Wet Pants Sailing Association Sunfish Fleet 568 Blog

As sunfish Fleet Captain and also the NY State Sunfish Class Representative i have a responsibility to get as many Sunfish out there sailing and racing… I understand that many of our racers are Regional, National level and World Competition level sailors, but most of our sailors are at a more developmental level and learn from the high level of sailing we do on the great south bay… This is why I am instituting a rule for our Tuesday night racing and also any club racing that WPSA sponsors. This rule is to ALLOW the following “practice” sails without any penalty. These sails are: Dinghy Shop, APS, and Intensity brand Practice sails.

The fundamental reason for this is to SAVE money for anyone who wants to have a newer sail to compete with. This will not be allowed at any Sunfish Class Sanctioned event, which require class approved North Brand Sails… (or any older class approved sails). This can save hundreds of dollars for anyone who choses to buy these practice sails…

I hope this encourages the beginning and average sailor to sail more and to race more. For our Tuesday night series, it is more important to sail as much as you can and manage the fleet, rather than the sail… so a good sailor will win unless his/her sail is like a blanket…

A new North Racing sail is about $450, while a new practice sail is about 130… use the difference to buy a new daggerboard or a dolly….

The winter has been good to the sailing community in the North East… relatively mild temperatures and lighter winds have been letting the Snapper Inn JY 15 fleet be active, and the Sunfish Fleet in Sea Cliff has strong numbers as each year it grows by a sailor or two.. Doug Wefer has been at it with his core of Sunfish Sailors… here is his email to all of the sailors who are interested in Sunfish:::

It was a fresh and yet very sailable day today on Hempstead Harbor. Sea Cliff Yacht Club Sunfish Fleet 517 got the winter series season started with the Ice Cube Regatta. There were NW winds of 10-15, mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 40’s.

Race Committee persons Carol Hoeber and Past Commodore John Dawson did their usual great job of keeping the racing going but the steep northwesterly waves along with the 5 leg races proved challenging for the fleet. Doug Wefer and Rob Ehrlich showed the groove as they consistently finished in the top of the fleet and finished first and second. Richard Smith sailed a nice regatta with 18 points to finish third. Following Richard was new fleet member Arthur Leitz, Harry Ehrlich, David Lawson, Jon Darling and Past Commodore Jim Carballal. Nina Ring and Carlo Zaskorski get credit for making the effort to rig but didn’t sail.

Bridget from LI Sail (www.lisail.com) helped Chris support the course and a nice afternoon of food and drink was had after sailing in the Regatta. Many thanks to the Dinghy Shop (www.dinghyshop.com) for providing some calendars for trophies and to Jim Aikman for designing our new fleet t-shirts.

See you all next Sunday. Regatta time – 1 PM start. – Doug, John & David

Full results available at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuoxPwXQUjpWdE9WY2FUejh5S1BUNFF1LW9MakRaQWc&authkey=CPfT610

Ice Cube Regatta, Sunday, January 8, 2012

Sailor                    Sail         1              2              3              4              5              Total

1              Doug Wefer       62037    1              1              1              2              1              6

2              Rob Ehrlich         4040       2              2              2              1              2              9

3              Richard Smith    80976    3              3              5              3              4              18

4              Art Leitz               60008    5              5              4              4              3              21

5              Harry Ehrlich      3604       4              4              3              DNS       5              24

6              David Lawson    28           7              7              7              5              6              32

7              Jon Darling         3130       6              6              6              7              DNF       33

8              Jim Carballal      6              8              8              8              6              DNS       38

9              Nina Ring            75297    DNS       DNS       DNS       DNS       DNS

9              Carlo Zaskorski 3455       DNS       DNS       DNS       DNS       DNS

Christmas has come and today the 26th, marks the first day of Kwanzaa, and the New Year will be upon us in a week… also we are in the middle of Channukah. Whatever you may celebrate, I hope you all had a good holiday season… the weather has been far from frightful, it has been down right warm… Today Ryan and I moved our boat from Oakdale to Bayshore where it will get hauled out and towed to my house… it is the 26th of December and the winds were brisk from the NW going about 13-20… it was cold, but the sun was shining brightly and wasn’t too bad… the thermal underwear helped a lot… I have not sailed a Sunfish since the fall series, but the JY15 fleet has been doing well, and only had one really cold day dec.18th where the winds were strong and ice started to form on the decks of the boats… that was frostbiting…

