ALBACORES and BARNEY HARRIS win 47th VIRGINIA GOVERNOR'S CUP.  Sailing in extremely stiff wind (18 - 25 knots) and rough seas on Saturday, and in extremely hot temperatures Sunday, a tough group of 55 small boat sailors raced their brains out on the Ware River over the weekend.   At the end of it all, the Albacore Class got in the most individual starts (among class members) and, therefore, the winner of that class, Barney Harris and crew Leigh (1-2-1-1-1) carried home the  Gov Cup keeper.   This was the 47th time Ware River Yacht Club has run the Governor's Cup.  CLASS WINNERS:  Albacore (12 boats): Barney Harris and Leigh;  Buccaneer (7 boats): Jeffrey Moore and Jolie Homsher;  …

Pictures of the Dredging of Jackson Creek that is still underway:

The crew of "Prophet" (Sonar 725) enjoyed the 2011 Marblehead NOOD on July 28-31 at the splendid Corinthian Yacht Club at the tip of the Neck in Marblehead, MA.  Noel Clinard and Lud Kimbrough towed the boat up, and Noel back, for a trip of 1465 miles.  Mike Karn flew in to Boston and Paul and Julie Ann Wash drove separately.  Lud, Noel, Mike and Paul sailed in a fleet of 24 Sonars skippered by many of the best members of the class, while Julie Ann tended our needs ashore and saw every sight (and whale) withoin 100 miles.  Although the results were humbling: (22-22-18-20-21-23-12-[24]-24) they improved their understanding of the finer points of …

72^nd ANNUAL ONE DESIGN REGATTA
For the John R. Hawksworth Memorial Trophy
August 13 & 14, 2011

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2011
Registration 1900

http://www.fbyc.net

Advance Registration Is Encouraged

SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2011
Continental Breakfast 0800
Registration 0900
Skippers’ Meeting 1030/First Warning Signal 1130
Dinner and Entertainment 1800

DINNER
Pasta Dinner - Adults $15 / Children under 8 Free

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2011
Continental Breakfast 0800
First Warning Signal 1000
Refreshments and awards following the last race

 CLASSES 

420, Albacore, Hampton, Flying Scot, Front Runner, San Juan 21, Typhoon, Windmill, Laser, Laser Radial, and Optimist (Red, Blue, White and Green fleets). Additional classes may be added at the discretion of the Event Chair or One Design …

Eight updates for the Geezer Regatta on August 27:

1) The event is planned for Flying Scots and all other One-Design fleets that can muster three or more boats. If you can't get on a Scot, consider Lasers, Mobjacks, 420s, and even Optis for grins. (Optis will have a separate, shorter, and more docile course.) If you can't bring your own vessel there is no excuse: the Club has four to five Lasers, seven 420s, and 16 Optis available for use. Alain Vincey is trying to encourage the Lasers,  Perry Guy the 420s, Gordon Cutler the Optis, and Case Whittemore the Mobjacks.

2) If a sufficient number of Flying Scots register, the Committee will consider breaking this …

The Progressive Dinner Cocktail Party will begin at 5 PM, July 23, at Brent and Lindsay Halsey's home on Fishing Bay.  It is suggested that those who have officially registered to attend the Progressive events park in the Yacht Club parking lot, and walk to the Halsey home.

Dinner will begin at 7 PM at Tony and Kate Sakowski's cottage, 76 Sunrise Point, which is about a 300 yard walk from the Halsey's.  Parking will be at a premium, and will be saved for those with difficulty making the walk from the Halsey's.  Contact Tony at 804 387 3875 if you need one of the few parking places that will be available.

Coffee …

Southern Chesapeake Bay racers were out and about  these past few days.  Southern Bay boats and crew sailed  in the Chicago - Mackinac Race (Meridian 2), the Marblehead to Halifax Ocean  Race (Nanuq), and, of course 16 were at Screwpile 2011 in Solomons, Maryland.

   Some of what happens at Screwpile stays at Screwpile. . .  but not all of it!

    Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge Regatta, aka Screwpile, always has been and still is the favorite destination regatta for southern Bay racers.  The event is a racer's paradise.  They take over the town, the headquarters hotel, and the hearts and minds of anyone within the environs of Solomons Island, Maryland.  There are party legends and there are …

We have several events coming up in quick fashion. The first is the Progressive dinner this weekend which is filled to capacity thanks to the deligence of Sarah Carneal. The next weekend June 30 is the cruising regatta. This is a pursuit type race officiated by Case Whittemore and has been a lot of fun in the past. Following will be a dinner hosted by Ric and Sharon Bauer with awards. Would be great to see 20 boats on the racecourse.

