- RECENT NEWS
- 2013 SBYC Skiff Fest Regatta 29er Results
Looks like no one could touch Dane and Quinn at last weekend's Santa Barbara Skiff Fest -- straight bullets against a deep fleet! Well done guys!
5/20/13
- CGRA Skiff Regatta NOR available
Registration is open for 29er PCCs/I14 Nationals and the annual Skiff Regatta at the Gorge.
For your annual dose of skiff heaven, sign up here.
Larry McCollum will be our PRO.5/13/13
- The National Event at NYC, Toronto -- NOR posted
The NYC Dinghy Regatta - The National Event - Skiff and Dinghy Regatta at the National Yacht Club.
Saturday July 13 to Sunday July 14, 2013.
Details here.
This will be the fourth time this regatta has run. There is a nice mix of classes but it's time to make it our own. Show yourselves!5/13/13
- Worlds Registration Open
If you are going, please register for the Worlds in Denmark as soon as possible. We are expecting a major (200+) turnout and the organizers need the best possible view of numbers, so please help them out. There is a late fee that kicks in on July 1st, but why wait?
Registration, documents & information can all be found here.
You will also find new accommodation information on the website as well.
4/4/13
- 29ers invited to the LISOT/JSALIS open Carl Van Duyne clinic at the American Yacht Club in New England, May 25-27, 2013
For the first time, we are delighted that 29ers have been invited to the very highly regarded Carl Van Duyne clinic in New England. The 29er coach will be Pepe Bettini, an avid 29er sailor who came second in the 2010 29er Worlds and on the podium many other times.
Unusually for a clinic of this calibre, the clinic is open to all competent 29er sailors, so sign up fast. It is BYOB (Bring Your Own Boat).
The details are here.3/27/13
- Duncan Williford and Matthew Mollerus run a hard faught MWW at Coronado!
With Duncan Williford and Matthew Mollerus 1st, Nic Muller and Kai Friesecke 3rd and the top girls Adele Whitmyer and Katie Kelley 7th, the east coasters showed how far they have come (in more ways than one) at MWW.
Dane and Quinn Wilson in second were only 5 points behind, only once failing to make the top 5.
29 boats competed, 8 had top 3 finishes and 6 different boats won at least one race of the 12. 6 teams came from Vancouver & Victoria BC, 2 from Seattle and 3 from the east coast.
It was a hard faught regatta at every level in the fleet. Conditions were predominantly light 5-8kts on Fri & Sat, then 8-12 kts on Sunday.
Another first for the class was sharing parts of the course with racing kite boarders which passed off without a hitch and more than the odd gasp in awe.
Howard Hamlin led over an hour of sailing debriefs on Saturday attended by virtually all the sailors and coaches.
His message of teaming and working together fits perfectly with that of the US Sailing Olympic Committee whose High Performance Director, Charlie McKee, briefed the sailors on the latest thinking on Friday and also competed in the event with his 8 year old son Soren grinning and more than pulling his weight from the trapeze
Support from Coronado YC, always one of our favorite hosts, was first rate, both on and off the water.
Special thanks to PRO Shaun & Jill Powell, Jon Rogers, Becky Nygren and the whole team. More details will follow ...
Results here.
John Papadopoulos' photos are here.
Bruce D'Eliscu's photos are here.
Outside Image's photos are here.
Willie McBride's video debriefs are here.3/25/13
- Canadian Calendar added to Home page!
On the right hand side of the screen you can now browse both Canadian and US 29er calendars.3/13/13
- 2013 Mid Winters West NOR posted
The 29er MWW NOR at http://juniors.coronadoyc.org/racing.htm and Regatta Network registration are now available.
We are looking forward to a superb event with teams travelling from the East Coast, ~3 from Seattle and another ~5 from Vancouver BC. The earlier you register, the more likely that the organizers can help you.
Please ensure that you have paid your 2013 class membership dues beforehand.
We hope you as pumped about the 2013 season as we are ...
2/8/13
- 2013 PCC Poster available for download & distribution!
Please help publicise the class by downloading and printing our 2013 29er PCC Series poster. We'd be delighted to know this on every clubhouse noticeboard, race team room and your school binders as well.
Costco will photo print it 16" x 20" lustre for under $7 a copy. Any help you can give to get it distributed as widely as possible is much appreciated as it would cost as much to mail as to print.
The full size 16x20 file to save and take to Costco is here.
Who is it? Where is it? Those who had sun and fun between Christmas and New Year will know ...
1/30/13
- 2013 29er Worlds Registration Open
Registration is now open for the 2013 29er Worlds to be held in Aarhus, Denmark, 26 July -2 August.
Please visit www.29erworlds.org to register, get accommodation, weather, charter information as well as the Notice of Race.
Coaches may also register via the website.
This is a good time to renew your class membership as you will need to have your 29er ID to register for the Worlds.
We’re anticipating another large 29er Worlds and are very excited to be in Denmark.
Looking forward to another great Worlds!
1/24/13
- Illustrious 29er alumni -- Johnny Heineken, 2012 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year!
It is always amazing to see where the 29er sailors go when they move on and up. Johnny Heineken has just been named Rolex Yachtsman of the year, and earlier in the year, together with his sister Erika (also an ex-29er sailor), they topped the podiums in both mens and womens 2012 Kiteboard World Course Racing Championships.
Without wanting to detract from your 29er interest, you should check the cool stuff here and press release here.1/18/13
- CISA Application Open
The highly regarded, highly selective CISA April Advanced Racing clinic application form is now available.
Selection is by resume. Apply here. Deadline is Feb 1st.1/15/13
- Boomerang regatta NOR
The very friendly Lauderdale YC's long standing regional youth Boomerang regatta NOR is now up. (Jan 26-27)
For those with energy, this would also be a great opportunity to give a few Opti sailors the ride of their life and help our marketing efforts. Care to volunteer?
Event Website here.1/15/13
- Mid Winters East NOR posted
The 2013 Mid-Winters East is being held as part of Lauderdale YC's Olympic Classes Ocean Regatta (LOCR) from February 8-10.
Details are here.1/10/13
- Dane and Quinn Wilson win the 2012 Open Orange Bowl convincingly!
Quinn and Dane at speed
The 2012 Open Orange Bowl 29er series hosted by Coconut Grove Sailing Club was won in fine style by Dane and Quinn Wilson, the brothers who together represented the US and came 4th at the 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds in the 29er this past summer in Ireland.
The Open Orange Bowl Regatta is held in parallel with Youth Orange Bowl every year on Biscayne Bay from 27-30 December. The 29ers shared the event with the I-420s and Laser ‘veterans’ aged 19 and over. There were 22 29ers, including 6 international boats from Sweden, Germany and Canada, as well as from every active area of the US with 29ers --- the Pacific North West, California, the North East and Florida. The fleet comprised previous US nationals and North American championships winners, and ranged in age from 13 to late 20s in age with several college teams hoping to play the experience card. There were several female helms and crews but no all-female teams.
Winds were relatively light, building progressively over the 4 days from 5-6 knots on Thursday to finish with 13-15 kts on Sunday. The winds were shifty for the competitors and race committee alike, which combined with aggressive starts led to several recalls and a race abandonment in each fleet. 11 races were sailed and hence two discards. 5 different teams won races.
Going into the final day, Dane and Quinn had won 6 of the 8 races. The bigger breeze on the final day brought late challenges from bigger teams but by finishing with a 2, 3 & 5 Dane and Quinn were still clear ahead with 16 points to Campbell D’Eliscu and Connor Kelter’s 21. The top 5 results were:
1. Quinn & Dane Wilson
2. Campbell D’Eliscu and Connor Kelter
3. Nic Muller & Kai Friesecke
4. Duncan Williford & Matthew Mollerus
5. Rob Rice & Matt McDermaid
Ron Rostorfer, the Principal Race Officer and event organizer put together a superb event involving a very professional team of over 35 race committee volunteers (on the water alone!) just to run the races for the 3 fleets on 2 courses. John Papadopoulos and Oliver Scutt from the 29er Class Association helped on the Race Committee, along with other I420 Board Members. We strongly encourage other parents to help organizing clubs at this, or similar, events in the future wherever possible. It is a very rewarding experience.
Results here.
Photos are here.
-Oliver1/2/13
- 29er Worlds and Events in 2013 in Europe
FYI - From Holger Jess, a key guy to know for anyone doing European events, massive 29er advocate, German distributor for 29ers and all things sailing ...
Dear All,
This is one of my last jobs before closing for Xmas break but I will be back in the office here from 27-30 December as there is still this and that to be sorted out before end of the end
2012 has been a tough year with lots of activity and the biggest 29er Worlds ever here in GER with 216 teams from 26 nations and very tight timing with the Europeans right before.
It was a huge logistics task with the added difficulty on top that I personally was away at the also huge 505 Worlds at La Rochelle, FRA (190 boats in 1 fleet and largest 505 Worlds ever in 57 years of class Worlds). The 505 Worlds were also a very good success as we won the Mixed title and my boats had 12 in the top 15 exactly the same week as the 29er Worlds were here at home.
Now we are looking ahead into 2013 and have put all the dates together here for your info as some have been asking already and plan trips for 2013.
Kiel Week Euro-Cup event 27-30 June where we expect 100+ in 2 groups and 16-20 nations
Warnemuende event, 12-14 July which is probably the best sailing location in the whole of GER and about 2 hours drive east of here
GER Youth Nationals (under 19) 20-23 July at Ribnitz which is about half an hour drive from Warnemuende / Rostock
Worlds in Aarhus DEN from 26 July. Aarhus is only a 2 hour drive on main motorway from my place here with sailing from the clubs at the city harbour. City center is only 10-15 min walk! Very very good location.
We will have 12-15 new 29ers for charter in summer 2013 as well as 5 new ribs for coaches with their own trailers and double stacker frames above for two 29ers.
All 2012 boats have been sold now, enlarging the GER and DEN fleets which together with the ribs are in use with clubs and federation now.
Logistics will all be a bit easier in 2013 as we don´t have the big distances like this year to Poland and we have no tight time pressure but always several days gap.
After Kiel Week event several nations' coaches will stay here and do training and then send their teams to Cyprus for ISAF Youth Worlds around 10 July.
All the best to you for Xmas have some nice last days of the year and talk soon.
If any boys and girls have now moved on into 49er and FX and have plans for doing some events in Europe in 2013.
and need help or have questions.... let me know.
Regards,
Holger Jess
info AT segelsportjess DOT de>12/25/12
- Charlie McKee appointed US Sailing's High Performance Director!
Two-time Olympic medalist Charlie McKee (Coronado, CA.) has been appointed High Performance Director of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Program.
His responsibilities will include managing all on-the-water elements of the U.S. Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider, including the coaching program, technical development and youth development with a goal of enabling US sailors to reach the highest level of competition for the next Olympic and Paralympic quadrenniums. He will report to Josh Adams, Managing Director of US Olympic Sailing. -- Read on: here. <
Charlie has been an important supporter of the 29er class. He has led many discussions and sailor debriefs while sailing the boat in competition. The class looks forward in working with Charlie and US Sailing.
