Wet Pants Sailing Association Sunfish Fleet 568 Blog

After 30 races we ended our Spring Series… it spanned over two months. Now we begin teh July Series and we start at 6 promptly. I have notice that the water is unuially warm this time of the year… but the seabreeze did kick in last tuesday… after racing we usually have an informal get together were we share drinks and some people bring munchies… so BYOB and BYOFood… the Juniors are coming so our fleet looks to increase in size next week… see you on the water..

I am having trouble posting the socres on the site: they will be posted at the club house…
Next week is the last week of the Super Spring Sunfish Series… if the weather holds it looks like it will consist of around 40 races!

There is a very tight battle in the “B fleet” where first and second are separated by a few points… one good race and one bad race will change the complexion of the series… If Tom Davison can beat Vito Mannino each race it will be very very close…

The Sunfish North Americans will be held at James Island Yacht Club in Charleston, South Carolina next week…

Today (June 20th) is the first day of summer- of course , like every other day this spring, it is raining… but tuesdays seem to hold out for us:)

I hope this works:

Sunfish Super Spring Series

Wet Pants Sailing Association

Results as of 0:20 on June 5, 2009

Overall

Well I saw pitures from our sailing… in the piture that I hope will upload it will show a Port favored Pin… The winds were coming from teh NE which at WP should favor going to the land… the line was angled where it was a bit difficult to cross on Starboard…. (meaning it is port favored)… Beverly Regnier continued to take advantage of the Pin… while the others lolly gagged crossing the line actually creating a very noticible “Mid Line Sag”… what this means is that there is a large space in teh middle of the starting boats (looking from left to right)… If there was a starting line drawn in the water, only the ends would be close tot the line… these racers will have a definite advantage…

One way to take advantage is to get closer tot he line in the middle… this will give you a “head start” and also clear air… you may feel like you are over early, but if you look before the race starts and figure where the line is (getting a range) then you should be pretty good,….

to get a range put yourself ON the line and look to make sure you are lined up with the boat and pin… then look at a fixed mark on the land… A house or flag pole or tall tree or funny looking bush will do… when you sail across the line, take a look at your land mark in relation to teh boat or pin… this is the position when you are over early… now go behind the line and look at the landmark… this is when you are behind the line….

by doing this you can get a good idea of when you are approaching…. good starters do this. so see you on the water…

This was printed last year:  but it is a basic guideline to do well in a series…

Attendance and consistency is the key to have a good series:

If you miss a day of racing in our series, it cost you a lot of points.  Since our series is very popular and well attended not sailing in a race is costly.  In low point scoring, you will be scored as if all the boats in the series raced, but you also receive a one point penalty.  So in our 24 boat series, missing three races, will net you 75 points! (24 boat+ 1penalty point) x 3 races= 75.  Now just say if you raced a race with 10 boats, started but broke down and couldnt finish, you would be scored a DNF (Did Not Finish) which is the number of boats started plus one more point (which in this case will get you 11 points).

So JUST Starting, and not finishing, gained you 14 points on someone who did not race!  In other words—  thats like finishing first in a 14 boat fleet and the person who did not sail finished last!

The bottom line, you dont have to win every race to do well in a series.  You just have to finish consistently and often.  You miss a couple of days, you can expect to have a lot of fun, but don’t expect to have a high series placement (which is OK!)

See you on the Water!  Lee

Well we got our series off to a nice start in a NW 10 fading to -5mph breeze… Race Committee of Michael Collins and Derek Jackson ran five Windward leeward races in the beautiful 65 degree weather… the water was also warm…

the results cannot be published right now on teh web as the software server is not working… but Ryan Messina sailed very consistent to take the early lead in the series…

see you on the water…

April 26, 2009

To all members:

This is an official notice to all our members.  There are a few boats and rigs that have been neglected and there are past due summer and winter storage fees.  These boats and rigs have been identified as such.  If the fees have not been paid for in full by thirty (30) days from this notice, they will be considered abandoned and, as per Wet Pants Sailing Association dry sail storage rules, will be disposed of.

