# 289 SOUTHERN BAY RACING NEWS YOU CAN USE

Lin Mccarthy on Monday March 20, 2006 12:45PM

And now there at 19 - days, that is, until the first racing in the 2006 southern Bay season! 
 
NORTH CAROLINA boats take two first-in-class at Miami Race Week -  Judd Smith (Oriental, NC) sailed his Oriental Express to first place in the 28 boat Etchells fleet, beating the 2nd place boat by 11 points.  Worth Harris (Beaufort, NC),  Rum at Six ,  trounced the 7 boat J/105 fleet.  Tripptease, the Miami based Tripp 33 on which southern Bay racers Leroi  Lissenden and Bob Krushelnisky  (Voodoo Chile) crewed, tied for first in PHRF 3, but lost out when the tie was broken.  Randall White, another Etchells skipper from Oriental, finished 14th  overall in the large Etchells fleet.   A very good showing for the southern Bay and beyond!
 
Lots of Boats are Getting Better Right Now - For example, Larry Bryant's  Whisper  is going to enjoy an upgraded sail inventory and Butch Patterson is putting in long, cold hours of  TLC on Small Potato's bottom.   Greg Cutter and the Gremlyn crew were out testing and practicing both Saturday and Sunday.  Matt Haskell and his crew of @#$%&*!!  (pronounced Punctuation) sailed yesterday.   And, Marty Steffens took advantage of the warm weather to tune up some systems on Riptide .  Others are adding upgraded, go fast , deck gear like new main mainsheet systems, winches, vangs, carbon spinnaker poles, etc.  Before you re-install your halyards (you did take them off for the winter, right?),  you might think about upgrading the line;  the hi-tech, super strong ,super light stuff all translates to reducing weight aloft.   Get 'em ready - it won't be long before the first warning signal.
 
CREW  + SKIPPERS + BOATS = GREAT 2006 RACING SEASON:  There are lots of ways to avoid the Whiners'  Laments of   "I Have No Crew"  or  "I Can't Find a Boat" - here are 3 super opportunities right here in the southern Bay:
       APRIL 8-9 (Saturday-Sunday), and 15 (Saturday) - Fishing Bay / Deltaville - On-the -Water Crew Training For "Big Boat" Racing - This is a really good, long established event sponsored by Fishing Bay Yacht Club.  There is a pre-course meeting scheduled for March 28 (Tuesday), at 7 PM at Retreat Hospital (boardroom) in  Richmond.    Please contact event organizer David Hazlehurst at  dhazlehu@atlas.vcu.edu  or  davidhazlehurst@comcast.net   for details and directions.
       APRIL 15,  SATURDAY, 6 - 8 pm,  Hampton - The first Annual Crew Listing Party - South -  modeled on [and sponsored by] SpinSheet Magazine's Annual Crew Listing Party (Annapolis) - part of the Downtown Hampton Block Party  schedule and hosted at  Marker 20.  Admission is FREE.   For info call Hampton Event Makers at (757) 727-1540.   Live music by RYLO Band (great rockabilly). 
      MAY 2-3,  MAY 9-10,  MAY 16-17,  MAY 23-24 (Tuesday-Wednesday), Hampton - CCV Learn to Crew on a Racing Sailboat - This is a well established, well organized course that runs for 4 consecutive mid week evenings.  Tuesday evenings begin at 6:30 PM and involve classroom sessions;  Wednesday evenings begin at 5:15 PM and are the on-the-water part  of the course.  For info call David Taylor at (757) 344-5292. 
 
Richard Payne's brand new, out of the box, J/105, Flying Colors, will be here in time for a boat blessing in May.  He'll be sailing in the PHRF A fleet.  Richard owned and skippered a Hunter 28.5, Miss Anne Thrope, in PHRF C for several years.
 
In early March,  17 collegiate teams raced in the Old Dominion Spring Open South #1 and southern Bay teams Hampton University and Old Dominion University finished 4th and 5th respectively, thereby qualifying for the coveted America Trophy.  Congrats!
 
Do you have your 2006 PHRF Certificate?  Go to the PHRF of the Chesapeake web site for application info -  www.phrfchesbay.com 
 
Crewing on Pat Patterson's Taylor 41, Orion , for the 2006 Centennial Bermuda Race  (June 16 start from Newport) will be Brian McCauley (navigator), Mitch Brindley (starboard watch captain); Peter Ill (port watch captain),  Jim Hawks, Jimmy Miller, Geoff Hummel, Chad Wilkins, Christine Accettella, Chris Groobey, and Randy Ellington (cook).  The Orion Team also will be doing the full Onion Patch Series of 4 races in Newport and 2 in Bermuda.
 
When you come to the CCV Racing Clinic and 2006 Racing Guide distribution on Tuesday, April 4th, 6:30 PM at The Mariners Museum in Newport News, you should feel free to wear your boat shoes and to come sockless, having already burned your socks on March 20th.  The clinic topic will be the General Sailing Instruction from the Racers' Perspective (presented by John McCarthy, US Sailing Advanced Race Officer).  The event is OPEN TO ALL and FREE.  If you have not already signed up for CCV membership, you may do so at the Clinic and receive your personal member copy of the Racing Guide at that time.  For info you may contact any CCV Board member or call 850-4225. 
 
When Orion heads for Bermuda in June (see item above), she will have a strong Old Dominion University Sailing Team influence.   Mitch Brindley is the head coach of the nationally recognized collegiate sailing team and Christine Accettella is an ODU grad and All American sailor.
 
MURPHY'S LAW:  Next Monday, a week from today, March 20th, marks the Vernal Equinox (6:26 PM (GMT).  So, March 20th is the official Sock Burning Day - the day racers burn their socks as a heathen offering to the racing powers.   There will, of course, be other "ceremonial sock burnings" as different events mark the beginning of the racing season.  So, save a couple of pairs for such burnings.   Yours Truly, The Murphster, because of biological construction, will not  experience a dearth of sacrificial socks.  Spring cometh!!   /S/  Murphy the Racing Beagle, the sailing spirit in us all.
Fishing Bay Yacht Club
Office Mail: Fishing Bay Yacht Club, 2711 Buford Road #309, Bon Air, 23235,
Clubhouse Address: 1525 Fishing Bay Road, Deltaville, VA 23043 (no mail delivery)

Phone Numbers: Club House 804-889-2327

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