J24 Fleet 61

	J24 FLEET 61 City Island, NY
Home Fleet Roster Race Results 2008 RC Dates Photos Membership Form NOR: Summer Wed. & Fall Sunday Wed. S I Schedule	Fleet Captain - Paul Beaudin Treasurer - Jeep Califano Web - Jeffrey Goldfarb Roy set up a Google group for us to use for fleet related contact, like Monday and Wed night crew finders: http://groups.google.com/group/j24-fleet-61 Summer Series Started July 16 - Big Turnout New Notice of Race with a slight change to the scoring of boats not racing. We expect 16 boats plus to sail this series. Wed. July 16, 2008 - Race 1 & 2 Recap (Beginning of Summer Series) After a watching a dismal forecast for calm winds all afternoon on the weather web sites, mother nature surprised us with a steady 6-8 kt sea breeze that came in around 6:00 at lasted long enough to complete two races. Race Committee: J. Puddleduck Race 1 - Course R-4 Most of the fleet went left early, but the big payoff was on the right side of the course where a 25 degree lift was found close to the shoreline; Surcease, Trouble, Wow, and Don't Panic made out big by taking right after the start. By the time the rest of the fleet came back to the right in the middle of the first leg, the die had already been cast. Race 2 - Course R-2 By the start of the second race, the right shift seen early in the first race had settled in, making the boat end highly favored. This, combined with a short line, and a couple of jet-skis who decided to see what a sailboat race looked like real close-up, resulted in fleet 61's second general recall in two weeks. The RC reset the pin to square the line and started to deploy the heavy guns; out came the I-flag. This was enough to keep people a little more under control and the restart was clean. The wind was enough right at this point that the beat turned into almost a fetch, and the downwind leg a reach. Wed. July 9, 2008 - Race 13 & 14 Recap (End of Spring Series) First race, course W4. Wind 225 at 12-17 Second race, course W2, Wind 225 at 12-17 See Race Results 2008 for all results and Final Spring Series standings Wed. July 2, 2008 - Race 12 Recap Another picture-perfect evening for sailing, with a 12 kt southerly breeze and great weather. Wow and Don't Panic both had poor finishes, letting Trouble and Jeepers creep up closer in the standings. Don't Panic inched into first, but only three points separate the top four places, and it's anybody's regatta going into the last week. Wed. June 25, 2008 - Race 10 & 11 Recap Week 6 brought a nice change from the previous week; clear skies, warm temperatures, and a mostly steady 6-8 kt southerly breeze, bringing 13 boats to the starting line. CIYC Commodore Francine Alheid on Watercolour made it out for her first race of the season. This was also the debut for new fleet 61 boat, Tequila, with HYC PC Erwin Eibert and Rear Commodore Bob Fleno. RC was Surcease. The first race of the evening (course: R4) saw some challenges for the race committee, as they struggled with a balky outboard motor and a dragging anchor. The initially square line ended up pin end favored as the RC boat dragged their anchor. The right side seemed to pay off on the upwind legs, as boats played the geographic wind shifts in close to the shoreline. Things got really strange at the end of the race, as a new breeze tried to settle in with puffs alternately coming from the south and west. For the second race, the RC picked up and moved to the east to accommodate the new south-westerly that had filled in. With the sun getting low in the sky, the RC wisely sent the fleet on a short R2 course. Playing the shifts and looking for puffs was the name of the game, with the finish again punctuated by some big right shifts, leaving boats finishing with spinnaker poles on the headstays (or even under genoa in a few cases). Wed. June 18, 2008 - Race 9 Recap This was not another perfect evening for racing. It was, however, a typical "Heat Wave" evening to do RC honors. For the 5th time in the past 4 seasons the weather did not cooperate, but this year we finally got a race started. We left our mooring at about 1800 and dropped an inflatable mark in the NE area of Eastchester Bay to take advantage of the 4K NE breeze. By the time we got to our prospective starting area , however, we were in a 6K ESE breeze so we set up a line to race to "D". By 1830 we were in a NE breeze at 2.5K which then "settled" into an Easterly by 1845 which left neither the "W" nor "D" marks as usable, so we settled for the "C" and 6 short legs. That was, of course, before the impending T-storms changed the velocity and direction again so we postponed until after the storms passed. Taking the rainbow as a good omen, we waited until the breeze settled out of the NE, set the line to use the inflatable mark and finally got started on a "W4" course. But nature wasn't done yet. The wind swung back to the East and fell off to about 2.5K so we shortened course to 2 legs, only to have the breeze pick up out of the NE again as boats were finishing. Thank you all for hanging in there with us and we promise not to do committee for at least another year so that we can have some more perfect weather for the rest of the season! Wed. June 11, 2008 - Race 7 & 8 Recap 13 boats out for our 4th week. Surcease and Power Play have strong night. Assume turn out for this early series, we expect over 15 boats within a few weeks. Beautiful weather with a decent NW wind. Jeff Goldfarb and Force G4 did a nice job of setting a square course and line. The line was pretty roomy for a change. Power Play got off to a great start to never look back with Surcease coming back from deep in the pack to second. In Race 2 the wind was left at the gun and LA Express, Surcease and Power Play took advantage at the pin end to finish in that order. More Commentary from Don't Panic: Week 4 brought us perfect sailing weather -- comfortably temperatures, dry, and a nice 8-10 kt northwesterly left over from the previous night's wild cold