If you think you may have claim to one of these vessels, you must do the following:

1.  Contact Lee Montes or a Flag Officer, IN WRITING, who will direct the claim to me.
2.  Have positive identification of your boat (or rigs) in the form of a bill of sale, and/or serial numbers and proof of ownership.  You must correctly identify the type of boat, model and year.
3.  If you place a claim for a rig, you must be able to identify the rig type, for what boat it belongs to, Sail Color and/or Number, if applicable.
4.  You must pay all overdue fees (with certified funds) , including, but not limited to, past membership fees, storage fees for Summer and winter and dry sail surcharges.  (proof of membership is required, cancelled checks to WPSA for membership will do).
5.  Only after these conditions are met, your boat may be released to you.

CONTACT:  Lee Montes  at 684 nesconset hwy., smithtown, NY 11787

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Wet Pants Sailing Association promotes the sport of sailing, sailboat racing and sailing knowledge in an affordable and relaxed atmosphere.  Memberships are open to all who would like to enjoy sailing to its fullest.
Check out our website: www.wetpantssailing.org

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SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

Wet Pants Association Sunfish Fleet

2009 Super Spring Sunfish Series

2009 July, August and Ma Huus Series

1. RULES

a. This series will be governed by the rules as defined in the current Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS), US Sunfish Class Association and these sailing Instructions.

1. 1. Boats shall be able to be identified by numbers, letters or unique markings on its sail.

1. ENTRIES

a. Competitors: May be Non Members or guests, trophies will be awarded only to Wet Pants Members in good standing, with dues paid according to membership application.

b. Non-members and guests will be scored together with members, but not be eligible for trophies.

c. There will be three divisions: OPEN, ‘B’ Fleet and Wet Pants Student Fleet. Sailors may choose only one fleet to compete in. If no fleet is chosen, sailor will be scored in the open division. If a ‘B’ fleet or WP Student fleet fails to form, they will be combined into the ‘B’ fleet. A minimum of Three QUALIFIED boats are needed form a fleet, if no fleet is formed they will be scored in open division.

1. NOTICES TO COMPETITORS- will be posted on outside bulletin board on South facing side of WP Building.
2. CHANGES TO SAILING INSTRUCTIONS- Any changes in Sailing Instructions will be posted before 5pm on the day it will take effect.
3. SCHEDULE OF RACES: Super Spring Series May 5,12,19,26, June 2,9,16,23 JULY SERIES JUNE 30, July 7, 14, 21-2009. Ma Huus-July 28, 2009. August Series- August 4,11,18,25, 2009. (NOTE all races are on a TUESDAY)

b. The number of races will be determined by the Race Committee, start of first race is 6:00pm. Subsequent races will be held as soon as possible after the end of the previous race.

6. RACING AREA- will be south of Wet Pants Club House on Great South Bay.

7. CHECK IN- Sailors must check in to race committee by passing committee boat and hailing prior to their first race.

8. COURSES- To be determined by Race Committee and hailed before each race.

9. MARKS- To be determined by Race Committee.

10. THE START- Starting line will be between Race Committee Person (May be on Boat or on Dock) and designated Mark or pin to be determined by Race Committee.

b. Boats may not start more than five (5) minutes after the starting signal.

c. Sequence will be the “Dinghy Start “3-minutes” Audible” Sequence.

d. All fleets will start at the same time and on the same starting line.

11. RECALLS- The race Committee intends to hail the recall or sail numbers of On Course Side (OCS) boats after the starting signal. The failure of any boat to hear the hail, an untimely hail of OCS boats, failure to hail boats and the order of the boats in the hail shall not be grounds for granting redress. This changes rules 41 and 62.1.

12- THE FINISH- will be between the race committee and a mark/pin designated by the race committee.

13- PENALTY SYSTEM- A boat that may have broken a rule of PART 2 of the RRS while racing may take a penalty at the time of incident. Her penalty shall be a “One Turn” penalty that includes- getting clear of other boats as soon as possible, promptly making your penalty turn by making one turn which includes one tack and one jibe in the same direction. However, if she caused injury or serious damage, or gained a significant advantage, her penalty shall be to retire. This changes rules 44.1 and 44.2.

