Tampa Fleet Racing Kick-off

It has been a long time since we fleet raced, and our group was pretty lean; 4 Scots and a 420. Early on it looked a little dicey for a lack of wind. It was looking like a little southerly was trying to fill in but it was really patchy. Around 2 pm it started to fill in so we all lauched and went out. Here is a shot of the wind;



During the second race it tailed off which is clearly visible on the graph. This was the lull before the pressure (seabreeze) filled in from the right. We sailed two more races in perfect conditions but by then, it was about 5 pm, so we called it a day.

It was a great day but sadly, the most excitement came from the haul-out on the hoist. Mark was in mid hoist with, gasp, a borrowed boat when the boat crashed to the ground. The forward half was over the ground/bulkhead while the aft half was still over water. The boat seemed to pause for a second or two after impact but the stern dropped into the water and with a sickening sound it scraped its way backwards until the bow fell back into the water. The mast was torqued pretty good...



This definently qualifies as one of those "sailing sucks" moments.





The boat bottom looks amazingly good, far better than the concrete bulkhead that has some chunks missing. Go figure!

Florida District Championship - Tampa

Friday Evening, March 4, 2011

The beginning of the Midwinter Extravaganza!!
I worked Friday, and Dave had taken the dogs to our friends for safe-keeping during our trip. Beau called Dave within seconds of leaving the house to say that Lexi had already started her vacation by lounging in the hot tub---Have a great week, guys, thank you!!

As some people are traveling straight to Sarasota, we’re off to Davis Island YC for the last Florida State District Race/Midwinter Warm-up. Talk was to prepare for wind on Saturday. Folks were looking for extra weight, and thinking that gaining those holiday pounds wasn’t so bad after all. Jeff and Harry spoke to the gathering crowd and Leslie had done a great job organizing and registering over 30 boats!

It was decided, after the reserve was met and a fierce bidding war, I would sail with Mike and Amy from Fishing Bay!! Yay! Dave headed down to Sarasota to help out for the weekend.

Sat. March 5

It’s supposed to be windy, and it certainly started out so. It was good to be 3 up. The first 2 races went well, and we were pleased. As it became lighter, and, in Davis Island style, more shifty, it became more difficult, but I think I can speak for my team and say we were happy with the day. Hope it goes well for them Sunday, they are on their own and the weather / wind predictions are all over the road.
After racing, Leslie and Pat (Mark’s crew) met us at the dock with a drink cart – fun! Folks enjoyed oysters, beers, and sailing talk by the boats (excellent regatta planning) then snack, showers, and a nice appy/happy hour upstairs. Lest we forget to mention- prizes, prizes, prizes!! Paul had a category for everything, and everybody wins!! (Most importantly, you must be present to win…some missed out!!) Excellent showing of Hawaiian shirt genius – the Flying Scot crowd does fashion and style, too! Leslie and Paul and all those involved in the event did a great job. More fantastic stuff for the winners tomorrow. Mark headed up a round table discussion for the DI version of Top Gun, and the crew of the top 5 boats were interrogated by a tough crowd (not really). Good work, Crew!!

Members of the Washington Street House (our rental for the week) packed it up and caravanned to Sarasota. Harry picked a winner! Super house, super location! A block to St. Armand’s Circle and a few more steps to the beach! I thought I would go walking and window shopping this am, but turned west on John Ringling Blvd. instead, hearing the call of the waves, and lo and ahold (how my sister, Beth, says it, therefore, so do we) Lido Beach beckoned. I half expected to see John Wake out there, too, but the sun was too high in the sky for him. He would have been out there at dark:30.

Sunday, There was some breeze for the 10 am start but also a little left over weather from the front that came through during the night. After a short delay the race started and the breeze picked up. Robby Brown was sitting on first place after the 4 races on Saturday and he picked up where he left off with another top five finish. The breeze had built enough the most seemed to be sufficiently “warmed-up” and headed toward the club after finishing the first race. The RC had the same idea so a five race regatta was in the books. Robby enjoyed a commanding win and was followed by Marshall Pardey, John Aras. The DIYC site is down as I write this so I don’t have the results to post just yet.

