The South Atlantic Yacht Racing Association, the regional organization for yacht clubs and sailors in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, held its annual convention in Hilton Head, South Carolina on January 28 and 29.  To wrap up the annual meeting, Harbor 20 Fleet 3 and South Carolina Yacht Club invited nine member clubs of SAYRA to compete in an Inter-Club Challenge regatta in Harbor 20s on Sunday, January 29.  Members of South Carolina Yacht Club loaned their boats for the event and an owner representative sailed on each boat with a skipper and crew from the entering club.

The SCYC Race Committee, with Kevin Keogh as principal race officer, ran three races, each about 45 minutes long, in a northerly breeze with oscillating shifts that kept the competitors and the race committee on their toes and produced three different race winners.  Despite the shifty breeze, it was a beautiful January day for racing on Calibogue Sound.  In the end, consistency won the day.  The winning team’s record was a third and two seconds in a fleet of nine boats.

Handsome wood carving boards were the prizes presented after racing to Atlanta Yacht Club skipper Brice Dryden in first place, South Carolina Yacht Club Gary Gleason in second place and Charleston Ocean Racing Association skipper Rob Bowden in third place.  The other competitors in order of final placing were Columbia Sailing Club, Beaufort Yacht & Sailing Club, Savannah Yacht Club, Keowee Sailing Club, Carolina Yacht Club of North Carolina and Charleston Yacht Club.

“…Everyone in Seattle knows about the popular Duck Dodge series that runs on the city’s Lake Union in the summer.  Almost 100 boats turn out each Tuesday for a different themed race each week.  From Hawaiian Night to Toga Night, this popular series focuses on having fun. There is no cost to enter, and there is only one rule: Don’t hit each other.

Less well known, but still well attended, is the Goosebumps series every Sunday in January and February, also on Lake Union.  Of course, it is hard to have a Hawaiian Night or a Toga night in the winter in the Pacific Northwest.  If there were a theme for the Goosebumps, it might be fleece and foulies.

With more than 20 Harbor 20s scattered around Puget Sound and various lakes, Signature Yachts, located on Lake Union is working to get boats out sailing together this winter. Five boats have already committed to at least one or two of the Sunday events, with Signature Yachts hosting the boats at its dock after the races.  2 of the 5 Boats are skippered by Women.

Plans call for tuning sessions, sail trim clinics and Harbor 20 gatherings in the spring. Signature is trying to build the Harbor 20 fleet and get the existing boats out in a fun and casual setting….”

The fastest growing fleet at the Annapolis Yacht Club is the Harbor 20. We currently have 12 Harbor 20’s registered in this years AYC Frostbite Series. The Series starts on Nov 6 and runs on sundays through March. The Harbor 20 has been a successful addition to a number of other Yacht Clubs fleets across the nation. AYC is Fleet 5 in the National Harbor Class Association.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Hilton Head, South Carolina

The Harbor 20 Fleet 3 defeated the Fleet 1 team in the annual East / West Coast Challenge held this weekend at the South Carolina Yacht Club in Hilton Head, South Carolina.  The Challenge was won last year by Fleet 1 when they hosted the Challenge at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club in Newport Beach.

After Day 1, and 6 races, Fleet 3 had a commanding lead of 24 points. The Challenge was scored using a low-point team racing system (although team racing rules were not in effect). Day 1 brought steady winds of about 13 mph with gusts up to 17 mph (as reported by the Racing Committee).

On Day 2, the winds had shifted to the West and the racing started early to try to complete as many races as possible before a storm system was expected to arrive. Winds were again about 13 mph with gusts up to about 17 mph. With a new course and winds from a different direction, most the “local knowledge” learned by Fleet 1 on Saturday had to be relearned on Sunday.

The racing was cut short to 4 races to avoid a quickly approaching storm. The Race Committee timed the last race perfectly, allowing the sailors to get the boats back into the safety of the lock-protected Windmill Harbour just as the wind shifted to the North, picked up velocity and the rain started.

Although Feet 1 did better on Day 2, the Fleet from South Carolina Yacht Club continued winning the races scoring lower points, and in the end, defeated Fleet 1 in all 10 races with a decisive victory overall, regaining the perpetual trophy two years ago.

The awards and dinner were held at Bob De Veer’s home on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean.