Did one notice that the sun is staying out longer? this occurs right after the first day of winter, the shortest daylight day of the year… The regular football season has only one more week… why am I saying all this? it’s because before we know it it will be 2012 and we should all be thinking about warmer and longer days ahead…

enjoy the weather as it is may it be brisk or warm, sunny or cloudy… for each different condition brings out different situations that we can take advantage of and enjoy…. happy holidays!

Everyone who knows me knows that I love to sail… but the ones who don’t know anything about sailing are amazed that lot of us sail into and through the winter… I sometimes sail the Sunfish but the hottest fleet on long Island is the JY 15 fleet… specifically the one at Snapper Inn. There are very good sailors that sail there and the conditions are very different front the summer… The past two weeks (Thanks giving Sunday and the Sunday before that we had temperature that were in the 60s! this is down right beautiful for late november… the winds were moderate to light and had a combination of puffs and shifts that can hammer you or help you. Its not necessarily the fastest boat that always wins….

Like in all series and multiple racing in a day, consistency and avoiding the big scores will jump you to the top of the fleet… The Snapper Inn fleet schedules seven races into the course of about two and a half hours… this makes the races about 15 minutes long each…. however in those 15 minutes, leads can change multiple times… it is not enough to just get out there first and people will follow you to victory…
The sailors are very good, and some are just learning the nuances in the river, but most of the time no one gives up… also because of the tightness of the fleet, you may be in a bunch from 3rd to 10th and one mark rounding can jump you 6 or more spots…. Because of this one can never give up until you finish… There has been dozens of times throughout the years that I have lost boats in the last couple of yards!
So as I sit here just blah blah blahing… i will write what I feel has helped me… I do not think I am an expert especially in this fleet but I am experienced…

In no particular order: a. The start is important, but not as much as the summer.

B. Because the wind is much shiftier and puffier, this will help you to gain or lose boats, especially if you get a less than perfect start

c. The crew needs to be active (physically and mentally)— Ryan Messina and I are in our fourth year I think together and this year he can call all the wind, puffs, lulls, boats, marks, relative positions (higher or lower), not to mention he trims the jib, works the centerboard, hikes and moves around in the boat to keep it flat, or when sailing down wind, we sail in “sunfish mode”-  hiked to windward…  as crew try to communicate the wind to the skipper it helps…  unless the skipper doesn’t want to hear it…

d. brush up on your rules, because if you don’t know them, someone else may THINK they know them….  sailing in the company of 5 or 6 boats within inches of each other rounding marks can be intimidating, or it can be really fun….   by knowing if you are right, it is more fun…   if you don’t know, don’t hit a boat…   then ask other sailors in the Bar to clarify…  tis is how we all learn…

e.  it may be cold, so dress appropriately… they call it frostbiting for a reason.  but if you dress well, in light layers, it can be really comfy.   But also the temps usually are not very cold…

f.  Sail in the lifts and tack on the Headers, unless its a velocity header…  this is a very important skill to gain…  recognizing whether the header pushes you away from the mark (then you want to tack) vs a lull after sailing in a puff that then backwinds your jib, making it LOOK like you are getting headed…  this is where the crew can help and call lulls….   when you hit a lull be patient and sail for the next puff, not necessarily tacking

g. for the Sunfish Sailors, it is easy to sail by the lee…  in a JY15, with swept back spreaders, the main sail cannot go perpendicular to the centerline, so it is not fast to sail by the lee….   so it is usually better to jibe.

h.  Sail with tell tails or mast head wind indicator…  this will help see shifts especially going down wind…  the wind is more shift than in The Great South Bay in the summer, so a few jibes in the winter may be the norm…

I.  keep your hull dry…  if you forget to drain the hull if it leaks, then you can get freezing which may crash the boat…   that being said, don’t forget to put your plugs in…  Jim Ryan probably would have won the day had he not have to drain his boat, which was sinkng oh so slowly…  after he did he promptly did a horizon job with another boat. Rick Latorre finished first and Jim finished second.

j.  keep hydrated.  i don’t know how people can drink beer, as I get so dehydrated compared to the summer…

k.  finding the favored end of the line in light and puffy air if more about where the wind is and is coming from, rather than which end is closer to the mark…  (In my opinion)  head for more wind.  the starting line is short, having more wind at the start is, in my opinion, more beneficially to being more upwind.  If there is more wind and the end which is more Upwind, then you need to be there…

j.  you may need more conviction in the winter…  making calls to sail away from the fleet is sometimes needed, to get in more advantageous conditions…  however, sometimes you may find yourself making a bad call and finding yourself in the  back of the fleet…  oh well, learn from it, and why it didn’t work…

k.  sometimes the middle is the worst place to be…  but not always…   the winter makes this more evident.

l. after sailing make sure your blades, sails and sheets are not in the bottom of the boat…  if rain get in you cockpit and freezes, your supple mainsheet may turn into a frozen blob of spaghetti.

m.  for the Sunfish sailors you usually do not have crew to get frustrated with or at…  but to succeed your crew needs to be in sync with you…  try to have fun…  I have crewed with lots of people from Kaitlin Abrams, Tracey H, Felicity Ryan, Dan and Erich Hesse, Chris Johnson, Eileen Korinek, and now Ryan Messina…   the common thread I tried to have with these crews is to have fun…  and learn from each other…  I have gotten frustrated in the boat, and try not to direct it at the crew…   I know without all the experiences with all these different crew our results would not get better over time…  even with the challenge of sailing with crew, it’s SO much more fun to do well with a team mate.   Ryan and I pat each other and encourage each other…  sometimes Ryan looks at the positive when I lose a boat in the last few yards…

n.  Having crew vs just sailing solo, is a challenge…  learning to trim the sails correctly, how to not capsize, how to roll tack properly…  my one suggestion:  you have to work on roll tacks…  because if you tack into another header, you might as well look good doing it  ;)

Well this blog entry is too long…  i hope someone learns from it…  it took me about 7 years to learn this…   we sail at Snapper Inn in Oakdale on sundays starting at 12noon…   you may see WPSA members sailing or helping out, like Bill Zambriski and Jim Johnson running races.  Its a nice site to see while on the lawn or you can get brunch…   the fleet schedule and other information is on the website  www.snapperinnfrostbitefleet.com

Well its been a while since I posted, but thats because I ve been doing a lot of sailing.. And this weekend was a very light weekend… I sailed in Three events in two weekends: the JY15 North Americans, the 18th running of the Whitebread- in Team Tonic (Beneteau 42s7) and the WYS Fall Series in my Sunfish… it was mostly light air for all the days… and this is what I am going to write about…
First of all, when the wind dies, every once in a while you may get lucky and catch a miracle puff and win a race by a mile… however, the same good sailors usually win. This is because sailing in light to no wind, takes several things to be successful… a few things are: patience… understanding of breeze, understanding of lifts and headers, fleet management, ability to trust your reads on situations and good feel for your boat… there are also other things, but Im just rambling right now.

Here an analogy about fleet management in light air: If you have a Ferrari and are on teh Long Island Expresway stuck in Rush Hour traffic on a Friday during the summer, you will be going slower than a clunker school bus travelling on a HOV lane during early morning SUnday…
in other words: if there are five boats next to each other, sail away from them, especially on a downwind leg. goto your HOV lane… their air is disturbed and you will go slow…. especially when the converge on teh leeward mark.

