LOG:

Dec 25 5:30 pm Six brave souls start out from the Airport Outlet Mall with minimal clothing (we are going to warm Miami, right?!). 9:30 finds us making good headway into SC, so we stop for the night and plan an early departure.

Dec 26 7am-7pm I-95 The boats and trailer are dropped at the Coral Reef Yacht Club and the middle school parking lot. Our jaws dropped with the sight of the sea of OPTIs completely covering every possible flat spot. A quick bite and we catch some sleep in anticipation of the start of racing.

Dec 27 7:30 am Jostling for bagels, cocoa and yogurt starts the day. Allison, Morgan and Eli are sent to listen to the competitor’s meeting while the adults rig the boats. With a rush of directed activity, dropping each boat stern first 8 feet into the water, the red, white and blue OPTI fleets are sent out across Biscayne Bay in a steady 20 knot breeze with plenty of chop. Tom Coleman leads the Green Fleeters in a seminar about racing, safety and sportsmanship. Our NC sailors are at the front, asking questions. Finally, the NC sailors are launched and head out of the harbor in a sea of sails. A few teary-eyed youngsters are intimidated and immediately return to the dock. Allison, Morgan and Eli bravely sail on. Upon clearing the outer harbor, Eli gets caught in irons and is blown down the windward side of the outer cay, only to be rescued by a barefoot and toothless old man in a row boat. The wind was just too much and Eli waited until the breeze dropped below 10 knots to try sailing again. Morgan’s racing day began well enough, but concluded after capsizing in the first race. Allison completed 2 races, but was shivering with cold. After a swim in the hotel pool and a hot shower, our ragtag spirits are buoyed by the evening welcome party and the sight of hundreds of children swarming around the grounds.

Dec 28 Morgan and Allison bravely head out for the morning races while Eli “helps” Tom on the coach boat. The adults are able to snag a ride on a spectator boat and witness the brutal conditions first-hand. Immediately, we develop and deep respect for what our kids are accomplishing by getting to the starting line and having the tenacity to finish a race. Morgan returns to shore with blisters on her hands from holding the sheet and Allison picks up some waterproof outwear to shield the cold. Allison also picks up a top half finish (36 out of 88).

Dec 29 On the third day of racing, the wind drops below 15 knots and our NC sailors strut their stuff. Allison finishes 16^th in one race, Morgan cracks the top half and Eli ventures out on the water again. The festivities that evening liven our crew as they are showered with door prizes (One can never have too many sail-ties at these events! I’ve learned to carry them on my belt-loops.) After an excellent repast, the adults finally conclude that the smiles on the kids’ faces were worth the travel, effort and expense.

Dec 30 The final day of racing left me prideful. Allison and Morgan both finished solidly, having learned a few tricks from new found friend (and top finisher), Raquel. I watched the top sailors foul one another and slam into the windward mark without taking penalty turns. Eli, on the race course at Tom’s insistence, tapped the windward mark. Although he was at the very back of the fleet, he still did his penalty, a mark of sportsmanship that earned him a nomination for the Sporstmanship Award by his proud sister. The awards ceremony concluded our stay in Miami and we left town to a setting sun.

Dec 31 I-95. The van broke down. This was not the happy part of the trip.

Come catch up with all your sailing buddies!

View the OPTI video.

You are invited to the

CSC YOUTH WINTER SOCIAL

Sunday, February 8 4:30-6:30 pm

109 Cardiff Place

Chapel Hill

Drinks will be provided and pizza sold by the slice to benefit the OPTI program

Social Committee Report

WINTER SOCIAL SCHEDULE

Each social starting in January will include an hour discussion and an hour question and answer period. These socials are open to the public. They are a great way to learn and meet other sailors in the area.

This winter, our Monthly Socials are adding some time for brushing up on sailing rules and tactics. Come on out to Out of the Park Sports Bar on Friday, January 16th at 6:30pm, and you'll get some instruction on race management for skippers to help you get around the course smarter. Please bring your crew, family and / or guests that are interested in the best sport in the world: Drinking ! no, I mean, Sailing !

