Blue Marsh Sailing Association

Please be advised that our race scheduled for this Saturday, July 30 has been canceled.  Visit our web site again for updates on our activities.

Our annual Regatta (2011 was our 26^st) was held on Saturday June 25.  It promised to be a windy day with some good gusts but no rain from an approaching front.  Unfortunately there was a shortage of sailors ready to take advantage of these favorable conditions as we had only four boats out of fifteen local trailerable boats that could reasonably be expected to participate.  The fleet today included Armando Antonini and crew Russ Witzke, Bob Ciferri with co-worker Jeff and son Mitch, Joe Rutolo and John Pittman, and myself with crew Henry Borneman and Lou Brown.  With the nice winds we started with an ABC twice around; followed by an around the island, and finishing with an ABC.

My version of excuses was: Ciferri was virtually sailing for the first time since the first race last year; Rutolo was sailing with a new boat and his crew, John, while not new to sailing had not crewed for him previously.  He raced the O’Day Day Sailer he recently acquired which was Russ Marker’s boat “Magic Marker”; and I several mishaps.  The first mishap was my own doing as my overlap on Armando was not reached within the required two boat lengths.  I failed to yield in a timely manner resulting in my hitting Armando as well as snagging the finish marker.  I disqualified myself for stupid sailing.  My second mishap was the breaking of my tiller on the beat up the river.  It was a most unfortunate day!  Thanks to Lou who has graciously provided a replacement tiller from his former boat “Old Lonely” I won’t miss any sailing.  My thanks to the committee: Jan Stoner, Ron and Kathy Alesin, Donna Ferron, Marian Borneman and Betty Brown.

Tom Stoner- Racing Chairman

Hi Fellow Sailors,

It’s June and sailing season is upon us!  I hope you have been getting the boat ready or maybe even had it out already.  Our first announced event the daysail on Blue Marsh on May 26 was not well attended, if at all.  At the May Board meeting it was decided to have the annual Regatta on Sat., June 25, and use the usual racing format.  We will be making our usual attempt to keep it on a friendly basis.  We will have a committee and the course marked with the racing buoys.  The first race will start promptly at 11:00 and we should be done by 2:30.  The BMSA handicap system will be used giving everyone a shot at finishing nicely.  There are 15 trailerable boats in the club 9 of which raced last year.  Hopefully a goodly number would want to use their boat in the company of fellow club members on the local lake.  Any members who have not raced previously and would like to try it should call me so I can get them up to speed.

The Regatta Party will be held after the race at the home of Conrad and Barb Vanino.  The party begins at 1700 hours with food being served around 1800 hours. Bring a side dish or dessert.   Please mark your calendar and plan to attend.  I would appreciate hearing from those members who plan to race or want to participate in the race in any way.  Tom Stoner 610-223-3593 or e-mail me.

For anyone interested in racing on the Chesapeake, North East River Yacht Club is sponsoring a race series starting on June 11 with a June 6 application deadline. 

Visit http://www.neryc.com/pages/sail_race_invitational.htm for all the details.

Due to changes in the racing program the First Race scheduled for Saturday, May 28 has been canceled.  We will instead have a Day on the Lake to celebrate our first club sailing event of the season.   Bring your boat, your picnic basket, your frisbee, and your love of the outdoors.

Looking Forward

The Velux 5 Oceans Race is a single-handed race around the world. It is composed of 5 sprints with time off between races to repair the boat and the body as well as take on provisions. A Charleston sailor Brad Van Liew is representing the USA. There are three other boats from Canada, Great Britain, and Poland. The legs are New Rochelle, France 7500nm to Cape Town, S. Africa; 7000nm to Wellington, New Zealand; 4000nm to Salvador, Brazil: 4000 nm to Charleston, SC; 3600nm back to New Rochelle, France. Brad Van Liew has won the first four legs of the race completing the 4000nm leg to Charleston today in 23 days, 12 hours, and 36 minutes. He finished 112nm ahead of the boat from Great Britain. The race started on October 17 and the final leg will start on May 15.

Today, April 19, I went down to see him come in to the marina where he will be staying. The actual finish line was out beyond the breakwaters to the harbor (a two hour sail after finishing- Charleston has a big harbor). I shook his hand and congratulated him plus took a bunch of pictures. He was very accommodating and congenial. Racing seems to be his only job, he is 43, married with two young children. Others in the crowd who know the couple intimately refer to his wife as the chairman of the board as she makes all the arrangements. I thought you might be interested. Pictures attached. Tom Stoner

Editor’s Note:  The whole story about this race series can be seen at http://www.velux5oceans.com/.    This site contains photos, stories, videos, and more.   The story is also carried on page 18 of the May 2011 issue of Sail Magazine.

Small Cockpit

Posing for BMSA

MAY 2010 RACE RECAP

Well we got the new racing season off to a start although a very slow start! The first gun was around 11:00 and we quit at 2:00- three hours of racing. What did we have to show for it? Two (count ‘em, folks), two ABC races! It took so long to do them that I actually thought we had done three races! But it was a day on the water and being overcast we didn’t get sunburned.

The Memorial Day weekend took its toll on the number of participants as we only had five boats show up. With the very light winds Armando had a distinct advantage in his Surprise. He showed the way by taking both races.

RACE RESULTS FOR REGATTA 2010

We had a turnout of seven boats on a day which saw light winds for the first race but continued to build slowly throughout the day. We ran two short ABC races then were able to get in two ABCAC races. However it didn’t matter what we ran as Jerry Nichols with Russ Witzke as crew physically won all four races losing the third race on handicap. Mike and Kristel Adair after a fifth place in the first race got their act together to finish 2,1,2 in the last three races. Joe Rutolo and crew Rick Crump stayed close enough all day to use their handicap to cop third place. All in all it was a fun day of sailing. Maybe next month we will get a couple more boats out as the word gets out that this is a great opportunity to enjoy our sport. Our thanks go to the committee- Jan Stoner, Anna Grace, Lou and Betty Brown, Muriel Meier, and Marian Borneman for a job well done.

Racing July 31, 2010

We had only three boats show up for this race day. I guess summer has too many activities begging for our time. In any event it was a strange day-gusty one minute dead the next. This resulted in some boats moving nicely while others were dead in the water. It was never certain who was going to win until the finish gun sounded. The winds were generally from the east which required starts using the finish line. We ran three CBA’s and one CBA twice around. Newcomer Tom Stone in his Flying Scott with crew John Ward won two races on adjusted time to take first overall. Armando Antonini with crew Russ Witzke was second and Tom Stoner with crew Henry Borneman finished third. All boats won at least one race on adjusted time. Our thanks again to the committee Jan Stoner, Ron and Cathy Alesin, and Muriel Meier for their good work.

Racing on August 28

We only had two boats that were available to race so I canceled this race.  Maybe  next month will be better.

Racing on September 25

This is just not our year!  Mother nature did us in by not sending us any rain this summer.  The Corp of Engineers had to release water to push the salt line back down the Delaware thus drawing the lake down to the point that docks were removed and the ramps closed.  Another race day shot!  A week after the closure the rains came in force filling the lake but the docks are “retired” for the season.  The last race is our annual Turkey race on October 30.  We will have to board our boats without the benefit of the docks but this was always the case when the race was held in November and the docks were never in.  As of this writing five boats are signed up.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed!  Tom 610-223-3593

The day started breezy and the winds just continued to build.  The first three races averaged slightly over 15 minutes and we finished with a circumnavigation of the island in 36 minutes!   Ray Hemphill with crew Ron Gebeau and Armando Antonini grabbed first place honors with two firsts, a second, and a third.  Bob Ciferri and crew John Ward continued his drive toward the Club Championship for the year by garnering second place with two firsts, a third, and a forth.   Lou Brown and crew Russ Witzke took third even though they retired at the end of the third race.  Our racing program continues to be a monthly sailing event of interest.   Our thanks go to this week’s race committee Jay and Jane Moyer, Jan Stoner, Carol Clark, and Kristel Adair.  Our last race of the season will be our annual Turkey Race to be held on Saturday, October 31.  Even if you haven’t been racing consider coming out to see what it’s all about- you might even win your Thanksgiving turkey!  This race day consists of one race of five laps around the island.  Have a question? Contact Tom Stoner, Race Chairman 610-678-0683 or tjstoner@msn.com.

Our original Saturday race date had to be scratched for weather reasons.  While we would have been dry the previous day’s rain resulted in Blue Marsh closing to prevent flooding downstream plus the wind was nonexistent.  We were able to reschedule to Sunday but lost three boats and the whole committee.   Thanks to Mike Gent, Mary Stajkowski, Willard Smith, and Betty Brown for their last minute committee work.  The day was sunny, dry, and very windy with gusts.  It was a day to have an agile crew!  Armando, sailing alone, can attest to that as he battled all day to keep from capsizing and bailed at every opportunity.  Ron Hrabak, crewing for Bob Ciferri, fell overboard when he went forward to free a fouled line but Ron was wearing a life jacket and Bob demonstrated good man overboard skills in retrieving him.  Lou Brown and crew Russ Witzke were on top of their game as they won all four races on corrected time.  Tom Stoner and crew Henry Borneman sailing the other Mariner battled the winners all day but had to settle for second place.  Joe Rutolo with crew Michelle tied Bob and Ron for third.  The windy conditions provided great sailing and enabled us to sail longer races including a circumnavigation of the island.  On a humorous note the Corps sent a boat out to retrieve debris that might have floated into the dam from the runoff and they picked up one of our race markers only returning it when they realized there were others just like it!  Are they really that shabby? 

Tom Stoner- Race Chairman 610-223-3593

Mother Nature is smiling on our race program as she slipped a sunny windy day in the middle of all this gloomy, rainy weather we have been having.  Seven boats showed up to do battle.  The 10-15 knot winds that were predicted did not show up until the last race and during our post race social.  However the first three races had light winds with occasional gusts.  The many wind shifts kept us adjusting sail settings and were a constant wonderment as to who they would favor next.    Bob Ciferri , with crew John Ward, continued his winning ways taking overall honors.  Lou Brown, with crew Russ Witzke, and Joe Rutolo and crew Michele tied for second.  I, with crew john Pittman, came in fourth.  The handicaps are starting to tighten up as the four races had four different winners on adjusted times.  Our thanks to the race committee Jan Stoner, Jay and Jane Moyer, and Ron Hrabak for their normal fine job.   A special thanks to Jay Moyer and John Pittman who helped many of our sailors to retrieve their boats.  Tom Stoner, Race Chairman  610-223-3593