Fellow J109 Owners
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| Fellow J109 Owners,
For some of us I’m sure the 2011 sailing season is well underway. For those of us in the northeastern US we are still a few weeks away from preparing for the first regatta of the season. As I’m sure many of you know, in February we lost one of our founding members. Bob Riggle, owner of the Seattle-based GAIA, and his sailing companion Phyllis Macay, were tragically killed by pirates along with two other American sailors aboard the S/V Quest off the coast of Oman. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and loved ones. Our first championship event of 2011 is the Mid Atlantic Championship at the Annapolis NOOD April 29th-May 1st. Bill Sweetser, Captain of Fleet 4 and his colleagues welcome all comers to travel to the Chesapeake for this terrific event. The Annapolis NOOD is also the first of two events to qualify for the East Coast Regatta Series trophy. The crew aboard RUSH have won the Series trophy the last two years, and the handsome silver half hull model is now bolted to a wall inside Annapolis Yacht Club. Bill Sweetser and his team challenge anyone to try to take it from them. Who’s up for that challenge? Breakwater Yacht Club will be hosting their annual Sprit Fest on June 4th and 5th in Sag Harbor and there will be a J109 division. I suggest we anoint this event the 2011 J109 Long Island Sound Championship. Luke Babcock from Jim Vos’ SKOOT says that Goslings has agreed to be a sponsor again this year. A beautiful racing venue, competitive fleet, free flowing Goslings Black Seal Rum; what else could you ask for? Contact Luke at lbabcock@saybrookcapital.com for more information. The next major event is the J109 East Coast Championship at Block Island Race Week, run by the Storm Trysail Club June 19-24th. This bi-annual event typically offers terrific racing in a variety of conditions, followed by great social activities ashore; it is truly one of the highlights of the East Coast sailing season. There are 10 J109’s registered already, including reigning North American champ Ted Herlihy’s GUT FEELING. I encourage you to consider registering—you won’t regret it! With the loss of the Larchmont NOOD, the only remaining one design event in Long Island Sound is the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta hosted by the Storm Trysail Foundation and Larchmont Yacht Club on October 8th-9th. The J109 Class is proud to participate in this terrific event that has grown to become the largest big boat regatta on the intercollegiate sailing schedule. The organizers are targeting 50 boats comprised of J105s, J109s, J44s and a closely matched IRC fleet for this year’s event. If you are interested in participating, please contact me (rel@jwbristol.com) or Adam Loory at UK-Halsey at adam@ukhalsey.com and we will provide additional information. We’ll wrap up the season with the North American Championship hosted by Fleet 4 at Annapolis Yacht Club. We try to alternate the venue of our North Americans to give as many members as possible a chance to participate. On even years it is held at New York Yacht Club’s Race Week in Newport, RI. On odd years we evaluate interest from fleets and make a judgment based on the venue, regatta and critical mass of likely attendees. Registration will be on Wednesday October 12th, with racing October 13th-16th. Racing conditions in Annapolis are generally terrific in October, and the staff at Annapolis Yacht Club has developed a great schedule of social events. This should be a premier event. The Class will need to raise some funds via sponsorships to fund this event. We will work closely with AYC to identify sponsorship candidates in and around Annapolis. If anyone is affiliated with an organization that might be interested in supporting our championship, please let me or Bill Sweetser (Commerce2@Sweetsers.com) know and we will be happy to speak with them. I look forward to seeing many of you at this year’s NA’s! It is time for us to review the Class Rules to implement some of the changes that have been discussed the last couple of years. I’d suggest we also revisit the process currently in place to effect changes so the Class can be more responsive to member input. We expect the sail measurement and inventory will remain the same, but we hope to allow skippers to change jibs and spinnakers at will during a race to adapt to changing conditions. We also need to eliminate the reference to Category 2 crewmembers, as they are no longer a valid ISAF designation. If you have suggestions for other changes, please email me or any of the other officers. Our class rules have been essentially unchanged for five years, so it’s high time we review them and make any necessary updates. Finally, it is my intention to step down as Class president after the 2011 North Americans in October. I believe the Class needs some new blood and a president that can devote more time than I have had to give the last few years. I have been a class officer since 2006 and feel it is time for someone else to take the reins. We would love to hear from anyone interested in taking a leadership role to help run the class during its next phase of growth. I’d like to wish all of you smooth and safe sailing in the coming season. I look forward to seeing you on the water! Best regards, Rick Lyall J109 Class President Directory: docs docs -> Application for acem docs -> Observational Assessment of Teaching Practices Teaching Assessment Initiative Proposal Submitted to The Teachers for a New Era project docs -> Traditional British values docs -> From Warfighters to Crimefighters: The Origins of Domestic Police Militarization docs -> Borzoi Club of America Register of Merit Program I. What is a Register Of Merit docs -> Protecting the rights of the child in the context of migration docs -> United Nations E/C. 12/Esp/5 docs -> 9th May 1950 the schuman declaration docs -> Getting To Outcomes® in Services for Homeless Veterans 10 Steps for Achieving Accountability Download 8.95 Kb. Share with your friends:
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