January 16

The sailing instructions, start sequence, flags used by the RC, sailing the course.

February 20

Rules 101, Basic sailing rules

March 19

Tactics 101 Basic tactics to win

All discussions will be facilitated by a club member

All socials will be at:

Out of The Park Restaurant

Airport Blvd. Morrisville.

6:30

We're having great socials after each Jordan Winter Series event! Plenty of hot homemade soups and chili await the hungry, weary frostbite sailor. Come on out and bring your favorite receipe, we have the stoves to heat it up.

Alan Backus

Social Chair

Jordan Winter Series 1/4/04

One of the great things about living in North Carolina is that the winters can be very mild and this past Sunday was a perfect example. Mid-seventies in January and non-life threatening water temps? Eat your heart out North East!

Perfect conditions for the Gypsy Sailing Club to move their Caravan to a new launching spot on Lake Jordan. Yes, the Gypsy Sailing Club Caravan was spotted camped in the middle of the Ebenezer Church parking lot with their camp stoves burning bright and their boats sprawled all across the parking lot in various states of disassembly.

There was an excellent turnout for this time of year with 16 boats making it out onto the water and 15 boats competing. Here’s the rundown of classes – Thistles tied Flying Scots for the most boats with 4 each - Lightnings, Isotopes and Tanzers with 2 each – 1 Jet – 1 Hobie.

The Race Committee PRO was David Mobley who did a great job setting the courses and running the races assisted by his crew of Carey Johnson, Frank Mason, George McKim and the irrepressible Bob Macklin. There was a short Race Committee meeting at about 11:30 and a new member signed up and was welcomed to the club – Tad Pecorak who was single-handing a Hobie 17. Also, two new guests were welcomed – Robin Queen and Andrew Queen who were crewing for John Chaplinsky on his Lightning.

With the wind averaging about 12 knots and gusting to 15 or so, it made for some lively racing conditions. The courses were all of the short modified Windward Leeward variety with 2 short windward legs, 1 medium length windward leg and 2 medium length downwind legs. Four races were completed, each one lasting about 30 minutes.

The first race was started at around 1:00 and a couple of boats didn’t quite have their acts together and either started way late or didn’t finish. Conspicuously absent from the front of the pack was John Pelosi with his crew of Tina Tenret and John McLaughlin, the Pelosi team had a late start but managed to claw their way up to an 11^th place finish. The battle for first place, in real time and corrected time, was between Team Norton (John Norton at the helm, Lauren Norton and Dan Richards crewing) and Team Sheehan (Kevin Sheehan at the helm, Charlie Hitlin and Amy Hitlin crewing) with John’s Thistle winning by about a boat length (6 seconds real time, 7 seconds corrected time) over Kevin’s Thistle. Close behind, only 5 seconds corrected time, in third was the classic Jet 14 with Barry Saunders at the helm and Howard Mendlovitz crewing. Fourth went to Stephen Chobot in, or on, an Isotope and fifth went to John Chaplinsky with crew Robin and Andrew Queen in a Lightning. Thirteen boats finished race one.

Race 2 began in slightly stronger winds averaging 13 knots and once again thirteen boats finished. This time the Pelosi team started on time, but could not hold off the Commodore’s Thistle and turned in a respectable second place in corrected time. Once again the commodore showed ‘em how its done with another bullet. The “Batchelor Party” was getting cranked up and finished strong in third, that would be David Batchelor at the helm with Tom Henderson holdling the down the foredeck on Flying Scot 4171. Fourth went to the Sheehan Thistle and fifth went to Steve Cardoze in his new Thistle (new to him) with crew Meg Whitman and was that Henry Bridgers on a Thistle?

