Wow, what a race and workout last Saturday

It was great to see that we had seven Keelboats lined up for the start last Saturday morning and we all had to work hard to keep the boats under control. “White caps on the lake” it felt almost like a gale with sustained winds from 15 up to 23 knots.

Our judge Tom set up the Olympic course with great care and his boat rocked like he was dancing with the Stars.


A few minutes before the start we all tried to get to the best positions but Brian and his crew beat us all with a fantastic start and took off as never before with Rick and Marcus on his stern and Rich close behind. Henk and Wenona almost missed the start line but made it by two foot and went in pursuit of the front runners and Rodger and Nabil with his crew closed the ranks.

Unfortunately Byron had a problem with his rudder so he, his family and guests had to go back to shore to take care of their problem.


Arriving at the first buoy Rick had taken the lead and rounded buoy One first, Henk was unable to close the gap only just after the next rounding where after he took over the lead and that stayed that way until the end of the race. Rich with only his main sail over took Brian and finished second, Brian third and Rick fourth than Rodger and Nabil took the last place.

It was a first time we sailed with so much wind at Lake Calhoun and we all felt we accomplished something.

Thanks guys. See you next race at Saturday September 12.

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Keelboat race #5 August 15

Last Saturday August 15th, we completed an other Keelboat race on Lake Calhoun.
The weather was great with winds gusted up to 25 knots, after Larry ferried us to our boats, four skippers lined up for the start.

We where happy to see that Brian was able to re launch his boat on time after repairing a leak. Rich had his own little problem. Rick was back with a new crew member.

We all had a good start and close together we all set course to round the first buoy.


Henk and Wenona had to work hard to keep their boat in line witch leaned over up to 40 degrees one time but where able to make distance between the rest of the fleet and kept it until the end of the race.


Brian and Alberto came in second and Rich third.











To our surprise we all saw Rick turning towards the dock as he forgot he had one more leg to go so he closed the ranks on fourth place.





We had a great race with the challenge of sailing stronger winds and had to work hard that left us all with a satisfied feeling.
Back at the dock we had our after-sail discussions of what we did right or wrong before going our separate ways.

A personal thank to our judge Dale who set up the Olympic course the way only he could.

See you at the next race Saturday August 29th.

2009 APOSTLE ISLANDS CRUISE INVITATION FROM TWIN CITIES SAILING AND LAKE HARRIET YACHT CLUBS

Would you like to join our amazing fun-times cruise? You are invited.
Each year Twin Cities Sailing Club of Lake Harriet, Minneapolis organizes a trip in the Apostle Islands near Bayfield, WI. This year the Apostle trip will take place Thursday, Sept 24 through Sunday, Sept. 27 (drive up on Thurs, back on Sun) and we 6 boats reserved (32 to 35') with room for 38 people total (6 skippers, 32crew). Each boat holds about 6 people.

This year some of the skippers of the boats will be TCSC members, some will be from the Lake Harriet Yacht Club. See selected trip photos below. Cost will be ~$265. Food and beverage are covered by crew of each boat. Hiking, lighthouse touring, and bonfires on the beach are also part of the fun. A $125 deposit (non-refundable) is also required, and is due by August 14.

Here is the itinerary:
THURSDAY, Sept 24Afternoon--carpool up to Bayfield (approx 4 hr trip)
Evening--group dinner at marina restaurant. (out-of-pocket expense)
Night--sleep aboard boats in Superior Charter's marina

FRIDAY, SEPT 25Morning--set sail from Port Superior marina (near Bayfield).
Evening--sleep aboard boats at anchor near island, bonfire possible

SATURDAY, SEPT 26Sail all day
Evening--sleep aboard boats while at anchor near one of the islands

SUNDAY, SEPT 27Afternoon--return boats to Port Superior marina by 3pm.
Afternoon--unload cargo, clean boats 3 to 4pm.
Late afternoon--drive home to Mpls.

