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Racing

Racing January 2017

January 9, 2017 - By Geoff Endris
We have a great racing program planned for 2017. Lots of racing. Lots of hot dogs and hamburgers! As in the past, all club members are welcome to attend the regatta parties at the Mayor’s Cup, Governor’s Cup and ECSC regattas. Your $10 ticket gets you food, beverage, music and dancing. I am new to booking entertainment for these events, so if you know of a good band or DJ, send an email to the racing contact and I’ll take it from there.

Race Ready Meeting #1

Mark your calendar for Wednesday January 25, 2017. That will be our first “Race Ready” meeting for all those who are interested racing this year. The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30. We will have pizza and sodas for those who attend. The location isn’t set yet, but we will send out an email blast to the newsletter distribution list in a week or so once we get the room locked down.

We have 4 topics on the agenda for the meeting:
1. Registration and PHRF discussion
2. Race Committee sign up
3. 2017 Racing Calendar
4. Review of the ECSC RC Handbook
North U Tactics and Rule Seminar at ISC

On Saturday January 28, 2017, Indianapolis Sailing Club will host the North U Rules and Tactics Seminar. Check in is at 8:30. The seminar runs from 9:00 to 4:30. Andrew Kerr will be the instructor. The cost is $95, which includes a copy of Dave Perry’s North U Racing Rules and Tactics workbook. This is a good seminar if you are a little rusty on the rules or want to sharpen your racing tactics. Click HERE for a link to the seminar flyer.

PHRF Ratings

We have several races that are scored based on PHRF rating, so it is very important that we have an updated PHRF rating for all racers. This applies to virtually all of the Wednesday and Sunday series racing. In order to be scored properly, make sure we have an updated PHRF registration form on file for your boat. If we don’t have an up-to-date form, we will assign you the base rating for your boat with no adjustments. This is the absolute worst rating you can receive.

For your convenience, you have 3 ways to review and/or register your boat’s PHRF rating:
1. You will receive a race registration form in your membership packet. If your boat has a PHRF form on file, you will be able to verify the information on the form. If you receive a blank form and are racing, simply fill it out and mail it back with your dues payment.
2. Come to any of the Race Ready meetings and fill out the form at the meeting.
3. Get a blank form at the RC Shed and leave it in the marked folder.
We are changing some of the PHRF adjustments this year to lessen the penalty to cruiser boats on windward/leeward courses. Come to the first Race Ready meeting to find out more.

Race Committee Signup

Volunteering for Race Committee is part of every racer’s responsibility. If everyone serves just one time per series, we will have a smooth sailing season. The Sign-up Genius web site has been updated with all of the sailing events for the 2017 season. Congratulations to Bob McCoun for being first to sign up for RC duty. There are 12 racing days in the Wednesday Spring series and 2 slots, so we need just 24 skippers to sign up. There are only 10 Sunday Spring races, so we only need 20 skippers to sign up. If everyone takes a slot, we can get them all filled. If you want to get your choice of days, sign up early. Note that on March 31, if we have any open slots for the two Spring Series, I will have to start assigning people who have not yet signed up. Sign up for RC duty by clicking here.

2017 Racing Calendar

We are making a couple of changes to the sailing calendar. Our goal is to reward participation, yet recognize individual champions.
- Wednesday Night series start time will change.
- Fleet Champions will not be part of the Sunday series.
- We are adding a Club Championship 1-day regatta to crown the best skipper and the fleet champions.
- The Boat of the Year selection is being changed slightly.
Come to the first Race Ready meeting to find out more about the changes. All 2017 races have been added to the web site calendar.

Race Committee education

On March 11, 2017 ECSC and ISC are sponsoring a one-day Club Race Officer seminar at the ISC clubhouse. This is a great one-day event that will give you a great foundation on how to run a proper sailboat race. The seminar will cover all aspects of running a race from setting up the course, to starting and finishing boats, to changing and shortening the course. The cost is only $45 and that includes continental breakfast and lunch. It’s a great way to get into sailing mode for the upcoming season. Go to the US Sailing web site to register.