11/30/12
- Melges Charter Boat Support 2012/2013
Matt Pistay/Melges will be attending the following events for their 2013 Charter Program:
#1, Orange Bowl, Dec 26-30, 2012 Coconut Grove FL (6-7 boats)
#2, ISAF Youth Qualifiers, Jan 18-20, Clearwater FL (6-7 boats)
#3, Mid-Winters West, Mar 22-24, Coronado CA (No charter boats)
#4, 29er Canadian Champs, July 20-23, Kingston Ontario (only 3-4 boats + spares)
#5, US Youth Champs, Aug 13-17, Corpus Christi TX (6-7 boats)
#6, CORK Fall regatta, Sept 20-22, Kingston Ontario (only 3-4 boats + spares)
Charters are intended to help those coming the furthest, particularly international participants. Since the logistics are hard, please indicate your interest with Matt as soon as possible.
In addition they will be having demo days at the following Optimist events:
#1, Valentine’s Day regatta, St Petersburg FL, Feb 2-3
#2, July, Texas RW, Houston TX, Date TBD
#3, New England Champs, Portland Maine, Aug 5-8
Matt would appreciate some help from experienced 29er sailors to take out interested sailors. He promises to make it worthwhile for you ...
11/21/12
- 29er Action Photo Wanted for 2013 Poster
We are looking for a photo(s) to use when publicising the class, most immediately the 2013 PCC & Hamlin Series poster.
If you've got a favorite that you think we should consider, then please send it to me.
- Oliver
11/20/12
- Turkey Day Regatta and 2012 PCC Results
Quinn and Dane with the Maxam!
This weekend 11 29ers competed in the 65th annual ABYC "Turkey Day Regatta". This was also the 2nd event of the 2012-2013 Hamlin series and the conclusion of the 2012 29er Pacific Coast Championships, aka the "Maxam Trophy."
Teams from San Diego, Newport Beach, Long Beach, Ventura and Santa Barbara competed. On Saturday there was light breeze up to 6 kts and four races were sailed. On Saturday night, the annual Turkey Day feast was held, with over 310 dinners being served by the "ABYC family of volunteers". Much fun and camaraderie was had!
On Sunday the breeze built to 10-12 kts. Three races were held. In the end, brothers Dane and Quinn Wilson from Santa Barbara triumphed, capturing 1st place in every race by mastering Long Beach harbor. Campbell D'Eliscu along with new team mate Connor Kelter faired well, finishing second overall, as they were set for heavier breeze. Rob Rice and Matt McDermaid were also in the hunt on both days, finished 3rd overall, 1 point behind Campbell and Connor. 2nd year team of Evan Hefferman and Jonathon Beardon from Santa Barbara finished fourth.
A host of new 29er teams continue to grow, including Max Brill and Zach Malcolm who had good finishes including a fifth place overall, Rhodes Garner sailing with Briggs D'Eliscu, Jack McGraw and Tristan Thrush, Cole Baker and Steven Leuck. New teams Andrew Person and Wells Drayton (2nd time racing in the 29er) as well as Taylor Schlub and Ian Baldwin made great strides over the weekend.
Veteran 29er and FX hopefuls Helena Scutt and Allie Blecher also showed up, rigging a 29er XX rig to sail with the I-14s and prepare for their assault in the hot new "FX" for the Miami OCR, as well as a January full of practicing in the FX! Good luck to them!
At the beginning of Saturday and conclusion of the racing Saturday, World Champion Skiff sailor (505, 18' skiff, and I-14) Howie Hamlin met with all the teams and led a "sailor input" debrief. Thanks again to Howie for positively influencing the teams. As a side note, 29er sailor Trevor Hecht went sailing with Howie in the 18 on Sunday. In fact, Howie has been taking 29er sailors out in an 18 now for over 2 years memorably involving Tyler Macdonald and 4 test teams 2 years ago in Long Beach for a weekend of mast testing. Howie continues to be impressed how the basic skiff skills translate to any sailing platform. Dane and Quinn Wilson were out recently as well, taking out fellow 29er sailor Riley Gibbs and leaving Howie onshore for hours!
The winners of the 2012 PCC championships/Maxam Trophy for the 29er class were Dane Wilson as crew and Quinn Wilson as helm. Dane and Quinn sailed the majority of their races together, however they split up at the nationals to sail with different partners. The unique aspect of the Maxam, is that the crews and helms are all scored separately and hence there is no disincentive to mixing it up a little to learn from or teach others. Zach Downing (helm) and Andrew Cates (crew) finished 2nd overall. Third place overall was Campbell D'Eliscu (helm) and Trevor Hecht (crew). Adele Whitmyer and Katie Kelly were the top female helm and crew. The 29er PCC series is scored in 5 major events over the year. The Spring Dinghy, at St. Francis Yacht Club, Mid Winters West at Coronado Yacht Club, Skiff fest in Santa Barbara, the US Nationals held at the Columbia River Gorge, in Oregon and concluding at the Turkey day Regatta held at ABYC.
Thanks to the Maxam family, coach Jon Rogers from CYC for assembling the scores, Willie McBride and Bruce D'Eliscu for logistics and support, Howie Hamlin for guidance and positive feed back, as well as the other yacht clubs and their volunteers that make these series the success that they are!
Turkey Day Regatta Results are here.
- Peter Macdonald
11/19/12
- Interesting article aimed at Coaches in Dec 2012 Seahorse Magazine
The Dec 2012 issue of Seahorse Magazine has some interesting words of wisdom for coaches from Rod Davis, multiple Olympic medallist and America's Cup campaigner.
Howie Hamlin particularly liked the paragraph:
"Don't overcoach, in fact don't 'coach' at all. The biggest and dumbest mistake in coaching is over-coaching, mostly done by 'in-your-face coaches' who talk way too much. It shows you don't understand the game at all. It's not about you being seen as a coach, it is about the team. Don't talk, get them to talk. Have the sailors out-think the problems and come up with the solutions. You might have to throw some gasoline on the subject if it looks like the flame is going out. But if the subject drifts off the rhumbline, let it. Don't drown the learning with cold water"
The Seahorse Magazine website is here.11/14/12
- 1ST HAMLIN AT THE HALLOWEEN REGATTA, ABYC
On Saturday, 9 teams gathered and participated in Willie McBride’s 29er clinic. 6 new teams participated from San Diego, Newport and Santa Barbara. The clinic was hosted by ABYC prior to the Halloween / Hamlin series # 1. Willie led the teams with rigging tips, safety issues and boat handling. The teams also got to spend time with 18’ skiff, 505 and I-14 World champion Howie Hamlin. The teams sailed two segments, one in the morning and the second in the afternoon in a late-developing 8-12 knot day. The day was finished on shore with a closing post clinic discussion and video. The parents also participated in a 29er class outline discussion. Howie Hamlin talked with the parents listing the positives of why the 29er will help their young sailors.
The first Hamlin series was raced at ABYC during the Halloween regatta. 5 races were sailed in light breeze. In the end, Dane and Quinn Wilson finished first, winning the tiebreaker against Rob Rice and Matt McDermaid; third place went to Connor Kelter and Campbell D’Eliscu. Theses three veteran teams were challenged from the new upstart teams. 2012 Jr. Sabot National Champion Max Brill from Mission Bay teamed up with Abe Dearden for a fourth place finish. Right behind was Andrew Person and 2011 Jr. Sabot National Champion Joseph Hou. The top three teams will be competing in Florida at the ISAF Youth World Qualifiers. These three top teams helped the new 29er teams gain ground on their steep learning curves. At the end of the day Howie Hamlin led a group post race debrief consisting of an open question and answer session with the top teams sharing their “sail set ups” and during race adjustments.
Many thanks to Bruce D’Eliscu for providing on water support, Newport Harbor Yacht Club for also providing on water support, William McBride and Santa Barbara Youth Foundation, Mikee Anderson, and Howie Hamlin for all his open discussions. A special Thanks to ABYC and all their volunteers and facilities use as well.
Full results can be found at abyc.org.
The next Hamlin, #2, will be at ABYC, “the Turkey Day” Regatta in November. - Peter Macdonald
10/29/12
- Pumpkin Bowl Results & exciting progress at the Vancouver Skiff League, West Vancouver YC, BC
Photo credit: (c) 2012, Barry Ford, West Vancouver Yacht Club
Hosted by the West Vancouver Yacht Club, Pumpkin Bowl was the last event this year in the 2012 Helly Hansen B.C. Circuit. The sailors were treated to great wind for both days of sailing — up to 15 knots on the first day, and 25 knots the second. The Race Committee ably ran seven races over the whole weekend; a big feat considering the cold, wind and rain. The North American Champions (Sam Gustin and Ian Woodbury, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club) took first place with a perfect regatta score, dropping a bullet. Second place went to Sophie Papp and Maddy Innes from the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. Third place was Lloyd Lyall and Andrew Moreno, Vancouver Skiff League (VSL) sailors from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club. The majority of the teams at Pumpkin Bowl were novice teams, having spent less than a year in the boat. This made for very exciting times in the big breeze. Most of these sailors graduated from the Opti class at the beginning of the summer and spent their school break learning how to sail the boats.
“The boat is much bigger, faster and more technical than the Optimist dinghy I used to sail, and every day brings a new challenge.“ writes Lloyd, a VSL sailor who started skiffing in July then competed at SailWest and the CYA Youth champs. “It’s an exciting new aspect to sailing on Canada’s west coast.“
The British Columbia 29er fleet has grown quickly this summer; there are now 10 boats being sailed off the Royal Vancouver docks. All this has been made possible by great coaching and yacht club support. The Vancouver Skiff League is based out of the Royal Vancouver Yacht club and has support from BC sailing and Royal Van for their coaches and dock space. The team is eager to learn and improve and with many drawn from the well-travelled B.C. Opti team, the VSL has already set its sights set on traveling to championships in 2013 and competing in the Worlds in Kingston in 2014.
The Vancouver Skiff League welcomes new members. It’s common to see new skiff sailors skipping Opti practice to go for a ride with one of the more experienced skiffies.
“Since there were a lot of sailors starting to sail the boat when I joined the team, it’s been a fun and rewarding experience.” Tara, another VSL sailor who started this year and who has made incredible leaps in her knowledge of skiff sailing writes. “It’s quite tactical and extremely fast. You have to be very fit and quick to sail a 29er.”
With the growing number of 29ers in B.C. the Pacific NorthWest is starting to look like a new mecca for skiffs. With great facilities in Vancouver and Seattle, and the Gorge just a short drive from both, there will be a big skiff presence developing in this corner of the world. The sailors of the Vancouver Skiff league are eager to travel, and prove themselves on the North American Circuit.
-- Ian Woodbury.
Results here.10/22/12
- 2013 Worlds Dates Confirmed
For those planning to go to Europe next summer, the Worlds will be held in Aarhus, Denmark between 26 July - 2 August.
Detailed event timing, charter boat availability etc, as well as those of other Eurocup events, will be confirmed once the Cyprus ISAF Youth Worlds contract is confirmed at the ISAF Conference in the first week of November.
