The fact that Jonathan was in another State for the whole series, Gary & Terry were in Chicago for a few weeks, and the payment of a bottle of Jack’s Cabernet given to Jack to not compete, probably had nothing to do with it.

The series was actually very close between Gary, Jay, and myself for the entire series.  In the end it was The Admiral with a net 46, Jay with a net 53, and Gary with a net 57.  “Complete Results”

George Nix was once again kind enough to be our photographer getting some great shots of the close races. Visit the link at: https://goo.gl/photos/u6cnUVnx62evnHSh8

Next Sunday we will begin our Fall Series which leads us into shorter hours of daylight by the time we wrap it up in October.  Week 1 of the series will be off the south dock CYC 4-6pm.

See you on the dock.

The Admiral

Competitors making full use of the dock space

It was a beautiful day for RC racing.  Although club racing was cancelled due to lack of wind, I had put out an e-mail ensuring everyone that the wind would pick up and that they should come prepared to race.  There were 10 RCs’ that showed up to race and sure enough the wind did pick up and 6 races were run.  The day was meant for #99 (Richard Mikulec) with four wins and #59 ( Gary Schmidt) with two.  Neither of them were worse than third in any race. The results moves Gary just 2 points out of second place currently held by Jay Niggli for the Summer Series with one week left.  “RESULTS”

We were all rewarded following the races by Jack Bennett who had his sister (Carol Lee) visiting for the weekend.  It seems that she has excellent skills at making hot Hor d’oeuvres and together with Jack they put on a spread that was more than all of us could handle.  There was asparagus wrapped in bacon, hot ham with pineapple, stuffed mushrooms, grapes, tomatoes, scrimp, hot dips, cheeses, breads, chips, and drinks.  After several hours of consuming all the delicious plates we could, we graciously bid them farewell, leaving them with all the clean up.  Many Thanks to Carol Lee and Jack for all their efforts.

Next Sunday will be the final race day for the Summer Series. Don’t miss it if you wish to upset the standings.

See you on the dock!!!!!

The Admiral

NOTICE OF RACE

Canandaigua, New York    RC Laser Fleet 14

6th Annual Squaw Island Race

August 27, 2016

Rules: The regatta shall be governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing as amended by Appendix E for RC sailing, prescriptions of US Sailing, class rules of the RC Laser Class of North America and further Sailing Instructions as mandated by the Race Director (Keith Calkins) who also has the authority during the course of the event to make changes which will be announced to the competitors.

Eligibility: The regatta is open to all RC Lasers conforming to RC Laser Class Rules.

Race Director: Keith Calkins

Race Summary:

• Boats will be out of the water during the Skippers Meeting.
• The starting line will be set between two markers just offshore from the concrete dock at the south end of the waterfront at the Canandaigua Yacht Club.
• The south concrete dock is also designated as the finish dock.
• At the start, skippers will sail their RC Lasers across the starting line in the proper direction and then sail a course that is roughly north on Canandaigua Lake towards Squaw Island, about 1 mile away.
• Skippers in chase boats will follow their RC Laser and navigate their racing boats to a turn mark south of Squaw Island, located at approximately Lat/Long N42.869918, W077.275702, keeping the turn mark to port as the boats round and then sail back to the yacht club.
• Boats will finish when the skipper has successfully crossed the starting line in the opposite direction from the start.

Schedule:

• Online Registration
• 1:00 – 1:45          Boat set-up and practice sailing
• 1:45                      Skippers Meeting (All boats must be out of the water.)
• 1:58 PM               Two-minute audible countdown timer begins
• 2:00 PM              Start
• ~ 5:00 PM          Dock party begins with first finishing boat
• ~ 6:00 PM          Awards presented after all boats return

Location: Canandaigua Yacht Club (CYC), 3524 West Lake Road, Canandaigua, NY 14424

Entry: Eligible boats may be entered by submitting the registration form online and paying an entry fee of $15.00 boat.

Scoring: The race will be scored under the Low Point System described in The Racing Rules of Sailing Appendix A and the event will consist of only one race.

Prizes: A prize will be awarded to the skipper who completes the course in the fastest time, and to the fastest Team that completes the course.  A dock party will follow racing for all skippers and crew.

Contact: Nelson Habecker at [email protected] or 585-201-0514 if you need us to find a chase boat and driver or for any other information.

I stood on the dock wondering where I should set the marks to best fit the wind that was swirling around from all directions.  I came to the conclusion that a triangle would probably best fit for the day.

Barb Urich chasing a faster boat but still winning race #1

As it turned out every leg was windward, leeward, and a reach at some point.  And if that was not enough, you also had to sail through a least one hole in the wind to complete each race.  So, at times you were flying and at times you were dying.

It was a limited number of racers for the afternoon but everyone who raced was able to score at least one victory with 8 races completed.  “RESULTS”

George Nix was kind enough to bring his camera to illustrate the ups and downs in the wind.  Photos at: https://goo.gl/photos/HtYGTPZmpuepUvas9

We have just two Sundays left in the Summer Series, so if you intend to change the order of things there is no time to lose.  Racing for the next two Sundays will be 4-6pm off the south dock CYC.

See you on the water!!!!

The Admiral

There is a new listing for a used RC Laser for sale.  Check it out at Pre-Owned Lasers for Sale

“IT SURE FELT LIKE ARUBA”

The 10 -12 knot winds were all we needed to keep us cool on this Sunday of racing. Straight out of the south, it was easy to set a course that would be easy on the vision impaired.  Although we all believed that the steady breeze would allow us to use our “A” sails it proved not to be the case.  After the first race we all changed to “B” sails and remained there for the following 6 races.

