# 340 SOUTHERN BAY RACING NEWS YOU CAN USE
on Monday April 9, 2007 10:37AM
Walter Cronkite and Gary Jobson will host on
ESPN Classic, this coming Friday, April 13, "The America's Cup, 1851
-2007". The advance publicity sounds like it will an
interesting and entertaining presentation on the "longest, continuously held
sporting event in the world". Broadcast time is 7:00
pm ET.
SUNDAY, APRIL 15:
VELUX 5 OCEANS RE-START - Course for the final leg (approximately 3,200
miles) of the 'round the world race is from Hampton Roads harbor to
Spain. This is the BIG day. The boats (Open 60s) will be towed from
Waterside to the starting area, while the skippers are helicopter-ed to the deck
of the HMS Oceans (British aircraft carrier, to be located between
the starting line and the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel ). From the
carrier, the skippers will be transferred to their boats by
super-speed craft and the shore support crew will disembark.
The starting line will be between the Norfolk Naval Base carrier piers and
Hampton Bar. Schooner Virginia will serve as one end of the
starting line and Angus Hines' Hatteras 75, Sentry, will serve as Race
Committee signal boat. The southern Bay's John McCarthy is Principal Race
Officer for the Re-Start and Brian Deibler will be setting the starting
area marks from Southern Branch. Anticipated starting time (the
gun) is 1300 (1:00pm). Spectator craft are welcome at the
start and also may follow the racers out the channel and out the
Bay! Adios y buena suerte, botes de
vela!
VELUX 5 OCEANS RACE
NOTES: www.velux5oceans.com
Thursday, April
12:
The
Velux 5 Oceans RACE VILLAGE will open Thursday at 10:00am and will be
open through Sunday afternoon. The tents are situated at
Waterside on the seawall in downtown Norfolk. All sorts of happenings and
exhibits, and the race boats are right there at the Waterside Marina.
Stop by and check it all out - after Sunday, it will all be a
memory.
Saturday, April 14:
In Port Regatta, hosted by Portsmouth Boat Club
to honor the Velux 5 Oceans Racers. Start and finish lines will
be between the Portsmouth Seawall and the flag pole at the Sheraton
Hotel on the Norfolk waterfront. Go to the PBC website for the race course
(to be sailed on the Elizabeth River) http://portsmouthboatclub.org
Deadline for entries is April 12 (Thursday). For info contact Jonathan
Romero at (757) 285-6017. Post-race festivities start with trophies
being awarded by the Velux 5 Oceans skippers under the Velux tent at the
Waterside Race Village. Participants and guests are invited to more
festivities on the schooner Virginia at the Otter
Berth.
WED, April 11 and THUR, April
12: BBSA
Little Creek SA Wednesday Races and BBSA Willoughby Races Thursday Races begin -
On going, season-long programs. For Little Creek, contact John
Bergman at (757) 362-3775, and for Willoughby contact Scott Almond at (757)
471-2663.
SATURDAY, APRIL 14:
CCV Tune-up
Races - Warning signal at 1100; Venue is inside Hampton Bar
and course(s) are around gov marks in the harbor; Plan for 2 short races
(weather permitting); All PHRF classes will be given starts; for info contact
John McCarthy at (757) 850-4225. The name of the event is
appropriate - tune-up for boats, crew, and skippers!
J-24
Fleet 71 Spring Regatta - Running in conjunction with CCV Tune-Up
races (see above), except will have separate sailing instruction - J/24
skippers/competitors meeting at HYC race
day morning (J/24 racers only); for info contact John McCarthy at (757)
850-4225. CBYRA sanctioned event.
OPCYC
Yankee Station Races begin - This is a season-long program.
For info contact Dennis Miner at (757) 867-1028 or Steve Lundsford at
(757) 875-0907.
Fleet Tweak: C Fleet's loss,
will be B's gain. Callinectes, Ben
Cuker's Cal 30-3, has been hit with a 3 second adjustment to his
PHRF rating. The change takes Callinectes, the 2006
CCV High Point "C" Champion, out of C fleet and puts him in PHRF B. The
PHRF rating band for B Fleet is 116 to 166.
Some not so Fat Bottom Girls getting
attention: Spotted at Wormley Creek with
refreshed bottom jobs, Rusty Burshell's Cool
Change (J/30, PHRF B) and Dave Eberwine's Sea
Star (J/36, PHRF A). It is noteworthy that both of these boats are
2006 CCV High Point Champions. Also, spotted in Norfolk, sporting a new
bottom job was Justin Morris' The
Hunter, and Mark Shaw's Prevail.
Jake Brodersen has brought Midnight Mistress home
after wintering up on the York. Left behind on the hard at Sarah's Creek
are John Boon's J/30, Salsa Verde and
Bob Cumming's Quicksilver; both look ready to
take the plunge very soon.
It's official - The first boat away from the
dock to go racing in a scheduled 2007 series in the southern Bay was...
Whisper, Larry Bryant's Hunter 40.
Whisper and 13 other boats filled with hearty souls headed out in the
first 2007 HYC Wednesday Night race, only to be pounced upon by a busting wind
and withering temperature drop before most got to the
first mark. OK though - 14 out, 14 back!