We have a new Florida District Champion; Jeff and Amy Linton!!!! They did 4 of the district regattas and won two of them to assume a commanding position. The solid finish at DIYC rounded out an excellent season and secured first place. Marshall Pardey made a strong showing this year as well and came in second.

I will add to this when I have the results and post the final district standings as soon as I can. Congrats to all the sailors!!!!

Tampa Fleet Racing / Labor Day

Here is Andy's account of the day;

We had a bit of everything this Saturday, starting with a early calm, rain during rigging, and finally a nice 10-12k seabreeze under bright sunny skies.
7 boats made it out and enjoyed 4 nice races thanks to Matt and Dawn on Conga Rats. Thanks to the RC for watching the young Haywards!
It was nice to have Jason Chavez join us sailing with Keith Lockey, these guys were tough on the starting line!
Racing was extremely close, and the shortish races made boat handling critical.
Paul Silvernail and Leslie Fisher, Mark Taylor and Tina Tinaret, Andy and Lisa Hayward, Dave and Kim Thinel, Al Thompson and Eric, Dean Bell and Cameron Salmon, Keith Lockey and Jason Chavez finished in that order.
Cam owes Dean a new forestay as his ab blasting mega hiking blew it up in the last race, (they where leading)!
All the happening cool people frolicked in the pool and grilled out after the races, thanks to all for the yummy snacks!
Our next event is going to be a Pre Wife Husband practice day, date TBD, but late September. If you plan on going up to Lake Norman, you need to sail one more time prior to hitting the road!

Tampa Fleet Race - August 2010

Shortly after the first start

Our light summer schedule continued Saturday August 14, which was also a DIYC work day. It was our turn to do RC, Kim and I brought out friend Wayne who is thinking about getting a trailerable sailboat. Hmmm, let’s see, what kind of boat comes to mind? Anyway, Leslie and Paul had their powerboat in the water already from the club workday so they offered to be mark boat. Cool, this was going to be like the real thing.

Fleet Captain Andy wisely bumped our starting time back to 3 pm during the summer months to give the sea-breeze some time to find the club. That worked perfectly, early on what breeze there was came mostly from the south but around 2pm it went west and began to fill. By race time it was pretty settled in from 300 degrees and maybe about 6 knots. Perfect.

We had a light turn out of racers since a few “regulars” couldn’t make it and two more were on powerboats. Summer racing in Tampa can be a little iffy, and always HOT so this is understandable. Todays victims; 38-Andy and Drew, 2262-Matt and Dawn, 504- Al and Andy, 3901-Keith and Andreas, 4925-Dave and Ed.


Andy and Al fighting it out

Race 1 - We thought the boat end was a little too favored even after letting out all of our fairly short anchor line. Not wanting to delay we started anyway and to our surprise the whole fleet was late and in the middle of the line. Cool. The left side looked better than the right and it played out that way, Dave and Ed, 4925 scored the first bullet.
>
A familiar site, Dave in the lead

Race 2 – The start was much better, 504, 38 and 2262 were a little OCS but everyone was even including 4925 at the leeward end so we let them go. Dave and Ed sailed another good race and another bullet.

Al about to cross the finish line

Race 3 – We are amazed the breeze is still at 300 and is up to 10 or 11, nice! 38 was OCS and promptly re-started, half way through the race they were within striking distance of Al, who led and Dave who was hot on Al’s heels. When Al’s chute refused to come down at the leeward mark Dave had the lead and another bullet.>

Get that ________chute down!



Now look what you did

Race 4 – Wind still 300! I guess boredom on the mark boat was getting too much for Paul who hopped aboard 3901 for this last race. This was really a cool thing though since Keith and Andreas are new to Scotting and Paul has mucho racing experience. Andy and Drew headed in to the club so race 4 had 4 boats. A clean start and Al grabbed the lead early like he did in race 3. Dave’s string of bullets was on the line, with no spinnaker snafus Al was able to hold him off and win the race.