front passage (which brought 50+ kt squalls to the area). Before the race, Don't Panic explored the left hand side of the course and found a 40-degree port-tack lift deep in by the shoreline. The long start line looked to be about 10 degrees pin-end favored, so our plan was to start at the pin and dig in deep left looking for the shift. It looked like Jeepers and Surcease had the same idea, as we all found ourselves crowded right at the pin. Don't Panic had a choice of going above or below Surcease and picked below to avoid getting luffed up. This turned out to be a bad move as they ended up not being able to fetch the pin and had to tack and duck a solid line of starboard tackers. But, as luck would have it, going right turned out to not be too bad and Don't Panic was back in the thick of things by the first mark, ultimately ended up mid-fleet. The real excitement of the first race was a serious case of barging, as a fully-loaded barge coming downwind out of the Hutchinson River made it to windward mark just about the same time as the fleet. I didn't hear any frantic horn blasts, but it did lend some strategic drama to the leg, as boats had to commit to one side or the other of the barge and hope they guessed right. At the second start, the wind had gone back right and the line was square. Don't Panic got a clean start and worked their way up the far right side of the course. The first mark rounding was a traffic jam as the whole fleet arrived at once. Don't Panic had to do a couple of extra tacks in close to the mark as they misjudged the layline, but came out of it unscathed and battled for a 4th place finish after having to do a 360 on the second upwind leg (note to self: somebody really should be watching down below for other boats when you're going upwind on port). Wed. June 4, 2008 - Race 5 & 6 Recap The committee was surprised to see that for Race 1 (#5), no starting boat was even close to the start line when the horn was blown. Out of the 11 boats starting, only two boats were even close to the line. It was a very slow start for the fleet overall. I will assume that is because we are early season and all getting back into the start line techniques. The breeze was up and down between 5.5 to 6.5 knots at the start. After all boats cleared the start line and moved up the course 8 to 10 boat lengths, the fleet split with half going left and right side. later a few boats decided to go up the middle for less course distance. The boats that consolidated course length and went up the middle arrived at the first mark first for the most part. The first boat hit the first mark after 7:35 minutes of racing. After rounding the first windward mark, the fleet consolidated big time 3/4 on the downwind leg due to the breeze freshening up from East. We were seeing 6 to 7 knots for a period of time. The first downwind leg boat, La Express, hit the mark at 15:20 minutes race time. La Express and Surcease came to the downwind mark on their own with no traffic. It was a new race all over again for the middle of the pack and boats were in tight with each other while rounding the downwind mark. We heard a lot of noise from crew and on board equipment being moved around. La Express and Surcease now moved onto the 3rd leg of this race with fresh air and clean open flat water lanes. These two boats of course pulled far ahead of the pack with no issues and great boat speed. Alias did circles for a foul at the downwind mark after clearing all the other boats without interference of course. On leg 4, the final downwind leg, the fleet spilt some to try to catch each other and consolidate but it was difficult to pass each other as the breeze abated some and was for the most part similar on both sides of the course. The fleet had a great first race completed for the evening. The committee boat decided to wait a few minutes as the breeze shifted 5 to 10 degrees to the North. It was doing this at the finish of Race 1. After committee having some patience, while time was becoming a big issue to start race 2 (#6), the breeze shifted back to the original East direction as per Race 1 start. This was great as we did not have to move the pin and course with time being a huge factor. Committee decided that with an abating breeze, at about 2.8 to 3.3 knots and getting dark quick, we shorten to a 2 leg D-2 race with the same course as Race 1. Race 2 started at 20:03 with most boats approaching the line on starboard. This time the boats were on the line and in much better start position. One boat was 1 second from the line at the starting gun. After all boats cleared the line the breeze increased to 4.2 knots. This allowed the fleet to move faster and 7 boats went right side while interestingly 4 chose the left side. The breeze now continued to build to 5.1 knots. After more racing up the first windward leg WOW continued left side course with two other boats. We now had a dominate right side course fleet on the top of the first windward leg. First boat rounded the windward mark at 20:45. La Express jibed early on the downwind leg to the finish and went left side course and made out big time. The breeze was now some what abated and passing competitors was difficult. The good news or the fleet was the breeze was steady overall and we had a great night of racing for Fleet 61. All of the above information was put on paper by Kim from the Ska Family. Committee had a great time and we now have THREE more individuals who love sailboat racing. That was my personal reward, to pass on a sport that I love so much to three complete rookies. Made me smile all evening. Mission accomplished big time. Ciao, ciao to all and see you on the water, Robin C. Ricca Wed. May 28, 2008 - Race 3 & 4 Recap Race 3: wind 5 building to 10 and direction 195 going top 215 Course C2 Don’t Panic, WOW, Blondie, Heat Wave, Trouble, J Puddle Duck The first race of the day the RC boat was favored by 10 degrees as the wind continued to clock. It was a clan start with all boats