Greetings!
The Bermuda Race kind of takes over the sailing scene in the North East. Read below and then continue onto the Oakcliff Website for full reports on the three Bermuda Race teams and their return trips. Supporter Lorenzo Vascatto's Swan was pushed towards Bermuda in the fastest race in history while the Ker 50 surfed very well finishing third in class and the Ker 11.3 had a few more challenges.
Looking forward we are back to full speed on our regularly scheduled sailing. The winds are scheduled to continue for tonight's Coached Fleet Racing and Thursday's Classic Sunset Race. Sign up for these or any Oakcliff event on the calendar.
We also have a multitude of Match Racing opportunities coming up, including a Grade 3 this weekend that you can pop out and spectate. Get in on the action racing with the classics from 3-5pm on Sunday. Be at the dock at OBMC by 2:45. Next weekend Dave Perry comes back for a youth clinegatta. We still have some spots open for youth and are opening it up to some 'not quite young' sailors as well. Go Here to sign up.
Finally don't forget we are hosting a Umpire Seminar next Friday and then you will be able to jump out onto the race course and put all of your 'learning' to use on Saturday and Sunday.
For more offshore stories read on.
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Bacci Boogied to Bermuda
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"Bacci" the Swan 53 racing with Oakcliff colors, had a great race down to Bermuda enjoying the record setting conditions which enabled her to make the trip in less than four days. Skippered by Lorenzo Vascotto the crew was made up of a handful of friends, supporters, saplings and an acorn.
For the three saplings onboard this was their first Newport Bermuda Race and a great learning experience. The majority of the crew were seasoned having done this race several time before. The heavy air downwind sailing made the race special for everyone as the conditions were refreshing, especially compared to the light upwind sailing the race is known for.
Aidan, Lorenzo's son and a third year acorn, was sailing his second race to Bermuda and he was given the honor of steering the boat past St. Davids Light and across the finish line.
A special shout-out to mother and grandmother Vascotto for the homemade lasagna and meatloaf that kept us going throughout the race. -- Report filed by Sapling Solmon Krevans
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Temptation Oakcliff Grabs Silver
|  The Bermuda Race forecast for 2012 was for 600 Miles on port tack... note to self - next time don't over pack port galley cabinets with food. Oakcliff's Ker 50 Temptation completed the Bermuda Race in 62:12:52 giving them 3rd in IRC. Oakcliff teamed up with Newport, Rhode Island's Art Santry and put together a 16-strong team. Art brought along a strong crew of racing legends Phil Dyer, LJ Edgecomb as navigator and Oakcliff's Mark Disanti as 'adult supervision. Two of Art's kids Alexa and Richie were also on board and fit in well with saplings Collin, Chris, OD, Seth, Brock, Ann, Jon and Brock. Coaches Jacon and DB along with Captain Koko completed the high quality crew. Prior to Friday's race start Temptation had her fair share of work lists to be completed. For weeks the team worked day and night completing tasks ranging from splicing sheets to baking chicken for the race. Friday's highly anticipated race start came just as the last bits of equipment were stacked and the sails were tensioned. Finally, Temptation was off to the races with many and even balance of first timers and veteran Bermuda Racers looking forward to a great race. The few hundred of boats crewed with hungry racers put on a great show for the spectators packing the cliffs of Castel Hill. If they weren't racing fans they would have been thinking... "What on Earth are they all doing out there!?" With just three minutes to go Temptation's #3 Jib blew out of the forestay when the tack shackle was accidently tripped. Luckily the crew had plenty of prep time and experience and had a new one up in about one minute. From then on it was fairly smooth sailing for the next few hundred miles.  As the first night approached Alexa and Richie made the first sighting of dolphins racing along with the boat... always a good sign for safe passage. By day two Temptation was surfing down waves in the Gulf Stream and hit a whopping 21.7 knots!! Upon exiting the Gulf Stream Temptation maintained a steady 12 knots finishing Monday morning at 5:30 just in time for a beautiful Bermudian sunrise. As Temptation hit the dock it was finally time for the crew to catch their breath, clean up, wash down, and relax with friends. Art and team had a restful few days to relax and explore the island. A highlight was taking a taxi to Horseshoe Bay for a swim and cliff jumping at Spanish Point. Temptation is now in Oyster Bay getting ready for her next trip up to Newport for an exciting race week in July!! We hope to see you there!! --submitted by Sapling Andrew "OD" O'Donnell
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Jeff and Mike Sail 120 Miles Without a Rudder
|  After literally 6 weeks of going full speed with no time off I have to admit I was happy when all three of our boats left the dock. All were fully prepared as they headed across the starting line racing towards Bermuda and I was looking forward to a busy weekend of umpiring followed by a week of speeches and team building and maybe a tiny bit of sleep.
