The 50th Anniversary of the NCESA National Championships are just a little more than a month away!
 
Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club in Lakewood, NY opened for the season in mid-April and all efforts are focused on insuring our club is in top condition for the event.
 
We presently have 44 skippers registered and fully expect a number of skippers to register over the coming weeks. We currently project 60+ boats to attend this year's National Championship.  Regatta registration only takes a few minutes and reduces the time required to register onsite.  Once you register, we will contact you via e-mail to ascertain information such as sail serial numbers and hull ID number.  Addressing this information prior to arriving at the regatta will expedite your onsite registration. 
 
Over the course of the next week we will launch our webcam on the regatta website. 
In addition, for those skippers looking for crew or crew looking for a 'ride', we have added a 'Crew' tab on the SAILORS page of the regatta Website.  Please send your request to my attention and we will update the website accordingly.
 
For those participants planning to fly to Buffalo, please contact me directly and we will assist you in arranging for local transportation to Lakewood.      
 
As a reminder, our club WI-FI is open and available to all regatta participants.
 
We still have housing available for sailors who have registered.  Housing is available on a 'first come, first serve basis', so register now and send us your request for housing.
 
We are offering a broad range of regatta merchandise that is only available for purchase before the regatta.  A limited amount of merchandise will be available for purchase during the event.  Please note we have recently added pictures of all the items available to the website.
 
We look forward to welcoming E sailors to CLYC to celebrate the 50th!! 
 
Chris Creighton
2008 NCESA Nationals Chairman
chris@classic-brass.com

 

 

The NCESA is using USSailing partner, Regatta Network, to provide on-line regatta registration. Regatta Network is also used to provide our on-line join/renew membership functions. 

 

Here are a number of links that will help you navigate what is available from the NCESA Web site for the 2008 National Championship regatta.

 

      2008 E Nationals

 

      Membership Join/Renew

 

      National Regatta Registration

 

      Purchase Merchandise Only 

 

      Look who is coming!              Register NOW !!

Your registration will not be 'complete' until you have entered all your crew (and they are 2008 members), and you have paid your registration fee. You may start the process without knowing all your crew and come back and enter them at a later time. This will at least get you registered and added to the "look who is coming" list (in a pending status).  

 

You may also purchase regatta merchandise and social packages during the regatta registration process. However, if you don't get all that you want you can come back to the 'Purchase Merchandise Only' link to purchase additional items and social packages. There are a lot of items to choose from, so come back often.

 

 

 

 

 

 You have to see the great pictures taken by Tammy Saywer 

 

 

The majority vote to approve the asymmetrical spinnaker configuration was a major class decision, and not without its share of controversy. However, the NCESA was very fortunate to be able to raise sufficient capital to provide financial assistance to some boat owners for their asymmetrical spinnaker conversions. It was decided to provide grants, to boat owners under the age of 36, for $1500 to convert their boats. The member generosity that made this possible was a powerful incentive for a number of our younger sailors to step up and convert to the asymmetrical rig this sailing season. So far there have been 12 younger members that have received grant money. Many would have been left behind without it, or at the least had abbreviated regatta racing. There are still some funds available for more grants. The criteria for grant money is:

 

Not only was grant money available, the NCESA also set aside $30,000 for a loan program that is open to all members. Loans would be paid back at $100 per month and interest will be at the current Applicable Federal  Rate of 1.85% per year.
The criteria is similar, and it is just another way to provide an incentive and assistance to members to convert to the asymmetrical spinnaker configuration. Contact Toby for this as well.

We're still early in the '08 season but there is a noticeable change in the enthusiasm for the E-Scow and regattas we all enjoy. It is wonderful to see the efforts of all the membership to help each other and move forward together. It appears as if the entire National class is converting with extremely few exceptions. The Executive Committee of the organization is thrilled with the support we have seen and the excitement we've witnessed on the water so far this year. We are also very thankful we have long time members, that are an example through their generosity, of what this class has been, should be, and will always strive to be.  

RESULTS
Place Sail # Skipper  Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Total
1     MA-10  Wight    1      1      2      4
2     LA-11  Nolden   2      6      1      9
3     LA-99  Magno    3      5      4      12
4     HO-32  Wiss     4      3      5      12
5     BH-22  Koar     8      2      3      13
6     LE-55  Fretz    6      4      14/DNF 24
7     HO-13  Bradley  9      8      14/DNS 31
8     HO-50  Johnson  11     7      14/DNF 32
9     HO-31  Flinn    5      14/DNF 14/DNF 33
10    HO-51  Haverly  10     9      14/DNF 33
11    CH-5   Turner   7      14/DNF 14/DNF 35
12    KU-9   Cole     12     10     14/DNS 36
13    MA-11  Hurley   13     14/DNS 14/DNF 41
REPORT

The annual LHYC spring regatta was held this past weekend with thirteen boats attending. For the first time ever, every sub-region of the ECESA was represented for this regatta with boats from Little Egg, Keuka, Chautauqua, Mantoloking, Lavallette, Bay Head as well as the local Hopatcong boats. Saturday morning, there was a flurry of action at the club as many people were setting up their boats for the first time with the new rig. After registration and a brief skippers meeting, the boats were sent out to the course for the first of three scheduled races.

