Welcome to the December, 2010 newsletter of our water sports and recreation club. This publication is issued

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1 December, 2010 Welcome to the December, 2010 newsletter of our water sports and recreation club. This publication is issued when we have content. The content is, as always, dependent on contributions from you, the members. Content: Commodore s Rant......thrown together by William Yount (Commodore) News from the Brown Bits - The Island Report...soliloquized by Jimmy McH 2 O (Fleet Captain) Wild Turkey Classic Plastic Race Report. compiled by William Yount (Commodore & PRO) 1

2 Commodore s Rant by William Yount Monthly Meeting Rewind Commodore s Report By my best estimate there were somewhere around 40 persons in attendance this month, with the main event of the evening being the awards ceremony for the WTCP 10. I am also happy to report that I was kept busy receiving membership dues for 2011, and we also had everyone in attendance making new Membership Information forms in order to update any old information. An update of the Roster and all Information Forms is a goal of your VSC administration for 2011, as well as getting everyone to pay their dues in a timely manner, so be looking out in your for some update requests! And now, without further ado, here are the vital stats for the months of November/December. Financial Report November/December; deposited $1, for memberships and $81.91 for gear Paid out this month: $0 Current Bank Account: $4, w/ outstanding debt for 2010: $? for possible buoy maintenance; $? for hats and shirts on order; $? for WTCP awards New Members We welcome the following new members that joined the VSC during November for 2011! Phil Sauer - Second Chance Swan 441 The night s agenda was filled with the usual Race Reports and Upcoming Events, which I will not recap here, as these reports should be included in the other sections of this newsletter. And as I mentioned above, I was happily kept busy collecting dues for 2011, and by the end of the night was able to count just over 30 paid members for Although this is not a bad start for the new year, we do want to really encourage everyone to pay their dues in a timely manner this year we had over 60 paid members by the end of 2010, and it would be great if we could get all of those (and more) paid-up again by the end of Jan. 2011! Thanks for your cooperation on achieving this goal! And as always, special thanks as always to our most excellent Port Captain and #1 sponsor Mike Holbert for the delicious food and drink provided at a 20% discount to all those in attendance, as well as all of the fine liquid prizes and giveaways! Almost everyone goes home a winner thanks to Mike! Also, a HUGE thank you to Paula Sharpe for making all of the certificates and awards for the WTCP 10. Another goal of the VSC this year is to 2

3 continue to provide the very best awards for our yearly events, and your work helping to make this happen is greatly appreciated Paula! Finally, let s keep those stories and pictures coming in for the Splash, everyone is welcome to submit their tales of adventure, victory, and heartbreak! Until next month Your Faithful Commodore W.Yount 3

4 News from the Brown Bits by Jimmy McWaters Well as you read this you all would have noticed I didn't make yet another meeting and all the fun that ensues. Congrats to all the sailors who participated in the Wild Turkey and to those that came home with some good swag. Wish I was there. Sorry once again, but this time it's because I have been out on Santa Cruz taking care of the ranch and field station while the regulars caretakers were away. The old stairs on Anacapa have been removed and the new ones air lifted into place and the island is now open to visitors. It was pretty impressive to see stairs fly overhead, and the helicopter made short work (and expensive) of the operation, with the island opening the next day. Up on the island you notice a new green house that will be used for plant restoration (also on Santa Barbara Island) for the native plants to reclaim there stronghold of the island once the nonnative ice plant is removed. If anyone is interested in volunteering, here is a link to a newsletter and more info on that. 4