Here are the results;
Boat # Race 1 Race2 Race3 Race4 Total
4925, 1 1 1 2= 5
504, 3 3 2 1= 9
38, 2 2 3 6= 13
2262, 4 4 4 3= 15
3901, 5 5 5 4= 19


Matt and Dawn charging up wind


Though the forecast was for a high of 95 it never seemed that hot to us, maybe the shade of the bimini had something to do with it. So for a change we have an RC boat and a mark boat to deal with all the shifts you always get at DI and…. You guessed it we never changed the course once. Go figure. Next fleet race is September 11, don’t miss it.

I said Starboard God --------!

July Fleet Racing in Tampa

Saturday saw 11 Scots and a Windmill out for our July Practice. Paul Silvernail
boldly predicted perfect sailing conditions for this event, how does he always get it right? amazing!
We had 8-12 from the West, bright sky, smoking hot, just like Paul said.
What Paul didn't know was that we were sailing Windward leewards with a leeward GATE, ok, he's not perfect! Big thanks to Amy and Jeff Linton for setting up and running the races as well as daycare for the Haywards!
Courses were short, and that kept the fleet packed and verbal. This cozy configuration put a premium on the turns and the ups and downs, whew!
Race winners swaped onto the RC boat, which was neat.
Results are with Amy....
It was good to see Henery Pico over from Merrit Island, we hope he becomes a regular attendee!
Some of the teams bolted off to StPete to catch the Rays game (which they won! Yea!!) Credit to the Ruarks for bringing the Evan good luck charm!!
August 14 is the next date up on the schedule, Please confirm this date and let me know if you will be able to attend as we seem to have a fair number of conflicts on this date, we couls make an adjustment...
Matt and Dawn are August RC thanks!!

Andy

PS Ask Al about the pin setting technique.

Tampa Fleet Race

What a day! 9 boats in the parking lot and 8 on the line. Most teams were out or off the dock by 1330. The weather was reminiscent of the race a few years ago when the fleet got rocked by a 45k squall. Yup, the area was peppered
with thunderstorms but a review of the radar was favorable, HA! The reality was that two cells, one Southwest one Northwest, merged and swept the upper bay. Fortunately, they didn't pack quite the punch of the said infamous storm. That didn't stop Dave Clement and Charlie Clifton from capsizing # 38, something about a ipod..... Dave and Charlie got her up and going without too much fuss however. The majority of the teams beat feet for the harbor yet
Mark and Stu Taylor and Jeff and Tina Tinret stayed out without too much drama.
The weather cleared and Team Taylor, (Tom, Drew, Lilly) did a awesome job with the races in a lightish Eastsoutheasterly. A valiant effort at a fourth race
was attempted but guess what?
It was cool in the pool with big girl/boy drinks followed by a up the river romp aboard Dave Germans big ole retro cabin cruiser ( 42' Chris Craft?)
Bridge clearance was a bit of a issue with the incoming tide but if not for the courage of the fearless crew the Minnow wiggled under!
Results soon, Linton, Silvernail, ???
Great luck to Team Tampa with next weeks NAC's in Mississippi, Rock the Gulf!!
Next Fleet practice is July 10th At 1500 1500 1500 an hour later to get some seabreeze. We need Race Committee for the event.

Andy

Scots in Tampa

Fleet 168, Tampa, April 24,

10 Scot teams and a building sea breeze, perfection! When we left the dock at 1300 the wind was fairly light and the Southerly chop made it challenging to make the boat go well. By the start of racing the breeze was building nicely to eventually full hike and vang on! The first race was tossed out due to a wayward mark, but once that was fixed Deano and Jan ran some nice races, practicing some general recalls along the way, big thanks!

Robbie Brown and Billy Icely won the day followed by Paul Silvernail and Penny Ruark. There was a bit of Darwin going on out on the water as Dave Clement and Ed Ruark mega hiked their forestay into pieces, bang! Mast in water. Andy and Lisa had their mainsail coming apart at a batten seam. Tom and Drew Taylor struggled with a mainsheet shackle but made a nifty on the water repair.