The first race got off with out any issues sailing a short course with ¾ miles legs and a shifty breeze of 8-10 from the West / Southwest. The fleet stayed bunched up until the first leeward mark when, needless to say some were learning to keep the massive asymmetrical out of the water. Ultimately the first race was won by Dick Wight, followed by Bill Nolden and Dave Magno. As the fleet hovered around for the second start of the day, the breeze continued to build to 10-12 and shifted to Southwest allowing for a longer course. Once the course was reset, it was apparent that the fleet was jumpy. After 2 general recalls, the I flag went up and the fleet got off the line on the 3rd try. Now with a mile and half windward leg, hitting the shifts was key. The point that the race is never over was apparent as positions in the race shifted quite dramatically during the runs, as finding more pressure pays off even more now. At the finish it was Dick Wight, Followed by Bob Koar Jr. and Tom Wiss as the fleet headed in for lunch.

As the fleet was in for lunch, the breeze continued to build as the front was moving in. After a short break, the fleet headed back out for the 3rd race in 15-20 from the southwest. All of the fleet got off the line clean and the race was on. At the first windward mark it was Bill Nolden leading followed closely by the pack. As the breeze hovered in the upper teens and gusted up into the 20's racing got wet and wild. Several boats decided to clean out the leaves and go for a swim on the first run. For the remainder of the race, the fleet was dropping like flies. At the second windward mark, Bill Nolden putting on a display for all to see. With his experience as one of the original asym test boats, Bill hoisted his chute and immediately opened up a monster gap between himself and Dick Wight in second setting a blistering pace of less than 5 minutes to make it to the leeward mark. At the end, it was Bill Nolden taking the win, followed by Dick Wight and Bob Koar Jr. as only 5 of the 13 boats made it over the finish line.

Lake Hopatcong hosted dinner for the regatta, and all were a buzz about some of the rides on the lake with flat water and big breeze. After numerous hours of great conversations and even more libations, the fleet headed home to lick their wounds. Sunday morning arrived cool and calm. With a forecast of 10-15 from the southwest, many had visions of the day before. As the lake looked to start filling the fleet was briefly sent out but the RC promptly canceled the racing as it was apparent that the breeze would only arrive when the storms came.

Final Results were Dick Wight (MA-10), in First Bill Nolden (LA-11) in Second and Dave Magno (LA-99) winning the tie breaker with Tom Wiss (HO-32) for third.
 

 

Easter Regatta Photos

 

See competitor comments and full results

 

 

Place Sail# Helm           R1  R2  R3     R4  R5  R6    Total
1     V-37  Augie Barkow    3   1   27DNF  1   1   1      34
2     SC-27 Robby Wilkins   4   2   1      4   2   27DNC  40
3     SC-3  Walter Prauser  2   9   3      19  10  9      52
4     T-1   Will Demand     8   10  27DSQ  2   5   2      54
5     MA-14 Carl Horrocks   7   6   27DSQ  7   4   3      54

 

 

May 27, 2008

To the membership:

We have had a few reports of isolated  incidents of stress cracks appearing near the chainplates on some boats at Little Egg, one in Minnetonka and at the Geneva Spring Regatta. These incidents reportedly occurred in heavy or puffy conditions  that in some cases included heavy crew weights, and/or high tension of the upper side stays. The Asymmetrical rig with the new second set of spreaders on the diamond stays seems to provide a much stiffer mast (which it is supposed to do to support the mast tip) and transfers loads more directly to the hull, through the chainplates because there is less flex.  These issues are perceived as minor and isolated and occurred during periods of stronger winds and heavier loads, but  we feel we should make the boat owner aware of this phenomena. The stress on the fiberglass may be especially true with those who may have converted their boat to the I-1 rig moving the chainplates aft on their own.  The A-sym was tested for 4 years and as an experiment and during that time stress cracks at the chainplates were not an apparent issue.  These tests, however, were not as extensive with the second set of spreaders on the diamond stays. Hence, it may be prudent to add addition support to the chainplates.

Melges, using their expertise with other designs,  has developed and fabricated, in a matter of days,  inexpensive bulkhead that may be purchased and glassed into the underside of the deck for additional support. They are prepared to mass produce if the interest dictates. We suggest E-boat owners consider this option  in conjunction with the A-sym  configuration with diamond stays.

Please contact Melges boat works if you are interested.

Rick Turner
NCESA Commodore

 

The asymmetrical spinnaker conversion has been overwhelmingly positive by a huge majority of our membership. One of the main themes heard is the new enthusiam and the unification of our National class. However, Jack Simmerschied (M-26) sent this email and asked it to be published in the newsletter: