Greetings!
The entire East Coast wallowed with little to no wind last weekend but Oakcliff, with PRO Todd Field and his team managed to get a regatta in, the Ker 50 had a great Saturday followed by an average Sunday just missing silver at the NYYC Annual Regatta and the Classic Fleet wrapped up their series. The winds didn't allow for the boats to finish before the time limit but the party did NOT suffer. This week we have Wednesday Coached Fleet Race and a Grade 5 match race on Saturday. We can use a few more umpires or umpires in training for this event. Mark boat operators also needed. Email us if you are interested. Next week we have a big team-building event which will require us to cancel Tuesday drills and Wednesday's coaching will be a little bit scaled back but that race will still go on. On Thursday night, the Classics are back. There is a lovely 4 mile race followed by a casual BBQ. We especially can use some talented classic sailors to help out on Bolero. Just go here and sign up.
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| The Beautiful Bolero Helps Kick of Classic Thursdays |
 Hunt has invited a friend to join us on our Thursday Night Classic Racing and his friend, Ed owns a BEAUTIFUL boat. Here is a link to an article of when she was launched. I am thinking that depending on her handicap she may give Caper a bit of a run for her money.
For those of you who would like to sail on Thursdays please remember to sign up on line. Also we will continue to do our casual Thursday BBQs after sailing and you are welcome to bring something to share or kick $20 into the 'trophy dish' to offset costs. I'm looking forward to these lovely Classic Oakcliff evenings. |
Johannessen and Wilson Move on to Next Round
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 As mentioned above the weekend was uber-light. Ironically the Friday clinic led by USMMA's Rick Dominique had lovely wind. But on Saturday we were only able to get in two flights and then we sat and waited until 5pm when it was obvious there was no chance of more racing. CHUMP Bruce Cook led a long and productive debrief as Sweet Tomato set up for the Classic Awards Party.
The sitting and waiting continued on Sunday, some were more creative in their waiting than others with hammocks and guitars involved. We cobbled together a few more flights in a light NE wind and finally the sea breeze came in and all competitors agreed to extend the time limit to finish the round robin. Congratulations to everyone who managed to hold it together in challenging conditions and good luck to Chris Johannessen and Paul Wilson who will go onto the Area A, B, C Area Finals in Manhasset Bay July 21-22 and toward the US Sailing Match Racing Championship September 19-23 in Marblehead MA.
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Umpire Seminar Another Chance
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More and more of you have been gaining experience umpiring match racing but why not make it official. On Friday July 6th we'll host the seminar and then on July 7 and 8 you'll be able to go straight into umpiring the Youth Clinegatta and get your assessment which is a part of the umpire certification process.
Sign up HERE to take the seminar. I can promise you, even if you have no intention of becoming an umpire this seminar and experience will help you in your match racing. |
Three Oakcliff Boats Racing to Bermuda - Friday
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 Friday will see three boats carrying Oakcliff Team members headed off to Bermuda. The bulk of our saplings will be on the 50 now known as Temptation Oakcliff. I know it sounds a tiny bit like a romance novel, but we are very happy to have Art Santry as a sponsor for this summer's racing. The Santry family has had a long line of boats named Temptation. Mike "Koko" Komar is the boat captain for this summer and he and the rest of the staff and saplings continue to get the boat in top race shape. From training in the rain to fixing the engine and dealing with all of the paperwork! There will be three saplings and some supporters aboard "Aidan's Dad's Boat" otherwise known as Bacci and finally the Ker 11.3 will be going double-handed with Jeff MacFarlane and Mike Tolsma. You can watch the race tracking here. We are looking forward to an amazing and safe race. Finally if anyone would like to drive a car back from Newport let us know. race@oakcliffsailing.org |
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Once we get the boats off to Bermuda and host a successful Grade 5 this weekend and have a successful team building event and two speeches, one at Westpoint and one for Connecticut Singles Under Sail, I'll be able to exhale. Well not really until the boats are all back here safe and sound and successful. It is hard having this many 'kids' to worry about!
So on that note - Happy Father's Day to all of you. Enjoy and I hope you have a moment on Sunday to "Exhale".
Sincerely,
Dawn Riley and
Oakcliff Sailing Center |