Another Analogy: In a land of blind people, the one eye person is king….
In other words, ANY BREEZE is better than NO breeze… if you can manage to point to the mark AND sail faster than anyone else just because teh breeze is stronger, you will gain LOTS of Distance…. LOOK AROUND_ look at the shore( is there flags flying) look left and right and if going down wind, take a peek back) if you see darker water, try to get to it… and once there… try to stay in it… then look for more darker water and sail for that… like CONNECTING the DOTS of breeze…

Take your time, dont hate the light air, because 80 percent of the races are in light air… so you dont want to be hating for 80 percent of the time you race… learn to manage your emotions, learn to love light air, or at least dont mind it… then you will see yourself accelerating away, while others are sitting next to each other wonder why YOU are sooo fast…

We sailed in a pretty competitive regatta this weekend at Westahmpton Yacht Squadron… the two day GSBYRA regatta was the Second Stop for the Inaugaural Long Island Sunfish Series. We sailed 5 races the first day and two and a half the second day. (Why the half, you ask)… it is because the RC forgot to put a Jibe mark in place when the course was a triangle etc….

In between races I was speaking to eventual winner of the regatta Larry Suter. If you don’t know Larry he is a very experienced sailor and coach for many many years. He is very competitive and will not give an inch if it means losing his competitive edge in that race. His methods are very methodical and thought out. Some people think he is intimidating. I believe he just is one of those very good sailors who plays within the rules to make sure the outcome is more in his favor. Speaking with him is sometimes eyeopening and I usually learn a great deal hearing him and watching him sail. If you know the sport of Sailboat racing and can anticipate someone’s moves, its actually very mentally stimulating….

One thing we were speaking about was how he was positioning himself between him and Jim Koehler, who was sailing very well also. Every move that was made by Larry was thought out. We went through that race almost tack for tack… it is funny how you remember situations in a race that has three weather legs and several tacks… But each move had meaning and purpose. He would never go out on a limb to catch up or on a flyer, even if he found he was in third. He knew he was fast and he raced with that knowledge. He said, and I paraphrase… once you start to go off and hope for a windshift, it may never come… at that point, “you are Hoping, you are not racing.” Hmmmmm.
I loved that quote… how many times have we went a little further away from the fleet “hoping” for a big righty or for that magical puff to appear?
Well after that talk, I tried to make each move with a little more purpose… in One of the last races I made a mistake and tacked to early on a header to starboard… with Jim Koehler also on port,right to weather and slightly behind we both tacked… however I tacked to early and he was then boat out to leeward, which eventually lead to him gassing me forcing me to tack away in to the header… but for a couple of minutes, i was hoping to climb out of his shadow. But in the meantime I was falling slowly behind. I never made up that gap. I needed to anticipate better, so to avoid hoping I could climb out.
Ryan Messina also went Hoping on Sunday, a right before the start of the last race there was a huge wind shift to the left… it was tow minutes or more before the gun… I won the pin , with Larry and Jim and Todd Klingler also to the left… Ryan got out with all clear aid on the right, and continued out right… when he finally tacked back after 3/4 of the leg over, he was “Hoping” to cross, only to find out that he was sailing another header…

After making a mistake, we must realize it as quickly as possible to avoid having to bang corners, and “hoping” for a better outcome… because a Larry told me, “Hoping is not racing.”

Last week, the Smythe Trophy was competed for. This is to award the best Junior single handed sailor in the country. It is a very prestigious accomplishment, as the winner has to be very good, and win their respective areas. Then they go onto the Championships to compete against the best from the US. Three days of racing, where there are no soft spots. The area was new to most sailors. and the light winds and shifts were extremely challenging.
The Sunfish Fleet at WP has attracted and produced many excellent sailors and still does. One such sailor started a few years ago, and was pretty good, but made many mistakes. However, Nick Valente’s enthusiasm, was unmatched. He took his performances and learned from others. Many people in the fleet could see the talent he possessed. One of his mentor’s Dan Hesse, would coach him during junior regattas and would tell me the things he did. Most of the stuff was not boat speed or handling… it was more mental mistakes… Dan’s Dad, Gerry, who would never give his own kids room at a mark if they didn’t earn it, would line up next to Nick who would just be sitting there on the line luffing… he soon started to learn he had to defend his space… Two years ago, his dad Joe, came up to me and said in his laughing voice, “Lee you have a target on your back… all Nick wants to do is beat you…” I told Joe, “I hope he does and if he keeps getting better it wont be long…” well that year, Nick did win a few races and soon after that it was Nick who has the target. I couldn’t be any happier to lose to a sailor…
For the past couple of years, you could have seen Nick sail all morning and all day… His very supportive dad, took him to regattas all over the place. Joe not only helped Nick, but he was always willing to trailer boats, hold lunches, lift what ever… Joe is a great asset to us sailors.
Well, Nick had to jump into a Laser Radial as is the requirement to compete in some other regattas. Like the Sunfish, he is mastering the Laser Radial… The National Championships were held in Toms River NJ. Sailors from California, Hawaii and the rest of the country converged. Nick took a deep first race, but had to make adjustments… he ended day one in a tie for first place. The second day, he had to make sure he didnt take a deep score, as the top of the fleet had all lower throwouts.. at the end of day two, he was in first place alone, but still could not make any mental mistakes. Two last races on the third day, would total ten. Nick didnt take chances as he won the last two, and the Smythe Trophy.
The club is especially proud of our sailor, Nick, who has gone from a good kid to a great sailor, to a National Champion.

