Pine Point 2 2009From Commodore Craig: The Pine Point II event was a success. Several boats enjoyed the event that consisted of distance races around the islands and a fun sail in big air and torrential rain on Saturday. Saturday night a former CRANNE racer invited the sailors to his house party with a live band. The sailors were pleasantly surprised by the abundant amount of cougars present! The fleet awoke Sunday to gorgeous blue skies, warm temps and a gentle sea breeze filling in by 9am. The fleet had a beautiful fall distance race / tuning clinic down the coast on Sunday. Team Bad Dad finally christened their F18 with it's first capsize. After reaching the lighthouse the boats regrouped in the remote Biddeford Pool area for lunch on the remote sand bar. After lunch, in honor of CRANNE's Dave Fortier. the fleet foolishly sailed out a very narrow and rocky channel out to the sea past some enormous rollers crashing on the rocks. It was spectacular and everyone made it out. The cats once again regrouped and then had a sensational Spinnaker run home. When the Spinnakers were set the fleet averaged close to 16 knots for the entire downwind leg of 18 miles, "Champaign Sailing".  One Sailor was quoted as saying: "I can not remember the last time I kept it up that long!" Ya know it is a good weekend when you are saying that... After reaching Pine Point the fleet performed a few High Speed passes by the beach and upon pulling the cats up on shore a large gathering of spectators greeted the sailors with questions about the speedy cats. One more regatta on the schedule and hopefully we can organize a "Final Rinse Sail" out of Ellacoya State Park on Winnipesaukee with a barbecue and sailing by the end of the month or at some point in October. Thanks to all the CRANNE members who made 2009 a great season, it is not over yet but it would have never happened with out all the good friends, members and volunteers. Commodore Craig "Team Bad Dad" Results of the Racing Class: 1) Team Bad Dad: 1,2,2,1 2) Toni the Tiger: 2,1,1,2 3) Malcolm/Clegg: 3,3,3,3
Pine Point 1 2009From Commodore Craig: Three cats from the CRANNE fleet showed up to compete against the five other catamarans from the NENSA Fleet and the Maine Hobie Fleet. The quote of the weekend was: I asked the Chase boat captain: "Captain Dave, What do you think the wind speed is, 12 knots, 14 knots, or 16 knots?" Dave thought a moment and then answered, "The Wind Speed is Perfect!” You can not sum it up any better than that. Saturday's racing started promptly at 11:20 AM in absolutely beautiful conditions, Sunny Skies, Warm Temps and a solid 14 knot breeze. A bit of chop left over from the previous days Nor-Easter made for fun wet sailing for the cats. The chop made the committee boat and the chase boat work a bit challenging. Commodore Craig likes a long beat to weather so the downwind sleigh ride will provide plenty of opportunities for boat speed to allow for passes to be made but a mistake was made when the windward mark was set a bit too far out to sea. The chase boat, committee boat and the competitors all seemed to be unable to see the mark. It made for an interesting first few races where the cats would all beat up the middle of the course, at one point, tacking 5 times before making it to the Windward Mark! They all found it, and probably had a few curses for the chase boat but when the spinnakers were set the smiles could not be missed as the cats rocketed downwind. A four cylinder engine on the chase boat was not enough as we were unable to match the speed of the cats downwind! 5 great races were had with all the F18s leading races at one point in time. Mike Easton and Chris Burd proved top shelf again. They did show a kink in the armor when Chris and Sam performed an excellent roll over them at the windward mark with a perfect hoist to steal their wind for the pass and never looked back to steal race #3.   The Hobie 16 battle had Doug and Hanna taking on the Phil and Son and they too were all smiles fully trapped out going to weather. Former Commodore Scott Malcolm was enjoying the conditions with the his monstrous Nacra 6.0 eating up the choppy seas with ease! Saturday night the fleet enjoyed the  fabulous cuisine at the Clam Bake restaurant. When the keg arrived at former Commodore's Dave Fortier's house the teams were all too tired to tap the Keg! It was debated now that the F18 fleet is getting older, rather than a beer sponsor next year the F18 fleet will see if Ben-Gay is willing to make a Muscle Rub Cream sponsor/donation to the fleet! Metamucil? Ovaltine?Sunday brought the good old Maine Fog to the regatta site, the sailors all gathered and shared stories from the previous day. The start was delayed but then the committee and chase boats tried to make an effort to start a race but the fog rolled back in. Sunday's racing was canceled and the fleet had the trophy ceremony and then gathered at a local diner for lunch. With the crazy weather this summer a comment was stated that so far, three major regattas this summer have lost a day of racing each due to bad weather. Sakonnet Regatta 2009 The 2009 Nargansett Beer F18 Summer Sailing Series is a schedule of 12 regattas to be held around the Northeast between May and October. Events focus on competitive catamaran racing combined with fun and social parties. Regatta #2 of the series was held on the Sakonnet River in Portsmouth, RI this past weekend, June 13th &14th. 22 racers, friends, family, and race organizers descended upon the RI beach for a weekend of catamaran racing.
