Harbor 20 Class Association

Owners of Annapolis Yacht Club‘s (AYC) newest fleet of one design boats, the Harbor 20’s, hosted their first East/West Sailing Regatta this past weekend. Forty-eight sailors representing four of the five national fleets participated. The East coast teams hailed from South Carolina Yacht Club (representing Fleet 3) in Hilton Head and Annapolis Yacht Club (representing Fleet 5). The West coast sailors flew here from Newport Beach, California (Representing Fleet 1) and Santa Barbara, California (representing Fleet 4).

 

The planned two day sailing event became an intense single day of racing when races were cancelled the first day due to lack of wind. Sixteen boats bobbed on the bay for 5 hours Friday morning waiting for enough of a breeze to pull off the 4 races that were scheduled.  The sailors were good natured and enjoyed cocktails and dinner in the Skipjack on a beautiful sunny evening regardless of the disappointing start to the East/West Challenge.

 

After a night of prayers to the weather gods, the race organizers were rewarded with a gentle breeze Saturday morning that built to 12 to 13 knots by the end of the day allowing the race committee to orchestrate  6 races between 11am and 4:30pm to make up for the day before.

 

At the awards banquet in the Commodore’s room later Saturday night the winners of the East West challenge were announced. Tom and Jane Schock from NHYC won first prize scoring nothing less than 2nd place in all 6 races. Second place was awarded to Skipper Eric Norman from SCYC.  Gary Thorne from BYC received third place and fourth place was given to Marshall and Susan Steele from AYC.

 

The winning Fleet was Fleet 1 of Newport Beach, followed by Fleet 3 of South Carolina, Fleet 5 of Annapolis and then Fleet 4 of Santa Barbara.  Most importantly, the winner of the East/West Regatta was the East Coast. The Annapolis Yacht Club will keep the trophy for six months and then send it down to Hilton Head for the remainder of the year.  At the conclusion of the weekend’s activities, Howard Brooks, Harbor 20 Fleet Captain expressed gratitude to all who contributed to the success of the event. “It was rewarding to have the East Coast win the trophy for the second time.  Judging from the comments of those who attended, I think it is fair to say that AYC and Fleet 5 have now set the pace for future East / West Challenges. I would especially like to thank all of our members who hosted out of town guests, those who allowed the use of their boats, and those who provided owners representatives for the races.”

 

Needless to say, hosting a Harbor-20 event such as this in just our 2nd year of Annapolis Fleet 5 existence was a big challenge and a new experience for our Harbor-20 owners.  It was  rewarding for us to work closely with George Anderson and his Race Committee team who did an outstanding job of conducting the races, and scoring the results.  Regatta Manager Linda Ambrose was a tremendous help in the registration and budgeting process and work closely with Annapolis Yacht Sales, who helped sponsor the event and with Weems & Plath who contributed to the awards, and keepsakes for the event. Putting this combination of talent together with our outstanding chef and banquet management team provided a winning combination that shined the spotlight on AYC as one of the nations truly great Yacht Clubs.

 

Our thanks also go’s to John and Marline Patmore, & Brooks Stallings for providing the support boat, to Pat Brooks for providing the host boat, and to Renee Kizziar for helping with the lunch program.  Without them and the many other people who helped with the program, we could not have had such a successful event.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Howard Brooks & Cathie Trogdon

 

 

Unfortunately, the C-Fleet Clinic scheduled for Saturday, June 8, at LIYC has been canceled. The reason is low registration, coupled with the fact that I am traveling on business all week and unable to help promote further. I hope to be able to re-schedule later in the summer.

You’ve seen them out there, all those Harbor 20’s racing about Newport Harbor. Have you ever contemplated competing in your Harbor 20, but just don’t know how to get started? Jumping in to the existing B-Fleet can be intimidating because the fleet is pretty big. But, as of the 2011-2012 racing season, there is now a C-Fleet in Newport Harbor. The C-Fleet offers an introductory experience to sailing a Harbor 20, whether your interest lies in racing or not. Even if you have no interest in racing your Harbor 20, trying a bit of racing helps develop boat handling and seamanship skills faster than any other learning activity. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok3H79i_688

In the C-Fleet, you can get lots of help! Fleet 1  has a “mentor” program whereby experienced sailors go with you on your boat, either while racing or not. And, the fleet periodically offers C-Fleet Clinics – and the next one is coming up on Saturday, June 8,  1-5 PM at Lido Isle Yacht Club. C-Fleet clinics emphasize  introductory boat handling, seamanship, and FUN! Mentors will be avaialble to sail with you if you like. The cost is $25.00 per person, and includes pizza and cold refreshments.

Click here for a Clinic Description.

 Click here to register. You’ll be glad you did!

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.

Peter Haynes

peter.haynes@3ds.com, 949-631-8757 Office, 949-466-3971 Cell

BCYC is stepping up their game this year to provide the “best night of the week” for Harbor 20’s. Video taped starting practice starts at 5:30, and racing starts at 6:00. What a great way to get in a bunch of practice starts, and get a feel for the first windward leg before the actual racing starts.  You should be able to see video of your practice starts at the post racing party, where there will also be $1.00 Tacos and $1.00 Draft Beers, not to mention the traditional raffle and nightly trophy presentation! This should be fun, and we hope to see you there! See the Calendar, or click here for information.

I’m just gazing out of my window at this beautiful day (with good breeze!) and getting excited that Twilights are starting next week!! Please sign up if you haven’t done so already.

Online registration

Sailing Instructions and course charts should be ready to go up our website by Friday.

Hope to see you all next week!

Becky Lenhart

BYC Sailing Director

949-673-3515 x 133

 

Hello Annapolis H20 Fleet,