2021
Post date: Nov 11, 2021 8:30PM - KKB
Fall Season Recap and Fleet Update
The FALL SEASON was, unfortunately, a bit of a bust with dicey weather and lack of participation resulting in the cancelation of the last two races. We started strategizing a bit at the November fleet meeting as to how we might get a few more boats out. We'll discuss that more in January so please plan to attend the January fleet meeting on 1/13/22 and make your voice heard!
We are planning on resurrecting our annual CHRISTMAS PARTY this year! The date is Sunday 12/12 from 3pm-7pm at Kris' lodge in Normandy Park! Stay tuned for an email with all the details - it'll be great to see everyone after all this time especially with as little racing as we had this fall. We'll do our regular fleet-provided ham with people bringing sides to share ... as well as the always popular white elephant gift exchange!
Please do be thinking about racing - frequency, time of year, venues, etc. The fleet is really hoping to make some tweaks to get better overall participation in 2022!
Post date: Sept 23, 2021 1:30PM - KKB
Alas, No Gene this Year - Fleet Racing in 2 Weeks
Well, we gave it a good shot but came up a bit short on participants and given the more distant venue, we've decided to push the next "The Gene" until next year. Hopefully we can do some fleet-building between now and then and finalize a venue early enough to give people more time to plan to participate. I'd encourage all of you to raise a glass to Gene sometime this weekend!
But the FALL SEASON IS HERE! Our first fleet race is in two weeks, Saturday October 9th at Coulon Park in Renton, 1st start at noon. We had some really great, close racing in Chelan a couple of weeks back ... Turnout was light for many of our spring races so hopefully we can get a few more people out this fall! Look for an email a couple of days before to help get an idea of who is coming.
Post date: Sept 16, 2021 6:00PM - KKB
"The Gene" Is Moving
And we need to know who is coming!
"The Gene", our annual tribute to long time member and friend Gene Adams, is just around the corner, September 25th & 26th. Due to significant changes in the Des Moinse Marina insurance policies, we can no longer hold the event there so are moving to Treasure Island (Stretch Island on many maps) near the north end of Case Inlet, almost directly west of Des Moinse, just across the Sound! For those who don't know, Treasure Island is where Chris Popich has a really nice place right on the beach and who has graciously offered to host. We won't have a formal Friday evening event, but some great sailing Saturday and Sunday - along with breakfast both days as well as Saturday dinner. If you didn't get an email from Chris with the NOR, please let one of us know ... and again, time is short so we need to know if you are in or out!
Post date: Aug 13, 2021 6:15:PM - KKB
Chelan is on!
Per Chris' email and confirmation from Marc Vander Schalie, the annual Chelan Regatta is back again this year on the weekend of September 11-12. This is one of the fleet's favorite events every year and it'd be great to see a bunch of our boats out. NOR and registration links are available on the Lake Chelan Sailing Association website so get registered and get ready! If you have any questions on the event, shoot one of us an email as many in the fleet have participated in the regatta over the years. It really is a whole lot of fun. We will have a fleet meeting on September 9th so stay tuned for details on that.
Our 2nd fall event is "The Gene" scheduled for September 25 & 26 with a dinner on Friday the 24th. The Gene is normally held at Des Moinse marina, however, that venue may need to change due to the marina's current insurance policies. We'll have more details on all that soon.
Stephen and I did a little "tune up" race last Friday in Everett and while the conditions were a bit crazy, it was fun being back out on the race course again. Hope to see great turnouts for our events this fall!
Post date: Jun 15, 2021 9:33PM - KKB
North Americans - Pre-official Report
The North Americans were last weekend in Klamath Falls and we can be proud of Fleet 1's showing: Stephen Jensen took 3rd in All Sails and - wait for it - Paul Von Stubbe won the Working Sails championship! Turnout was quite light but the competition was really good with many tight races - including Paul's win secured on the very last race and via the 3rd (or was it 4th) tie breaker.
Klamath Lake is a rather odd place to sail given the minimal depth and (thankfully not yet too annoying) bugs, but the Klamath Yacht Club was a great place to be and all the Fleet 51 folks made us all feel right at home. Thanks to Greg Collins (regatta organizer) and the many Yacht Club members who put on a terrific event - great racing, great food & drink, and fantastic hospitality.
Post date: May 23, 2021 11:19PM - KKB
Up Next - the 2021 North American Championships!
Light (very) winds and beautiful sunny weather were the characteristics of the day for Spring #5, our last fleet race this spring. Just 3 boats and at times, the winds were quite frustrating, but we hung in there and got 3 races in the books. 2021 Spring Series results (as well as the start of the Road Warrior Series) are posted here: Race Scoring and Reports.
Our next fleet meeting is opening night at the North Americans so I suspect we'll reschedule to the following Thursday. As Chris noted, sign ups are quite light so far - so it's a great chance to be competitive and national events are always a blast. Currently 3 boats headed down from Fleet 1 ... there's still time to sign up and join the party!
Post date: Apr 30, 2021 10:22PM - KKB
2021 Norm Blanchard Regatta
It was great to get back out on the water (Stephen's knees held up :-) and the Norm Blanchard regatta back in full force last weekend. Just two "classic plastic" boats - Juans2B (Paul & Vanessa) vs. Charmed Juan (Stephen & Kris) - and the racing was incredibly close both days.
There were 3 starts - we were initially put in the 2nd group (kinda mid-sized boats) doing a single lap of the round-the-lake course, but after finishing WAY more quickly than the race committee expected, we were moved up to the 1st start of larger boats and 2 laps for each race. Even with that, our two little San Juans won nearly every race.
The final tally was Paul 3, Stephen 3 - including the last race by less than half a boat length! The wind was good both days (especially Saturday) and despite a little ran on the first day, the conditions were great. If you are a little jealous, you sure should be!
Just two more fleet races left this spring - great tune-ups for the Nationals in Klamath Falls in June. Hope to see a bunch of boats at Coulon on May 8th and 22nd.
Post date: Oct 7, 2021 3:30PM - KKB
Fall #1 - Saturday 10/9, First Start at Noon!
The FALL SEASON IS HERE with our first fleet race this Saturday at Coulon Park in Renton. Weather doesn't look too bad - cloudy but only 15% chance of rain with winds 8-10kts (so says PredictWind). I'll send out an email to see who is planning to attend - please reply if you are so we can get a head count. (Unfortunately I'll likely miss this week - we are moving next week and things are a bit frantic at the moment - the good news is I'll have a place that will be great for future fleet Christmas parties!) Let's get the fall season off to a great start!