Scroll down to the ECSC seminar and register online.

I am updating the Race Committee Handbook to provide more “on the water” guidance and reference to those running races. This will also be covered at the Race Ready #1 meeting.

Geoff Endris,

Racing Chair

Racing

From Racing

December 2, 2016 - By Geoff Endris

[one_second]

Crew of Dutch Mob after placing 2nd in Hornback Regatta. Holding Fag is Nan Schulze - the 2016 Sailor of the Year Winner — Crew of Dutch Mob after placing 2nd in Hornback Regatta. Holding Fag is Nan Schulze – the 2016 Sailor of the Year Winner

Brian and Wild Bob after winning the 2016 Hornback

2016 Flying Scot Regatta - Start Line — 2016 Flying Scot Regatta – Start Line

[/one_second]

I will be taking over as Race Committee this year. First though, I want to thank Rick Graef for all the wonderful work he did as Race Committee the past 2 years. Thanks to him, the racing program is in good order and the transition went very smooth. I will be continuing a lot of what Rick started. We will have the regular Wednesday evening races, the Sunday races and the 5 major regattas. In addition, we will continue with Rich Fox’s Indy 200 regatta for White/Blue fleet boats, and the Ladies’ sail.

We will continue with the 4 fleets this year.

Red Fleet: higher performance keelboats with low PHRF ratings and gung ho skippers.
Green Fleet: dingy/planing sailboats & catamarans
White Fleet: keelboats with higher PHRF ratings
Blue Fleet: higher PHRF boats and novice racers.

We have seen a huge increase in the number of “cruisers” who have come out to try their hand at racing in the Blue/White fleet. Based on the numbers, it looks like they are having a good time.

This year, I want to make a change to the Sunday racing series. I would like this to be a little more “family friendly” and encourage more cruisers to come out. So parents, bring your kids out for a Sunday sail and a little friendly competition. Races will start at 2:00 and end around 4:30 followed by hot dogs or burgers afterwards – just like on Wednesday nights.

We will also have our major regattas: The Mayor’s Cup in May, the Flying Scot Regatta in June, the ECSC Regatta in July, the Governor’s Cup in September and the Hornback Regatta in October. These are all great events that are well attended. I would like to remind the “non-racers” that everyone is invited to the regatta parties at the Mayor’s Cup, Governor’s Cup and ECSC regattas. We will have music and food for a low fee.

As a reminder to all skippers: ECSC is sponsoring a Club Race Officers training class on March 11, 2017. This is a great opportunity to deepen your knowledge about how to run a race. Mark the date on your calendar and make plans to attend. More to come next week.

All racing events have already been posted on the web site calendar. I will be updating the Race Committee signup web site soon.

As in the past, we will have 3 pre-season racing meetings for those interested in racing this year. During these meetings, we will register skippers for racing, get people signed up for Race committee and go over the rules of racing. The topics are as follows.

Date	Event	Topics
Wed Jan 25, 2017	Race Ready Meeting #1	Racing registration Race Committee sign up 2017 Racing program/events
Wed Feb 22, 2017	Race Ready Meeting #2	Changes to racing rules Rules at the start Rules going to windward Rules at the windward mark
Wed Mar 22, 2017	Race Ready Meeting #3	Rules at the leeward mark Rules going downwind Rules at the finish

[one]Geoff Endris[/one]

Racing

Racing – October 2016

October 4, 2016 - By Rick Graef

Hello ECSC Racers.

