Fleet regatta at Christchurch

The picture above pretty much sums up the event. Drifting conditions on the varsity course resulted in only 2 A division races. B division was shuttled out for their races but never even got a start. Then the rain came. Then the wind came. Then the lightning came. Then we went home.

The JV fleet did manage to get 3 triangle races in, the minimum to count. Since one of our sailors couldn't make the trip, we were one person short. Nolan crewed for another unpaired sailor from NSA (a 7th grader) and they won their event with finishes of 4 - 2 - 1. It didn't hurt that Leila (the skipper) had raced Optis for 4 years and knew how to manage starts pretty well.

The regatta summary from the regatta organizers is here:

Saturday, September 8:

Sixteen teams representing 11 high schools arrived at the Rappahannock River to light winds, high humidity and temperatures ranging from the mid-70's to the mid 80's. Initial northerly winds around 5mph oscillated west and died by noon. JV racing was then concluded before the afternoon pop-up thunderstorms commenced. Three single division races were completed on a port triangle course. Bishop Sullivan took first place with 8 points, followed by Kecoughtan in second with 11 points, and Norfolk Academy Team 1 in third place with 14 points.


On the varsity course, further out in the river, eighteen varsity team one A Division boats (FJ's) were able to complete only two W-4 races due to diminishing winds, resulting in a non-event. Had those scores counted for anything, CCS Team 2 would have taken first place, followed by CCS Team 1 in second, and Kecoughtan High School winning third place with the tiebreaker against Norfolk Collegiate Team 1 and Poquoson Team 1. On the team 2 course, again only two A division races were completed which resulted in a non-event. Had those scores counted, CCS 1 woud have taken first place, followed by CCS 2 in second, and Norfolk Academy 1 in third place.

			School	Team	A		TOT
	1		Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School	Crusaders	8		8
	2		Kecoughtan High School	Warriors	11		11
	3		Norfolk Academy	Bulldogs 1	14		14
	4		Maury High School	Commodores 2	20		20
*	5		Norfolk Collegiate School	Oaks 3	21		21
*	6		Norfolk Collegiate School	Oaks 2	21		21
*	7		Norfolk Collegiate School	Oaks 1	22		22
*	8		Grafton High School	Varsity	22		22
	9		Poquoson High School	Islanders 2	27		27
	10		Maury High School	Commodores 1	29		29
	11		Walsingham Academy	Trojans	33		33
	12		Christchurch School	Seahorses	34		34
*	13		Norfolk Academy	Bulldogs 2	35		35
*	14		Poquoson High School	Islanders 1	35		35
	15		Hampton Roads Academy	Navigators	36		36
	16		Granby High School	Granby	40		40

This week we'll be preparing for a visit from Florence. Stay tuned.

Practicing starts

Another day of crew tryouts on Willoughby Bay. This afternoon skippers were given a start line and a leeward gate to practice timing of starts and leeward roundings. The aeronometer on the Willoughby degaussing tower showed about a 11-14 mph breeze from 4-6 p.m.

Regatta schedule posted

The fall 2018 regatta schedule has been finalized and is found on the right-hand sidebar. Note that most are fleet races but the Thursday regattas in September are team races (3 on 3) as is the Saturday regatta on October 13th. The TCIS championships is a 3 boat/school fleet race on Thursday October 25th. We would have to qualify for the regattas marked with the two asterisks.

Sailing try-outs underway

Below are a few pics from Tuesday's crew try-outs. The breeze was about 6-8 knots on Willoughby Bay off the Naval Station.

Thanks to Jake, Josh, and Charlie for acting as skippers.

Crew tryouts will be Tuesday, August 28th

Students wishing to tryout for the crew position on the sailing team should plan on attending the session Tuesday after school from 3:30-6:30.

So I can plan on numbers, please e-mail me your intentions. We only have slots for 6 students (and a couple will have to be skippers!) If we have more than four folks wanting to be crews we'll schedule a second session on Wednesday the 28th.

So what does crewing on a dinghy entail? It would be useful to watch the video embedded above. The crew is the person in the front. Their job is to trim the jib (the smaller sail) and to help balance the boat with their weight. Here is another video:

Again the crew is controlling the jib and helping to balance the boat (sometimes the skipper will trim the jib when going downwind.) Almost NEVER will the crew be responsible for steering (although if the skipper falls overboard it would be helpful if you could sail back and pick them up!) 

Lastly, note that small boats do tip over and that sailing is often a "wet" sport. Here are two more videos that show dinghies sailing (and capsizing.)

Skipper try-outs will be Wednesday, August 22nd.

We will start sailing tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Naval Base. Since we can only have six students on the water at once I want to restrict this session to skippers only. If you want to try out for a racing skipper slot, and if you have a physical on file with the athletic director, then you should plan on attending. Bring sailing gear (shoes, pfd, extra clothes in case you get wet.) I'll bring helmets and pinnies. The forecast is for winds of about 10 knots:  

https://weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/l/23509:4:US

If thunderstorms are around we'll come in and end early.

Plan on being on the bus by 3:30 (short bus #2) we should return around 6:30.

EMAIL ME if you plan on attending Wednesday's session. Once I finalize the skipper slots we'll open up the crew try-outs (probably Friday or early next week.)

Sailing team try-outs

All:

We are still shore-bound until we get permission to use the Naval Station. Hopefully sometime this week!

I will work with students wanting to skipper on the team first. We have three 420s so I can have 6 folks on the water at once. You'll be paired with another skipper and will demonstrate your sailing ability.

Once the skippers are determined we'll add in the crews (and if you don't make the cut as a skipper you will probably be an excellent crew...)

I expect to have about twelve people on the team with practices every day after school, but with only half the team at a time. My initial planning is that half the team (probably the juniors/seniors) will practice on the M,W, F of one week and then on the Tu/Thurs of the following week. On the off-days the underclassmen will practice. Each practice session will start with a trip to the Naval Station on a mini-bus, leaving school at 3:30. Depending on the weather we'll sail until between 6:00 and 7:00 and then return to school (it's about a 20 minute transit so if practice ends at 6:00 we should be back by 6:30.) Yes, these will be long days (so you should bring an after school snack on your practice days.) Note that on the days you are NOT practicing you need to make an extra effort to keep up (or even get ahead) of school-work.

I've established a googleclass called Sailing Team where I've posted assignments and questions in the Stream. Please accept the g-mailed "invitation" to join the class.