Posted on behalf of Fleet 1 Captain Emile Pilafidis:

The Class/Fleet 1 Championship Regatta Is Fast Approaching!

This July 31 marks 60 days before the Class and Fleet 1 Championship Regatta.  Boats that are racing in this regatta must have been kept in the water continuously for 60 days prior to Class Championships and Fleet Championships, per our Class rules. If you are planning to haul your Harbor 20 for maintenance before the Champs you must do it before July 30.

Also, now is the time to make sure you are familiar with the Class and Fleet 1 rules regarding eligibility of both skipper and crew, equipment required and permitted to be on board, and other rules pertaining to the Championship Regatta. The Class Bylaws and Fleet 1 Bylaws can be found on-line at www.Harbor20.org. Don’t put yourself in the position of being disqualified because of rule violations. 

If you have any questions, you can contact Class Measurer Warren Duncan, Fleet 1 Measurer John Whitney, Class President Peter Haynes, or me, Fleet 1 Captain Emile Pilafidis.

Unfortunately, the C-Fleet Clinic scheduled for Saturday, June 8, at LIYC has been canceled. The reason is low registration, coupled with the fact that I am traveling on business all week and unable to help promote further. I hope to be able to re-schedule later in the summer.

You’ve seen them out there, all those Harbor 20’s racing about Newport Harbor. Have you ever contemplated competing in your Harbor 20, but just don’t know how to get started? Jumping in to the existing B-Fleet can be intimidating because the fleet is pretty big. But, as of the 2011-2012 racing season, there is now a C-Fleet in Newport Harbor. The C-Fleet offers an introductory experience to sailing a Harbor 20, whether your interest lies in racing or not. Even if you have no interest in racing your Harbor 20, trying a bit of racing helps develop boat handling and seamanship skills faster than any other learning activity. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok3H79i_688

In the C-Fleet, you can get lots of help! Fleet 1  has a “mentor” program whereby experienced sailors go with you on your boat, either while racing or not. And, the fleet periodically offers C-Fleet Clinics – and the next one is coming up on Saturday, June 8,  1-5 PM at Lido Isle Yacht Club. C-Fleet clinics emphasize  introductory boat handling, seamanship, and FUN! Mentors will be avaialble to sail with you if you like. The cost is $25.00 per person, and includes pizza and cold refreshments.

Click here for a Clinic Description.

 Click here to register. You’ll be glad you did!

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.

Peter Haynes

peter.haynes@3ds.com, 949-631-8757 Office, 949-466-3971 Cell

BCYC is stepping up their game this year to provide the “best night of the week” for Harbor 20’s. Video taped starting practice starts at 5:30, and racing starts at 6:00. What a great way to get in a bunch of practice starts, and get a feel for the first windward leg before the actual racing starts.  You should be able to see video of your practice starts at the post racing party, where there will also be $1.00 Tacos and $1.00 Draft Beers, not to mention the traditional raffle and nightly trophy presentation! This should be fun, and we hope to see you there! See the Calendar, or click here for information.

Summer is here ! ALYC’s Sundowner Series racing starts next Monday May 6^th, 2013.  If enough boats register, ALYC plans offer separate starts for A and B/C.  With Bill McNamara now charing the race committe, there are quite a few changes in the works for this year. See the previous post for details, and note that the regstration price increases at 3:55 PM today.

Newport Beach Independent online at newportbeachindy.com

Under Sail –  Sailing Seminars

By Steve Barrett on March 17th, 2013

Last Saturday I spent the day at a sailing seminar at Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club with Peter Haynes as the instructor. The topics covered were sail theory, shape and trim, the basic aerodynamics, rig tuning, and using your telltales. Included were steering, crew position, tacking and gibing, and rounding the marks. Whewwww!

Peter and his helpful wife, Debbie, were the best of the best at explaining and teaching the most complex of facts necessary to win races, which then enable winning regattas. While this information is critical against the sailing pros Newport Harbor sailing has bred, most of these topics are also important for cruising and leisure sailing.

Learning these principles will allow the leisure sailor to arrive at Catalina hours sooner and The Cape days sooner. I recommend and encourage all local sailors to attend Peter’s “Harbor 20” organizations seminars. Besides the “Handling and Sail Trim” seminar, Peter also will provide a “Strategy and Tactics” seminar on June 2, and on September 8 he will cover “Understanding the Racing” rules of sailing. I look forward to attending both of these as I watched a very gifted instructor explain extremely complex facts in an understandable manner for even a slow learner like myself. I encourage novices and experts alike to attend, and assure everyone they will learn something–novices quite a bit more.

As far back as I can remember until I was about 12 years old, my Dad was a crewmember on an 18-foot Thistle and religiously raced every regatta locally and a few outside our area. His college friends who were captains of the three-man ocean racing deck-less sloops were mostly engineers like Peter Haynes. The theories and practices of winning sailing are mathematically similar in the thought process.

I started racing sailboats when I was eight years old and continued until high school. All noncalms in the sailing program at Newport Harbor Yacht Club arrived around 9:00 a.m. and finished washing down their boats before 5:00 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. During my era Dick Sweet supervised the races and our behavior, which also included lectures and chalk board instruction.

I learned an awful lot, but Peter’s information took my knowledge and experience two or three levels higher. Thank you Peter and see you June 2, if not sooner racing in the Harbor.

Included was a portion of a sailing film by Llowell North whom, along with our own local Bill Ficker, (winner of the America’s Cup), were winning Starboat regattas in the 50s and early 60s. Side note: Congratulations to our Newport Harbor Christmas Parade Chairman David Beek for winning the “Valvetect Marina of the Year” award at the International Marina and Boatyard Conference. Atta boy David! Seymor must be very proud.

Keep on sailing.

Sea Ya,

Skipper Steve

Steve Barrett has more than 50 years boating in Newport and performs systems checks, repairs and pilots yachts. Email him at skipperstevetoo@yahoo.com.

If you enjoyed the presentations and discussions by the sailmakers at the Tuning Day, you would probably really enjoy the Boat Handling & Sail Trim Seminar coming up on March 9 at BCYC. It is all about understanding how the boat works and interacts with wind and water, and covers the basic concepts which really need to be understood in order to appreciate what experts like Harry Pattison and Phil Toft are talking about when using language such as mast bend, headstay sag, rake, and full powered up and flat depowered sail shapes. You can find a detailed course description, testimonials, and registration form here. Postmark your registration by Saturday, March 2 for the best price.  We hope to see you there!

Rule 18.3 which discourages port tack approaches at port-hand windward marks is even stronger under the new 2013-2016 rules. Wheras the old rule read “The boat that changed tack shall not cause the other boat to sail above close hauled to avoid her”, the new rule reads “The boat that changed tack shall not cause the other boat to sail above close hauled to avoid contact”. The difference is subtle, but important: “avoid her” versus “avoid contact”. The  new rule  means that a boat that changes tack shall not cause ANY boat to have to sail above close hauled to avoid contact with ANY other boat as a result of “her” actions.

Come to the “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing for 2013-2016” seminar on January 27 at BCYC to learn about this, and all the other changes in the new rules. I hope to see you there!