WE were fortunate to have several visitors join us for the afternoon.  Dave Horrocks was up from Florida, Dave ? was there,  boat #20 from ? joined us, and Anna & Jonathan were in town. ( There was no time to catch all the names.) After watching the first few races Jonathan jumped in with a spare boat and scored two wins and a second.  “RESULTS”

At six  O’clock we packed the boats away and began to enjoy a trove of wines that Anne wanted to school us on.  As we looked out on to the water we noticed Christine Brown out sailing her Wianno Senior (a 25ft gaff rigged sloop) vintage sailboat back and forth across the lake.  She was nice enough to answer her phone and within minutes she was at the dock offering a ride in exchange for the wine we had not yet consumed. “Piracy on the high seas”  As the sun was going down and all the wines had been consumed we sailed back to shore and modern day life.

Next week we will not be sailing so that all might enjoy all the 4TH of July activities. Our next race date will be July 10th 4-6pm again off the south dock.  We all would like nothing better than to repeat this past Sunday.

Thank You Christine!!!!!!

We are two weeks into our summer series and it has been a test of strength, courage, and desire for everyone.  On the first Sunday of the meet we were faced with winds of 15 knots and gusts that were almost continuous at 25 plus. (“C” sails were the choice for all.)  Most of the time the boats were laying down just trying to hold their position when a gust came through.  Of the 7 races we had there were 6 different winners.  If you could beat the gust to the leeward mark you were in the lead.  But if you did not, you were looking at your rudder as the high point on your boat.  Miraculously none of us were blown off the dock (strength).

Then there was this past Sunday (Father’sDay) when most of us were sitting down watching the seaweed grow (“A” sails).  Despite the lack of wind at times all the boats were waiting it out (courage). Gary was kind enough to put out marks but had trouble determining a desirable course.  His answer to that was to put a mark in a different location until he ran out of marks (desire).  Racing was a test of patience. The hardest part was to keep your boat going in the right direction with all the motor boat chop pushing you back.

George Nix made better use of his time by taking a few photos of our boats waiting for wind.  You can view them at: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMfQBlEQOyGnjNGYBNpClUhc9z2mH4KvE9vnJPK06vc0dnuFHP3bIzGPOLkIAaC5A?key=TlZucHVsVzVzWHNnSmk5eVRQS0drd3VzMjVQVWFn

Sunday June 26 will be week 4 of our 8 week Summer Series.  The time remains the same, racing from 4-6pm off the south dock CYC.

If you are interested in the standings to date click on: “RESULTS”.

See you on the water!!!!!!!

The Admiral

Knowing  that his only opposition (Jonathan) was going to be absent  for the day, Jack assured us that the series was his and did not need to be contested. As usual no one listened and forced him to take a fifth place finish in the first race. He did however follow up with a win, two seconds and a fourth in the remaining races to lock it up for himself.  “COMPLETE RESULTS”

Richard Mikulec , our newest member, walked away with two wins and the other two went to the Schmidt brothers(Gary &  Bill).

We will take Memorial Day weekend off to allow those of us that get in trouble for always being on the water time to get a little yard work done.  Then it is time to start again with a Summer Series starting June 5th  which will last till the end of July.

Congratulations Jack!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Admiral

May is that month where the RCs have to start giving room to all those oversized boats that block our wind. Occasionally we run into them but no real damage appears to be done.

It has been up and down series for the RCs this spring.  If it was warm there was no wind, if there was much wind it was cold and/or snowing, and if it was just right it was probably raining.  But none of that stops us.  Sunday May 15th was one of those unusual days where a picture or two best tells it all. First thing we did was postpone 15 minutes for rain and then jump right in for the first race of the day with nothing but blue skies. While we had 2 knots of wind at best near shore we had gusts of 15 to 20 at the leeward mark.  A quick postponement after the race to allow for a 15 minute hail and snow shower and then back to blue skies for the second race. It had the same wind conditions but I believe the temperature  had dropped another 5 degrees. Dark clouds once again appeared as time was running out so we bagged it for the day.

It was Jay Niggli and Nate Heinzelman  who looked past their noses to see that a smaller sail would work best given the wind conditions at the leeward mark.  Hence it was 2 bullets for Jay and two seconds for Nate.

May 22nd will be the final day of our Spring Series and as it stands it will be either Jack Bennett or Jonathan Gorbold.  “RESULTS”

The following week off for Memorial Day weekend and into the Summer Series.

The Admiral

There are just 2 Sundays left for determining the order of finish for the Spring Series. Much like the Kentucky Derby it is coming down to the wire.  Jonathan Gorbold has a 1 point lead over Jack Bennett who had 3 wins in Sunday’s races to make it a two horse race.  “RESULTS”

Jonathan
Gorbold

Captain Jack
Sparrow

Sunday May 15th will be the next meeting for these two throughbreds. The field is expected to be large so it will not be a cake walk for either of them. It is expected that there will be over a dozen competitors’ who will be present to act as spoilers.

Maggie Atkins’ boat won the fifth race of the day but had the win taken away after it was discovered that she made a jockey switch giving her transmitter to Steve Heinzelman.  Nate Heinzelman (following his dad’s lead) finished second and third in the following two races.  ( I think Nate is figuring it out.)

Post time for next week’s races will be 4 O’clock off the south dock CYC.  Come early and avoid being shut out of a good spot to set your saddle.

See you on the water!!!

The Admiral