Saturday brought light winds in the morning until the seabreeze filled around noon to make for some fast pace, exciting racing. After 5 races, weary sailors returned to the beach to be greeted by a nice cold keg of Gansett which quickly lifted their spirits! After de-rigging their boats everyone gathered up the street at a local sailor’s house for a fantastic dinner party with one of the best live bands in the area called ‘Sidewinder’. Delicious food, good tunes, and exchanging stories from on the water that day as well as catching up from a long winter made for an awesome evening. Sunday morning brought cold rain and the threat of thunderstorms. However, before too long the skies cleared and it warmed up to encourage sailors to sail 2 more great races! After 7 races the winners were decided: First: Michael Easton & Tripp Burd-Team MicroWind Second: Jim Zelmer & Joe Valente Third: Michael Ferrara & Todd Riccardi-Team Jaypro CRANNE had three teams competing. Scott Malcolm and Hugh on Hugh's new F18! Craig and Ricardo and Nick and Paula. Hampton NOR Posted
The Hampton Beach Regatta Notice of Race has been posted on the website. Dates are June 20-21, 2009. Click the Hampton Beach NOR link on our home page at: http://www.geocities.com/crannesailing/ to view the pdf.
Joe Manganello Memorial Regatta - 2009 This was the second year of this event held in Madison CT the weekend before Memorial Day weekend. A few of us had gone down last year and had a great time. The event is run by a group of young adults that have gone through Joe’s sailing program. With support from their parents, other community members and the town, they are able to keep the spirit of Joe alive. The regatta is held at the town’s beach facility and community center on the Long Island Sound which is perfect for the event. The nice beach is sandy and short with no surf to get through.This year, CRANNE sent 3 F-18’s to make up half of the F-18 Fleet and a Nacra 6.0, one of the 11 boats that made up the open fleet. Craig and Ricardo sailed Craig’s Infusion, Nick and Paul sailed their Nacra F-18, John and Jim sailed John’s Tiger and Scott Malcolm and Hugh sailed Scott’s 6.0. Registration included; 2 t-shirts, 2 dinner tickets and continental breakfast both mornings. After about an hour postponement for fog the fleet was sent out to sail Saturday morning. The wind throughout the day built up to around 20 with gusts approaching 30. This allowed the race committee to get in 6 nice races (2/1, 6/5, 6/5, 6/5, 6/5, 5/5) around a fairly long ACG course. The facility allowed the spectators to watch the racing from the beach with an easterly wind. Once back to the beach, we had about a couple of hours to get cleaned up prior to dinner. The buffet style dinner was in the community center building looking over the beach and consisted of chicken, pasta, salad and cookies. Pictures from the day were projected up on the wall and encouraged stories recalling the day’s events. After dinner the raffle was held where about 25 prizes were distributed. Sunday was bitter and cold with a strong wind from the north. No one seemed disappointed that the race committee called for a postponement. After a couple of postponements, the F-18 fleet decided to pack it in for the weekend and started taking boats apart assuming results would not change either way. The open fleet finally went out for a single race, 5 boats short. Results are:  Watch the Garvin Point Sailing Club website for pictures to be posted. I’m looking forward to attending this event again next year. Racing Tips by Tom Schwandt Keys to good starting What is a good start….90% is to start with clear air & moving at full speed. This is usually better than being next to the committee boat & in the middle of lots of other boats, bumping (Protest….do your turns) & getting off the line with dirty air. Get to the starting area before the starting sequence begins: When the committee gets the line set, do a couple of practice starts on port & starboard (this will help you decide which tack & end of the line is favored. It also helps you know where to begin your “run” to the line from. Typically the starting lines are set up to favor a starboard start with the committee boat end favored. But you need to check Make a couple of tacks & jibes to be sure everything works & the skipper & crew are together. If you have