Beacon - Annapolis Yacht Club

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This is the type of change that we make to constantly improve WNR. We describe it in Attachment “A” and tell the competitors about these changes at the skippers’ meeting just before the first race. The team that misses that meeting or fails to get the final Attachment “A” is at a decided disadvantage on the first race. With the instructions to the sailors in hand, I also need to get the committee signed up. We have about 50 people on the committee. We have a group that goes out on the signal boat that fires the gun, hoists the flags, records the last minute before the start and other duties necessary to start the race. We also have a volunteer boat with several people who set the other end of the starting line. Another group of people sets the marks out in the Bay with direction from the signal boat. We also have another group of volunteers that mans the second deck and records the order and time of finishes. All told, we usually have a committee of 24 people to run each race. I generate a schedule for the committee members to fill out during April and develop a weekly duty roster from that. I try to send out the duty roster for the following week by the Friday before each race. I generally go out again around the 4th of July for the committee to update their schedules for the second half of the year. I also work with the Club to make sure we have the right prices on drinks and food for the after race party and reserve the date for the awards party in September. Although we run the race, we still compete with the rest of Annapolis for the sailors’ food and drink business. To do this, we run a video of the evening’s races and offer special drink prices. Our club management continues to be very supportive of our efforts and I think our servers truly enjoy the party after WNR. By the time the first race day hits, everything always seems to come together. This is largely due to the SERC. Many have been on the committee longer than I have, and it has become a part of their lives. I suppose it is part of mine, as well. But race day is when the fun begins. We leave the dock at 5:30 p.m. and proceed to a point just off Horn Point (shoal pole) and anchor. Once settled, we decide on the courses based on wind direction, pressure, anticipated pressure, weather, and sunset. We vector Mark 1 into place to set the first (movable) mark. We then send them off to set the other marks we will use that night. We then set the other end of the starting line. This is the hardest part. The trick is to get the fleet to use the whole line. The sailors need to believe that they have the same opportunity to win no matter where they start on the line. If we get it right, they use the whole line and we get clean starts. If we don’t, the boats bunch up at one end or the other and force each other over early. This causes blowing of horns, calling out of sail numbers and terms of endearment, and some scuffing of gel coat. But it gets sorted out and the racers start sailing their race. It is all good! On average, we put 125 boats over the line in six starts starting 40 minutes after we leave the dock. The boats finish in front of the Club starting around 7:30 p.m. to the enjoyment of many spectators at the clubhouse, on the bridge, anchored in the harbor, and in many of the other waterfront businesses. By the time I am off the water, the deck crew is usually starting to finish boats. If we get the courses right, the boats will come in at a steady pace so recording is peaceful. When they do come in bunched together, things can get tense. We have back-up timers and set one recorder off to the side to make sure we get all the numbers. The large boats moored next door also block our vision until the last minute. But the crew is great and we rarely miss a number. After the finish, we score the race on the computer in the Race Committee office. We use notes from the starting line to reconcile the finishes, then I review the results to see if anything is amiss. If there are protests from the week before, we need to wait for them to be resolved. Then, we print the results and post them on the web and the official notice board. By now, it is usually 10 p.m. After everything is scored and posted, I like to go down and talk to the sailors to see what they thought of the race. I find their feedback very useful and I think they appreciate that I ask. I think it adds to the competitors’ overall WNR experience which keeps participation up. In fact, WNR has held its own during the economic downturn while other events have suffered. That is pretty special for the Annapolis Yacht Club. It is also pretty special for the City of Annapolis and local businesses that prosper from our efforts. The end of the WNR is the Wednesday following Labor Day. That has become the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of the fall sailing season. Our regular Race Committee gets busy running the Fall Series and many of our other annual races. I get a little more time to write the Frostbite NOR and SIs, but November will be here in no time, and we will do it all over again. 12 AYC BEACON VOLUME 1, NO. 2
Photo courtesy of Dan Phelps / Spinsheet. Congratulations to the Winners of the 2009 Wednesday Night Race Series Charles Dell Trophy Best Performance in Fleet Inigo J. Konigsberg Club Trophies Geiger Memorial Perpetual Trophy PHRF Overall Spaceman Spiff M. Lahowin First Place Winners Fleet Series I Series II Series III Alberg 30 LinGin, V. Nurco LinGin, V. Nurco LinGin, V. Nurco Catalina 27 Four Little Ducks, T. Walsh Four Little Ducks, T. Walsh Four Little Ducks, T. Walsh Etchells Special Ed, E. Holt 1153, B&T Syndicate Caramba, J. Fuentes Herreshoff Dottie K, Cochran/Housely Dottie K, G. Cochran/Housely Raven, B. Museler J/105 Mystery Machine, P. McChesney Mirage, L. Salvesen Inigo, J. Konigsberg J/30 No Respect, R. Harrison Valhalla, S. & K. Bardelman Cannonball, B. Wallop J/35 Maggie, P. Scheidt Bad Company, B. Moss Bad Company, B. Moss Melges 24 Wild Child, H. Filter Wild Child, H. Filter Wild Child, H. Filter PHRF A0 Ramrod, R. Jabin Ramrod, R. Jabin Nightshift, K. McNeil PHRF A1 Mummbles, B. Kauffman Pamlico, K. Muller Kahuna, S & A. Richardson PHRF A2 Saykadoo, S. McManus Saykadoo, S. McManus Mountain Lion Eater, G. Prout PHRF A3 QA2, J. Tihansky Bzing, K. Karsten Contraire, S. Schaub PHRF B Dragonfly, J. Adams Dragonfly, J. Adams Stingray, B. Muller PHRF C/D Spaceman Spiff, M. Lahowin Swag, T. & B. Mowry Climate Change, B. Urban First, second, and third place winners were published in the October Smoking Lamp. Harvey Clapp Memorial Trophy Best Performance in Etchells Fleet Rededicated in 2005 Caramba J. Fuentes VOLUME 1, 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 Te
Page 7 and 8: Photos from AYC Archives The Annapo
Page 9 and 10: the reinvigorated Wednesday Night R
Page 11: Wednesday Night Madness Bobby Frey,
Page 15 and 16: Rendition courtesy of National Sail
Page 17 and 18: Chesapeake Destinations Solomons Is
Page 19 and 20: debriefs. AYC is keeping up with th
Page 21 and 22: Gary Jobson Interviews AYC’s Past
Page 23 and 24: Smith: I guess it was late 60s, ear

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