about a boat length behind the line at T Zero. WOW started second tier at the boat and picked up a slight lift resulting in a strong second place finish. Don’t Panic started mid fleet, got a nose out front by the first tack to port and never looked back for an easy first place. Trouble, always competitive decided to practice spinnaker dancing at the first mark and fell back to 5th. Race 4: Wind 9-10 @ 215 course C6 WOW, Heat Wave, Trouble, Blondie, Don’t Panic, J Puddle Duck No late starters this time. Current had picked up and pushed the fleet to the line and a little too pushy for Don’t Panic. Sorry guys but it wasn’t even close. However they managed what would have been an amazing recovery as they challenged for second place at the first leeward mark but then forgot to trim the genoa loosing three boats. Wow just sailed a perfect race and stretched out a long lead by going hard right to pick up the ebbing Hutch river current. Heat Wave Trouble and Blondie fought for 2nd at the finish but Commodore Lages assisting Captain Rosenberg squeaked out second place. Wed. May 21, 2008 - Race 1 & 2 Recap Thanks to Wow for RC work, 3 boats made it out for the first Wed. Most of the fleet is late going in with the bad weather, but we expect more than twice the boats out for next week and up to 10 by week 3. Results: Race 1: Don't Panic, J Puddleduck, Trouble RC Wow Race 2: J Puddleduck, Trouble, Don't Panic RC Wow J-24 Fleet 61 Spring Meeting & Potluck* Sunday March 16th @5pm - Harlem Yacht Club - Fleet Awards Presentation for 2007 Season - 2008 Officer Elections and Schedule Review Skippers please bring a simple appetizer (finger food) we can enjoy with an adult beverage from the cash bar. Agenda: -Season 2007 Awards - 9 boats qualified for trophies in 2007: Ska, Wow, Heatwave, Alias, Jeepers, Surcease II, Power Play, Polar Express, Don't Panic. -2008 Proposed* Racing Schedule: Wednesday Spring and Summer series like last season starting one week later due to the Nationals May 16-18 in Staten Island. -Simplified RC scoring: 1 point scored for RC duty. No averaging needed and the computer scoring programs will work. -Casual Night: Considering moving Mondays to Fridays to increase the social aspect with clubs and restaurants all open for après-race. -Fall Sunday Series: How many dates do we want, this was fun and well attended last season for the 3 we did. I would like to see (at least) 4 Sundays this year. -Hoxsie Regatta: August 23. I am pitching this as a possible for the District 3 Championships & world qualifier for Annapolis '09. -Other events we may want to support as a fleet. Fleet Officers and Committees: I guess it is time to try and get everyone involved. If we all do a little something, it will all get done. Captain, Measurer, Secretary, Webmaster, Scorer, Treasurer, Social Committee, Membership, RC gear & boats, Coordinators for Spring, Summer, Casual, Fall Series and an HYC member for Hoxsie. If you have a special interest let us know. We Have A Race Committee Boat. With great thanks to a donation from Chris Skelly, setup by Jesse Fradkin we have in our possession a nice runabout for RC. Jeep is currently working to get it going. Sail meetup groups. This is becoming popular and we have fleet members involved like Leigh Mulroy with the Westchester/City island Branch. I am passing on these events you might consider. These are great for new fleet members: 1. March 7, 2008 Let’s get the sailing season started! Sail trim lecture presented by Steve Card from New York Sailing Center for anyone who will be trimming the sails, and those who wish they were :-). Go to: http://sailing.meetup.com/68/calendar/7362236/ 2. March 29, 2007 Boatless Regatta Our version of a Pub Crawl with tons of prizes for the winners! Go to: http://sailing.meetup.com/68/calendar/7367160/ 2008 Tentative Schedule Wed Spring Series May 21-July 9 Wed Summer Series July 16-Sept 10 Hoxsie Fleet Championships August 23 **Friday Series June-August** Fall Sunday Series Sept 14, 21, Oct 12 the big change is the idea of moving our casual night to Friday when the clubs are open and it can be a better party! Sunday Oct. 14 - News Flash>>>>Alias takes Fall Regatta #3>>>> In the last day of the season, the fleet sailed 3 races in a blustery 15 to 20 knot Northerly under sunny skies to finish up a banner 2007 season for One Design racing on Eastchester Bay. Thanks to all the competitors for making this happen. Sunday Sept. 23 - Great day for first Fall Regatta. 7 boats and 3 good races. Congrats to winner Surcease with Don't Panic and Heat Wave just behind. Thanks to Francine Alheid and Tony Sklarew (with Alviento) for providing Race Committee. RESULTS HYC HoxieRegatta - Aug. 25 A great turnout for our first weekend regatta in a while. Conditions were challenging for both the Race Committee and the sailors. With the wind shifting between south and southwest. But the RC did a great job of getting 4 races off. Big thanks to the RC: Eben Hansmire, Ron Weinstein and John Esposito ( his boat too) We also need to thank: Ricca Autobody for the adult libations Roy Smith and HYC for the munchies Paul Beaudin and Doyle Sails for the Slam Prizes Scoring - See Addendum #4: Turns out, our remedy to not penalize, but reward race committee duty has caused a problem with boats scoring different numbers of races for the series. We will correct this by averaging the scores for the final results. Wed. Sept. 12, 2007 - Race 11 Recap* First Ever One-design Weeknight Season Comes to a Fantastic Close. 