The 2011 sailing season is quickly wrapping up.  We will try to give you a bit of a break from the newsletters and move to two - a - month maximum.  With that being said there will still be a fair amount happening and our winters are pretty short when they only last from Thanksgiving to April 1st!

Despite the beautiful weather this past weekend, the wind gods did not favor Saturday's grade 5 match race. Dying winds limited racing to just one flight and ultimately an unscoreable regatta.

However, Sunday turned out to be much better. Hunt ran race committee for 4 boats in the casual 'pickup' style match racing that has become a popular format among our supporters. Each pair of boats saw 5 races and plenty of exciting action 

This Saturday is the final grade 5 of the year and it is forecasted to be incredibly beautiful and sail-able with temperatures in the mid 50s and plenty of wind - so if you're not signed up to race or volunteer - do it now!

For Sunday you can either sign up here or you can make sure you are at OBMC by 9:30am and look for Ronnie.

 

We're getting a jump start on boat work this year - the shop is cleaned  and we've rolled 4 boats inside. In the picture to the left you can see Peacemaker, our Ker 11.5, on it's way into the shop. Along side Peacemaker are a pair of Melges 24's and a Match 40. Throughout the winter we will rotate each boat in for a full refit.  We'll keep you updated to the winter activities through the newsletters. Stay tuned for more on these projects.  

As many of you were aware, I was invited to the Volvo Ocean Race "Legend's Regatta" in Alicante Spain.  It was a bit of an ingenious marketing idea, which turned into a run-a-way success.  Basically with only 6 Volvo 70s registered and a Boston Consulting Group report that said the Volvo had become too far separated from it's rich history the organizers were looking for solutions.

 

The report indicated that with all of the modern communication and  x-games marketing the Volvo had lost some of the mystique of the old hard core adventurers who were truly sailing into the unknown and discovering how big the world really was - by sailing around it! The Legend's Regatta was a way of solving two problems with one idea.

The regatta was open to boats and teams from all past Whitbreads and Volvos. They were hoping for maybe 8-10 boats and around 100 people.  Instead - they ended up with 16 boats and over 600 people!    

We had Heineken and the owner Johannes Schwarz was gracious enough to let all 21 'Lady Legend's' (sailors from Maiden, Heineken, EF and Assa Abloy) race his boat.  

Me Jeni and Gloria + 20 Years

 

 

It was very cool to step onto a boat with that caliber of sailor . Most of the women I had sailed with extensively, either around the world or in the Americas Cup or other long term projects. But others I hadn't seen for quite a few years. To be truthful that would be 20 years, as in when we finished Maiden.

 

 

 

The social side was fun. For instance, the Kiwis on Camper invited all of the Lady Legends to their pavilion for a special drinks party. I saw Kenny Reed when I was on my way and he was kicking himself - "Why didn't we think of that!" Ahh flattery.

    

 

Back to the sailing; Day one was very light. The line was a big odd and there was some cross current pushing us over. The other two Volvo 60s had to bail out and circle around with less than a minute to go. Oakcliff's match racing really helped. I counted down every second until literally 3 when we pulled the trigger and were barely able to get the bow down inside of the mark and start - but we were way ahead of the other two boats. Phew! That was the excitement. The rest of the race was very very light and they eventually abandoned it but it was so much fun to get sails up and down and work in a coordinated fashion with 4 teams forming one.

 

Day two was a completely different scenario. We were able to win the start again and the winds were much higher in the 18 -20 knot range but very shifty.  

 

Surfing in 30 knots

The course was about 30 miles and as were on the beat up to the turning mark the wind was gusting pretty solid into the 30s. It was getting late and the spray was aligning with the rays of the lowering sun. I had a urge to just keep going. Heineken was handling perfectly and I thought:  There is nowhere in the world that I would rather be at this moment! Nice. 

Turns out, the turn was a good idea because we screamed downwind and again Heineken handled beautifully getting some great surfs. I was transported back to being 25.  Certainly not old enough to be a 'Legend'! 

 

Speaking of staying young, don't forget that the winter is a great time to get in shape. Have you heard of cross training?  Sailing workouts are also good for skiing and skiing workouts are good for sailing.  

The Oakcliff Team has been training at Evo-Sport every Tuesday with trainer Steve Gourlay. Steve has been pushing the team hard and week by week and we are all seeing some significant improvements.   It took a while but with the Tuesday's looming everyone also realized that working out IN BETWEEN the team workouts is beneficial!

Call Evo Sport (516) 628-3488 if you are ready to get your game up.

I also couldn't help but notice that Ian Walker, skipper of Abu Dhabi might have benefited from Oakcliff's acorn and sapling program. When interviewed dockside as they were repairing their mast, he said:

"We have a fantastic team and I feel like a spare part at the moment. I think I should have learned more about rigging as a nipper. I can't do much more than make cups of tea and go round and check with people and encourage them to get it all done quick."

No problem Ian, you can stop by Oakcliff any time :-).  We hope you enjoyed this newsletter and we will see you again soon!
 

Acorn Jacon Mayer visited the storied International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) in Newport, RI. They offer industry specific training for future boatbuilders. In the photo to the left you can see some of their facilities - including two mock boat hulls that allow their students to practice boatbuilding before they get their hands on the real thing. 

 

 

Vote for Photos
The World Yacht Forum is holding a photo contest.  There are quite a few beautiful photos to be viewed and you can vote for one too.  Speaking of that - hope everyone voted yesterday!