a spinnaker…put it up do a jibe & take down (to be sure you have the chute set up right & the crew understands what needs to be done) “Park” your boat & relax for a couple of minutes but don’t get to far from the line as you need to be able to see and hear the flags/horns. Have your watch set to catch the horn. Of course you have already decided who will watch the watch & tell the time remaining to the start. If it’s light air you can often listen to the other boats around you for the time Get the boat set up for the wind. Down haul, out haul, traveler… are you boards and rudders clear of any weeds? You are wearing your life jacket…. and harness is adjusted-comfortable? Decide where you want to start & where to be when the 1 minute flag/horn sounds…don’t be too far up wind. Know where both ends of the starting line are. Sometimes you can’t see because of other boats blocking your view. The 2 most important rules to remember on the starting line:
There is another rule called barging. Basically if a boat is sailing close to the wind there is no room for another boat between that boat and the committee boat. Trying to squeeze into this space is not a good idea…you cannot hit the committee boat or the barging buoy. We need people to let us use their boats for the committee and they don’t like them getting hit. Learn where & when your competition & the rest of the fleet likes to start. You can often find an opening with clear air just down from the committee boat (if every one is early you can block the line by making them over early. Or if the fleet is typically early it may be best to come in ~ 10 seconds after the group and tack over to port to get clean air. If you are going to get pushed over the line early, accelerate and get around the committee boat or pin end quickly. Be careful to not get to windward of a boat that can out point you or sail higher into the wind. (the leeward boat has the right of way) After the start if there are lots of boats in front of you, giving you bad air, try to tack over and get out into clean air. Be careful as you will typically be on port and have no rights on any starboard boat. Watch how the fleet starts. It’s pretty typical for a pattern to develop. They maybe early and down the line before the start (come in late up to speed and be prepared to tack if you are being back winded. Or more commonly the fleet will bunch up at the committee boat and be stalled at the start. If you are ~ ¼ to 1/3 of the way down the line and moving at the start you will have clean air and on your way to A mark. Like anything it takes practice to make consistent starts, being on time and moving at full speed. If you’re making good starts you should be over the line early once in a while. I think it’s better to be looking back at the fleet vs looking at their sterns. Go Fast…. and have fun 
From the Commodore Welcome to the kick off of the 2009 Sailing Season! A lot has changed in the world since our fall meeting but a few things haven’t: Wind, Water, Friends, and the fun enjoyed by sailing these little catamarans. Now is the time to get the cats out and ready for the season. I always like to remove the trailer wheels and grease the bearings. Removing the trailer wheels help ensure if or should I say when you get a flat, that you will have a better chance of being able to get the lug nuts off. This came in handy two seasons ago while driving up to the Home Port regatta when our trailer had a flat just before Pam & Darrell's road. The fleet members had a healthy debate over the events for the season at the spring meeting held this past April. It was voted by the group to continue to hold racing regattas at 2 of the 3 Sebago events. The fleet has lost key volunteer members in (Tom and Amy) and (Al and Jane) due to temporary relocation out of New England. It was nice to see members who wanted to continue the racing events step in to fill volunteer to run the events. The CRANNE event schedule is for the most part similar to the past. One notable change is the Pine Point regatta to be held the weekend of July 25-26 will now also be the Alter Cup Qualifier for the New England Area. For those who are not familiar with the Alter Cup, it consists of a group of 10 regattas held across the US with the winner of each of the qualifying events getting a spot in the Alter Cup Championship. Look for