I am getting ready for our first regatta and not sure what to do?
Many of the kids will be participating in their first regatta in a week and a half. Here are the steps to prepare for the regatta:
1. Make sure you boat is ready. John Holmes will be coordinating trailers and boats. If you are planning on going – let John know by e-mail. Give him your boat type and number and then join us at practice on September 4th to make sure the trailer is loaded.
2. Get the Notice of Races (NOR). The NORs tell you the location and times of the regatta as well as some other useful things. But most importantly the time to start racing. I copied links to the NORs for all TSA regattas through the year above.
3. Download the Registration Form and Medical Release form – fill these out before you arrive (this is at the end of the NORs for TSA events).
4. Get to the club the morning of the race early. Here are the times at Fort Worth from the NOR.
07:30-09:30 Breakfast
08:00-09:30 Registration at the Clubhouse
09:45 Competitors’ Meeting at the Clubhouse (Attendance Mandatory)
10:45 Preparatory Signal for the first race, additional races to follow between races
This means you need to register before 9:30, and have the boat rigged and ready to go in the water by 9:45 (before the skippers meeting). So we should all probably be at the club by 8:00 to 8:15
5. Your child will receive a Sailing Instructions (also called a Part IIs). They should read these over before the event. They include the coarse diagram. The fleet assignments and other info as well as any other special changes to sailing rules specific to this regatta.
6. Rig your boat
7. Go to the Skippers meeting (this is a mandatory meeting where the race committee will go over any last minute directions)
8. Sail fast and have fun.
What Else Do I Need:
This is just the tip of the iceberg. I am sure you have other questions. Please e-mail any of the board members and we will try to answer your questions. Again, at times it is hard to talk during practice because we are focused on the kids so drop us a line by e-mail and we will get your questions answered.
Thanks for All Your Help (July 2008)
What a great summer the junior program is having. The love for sailing is coming out as people are dedicating their time and dollars to the program. We had five adults and two of the teen juniors give up four days to get certified as instructors, plus two gave up a second weekend to become level 2 certified coaches. This gives us seven people that can work with the kids as instructors or coaches. This is a huge improvement in our program. In addition to the time, many paid for the instruction on their own.
We also had four Teen Juniors (Luke Holmes, Arianna Cobb, Alexis Meyers and Hannah Callahan) working as volunteers at the camps for two to four weeks each. This is a combined 480 total hours of volunteering by the kids. What a great help this has been.
In addition to the kids and parents helping out, many of the GSC members whose kids are past Junior age continue to come out and support the program by running the Silly String Regattas to helping put on a Junior Nationals at the Catalina 22 regatta. What a great help from all of you. The juniors really appreciate everything you have done.
Finally, we receive about 35% of all of our funding through donations. This year we have received over $6,000 in boat donations (boats that have been donated by club members and DFW families), as well as donations of parts, equipment and cash. These direct dollar or boat donations go towards helping us build our fleet of training boats. We are always looking for donations and they are tax deductible since we are a 501C3 non-profit group. We currently have six Picos that provide the learn to sail kids with a great, safe platform for learning. We also have 12 Optis that provide the beginning racer with a starter boat for getting going and another 3 Lasers to support the kids as they transition to bigger boats. All of the boats require lots of upkeep and support and we really appreciate all of your help.
Finally, we need to remember one of our biggest supporters. John Swick and Marina’s International. They provide boat storage and slips, a great place to have camp and a friendly smile to all of the kids and instructors. Without them, we could never afford to have the program we have.
Thanks to everyone that helps make the Junior Program possible.
Busy Month Of May (June 2008)
As Mark said, this was a busy month for the club and a busy month for the Juniors. The month started off with a handful of members becoming USSailing Instructor Certified. This included several of the Junior Coaches and parents as well as Jerry Telley who provides all of the class room instruction for our sailing seminar. We learned to rescue boats, drive backwards, and run drills as well as how to teach in the class room while keeping it interesting for all involved. I believe having 6 club members certified will really help us continue to grow our ability to train and share our knowledge of sailing with new members.
