September 2011 Issue

RRYC Fall Series to Begin

Posted September 6th, 2011

The RRYC Fall Series will commence on Sunday September 11th.  Racing will be conducted over the course of September and October.  This event makes for great club racing where juniors can improve their skills during a club series where the racing is a little more laid back and coaching is available.

The aim is to make racing fun and give the sailors and opportunity to "practice" while learning more about racing.  The NOR and Registration Form are both available online.

USODA Optimist Atlantic Coast Championship is Coming!

The Baltimore County Sailing Center plays host to the ACC's this year.  The regatta dates are September 23 - 25.  I highly recommend this event for any of our RRYC junior sailors who are activley racing or who are just beginning to race and love it.  There are two options - one of the competitive red, white, or blue fleets (colors designate age group) or the non-competitive green fleet for the less experienced racers.  The green fleet racers are still placed but everyone receives participation trophies.  The best part of the green fleet and what makes USODA events so great is the level of instruction and coaching that accompanies the green fleet racing.  This is a wonderful event very close to home and I encourage you to take advantage of it if your young sailor wants to take the next step in Opti racing.  Additional details are avaialble online.

2011 RRYC Junior Regatta

The 2011 RRYC Junior Regatta was held on Friday July 29^th in memory of Philip Denvir who was such an instrumental member of junior sailing at RRYC.  Racers from FBYC, HYC, ICYCC, and Premier Sailing joined RRYC junior sailors in one of the various fleets which consisted of Optis, Sunfish, Lasers and Club 420’s.  The heat was intense edging up to 100 degrees but the wind cooperated both on the river and in the creek so all three race committees were able to manage multiple races.  Pete Knight and Hank Little ran the Opti Green Fleet course inside Carter’s Creek.  Bo Bragg and Taylor Tompkins managed the Opti Red, White, and Blue Fleets in the Rappahannock River off of Crab Point and Debbie Cycotte and Mosby West served as the race officers on the Sunfish, Laser, 420 course in the river between Orchard Point and Towles Point.  Scott Vail, Tommy Asch, Darryl Resio, Steve Sommers, and Bob Westbrook acted as safety/mark boats to help RC keep the starting lines square and keep watch for any racers who needed assistance. 

Forty-three junior sailors raced in the event and awards were given to the top three finishes in each division.  All Opti green fleet racers received participation awards.  The top three finishes were as follows:

Opti White Fleet:  1. Boyd Bragg 2. John Vail 3. Guthrie Braun

Opti Blue Fleet:     1. Neilson Woodfield 2. Blake Harrington 3. Tommy Billard

Opti Overall:          1. Boyd Bragg 2. Neilson Woodfield 3. Blake Harrington

Sunfish:                   1. Daniel Resio 2. Hannah Richardson 3. Joey Hatch

Laser:                      1. Avery Shivers

Club 420:               1. Gena Maruardt 2. Morgan Sutherland 3. Sam Patterson

Complete results can be found on the RRYC Junior Sailing webpage.  Beautiful photographs were taken by Jack Chamberlain, Skip Ferguson, and Susan Richardson and can be found online at www.rrycjuniorregatta2011.shutterfly.com.

The regatta concluded with an awards ceremony and cook-out on the back porch of the club.  Event Chair, Bo Bragg, said the 2011 RRYC Junior Regatta was a huge success thanks to the many volunteers who served on the event committee.  The race committee managed three courses very effectively.  On the shore side, Mitch Bober, Susan Bober, Tom Richardson, Kimberly Vail, Katherine Vail, Camille Bragg, Brenda Asch managed registration, launching, the post race cookout and everything in between.  Special thanks to Jane and Harry Wells who took spectators out to the river aboard their beautiful Chesapeake Bay deadrise “Nancy Jane”.

RRYC Junior Racing ramps up again in September when the four week RRYC Fall Series commences on September 11th.  Log on to the junior sailing site for more information.