more on the Alter Cup in future posts Some new events will be on the New England Schedule this summer. The F18 class has been invited to the prestigious Hyannis Yacht Club for their 3 day regatta at the end of July. I highly recommend the Hyannis Event for our group of F18 sailors, great wind, incredible yacht club, bands, food & drinks all right on the Cape in the middle of summer. The F18 also have been invited to the Buzzard Bay Regatta. The New England 100 distance race will be in the Narragansett Bay as always but this year the regatta headquarters (start/finish) will be Fort Adams Park in Newport RI. Looking forward to seeing you all out on the water soon. Check the website for the full schedule of events. Commodore CraigJoe Manganello Memorial Regatta May 16-17
This years event will be held at the Surf Club in Madison CT this weekend and is open to all beachcats up to 21'. A group from CRANNE is planing to participate. They have a great facility right on the beach and a catered dinner Saturday night. For more information check their website. Hope to see you all there!
Garvin Point Sailing Hampton Beach John Decker and Jim Lovett coming in after a day on the water. The Hampton Beach regatta is Father's Day weekend and is the same weekend as the sand castle competition. There is plenty to do around the beach if you are not with the sailors on the water. Check out the website for the 2009 Schedule and contact information.
Spring Planning meeting minutesMarch 28, 2009 Our spring planning meeting was held at the Hackett's. It was also a goodbye party for Jane and Al as they leave this week for Florida. In attendance were the Hacketts, Johnsons, Deckers, Reynolds, Helmars including Alex, Fleurys, Jim L, Dave F, Scott M and Hugh F. We discussed the fleet equipment condition and location. Jim and Dee will take a good look at the flags to see what can be repaired and what needs to be replaced. Equipment currently at Johnson’s will be picked up, inventoried and moved to Jim’s until it is needed at Hampton Beach. The next discussion was regarding the Sebago events and if they should be fun sails or races. There was much discussion about how many race events we should host. It was decided the first two Sebagos would be races with Helmars and Flureys being race committee and the third a fun sail. The race schedule was next up again with much discussion about possible conflicting dates. We have some members that travel to other fleets events and some that only do our events. How much effort goes into hosting events was brought up and if we should continue both Pine Point and Hampton events. The lack of camping was discussed regarding these events. Hampton Beach - Check website schedule for contact info. Boat drop off Friday June 19 Registration - Malcolms? Race Committee - Malcolms Tent to be used based on weather We will use Jim’s ATV to move boats from the waters edge up the dune. Event area to be roped off during the day, leaving room at the top of the dune to the water for rangers to get ATV’s through. We will continue providing lunch on the boats, making approximately 40 sandwiches. Advertising by sponsors was discussed, Hampton does not allow for advertising but would allow sponsor to put our logo on t-shirts along with theirs. The fleet is also checking with Pam and Darrel to see if the HomePort regatta will be held this year and if so what dates are available. This event NOR will be available for the fleet news letter due out at the end of April. News letter was planned with several members signed up to write articles. A fleet financial report is scheduled to be made available in August. Pine Point I - Registration Saturday morning - Helmars Race Committee - Reynolds Tent to be used based on weather Sebago I Registration - Deckers Race Committee - Helmars Sebago II Regisration - Deckers Race Committee - Flureys Sebago III Registration - Deckers No Committee - Fun sail We have 2 new members to welcome: Alanna Hackett was born Febuary 12th, 2009 Rebecca Anne Johnson was bon December 15th, 2008 during the Ice Storm Spring Meeting
Attended the spring meeting yesterday at Craig and Jen's. Discussed this year's schedule and said our farewells to Al & Jane. Check out the 2009 tentative schedule at: http://www.geocities.com/crannesailing/schedule.htm.
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