Ventura Sailing Club
Things Coming Up and What Happened When We Were Sailing!!
Upcomming Events in the Ventura and Channel Islands Harbors
Check the Calendar and clear your days for Sailing Events You Like
Check the Calendar and clear your days for Sailing Events You Like
| April 18th Beachcat Race Hello VSC Sailors, This past weekend we had the first beachcat race in several decades. This used to be a monthly occurrence in the 1970s, with one boat providing rabbit starts, and a series trophy each season. We had a variety of multihulls from Hobie 16s to 40' catamarans racing in those days. Our race last Saturday had 5 entries, which is about 1/2 of our local beach cat group. Thank you to Bob Shirley for organizing this event. And thank you to Alicia, Marisela Hancock, Lynda Blue, and Ralph for being race committee and mark setters aboard Akua Kai. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/fyyk32hoappahqtfgc8go/AOBS9ivBP-MC3EM8BhXHDI8?rlkey=mqrg718rvyuiu2helspzo9zbp&st=mdgs7dap&dl=0 We had a light air day which was good from the standpoint of getting people and boats on the water that might be a little rusty. It's early in the season and some of us are less agile than we used to be. Nonetheless, the competition was fierce, battling it out in 5 knots of wind or less, that briefly teased us with about 8 knots. Race committee started us on 4 short windward/leeward courses giving us time to let the wind fill in, which unfortunately never happened. Bob was sailing his new-to-him Tremolino trimaran with Barry Nichols as crew, Chris Barrow and Don North were on a Prindle 18-2, Lance Inoue and CeCe were on Lance's Prindle 19, and Layne Stratton and I were on A cats. For this first race we decided to not saddle the RC with dealing with handicaps. The A cats and Lance's Prindle actually are very closely rated so sailing those boat for boat is reasonable. The Tremolino's rating will be a work in progress that just requires,,,,, sailing! Chris's Prindle rates slower than the A cats and P19 so he was given redress by allowing him to "cut the corners" at the marks to stay with the pack. This made it more fun for him and Don and also allowed us to get races started quicker. The first race was won by Layne. This was his first race singlehanding an A cat, and was a bit of a surprise to his dad. I had told him how to set up for light air, and just didn't realize he was listening. He figured out the toughest part on his own, which on an A cat in light air, is mainsheet tension. With a high aspect ratio sail, no jib, and super bendy mast, powering up is super touchy. In the second race I was able to beat Layne, however, so some face saving was possible for the old guy. In the third race CeCe and Lance were getting up to speed and beat both Layne and me. Race number 4 was windward/leeward with the finish at the launch ramp. We were teased early in the race with a little wind and then it pretty much shut off. Layne and I were trying to get back to the harbor by creating apparent wind, but that just meant we were reaching back and forth without actually going downwind very much. CeCe and Lance were able to drive deeper and win the final race. So with 2 wins, the regatta was won by Lance and CeCe. Back at the launch ramp Bob arranged pizza delivery and beer for everyone which was heartily enjoyed by all on a warm "summer" evening (remember the no wind part?). Hopefully we can do this again soon. We'd love to get more of our local beachcats out on the water. And for anyone interested in helping with Race Committee please let us know. It's a great way to participate in racing and gives you a whole new perspective on the starts. Years ago I volunteered for Race Committee duties at ABYC in Long Beach for several world and national championships (where the judges are actually certified) and it was a great experience. It's worth doing. See the Ventura Sailing Club drop box link below for pics. We just increased the memory on dropbox to accommodate all the pictures being posted. Here's a couple of pics for now. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/fyyk32hoappahqtfgc8go/AOBS9ivBP-MC3EM8BhXHDI8?rlkey=mqrg718rvyuiu2helspzo9zbp&st=mdgs7dap&dl=0 ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) |
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1st Annual Anacapa Arch Race
Hello Sailors, We ended up with a fantastic day on the water for our inaugural AAR. Mother nature kept throwing us curve balls throughout this process. We were looking at an 80% chance of thundershowers forecasted a week out from the race, just to keep us guessing on whether we'd be able to pull this off. But things improved and we had a one-day window between weather systems that gave us sunny and crystal clear conditions. The next curve ball came when what normally would have been a west wind with a parade of boats headed to the island, on the rhumb line, turned into a beat into a southerly wind. This presented many strategic options for our fleet, and things got interesting fast. We have many sailors in our group, that collectively have hundreds of years of experience sailing our channel. So, what course to sail? The first option was the tried and true "go south in a south wind". The second one was to "go west to get on the westerly shift", and lastly "play the shifts along the rhumb line". So with our fleet of 10 boats we managed to spread out over about 20 square miles. Unfortunately this made the shorten course option impossible and resulted in a few DNFs. Fortunately, for everyone that hung in there, the wind not only held, but increased, making for a fun spinnaker reach back to Channel Islands Harbor. Throw in a few dolphins, sailing through a pod of ORCAs, and of course the springtime beauty of Anacapa Island and this was a day to make some memories. And the last boat to finish, Jolly Jetsam, made it in 10 minutes before the deadline. That's taking advantage of every minute of a beautiful day! It was mentioned that Artem Babin, skipper of Jolly Jetsam, should get a prize for persistence, but I think he was the winner for maximizing his time on the water. The two Hobie 33s were engaged in a fun match race, swapping the lead a couple of times. And as always, it's fun to see our "vintage" boats, Spit Dog, Velero, and So Long out there in the channel sailing. Thanks to John Gray, Michael Gray, and Alicia aboard the "Moby Dill" for serving as race committee and mark boat. Alicia got lots of pictures, see drop box link below. Please send pics you have. Thank you Anacapa Yacht Club and Chuck Manley for hosting the post race festivities! We'll have trophies for first and second place in the Spinnaker and Non Spinnaker divisions ready for presentation at our May 12 meeting at Victoria Pub in Ventura. Our next regularly scheduled meeting is this Tuesday, April 14, at 6:30 pm at Victoria Pub. |
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Jane Thomas Presenting Ron Dietel with the Perpetual and Individual
1st Place Trophy for the 2024 ASBCYC High Points Award. |
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