Next up on the calendar was Grapevine Sailings Silly String Regatta and Texas Girl’s Championship. This was a really great race with 46 boats registered and 49 kids participating. John Holmes ran the overall regatta and did a great job managing all of the teams to make this happen. We ran two separate lines and scored kids in both the TSA circuit stop as well as the first ever Texas Girl’s Championship. Again, John Holmes had the idea for the Girls Championship and helped to drive it at Grapevine Sailing Club. The top girls in the Regatta were crowned the State Championship by Texas Sailing Association. The winners included:
- Kayla Gibson – Red Fleet Opti and Opti Overall
- Kaylie Mings – White Fleet Opti
- Katelynn Newberry – Laser 4.7
- Shelby Aughtry (Skipper) and Allison Moorehead (Crew) – Double handed Sailing 420 Collegiate
Other GSC members that did well in the Silly String Regatta include Luke Holmes taking 3rd overall in Laser Radial and Max Lipari taking 1st in the Green Fleet. We had several other GSC team mates competing in other divisions and everyone had a great time. A special thanks goes out to Patty Williams and Shelly Stephens for taking pictures. We used the pictures as trophies for all winners. To see some of the pictures please go to: Grapevine Sailing Club Juniors's photo gallery. In addition, I’d like to thank all of the club members and Junior parents that helped with the regatta. Once again we put on a great regatta with great sailing, good food and lots of hospitality – thanks to everyone.
But May was not over, up next on the agenda was the Catalina 22 nationals. And yes the Juniors got involved. Several Boat Owners gave the juniors a chance to see what sailing a big boat was all about. With winds blowing a steady 21 Knots and Gusts to 25 knots, these brave souls let the juniors take the helm and race. Special thanks goes out to Terry Telley, Dina Parker, Don Hare and Erik Slockers for donating their time and their boats right before a big regatta. The kids had a blast. The racing was tight with three different winners in three races. Luke Holmes and Max Lipari aboard Erik Slocker’s boat won the first race. In the second race, Lex Meyers and Grayson Parker aboard Dina’s Y-Knot took the shotgun at the finish. In the third race, Ben Lipari aboard Don Hare’s #45 took the line. With three races run Ben Lipari and Don Hare got a first, Luke Holmes, Max Lipari and Erik Slockers took home second, Lex Meyers, Grayson Parker and Dina Parker received a third and Ariana Cobb and Christian Meyers aboard Terry Talley’s boat brought home fourth. Again thanks to everyone that helped make this possible.
I want to thank John Holmes for volunteering as regatta Chairman for this years Silly String Regatta and Texas Girls Championship. I think this will be our largest event ever, in part due to hosting the first every Girls State Championship. Also thanks to all of the volunteers.
Great Turn Out At White Rock (By Luke Holmes - May 2008)
There was a great turnout from the GSC youth race team April 12-13 for the White Rock Regatta in Dallas. Eleven sailors in all represented GSC and did very well against stiff competition with no help from the harsh conditions on the water. These stood out over all:
Alexis Meyer: 5th in Opti red fleet
Sam Keitzer: 4th in Opti blue fleet
Ben Lipari: 6th Opti blue fleet
Christian Meyer: 7th Opti blue fleet
Austin Myers: 8th Opti blue fleet
Evan Clary: 7th Opti white fleet
Arian Cobb: 7th laser 4.7
Luke Holmes: 4th laser radial
Congratulations to a great regatta!
Our next regatta is the Silly String Regatta on May 17-18 at Grapevine Lake. Finally, no long drive!!! Something special about the Silly String this year is the first ever Girls Championship. This means that TSA will award the top women sailors in every fleet, as well as the usual scoring system. I hope to see all of the race team there.
Wisdom from the Sailing Dictionary:
Auxiliary: Any object, animate or inanimate, which is in the way when it is not needed and missing or broken when it is
Block: A pulley that connects a snarled line to a jammed cleat.
Sail Fast!
Sailing Fast In Austin (By Luke Holmes – April 2008)
The TSA Austin Yacht Club Roadrunner and Canyon Lake Regattas were last month with a great turnout from youth across the state of Texas. GSC had a strong showing with 6 sailors competing in Austin and 8 sailors at Canyon Lake:
Optis
Christian Meyer, Harper Chaffe, Austin Myers, Ben lipari, Alexis Meyer, Max Lipari, and Evan Clary raced at either Austin, Canyon Lake or both.