Coming up this weekend is the annual ECSC Hornback regatta. This is the regatta where the fast start last. Come out Saturday October 8th and 9th for some fun racing. Each boat is given a sheet with several courses and the time they have to wait until their start. If all goes perfectly – ALL the boats finish together….Aaaaand….when does everything go perfectly when racing???? Pretty much never. So put your skills to the test and have some fun. Also, you can’t beat the price – FREE. The hornback has no registration fee for ECSC Members. After racing on Saturday be sure to attend the Chili-cook off and try some great chilis. Registration begins Saturday at 9 with the harbor gun at 11. Sunday the Harbor gun is at 10. The NOR is at www.ecsail.org/racing/2016_HornBack_NOR.pdf

Racers at the awards for the 2016 Governor’s Cup

Wednesday racing is now in the twilight series. This is a 5 race series that ends the last Wednesday in October. WE NEED RACE COMMITTEE. Please come out and help out if you can. RC should leave the dock by 6 and start the race around 6.30. Even if you aren’t experienced, come help, we will assist you and make sure you are comfortable running the race.

Get those navigation lights on your boats working – The first Wednesday in November will be our inaugural ECSC night race. Race starts at 7 p.m. This is the first Wednesday after the time change soooo it should be dark. We need an RC volunteer for this race also.

The Wednesday Summer series came to a close a couple of weeks ago. Congrats to Terry Holland for winning two fleets – the Blue Fleet and the Blue/White Fleet. Congrats to Spike Selig for winning the Green 2 Fleet. Congrats to Bob Hickok for winning the Green 1 Fleet. And Congrats to Perry Cameron for winning the Red Fleet.

The Boat of the Year standings are also available on both our ECSC Facebook page and on the Racing page of our ECSC Website. The twilight series is the only variable left and the results are close. Rich Fox is leading the charge in his Catalina 22 in the White Fleet with Commodore Cameron and Nan Schulz are close behind in 2nd and 3rd in the Red Fleet.

Last month the Governor’s Cup was sailed in typical Eagle Creek shifty conditions on Saturday only. Sunday the wind never filled in enough to race. The Governors cup was won by your race Chair Rick Graef on his J24 “ɔᴉuɐԀ ʇ,uop”.

We had several boats in from Geist, Illinois and Ohio. Thanks for all of those that volunteered and made it a great event.

See you on the water.

Rick Graef
Racing

Governor’s Cup is just around the corner!!

September 1, 2016 - By Rick Graef

Hello Race Fans!!!

As the title of this month’s blog reads…. Governor’s Cup is coming soon to a lake near you. Get those bottoms scrubbed and boats ready for one of the best regattas of the year. The racing will be September 17th and 18th. We expect to have at least five fleets racing. J-24, Highlanders, Red Fleet, Green Fleet and White-Blue Fleet. Our Principal Race officer for the event is Geoff Endris. The onshore regatta activities are being coordinated by myself, Nick Mates and the Newgents. If you are able to help on the water, contact Geoff. If you can help during the onshore activities let myself or Nick know. I am still looking for volunteer for breakfast duty. Saturday evening will have a live band and dinners will be $10 for the first dinner purchased and $5 for each additional dinner. This is way less than the actual cost of the dinners and is intended to make it affordable for more ECSC members to attend the dinner even if they didn’t race. The Notice of Race will be published to the website soon. Registration will start at 8 on Satutrday with a skippers meeting at 10.30 and the Harbor Gun at 11.

Speaking of racing, August has brought Sunday races to a close. Congrats to all who came out for the various club championships. Your Sunday prizes will be distributed when I see you. Our Ladies skipperina winner Was Janet Hickok, Sailing with her hubby on their Hobie 20. Dennis Robertson is our Multihull Champ for 2016, and I believe our J22 championship resulted in a tie between Cody McCoun and Tony Hubbard. If I missed any club championships, email me and let me know.

Wednesday racing continues to be fun and has been some of the best racing we have had in years. I am super excited to see a rebuilding of our White/Blue fleet and the competition in this fleet has been great. Thanks to Rich Fox for leading some Q and A sessions during July for our newer racers.

