Fall 2011.indd - Annapolis Yacht Club

More documents

Recommendations

Info

were sad to learn that several boats sank, and a number of sailors were missing. In the end, only 87 of the 303 boat fleet finished; 5 boats sank and 15 people perished. For Tenacious, we survived and ended up the overall winner. But it was a somber victory. After that Fastnet Race, ocean race regulations were dramatically improved. The Safety at Sea Seminars held at the Naval Academy and around the country are a result of the Fastnet. In 1998 another violent storm AYC'S INTERNATIONAL RECIPROCAL CLUBS Are you planning to travel outside of the country? Let your membership take you home away from home. Here is a list of Clubs with which we share reciprocity agreements. For more information, check out www.annapolisyc.org/reciprocity. Barbados Yacht Club Britannia Yacht Club Buffalo Canoe Club Dubai Offshore Sailing Club Norddeutscher Regatta Verein Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Bridgetown, Barbados Ottawa, Ontario Ridgeway, Ontario Jumeirah, Dubai Hamburg, Germany Hamilton, Bermuda Fastnet Rock is a foreboding place off the southern coast of Ireland. pounded the Sydney to Hobart fleet. Five people were lost in that race. Only one person is known to have sailed in both the 1979 Fastnet and the 1998 Hobart Race. His name is Syd Fischer of Sydney, Australia. Fischer raced a series of boats named Ragamuffin. Last summer I did an interview with him and he compared the two races, “I think the clap we got in the (1979) Fastnet was the biggest wave I’ve ever seen.” Helpful lessons are learned after calamities. During the summer of 2011 we witnessed several tragedies including the sad death of junior sailor Olivia Constants, the capsize and drowning of two sailors in the Chicago to Mackinac Race, and the capsize of Rambler 100 in the Fastnet Race. Thankfully, the entire crew of Rambler 100 survived. I would not like to repeat the experience of the 1979 Fastnet Race. I was 29 years old at the time. It would be tougher today. But the lessons from that race have made racing safer. Royal Canadian Yacht Club Royal Cape Yacht Club Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Toronto, Ontario Cape Town, South Africa Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Herne Bay, Auckland Royal St. George Yacht Club Royal Thames Yacht Club Royal Vancouver Yacht Club Royal Victoria Yacht Club St. Croix Yacht Club Dublin, Ireland London, England Vancouver, British Columbia Victoria, British Columbia Christiansted, Virgin Islands If you are visiting or have visited any of these places, please send pictures and stories to communications@annapolisyc.org. You may be featured as our next traveling yachtsman! 12 AYC BEACON VOLUME 3, NO. 2
Expanding Horizons Cruising the British Virgin Islands Scott Parker The crew ashore at Saba Rock, Virgin Gorda (left to right, Bret Hovell, Charlie Bauer, Cam Bowdren, Scott Parker, and Greg Bauer). It all starts in October, when the leaves start to change and the crisp air carries their scent to downtown Annapolis. My friends and I are at the United States Sailboat show and we begin talking about “the trip.” As we spend the day walking around the different boat displays, we’ve already started to rehash past years sailing in the British Virgin Islands, and talk about what will be different this coming year. As with most things that come with friends you have had since high school, there is a great deal of regularity, and our yearly sailing trip is no exception. We took our first cruise around the BVIs a couple of years after college, with a crew of friends all from the Annapolis area. The idea of a week bareboat cruising around the islands was too good for us to pass up, even if it wasn’t the cheapest idea. Everyone had sailing experience, but only one of us had ever bareboat chartered before so this was somewhat of a thrilling idea. Pieces of the plan began falling in place, and soon enough the airfare was purchased and the boat was booked. When I look back on that first cruise in 2007, I can still remember how exciting every day was for us. Over the course of that week, we noticed our roles transition from those which we play in our careers to our positions on the boat. Our float plan was a list of places I’d only heard in passing from sailors in Annapolis; from the Baths at Virgin Gorda, to Foxy’s on Jost Van Dyke, we were on a vacation like no other. Every day was a new mooring with a new place to snorkel, and a new bar that would inevitably keep us out way too late. Calling a 47 foot yacht home for a week was unlike anything that I had experienced before, and something I knew I had to have again. While cruising, daily life is obviously very different from on shore. One great example of that difference happened during our first trip, and became a night we all still talk about years later. The BVI’s are closely grouped island chain, with the exception of Anegada, which can only loosely be considered an island at all. It is stretched about 12 nautical miles from the Sir Francis Drake Channel, and is only visible when you finally approach its one main harbor. Anegada is the furthest island to the east, and boasts a view straight out into the vast Atlantic Ocean. VOLUME 3, NO. 2 AYC BEACON 13
Page 1 and 2: THE ANNAPOLIS YACHT CLUB BEACON VOL
Page 3 and 4: Contents RACING CRUISING JUNIORS 11
Page 5 and 6: Celebrating Annapolis Yacht Club |
Page 7 and 8: Introducing our Newest One Design F
Page 9 and 10: The Tides Inn and Bay Creek resorts
Page 11: Tenacious racing in the AYC Fall Se
Page 15 and 16: Connection to the Community The Ann
Page 17 and 18: The much coveted America's Cup has
Page 19 and 20: Connection to the Yachting World Th
Page 21 and 22: “This committee is really about m
Page 23 and 24: eventually becoming a force at the
Page 25 and 26: Membership Development Understandin
Page 27 and 28: I was asked to be on the Board so I

Fall 2011.indd - Annapolis Yacht Club

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?