Cost will be ~$265. Food and beverage are covered by crew of each boat. Hiking, lighthouse touring, and bonfires on the beach are also part of the fun. A $125 deposit (non-refundable) is also required, and is due by August 14. Send check and registration to:
Twin Cities Sailing Club, 2751 Hennepin Ave S #33, Minneapolis MN 55408

We need a confirmation tally in order to make further cruise arrangements:

WHAT WE NEED ASAP
Email confirmation/status to skipper.johnb@gmail.com

C.Y.C New Keelboat Racer

Dear Sailing friends.

I would like to introduce and welcome our new C.Y.C member and Keelboat Racer. The family Richard. They will be joining us the next race.

Sailing tragedy remembered “The Fastnet disaster August 14th 1979”.

August 4, 2009, I would like to share and stand still a moment by the biggest Maritime Rescue Operation ever. The Fastnet Race Disaster 1979. As a young sailor in the Royal Dutch Navy stationed on the Destroyer Hr.Ms. Overijsel, I took part of this recue mission.



“The Fastnet disaster 1979”.

The 605-mile Fastnet race is considered one of amateur yachting's greatest challenges. From the start line at Cowes, competing yachts sail down the English Channel to the end of Cornwall before striking out across the Irish Sea towards the lighthouse-topped Fastnet Rock, off the south-west tip of Ireland. Once round the rock and without stopping, the yachts re-cross the Irish Sea to finish at Plymouth. The race can take up to a week to complete.

The 1979 Fastnet began in fine weather. But within the space of 48 hours it had turned into every sailor's worst imaginable nightmare. The race was hit by a violent Force 12 Huricane storm that swept across the North Atlantic and into the southern Irish Sea, catching forecasters almost completely unawares.
For almost 24 hours, the estimated 2,700 men and women crewing the fleet were pounded by monster waves whipped by screaming 60-knot winds. Dozens of boats capsized or lost their rudders. Crews who escaped to what they assumed was the safety of an inflatable life-raft were horrified to discover that their floating shelters simply disintegrated under the force of the 40 foot waves. Lifeboats, rescue helicopters, merchant ships and the navies of at least three countries were involved in a desperate struggle to save them.

The storm wrought its vengeance in an era which was still without the modern navigational aids that today's sailing legends such as Dame Ellen MacArthur and Samantha Davies take for granted. Thirty years ago, sailors had no recourse to GPS receivers which can pinpoint a yacht's position with a degree of accuracy which allows for an error of a mere 15 feet. Neither could they rely on satellite phones, or sophisticated computerized weather-forecasting techniques, or DSC radios which can relay a yacht's position to a rescue-service command centre at the press of a button.

By the time the 1979 Fastnet had officially finished, 15 people had died, five yachts had sunk, 24 crews had abandoned ship and 136 sailors had been rescued.





In the garden of Cowes Holy Trinity Church there is now a memorial to the 15 who were lost. It is a simple sculpture made from large stones collected by Irish sailors from the barren, windswept ledges of the goal they were all aiming for – the Fastnet rock. Only 85 boats out of 303 managed to complete the race that year.

For more information about this please visit original publication at: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/sailing/hell-and-high-water-the-fastnet-disaster-1748093.html

Rescue of Brian's Boat

At 8 o’clock Saturday morning Henk received a call from Shannon that Brian’s boat was sinking. It took a few minutes to let it sink in, while he was waking up.Henk went to Calhoun to see what was going on. Shannon, Alberto and Henk rowed to the aspirating submarine and they pushed, rowed and pulled the boat as close to shore as they could.


Later when the other keelboat racers, (Rich, Roger, Larry, Marcos and Bill) arrived with Nabil and Zaid closing the group,we decided (unfortunately) to cancel the race due to too much wind with gusts over 20 knots. So we all helped Brian to get his boat floating again.


Bill and Rich took the motor boat to straighten up some capsized C-Boats and Linda’s 420.
Later that morning when the wind dropped, most of us went sailing and had a great time.




See you at the start of the next Race 8/15