Greeting from the Prez – May 2014
We have the first weekend of racing in the books! With 10 boats on the line, the Rhodes fleet had a strong showing. We are ready for Season 2014!
Fleet Website
Nat Taylor has been hard at work renovating our fleet web site. The new site is compatible with mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Thank you to Elise Mazareas for designing the fleet logo adorning the home page. We are eager to make this site the best it can be. If you have any photos you would like to contribute to the site, please contact Nat at the e-mail address below. We are also compiling a list of links to weather/wind web sites. If you have any particularly helpful ones, please let us know we promise to keep them a secret! Check it out the new web site here: https://r19fleet5.org/ Thanks Nat!
SPRING REGISTRATION PARTY
Lynn and Jeff Shoreman hosted the first event of the season. While submitting our registration forms and catching up with friends after a long winter, we also welcomed Sarah Sheldon to the fleet. Sarah joins us from the Sonar fleet.
We enjoyed a lively debate regarding boat measurement woes fueled by the infamous fleet bar. It was great to see everyone and talk about BOAT again! Thank you to Lynn and Jeff for hosting us.
REGISTRATION
If you have not already done so, please register with the fleet/class (http://tinyurl.com/r19-fleet-5-registration) and with the Marblehead Racing Association (http://www.mheadrace.org/page/5845/12987).
2014 RHODES 19 EAST COAST CHAMPIONSHIPS
Planning for the 2014 Rhodes 19 East Coast Championships are well underway. Our friends at Eastern Point Yacht Club in Gloucester are excited to host their first Rhodes 19 regatta. For more information and to register, please go to: http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/8407. If you are interested in joining a tow from Marblehead to Eastern Point leaving the morning of June 20th and returning following the awards on June 22nd, please contact Mike Lane at the e-mail address below.
TWILIGHT SERIES
This season we will conduct 2 series of races with one BYE per series:
- Twilight Series #1 – 5/29-7/17
- Twilight Series #2 – 7/31-8/28
Thanks to the sunsets, tides and creative race course, Twilight racing is some of the most beautiful and challenging sailing in Marblehead. Don’t forget to join your competitors for post-race dinner at the Corinthian Yacht Club.
SPEED TIPS DAY WITH JUD SMITH
Mark your calendar for July 5th . Jud Smith has graciously agreed to donate some of his time to help the Fleet sail faster and race better. July 5 is an MRA day, and Jud will join us in a powerboat on the race course. He will be offering suggestions to fleet members during the day, both during races and between races. In addition, he will be taking pictures on the water and will be going over the pictures at a de-brief immediately after racing in the Harbor Room at the Corinthian Yacht Club. Please note that due to scheduling constraints, we need to return the room by 5:45PM.
This is a great opportunity to learn from one of the best sailors in the world. As you know, Jud is a Rhodes national champion, an Etchells world champion, a Rolex Yachtsman of the Year and the winner of numerous other races and awards. He also has a practical, straightforward and helpful approach to explaining the intricacies of sailing, not to mention deep local knowledge in Marblehead.
This is a terrific opportunity to improve your boat speed, and it takes place only a few weeks before Race Week. We hope to get a lot of boats out on July 5th!
BOAT MEASUREMENT
In an effort to ensure that as many boats as possible are legal for the upcoming season, the fleet is hosting a measurement day Sunday, June 8th at the Eastern Yacht Club pier.
To ensure that this event goes as smoothly as possible, we need volunteers to assist with measuring. Not only is this a great opportunity to help out your fleet, but it is also a great way to see how others rig their boats and learn what measurements are fast.
Please contact Mike Lane (president@r19fleet5.org) to schedule a time slot to have your boat measured or to volunteer to help out.
COURAGEOUS SAILING CORPORATE CHALLENGE
The Courageous Corporate Challenge is a Charity Regatta that takes place all Monday evenings in June. Last year, 22 Corporate teams raced the Rhodes 19’s. Post-racing dinner and drinks are included. In addition to the regatta, the sponsoring company gets their company logo prominently displayed on the jib sail for the entire sailing season, as well as a Full-season Corporate Membership to Courageous. In addition, all employees get a 20% discount on sailing lessons. All of this for only $3,000 for one boat registered in the regatta, $5,000 for 2 boats!! They have already sold 18 boats for the Corporate Challenge regatta, but still have 6 more boats to fill with corporate teams. Their target is to raise over $70,000 for the Courageous Sailing youth programs. For more information, the event website is: http://courageoussailing.org/events/challeng e.