5 The project on Santa Barbara Island and Scorpion Rock on Santa Cruz is an attempt to re-establish native vegetation for sea bird nesting sights. If any of you get out to the Prisoner's Harbor to enjoy these beautiful winter days out there you will notice a new sign that talks all about the new project of restoring the wetlands out there as well as the removal of the Eucalyptus at that location. During your crossing to the islands if you're not too busy trimming sails you might be lucky enough to spot some Gray whales that have begun to show up in the channel during their annual migration to Baja. Another visitor that seems to enjoy the migration also showed up in the channel. Orcas, a pod of about 10 has been spotted two days in a row (Dec. 12 & Dec. 13) anxiously waiting fresh baby whale tongue. On another note, we found out what a 100 person life raft (brand new) looks like inflated. During one of our "rescue runs" on the Island Adventure in 30 plus knots of wind and 6' to 8' seas (all wind chop) one of the straps that holds the life raft canisters to the boat failed. All I can say is that it worked and self inflated, pretty fast I might add, and is definitely not easy to get back on board. Stay safe, cut those dock lines, raise those rags and get out there. See you on the water. Jim This pic shows Zac our crew member inside the raft as Alex my boss looks on at $12000 floating out away 5

6 Wild Turkey Classic Plastic 10 Race Report 11/27/10 Although the wind was blowing at knts most of the morning, this year s Classic Plastic race began at 11:00 in almost completely calm wind and lumpy seas. The race was held in a pursuit style format, with the slowest boats starting first, and the rest starting at pre-designated times based on the length of the 15nm course and their respective PHRF handicaps. This year s course included 3 marks; the Mandalay buoy, oil rig Gina, and the Hueneme Whistle Buoy all taken to port, with the finish line just inside the CI Harbor outer breakwater. The fleet of 19 boats, including 12 nonspinnaker, 7 spinnaker, and 1 multihull, congregated at the start of the race just outside the CI Harbor break wall just as the morning breeze dropped to almost nothing literally minutes before the first start. With the first boat, Courageous, just drifting across the line soon after their 11:00 start, the going was tough for the rest of the early starters. In fact, out of the next 4 boats scheduled to start, Zuma Jay was the only one able to drift across the line close to his official start time; the Spitdog, Star Too, and Desert Wind got stuck in a current below the committee boat and spent the first 45 minutes of the race drifting toward Hollywood Beach before the wind released them from their terrible fate. The boats rating to start later, between about 11:30 11:45, also struggled just to keep their boats moving through the water fast enough to maintain steerage on the helm and work their way slowly to the line. This caused some crowded conditions behind the start line as 6

7 the horn sounded for each successively faster boat to start the race, with only a few skilled captains able to calculate the drifting conditions well enough to cross the line within even a minute of their start time. Things finally got moving after about 11:45 as a light SSW wind began to puff, mercifully releasing the fleet from the quagmire of the starting area. The multihull fleet, down to just one boat this year, made the last start at 12:00, soon after the last monohull, Maine Squeeze, left the start line at 11:57:45. As the S. wind filled in a bit for the first hour of the race, spinnaker boats began flying their big sails in what turned out to be an unusual downwind leg to the Mandalay mark from the harbor. As the first boats to reach the Mandalay mark made the rounding, the wind began to switch to its typical NW direction and built to a perfect kts for a perfect day of sailing. Because of the unusual S. wind, and the lack of wind for the early starters, most of the later starting spinnaker boats had already taken the lead by the first mark. Angry Hillbillies was leading the way to oil rig Gina, with Wahoo, Maine Squeeze, and Moore Fun all hot on her tail. It was also during the reaching leg to Gina that the Weta trimaran Empress got a bone in her teeth and made quick work of passing the entire monohull fleet. Because of the change in wind direction, the spinnaker fleet actually got to pop their chutes for a second time on the leg from oil rig Gina to the Hueneme whistle buoy, with the non-spin fleet typically running wing on wing to achieve their best VMG to the downwind mark. The last leg from the whistle buoy back into the harbor for the finish line was becoming almost upwind as the wind began to turn more northerly direction, especially for the last boats to finish. Closest finish of the day was between Halona and Allegria, a photo finish in which Halona was just able to put her bow ahead for 5th place in the non-spin fleet. Monohull line honors, and first place in the spinnaker class, went to the Angry Hillbillies, an Olson 30 skippered by Paul Moore and Deke Klatt. Only 3 minutes and 14 seconds later the 2nd place Wahoo, a Hobie 33 owned by Alan Macnaughton came across the line. Following Wahoo 8 minutes and 50 seconds later was the third boat to finish, and 3 rd place in the Spinnaker class, Maine Squeeze, the Schock 35 driven hard as always by Mike Taylor. 7

8 In the 11 boat non-spinnaker class it was Randy Alcorn taking 1st place for the 3rd year in a row in his Cal 29, Out Patient. Only 13 seconds behind Out Patient was the 2nd place Moore Fun, the Moore 24 skippered by Joe Joines. Third place in the non-spinnaker class went to the Cat 27 Breezy, driven by Chris Johnston, finishing 4 minutes and 40 seconds behind Moore Fun. For the multihull class it was Robert Shirley on his Weta trimaran, Empress, who was the only entrant. Even though he didn t have anyone to race, Robert was all smiles as he was able to smoke past the entire fleet after starting last, was the first boat to finish, and posted the fastest time around the course at 1 hour 42 minutes and 50 seconds. Well done Robert! Thanks to everyone who came out for the race, and special thanks to the AYC for inviting us all to your clubhouse for that excellent hot chowder and libations after the race! Awesome finish to a perfect day of sailing! 8

9 Boat name Angry Hillbillies Wahoo Maine Squeeze Majic Dragon Second Chance Wainui Star Too Boat name Out Patient Moore Fun Breezy Green Flash Zuma Jay Halona Allegria Sea Bird SpitDog Courageous Touch of Grey Desert Wind Spinnaker results Skipper PHRF Boat type Finish Time Place Rating Moore/Klatt Alan Macnaughton Mike Taylor Mike Hopper Phil Sauer Mark Coleman Sid Karneke Olson 30 Hobie 33 Schock 35 J22 Swan 441 Cal 48 Lancer 28 Non-spinnaker results Skipper PHRF Boat type Rating Randy Alcorn Joe Joines Chris Johnston Jon Rodriguez Kevin Dickman Norbert Hirsch Paulson/Wooding Phil/Chelsea Tifo Chuck Manley Larry Burroughs Bruce Alker Pat Morrison Cal 29 Moore 24 Catalina 27 Ranger 26 Cal 25 Islander 32 Cal 334 Cal 34 DelRey 24 Pacific Seacraft 25 Islander 34 Capri 22 13:49:46 13:53:00 14:01:50 14:02:36 14:02:52 14:05:29 14:52: Finish Time Place 14:10:12 14:10:25 14:15:05 14:18:35 14:23:50 14:24:00 14:24:01 14:27:30 14:25:41 14:51:39 15:17:25 DNS MultiHull results Boat name Skipper Rating Empress Saline Solution Robert Shirley Robert Martinez Boat type Weta Dart Finish Corrected Time Time 13:42: DNS Place 1 2 9

10 PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet Your Ventura Sailing Club representative for PHRF is Richard Sharpe. He attends the monthly meeting of Area A1 and 2, and will help with any matters concerning ratings and certificates for your boat. Richard can be reached at or If you have any racing reports to make to the Competitive Edge, please send them to Crew Anyone who would like to crew can be listed here please let us know if you are interested! Also, if you are looking for crew for your boat, you can also be listed here. Name Orest Balabon (Cal 20 racing experience) Lannie Legler No Boat Looking to Crew Melissa Harper No Boat Looking to Crew Matt Barker experienced crew! Contact Information 10

11 VSC Race Calendar The 2011 Racing Calendar is out! Sat / Sun April 2nd 3rd Smuggler s Bash Opening Day Saturday June 25 th Frenchy s Rum Run Sat / Sun September 10 th -11 th The Prison Break Saturday November 26 th Wild Turkey Classic Plastic 11

12 Submit Contributions to: Richard Sharpe Deadline for contributions The Ides of each month We need content from you, the members, along with suggestions you may have for articles. Club Location: Meetings: Second Tuesday of every month 6:30 PM or approximately thereafter or sometime after everyone finishes dinner Gatherings: Fourth Tuesday of every month somewhere near 6:30 PM 1413 S. Victoria Ave # F Ventura, CA Newsletter Sponsorships: Business card sized advertisements $20 for 3 months or $70 per year 12