Check the international 29er.org site thereafter for definitive details.
10/16/12
- Boomerang Regatta Jan 26-27, Lauderdale YC, FL
The Boomerang Regatta is a long standing, major youth regatta for Lasers, C420s and Optimists. 29ers are a new addition and we are all very keen to establish racing and help publicise the class to all those attending. Please go show 'em!
Event website.
Boomerang Regatta Flyer (for your club noticeboard).
10/1/12 updated 10/21/12
- Exciting Fall/Winter Schedule in South Florida!
Carol Ewing has masterminded and coordinated an exciting schedule of clinics and regattas for those seeking top class competition, winter sun, and to gain an edge for the 2013 season.
As an easily accessible international transportation hub with winter sun (lowest GUARANTEED temperatures in the 70's), Florida has become the focus for North American racing in the winter months and the logical time of the year for East, West, Canadian fleets to get together with a few internationals stars from Europe and South America too.
It is an important marketing event for the class too -- there are lots of youth & parents in the area for the youth Orange Bowl regatta sailing boring boats that have never seen a 29er.
Please sign up for Open Orange Bowl as soon as possible since space is limited, have fun, give young sailors in other classes something to aspire to and help win us more converts!
Here's the schedule:
November 22-25, 2012 - Thanksgiving Clinic/Regatta - Coral Reef Yacht Club
December 26-30, 2012 - Orange Bowl Regatta - hosted by the Coconut Grove Sailing Club
January 26-27, 2013 - Boomerang Regatta - hosted by the Lauderdale Yacht Club
February 8-10, 2013 - 29er Midwinters East - hosted by the Lauderdale Yacht Club
Other training dates available, as we practice EVERY weekend beginning in late October. So let us know your plans. Come on down!
Any questions? - call or write:
Carol Ewing
305-785-4777 - lightning AT cofs DOT com9/26/12
- 2012 Open Orange Bowl NOR Posted!
The NOR is here.
Current registrants are here.
Sign up here.
Please sign up fast as dinghy park space will be limited and the total number of boats will likely be capped. We are expecting the Canadians in force as well as some from outside North American.
Contact Melges and Doublewave for charters. International competitors will have first chance on the charters if they sign up fast. Contact matt@melges.com, or john@doublewave.com.9/19/12
- Fleet building!
Sam Gustin and Ian Woodbury are helping build the aspirations of future generations of 29er sailors through publicity like this. Good job guys! URL.9/6/12
- Sam Gustin and Ian Woodbury win 2012 North Americans!
Sam Gustin and Ian Woodbury from Vancouver BC won the 2012 29er North Americans at CORK OCR in fine style with 8 wins in 20 races from a fleet of 39 boats.
They are the first winners of the new Bruce-Bjorn Belt named after Ian Bruce and Peter Bjorn who established, supported and energized the class in North America for the first 11 years. Thank you again Ian and Peter! Unfortunately attendance was slightly down due to a schedule conflict with US Sailing's Youth Champs that were held in Oregon at the same time.
Overall results are here.
8/28/12
- Sean Kayser and Cameron Sawyer win 2012 Canadian Championships!
Sean Kayser and Cameron Sawyer of Kingston YC and Nepean SC won the Canadian Championships with 19 points, seven points clear of Alanna Foscarini and Alison Ludzki in second, followed by Jean-Matthiew Bolland and Ben Strickland in third. Sean and Cameron received engraved belt buckles and are the first recipients of the Boyd Belt, named after Jeff Boyd for his services to the class and who is smiling proudly with it below. Thanks Jeff!
Overall results are here.8/28/12
- Scott & Jack seek to diversify Team USA's medal chances!
In the desperate search for a medal and some extra style points, Scott Ewing does handstand on way in from racing at Gorge ...
Things were looking good for a while ...
But despite skipper Jack Toland's best efforts they lost a few points on the dismount.
8/17/12
- Judge Ryan and Hans Henken win 2012 US Nationals!
The US 2012 29er National Championships concluded Sunday in Cascade Locks, OR, with the San Diego team of Judge Ryan and Hans Henken on top of the leaderboard. Always one of the class' favorite venues, thirty-four competitors from around the USA and Canada saw a range of conditions, from 30-knot puffs on Friday to a decidedly un-Gorge-like 10-knot easterly on Sunday.
Judge Ryan and Hans Henken prevailed by sailing very consistently in perhaps the deepest ever US 29er Nationals fleet, many of whom were fresh from the Worlds in Germany. Antoine Screve and Mac Agnese were second, followed by Chris Williford and Kai Friesecke from FL who were also the top youth team. The top female youth team were Adele Whitmyer and Katie Kelley who along with the Mollerus brothers, were representing the North East of the US. The Top Canadians were Sam Gustin and Ian Woodbury. There was a healthy mix of youth and top college sailors, female or mixed teams, and also mixed age teams.
Eight different teams won races and the outcome was not decided till the final race.
On shore, lots of socializing and class cameraderie was to be found in the adjacent camp site with soccer, frisbee and tight rope walking much in evidence.
Our hosts, Columbia Gorge Racing Association (CGRA) ran an excellent event in tricky conditions. Many thanks to our PRO, Ray Mccormack, and event organizers Jarvis Brecker and Bill Symes.
Full results are here.8/15/12
- Worlds 2012: 4 US teams in Gold Fleet!
Many thanks to Peter Macdonald, our roving Vice President for compiling the following report:
"What an incredible event! Travemunde, Germany was the host venue this year, with the class running their 29er World championships concurrently with the “Travemunde Race Week” which was celebrating its 123rd year of “sailing week”. If you can imagine, there was a mile long board walk with food, wine, clothing and other trade vendors lined up, side to side on both sides of the walk. With three (3) band stands playing from 1:00-11:00 pm each night and over 100,000 people visiting the area for the week, this place was really going off. In race week alone there were 19 classes with over 700 boats, from dinghies to larger keel boats, all gathered in the beautiful historic town of Travemunde/ Lubeck.
There were 220 teams from 23 countries, the largest 29er Worlds ever! Numerous past 29er World Champions competed, past and present Opti World Champions, ISAF youth World Champions, as well as adult teams participated in the open event. The 29er class is truly a top “two person” boat in the world today. The teams were rotated into (4) 55 boat fleets each day for three days of qualifying rounds to determine the Gold Championship fleet. The Gold "championship flight” was increased this year from 25 to 55 boats. They were placed with their “carry over” position as score. After the top 55, the other three flights were placed based on their overall position into Silver, Bronze and Emerald fleets. Nine (9) US sailing teams attended the worlds this year and one Canadian. The North American teams faired exceptionally well, and were great ambassadors for our teams at home. After 9 qualifying races and 9 championship races, the top North American teams in the championship round were:
Chris Williford and Kai Friesecke, Opti veterans, who finished 9th overall, followed by 29er veterans Tyler Macdonald and Mike Deady who placed 17th overall. Duncan Williford and John Mather were 22nd (I understand John filled in for Duncan's team mate Matthew Mollerus who was injured a month before the event). 29er veterans Hans and Sterling Henken rounded up the Gold fleet in 47th. In Silver Fleet, Sam Gustin and Ian Woodbury (CAN) were 8th (63rd overall), Paris Henken and Conner Kelter finished 12th (67th), Zach Downing and Andrew Cates finished 15th (70th), Tucker Atterbury and Duncan Swain (who had just partnered up) in 26th (81st). In Bronze fleet, Campbell D’Eliscu and Trevor Hecht finished in 13th (123rd) and our top and only all female team was Adele Whitmyer and Katie Kelly rounded up in 46th fleet (156). Of the nine US boats, six experienced their first 29er World Championship -- job well done!
The Worlds saw many weather conditions: sunny, stormy, light to heavy winds, sunny and overcast, hot and cold. It varied each day, and everyday it was a real challenge for the sailors. Seven (7) days of sailing and 18 races is difficult to say the least, in any fleet. By the of the event, the teams were exhausted. The camaraderie was alive and well with many countries helping other countries repair boats or by lending parts etc. The main regatta site hosted hundreds of campers in tents and motor homes forming a real village filled with families of the competitors. Each night the regatta organizers hosted get togethers, either on the Passat (a world famous clipper ship), a couple of BBQs, a fireworks show and finally the wonderful closing ceremony. The European organizing committee, sailing judges, race officials, as well as the safety volunteers and all that helped run the Worlds did an outstanding job."
Final results can be found here.
Photographs can be found here.
7/30/12
- Worlds 2012: Off to great start -- 214 boats!
Peter Macdonald reports that we're missing out:
"I'm sitting on the water near the venue....
The weather today is 26 deg C/79 F, blue skies and 8-10 kts of breeze.
The 2nd group of 2 (55+/- boats) are out racing. 2 courses, so far, excellent race committee.
Travemunde Race week, which is celebrating 123 years for this event is rocking off the charts with multiple classes are sailing.
The social/ carnival atmosphere with tents full of food, clothing, vendors, 3- stages of musicians, beer/ wine and food gardens are spectacular. 100k of vacationers are here.
9 US & 1 Canadian team are having a great time."
Results can be found here.
7/18/12
- Orange Bowl is definitely on!
There will be charter boats from Melges but they are aimed at European teams. We are expecting several Canadian states to attend in force. Start thinking logistics -- it only gets more expensive. We are intending to run a West Coast trailer but space will be limited. More details to follow.7/18/12
- More US Nationals Scoop!
Matt Pistay has kindly volunteered to run several practice races instead of a clinic on Thursday 9th July before racing starts the following day.
We thought this format would appeal to the majority experienced sailors who want to get back into their Gorge groove!
See you there!7/18/12
- Prepare for the 2012 US Nationals at The Gorge!
We are very excited to return to the Columbia River Gorge for the US Nationals. The Gorge is the undoubtedly the best skiff sailing venue in the Pacific NorthWest and has become an annual destination with a massive draw for all skiffies. The scenery is spectacular, as is the view of the racing from the river bank. There is lots to do for sailors and family alike with additional fun to be found in Portland and Hood River.
Here are some key links:
Notice of Race
Online Registration.
Waiver.
Visitor Information.
See you there!
6/30/12
- 2011-2012 Hamlin Series for the 29er, a SCYYRA series concluded this weekend.
Hamlin Series winners + Howie
The Hamlin series was started this year in honor of Howie Hamlin, multi World Champion in the 505, 18’ Skiffs and International 14 class. Howie has participated at each 29er event this year with post race discussions with the teams. This included video analysis, GPS tracking and group discussions.
Howard’s dedication to the sport encourages team work among his crew and training partners. Howard emphasizes “working together” to increase the competitiveness of the group. He encourages sailors to follow a basic outline of team-focused ideas. In addition, Howie encourages all teams to socialize and spend time together off the water as well.
On Saturday, May 19th after 4 events in the inaugural year, the Hamlin Series was concluded at “Skiff Fest” hosted by Santa Barbara Yacht Club. 14 boats sailed in the event from Northern and Southern California. Teams ranging from “just starting” to teams that have more experience and will be traveling abroad this summer to sail in international events. On Saturday, 5 races were sailed in light and shifty conditions. On Sunday the marine layer provided 8-13 knots of breeze and 4 races were scored.
After 32 races, in four locations, Trevor Hecht and Campbell D’Eliscu finished third, Andrew Cates & Zack Downing finished 2nd and the first inaugural winners of the Hamlin Series are Dane & Quinn Wilson! Many thanks to all that assisted the events this year including the host clubs, Santa Barbara Sailing Club, Chris Ericksen, Willie McBride, Ayres Hotels, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Kattack GPS systems, Danielle Richards, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, Coronado Yacht Club and Santa Barbara Yacht Club. Thank you to the board members of Southern California Youth Yacht Racing Association. A partial group shot is here.5/26/12
- Hot tip -- Start planning for Orange Bowl 2012
Heads Up! After last year's very successful Open Orange Bowl Regatta at Coconut Grove Sailing Club attended by top European and US teams, the forward thinkers are turning their minds to this year's Orange Bowl logistics and a repeat great event. The event is Dec 26-30th. We suggest you start booking hotels (and perhaps airfares) if you want one at a sensible price. A favorite is the Sonesta for its sheer proximity.
Meantime, Carol Ewing and others are working to have a supporting clinic or two in the run up to the event.
We challenge the Canadians to bring their boats down for some serious winter racing (and some mid-winter sun) at Orange Bowl and Mid Winters East early in 2013. Charters will be available -- call John at Doublewave, or Matt at Melges for details.4/17/12
- Chuckie Eaton and Riley Gibbs nab the CISA regatta!
With no discards over the 6 races, Chuckie and Riley nabbed first place over Dane and Quinn Wilson at the informal CISA clinic regatta. Dane and Quinn were on track to winning till an OCS destroyed their chances. With so many competitive teams, the results were not predictable as these standings show. Results here.4/16/12
- Howard Hamlin and his MWW Crew
Thanks to Kim Hecht, we can now all see what a great group of skiffies we had at MWW! The full size image is here.4/2/12
- Melges' MWW Reports
Matt Pistay has kindly summarized the MWW and added pictures too. Day 1, Day 2, Day 33/30/12
- Zach Downing and Andrew Cates win MWW!
This weekend, the 29er class held its annual “29er Mid-Winters West" at Coronado’s South Bay. Coronado Yacht Club hosted this event again, with the assistance from Ayres Hotels. This event also served as “The Hamlin Series #3” in the SCYYRA series as well as 29er PCC Series, which scores both helmsman and crews separately, on a cumulative basis.
Twenty two (22) teams competed including teams from Canada, Pacific North West, Florida, Connecticut, Northern and Southern California. Top male and female sailors in the US competed, including the current US representatives going to the ISAF Youth World Championships this year in Ireland, current U.S. Youth Champions, as well the current European Champions. There were “five all girl teams” competing from Connecticut, California, Washington state and Canada. Visiting teams were hosted by Coronado families who treated the teams like their own!
Over the three days, 12 races were held. On Friday the wind ranged from 8-12 knots in steady breeze, and 4 races were scored. Willie McBride held an “after sailing debrief” and focused on safety aspects of “trapping” for the teams. On Saturday, 6 races were scored in 7-9 knots of breeze. On Saturday evening, world champion ( 505, I-14 and 18’ skiff) Howard Hamlin, gathered the sailors aside for a BBQ debrief consisting of the top 3 teams answering questions about the sailing that day including their various trim settings. Howard administrated the panel discussion with the philosophy "you make yourself better if the entire group gets better, based on sharing information" -- hence the NA 29er class' debriefs after sailing.
The top two teams were all embattled going into the last day. Racing started in 16-18 knots of breeze in the first race, then the breeze kicked up to 18-20 with gusts well over 25 kts. After race #2 was scored, the sailors were sent in due to the storm blowing in, with over 25 kts of breeze and building. In the end, Zach Downing and Andrew Cates of San Diego won the event, followed by Dane and Quinn Wilson of Santa Barbara. Third place went to Patrick Snow and Storm Brown of San Diego. It is noteworthy that teams from 4th-7th were only separated by ten points! The top all female team were Adele Whitmyer and Katie Kelley from Connecticut.
Thank you to all the volunteers from the Coronado Yacht Club for providing the excellent on the water support, Race Committee, and “on shore” hospitality.
Results here.
Best always, Peter Macdonald3/26/12
- Getting pumped for Mid-Winters West!
Always a favorite venue for the class (with weather to match), Coronado YC is excited to welcome an expected 20 boats (17 already registered) for MWW.
This event will be #3 Hamlin and #2 for the PCC series. The USA's top skiff sailor, Howie Hamlin will be watching the racing and providing his feedback on Saturday evening.
Willie McBride will bring everybody upto date on the latest safety learnings from US Sailing and lead the post race debriefing on Friday evening.
In addition, we extend a very big 'Thank you' in advance to Ayres Hotels for kindly providing the prizes as well as the GPS units that will track the boats and provide feedstock for the discussion.
Results here.3/19/12
- Dinged your Centerboard tip?
It's only a matter of time before most boats ding their centerboard.
Fortunately a 29er centerboard is made of aluminum extrusion and can often be repaired cheaply and effectively with little more than a hammer and filler.
The same approach would work for a leaky rudder too.
Here's how to do fix it.1/1/12
- Recognize any names?
Congratulations to all the 29er sailors who participated in the C420 Mid-Winters. Nice to see you all up there! Obviously the skills are transferable.2/21/12
- Christopher Williford and Kai Friesecke win MWE!
It's been light, blustery and then finally a beautiful final day for the MWE trophy in Miami. Christopher Williford & Kai Friesecke prevailed on the final day over Cody Stansky & Scott Ewing to win with 8 vs 13 points. The overall results (incl. 29erXXs) are here.2/11/12
- 2012 PCC Poster
Please help publicise the class by printing and posting this file on every appropriate yacht club wall, including any Junior Race Team clubhouse. Costco will do 16"x20" photo enlargements for $6, so how about printing one for your club, one for your bedroom wall and others for your school folders? The picture is of Sterling and Hans Henken duking it out with Tyler Macdonald and Brian Bolton at the 2010 US Nationals in San Pedro (aka Hurricane Gulch).2/11/12
- Mid Winters West NOR posted
NOR posted here. Please sign up early and note the deadline for registration. This will be a great regatta. Please also note the new class rules are effective immediately. See 29er.org for details.2/1/12
- New 29er Class Rules Effective Immediately!
There are new rules concerning sail numbers and placement, amongst others. Basically sail numbers can now be between 2nd and 4th batterns to give more space. See here for details.2/1/12
- 2012 Membership Renewal Time!
Please pay your class membership dues for 2012 pronto. Under International Class Rules both crew and helm need to be members to participate in a 29er regatta. This is enforced automatically whenever a club uses RegattaNet for signup. Here is the link (also under the 'Class Info' menu above).1/23/12
- Dane and Quinn Wilson to represent USA 29ers at ISAF Youth Worlds!
Many congratulations to Dane and Quinn Wilson who just squeaked in front of Christopher Williford and Kai Friesecke after discard to represent the US at the ISAF Youth Worlds in Ireland this summer. It was a very close fought event with 5 different boats winning races and a tight fleet.
Full results here.
1/20/12
- MWE Registration
MWE is looking exciting! Due to some technical issues, sign up will be at the event on the day. To help the organizers prepare, please signal your interest by responding to the thread on East Coast Google Group asap.1/18/12
- US, Canadian and International Google calendars now online!
Our NA Class Master Calendars are now on a webpage. You can see any combination of US, Canadian and International events overlaid on the same calendar by clicking on the drop down button in the upper right corner of the calendar.
Find it under the racing tab, or via http://www.29ernorthamerican.org/calendar/calendar.shtml
1/13/12
- Orange Bowl Regatta 2011, Coconut Grove, Florida
The 29er class sailed at the Open Orange Bowl International Regatta this year in beautiful Miami Beach, Florida. Coconut Grove Sailing Club hosted the event. Racing took place in beautiful Biscayne Bay, a legendary location in current and past sailing history. Weather was mild from the mid 70’s to the mid 80’s with relative humidity.
25 teams from five countries, including the current ISAF Youth World Champion, past ISAF youth world participants, top college sailors, many new top 29er teams made up the fleet. ... more.
Results are ...here. -- Peter Macdonald1/9/12
- Matt Pistay/Melges' Orange Bowl Reports
Matt has kindly put together his Orange Bowl reports: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4.
Thanks for your enthusiastic support Matt!1/8/12
- MWE NOR and Canadian Nationals dates posted
NOR for 29er MWE and 29erXX events posted here.
2012 Canadian 29er Nationals will be 21-22 July at Kingston YC. NOR to follow.1/5/12
- New HowTo on making and applying sail numbers
Improve your image and get legal. A new HowTo by Oliver Scutt details his process for making and applying sail numbers is to be found here.1/4/12
- 29er Calendar in iCal format for all your devices.
No excuses any more. John P. has setup our 29er Calendar in iCal format for downloading to your Outlook, iPhone and Android and others. Try it here.12/19/11
- Sign up for the YWQ!
A very promising group has signed up for the Youth World Qualifiers for the chance to represent the USA near Dublin, Ireland. (See here.)
If you think you've got what it takes (this year or perhaps next), please sign up asap here to give them a run for their money.12/19/11
- Get legal! -- Sail Number rules
John P. has summarized the class rules on sail numbers. Legibility is big issue for race officers due to our sails' shiny and transparent nature.
With our sails lasting so long, they frequently get passed on and seem to turn up at the same regatta! Indeed we had 3 boats wanting to use the same number at one regatta in the Gorge last summer! The guidelines are here. At least 2 boats Orange Bowl boats are non-compliant, based on the Open Orange Bowl entry list based on numbers alone ... and that is before spacing, height, color, position ......etc. Get with it ... and expect enforcement.12/19/11
- Open Orange Bowl entries closing on Wed Dec 21st
This year's event is going to be Coconut Grove Sailing Club's biggest ever Open Orange Bowl. To help firm up support arrangements, they will will closing the entry list on Dec 21st. At the time of writing, the 29ers have the biggest, and most international fleet - 24 boats!
This is a major recruiting opportunity for the class.
It is the only time in the year that East and West youth fleets get together, so please engage any potential sailor or parent to help "sell" the class and help us grow.
We all know that 29ers are the boat that youth actually wants to sail!12/17/11
- 2012 Kiel, Worlds and Europeans Charters
Kiel Week: 21-24 June (Kiel, Germandy)
ISAF YW 12-21 July (Dublin, Ireland)
Europeans 14-20 July (Sopot, Poland)
Worlds 22/23-28 July (Travemunde, Germany)
If you are interested in chartering a 29er for any of the above events, your suggested charter contact is Holger Jess. His email is 'info AT segelsportjess DOT de'.
For the lucky team representing the US in the ISAF Youth Worlds, he suggests using Ryanair from Luebeck through Stansted to Dublin, which should be quick, cheap and easy.
12/9/11
- 2012 29er North Americans during CORK OCR Week 18-22 Aug
The 2012 29er North Americans will be in held during CORK OCR week from 18-22 August. This gives the greatest opportunity for teams to get across country from the US Nationals in the Gorge to make it to Kingston.12/6/11
- Fancy Spain in January?
I know several teams have good memories of the 2010 Europeans, so if you find yourself in the area how about this north of Barcelona from 2-5 January?
Details here.12/1/11
- 29er MAXAM PCC SERIES WRAPS UP WITH TURKEY DAY REGATTA IN LONG BEACH
How many regattas have you been to where you had video footage of your races from a helicopter(!)? (See here.) How about watching your races on your computer screen thanks to GPS tracking? (See link at top of homepage at www.kattack.com). When was the last time that a world champion spent his entire weekend coaching your fleet out of the kindness of their heart? All that happened at PCC Series Regatta #6 The Turkey Day Regatta at ABYC. (See complete regatta results here.
What amazing opportunity for the sailors and the class to have such unique support at a time when skiff sailing (and super fast sailing, in general) is getting lots of attention. Many thanks for the weekend of course to Howard Hamlin for flying/providing the helicopter and spending hours in the classroom giving every tip he has, Bruce D'Eliscu, Nic with Kattack, Newport Harbor Yacht Club for loaning us the GPS Hardware, ABYC for use of the junior room, and all the coaches that helped out including coaches Willie McBride, Jon, Zander Kirkland and Matt McKinley.
Congratulations to all the sailors that competed in the 2011 Series. Thank you to the clubs and awesome venues that hosted PCC events including St Francis Yacht Club, Santa Barbara Yacht Club, the Columbia Gorge Racing Association, Coronado Yacht Club (twice) and Alamitos Bay Yacht Club.
Congratulations to PCC Series top 3 skippers Patrick Snow, Paris Henken, Scott Buckstaff and top 3 crews Storm Brown, James Moody and Connor Kelter. The Overall PCC 2011 results are here.
- Coach Jon11/29/11
- 2012 US event calendar published!
Go to the Racing link above to download in either pdf or xls format. Many thanks to John Papadopoulos for maintaining this. We'll add the Canadian events asap.11/26/11
- Charter boats available for 29er Orange Bowl!
If you are interested in chartering a 29er for the Orange Bowl regatta, please contact Matt Pistay at Melges urgently. He is trying to finalize numbers in order to plan trailers and other logistics.
Matt's email is matt AT melges DOT com. His work number is 262 275 1110.
11/26/11
- Just when you thought it couldn't get any better ...
Video from Howard's helicopter, compiled and edited by Willie McBride. What's next? Beats me!
Find more here.
11/24/11 - Superb sailing strategy and preparation tips from Howie Hamlin
Howard has kindly allowed us to publish his debriefing notes that he delivered on the Saturday evening after the Turkey day racing. He really emphasizes training together with other teams for everybody's benefit, and also highlights a lot of lifeskills that sailing will help to develop. The full document is here. Thanks Howard!11/26/11
- Florida 29er Clinic off to great start!
A great first day for our clinic with Willie. Beautiful weather (15 knots, 80 degrees, sunny) and everybody is psyched. If you are jealous, you should be! In the meantime, sign up for the December 19-22 clinic and join the fun. Call Carol @ (305) 785 4777 to reserve your spot. Further details here.11/24/11
- Live GPS feeds from the 29er Hamlin Series Events!
Courtesy of Kattack and outstanding efforts by Bruce D'Eliscu/Ayres Hotels, we are bringing live GPS tracking to our Hamlin series events, as well as a fantastic tool for debriefing and learning though race replays.The races can be replayed here.
Live racing can be watched here.
Once again, we are pushing the envelope - bringing exciting technology to an already exciting boat!
11/16/11 - 29er PACIFIC COAST SERIES FOR THE MAXAM FAMILY TROPHIES
The 29er Class is excited for the upcoming Turkey Day Regatta at ABYC. The regatta represents the 6th and final event of the PCC Series for 2011. This unique series recognizes Skippers and Crews separately by scoring each sailor instead of the skipper alone. The series currently has 38 skippers and 33 crews who competed in the series and are members of the 29er Class.
The current Top 10 are as follows:
SKIPPERS: Patrick Snow 28 points, Jack Jorgensen 46 pts, Chris Ford 48 pts, Andrew Colebrook 51 pts, Tyler MacDonald 53 pts, Paris Henken 56 pts, Max Fraser, 57 pts, Scott Buckstaff 57 pts, Patrick Powell 62 pts, Sterling Henken 63 points.
CREWS: Strorm Brown 28 points, James Moody 33 pts, Conner Kelter 41 pts, Burgess Malarky 45 pts, Tucker Atterbury 46 pts, Esteban Forrer 48 pts, Marly Isler 57 pts, Roman Milioti 62 pts, Trevor Hecht 67 pts, John Marlett 69 points.
Please find the complete series results here. Please forward any questions, omissions, corrections, etc... to jrogers AT coronadoyc DOT org.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the regatta. Howlie Hamlin and Willie McBride will be at the regatta for open de-briefs and support.
- Coach Jon
29er So Cal Coordinator11/9/11
- Hamlin Series #1, PCC series, and Goblin, all in one!
What a beautiful weekend it was in Santa Barbara. There were 10 teams consisting of all juniors and 1 open team. Kate Shaner flew down from Seattle to sail with Kaitlin Driscoll, which makes her the travel award winner. SBSC hosted the event, and brought up Chris Erickson from ABYC to run the races. Marc Shryer also assisted from ABYC. The rest of the R/C was comprised of Santa Barbara locals, including Harry Atterbury who picked up, and dropped off, Kate Shaner from the airport, arranged the meeting place for the debrief Saturday night, and ran a mark set boat Saturday and Sunday. Howard Hamlin was onsite and on the water Saturday and Sunday, videotaping and analyzing the sailors. On Saturday night, Sunday morning and again Sunday afternoon, Howard led the discussions and debrief with all the sailors. Willie McBride was the onsite local organizer and helped coach the sailors. Bruce D’Eliscu ran a coach boat, carried food and drinks for many of the teams, ferried Howard around and brought up the Kattack for the racers. We had a few technical difficulties but hope to have the races up for viewing soon.
On Saturday and Sunday, the winds were light between 5-9 knots of breeze. The skies were sunny and the temps were mid 70- 80 on the water. New 29er helmsman Quinn Wilson and Brother Dane, won the event on their home waters. Close 2nd Zack Downing and Andrew Cates, and 3rd place went to Patrick Snow and Storm Brown. There were a number of new competitors sailing including Rob Rice and Matt McDermaid from Long Beach. New partners Tucker Atterbury and Newt ( big breeze) Cutcliffe, raised the aso up faster than anyone, Campbell D’ Eliscu and Trevor Hecht as well, sailed well for first time together in the boat, and locals Cuyler Zimmerman and Dustin, and Jonathon Beardon and Sorren Wilde got to experience the boat in competition for the first time. Our open sailors were Jim and Cheryl Muir.
Saturday night, all the teams met for a Mexican dinner at SBSC, then went to the harbor room for a debrief with Howard Hamlin and Willie. Howard was very impressed by the sailors’ skills and camaraderie. Results can be found at www.sailsbsc.org. -- Peter Macdonald11/1/11
- Henkens 1st & 2nd at Fall Dinghy, Richmond YC
It was a gorgeous weekend with warm air and sunshine, which unfortunately more times than not in San Francisco it means light air. We had 7 boats racing in the Fall Dinghy and it was great to see the 2 Coronado boats come up for this. I wish the wind was more cooperative as I'm sure all the competitors are. Saturday's racing was postponed until 3 pm with a decent ebb. Half way through the first race the flood started moving down the course and made it very difficult for all the fleets to get to the finish line in the light breeze. The second race the breeze picked up a little bit better. Even though it was a strong flood the only breeze was more towards the middle of the bay and you had to go for pressure over tide relief. The race committee was only able to get off 2 races on Saturday. Sunday wasn't much better for the wind, the race committee couldn't get any races off and called the regatta. The fleet was only able to get a total of 2 races for the whole event. - Dan Brandt
Full results are here.10/27/11
- Charter boats available for 29er Orange Bowl!
If you are interested in chartering a 29er for the Orange Bowl regatta, please contact Matt Pistay at Melges urgently. He is trying to finalize numbers in order to plan trailers and other logistics.
Matt's email is matt AT melges DOT com. His work number is 262 275 1110.
10/27/11
- Announcing the SCYYRA 29er Hamlin Series!
Howie Hamlin, Matt Noble and Paul Allen on 'CST Composites'.
We are delighted to announce the inclusion of the 29er in SCYYRA's (Southern California Youth Yacht Racing Association) prestigious youth racing series.
There are many people to thank for creating and realizing this opportunity, but particularly Mary Snow for building our case, as well as Ayres Hotels who are providing “Kattack” GPS tracking systems for the series regattas.
We are equally honored and thrilled to name the series after Howie Hamlin, probably California's most successful skiff sailor and a true gentleman, and whose feats winning 505, International 14 and Aussie 18 Skiff Worlds inspire us all.
Howie's support of "team efforts", including practicing with those far below his skill levels, epitomizes his desire to elevate all teams' performance. This fits perfectly with the US 29er class association's desire to be inclusive, work together and succeed as a team through such techniques as open clinics and post race debriefs led by the most experienced and successful sailors.
Interestingly, Howie does not use the term skipper, preferring helmsman. In his view, "the crew or team mates" make an equal or more of a contribution to performance than the helmsman.
Together with Willie McBride, Howard Hamlin will be at several of the regattas and will lead the after sailing debriefs with the help of the GoPro video and Kattack GPS technology.
The full press release is here.
The Hamlin series events will be a subset of the PCC events and be open to sailors of any age, although only SCYYRA eligible youth sailors will be scored and count towards the series results.
The first event is imminent - the Goblin - and this is the year to be engraved in first position on the trophy! You need to sign up both for the Hamlin series, as well as the event itself. See the West Coast 29er Google Groups for details.10/26/11
- Pro-Skiff Advice from Gary Bodie to Youth Sailors -- from Cleverpig.org
Gary Bodie was the Head Coach for the US Olympic team in the past 3 Olympic games. He was interviewed by Cleverpig in August.
The full text is at http://www.cleverpig.org/newsarchives.php#6. I thought his answer to one of the questions was particularly pertinent to youth sailors and their parents:
CP: How (if) does the outlook to Rio 2016 change the game for Youth Sailing? Do you have any recommendations/advice for young and hopeful sailors who are just starting to campaign?
GB: My advice is don't be afraid to try something really different. Too often our best sailors do not consider all of the options simply because they have the most experience with a Club 420 or FJ, and those look the most like a 470. Go for the multihull, the board and the skiff. Listen to our elite coaches from the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics. If they tell you that you're too small, too short, or too large for one event then get their advice on which event is best suited to your body type. And carefully consider your pathway. If you are truly one of the elite youth sailors in the USA, then you don't need to spend eight years roll tacking an FJ in High School and College. Move on already. And finally, don't expect to win the US Trials or an Olympic Medal in a two year campaign after college, no matter how good you think you are. Those days are long, long gone. The future pathway toward an Olympic medal is getting involved with the US Sailing Development Team and its collaborative team culture and coaching by the best in the world.9/26/11
- 2011 Orange Bowl NOR posted!
Commit to working off that turkey and get yourself down to Miami for a mid-winter dose of sun and adrenalin! Help show off the class to those who need to know what skiff sailing is all about! NOR here Sign up here. View registrants.8/31/11
- Autumn and Winter Florida 29er Clinics Details
Coral Reef YC are offering top class 29er clinics this autumn and winter led by Willie McBride in readiness for Orange Bowl and the new season. They have six active boats already in Florida, together with the weather and enthusiasm to improve whilst those in more northern climes shiver. If you live on the east coast, how about joining them?
The flyer is here. Please print and post on your local club's notice board.
Clinic details are here
9/18/11
- Paris Henken and Connor Kelter win US 2011 29er Youth Champs!
Many congratulations to Paris and Connor for winning the US 2011 29er Youth Champs and many thanks for compiling this report:
"We competed at this year’s 2011 United States Youth Champs at Newport, Rhode Island. Right from the get-go the competition was tight and continued throughout the rest of the regatta. Day one began with two scheduled practices starts in moderate to light conditions which continued to build along with the rain and current for the opening three races. With the fleet only being ten boats deep, the top five positions were always a few points apart after every days racing. Having never sailed in Rhode Island before, we did not know what to expect, but after the first couple races we began to figure it out. After the first day of racing, and getting a 5, 1, 4, we were positioned in 2nd place overall and two points behind first, but only two points in front of third. Our high expectations for wind diminished when day two began with only about 2-5 knots in the morning and still more current, but fortunately no rain. We got the first race off with about 5 knots but in a difficult situation because as the racing progressed on, the wind got lighter. Rounding the leeward mark, we were in 5th but still had time to try and pick up a few boats. In a Hail Mary decision, we decide to bang the right side of the course and let the rest of the fleet go left. The wind shut all the way off and we experienced a huge wind shift, making us go from 5th to 10th. Fortunately for us, the race committee decided to abandon the race because of the huge wind shift and the wind dropping below 1 knot. After some waiting around, the wind picked back up to 5-8 knots and we had a solid rest of day, still sitting in second place with only one point behind 1st. By the second to last day, it looked like it could be anyone’s win. With the wind coming in at 15-18 knots, we finally got what we wanted, a windy day. Using our superior speed in the breeze, we were able to sail into our best day, winning two, getting second in two races and a sixth, moving into first with about an 11 point lead.
Going into the last day, was really exciting. The conditions were light to moderate and flat water. Being a little nervous on the first race, we made some mistakes and ended up getting an eight. With the pressure on, we put our game faces on and put all of our focus into these last three races. We decide, for now on, to cover the second place boat. From the gun, we covered them left, while letting the rest of the fleet go off right, which at the time was the favored side. We rounded the windward mark in ninth and the second place boat rounded in last and our aim changed from covering to catching up and passing some boats. From that point on we sailed our own race and came back to finish third!
Out of all the races we have ever sailed together, that one race was specifically the best race we had ever sailed! Knowing that we could sail through the fleet and go from second to last to the top three was great. We ended the regatta by winning the last two races of the day and Connor celebrated by doing a victory back flip off the boat. This regatta was great for us as we learned more of the fundamentals of team work, and how by working together can really pay off in a positive way.
We would like to personally thank the awesome Newport Race Committee for getting all fifteen races off cleanly and Sail Newport for a really nice regatta. Putting together the college night at Salve Regina University and hosting a dinner at New York Yacht Club was a fantastic extra. We would also love to thank our host family, the Lanes, for letting us stay at their home and making us feel like family and cooking us wonderful meals. We couldn’t have won it without them.
~Paris Henken (Coronado Yacht Club) and Connor Kelter(Newport Harbor Yacht Club)"
Full results are here9/13/11
- Tyler Macdonald & Mike Deady win 2011 CORK / 29er North Americans!
The 2011 29er North American Championships were held again at CORK this year with 50 teams competing. 12 races were sailed, with varied winds over the 4 days. Tyler Macdonald and Mike Deady (California) won the event after sailing with a 1,1,1 finish on the last day to secure their victory. In second place and top female team, Katy Cenname and Helena Scutt (Washington) were solid all regatta, using 2nd & 4th places as their drops. Emily Tsang and Lauren Laventure (Montreal), also sailed a consistent regatta to capture 3rd Place. Top Junior, and another female team, Adele Whitmyer and Katie Kelly (Connecticut) finished 4th. Sam Gustin and Ian Woodbury (Vancouver, B.C.) rounded out the top 5. In the Silver fleet, Maddie Lott and crew Max Carnella (Toronto) were the top team. The first day of the regatta and only qualifying day, recorded breeze from 8-12 kts and gusts to 14. On day two of the regatta, the weather failed, and after 4 hours on the water, sailing was cancelled. The following day, the start of the championship rounds, had light and variable breeze, and finally, on the last day of the event, the breeze filled in early and the skiffs had their best day of sailing. As mentioned before, the 29ers raced 12 races compared with the other double handed class which only got in racing 9 races. Fast is fun! Canada was well represented with teams competing from the West Coast to the East Coast. The race committee did a great job in running races and the organizing authority (CORK) did a wonderful job hosting the event. Sailing at CORK is always a consistent flow of good sailing, good hospitality and a wonderful place to visit.
Full results are here8/23/11
- 29ER PACIFIC COAST SERIES REPORT
The 2011 US 29er National Championship hosted at Coronado Yacht Club in July was an awesome event and represented the 5th regatta in the 29er PCC Series for the Maxam Family Trophy.
The 2011 Series started in March with the Spring Dinghy Regatta at St Francis YC and Midwinters West at Coronado. In May was the Santa Barbara YC Skiff Festival, followed by the Gorge Regatta in July. The Series is unique in that it scores and recognizes skippers and crews seperately to emphasize the importance of teamwork and the value the crew brings to the boat. This magnificent perpetual honors the commitment and dedication of Former Class President Bill Maxam and his family who were instrumental in building the 29er fleet in the late 90s and early-mid 2000s. Currently the top 3 skippers are Patrick Snow, Jack Jorgensen and Chris Ford. Top crews are Storm Brown, James Moody and Conner Kelter. The final regatta of the series will be the ABYC Turkey Day Regatta in November. .....8/17/11
- 2012 US Nationals Venue -- Ideas Welcome!
Your US 29er Class Association is thinking hard about where to hold our 2012 US Nationals. We need to avoid late July (7/20-7/29) due to the Worlds in Germany as well as mid-August due to the US Youth Champs (8/12-8/18) in the Gorge which is once again scheduled to conflict with CORK (8/13-8/16 and 8/18-8/22).
We welcome your ideas for accessible venues with wind, perhaps in September, or perhaps to be run in conjunction with another regatta that we will already be attending.
Please send ideas to Peter M, or John P......8/15/11
- Looking for a special souvenir?
Steve Jost, who produced superb pictures of the 2010 Nationals at CBYC, is also a superb photo manipulation artist. If want something that really stands out, perhaps for a present, or for a prize, please consider his services.
For some wonderful souvenirs of last year and perhaps material for your custom artwork, see here
His website is http://www.stevejostphotography.com.8/12/11
- Great 29er things are happening at Coral Reef YC, FL!
They are looking for a 420/29er coach. See job posting here.8/10/11
- (Senior) Project Idea -- Overhaul our website using Wordpress! Our website could do with an overhaul and benefit from more up to date technology such as Wordpress and its massive library of plug-ins.
If you have the skills, time and interest to have a go yourself, or supervise someone please let the webmaster know.
Wordpress is already running, so the real need is to select, tweak and agree a theme, add some plugins for Facebook etc and help the migration.
Such an update will look good on your resume and benefit us all.
.....8/3/11
29er Sticker Competition! Announcing a sticker competition as suggested at the AGM -- let's get a sticker on the back of every aspiring 29er sailor's boat or car -- whether they know it or not! - 29ers back at Orange Bowl Regatta!
Attention all sailors, the 29er is back at the Orange Bowl Regatta. Please start making hotel and airplane reservations.
There will be a trailer or two from California. Please contact John Fraser in California (fraserkind AT sbcglobal DOT net) for California Orange Bowl Deliveries on the 10 boat trailer, first come first served! Deposits of $250.00 will secure your spot.
There may be a pre regatta clinic. We are working on this as we speak.
Notice of race to come soon.
.....7/27/11
- Zach Downing and Andrew Cates win Europeans!
Many congratulations to Zach Downing and Andrew Cates for winning the 2011 European Championships over ~160 boats!
The event was held by the Yacht Club Locarno, Locarno-Brissago, Switzerland.
It was predominantly a light wind regatta complete with thunderstorms.
Team USA were well represented both at the event and at the top of the fleet. Their positions were:
Gold Fleet
1st Zach Downing & Andrew Cates
4th Paris & Hans Henken
5th Tyler Macdonald & Willie McBride
21st Dane Wilson & Newt Cutcliffe
Silver
15th Jack Jorgensen & Tucker Atterbury
35th Andrew Mollerus & Matthew Mollerus
36th Sterling Henken & Michael Deady
Emerald
13th Kate Shaner & Kaitlin Driscoll
26th Adele Whitmyer & Katie Kelley
By my quick calculations there were:
16 countries represented
80% male or mixed teams
20% all female teams, 2/3 of which were Youth
71% all Youth teams.
We look forward to a proper debrief.
Results are here7/26/11
- New US 29er National Champions -- Scott Buckstaff & James Moody!
Coronado YC in San Diego ran a flawless 2011 US 29er National Championship. Always one of the class' favorite locations, the organizing committee made everybody welcome, stoked them up with food then tired them out with 5, 5 then 4 races over the 3 days.
They even laid on a perfect wind strength for maximum fleet competitiveness -- a consistent, sometimes shifty 12 to 15 knots.
The clear winners were Scott Buckstaff and James Moody who sailed impeccably to win 7 out of the 14 races and take both the Open and Youth titles.
There was a close fight for second with three teams in contention going into the final day. Max Fraser and Helena Scutt managed 2nd, holding off Chris Ford/Esteban Forrer in 3rd and Patrick Snow/Storm Brown in 4th.
The top youth women were Annie Schmidt and Marly Isler who really hit their stride on the last and windiest day when they were rarely outside the top five.
There were 21 teams competing (known to have been limited by charter boat availability) with teams from all along the west coast with Seattle and Florida probably coming the furthest.
The turnout was excellent, despite overlapping with the Europeans where 9 US teams were competing.
Photos will follow -- when I can whittle them down to a sensible number!
It was very pleasing to see so many fresh teams putting their new found skills to use after the free pre-Nationals clinic run by Max, Helena, Pike Harris and Jon Rogers.
Once again, our sincere thanks to Coronado YC and especially Shawn (PRO) and Jill Powell for leading the organizing team and bringing such energy, enthusiasm and attention to detail.
The full results are here7/25/11
- Antoine Screve and Mac Agnese second at ISAF Youth Worlds
Congratulations to Antoine and Mac who squeaked in a better final race to take home a silver for the USA, adding to their previous year haul of a bronze in the 2011 ISAF Youth Worlds in Croatia (albeit Mac got his in an SL16 catamaran). The US also took home medals in the girls 420 and girls Laser Radial.
Final day report here.
Here is Antoine's debrief:
"The 2011 ISAF Youth Worlds was held in Zadar, Croatia. The first three days at the venue were practice days. During those days, Mac and I mainly tested different boat handling techniques to work with Mac's broken finger. We were able to find a few ways to help cope with the injury by the last day. Then the 7 day championship began. We raced three days in steady light wind. By the end of the third day we managed to stay in the top 5. We then spent the rest day recovering (especially Mac's broken finger). The next two days continued to be sailed in light conditions, but the breeze was a little less stable which culminated in a bad race for Mac and I.
Our consistency throughout the event other than two bad races, allowed us to sit two points behind second place (Netherlands) and three points in front of fourth place (Australia). On the last day of the event, one race was sailed in the best breeze we saw all event. For the whole entire race NED, AUS and us (USA) were all within five boat lengths of each other. We rounded all marks with AUS in front with us (USA) and NED behind. The very last downwind to the finish, Mac and I were able to gybe onto Australia which forced them to sail through less pressure. Thus we finished in front of boat Australia and Netherlands. Right after finishing the race, Mac rushed to douse the kite and look up at the next finishers. NED, AUS finished right next to each other and we couldn't tell who had finished in front. We anxiously listened to the finishing boat...Australia, Netherlands. We had done it! We had managed to get those two points on the Netherlands, allowing us to get a Silver Medal!
Mac and I would like to give a big thank you to the St Francis Foundation, the Belvedere Cove Foundation, Almaco and all other sponsors that have helped us in the past."
..... Results7/17/11
- Great showing by TeamUSA at German 29er Nationals!
Seven (7) US teams competed in the German National Championships sailed on Lake Walchensee July 9th-12th. Conditions were very shifty and winds were up to 14 knots. A good time was had by all sailors. Five (5) nations were represented at the regatta: GBR, GER, AUS, USA and AUT. After 12 races, Paris and Hans Henken won the Championship by 2 points over the Australians! Tyler Macdonald and Willie McBride were the 2nd Americans, 4th overall, followed by another new team of Zack Downing and Andrew Cates in 7th. Other good efforts were Andrew and Matthew Mollerus in 17th, Michael Deady and Sterling Henken in 19th, Newt Cutcliffe and Dane Wilson in 20th, and new 29er sailors Adele Whitmyer and Katie Kellie in 38th! The teams used this event as a warm up for the 29er Europeans, which will be the largest 29er regatta this summer......Results
7/12/11
- Gorge Report: Superb sailing at CGRA's 29er PCCs/Gorge Regatta. July 8-10, 2011
Tucker Atterbury reports "The entire regatta and clinic had 20 knots plus of breeze, the temperatures were warm at the beginning (90) and dropped down to the 70's for the regatta. 13 boats raced, including teams from San Diego, Seattle, Santa Cruz, SF, Santa Barbara and Pasadena. Great time was had by all, race committee was great, there were 14 races, Max and David won, Scott Buckstaff and James Moody finished second, Alain and Joe from Seattle & Santa Cruz (old dudes) were third, Tucker and Jack finished fourth and rounding out the top five were Burgess and Andrew from Seattle. It was awesome event!"
Once again CGRA laid on a wonderful event for the 29ers, 29erXXs and I-14s. While a little too breezy for some of the newer class entrants, and with the Columbia running high and with a 6 knot current due to snow melt, everybody had a great time on and off the water.
It was particulary impressive to see Kristen and Charlie's 29erXX starting with, and occasionally mixing it up with the middle of the I-14 fleet with whom they started. As ever, the view for spectators from the bank was great, the camping was very civilized and social, and CGRA laid on an excellent meal on Saturday evening.
Many thanks to CGRA! - Oliver.....7/11/11
- Coronado YC pumped to welcome 29ers to their US National Championships
Coronado YC's organizing committee have really rolled out the red carpet and done the groundwork for a superb event.
To get you settled, up your game and understand local conditions, they have laid on several days of activities leading up to the main event including a pre-regatta clinic and an invitation to join in with the locals for their Wed beer can racing.
Coaches will include top US 29er sailors Max Fraser (2009 & 2010 National Champion), Helena Scutt (Stanford University Co-Captain of Sailing, top US female crew) and Pike Harris (long time 29er and 18' skiff sailor).
Helena will likely focus on the female teams, especially any new to the 29er.
In addition to including breakfast and evening meals for competitors in the entry fee, there will be cool prizes for whatever the regatta organizers deem worth recognizing :-)
You really have no excuses - this is going to be fun!
Here is the schedule leading up to and including the Nationals:
July 14-17 Jr Olympic Festival at SDYC
July 18 29er sailor party put on by CorYC. FREE
July 19 29er Drills and practice races. 1:30-4PM
July 20 29er Demonstration Races on Coronado city front 1PM-3:00
July 21 Measurement for Nationals
July 22, 23, 24 National Championship
July 23 Class AGM, including Officer Elections during Saturday evening's dinner
For anybody that does not know Max, here is his bio:
"Max started sailing at 7 years old out of the Santa Cruz Yacht Club Junior Program in El Toro's. At age 11 he joined Richmond Yacht Club's renowned Junior Program and went on to win the El Toro Nationals at age 13. At age 14 Max received a loaner 29er for a year and set his sights on the 29er Worlds being held at the Saint Francis Yacht Club that year. Max simply loved the 29er from day one and has gone on to 6 additional Worlds in England, Argentina, Australia, Italy, Bahamas, and back to Argentina in 2011. His best finish thus far was at the Bahama Worlds placing 5th with long time crew David Liebenberg.
On the home front, Max and David have won the last 3 North American titles at CORK and 3 out of the last 4 Nationals. They have also won the East Coast Grand Prix Series and the West Coast Grand Prix Series twice.
2011 will mark the third year Max has been a Level 2 US Sailing Instructor. He has been the Head Coach for Santa Cruz Yacht Club's Junior Sailing Program during this period of time and also Director of Advanced Sailing (29ers, 49ers, Aussies skiffs, etc). Max has coached at every level of the class throughout the United States. This summer he will coach in New York, Boston, Newport, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and at the PCC at The Gorge in Oregon. he will be a private coach at the ISAF Youth World Qualifiers and the US Youth Champs at Newport. This last January Max sailed a 49er at the Miami OCR doing well. He will be sailing the 49er at the July 4 Celebration Regatta in Boston Harbor along with the Extreme 40' Cats just prior to coming out to the Gorge to give a clinic with the renowned skiff sailor and World Class Rock Star, Morgan Larsen. After the clinic, David Liebenberg and Max will sail the 2011 PCCs at the Gorge."
If that isn't enough, as Class President and webmaster I would also add that Max exemplifies the camaraderie of the class. He was recognized by the US 29er Class Association at our 2010 AGM for his outstanding support of other teams off the water. After a show of hands, it seemed that almost everybody had benefited from friendly tips, emergency repairs or boat handling advice at some point in time.
For more information contact
jroffice (at) coronadoyc (dot) org
.....2011 Nationals NOR5/14/11
- Illustrious 29er alumni wins I-14 US Nationals! Our very own David Liebenberg, winning crew at last year's 29er US Nationals and evidently unfazed by string, stepped in at the last minute to crew for Paul Galvez at the I-14 US Nationals last week at Cabrillo Beach YC.
They won, to the delight of Paul, who had been trying for 20 years. Paul is a great advocate for skiff sailing and has encouraged multiple youth into skiffs generally and 29ers specifically.
David has always been one of the class' most popular, helpful and generous sailors to any and all 29er teams, so we are especially pleased for him to add this title to his haul. Well done guys!
.....6/22/11
- Chanel Miller wins 'B' Division of 2011 Women's College Nationals Chanel Miller helped University of Rhode Island to win the 2011 ICSA/Sperry Top Sider Women's National Championship. Chanel, a top 29er helm, and freshman at the URI, helmed and won 'B' Division. Congratulations URI, and to Chanel especially -- you obviously know how to sail slow boats too! .....
6/19/11
- Italian 29er Coach Available to teach in the US/Canada this summer.
One marvellous aspect of the 29er class is meeting and making friends with other sailors from all over the world.
Seeing old friends again back on their home waters makes for marvellous regattas, opens up a whole new social life and can even simplify the logistics.
Here's one such opportunity: Augusto Poropat, already a very accomplished 29er sailor (13th 2010 Bahamas Worlds) from the Lake Garda area in Italy, would like the chance to coach in the US this summer in return for help with the air ticket and accommodation.
He is a dental student currently, an avid sailor and very keen to extend this opportunity. His proposal follows here6/12/11
- Trailer to Heaven aka the Gorge
If you are attending CGRA's clinic and Skiff Fest in the Gorge July 6-10th and want to start your summer with style, then this could be for you!
The BIG blue 11 boat trailer will be leaving Santa Cruz July 1 for the Gorge driven by Pat Diola and crew. There is still some room on the trailer for boat and camping gear. They are picking up 29ers in Southern California the week-end of June 25.
If interested call John Fraser 831-212-9244 asap for details. ...6/10/11
- 29er North East Grand prix events
The Canadian 29er North East Grand prix events are:
- Icebreaker, TS&CC, Toronto, May 21-22 ..... Results
- Ottawa Skiff Grand Prix, NSC, Ottawa, June 4-5
- TRY, PCYC (Pointe-Claire), Montreal, July 9-10
- 29er Canadians, KYC, Kingston, July 23-24
- National Event, NYC, Toronto, August 6-7
- CORK international, POH, Kingston, August 15-18
5/27/11
- 2011 29er Boot Camp
A couple of enterprising, popular and effective top 29er sailors, Willie McBride and Oliver Toole are running a two week boot camp hosted by Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation for those sailors doing the international circuit this summer including U.S. Nationals, German Nationals, the North American Championship (Canada), and the European Championship (Switzerland). They will be using video extensively to review teams' moves. It is obviously aimed at advanced teams, so acceptance is very limited and by invitation only.
This is a nice example of how the top sailors in the class are working together to elevate their capabilities for mutual benefit.
..... Scheduled Activities5/23/11
- Want to buy a used 29er?
To help prospective buyers evaluate used 29ers, Oliver Scutt has written up what he'd look for when buying a used 29er. The guide is based on his accumulated experiences of maintaining 5 boats from 3 builders, a couple of which have given several generations of 29er sailors their initiation rites!
He welcomes any feedback on the content to make it more useful.
...Find it here
5/24/11
- Spring clinics off to an excellent start
Several area fleets have held clinics to introduce the 29er to new and prospective sailors. It is fantastic to note the quality of coaching, and willingness of the coaches to continually give back to the next generation of sailors, for which we sincerely thank them.
On the east coast, Joan Mollerus organized a 3 boat LISOT 29er clinic over easter weekend run by Pepe Bettini (2nd 2011 29er Worlds).
Despite light conditions, the kids had a blast (as did Pepe), learning how much to dig the nose in, and how to have the crew go round the front of the mast when tacking in in light airs. Amongst others, it was very nice to see Megan Rudnick (#1 Opti girl in the US, UK and Argentina in 2010) really loving the 29er rather than the slow and heavy traditional classes, although she is careful to learn the most she can from each.
A Seattle contingent of 4 senior and experienced Opti sailors had a baptism of fire in 20 knots with coaching by sailing mega-star Jonathan McKee (49er bronze medal Sydney Olympics 2000), ably assisted by Kate Shaner. With the help of Puget Sound's notoriously cold water to dull the bruises, the smiles and buzz at the end of the day were superb. Thanks to David Shaner for organizing.
In SF bay, Thomas Sponholtz is organizing clinics out of Richmond Yacht Club run by Dan Brandt, one of the US's top 18' skiff sailors.
They have 7-8 top Opti sailors moving into the class and 5-6 active boats training at Richmond YC.
Prior to Skiff Fest, Willie McBride (member US Sailing Development Team in the 470, and long time 29er sailor) ran another one of his popular pre-regatta clinics assisted by Tyler MacDonald (2nd US helm at 2011 Argentina Worlds). Four teams participated and wind was Medium 8-10kts. The clinic consisted of on land discussions, rigging discussions, on water training/drills and after sailing debrief / video replays were reviewed. The video debrief will be posted on Youtube.
No mention of clinics can go without mention of Jon Roger's ever popular Luff-in series at Coronado YC in San Diego. Jon runs a low key regatta series intertwined with continual coaching and tips that started several teams en-route to the top of the class. Long may it continue.
Some future clinics of note are:
July 6-7 Gorge Skiff Clinic, follow by Skiff regatta July 8-9 http://www.cgra.org/Regattas_and_Clinics.htm
August 6-10 RYC, Skiff Sailing Foundation http://www.skiffsailing.org/29erhome.html
5/20/11
- 12 29ers at Royal Victoria YC's Spring Dinghy Regatta
"Royal Victoria Yacht Club held their annual Spring Dinghies event May 7-8 th. We had an outstanding 12x 29ers for the competition.
Saturday was a spectacular skiff day with west winds from 12-15 knots. The tide dictated the tactics and the wave formation. By the fourth race everyone's fitness level was being tested.
Sunday brought progressively lighter air, 3 races were completed. Erin Berry and Jessica Round won the event.
The fleet had a cross section of ages and experience which is good for everyone. It is marvellous to see new teams in their first regatta, both at the youth end of the fleet (Ellie Shaw and Emma Toone), as well as mature sailors crowd coming out and competing in the 29er class in BC.
This class offers fun, challenges and of course speed to inspire and thrill all ages." - Anne Round
Erin Berry and Jessica Round. 2011 Royal Victoria Yacht Club Spring Dinghy winners
5/20/11
- Welcome to our new builder - Melges!
We are delighted to announce that Melges is to be the new 29er North American builder of the 29er and 29erXX, and the distributor of the 49er.
Melges has a super reputation for quality and service nurtured over many years of building scows, sport boats and yachts.
The boats are to be built in Zenda, WI. They have already built their first few boats and expect to have full availability in the late summer.
We are very sorry to lose PS2000 to whom as a fleet we owe a great debt. They had the foresight to establish the class in North America, and who have supported it so well over the past 10-12 years.
Thank you once again Ian and Peter, for all your generosity and enthusiasm. We sincerely wish you the very best!
Our existing dealers remain in place, Sturgis Boat Works, Doublewave, and West Coast Sailing. Please continue to support them as they so generously support us at regattas.
.....Melges.com press release5/14/11
- It's Official -- 29ers at Open Orange Bowl!
Coconut Grove Sailing Club and Coral Reef Yacht Club are in agreement that CGSC's 2011 Orange Bowl Regatta will consist of the following classes:
- No age limit 29ers (and possibly 29erXXs) - new for 2011
- No age limit International 420s - as in 2010
- Adult Lasers (ages 19 and over) - the long-standing OB fleet
This is the opportunity the we've been working towards for several years.
It is our chance as a class to escape to warmer climes and work off the extra portions of turkey.
It will also be a marvellous chance to show off the boat and the camaraderie of the class to many potential recruits (and their parents) so that they aspire to 29ers.
Now you know what to ask for for Christmas!
5/14/11
- Awesome Midwinters West Photos!Stacy Childers posted her collection of photos from the Midwinters West, hosted by Coronado YC. Thanks Stacy! .....Stacy's Midwinters Photos
4/12/11
- Screve and Agnese win Midwinters West
Antoine Screve and Mac Agnese won the 29er Midwinters West, held in Coronado, California over the March 26-27 weekend.
It was a spectacular weekend in Coronado, and a good warm up for the 29er Nationals in Coronado this year. The host club did an outstanding job running the races, and getting plenty of sailing in, In addition to their hospitality, the weather turned out great and Coach Jon from Coronado was on the water working with many of the newer teams. Friday's conditions were mostly sunny with 6-10 kts of breeze, cool but not cold. Saturday, mostly sunny with breeze 8-14 knots and in the low 70's, and on Sunday mostly sunny skies and breeze from 6-12 knots.
There were more "travel" teams this year, as well as out of state sailors partnering with locals. Two teams from Victoria Canada, a sailor from Toronto, a team and a skipper from Seattle, a new team from Connecticut, a sailor from Florida. From California, there were teams from teams from San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Long beach, Newport Beach and of course San Diego.
The regatta this year saw more new junior teams assembled, many with big plans on competing nationally and abroad. (5) all girl teams with 1 boy/ girl team filled out the fleet. There were mostly all juniors competing at the event. A number of newly formed teams are really coming in to good results.
Special recognition for "Sportmanship" from the race committee went to teams John Merlett and Mackenzie Cook from Santa Cruz, as well as Sophie Papp and Mady Innes from Victoria Canada.
In the end, 1st Place went to Mac Agnese and Antoine Screve, 2nd Place went James Moody and Tyler Macdonald, and 3rd place went to Connor Kelter and Paris Henken. .....final results4/1/11
- It's time to renew your 29er class membership for 2011! Please go to 29er.org and scroll down the left side until you see the Pay Dues button . . . click it and you will be whisked through the renewal process in no time! Renew it today!
3/15/11
- 29ers expected in "Open Orange Bowl" 2011 As many may know, we have been plotting our return to the Orange Bowl regatta in Florida between Christmas and New Year for a while. Due to the unflagging efforts of our VP Peter Macdonald, working with enthusiastic help from Ron Rostorfer, the CGSC Regatta Chairman, the 29ers are expected to be included in the "Open Orange Bowl Regatta" at Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Likely dates are probably 27-30 December 2011.
This is not the traditional U-19 only "OB International Youth Regatta" at the neighboring Coral Reef Yacht Club.
As an open class, the insurmountable sticking points for inclusion in the 2010 youth regatta were:
- U-19 regatta insurance constraints
- The regatta organizing committee's limited bandwidth to handle another class with its own racecourse even though we volunteered to run almost everything ourselves.
The Coconut Grove event is well established having been held for 48 years. We are delighted to be included. We will share the event with the I-420s for their NAs, and the traditional age 19 and over Lasers, Laser Masters and Laser Radial classes. We expect to sail on Biscayne Bay, where there is more breeze and perhaps some swell for added interest.
From a 29er perspective, this will be:
- a nice focal point for a winter Florida circuit
- an opportunity for families whose children span the age range of the two regattas
- a chance to see old friends and show who is having more fun
- an opportunity to publicize the fleet and attract graduating Opti sailors and bored members of other classes wanting something more exhilarating.
More details and confirmation are expected this month after CGSC's 2011 organizing committee has met.2/22/11
- Curious about the 29erXX? The North American 29erXX fleet has been growing, and with it some great media. Want to see the 29erXX up close? Photographer Fried Elliott has posted these photos of the boat. Want to see it in action? Check out this video of the 2011 Miami Superbowl Regatta. Looking for more? Check out 29erxx.com.
2/17/11
- Skiff Head is born Check out the only sail training team on Long Island Sound focusing on skiffs. Great flyer here. Welcome to the fleet guys! .....Skiff Head flyer
1/23/11
- 29er Midwinters West NOR The NOR is now available for the Midwinters West. Known by some as the "CORK of the West", everyone should mark their calendars for March 25-27th. Coronado YC and the MWW will be the place to be! .....Midwinters West NOR
1/19/11
- Texas. Big. Cold. Rainy. Competitive. In the Lone Star State, ten young 29er teams duked it out in the 2011 ISAF Youth World Championship Qualifier hosted by the gracious members and staff at Houston Yacht Club. Teams flocked from across the country for crowded starts, challenging beats to windward, and competitive downwind legs. After all was said and done, Antoine Screve and crew Mac Agnese, with seven bullets over 10 races, captured gold medal honors and will represent the United States in the ISAF Youth World Championship in Zadar, Croatia this summer. Taking home silver medals was recent Argentina 29er World Championship participants Paris Henken and crew Connor Kelter. The bronze was captured by brothers Andrew and Matthew Mollerus, a competitive new team from the East coast.
It was clear that this entire fleet had really stepped up their game for the event. The fleet as a whole got much better since nationals in Cabrillo, making for exciting, yet Corinthian, windward and leeward mark roundings. In all, the US 29er fleet made a strong showing at this event and I am sure that all competitors are looking forward to the upcoming events in 2011. They are sure to be a blast.
*Hat Tip to Chris Ford, who took time on the plane ride home to draft this report
Top three finishing teams. Congratulations! (l to r) 2nd Paris Henken/Connor Kelter, 1st Mac Agnese/Antoine Screve, 3rd Matthew Mollerus/Andrew Mollerus
1/19/11
- 2011 World Championship The 2011 World Championships in Argentina are proving to be one of the most amazing Worlds in terms of the conditions. Huge waves and strong winds have provided thrilling weather for the racers. Check out fantastic photos and cheer on the North American team on the 29er Worlds website.
1/7/11
- archived news
Before you go back to school, please submit your idea for a 3" x 11.5" sticker with a white background and two colors.
It should be a sticker that you'd be proud to put on your boat, your school folder or even your parent's car.
I'll get a panel of sailors to choose their preferred design.
Suggested wording is "My next boat will be a 29er"
Deadline is 30 August.
Please submit to me as a pdf file making sure the image will print nicely when full size.
.....
8/2/11
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UPCOMING EVENTS
- Try A 29er at the following OPTI events
- Feb 2-3, 2013, Valentine’s Day regatta, St Petersburg, FL
- July TBD, 2013 Texas RW, Houston, TX
- Aug 5-8, 2013 New England Champs, Portland, Maine
