jib's Sailing Blog
2009 Caz Flash Bash Lightning Regatta - Hallagan wins a close one
Central New York Lightning District
The 2009 Caz Flash Bash Lightning Regatta was held over a soggy Fathers Day Weekend. Willowbank Yacht Club in picturesque Cazenovia New York hosted the 19 boat regatta and certainly did their best to prepare crews for potential heavy air... the food was endless! Dick Hallagan, Pam Murphy, and Rick TenEyck won the regatta on a tie breaker over Jed Dodge, Bill Stuart, and Sarah Costich. Cazenovia local ace Federico Meira took a tight battle for third over Bob Wardwell in fourth and Bob King in fifth.
2009 Newport Yacht Club Celebration of Spring Lightning Regatta
Central New York Lightning District
Newport Yacht Club, located on Irondequoit Bay of Lake Ontario, held the annual Celebration of Spring Lightning Regatta over the June 6th weekend. Ched Proctor with teammates Jay Mueller and Jim Barnash made the trek from Connecticut to Rochester and won the regatta by winning three of the five races and placing no worse than fourth in any race. According to Jay, "Ched is fast". 2009 Lightning Boat grant recipient Dan Thompson edged out Dan Pope for second while Jed Dodge and Mark Sertl rounded out the top five. In all twenty one boats competed in this regatta, though sadly I was not one of them and therefore don't have any details to fill in. I realize this race was a few weeks ago, but please feel free to fill in any details if you have them. Results are located
2009 Preliminary Schedule - CNY Lightning District
Central New York Lightning District
The preliminary schedule for the 2009 Central New York Lightning sailing season has been set. Look for more details in the near future. Looking forward to June 6 and the first day on the water!
Newport Yacht Club (Irondequoit)
– June 6th & 7th
Volvo Ocean Race - and then there were four...
2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race
The Volvo Ocean Race fleet of Open 70’s is now down to four boats as they try to make their way from Singapore to Quindao, China. Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve done any writing, but I’ll give a quick synopsis here. For full details head to volvooceanrace.org.
Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 1 wrap up
2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race
A lot has happened since the last update. A shattered boat for one team, a shattered record for another.
At the close of the last update, the fleet was heading south along the South American coast, waiting for a low pressure system to materialize and take them across the pond to Cape Town, South Africa. That low came, and provided an exciting ride for all. Green Dragon led the fleet south, hoping to find increased pressure as they got closer to the center of the low. Ericcson 4 and Puma cut the corner a bit, and made gains by doing this emerging as the lead two boats. Then it got exciting.
2008 Pennsylvania Governors Cup Lightning Regatta
The 2008 Lightning Pennsylvania Governors Cup Regatta was held the weekend of October 24 and 25th in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. Susquehanna Yacht Club hosted the event, with sailing on the Susquehanna River. The river is dammed up a few miles down, creating a beautiful sailing venue that is more than a mile wide in the primary sailing area. 15 lightnings braved the grim forecast to compete in the event. After some very tight racing, Charlie Wardwell and team emerged as the champions. Charlie and crew may also be the champions of the Saturday night party, though those official results haven't come in yet.
Volvo Ocean Race - Leg 1; Days 1-10 - Abridged Version
The 2008-2009 around the world Volvo Ocean Race began last week off the coast of Alicante, Spain. Eight Open 70's set sail with the first stopover of Cape Town, South African in their sites. They are now about 10 days into their voyage, and are just about to emerge from the dreaded doldrums, cross the Equator, and round the first scoring gate off the coast of Brazil. It has been an exciting start to the race, full of lead changes, boat breakages, sails being destroyed, and even some crew emergencies. Keep reading for the abridged version of the racing so far, but check out http://www.volvooceanrace.org for full updates. I recommend reading the emails sent from the boats, as you'll get the information directly from the sources.
2008 Ithaca Frostbite Lightning Regatta
Central New York Lightning District
10/05/2008 - 13 Boats competed in the 1998 Ithaca Frostbite Lightning Regatta, the final one day regatta of the season for the Central New York Lightning District. The event was held out of Ithaca Yacht Club, on the western shore of picturesque Cayuga Lake. Jack Jones and team continued his fast sailing to take the top spot at the end of the day. It was not an easy win, as Dan Pope and Dick Hallagan were both in contention to win. Dan and team were tied with Jones after the final race but lost a tie breaker to finish in second. Dick Hallagan and team were two points behind to claim third.
Telefonica Teams Jump Out to Early Lead in Volvo Ocean Race
The first in-port race in the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean race took place on October 4, marking the start of another edition of this round the world race. Many questions were answered about which teams look competitive, while many more remain. Winds were relatively light, and the two Farr designed Telefonica boats looked quite fast in these conditions. Telefonica Blue took the spot on the day winning both races. Telefonica Black took a 2nd and 3rd to claim 2nd overall on the day. Puma stands in third after posting a 6th and 2nd. Ericsson 4 lost a tie breaker with Puma after posting a 4,4. They claim 4th overall. Green Dragon came in close behind Puma and Ericsson in 5th with a 3rd and 6th. Delta Lloyd sits in 6th, Ericsson 3 in 7th, and Team Russia in 8th.
2008 Volvo Ocean Race Set to Start
2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race
I am psyched! The 2008(-2009) edition of the Volvo Ocean Race is set to start. The race will be sailed in second generation Open 70's. The first generation of these boats that sailed in the previous edition of the Volvo showed amazing potential, though also experienced some growing pains. I'm expecting some amazing speeds, and hopefully a bit of a safer platform, during this time around. During the last go-around, several boats had engineering and build issues, including one boat (Movistar) that had to be abandoned due to structural failures and is now resting on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Nonetheless, this is a great event and is (in my opinion anyways) one of the few "around the world" sailing races that actually engages the public. Stopovers in multiple co