Dreaming of Sailing, or Dreaming and Sailing: Bart's Bash Comes to MYC

During last year's America's Cup, the Artemis team suffered a major tragedy when their catamaran capsized and broke apart. Crew member Andrew "Bart" Simpson was trapped under the wreckage and died. His longtime friends Sir Ben Ainsle and Ian Percy established the Bart Simpson foundation to promote youth sailing around the world.

This fall, September 21, to be exact, the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation is attempting to enter the record books.  They are going to attempt to set a world record for the most boats racing simultaneously. Not just at a single club, but racing simultaneously around the world. Massapoag Yacht Club has signed up to be part of the record attempt. The attempt is to be made at 11:00am British time, which translates to 7:00am at Massapoag, where a bunch of sleepy (maybe even still sleeping) skippers will be starting to race before most people are out of bed.

Anyone wishing to participate in the world record attempt is invited to come down to MYC on September 21. We will have people on hand to record our part of the effort that will be forwarded for certification with the people at the Guinness book of World Records

The official web site for Bart's bash is here: http://www.bartsbash.co.uk/

It's Hard to Believe...

It's hard to believe, but it's just two weeks to the start of the Spring Frostbite series in Barrington. The current water temperature in Barrington is 36 degrees, about 5 degrees colder than normal.  Just throw a six-pack of your favorite carbonated and/or fermented beverages into the water at launch, and it will be the perfect temperature at the end of the day! I'm not sure that the same can be said about the sailors.

The Boatcam is warmed up and ready to go, so whoever ends up being the first victim, you have big shoes to fill following Scott's finish last year!

Meanwhile in warmer environments, planning for the MYC sailing season is underway.  The Sunfish/Laser regatta is scheduled for May 31, a week before the Sunfish regionals in Barrington. It's a great regatta to use as a warm-up for the Regionals.

Everything's Frozen...Time to go Sailing

Believe it or not, Winter WILL turn to Spring, and sooner than we think.

We're in another Polar Vortex in the middle of winter, the lakes are all frozen solid, as is the ground. Reports have come in that other frostbite fleets have had to cancel due to excessive ice. The air has a chill and it feels like more snow is on the way. What better time for the denizens of Lake Massapoag to get together and talk about sailing!  Mory and Mary Waltuck hosted the Massapoag Yacht Club's annual winter brunch at their beautiful home on Lake Mirimichi this morning.  They put out a wonderful spread guaranteed to help pack on the winter fat and had coffee available by the gallon. About 30 people showed up to avail themselves of the Waltuck's hospitality, and there were a lot of discussions of past adventures, sailing rumors and and future plans. Thanks to Mory and Mary for a great time!

Speaking of future plans, it's hard to believe that the season is coming upon us. Barrington Frostbiting stars up in just three weeks! The MYC Saturday Sunfish Series is going to start earlier this year, and run later.  Racing will start on May 17, three weeks after the Spring Work Party, and just two weeks after the end of the Frostbite season in Barrington.

Boat Lust in Providence

A Sunfish and all her friends on display

Given all of this cold weather lately, it's about time someone gave us our sailing fix. For the first time in a long time, the Providence Boat Show contained some sailboats. LaserPerformance, Zim, RS Sailing and even JBoats and Hunter had boats on display.

The International Yacht Restoration School had a Moth on display, while students from Tiverton (Ri) High School built a stich and glue canoe from scratch during the show.

LaserPerformance had almost their entire product line on display, with videos showing their newest boat, the Z420, although oddly, they had only a C420 on display.  They explained the lack of Z420’s was due to the fact that they are selling them fast than they can make them.  They are also making a major push to outfit youth programs with Zumas and Sunfish.

Zim Sailing hasn't been idle either. Bob Adam from Zim told us that just this week, they became a North American distributor for the 29er.  They are also offering repair services for all makes and models at their factory in Bristol. 

 

British based RSSailing had most of their line on display, including the phenomenal single handed skiff, the RS100.  They have a thriving class in Europe and are trying tobuild a presence in the US.  Weta had their single handed trimaran racer on display.

It was refreshing to see sailboats return to the Providence show after an absence of several years. Let's hope that the trend continues.

Lot's more Providence Boat Show Boat Porn on the MYCSunfish Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96179726@N06/sets/72157640482239493