#249 SOUTHERN BAY RACING NEWS YOU CAN USE
on Monday May 16, 2005 02:19PM
If you are interested in seeing some of the best
match racers in the nation ply their trade, check out the US Match Racing
Championship Area ABC South Quarterfinals this weekend (May 21-22) on Hampton
Flats. This US SAILING Championship event is hosted by Hampton
Yacht Club. Racing will be done in J/24's. For info contact: John
McCarthy, (757) 850-4225. The event is a round robin format - lots of very
short races (quarter mile legs - umpteen starts) - umpires on the water -
pre-start "dance", like in the America's Cup!
Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 17, the schooner
Virginia's masts are scheduled to be stepped. Call (757)
627-7400 or check the web site at www.schoonervirginia.org for
details.
MERIDIAN, COOL CHANGE, CALLINECTES, and
CHECKS-IN-THE-MAIL take home CCV Spring Series Silver:
The final day of CCV Spring Series proved perfect for racing. Two
scheduled races, fairly steady breezes, and flat water. And, all ahead of
the impending thunder boomers that arrived long after the racing was done.
Preliminary Series results: PHRF A (9 boats competing)
1.Meridian, Sledd Shelhorse; 2.Sea Star,
David Eberwine; 3.Cyrano, Bob
Mosby. PHRF B (6 boats competing) 1.Cool Change,
Rusty Burshell; 2.Strega, Neal
Garrett; 3.Bad Habit, Bob Archer.
PHRF C (10 boats competing) 1.Callinectes, Ben
Cuker; 2.Roundabout, Alan Bomar;
3.Stardancer, John Blais. PHRF Non-Spin
( 7 boats competing) 1. Checks-In-the-Mail, Jim
Williams; 2.Impulse, Tom Peddy;
3.Virginia H, Andy Armstrong. PRO:
John McCarthy; Official Scorer: Dick Boykin; Mark Boats: Bill and David
Gibbings; Glenn Giles and Chris Rasmussen; and, Tom and Jane
Fowler.
Picture your globe. Remember your 7th
grade geography teacher telling you that some scientists think that Africa and
South America might once have been one land mass? "They are like pieces of
a puzzle," she may have said, encouraging you to, in you mind, "push" them
across the Atlantic toward one another. Well, this morning, right there
between the two continents, in the Atlantic, is southern Bay homie JD
Scott sailing in the Global Challenge aboard
Pindar. Check out JD's progress toward Boston on the event
website at www.GlobalChallenge2004.com
When he's home, JD races Prevail in the PHRF fleet with co-owner Mark
Shaw.
Area J/24 owners who have loaned their boats for the US Match
Racing Championship event (see item above) will be on board their boats during
the racing (in the companionway). Talk about getting a lesson or two from
the experts! Kudos to owners Alan Bomar, Mike Veraldi,
Robert Newell, Bert Johnson, Chris Johnson, and
Dave Taylor - for their generosity to the sport, may all their
tacks be lifted !
The schooner Virginia's crew
and captain have been named. Among the handpicked crew of eight are two
southern Bay homies. Deckhand Clyde D. Sundberg, Jr,
of Hampton. As part of his extensive qualifications,
Clyde helped build the Susan Constant re-creation tall ship. And,
Keith Kavanaugh, of Virginia Beach, will be
Virginia's cook. Keith has managed a bundle of food and
beverage related operations, dining rooms, kitchens, B&B's, and most
recently the historic Freemason Inn in Norfolk. Captain Nicholas Alley of
Baltimore, will "man the helm".
Southern Bay racer homie, John Ritter, is in
world traveler mode. For the last few months John has been in
Africa. He has become an "expert" on cheetahs. In Kiswahili, among
game preservation professionals, the code name for cheetah is "spots on the
ground", that's "Madoadoa ya Chini". The word for water is
maji. Watch for a burgee on John's boat when he returns in June
with a cheetah on it and the motto "Madoadoa ya Maji" (Spots on the
Water).
Arabella and Phil Denvir will be bringing their
Premier Sailing School summer base to the Virginia
Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Centre (intersection of Great Neck
Road and the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on Shore Drive between Lynnhaven Inlet
and the First Landing Seashore State Park), in August. Here's an
opportunity for adults and kids to learn to sail without leaving home.
Call Arabella at Premier at (804) 438-9300.
Don't forget - this coming
Saturday, CBYRA sanctioned events - BBSA's
Cape Henry Cup and FBYC Spring Series #4
There were 5 J/24s in the PHRF C fleet
start for the CCV Spring Series, Roundabout, Rocket J, Quicky, Cavitation,
and Punctuation (@#$%&!!!). From the looks of the tight
racing and aggressive starting line activity, they are all getting ready to see
one another in their one-design starts at Southern Bay Race Week. Nice to
see good racers "molding" and "gelling" tactically. It's
J Jell-O! [Jell-O@]
MURPHY'S LAW: So there's going to be a
burgee out on the race course honoring a quick, spotted
cat-family creature. John Ritter's "Spots on the Water" does
sound fast. Now, I need a burgee honoring my prowess. I think
"Spots under the beer truck" has a nice ring to it! /S/ Murphy the Racing Beagle, the sailing spirit in us
all.