8 boats turned out to start under a beautiful sunset and complete a 6 leg coarse in about 8-10 knots of wind. Blondie was first at the first top mark, but then Trouble put on the afterburners to lead at the first leeward pin. After that Jeepers made tracks to move into the lead and held that through to the finish. Wed. Sept. 5, 2007 - Race 10 Recap 13 boats turned out for the next to last race night in the inaugural J-24 Fleet 61 Summer Series. Big thanks to Jeepers for providing race committee and setting up 6 legs on a short .4 mile coarse. The pack was tight through the first leeward mark with Trouble taking the lead followed by Polar Express. Both boats extended their lead with Polar just nipping Trouble at the finish to take the win. This will be a nice way for the Polar Express team to end their racing season with Race Committee chores in next week's final. Wed. Aug. 29, 2007 - Race 9 Recap New Sheriff Arrives in town - Surcease II is on track with last night's ace to knock Jeepers off the top of the Eastchester Bay Rock Pile. This will be the first time that someone has bested the Califano Class Act, in a series, in quite some time. With only 2 race left the Kevin Sailor and crew will be hard to stop. Currently scoring, a very clean, 5 firsts. Well Done. Wed. Aug. 22, 2007 - Race 8 Recap Another great night with excellent race committee compliments of Trouble. Surcease had a great start and extended to lead all the way around, followed by Power Play and Heatwave. ONLY 3 more Wednesdays left to go in 2007. Wed. Aug. 15, 2007 - Race 6 & 7 Recap 3 Way tie for Summer Series Night 6. 2 boats tie for first in Race 1 -- How close is that? Power Play and Jeepers crossed the line together to share the win in race one. Heatwave had a great start and lead all the way around in race 2. Heatwave, Jeepers and Surcease all gain 5 points for the night. Well done to all the boats. Special thanks to Don't Panic for Committee. Trouble is RC next week. They were just practicing at last night's start. Wed. Aug. 8, 2007 - Race 4 & 5 Recap Great Wednesday Night -- 13 boats showed up for some great racing. SUNY maritime not only sent Coach Blaine over to do some excellent committee, but also had 2 boats on the line. The racing was very action packed and tight all the way around the course in a very shifty NW breeze. In Race 1 saw a big left shift up the first beat pushing Surcease, Blondie and Trouble into a nice lead they held till the end. The rest of the fleet was locked in tight pack with several place changes. Race 2 had more even conditions with Force G4 leading at the top mark. Unfortunately to get quickly rolled by Jeepers, due to a geriatric bowman problem. It was Jeepers, Force G4 and Blondie rounding out the top three with BLONDIE taking the best average for the evening. Excellent job Leigh! Wed. July 18, 2007 - Summer Series Race 1 After watching the east wind die through a 45 minute postponement. A nice Northerly filled to allow 11 boats to get a very good race in. Kevin Sailor on Surcease lead from start to finish with Jeepers close behind. Don't Panic made a great come back on the last downwind after missing the start. Wed. June 20, 2007 - Race 10 & 11 Recap Great sailing was had by all on another windy Wed night. Surcease dominated both races with Polar Express and Trouble tied behind both with 2 & 3s. We want to thank J-Puddleduck for taking the time to make a straight line and providing excellent committee. (Monday Night Fireworks at Orchard Beach 9pm should be right after racing with , I would guess, a view from HYC. I know I can see the beach from my mooring. Rafters will be welcome. So a perfect excuse to round up some friends for a sail.) Wed. June 13, 2007 - Race 8 & 9 Recap Jeepers is yet again the boat to beat with 2 bullets last night in stiff breezes clocked at 15-17 kts with gusts to 21 kts. Stellar performances also provided by Heat Wave and Don’t Panic in 2nd & 3rd place, with Don’t Panic coming from behind by going left in both races. Nice job to all racing - you provided the RC with some exciting action at the starts, leeward mark roundings, and some very close finishes. One protest was filed by Heat Wave against Power Play, and Trouble owes the RC a round of drinks for the T-bone attempt after the leeward mark rounding in Race 1, pay up Bob. Thanks to Reva, Diana, and Scott for providing excellent committee work! Wed. June 6, 2007 - Race 6 & 7 Recap Surcease was sailing great in last Wednesday's 4th one-design event. They took the night with a 2,1. Jeepers got off in a hail of bullets, starting dangerously on port tack, but never looked back to lead all the way around in race one. Kevin was second and Polar Express third, recovering well from a penalty turn after touching the starting pin. The wind was 15-20 knots with higher gusts in very flat water. The wind eased for race 2, the lead changed several times in very shifty conditions. Surcease prevailed followed by Trouble and Polar Express. Thanks to Alias for providing committee. Steve Schwartz took a bunch of HD video and we will look for an opportunity to view it. Wed. May 30, 2007 - Race 4 & 5 Recap Jeepers is still the boat to beat, with 2 solid 2nd place finishes to keep them on top of the leader board. Don't Panic had a great start and held off the pack to lead all the way around in Race 1. The new group sailing Power Play (ex Presto) dug into the new right breeze and held off the tight pack of 10 boats to win Race 2. Very big thanks to Francine, Melanie and Diana for providing excellent committee work and Hank for the boat. Wed. May 23, 2007 - Race 3 Wed. May 16, 2007 - Race 1 & 2 Recap Racing started in the Wednesday night series last night with rain and almost no race. We waited to the last minute and decided to head out with 3 brave boat making the line. Two races were sailed. It was very fun, tight racing. Start area was at Big Tom right off the moorings. Race 1 was in 4-5 knots of breeze we sailed to C twice around. Jeepers had a great start and lead around the course. Race 2 was to R and back in about 8-10 knots. It was pretty hard to find the mark and that distance is almost too long for a J-24 race. Next time we have low visibility, using the orange drop marks will be a lot easier to see. We had a potential new owner, Rob Davis, on my boat last night. If anyone hears about used boats, let me know. Thanks Jeff Goldfarb and Hugo Brown for committee and Robin Ricca for his Power Boat.

