Tuesday, December 18, 2012

MYC Board Approves Plans for Formal Sunfish Series Next Summer


Soon to be seen every Saturday at MYC?
At their December 17 meeting, the MYC Board of Directors agreed to move forward with a plan for a formal Sunfish/Laser racing series starting with the 2013 racing season.

The plans as presented have the Sunfish fleet joining the Laser fleet for joint small boat racing to be held on Saturday afternoons. The informal Saturday races will convert to a formal series, like the Flying Scot/Day Sailer series on Sundays. Moving the main Sunfish racing from Sundays to Saturdays allows 5-6 races on courses more friendly to Sunfish. It also allows regular Flying Scot and Day Sailer skippers to try the smaller boats, and conversely, to allow Sunfish sailers to try the bigger boats on Sundays. An alternate suggestion from the Board at the meeting was to hold Sunfish races on Friday nights to attract skippers from the Laser fleet as well.

The board has asked Mark Stoughton to reach out to MYC's Sunfish owners with the plans, and to hold an informational meeting in January, with the goal of presenting a final plan to the full membership at the February 2013 General meeting.


Sunday, December 16, 2012

Last Frosty Week for MYC@Barrington

A poorly timed freezing raindrop gave the BoatCam a case of Macular Degeneration this week

After giving us six weeks of excellent racing weather, it was payback time for Mother Nature at the races this week.  Freezing rain and sleet dropped on the racers, and even took out the BoatCam.  Racing has been extremely tight in both the A and the B flets over the course of the entire series.  Scott Greenbaum lost first place overall to Andy David on the last leg of the last race.  Eric Woodman took first place for the day in the A Fleet, and in the B Fleet Lazz MacKenzie had an outstanding day on the race course, and came in second in the Masters Division.  The B fleet has seen huge improvements over the course of the series, going from distant finishers to finishing in the pack more often than not.  Less than a point separated the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers.  As far as MYC goes, Mark took second for the day in the B fleet behind John Hause, and also took 3rd for the series in the B fleet.  Gary took 7th in the series for the A fleet.

With the completion of the Barrington series, the extended 2012 MYC Sunfish season has come to a close.  Tomorrow night's Executive Board meeting starts the planning for the upcoming 2013 Sunfish Season at MYC.  We're looking to start a new Sunfish racing series, and we're actively looking for racers.  If you're not a member of MYC, no worries, non-members are welcome to participate in the racing.  Just show up and race!  

We'll also keep up with developments in the larger world of Sunfish racing as a whole, of which MYC is just a small part.  We'll keep you posted.


Sunday, December 9, 2012

Next to Last Week for MYC@ Barrington

This week's Boat Cam victim

It was a strange day on the race course today.  The conditions were gentle enough but the racing wasn't.  There were collisions, mark rounding incidents and general recalls galore.  You'll even get to see one involving the boat cam.   As far as the Bumblee Bee fleet goes, Gary moved up in the overall standings while Mark moved down.  The B fleet standings are so close that it's going to come down to the wire next week to see who takes it.  After the races, Santa showed up at the BYC, greeted by a terrific trumpet rendition of "Here comes Santa Claus" by Corey Charles.  Unfortunately the Boat Cam's batteries were dead, so we don't have video of Santa's arrival or Corey's great trumpet work.

This week the BoatCam sailed with Eric Woodman.  YouTube also is now allowing us to post videos longer than 15 minutes, so the whole day's sailing is on one big video.


All Eric, All Day
(There was a lot of wind interference during Eric's introduction, and our crack audio team had to apply a lot of processing to be able to hear him, so it sounds a little tinny for the first 30 seconds)


Monday, December 3, 2012

Backwards Day @ Barrington



Mark Stoughton (in the blue and yellow Bumble Bee Boat) rounding the mark in 2nd place


At times this week it seemed like backwards day at the BYC Frostbiting series.  For most of the last leg of the last race, the 5 boats in the B fleet led the field, and the B fleet's Alan Silk took third overall in that race.   Alan had an incredible day, besting both of the MYC Bumble Bee boats. Alan took the Masters honors for the day from Gary Werden and took first in the day's B fleet races ahead of Mark Stoughton, who took second for the day.  Overall, Alan leads the B fleet and Mark is just edging out Nick Senich for second place in the B Fleet series.

Bill Brangiforte had the boat cam this week.  Here are this weeks races from his vantage point:


Race 1


Race 2


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

US Sailing 2013-2016 Racing Rules Study Guide


US Sailing has posted a study version of the 2013-2016 Racing Rules of Sailing.  The guide highlights all f the rules changes, and also has an appendix with references and rationales for each of the rules changes.  It's a big book, 283 pages, but then again, it's a long winter and it's always good to curl up with a book.

2013-2016 Racing Rules of Sailing Annotated Study Guide

Sunday, November 25, 2012

No News Today




Somewhere in the Sunfish world there may be racing today, but not here. In honor of Thanksgiving, there is no Frostbiting at Barrington today. Given the heavy gusts and the colder than average temperatures, that is probably not a bad thing.





This break also gives us time to work on the new Sunfish events that are being planned for next summer.  Stay tuned for more announcements!


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Bullets for Massapoag @ Barrington

Gary Werden reeling in Bill Brangiforte in the last race at Barrington

The blue and yellow Massapoag Bumble Bee Fleet pulled off another good showing today at the Barrington Frostbite Series.  After six races in gusty and shifty conditions, Gary Werden took 1st Place in the Masters division (Yes they are a big enough and old enough fleet to have one), and Mark Stoughton bested close competition to take 1st in the 5 boat B Fleet.