Close to 100 racers attended the CCV Annual Racing Rules
Clinic last Tuesday at The Mariners' Museum and enjoyed Dave
Pyron's rules presentation which included an audience participation
"game" involving racing/rules situations. The 2007 CCV Racing
Guide was distributed. If you were not able to attend the Clinic, you may
join CCV and/or pick up your 2007 CCV Racing Guide at the Hampton Yacht
Club office. Or, you may contact a CCV Board member
directly.
SBRW EARLY BIRD DEADLINE: April
15. Early Birds turn worms into drink tickets! Early Bird entries to
Southern Bay Race Week get 6 free regatta drink tickets. But, ya gotta
enter by this coming Sunday, April 15. Don't miss this freebie - enter
now. That's how the worm turns! Go to www.blacksealcup.com
for entry form.
SBRNYCU Mea Culpa to Mark
Wolfe, who has NOT changed his name to Mark Wall and who DOES
own Orange Blossom Special.
CT Tiller returns to the race course after a
16 year hiatus in his sailboat racing life. CT drove his J24,
Cap'n Crunch, in southern Bay races with much success back in the not
so distant day. Now, he returns with a J27 named Boogity 3
(previously owned by John Wandling and raced as Rebecca J
). Welcome back, CT! If he goes spinnaker, he'll most
likely rate out in the B Fleet; the Non-Spinnaker fleet, of course, includes all
ratings.
More Racing Love
Notes: Ethan Williams and Julia
Bower, both of whom crew on Midnight Mistress, tied the knot
in February and will be crewing as Mr. & Mrs. They are following the
example set by owners Jake and Pat
Brodersen. They married when Pat was crewing on Jake's
Hunter 28.5, also named Midnight Mistress. And,
Allan Young, event chairman of the Hospice Turkey Shoot
Regatta, and Victoria Marek were married this past
Saturday. Congratulations!
Going to Charleston Race
Week: Sledd
Shelhorse (HYC, Virginia Beach) and crew will be racing
Meridian 2 at Charleston Race Week (April 12 - 15), before returning
home to take up the 2007 southern Bay campaign. Travis
Weisleder (FBYC, Richmond), Carloan, will be racing in
the 22 boat Melges 24 fleet along with Scott Baste (LLSC,
Otto, NC), Room 444 Improvement. Dennis Hannick
(DYC, King George, VA), is racing Radio Flyer in the PHRF F fleet
along with another Tripp 26, Huntin' Tripp, Treez Decker
(LNYC, Charlotte, NC). Frank Silver
(HYC/CYC/PRYC, Kill Devil Hills), Phantom, will sail in the 5
boat PHRF G fleet. North Carolinians make up 50% of the J80 fleet:
Alan Simoni (PYC, Cornelius), Bone
Chillin' ; Michael Jones (Wilmington),
Outrageous; and Alston Team (WPYC, Elon), Sweet
Baby J. John Collins (Winston-Salem, NC) is one of
only two J24s who come from north of South Carolina in the 16 boat J24
fleet. Teamwork, Robin Team (WPYC,
Beaufort, NC), is among 5 J120s at the regatta. Also, racing in PHRF
A with Meridian 2 are Mike Robinson (CYC, Kill Devil
Hills), Minor Threat, Henderson 30 and Kip Meadows
(NYCC, Rocky Mount, NC) Roxanne, Melges 32. It will be
interesting to watch an Esse 850, Esse, sailed by APY in PHRF B,
because we have one here in the southern Bay - Psycho Tiller, Pam
Burdett. Don Gray (Mooresville, NC) Bulldog,
Mt.Gay 30, will race in PHRF B too. No Virginia boats in the 14 boat J105
fleet, but Worth Harris (Raleigh, NC), Rum at Six,
will be there. Three more racers from the tarheel state will sail in
PHRF C: Jay Hood (NYRA, Wilson),
Blueprint; Charles Douthit (BSC, Raleigh), Cotton
Picker; and, Dwayne Furmidge (CFYC, Wilmington),
Crescendo. Mark Brennesholtz (BSC, Emerald
Isle, NC) Compass Rose and Ed Doughty (BSC,
Fayetteville,NC), New York Times, will sail in PHRF D. And,
Craig Wright (NYRA, Raleigh), After Thought, will be
in the J109 fleet. The regatta opens April 12, Thursday, and goes
through Sunday, for these 21 southern Bay and beyond
racers.
Looking for a ride? Looking for
crew? Here are two great options for crew and skippers to get
together. 1. Register (free) for SpinSheet
Magazine's crew listings at www.spinsheet.com
2. Attend the SpinSheet Crew Listing Party South, sponsored by
SpinSheet and Marker 20, at Marker 20, 21 East Queen's Way,
Hampton, Saturday, April 28, 6-8 pm. Free and open to the sailing
public.
RACER REMINDER: CCV ENTRY
DEADLINES - If you have a CCV Racing Membership, you are automatically
entered (provided you have a 2007 valid PHRF rating) in all the CCV races,
except Southern Bay Race Week, which requires a separate entry and
fees. All other racers, including CCV Club members, must enter the
individual races or series. The deadline for entry in the CCV Spring
Series races is the day before the day of the race(s). Spring
Series racing dates are: April 22, April 29, and May 6.
MURPHY'S LAW: If
the breezes are favorable for the Velux racers Sunday, they'll take off like
scalded dawgs, like a racing beagle chasing a beer, like...well, you've got
the idea. Better set those video cameras on reeeeeal
fast!
/S/ Murphy the Racing Beagle, the
sailing spirit in us all.