J24 FLEET 61 City Island, NY

Home

NOR: Summer Wed. & Fall Sunday

Wed. S I

Schedule

Fleet Captain - Paul Beaudin
Treasurer - Jeep Califano
Web - Jeffrey Goldfarb

Roy set up a Google group for us to use for fleet related contact, like Monday and Wed night crew finders: http://groups.google.com/group/j24-fleet-61

Summer Series Started July 16 - Big Turnout
New Notice of Race with a slight change to the scoring of boats not racing. We expect 16 boats plus to sail this series.

Wed. July 16, 2008 - Race 1 & 2 Recap (Beginning of Summer Series)

After a watching a dismal forecast for calm winds all afternoon on the weather web sites, mother nature surprised us with a steady 6-8 kt sea breeze that came in around 6:00 at lasted long enough to complete two races. Race Committee: J. Puddleduck

Race 1 - Course R-4
Most of the fleet went left early, but the big payoff was on the right side of the course where a 25 degree lift was found close to the shoreline; Surcease, Trouble, Wow, and Don't Panic made out big by taking right after the start. By the time the rest of the fleet came back to the right in the middle of the first leg, the die had already been cast.

Race 2 - Course R-2
By the start of the second race, the right shift seen early in the first race had settled in, making the boat end highly favored. This, combined with a short line, and a couple of jet-skis who decided to see what a sailboat race looked like real close-up, resulted in fleet 61's second general recall in two weeks. The RC reset the pin to square the line and started to deploy the heavy guns; out came the I-flag. This was enough to keep people a little more under control and the restart was clean. The wind was enough right at this point that the beat turned into almost a fetch, and the downwind leg a reach.

Wed. July 9, 2008 - Race 13 & 14 Recap (End of Spring Series)

First race, course W4. Wind 225 at 12-17
Second race, course W2, Wind 225 at 12-17
See Race Results 2008 for all results and Final Spring Series standings

Wed. July 2, 2008 - Race 12 Recap

Another picture-perfect evening for sailing, with a 12 kt southerly breeze and great weather. Wow and Don't Panic both had poor finishes, letting Trouble and Jeepers creep up closer in the standings. Don't Panic inched into first, but only three points separate the top four places, and it's anybody's regatta going into the last week.

Wed. June 25, 2008 - Race 10 & 11 Recap

Week 6 brought a nice change from the previous week; clear skies, warm temperatures, and a mostly steady 6-8 kt southerly breeze, bringing 13 boats to the starting line. CIYC Commodore Francine Alheid on Watercolour made it out for her first race of the season. This was also the debut for new fleet 61 boat, Tequila, with HYC PC Erwin Eibert and Rear Commodore Bob Fleno. RC was Surcease.
The first race of the evening (course: R4) saw some challenges for the race committee, as they struggled with a balky outboard motor and a dragging anchor. The initially square line ended up pin end favored as the RC boat dragged their anchor. The right side seemed to pay off on the upwind legs, as boats played the geographic wind shifts in close to the shoreline. Things got really strange at the end of the race, as a new breeze tried to settle in with puffs alternately coming from the south and west.
For the second race, the RC picked up and moved to the east to accommodate the new south-westerly that had filled in. With the sun getting low in the sky, the RC wisely sent the fleet on a short R2 course. Playing the shifts and looking for puffs was the name of the game, with the finish again punctuated by some big right shifts, leaving boats finishing with spinnaker poles on the headstays (or even under genoa in a few cases).

Wed. June 18, 2008 - Race 9 Recap

   This was not another perfect evening for racing. It was, however, a typical "Heat Wave" evening to do RC honors. For the 5th time in the past 4 seasons the weather did not cooperate, but this year we finally got a race started.
    We left our mooring at about 1800 and dropped an inflatable mark in the NE area of Eastchester Bay to take advantage of the 4K NE breeze. By the time we got to our prospective starting area , however, we were in a 6K ESE breeze so we set up a line to race to "D". By 1830 we were in a NE breeze at 2.5K which then "settled" into an Easterly by 1845 which left neither the "W" nor "D" marks as usable, so we settled for the "C" and 6 short legs. That was, of course, before the impending T-storms changed the velocity and direction again so we postponed until after the storms passed.
    Taking the rainbow as a good omen, we waited until the breeze settled out of the NE, set the line to use the inflatable mark and finally got started on a "W4" course. But nature wasn't done yet. The wind swung back to the East and fell off to about 2.5K so we shortened course to 2 legs, only to have the breeze pick up out of the NE again as boats were finishing.
    Thank you all for hanging in there with us and we promise not to do committee for at least another year so that we can have some more perfect weather for the rest of the season!

Wed. June 11, 2008 - Race 7 & 8 Recap

13 boats out for our 4th week. Surcease and Power Play have strong night. Assume turn out for this early series, we expect over 15 boats within a few weeks. Beautiful weather with a decent NW wind. Jeff Goldfarb and Force G4 did a nice job of setting a square course and line. The line was pretty roomy for a change. Power Play got off to a great start to never look back with Surcease coming back from deep in the pack to second. In Race 2 the wind was left at the gun and LA Express, Surcease and Power Play took advantage at the pin end to finish in that order.

