took 4th in the Brier Patch JAM series and 5th in the
Brier Patch Spinnaker series. I'd say the season is off to a good
start! And, Welcome Back, Evil Green Boat.
Of course we flew the new sail. It's
about an inch too long (we'll have to work on that). But
look at the picture here -- look at boat speed. When was the last
time we saw over 7kts without a chute? Yes, that says 7.62 kts.
Click on the picture to see it bigger (for proof!
The sailing was wonderful! The camaraderie was wonderful! The
deep fried mushrooms at the Erie Beach Hotel were wonderful! Our
finish in the overall (23rd out of 42
boats) was better than we've done before. Our finishes in our (new)
fleet were disappointing. Overall, however, a pretty good
Interclub. Click on the picture at the right for a larger view of
the crew (thanks to Sue, who drove up and spent the days in Dover, Colborne and
Abino). And, did I mention that the engine performed
well this year? :) 
race!
th, but that was good enough
for 1st place in the Brier Patch Series.
And, yesterday we had very good day flying the
spinnaker thanks to a good crew: Dave Hyland, Mike O'Neill, Rosemary
Briggs, Judy Tucci, and Kevin Miceli. Click on the picture on the
right for a bigger view of us ahead of "The Evil Green Boat" --
we're on the right, flying the light green spinnaker. Thanks, to
Rick Barner of "Barney" for the great picture!