last tuesday it rained all day… it rained at 5pm… it was blowing where the halyards were whisling… however a few of us were at the club, and when one guest came from Mt Sinai, Ken Nielsen, I said we HAVE to sail… we cant let anyone frm the North Shore see us not sail cause there is too much weather… we postponed for a half hour cause no one was ready… another guest showed, 80 pound Stephanie Clancy from Sayville… well she was gung ho when i told her we were sailing… We didnt have a RC… the instructors who were waiting for a make up lesson were not to fond about going out… I suggested they work on dock ing skills… well becasue we didnt have RC, we ran really short courses off the dock… right in the path of the adult lessons… also we did windward leewards twice around on SHORT courses… like 8-10 minutes long. The rain subsided at 630… the winds werent that bad- 10-15… overcast… but the waves and chop were HUGE and steep… fun! we made a deal to whom ever was in first was to try to slow the fleet down to get the back of the fleet to catch up… like some team racing practice… it worked pretty well… using boat handling and some rules and mark traps… it was fun…

The summer is coming to a close i three weeks… i hope the Days are filled with lots of racing…

I just got home from the North Americans in Barrington RI…. for the most part the winds were moderate teh first day, and lghter the second day (with a storm that passed through, with Lightning), and the third day was even lighter… the NOR shceduled 11 races… we got in 6… WP did a good job getting sailors out there… Nick VAlente and Dan Hesse sailed a very good regatta and finished 13th and 14th respectively… this was the first Big regatta that Nick beat Dan. In A couple of weeks Nick will be heading to the Laser Nationals in Brant Beach! Peter wells sailed really well and finished 22nd, out of 99 boats! Brian McGinnis had some great races and a couple of deep ones, like me, and we were 34th and 37th… Gerry Hesse was fast in many races only to find himself either picking a wrong side or something… but overall it was a good regatta… the RC was a source of many complaints… but WP had no big issues…
Main things to think about when sailing in fleets this big and this deep: Get off the line in the front row… do think about clearing your tack right away if you are near the ends… because when you some back, you may be eating worse air… so ANTICIPATE where you would have to tack back, and whose air you will have to eat… (it may be better jkust to eat 5 boats air rather than 20)…

never give up… the first race of teh last day, I banged the Left hard, and got to the windawrd mark in about 90th… after grinding down wind, i found a groove and finished 49th… damn if only I picked the correct side in the first place!

Well next Years NAs are in Illinois… i hope to get out there!

Congrats to all who sailed out there… for full results see: http://barringtonyc.com/racing/sunfish/

Last Regional Regatta, Dan Hesse Qualified for teh Sunfish WOrld Championships by winning the New England Regional Championships. This weekend two Wet Pants Sailors headed to Lewes Delaware to take on the Mid Atlantic Regionals. Peter Wells and Brian McGinnis were sailing under the WP Burgee. Before they left I wished them luck and told them I expect them to both finish in the top three, and told Brian I expect him to win it… Low and behold my predictions came true as Peter Wells over came some poor races and finish third. Local Sailor, Steve Evans, fresh off his Worlds Regatta in Curacao came in second. Brian came in first. This win at the Regionals qualifies him for next year’s Sunfish World Championships!… Congratualtions to Brian and Peter for a Job well Done!!!