More Commentary from Don't Panic:
   Week 4 brought us perfect sailing weather -- comfortably temperatures, dry, and a nice 8-10 kt northwesterly left over from the previous night's wild cold front passage (which brought 50+ kt squalls to the area).
   Before the race, Don't Panic explored the left hand side of the course and found a 40-degree port-tack lift deep in by the shoreline. The long start line looked to be about 10 degrees pin-end favored, so our plan was to start at the pin and dig in deep left looking for the shift. It looked like Jeepers and Surcease had the same idea, as we all found ourselves crowded right at the pin. Don't Panic had a choice of going above or below Surcease and picked below to avoid getting luffed up. This turned out to be a bad move as they ended up not being able to fetch the pin and had to tack and duck a solid line of starboard tackers. But, as luck would have it, going right turned out to not be too bad and Don't Panic was back in the thick of things by the first mark, ultimately ended up mid-fleet.
   The real excitement of the first race was a serious case of barging, as a fully-loaded barge coming downwind out of the Hutchinson River made it to windward mark just about the same time as the fleet. I didn't hear any frantic horn blasts, but it did lend some strategic drama to the leg, as boats had to commit to one side or the other of the barge and hope they guessed right.
   At the second start, the wind had gone back right and the line was square. Don't Panic got a clean start and worked their way up the far right side of the course. The first mark rounding was a traffic jam as the whole fleet arrived at once. Don't Panic had to do a couple of extra tacks in close to the mark as they misjudged the layline, but came out of it unscathed and battled for a 4th place finish after having to do a 360 on the second upwind leg (note to self: somebody really should be watching down below for other boats when you're going upwind on port).

Wed. June 4, 2008 - Race 5 & 6 Recap

   The committee was surprised to see that for Race 1 (#5), no starting boat was even close to the start line when the horn was blown. Out of the 11 boats starting, only two boats were even close to the line. It was a very slow start for the fleet overall. I will assume that is because we are early season and all getting back into the start line techniques. The breeze was up and down between 5.5 to 6.5 knots at the start. After all boats cleared the start line and moved up the course 8 to 10 boat lengths, the fleet split with half going left and right side. later a few boats decided to go up the middle for less course distance. The boats that consolidated course length and went up the middle arrived at the first mark first for the most part. The first boat hit the first mark after 7:35 minutes of racing. After rounding the first windward mark, the fleet consolidated big time 3/4 on the downwind leg due to the breeze freshening up from East. We were seeing 6 to 7 knots for a period of time. The first downwind leg boat, La Express, hit the mark at 15:20 minutes race time. La Express and Surcease came to the downwind mark on their own with no traffic. It was a new race all over again for the middle of the pack and boats were in tight with each other while rounding the downwind mark. We heard a lot of noise from crew and on board equipment being moved around. La Express and Surcease now moved onto the 3rd leg of this race with fresh air and clean open flat water lanes. These two boats of course pulled far ahead of the pack with no issues and great boat speed. Alias did circles for a foul at the downwind mark after clearing all the other boats without interference of course. On leg 4, the final downwind leg, the fleet spilt some to try to catch each other and consolidate but it was difficult to pass each other as the breeze abated some and was for the most part similar on both sides of the course. The fleet had a great first race completed for the evening.
    The committee boat decided to wait a few minutes as the breeze shifted 5 to 10 degrees to the North. It was doing this at the finish of Race 1. After committee having some patience, while time was becoming a big issue to start race 2 (#6), the breeze shifted back to the original East direction as per Race 1 start. This was great as we did not have to move the pin and course with time being a huge factor. Committee decided that with an abating breeze, at about 2.8 to 3.3 knots and getting dark quick, we shorten to a 2 leg D-2 race with the same course as Race 1. Race 2 started at 20:03 with most boats approaching the line on starboard. This time the boats were on the line and in much better start position. One boat was 1 second from the line at the starting gun. After all boats cleared the line the breeze increased to 4.2 knots. This allowed the fleet to move faster and 7 boats went right side while interestingly 4 chose the left side. The breeze now continued to build to 5.1 knots. After more racing up the first windward leg WOW continued left side course with two other boats. We now had a dominate right side course fleet on the top of the first windward leg. First boat rounded the windward mark at 20:45. La Express jibed early on the downwind leg to the finish and went left side course and made out big time. The breeze was now some what abated and passing competitors was difficult. The good news or the fleet was the breeze was steady overall and we had a great night of racing for Fleet 61.
    All of the above information was put on paper by Kim from the Ska Family. Committee had a great time and we now have THREE more individuals who love sailboat racing. That was my personal reward, to pass on a sport that I love so much to three complete rookies. Made me smile all evening. Mission accomplished big time.
Ciao, ciao to all and see you on the water,
Robin C. Ricca

Wed. May 28, 2008 - Race 3 & 4 Recap

Race 3: wind 5 building to 10 and direction 195 going top 215 Course C2
Don’t Panic, WOW, Blondie, Heat Wave, Trouble, J Puddle Duck

The first race of the day the RC boat was favored by 10 degrees as the wind continued to clock. It was a clan start with all boats about a boat length behind the line at T Zero. WOW started second tier at the boat and picked up a slight lift resulting in a strong second place finish. Don’t Panic started mid fleet, got a nose out front by the first tack to port and never looked back for an easy first place. Trouble, always competitive decided to practice spinnaker dancing at the first mark and fell back to 5th.

Race 4: Wind 9-10 @ 215 course C6
WOW, Heat Wave, Trouble, Blondie, Don’t Panic, J Puddle Duck

No late starters this time. Current had picked up and pushed the fleet to the line and a little too pushy for Don’t Panic. Sorry guys but it wasn’t even close. However they managed what would have been an amazing recovery as they challenged for second place at the first leeward mark but then forgot to trim the genoa loosing three boats. Wow just sailed a perfect race and stretched out a long lead by going hard right to pick up the ebbing Hutch river current. Heat Wave Trouble and Blondie fought for 2nd at the finish but Commodore Lages assisting Captain Rosenberg squeaked out second place.