Earlier this week we had many emails bouncing around some of our racers about some perceived issues when fleets meet on the race course. Keep in mind, just because the Red Fleet racers like to get uber-serious, yell a lot and go faster than many of our other fleets, they do not get extra rights under the Racing Rules. We all play by the same rules. That means if a slower white fleet boat is at a mark rounding and a faster red fleet boat has to go out of their way to round the mark because they didn’t get an overlap in time….. that is racing (This happened between Tom Newgent’s S2 and my J24). Also if you are unsure about being seen by another boat and you feel you have rights (starboard-port for instance) give the other boat a loud hail “starboard”. Obviously if you think you need to avoid contact, the rules require you to do so. If you feel you were fouled by another boat, even in another fleet, you can protest. If you do, the racing rules require you to hail the word “protest” AND to fly a red flag as soon as possible. Our Racing rules also require you to notify the RC boat upon finishing. You also should keep the red flag flying until either notifying the RC boat, or seeing the other boat complete a 720 to exonerate themselves. While nobody wants to spend their time after racing in a protest, there are times when they are necessary. Having said that, if you feel you did violate the rules, even if nobody saw you (hit a mark for example) do your turn or turns and race fairly. Reminder that the race rules call for a 1 turn penalty if you hit a mark of the course (including start and finish marks) and a 2 turn penalty for most other violations (port-starboard, windward-leeward or mark rounding boat on boat infractions)

Also coming up on September 10th is our annual INDY 200 regatta. The NOR will also be on the website shortly. Registration is at 11 with a skippers meeting at 11.30. This is a great one day regatta for white-blue fleet boats with a PHRF of 200 or over. Rich Fox will again act as our PRO for this event.

See you on the water.

Rick
Racing

August Race Report

August 1, 2016 - By Rick Graef

Hello fellow ECSC Sailors and Racers,

July has been a great month. Wednesday and Sunday races continue to be a blast. Temps are high, but so are water levels.

Nick and Sheela Prepping for the Beach Party

ECSC Regatta and Beach party proved to be one of our best Racing events of the year. Saturday had some great racing, but unfortunately Sunday the wind didn’t quite cooperate and there were no races Sunday. Dr. Bob and his crew handled the Race Committee duties with expertise and we had some great racing Saturday. Nick Mates and his crew threw one of the best parties of the year. The band played until the wee hours and the dancing and singing was plentiful.

Jeff and Sarah Hanson at the ECSC Beach Party

Red Fleet was won by Nan Schulze in Dutch Mob, 2nd was Perry Cameron in Sublime, and Austin Graef finished third in Don’t Panic. White/Blue Fleet was won by Rich Fox, 2nd went to Chuck and Nancy Goff, and third was Mark Walker. The green fleet was won by Geoff Endris.

Racers at the Skippers Meeting

On another note, Our club was represented for the first time ever in the Bayview Yacht club’s annual race to Mackinac. This is a large yacht race from Port Huron, Michigan to Mackinac Island in Michigan. Club Member Tony (“Toe-Knee”) Hubbard entered his John Alden Challenger. She is 38 feet long and was built in 1961 in England. Her home port is Sandusky, Ohio, but she proudly sailed for and displayed the Eagle Creek Sailing Club Burgee. Her crew included family, along with

Integrity Charging towards the finish of the Bayview Mac Race

extended sailing family. This included many former junior sailors that Tony has mentored over the past decades. Aboard for the race were Toe-Knee Hubbard, his sons Jason and Jacob Hubbard, Cam Borkowski, Barrett Rhodes, John Bergan, and myself – Rick Graef. Delivery crew also included Jim and Bonnie Wolfinger.

Integrity proudly displaying her full colors

The adventure began with a three day delivery from Sandusky to Put-in-Bay to Bayview Yacht Club, then on to Port Huron. After several days of race prep in Port Huron, Integrity began her first race in decades. We battled light air, medium air, and even squalls filled

The view from aloft with lots of canvas in the air.

with lightening, rain that pelted your eyeballs and 45 knot winds. Our only

Integrity flying her A-Kite…before it blew up.

casualty was our asymmetric kite (from a J105) that exploded in 20-25 knots of wind. Integrity finished a respectable 7th out of the 15 boats in her section, and 15th overall out of the 109 yachts competing on the shore course. Following the race, her crew relaxed for a few days on Mackinac Island before beginning the long delivery home to Sandusky. There are lots and lots more stories – so saunter up to me or Captain Tony at the liars table and we would love to share them.

As I write this blog three ECSC J24 crews are preparing their J24s to head north to Put-In-Bay, Ohio to compete in the I-LYA’s Bay Week Regatta. This is often referred to as Senior Bay so as to not confuse it with Junior Bay week. Don’t Panic, Dutch Mob, and Quixotic are all making the trip and will race this Friday through Sunday. This is also the J24 District championships and should be a great regatta.

Have fun, sail often, and sheet in.

Your race chair,

Rick Graef
Racing

Knee High by the fourth of July

July 1, 2016 - By Rick Graef

Ahoy ECSC Racers.

Well, it is July in Indiana, the corn is knee high, and our racers are ripping it up here on our home waters and across the country. Our Wednesday Spring Series has just concluded with great racing all Spring. Congrats to Les Miller for winning the new Blue Fleet in his S2 6.9 Turbolina. The winner of White Fleet, our largest fleet (13 boats) was Mike Clark sailing his Precision 23, Logos. Green Fleet was won by Dr. Bob and Kenny sailing the Highlander, Kowa Bunga. The always competitive Red fleet was topped by Bob and Janet Hickok in Spontaneous Combustion (J24).

Sunday Racing has been building strongly this year. Sunday races are scheduled from 2 to 4 during June, July and August. New this year are club championships that will be sailed concurrently with the rest of the Sunday fleet. Our innaugural Catalina 25 Championship was won by Bob Hickok. Check the schedule for upcoming club championships.

Speaking of championships, the 2016 J24 Hoosier championship are 2 out of 4 regattas in. This is a new series between the J24 fleets of ECSC and ISC. ECSC Mayor’s Cup and Governor’s Cup along with ISC Geist Guzzler and their Keelboat regatta count for the series. With Mayor’s Cup and Geist Guzzler completed ECSC is in the lead. There will also be an individual winner named. Jason Hubbard finished highest from our sister clubs in the Mayors cup, and Perry Cameron was on top during the Geist Guzzler. The scoring system for this series is a high point scoring system. After the accountants at ECSCScoring.notarealwebsite.com tabulated the results…… Jason and Perry are tied with 13 points each. Full scoring for the regattas and the Hoosier championships can be found on the racing page.

Don’t Forget the ECSC Regatta and Beach Party is coming up on July 9th and 10th. Our Past Commodore Nick Mates has great plans for the beach Party. Dr. Bob and Kenny will be sharing Race Officer duties. The NOR is available on the website and the SIs and entry forms are posted at the bottom of the race page.

Past Commodore Nick Mates attending the Americas Cup racing in Chicago

Last month we had several of our ECSC members make the trek to Chicago for the Americas Cup World Series racing in Chicago. This was the first time any Americas Cup racing ha

s ever been sailed in fresh water! Chicago put on quite an amazing event and the Americas Cup is sure to return in the future. The AC 45 catamarans tore up the waters of Lake Michigan and even set a new speed record during a race.

Rick helping Team softbank load their hulls into shipping containers

Integrity nearly ready for her 235 mile race to Mackinac Island

ECSC will be represented in this years Port Huron to Mackinac race. This is an annual race sponsored by Bayview Yacht Club. Captain Tony Hubbard has entered his deep-draught Ocean Racer s/v Integrity. She is a 1961 Alden Challenger Yawl. Your fearless race chair will be aboard for this momentus race. We will be sailing the Shore course (slightly shorter than the Cove Island course) which is 235 miles long.