Stephen Chobot turned on the afterburners in his Isotope to crush the competition in Race 3 with a solid first place finish in real time and corrected time. The Pelosi, Tenret, McLaughlin Lightning finished second again corrected time, just edging out Norton, Norton and Richards in the dark blue Thistle who took third. Barry Saunders and Howard Mendlovitz had another strong finish in the Jet 14 to take 4^th place. New to the world of one hull sailing, former / current Isotope sailors Eric and Joleen Rasmussen continued to campaign their new (new to them) Tanzer and had it dialed in for their best finish of the day, a respectable 5^th. Only one more boat dropped out of Race 3 and 12 boats finished the race.

About half the fleet decided they had had a full slate of racing by this point and decided to head back to shore, leaving 8 boats to battle it out in the fourth and final race which was started just minutes before the 3:00 cut-off time for starting another race. The Pelosi, Tenret, McLaughlin Lightning was finally warmed up and ready to race and edged out Stephen Chobot to take their first bullet of the day. Chobot took second in the Isotope. Norton, Norton and Richards took third again in Thistle 3725 which was good enough to put them into the overall lead for the day. Alan Backus with crew Charlie Buckner gave Thistle 3725 a run for the money, passing them on the second downwind leg, but were passed back and finished fourth in this race. Once again Cardoze, Whitman and Bridgers took 5^th.

A good time was had by all on the water and everyone headed back to the parking lot for some socializing over bowls of chili, soup, and various beverages.

For the complete list of scores and times and all extraneous data check the CSC website.

Flying Scot Fleet Report

Flying Scot Fleet 27 News

We must work as a fleet to grow and contribute to the sport of sailing. The key is to get involved. Come race, help train new crew, help get the youth into a boat, come to the socials, help with the regattas, help us find new folks who want to get into Scot sailing, and more.

Fleet 27 Membership (we want to grow)

The Flying Scot fleet is eager to take folks out that have an interest in the fleet or just sailing. You never know who will buy a boat or become excellent crew. If you know of anyone please have them call either David Batchelor at 919-467-3512 or myself (Chuck Curtis) at 919-787-7599.

David told me that we no have six active boats. This will support our moving from the Open Fleet and be recognized as a viable fleet. I plan to build an email list we can use to insure good fleet communications. Please send your email address to ccurtis1@nc.rr.com.

Jordan Winter Series

5373 and three other Flying Scots (along with ten other boats) were fortunate to race the first race of 2004 in fantastic weather with more than enough wind. After three WL2 races we retired to shore for a nice social. Come out and join in the fun.

Race Committee Sign Up

Message from Michael Rees:

“The new website methodology for Race Committee sign-ups is working extremely well. The sign-up sheet has been posted now for one month and an astounding 68% of the slots have been filled by you already. This is miles ahead of where we usually are at this time of year. If you are not signed up for two days yet, now is the best time to visit the website, look at what is still available, check your calendar, and enter your name in the slots of your choosing. Remember, this is a first come/first serve process.

The web address is: www.carolinasailingclub.org/racecommittee/

Chuck Curtis

FS 5373

ccurtis1@nc.rr.com

Miscellaneous News

SAYRA Annual Meeting, Feb 6-8, Columbia, SC

Those interested in pursuing Race Management, Judging, or Juniors Program should check out the event. Sailing Clubs from all over the southeast get together and share ideas, what's working, what isn't.

http://www.sayrasailing.org/publicdocs/SAYRA%20ANNUAL%20MEETING%20reg%20form%2004.pdf

Boat Storage, Kerr Lake Series

Carolina Sailing Club Members can store their boats at Acorn Pointe Storage for the Kerr Series for $150. 5 minutes from Henderson Point, and where CSC keeps the RC boats. That's $25/mth storage. Contact Brenda Lugar, Acorn

Point Storage, 877-312-6823.

Tanzer for Sale

The boat is in good condition and in no need, so far as I can tell, of any work before it can be sailed. We have, I think, 2 sets of sails that I got when I bought the boat, but one set was newer and that is what I used. We have a spinnaker, but I never really learned to use it, and I think one or two blocks on the mast, needed for the spinnaker, need replacing. This was Ralph MacGregors boat, and I am blanking on the number--367, 397, or 327? The trailer is 'ok', but needs new lights and one fender, (a heavy mate stood on it at my last race and it came off on the highway somewhere.) Anyone who wants can look at it at my house. I washed it this fall and covered it with a tarp; it has been in an open shed garage under my house and out of the sun/weather the whole time I have owned it.