Wed. May 21, 2008 - Race 1 & 2 Recap

Thanks to Wow for RC work, 3 boats made it out for the first Wed. Most of the fleet is late going in with the bad weather, but we expect more than twice the boats out for next week and up to 10 by week 3.
Results:
Race 1: Don't Panic, J Puddleduck, Trouble RC Wow
Race 2: J Puddleduck, Trouble, Don't Panic RC Wow

J-24 Fleet 61 Spring Meeting & Potluck*

Sunday March 16th @5pm - Harlem Yacht Club
- Fleet Awards Presentation for 2007 Season
- 2008 Officer Elections and Schedule Review
*Skippers please bring a simple appetizer (finger food) we can enjoy with an adult beverage from the cash bar.

Agenda:
-Season 2007 Awards - 9 boats qualified for trophies in 2007: Ska, Wow, Heatwave, Alias, Jeepers, Surcease II, Power Play, Polar Express, Don't Panic.
-2008 Proposed Racing Schedule: Wednesday Spring and Summer series like last season starting one week later due to the Nationals May 16-18 in Staten Island.
-Simplified RC scoring: 1 point scored for RC duty. No averaging needed and the computer scoring programs will work.
-Casual Night: Considering moving Mondays to Fridays to increase the social aspect with clubs and restaurants all open for après-race.
-Fall Sunday Series: How many dates do we want, this was fun and well attended last season for the 3 we did. I would like to see (at least) 4 Sundays this year.
-Hoxsie Regatta: August 23. I am pitching this as a possible for the District 3 Championships & world qualifier for Annapolis '09.
-Other events we may want to support as a fleet.
Fleet Officers and Committees:
I guess it is time to try and get everyone involved. If we all do a little something, it will all get done. Captain, Measurer, Secretary, Webmaster, Scorer, Treasurer, Social Committee, Membership, RC gear & boats, Coordinators for Spring, Summer, Casual, Fall Series and an HYC member for Hoxsie. If you have a special interest let us know.

We Have A Race Committee Boat.
With great thanks to a donation from Chris Skelly, setup by Jesse Fradkin we have in our possession a nice runabout for RC. Jeep is currently working to get it going.

Sail meetup groups.
This is becoming popular and we have fleet members involved like Leigh Mulroy with the Westchester/City island Branch. I am passing on these events you might consider. These are great for new fleet members:

1. March 7, 2008 Let’s get the sailing season started!
Sail trim lecture presented by Steve Card from New York Sailing Center for anyone who will be trimming the sails, and those who wish they were :-).
Go to: http://sailing.meetup.com/68/calendar/7362236/

2. March 29, 2007 Boatless Regatta
Our version of a Pub Crawl with tons of prizes for the winners!
Go to: http://sailing.meetup.com/68/calendar/7367160/

2008 Tentative Schedule

Wed Spring Series May 21-July 9
Wed Summer Series July 16-Sept 10
Hoxsie Fleet Championships August 23
****Friday Series June-August****
Fall Sunday Series Sept 14, 21, Oct 12
*the big change is the idea of moving our casual night to Friday
when the clubs are open and it can be a better party!

Sunday Oct. 14 - News Flash>>>>Alias takes Fall Regatta #3>>>>

In the last day of the season, the fleet sailed 3 races in a blustery 15 to 20 knot Northerly under sunny skies to finish up a banner 2007 season for One Design racing on Eastchester Bay. Thanks to all the competitors for making this happen.

Sunday Sept. 23 - Great day for first Fall Regatta.

7 boats and 3 good races. Congrats to winner Surcease with Don't Panic and Heat Wave just behind. Thanks to Francine Alheid and Tony Sklarew (with Alviento) for providing Race Committee. RESULTS

HYC HoxieRegatta - Aug. 25

A great turnout for our first weekend regatta in a while. Conditions were challenging for both the Race Committee and the sailors. With the wind shifting between south and southwest. But the RC did a great job of getting 4 races off. Big thanks to the RC: Eben Hansmire, Ron Weinstein and John Esposito ( his boat too) We also need to thank: Ricca Autobody for the adult libations Roy Smith and HYC for the munchies Paul Beaudin and Doyle Sails for the Slam Prizes

Scoring - See Addendum #4: Turns out, our remedy to not penalize, but reward race committee duty has caused a problem with boats scoring different numbers of races for the series. We will correct this by averaging the scores for the final results.

Wed. Sept. 12, 2007 - Race 11 Recap

First Ever One-design Weeknight Season Comes to a Fantastic Close. 8 boats turned out to start under a beautiful sunset and complete a 6 leg coarse in about 8-10 knots of wind. Blondie was first at the first top mark, but then Trouble put on the afterburners to lead at the first leeward pin. After that Jeepers made tracks to move into the lead and held that through to the finish.

Wed. Sept. 5, 2007 - Race 10 Recap

13 boats turned out for the next to last race night in the inaugural J-24 Fleet 61 Summer Series. Big thanks to Jeepers for providing race committee and setting up 6 legs on a short .4 mile coarse. The pack was tight through the first leeward mark with Trouble taking the lead followed by Polar Express. Both boats extended their lead with Polar just nipping Trouble at the finish to take the win. This will be a nice way for the Polar Express team to end their racing season with Race Committee chores in next week's final.