14- TIME LIMIT/COURSE CHANGES- to be determined by Race Committee.

b. If boats in or near last place in a race are unduly delaying the start of another race, the race committee may terminate the race and score those boats in the place they would have finished based on their position at the time of the race is terminated. RC may shorten/change course by hail (no flags needed) if necessary.

15 PROTESTS AND REDRESS- A boat that is intending to protest about an incident in the racing area shall notify the race committee of their intention, including the sail number of the boat(s) being protested. This changes RRS 61.1(a).

b. Protests shall be in writing, and delivered to the race committee within thirty minutes after the race committee boat docks, or 9pm that evening which ever is sooner.

c. Protests may be heard after the next General Meeting.

16- SCORING- The Low Point Scoring System, Appendix A will apply, modified so that each sailor’s score will be the total of his/her race scores with his/her worst score(s) for every five (5) races are completed.

b. A Sailor that DNS every race for one day will be scored as the most # of Boats that came to the racing area in one day of the series + 1. (Note: this is not the same as boats finishing or boats starting) However, if a sailor started in a race but missed a race that day, a DNS will be # of boats started that race + 1. A DNF will be scored as number of starters + 1.

c. If identifiable, the sailor shall be scored, even if different sail numbers are used. It will be the responsibility of the sailor to let race committee and chair know this may be the case. A substitute skipper may not be used.

d. To QUALIFY for prizes you must sail 50% of the DAYS raced and be a WP member in good standing. A fleet (Open, B and WP Student) must have three different qualified sailors to be scored as a fleet.

e. Sunfish Tune up, if designated by fleet captain, will not count towards any series scoring.

f. Race Committee- Duty- In order to get scored for season trophies, all racers (or their representative) will volunteer for at least one RC Duty on Tuesday, Thursday, Tea Cup Race or other race day approved by the fleet captain. The RC duty day will get scored (OOD) the average of their sailed scores for that series. There will be a maximum of five RC scores counted towards the series, after five RC raced they then will be scored as a DNS.

g. MA HUUS- A separate series of THREE Races, held on July 28, 2009. Each sailor will sail in one fleet. Only the first three races will be scored towards the Perpetual Ma Huus Trophy. There are no throw outs. The Ma Huus trophy will be awarded to the top finishing Wet Pants member. Any races sailed after the first three will count towards the august series. One race will constitute the series.

17- SAFETY- All competitors shall wear, while on the water, other than brief periods while adding or removing clothing, a US Coast Guard approved PFD.

b. A boat retiring from a race shall notify a race committee vessel before leaving the course, or if impossible, some race committee representative after arrival on shore.

18- PRIZES-AWARDS will be awarded to the top finishers in each fleet at the Annual Mess for each series. The number of awards will be determined by the Race Committee Chair. UPDATED: 5-11-09

We will be starting our Famous Sunfish Tuesday Series this coming Tuesday, May 5, 2009.  All are welcome…   the water may be cool so bring clothes that are suited for the conditions…  we start at 6pm…   this is a series that includes all tuesdays from May and June….

All sailors are welcome you do not have to be a Wet Pants Member to Race… but to be able to win a trophy you must be a member.

OK.  I ve been a bit busy but doesnt mean haven’t thought about sailing the Sunfish…  A few of us sailed about a month ago at Sea Cliff’s Frostbiting series.  We also will attend the last day, April 26th (Sunday)…  they have a friendly fleet and run small courses.  If you have the chance next season to sail there you should try.

We will start sailing Sunfish at Wet Pants the first Tuesday of May.  We will do Our Famous Tuesday Evening schedule similar to last year. Which Consisted of a Long Spring Series.  A July and August Series.  The Annual Ma Huus Sunfish Trophy at the last Tuesday in July.  We will wrap it up with a couple of Sailings in September.  We will sail at Wet Pants at the Jr Regatta and Annual one day Invitational, in July.  The calendar should be on the website by now.

I will keep it short.  Be on the lookout for emails…  if you are not on the email list (you should be getting sailing updates at least once per week) email us at wetpantssa@gmail.com.

see you on the water…  Lee Montes, Sunfish Fleet Capt.