Port Huron to Mackinac courses

For more info check out the website at www.bycmack.com . There is also a tracker on the website so you can be part of the action. Integrity is in Class N and will proudly be carrying an ECSC Flag and Burgee. I believe that this is the first time a boat registered from ECSC has competed in this race.

Integrity on a ball at Put in Bay

Special thanks to everybody that has kept our race program running smoothly. See you on the water.

Rick
Racing

Great wind for Mayor’s Cup 2016

June 1, 2016 - By Rick Graef

Well, Our 2016 Mayor’s Cup Regatta is often our windiest regatta of the year and this year’s weekend did not disappoint. We had several boats make the trip across town from Indianapolis Sailing Club as part of the new J24 Hoosier Championship Series. The Mayor’s Cup was won by the J24 2XS from Chicago in a seven boat fleet. 2XS is owned by Mark Soya. Both days had very tight racing in steady 18-22 knot conditions with gust recorded at the airport over 30 knots. Second place in the J24 Fleet went to Jason Hubbard, sailing Absolut and third place went to Commodore Perry Cameron in Sublime.

Mayor’s Cup 2016

The Highlander fleet sent out a guinea pig boat to test the wind on Saturday which quickly scampered back in the cove and the fleet decided to not race on Saturday. On Sunday, the wind dropped slightly and they got in several races. The Highlander Fleet was won by Japikse, second place was Jamey Carey, and Hollingsworth was third.

In the Lead

The PHRF fleet battled the conditions both days and was won by Jack Hale in his Merit 25. Second place was Leroy Leeman in his J22 and third went to John Kohne also in a J22.

Jack Hale aboard his Merit 25 Buzz Off

Full Results can be found on the racing page along with the J24 Hoosier Championship Series Results. The dinner was catered by Yats and the Band was fantastic.

Thanks to Sheela Smith Krout for taking some great pictures. They can be found

at https://www.flickr.com/photos/42535445@N04/sets/72157668696401316

Wednesday night racing has been fantastic with lots of beautiful evenings on the water. Sunday June 4th is our first Sunday Funday Race. Racing will consist of three short races from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. All boats are eligible and there will be prizes warded by the race committee that day. Also this Sunday doubles as our Club Catalina 25 Championship. Have a Catalina 25??? All you have to do is race that day and if you come out on top, You Win Club Champion Bragging rights for the year (and a great Prize)

Sunday June 4th is also the Geist Guzzler Regatta at Indianapolis Sailing Club. This is a keel boat regatta that is the 2nd regatta in the J-24 Hoosier Championship Series. Any keelboats from ECSC would be welcome, however, any J-24s that attend will count towards the J24 Hoosier Championship. The average of the top three boats from each club will count for the overall club championship. I would love to see 3 J24s make the trip. Last year yours truly took first in the J24 fleet and my son Austin placed second in a borrowed boat.

Sunday June 12th is another Sunday Funday race that will also double as the two and three handed green fleet champs. That means Thistles, Flying Scots, Highlanders…. Let’s get them all on the water.

The following Sunday, June 19th is not only father’s day (see social calendar for times for Father’s Day event), but also the Father’s Day Downwind regatta (it will also count as a regular Sunday series race. We will run 3 short downwind start races.

The final Sunday in June doubles as the J-24-Merit 25 champs. For the Sunday series these races will be scored with the normal PHRF ratings, BUT for the champs….the boats race boat for boat.

As for Race committee – We have had good turnout during May, however the sign-up sheet looks pretty bleak in June. Don’t forget to follow the link on the racing page and sign up for your volunteer spot. Thanks to all the volunteers who have helped with RC duty, food and fuel so far this year.

See you on the water,

Rick

Race Ready Meeting #1

North U Tactics and Rule Seminar at ISC

PHRF Ratings

Race Committee Signup

2017 Racing Calendar

Race Committee education