Asking $1500.

If interested e-mail Mark Ash at mash@smithlaw.com

Basic Race Management Seminar

Carolina Sailing Club - Raleigh, NC

Saturday March 13, 2004

This seminar is sponsored by the US Sailing Race Management Committee, the Carolina Sailing Club and the Carolina Sailing Club Foundation. It is designed for people with some race committee experience who wish to become certified, or maintain certification as a US Sailing Certified Club Race Officer. It is also an excellent course for those who are interested in race management even if they do not wish to participate in the US Sailing race officer certification program. This seminar is the best way to find out how a race should be run. Race committee experience is helpful but not required.

The topics to be covered include race committee objectives, competition formats, sailing instructions, race committee jobs, race committee equipment, race day preparations, setting the course, starts, during the race, finishes, post-race responsibilities, and scoring.

The principal instructor for this seminar will be John Slater, from the Lake Norman Yacht Club. John is a US Sailing Certified Regional Race Officer and regularly serves as Principal Race Officer at major regattas. He was the PRO at the 2003 Flying Scot North American Championships. John will be assisted by Eric Rasmussen who is a US Sailing Certified Club Race Officer, US Sailing Judge-in-Training, Director of Race Operations for the Carolina Sailing Club and serves on race committee as little as possible.

At the seminar, you will need your own copy of the Racing Rules of Sailing -available at http://ussailing.org/rules. If you own a copy of the US Sailing Race Management Handbook, please bring it as well. All other materials, including a copy of Join the Race Committee Team, will be provided. Participants should also complete a set of race management study questions -available at http://ussailing.org/racemgt/Race_Officer_Prog/Documents/RMStudyQ7-basic.pdf. Bring the results with you to the seminar.

The Club Race Officer Certification Test will be given at the end of the seminar and is optional. However, to be certified under US Sailing’s race officer certification program, you must attend a complete basic seminar and pass the test. You will also need to have your own copy of the current US Sailing Race Management Handbook and meet the program’s other criteria. The Carolina Sailing Club Foundation will sponsor the testing fee for those who wish to participate in this program.

The fee for this seminar is $25.00 and includes a continental breakfast, morning and afternoon break refreshments, lunch, seminar materials, a copy of Join the Race Committee Team, instruction, and test administration. Location:

Meredith College – room to be announced. Directions are coming soon.

Schedule:

8:00 am Registration and continental breakfast

8:30 am Seminar begins

12:00 Lunch

4:45 pm Test

5:15 pm Test debriefing

5:30 pm Seminar concludes

Advance registration is required – registration closes March 1, 2004. Seating is limited and will be filled on a first come-first served basis. To register, complete the attached form and return it along with a check for $25.00, made payable to Carolina Sailing Club, to:

Carolina Sailing Club

Basic Race Management Seminar

5712 Island Road

Hillsborough, NC 27278

For additional information, contact Eric Rasmussen at (919) 732-5410 or email

ejrasmussen@mindspring.com.

See CSC Website for Registration Form

Mailing address or email address is required for study questions and test results.

Make check for $25.00 payable to Carolina Sailing Club and mail it to:

Carolina Sailing Club

Basic Race Management Seminar

5712 Island Road

Hillsborough, NC 27278

Advance registration is required

The completed registration form and seminar fee must be received by the Carolina Sailing Club by March 1, 2004. Seating is limited.

CSC OPTIs compete in the Orange Bowl,

US SAILING’s Junior Olympic Sailing Festival

CSC YOUTH WINTER SOCIAL

Flying Scot Fleet 27 News

Fleet 27 Membership (we want to grow)

Basic Race Management Seminar

See CSC Website for Registration Form