That was not to be, at approximately 3:30am the phone rang and I was instantly awake noting that the call was coming from a satellite phone. Jeff MacFarlane was on the other end telling me that they thought the rudder had broken. In this day and age of cell and satellite phones and 911 I think their initial reaction was 'HELP' can someone come and get us!?. Unfortunately I have had too much experience sailing without a rudder but at this moment it helped. We talked through the options and then it was over to them to experiment with this boat and figure out a way to start to sail towards land.
In the end of the day they made it over 100 miles to within 15 miles of Greenport where a crack team and part of the Oakcliff family, consisting of Donn and Bruce Constanzo, Mike Smith and Pat Mundas rednezvoused with the beleaguered sailors and towed them to a dock and a solid night of sleep.
While they were very disappointing to have to pull out of a race that they were clearly winning, they also have both commented that this was an incredible experience, one that not too many people have and that they now consider themselves some of the fastest 'bucket steering' sailors on the high-seas.
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Coming Home Hot and Fast on a Super Maxi
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 | | Arriving in NYC at Sunset |
To reduce crowding on the Ker 50 delivery a few Saplings were asked to put the Bermuda experience to full use, network and try to find a good ride back to America. Solomon Krevans, Ervin Grove, and Jonathan Hammond met this goal and then some. They arranged to deliver Med Spirit, a 92 foot French flagged Super-Maxi which was headed to Manhattan. They got underway midday Friday. There was some urgency as a low pressure in the Atlantic is to meet up with tropical depression Debby has locked many of the boats in Bermuda for almost a week.
One of the most notable differences from a typical delivery was that Friday morning, the French crew, cleaned out the icebox and re-provisioned the boat with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as some pasta. Not your typical fare of freeze-dried, bag lunches or left over race food.
For all three saplings, this was their first time sailing a boat of this size and that caliber and thus an excellent learning experience. The same basic principles apply but the sizes and resulting exponential loads were eye-openers. They were reminded how much skill and diligence our sport requires, even on a casual delivery.
It was not all seriousness and business though, along the way, the team worked through the language barriers with humor, and also stopped mid-gulf stream for a quick dip... with soap!
Monday evening, while watching a beautiful sunset, the crew of 9 sailed under the Verazzano, many for the first time. The power of New York City gave the crew a moment of pause, with one crew Lucca sitting silently on the bow for the transit to Pier 25. There, they moored up and packed up, exchanged information, said their many thanks and goodbyes, and headed back to Oyster Bay. An excellent trip and the Saplings can't wait to sail again, with the guys from Marseille. - Submitted by Sapling Jon Hammond
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I am going to make this short and sweet as the stories above are so great. Thank you to everyone who is making Oakcliff possible and I hope to see you here soon!
Very Sincerely,
Dawn Riley
Oakcliff Sailing Center |
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| The America's Cup in Newport |  | Last Saturday afternoon a few of us popped up to Newport to check out the World Series. Briefly, my impression was that, the 45s have served their purpose and the few teams that are going to make the jump from here to the 72s are going to have their work cut out for them.
The 'show' and 'hoopla' surrounding this part of the racing is a bit much but if you are going to watch, Newport is by far the best venue to do so. Enjoy the show, the crowds, the 'who's who' and the synergy of the Cup being 'back' in Newport.
If you can't make it then definitely set your DVRs to watch the first Network coverage of the America's Cup since 1992. It will be broadcast on Sunday on NBC at 2:30 EST.
p.s. - shop around you CAN get a hat for $20
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Happy Birthday Hunt!
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Just a quick note to say a belated happy birthday to our founder and benefactor. Your support has made a huge difference in the lives of the thousand plus sailors who have come through Oakcliff we hope that you are still enjoying every moment of it. |
Acorns are Here!
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Our new crop of Acorns have arrived as have some excellent guest instructors. Pictured above is Gloria Borrego who not only has built Volvo and Superyacht systems, she also raced around the world on Heineken and worked with the America's Cup. Gloria went over electronics, circuits, batteries, equipment installation and wiring.
Jeff MacFarlane is leading them through building a model boat out of fiberglass, Dave from Sea Logic will take Gloria's base and move onto instrumentation and we have a visit from the Ockam Instruments on Friday. Phew! Lots of learning.
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| Visit Dolphin at Mystic |  | Mike Smith along with two Saplings, Brock Kraebel and Ervin Grove will be leaving the dock at 1am tonight to sail up Dolphin up to Mystic for the Wooden Boat Show. The event runs Friday through Sunday and will be like cotton candy for classic yacht enthusiast.
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