Results: R1 R2 R3 Tot

Robbie Brown and Billy Icely #2052 - 1 3 1 5
Paul Silvernail and Penny Ruark # 5026 - 2 4 2 8
Dave and Kim Thinel # 4901 - 3 1 6 10
Dave Bell and Susan Cintron # 4156 - 5 5 5 15
Al Thompson and Cameron Salmon # 504 - 7 7 3 17
Mark and Stewart Taylor # 5477 - 8 6 4 18
Matt Dalton and Dawn Naramore # 2262 - 6 8 7 21
Andy and Lisa Hayward # 38 - 4 2 dnc 10 26
Tom and Drew Taylor # 4321 - 9 9 8 26
Dave Clement and Ed Ruark # 2339 - dnf dns dns 30

7 of the boats where represented at the post race shin dig at Mark Taylor's new "Love Shack" huge thanks
for the great eats and hospitality, thank you Taylor's! Cam Sam also provided some snacky gourmet cheese stuff but we forgot it in the car and will break it out next event, thanks Cameron! The eagle and the gingerbread man has new homes, watch out!

Business:

1. TSS Commodore's Cup, Saturday May 8th, Apollo Beach. we have 4 teams with verbal commitments for this event. TSS has graciously offered to give Scots their own RC and course, we need to do better than 4 boats to make this work for them. RSVP to me now please!

2. Fleet Dues are due... nuff said, please don't make me get medieval on you!

3. Our current E-mail updates: This is going to be the last bulk E-mail for fleet updates. All future information is going to be exchanged via Facebook. If you want to continue to monitor Fleet 168 activities go to www.
Facebook.com/flying scot fleet 168. No, I don't get a commission, it cost nothing to join. This is a really slick way for us to keep informed about our goings on!

4. I have transom stickers for all paid FSSA members if you plan to attend a sanctioned event get with me.

I had this all typed up last night but my laptop died :(

Andy

Flying Scot racing in December

After last weekend's chilly weather in Jacksonville we were looking for some warmer weather and we got it. It was really an awesome day to be sailboat racing in December. I think it got up to about 76 degrees, that combined with a sweet breeze;



and a Christmas party after sailing, and it's all good.

A couple of "the regulars" couldn't make it but there were 7 teams that did. I think we did 5 races (but maybe six) with pretty short legs so some sail handling was in order. Mark Taylor brought a ringer; Tina and they carried the day easily. Nice job!

Most of the fleet headed over to Mark's house for a Christmas party complete with the Chinese gift exchange thing. We made out better than most;



so no complaints here.

P.S Andy pocketed the much coveted "Dream Lips" lip treatment potion, much to Cameron's dismay! If you see Andy-lina you know what to do!!

Look at the before and after photos! That must be at least a 40% gain in plumpness... and no wrinkles!! AS SEEN ON TV

The Heat Is On

The Lake Eustis and Tampa fleets both faced the summer heat, check that, the October heat that seems like July. WTF. Here is the blow by blow;

Light wind this weekend at Lake Eustis, but at least it was miserably hot.

It’s easy to understand intellectually that the heat will break soon, but it’s sure hard to believe it!

Saturday, six Scots raced: Ray Laguna and Glenda Libby in 5770, Dave and Jay Asaibene in 5179, Ann Ireland and Joe McConkey in 5366, Francois Simon, ably assisted by Francois Simon, in 3362 (but confusingly sporting sails with 770 on them), Jack Bazner and Joe Lobato in 3387, and me with Dean Grimes in 5810.

Both races were sailed in light but not minimal air. There was enough breeze to sit on the rail at times, but not so much that anyone was overpowered. Each race was two laps to a downwind finish.

In the first race, Ray and Glenda led the whole way in 5770, although Dean and I did our best to make them nervous, especially downwind. Ray, though, did a terrific job of keeping to the inside on the downwinds and we were unable to get past them. Ray and Glenda crossed the finish line first in 5770, Dean and I followed in 5810, and Jack and Joe were third in 3387.