Green Fleet Austin:
Christian Meyers 3rd
Austin Myers - 5th
Harper Chaffer - 9th (out of 18 sailors)
Green Fleet Canyon Lake
Harper Chaffe - 1st,
Max Lipari - 6th.
The winds were howling Sunday and Harper got bullets in both races!! Way to go Harper!
Blue Fleet Canyon Lake
- Ben Lipari - 4th
Laser Canyon Lake
- Laser Radial - Luke Holmes - 2nd
- Laser 4.7 - Ariana Cobb - 3rd
also want to highlight Alexis Meyer. While we were competing in Canyon Lake, she was crewing on Lake Ray Hubbard at Rush Creek Yacht Club in the 2008 Genesta J/22 Midwinters Championship Regatta. Great job Alexis Meyer!
Ariana Cobb and Luke Holmes also competed in the Austin Yacht Club Laser Easter Regatta. Adult Laser sailors from as far away as Minnesota competed in the Regatta. 40 Lasers on the start line was quite an experience! The racing was fantastic!
Tip of the Month: Avoid bad, bad air!
As the wind flows over a sail, “wind shadows” are created. As a result, air is interrupted, requiring a length of distance behind a boat to return to normal. This is most noticeable in light air. The “experts” say that wind shadows can be as far as 10 boat lengths away, and when you’re in the “shadow”, the wind may be half as much as clean air. In heavy wind, it is less, perhaps 5 lengths.
So what does this mean to you and me? If possible, stay away from other boats! Do not follow, but attempt to tack out and get in clean air so you can go fast!
Sailing Definition!
Foul-Weather Gear: Type of weatherproof clothing usually needed only in the fall, spring, winter, and summer months!
Sailing Dictionary, By Henry Beard & Roy McKie
Sail Fast!
Spring Is In The Air (April 2008)
What a great time of year. The winds are blowing, the weather is great and we should all sail, sail, sail. So for those die hard sailors, we have an opportunity to double your sailing fun. Race big boats on Saturday and race small boats on Sunday. We will be running a Dinghy Spring Series race this year, but doing it on Sunday afternoons (1:30 pm starts). And everyone is welcome to join us. You say you do not have a dinghy to race, we even take care of that. For a small ($40 or to your heart is content, after all we are a non-profit group) donation to GCSEF, you can use on of the GCSEF Laser or Laser Picos for the series. The first 7 people to contact Mike Lipari get the ride. The Pico is a Laser sized boat with a main and jib. It is a little more forgiving than a Laser (more hull form stability for some of us that are too old to hike hard for more than a minute or two). It can be sailed by one adult or an adult and child or two children.
The best part of dinghy sailing is how much you learn that will help you sail fast on your Keel boat. For example, do you notice on your keel boat how weight placement fore and aft effects the speed and handling of the boat. It is hard to notice at times on a 3,000 plus pound boat that we all sail. On a Pico you will notice as you adjust your weight and fly by your opponents. Or ever notice the drag you make with fast rudder movements versus slow movements. On a heavy displacement boat it is hard to tell the impact, but we all know it can mean the difference between a first and second in close racing where someone wins by 1-2 seconds on corrected time. On a Pico you get immediate feedback and learn to manage your rudder movements much better. So yes, sailing a dinghy will make you a better keel boat sailor. Come out and join us. We will be racing April 7, April 21, May 5, and June 2.
What else is happening for all of you Dinghy Sailors. We have the following events. April 12-13 is a Junior Regatta at White Rock. April 26-27 is the Leukemia Cup at White Rock (GCSEF has both Lasers and Picos that we could take over to the event if anyone is interested in chartering a boat). May 17-18 is Silly String Regatta. We need volunteers for this regatta so please let either Mike Lipari, Jay Meyers or Tommy G to get on a committee. Also on May 17/18 is Main Street Days, we want to do a combined GCSEF/GSC booth at Main Street days to fill the camps and sailing seminars.
Last buy not least, the junior camp is starting to fill up, please get your kids signed up and participating. They can sign up through Grapevine Parks and Recreation. Also – we are still looking for another summer instructor so if you are or want to become level 1 certified and teach the young the sport you love. Give Mike Lipari a call.
So our next 45 days are packed with fun. Come out and join the fun of sailing a Dinghy. It is sailing at its purest.