Challenge Winners: Fleet 3

First Overall: Ned Nielson & Tommy Webster (Fleet 3)

First Fleet 1: Ed Kimball & Anne

International “Sign of Friendship”: Domenico DeSole

Master of Local Knowledge: John Rumsey

I Have No Local Knowledge: Rolly Pulaski

Woman’s Wear Daily: Joann Gleoge

Patience of Joe: Joe Highsmith

Super Shucker: Peter Haynes

Pre-Race Skippers Meeting

Saturday, March 26, 2011 – Hilton Head, South Carolina

Day 1 of the East / West Coast Challenge ended with a clear lead to the Fleet 3 of South Carolina Yacht Club. After 6 races, the score is 96 for the East Coast and 120 for the West Coast. The 24 point deficit creates a big challenge for the West Coast going into Sunday’s racing.

The day provided the sailors will steady winds from the south at about 15 mph winds with gusts to 20 mph. With a steady current, selecting the right way up the course proved to be decisive in placement for the races. The competition was strong with boats mostly having close finishes.

Exiting the Harbor into the Intercoastal via the Locks

After a morning briefing by the race committee,and the journey out the lock system, the teams enjoyed three long races (W-L-W-F) and three short races (W-L).

For day one, the races finished:
#1: 13 points EAST coast
#2: 17 points WEST coast
#3: 20 points EAST coast
#4: 20 points WEST coast
#5: 29 points EAST coast
#6: 34 points EAST coast
#7: 38 points WEST coast
#8: 45 points WEST coast

On Sunday, sailing will being an hour and half earlier at 11:30am to try to beat out an incoming weather system.

Anne doing some last minute "adjustments" to the Hoyt Boom for the West. Ed Kimball Skippers.

Fleet 1 Captain Kevin Keogh and Dave, SCYC Director of Sailing

Welcome Reception at SCYC

SCYC owned Harbor 20 to be used by Fleet 1 docked in the Windmill Harbour

Friday, March 26, 2011

Hilton Head, South Carolina

The Harbor 20 Fleet 3, based at the South Carolina Yacht Club in Hilton Head, welcomes the Fleet 1 delegation for the Annual East / West Challenge:  A 2-day team low-point regatta. Sailors will be awarded points based on their finishing position (eg: 1 point for first, 2 points for second, etc…) and the team with the lowest total points after the two days of racing, wins.  The winner becomes the recipient of the East/West Challenge perpetual trophy currently held by Fleet 1.

Friday night, the Yacht Club and Fleet 3 hosted a welcome reception including cocktails and appetizers followed by dinner in the club’s restaurant.

On Saturday, the racing begins with an anticipated 4-5 races on a windward/leeward course. The weather is forecast as 75 degrees with winds from the S to SSE at 10-12 mph. Sunday’s forecast is for 77 degrees, partly cloudy with chance of thunderstorms and winds at 10 to 20 mph.

Feet 3 sailors have opened their homes to the Fleet 1 sailors while the Club has put together a social, eating, drinking and sailing schedule to fill up the weekend.

East Coast Sailors are: Gary Gleason, Marvin Carlson, Joe Highsmith, Domenico DeSole, Tommy Webster, Ned Nielsen, Paul Miller and John Rumsey.

West Coast Sailors are: Terry Gleoge, Bryon Capps, Peter Haynes, Nik Froehlich, Rolly Pulaski, Ann Donat, Ed Kimble, Anne Kimble.

Race Committee is: Kevin Keogh (Fleet 3 Capitan), David Wilson, Muffy Schulze, Rick Schulze, Bob DeVeer.

HARBOR 20 CHALLENGE – BLUE vs GREY

Hilton Head, South Carolina

November 20 & 21, 2010

In 2009, several of the South Carolina Yacht Club Harbor 20 sailors participated in the Manhattan Sailing Club’s Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge. In exchange, the South Carolina sailors invited the Manhattan sailors to Hilton Head for a weekend of sailing the Harbor 20s. The challenge was billed as a Blue vs Grey (i.e., North vs.South) Challenge and took place November 20 & 21.

The six sailors who represented the Manhattan Sailing Club were skippers Klaus Brinkbaeumer, Danielle Gallo & Randy Lewis; and crew Noah Bessoff, Mary Gardiner & Claire Morda. South Carolina Yacht Club Harbor 20 Fleet 3 was represented by skippers Burt Keenan, Gary Gleason, Marvin Carlson, and Mark Frey. In order to involve more people and get to four boats per team, SCYC offered John Rumsey as skipper of the Blue team’s fourth boat. They also filled in crew as needed.

Winds were extremely light and shifty; and there was a strong current running – not an unusual set of circumstances for the sailors from New York. After six races, each team ended the series with a total of 112 points, with the Southerners awarded the victory based on the tie breaker – the most first place wins. 

As always, the regatta featured fantastic southern hospitality, good food, and a great opportunity to make new friends. A re-match is already in the works.