Wed. Aug. 29, 2007 - Race 9 Recap

New Sheriff Arrives in town - Surcease II is on track with last night's ace to knock Jeepers off the top of the Eastchester Bay Rock Pile. This will be the first time that someone has bested the Califano Class Act, in a series, in quite some time. With only 2 race left the Kevin Sailor and crew will be hard to stop. Currently scoring, a very clean, 5 firsts. Well Done.

Wed. Aug. 22, 2007 - Race 8 Recap

Another great night with excellent race committee compliments of Trouble. Surcease had a great start and extended to lead all the way around, followed by Power Play and Heatwave. ONLY 3 more Wednesdays left to go in 2007.

Wed. Aug. 15, 2007 - Race 6 & 7 Recap

3 Way tie for Summer Series Night 6. 2 boats tie for first in Race 1 -- How close is that? Power Play and Jeepers crossed the line together to share the win in race one. Heatwave had a great start and lead all the way around in race 2. Heatwave, Jeepers and Surcease all gain 5 points for the night. Well done to all the boats. Special thanks to Don't Panic for Committee. Trouble is RC next week. They were just practicing at last night's start.

Wed. Aug. 8, 2007 - Race 4 & 5 Recap

Great Wednesday Night -- 13 boats showed up for some great racing. SUNY maritime not only sent Coach Blaine over to do some excellent committee, but also had 2 boats on the line. The racing was very action packed and tight all the way around the course in a very shifty NW breeze. In Race 1 saw a big left shift up the first beat pushing Surcease, Blondie and Trouble into a nice lead they held till the end. The rest of the fleet was locked in tight pack with several place changes. Race 2 had more even conditions with Force G4 leading at the top mark. Unfortunately to get quickly rolled by Jeepers, due to a geriatric bowman problem. It was Jeepers, Force G4 and Blondie rounding out the top three with BLONDIE taking the best average for the evening. Excellent job Leigh!

Wed. July 18, 2007 - Summer Series Race 1

After watching the east wind die through a 45 minute postponement. A nice Northerly filled to allow 11 boats to get a very good race in. Kevin Sailor on Surcease lead from start to finish with Jeepers close behind. Don't Panic made a great come back on the last downwind after missing the start.

Wed. June 20, 2007 - Race 10 & 11 Recap

Great sailing was had by all on another windy Wed night. Surcease dominated both races with Polar Express and Trouble tied behind both with 2 & 3s. We want to thank J-Puddleduck for taking the time to make a straight line and providing excellent committee.
(Monday Night Fireworks at Orchard Beach 9pm should be right after racing with , I would guess, a view from HYC. I know I can see the beach from my mooring. Rafters will be welcome. So a perfect excuse to round up some friends for a sail.)

Wed. June 13, 2007 - Race 8 & 9 Recap

Jeepers is yet again the boat to beat with 2 bullets last night in stiff breezes clocked at 15-17 kts with gusts to 21 kts. Stellar performances also provided by Heat Wave and Don’t Panic in 2nd & 3rd place, with Don’t Panic coming from behind by going left in both races. Nice job to all racing - you provided the RC with some exciting action at the starts, leeward mark roundings, and some very close finishes. One protest was filed by Heat Wave against Power Play, and Trouble owes the RC a round of drinks for the T-bone attempt after the leeward mark rounding in Race 1, pay up Bob. Thanks to Reva, Diana, and Scott for providing excellent committee work!

Wed. June 6, 2007 - Race 6 & 7 Recap

Surcease was sailing great in last Wednesday's 4th one-design event. They took the night with a 2,1. Jeepers got off in a hail of bullets, starting dangerously on port tack, but never looked back to lead all the way around in race one. Kevin was second and Polar Express third, recovering well from a penalty turn after touching the starting pin. The wind was 15-20 knots with higher gusts in very flat water.
The wind eased for race 2, the lead changed several times in very shifty conditions. Surcease prevailed followed by Trouble and Polar Express. Thanks to Alias for providing committee. Steve Schwartz took a bunch of HD video and we will look for an opportunity to view it.

Wed. May 30, 2007 - Race 4 & 5 Recap

Jeepers is still the boat to beat, with 2 solid 2nd place finishes to keep them on top of the leader board. Don't Panic had a great start and held off the pack to lead all the way around in Race 1. The new group sailing Power Play (ex Presto) dug into the new right breeze and held off the tight pack of 10 boats to win Race 2. Very big thanks to Francine, Melanie and Diana for providing excellent committee work and Hank for the boat.

Wed. May 23, 2007 - Race 3

Wed. May 16, 2007 - Race 1 & 2 Recap

Racing started in the Wednesday night series last night with rain and almost no race. We waited to the last minute and decided to head out with 3 brave boat making the line. Two races were sailed. It was very fun, tight racing. Start area was at Big Tom right off the moorings. Race 1 was in 4-5 knots of breeze we sailed to C twice around. Jeepers had a great start and lead around the course. Race 2 was to R and back in about 8-10 knots. It was pretty hard to find the mark and that distance is almost too long for a J-24 race. Next time we have low visibility, using the orange drop marks will be a lot easier to see. We had a potential new owner, Rob Davis, on my boat last night. If anyone hears about used boats, let me know. Thanks Jeff Goldfarb and Hugo Brown for committee and Robin Ricca for his Power Boat.