In the second race, Dean and I were over early and had to round the pin end to restart (my fault entirely). We continued on port and caught a nice breeze on the right side. Thus, we switched roles with Ray and Glenda, and managed to lead the whole race, with nervous moments both upwind and down as Ray and Glenda came on fast. Dean and I held on for first in 5810, with Ray and Glenda second in 5770 and Francois Simon, working both ends of his boat, third in 3362.

All in all, in spite of a depressingly light forecast, Saturday produced some nice sailing.

On Sunday, though, another depressingly light forecast proved depressingly accurate. A number of sailors showed up at the club and launched their boats, but most were intimidated by the shifty one or two knot breeze and did not sail. That and the 90+ degree heat and humidity.

In the first race, there were just two Scots on the water – Chuck Smith and Tony Tussing in 5125 and Dean and me in 5810. The race was a reach-fest, as the wind went left and stayed there the whole time. Dean and I finished first and Chuck and Tony came across second.

The second race on Sunday was much the same, with port tack strongly favored, but at least Francois joined us on the water. Annoyingly so, because he sailed fast and finished first, followed by Dean and me in 5810 and Chuck and Tony in 5125.

David Leather of the MC fleet pinch-hit for Dave Williams on the Committee boat this weekend, and did a great job. Many thanks to David.

Lake Eustis. The next fleet racing at Lake Eustis will be in two weeks – October 24 and 25. We’re supposed to get cooler temperatures later this week. Let’s all hope for some cool weather and steady breezes in two weeks!

Florida Districts. The next Florida District regatta is in Sarasota on Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and 8. I’m seriously thinking about attending, and it would be great to have a good turnout from our fleet (even though that regatta conflicts with a club racing weekend). The Sarasota Sailing Squadron make wonderful hosts, and Sarasota Bay is a shockingly beautiful place to sail. The regatta ought to be a great deal of fun. I’ll e mail everyone a link to the NOR as soon as I can, and if you’re thinking of going let’s coordinate by e mail..

Thanks to all who braved the heat this weekend. I’ll look forward to seeing everyone in two weeks.

George

Here is the scoop from Tampa;

It's October, it's the Fall, a chill is in the air, NOT! Fortunately for the six teams that came out on Saturday the 8-12k Southwesterly did keep us moving.

Big thanks to Dave Bell, Susan Cintron, Keith Lockley and Mark Taylor for running the 5 nice races, well done!

The racing was very tight, the breeze was shifty enough that no lead was safe, and I think that every finish had multiple overlapped boats at the downwind finish. No team dominated but in the end Dave Clement and new crew Andrew prevailed with the most consistent score line. The breeze built as the day progressed
and Al and Cameron got faster, winning the last race and the tiebreaker for second with Paul and Leslie.

Results:

Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Tot

Dave Clement / Andrew # 4925 1 3 2 1 2 9
Al Thompson / Cameron Salmon # 504 4 4 1 2 1 12
Paul Silvernail / Leslie Fisher # 5026 2 1 3 3 3 12
Dean Bell / Lisa Hayward # 5477 3 5 4 4 4 20
Drew and Andy Hayward # 38 5 2 5 5 dns 7 24
Matt Dalton / Dawn Naramore # 2262 6 6 6 6 dns 7 31

Our next practice is Sat November 7th @ 1400. Jay Tyson has volunteered to be Race Committee, BIG thanks Jay! And the next biggie is the DIYC Thanksgiving Regatta Nov 28, 29th that is always a great turnout and a fun time!

Andy

Kim and I attended neither of the above, instead we had committed to running races for handicapped kids in Clearwater. I know,I know, they wanted handicapped people to run the reces, blah blah blah, I get that.

In the morning we had little breeze and big current so I spent a good part of the time towing the sailors upcurrent before they got sucked under the Clearwater Pass bridge and out to the gulf. There were, fortunently, no incidents. The southerly sea breeze kicked in right after lunch so the kids on the afternoon shift had a good time of it. I had lots of practice with the Boston Whaler.

Make plans now for Sarasota Nov 7 and 8!