So sign up ASAP. The following weekend will be the Pirate Invasion at the Hole in the Wall hosted by Carl and Diane Simon. This year will be a joint venture with the one design sailors and cruisers-one big …

Attention Pirate wannabes!  The Cruising and One Design Fleets, co-hosts for the August 6^th Pirate Cruise, are looking for a great FBYC Club turnout for the beach gathering at the Hole-in-the-Wall beaches of Gwynn Island.  No race event is scheduled, but fun is!  We’re hoping to attract some dark-side power boaters in case the winds aren’t favorable for the One Design participants, but we will work it out regardless. Come One, Come ALL.

Leaving FBYC in order to gather around 1045 hours in the wide waters of Hill’s Bay, off Stove Point, the plan is for a brief seagoing water battle. Cruisers beware that the One Designer’s are planning a strafing run due to their potentially …

We have recently upgraded the way news is viewed and posted on www.fbyc.net.   The new technology eliminates the need for the news poster to be familiar with html, plus it includes new search capability, and the requisite “Like” and “Tweet” links for Facebook and Twitter.

The downside of the upgrade is it resides on a different server, and requires a different set of login credentials.  On the "posting of news articles" part of the web site the www is replaced by new so the site is  http://new.fbyc.net/news/

And you must login to the new server in order to post a news article.  Most of you are familiar with logging in to …

At Fishing Bay Yacht Club, the year 2011 will probably be remembered as the year the tornado wiped out numerous trees and more than 20 buildings in Deltaville the day of the Club’s Opening Day ceremonies in April. In July, the scars left behind by that event are still plainly evident, and the week preceding Leukemia Cup was notable for a humid and unstable air mass that hung over southeastern Virginia all week, delivering daily thunderstorms. Though the torrential downpour on Friday turned the grassy parking area at regatta headquarters into a morass (in places, a pond), a front passed through the area Friday night, and by Saturday morning, the weather had cleared, with clear skies and light to moderate …

CRUISE REGATTA

July 30, 2011

The annual Cruise Regatta is coming up on Saturday, July 30. Everyone is encouraged to participate in this low-key, fun regatta. To be sure there’s fair competition for all, including those who aren’t regular racers, each boat is asked to designate a non-racing helmsman.

The Race will be a staggered start (pursuit) race with Case Whittemore serving as PRO. In order to provide an appropriate handicap, each participant is asked to complete and return a spreadsheet to Case at whittemore.case@gmail.com by July 28. The spreadsheet can be obtained by contacting Case at the above address or Sharon Bauer at sharon.h.bauer@wellsfargo.com if you have not already received it by …

The leaderboard results look good, but I understand it is not official.  The Transatlantic Results page show Dawn Star in First, and Carina about an hour behind, in second, on corrected time.  Still pretty close after 19 days of racing.

Well done and congratulations to both Dawn Star (UVa law school grad skipper) and Carina (UVa business school grad skipper and UVa law scholl grad crew).

Congratulations to Jeremy Herrin who finished 10 in the Laser Radial Gold Fleet at the Laser North Americans at Brant Beach Yacht Club.  See Results here. 

Photo by Dixie Hoggan/CBF Member

"For much of the year, I live on the Chesapeake Bay. The view from our house on Stove Point is unencumbered by land—just a jut of Gwynn Island to the right and Stingray Point to the left. In the distance almost directly in front of the house is Marker Number 6, a small black channel marker that blinks a red light at night. This marker is a beacon—a constant in an expanse of ever-changing light, wind, and color. Several years ago I decided to take a photo of this panorama every morning at dawn. While undertaking this project, I found that my long-time fascination with observing water and weather and sky turned into a …

As a result of a new proposal to use radio bandwidth right next to the existing GPS service, the future reliability of the GPS system across the United States is now in question.  We encourage you to contact the FCC during a short 30-day public comment period, to help them understand the public’s need for continued, reliable GPS signals for safe navigation on boats, in cars, and for so many other daily uses.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION

Background:  Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave conditional approval to a private company, LightSquared, to begin a nationwide broadband service adjacent to the radio spectrum used for GPS.  After concerns from user groups (including BoatU.S.), the …

Great Interview with Will Crump on North Sails J80 page.

The J80 team of Thomas Klok, Scott Collins, Will and Marie Crump topped the deep 29 boat fleet with style, speed and patience.  I was able to catch up with my old friend Will Crump to get an update on their team and how things have progressed in the last year.  With only a couple of events under their belts they seem to be just hitting their stride!

What do you feel were the big keys to your win at the Annapolis NOOD regatta?
Will: We really looked at the fleet and the race area with a great deal of respect. Despite speed in past regattas, we never …