We've even got video.


Friday, November 16, 2012

Sunfish Class Site Back Online

The new look New England Sunfish Site

The Sunfish Class website is back up and running.  Plus it has been redesigned and looks great.  Thanks to Rich Chapman and Eric Woodman for all their hard work in getting the site back up and running.

New England Sunfish Class Association Web Site
International Sunfish Class Association Web Site

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Sunfish Class Web Site Update

Due to the ongoing malware infestation at sunfishclass.org, the Sunfish Class web site has taken up temporary residence at SunfishWorlds.org.

From the Sunfishworlds.org web site:
"As you may know, the sunfishclass.org website was hacked about 4 weeks ago. Eric Woodman and Rich Chapman are currently in negotiations with a web developer to start a new website for the class. In the meantime a temporary solution is needed in order not to present sunfishclass.org visitors with messages about a page that may harm their computer. For the moment traffic is redirected to this site. I will try to create Sunfish Class information pages asap. "


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Massapoag @ Barrington

Don't tell anybody, but Gary Werden is really good at sailing a Sunfish!

Mark Stoughton and Gary Werden Frostbiting in Barrington
Gary and Mark Stoughton are representing the MYC at the Barrington YC Fall Sunfish Frostbiting series. Today, the BYC Race Committee able to get in five races, under perfect conditions. Many of the Sunfish racers there are the world class hotshots that race in our Annual Regatta.  Gary finished 5th overall (Not bad for a Laser guy) and Mark finished 9th, which was good for 4th in the B fleet.

Full results are available on the BYC web site here.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Rapid Buttner Gets Life Membership Plus Other Sunfish Class News and Rule Changes

The International Sunfish Class met at the recently concluded Open Worlds in Sarasota, Florida, and Chris Williams, the Advisory council Chair, has posted an update on the SunfishForums.com web site. The class passed three new rules, two of which pertain to the use of a second halyard to secure the various versions of the Jens rig and the third to allow the use of a through bolt on the daggerboard stops to keep the stops from falling out.


Rapid Buttner (Sail # 9102) Sailing backwards for fun at 
the 2011 MYC Annual Regatta

The class also awarded Rapid Buttner a life membership to the class for his work as class historian.  Rapid sails with the traveling Sunfish circuit and visits MYC every September to race in our Annual Regatta.  Congratulations to you Rapid!

Snow on a Sunfish is a Depressing Thing to See

Frosting belongs on cakes, not sailboats

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Sunfish Frostbiting in Barrington, RI

All the Sunfish have gone home for the winter.  All that's left to take pictures of are the club boats.
The boats are out of the water, the docks are put away and the club is buttoned up for the winter.  The problem is, the summer went by too quickly and some of us (well, at least me) still want to race.  Fortunately, there is still Sunfish racing to be had.  Every fall, the Barrington Yacht Club has a Sunfish Frostbite series.  The races start at 1:00, and run every Sunday until December 16.  It costs only $10 to race, or $50 for the whole series.  The NOR and other documents can be found in the frostbite section of the BYC web site.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Sunfish Class Association Web Site Offline

Ominous Warning masquerading as the Sunfish Class Association Site

The US Sunfish Class web site has been hit by a malware infestation.  If you visit the site, or any regional site, you see an ominous warning instead of the normal friendly Sunfish web site.  In the meantime, Eric Woodman, the New England Class Representative, has created a temporary FaceBook page here where he is posting current information.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Time to Prepare for 2013

Now that the leaves have fallen, and the club has put away the docks, it's time to start thinking about 2013.  We're planning on running a full slate of Sunfish (and Laser) races for the 2013 season.  You don't have to be an MYC member to participate, you just have to show up with your boat and race.  Sunfish races happen on Sunday afternoons and Thursday nights, and other days are in the planning stages.

Before you know it, it will be spring and time for more of this


The Massapoag Capsize Club

The narrowing options of one Sunfish Skipper at the Regatta
The 63rd Annual Massapoag Yacht Club Regatta was one of those regattas that was a lot of fun in hindsight!  On Saturday the weather prognosticators led us to expect 9-12 knot winds and a possibility of some rain.  As things turned out, I think the wind blew the rain away.  The Race Committee measured consistent 26-30 knot winds, but at least the rain held off.

Half of the A fleet decided that it would be a better day to watch the races instead of participate in them.   Three members of the B fleet gamely braved the elements.  There were capsizes, gear breakages and rescues galore.  One poor skipper capsized five times before the start of the first race.  The first two B fleet races were won by the only skipper able to make is successfully around the course.

Needless to say everyone took advantage of the fact that it was Saturday night in some time zone, so in honor of that they started the Saturday "night" festivities a bit early.
Sunfishers from 18 to 80 participated in the gentle 30 knot breeze

Sunday was more in line with what the weather service had led us to believe.  The winds had died down to about 10 knots, and the rain was gone (mostly).   We were able to get in three races before the noontime deadline.

Kevin Burichian tok the honors for the A fleet, while Mark Stoughton topped the B fleet.  Full Results are here.


Kevin Buruchian - A Fleet Winner, with Diane Kampf, Regatta Chair

Bernadette Levesque B Fleet, 2nd Place with Diane Kampf