New at RYC – a Spring Beginner Opti Class!!

This year we have decided to bridge the gap between the Junior Program and our Summer Program by offering a Spring Opti Beginner class!  We are really excited about this and hope you might be too!  Drake Jensen will be the Instructor with Dan Brandt as the Director. 

Here are a few of the basics: 

SPRING 2012 OPTI BEGINNER CLASS GOALS 

• Boat Parts and Rigging
• Wind and Sail Trim
• Basic Boat Handling Skills
• Capsize Recovery
• Emphasis on Fun and Building Confidence

 7 Sunday Classes – 3/18, 3/25, 4/1, 4/22, 4/29, 5/13, 5/20

 9:30am to 2:30pm (5 hours)

 Instructor: Drake Jensen

• US Sailing Certified Level I
• Certified Life Guard
• CPR Certified
• 2011 Laser Radial Grand Prix Champion – 95 Boats

Director: Dan Brandt

Cost per student: $220

Opti usage cost for the session: $105

Non Members: $50 for a Junior Membership

 If you have any questions regarding program content, please contact Dan Brandt at dan.higherfastervmg@gmail.com and for registration, please contact Linda Hanafee at Lhanafee@welchs.com

 This should be a great class!  We are capping the class at 8 students so reserve your spot early.

The Ladies 420 Group was back on the water in full force! Key topics: Landies, “those” Tillers, and some tasty recipes. (Oh and of course lots of talk about how to sail the boat!!)

The Ladies welcomed the mild breeze and easy current of two Saturdays ago.  It was a perfect day for us!

Saturday’s Crew!  16 Ladies, plus Coach Dan Brandt and Assisting Coach DVR III (aka Dave – of course) and not pictured – Junior Assisting Coach Erica Quinn.  Awesome group of women with some fantastic coaches!!

 

Left: Inge steering with Kelly as crew – this was their first time sailing in an FJ.  Right:  Karen steering and Nancy as crew.  Nancy is a little extra bundled up due to a misstep into the water at the dock…oopsie!!  But there was no way she was going to sit out!  Nancy said she was going to sail until she got too cold.  Good thing she had lots of gear on!  She sailed the whole class.

 

Left: Brenda steering and Leslie as crew.  Right: Karen’s first time out – two brand new hips and all – with our Junior Assistant Coach, Erica.  Go Karen!

 

Left: Ornaith steering with Amy as crew.  These Ladies did great - I do wonder if the Feng Shui tiller extension played a role in this…  Right: First timer, Carol, rocks it with Mary Lou!  Great job Ladies!

   

Left: Karen steering with Linda getting situated in the boat while explaining to Karen DVR the III’s recipe for Sea Bass with Lime leaves (which of course led to another recipe conversation – tomato, vodka cream sauce).  Right:  Coach Dan Brandt with Christine and Susie.

 

Left: On the way left side of the picture and ever so slightly blurry – Sandy and Margo rounding Killer Green.  Right: Lots of RYC Ladies enjoying the Bay – very cool!  Such a treat for us.

One Weekend – Two Very Different Days of Sailing!

The 29er’s had their first breezy practice and a lot of ebb tide!  But the next day was glassy, and the High School FJ practice was just a little slow.  Big contrast between the two days!

 

 

Left: Saturday in the breeze and ebb tide.  Right: Sunday in the un-breeze.

 

Left: The light wind practice continues…  Right: Usually we see pelicans perched on those, but the lighter winds brought a new type of percher.

Saturday 29er Practice

Another great day on the Richmond Riviera!  29er practice from February 11th.

 

Left: 29er’s just practicing.  Right: 29er’s buzzing an Opti practice!

 

Left: Harry getting a little solo practice.  Right:  Hmm…what seems to be missing in this picture? 

 

Left: Maria discovering the missing piece…a stern plug…oopsie!  Right: Haydon taking a ride on an I14

Brooks Island Race – A Richmond Yacht Club Tradition. A little more breeze than usual, but our sailors met the challenge. Congratulations to the finishers as well as the carnage-kids!

The pictures really tell it all!  Check it out.  Thank you to Andy Pontious for sharing your amazing photos with us!  Also, these are in no particular order.

Left to right: Ben and Charlotte in the starting sequence, Berky getting to the start line and Peaches with her amazing steering!

 

Left to right: Mitchell crossing the finish line, Michaela and Olivia fighting their way to the finish.

 

Left to right: Erica and Raymond take off in their 420 and Coach Dan helps with our El Toro rescues!

 

Left to right: Mike and Haydon take off at the breakwall with Joe and Tyler following.

 

Left to right: Ben, Jack and Neil mixing it up with the big boats, Jane crossing the finish line.

 

Left to right: Charlotte winning the Brooks Island race and Raffi working his way to the finish line.

 

Left to right: Sarah racing in her Laser and Nicki working his way up the course.

 

Left to right: Olivia moments before her spectacular wipe-out and Neil in the El Toro lead.

 

Left to right: Josh working his El Toro hard and Jack coming across the finish line.

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!

February 5th – RYC Mid Winters – El Toro Fleet. Super mellow until the very end of the day!

Sunday was a very mellow day for our El Toro sailors!  Thankfully it was sunny and not too cold; otherwise it would have been a REALLY, REALLY, long day!  The kids did great and hung in there even when they were just drifting.

There were 27 Juniors sailing on Super Bowl Sunday – 20 of those were from the Richmond Yacht Club.  Pretty cool, isn’t it?

Racing under the RYC burgee:  Neil (1st), Mike (3rd), Francis (6th), Kelsey (8th), Jane (9th), Brody (10th), Peter (12th), Mary (13th), Carly (14th), Jack (15th), Nicki (17th), Mitchell (18th), Hayden (19th), Bronson (20th), Owen (21th), Connell (22nd), Michaela (23rd), Colm (24th), Timmy (25th), Devon (26th), Drake (28th), Johannes (29th), Berky (30th), Aaron (31st), Raffi (32nd), Sophia (33rd), Oscar (35th)

 

  

 

  

February 4th – RYC Opti Mid Winters. Beautiful Day, Light Winds and a Wicked Current!

Saturday’s Opti Mid-Winter races were certainly much more civilized than December’s!  While the wind was light, there was enough breeze to run 5 races for the Green fleet and 4 races for the Championship fleet.  The key thing our sailors had to deal with was the current; it was very easy to get swept away.  The kids had a great day and a ton of fun!

Here are a few of the very cool things our RYC Opti Team did

• Wes, Corina, and Joey all finished their first races!
• Nora, Nico, Raffi and Ben were able to sail all of the races and with some of their best finishes ever!
• Neil raced an Opti for the first time and held his own in the Championship fleet!
• Charlotte had a top 10 finish in the Championship fleet!
• Green Fleet Team member, Ben, finished his race then circled back to help our youngest racer fight the current and get herself across the finish line!  He made sure she stayed right with him so that she could finish – it was her first time racing.   It was some awesome teamwork!!
• High School Team member, Erica, spent her day in an Opti coaching the Green Fleet kids through the race course – this included starts, mark roundings and keeping the boat pointed in the right direction as the kids fought the current upwind! 
• Green Fleet Team members shared their lunches with kids from other clubs who forgot to bring theirs making for a super fun lunch-time-raft-up!
• And of course – a totally amazing group of volunteers who choose to spend their Saturday helping to make the races a success! 

The final race day for this series will be on March 3rd. 

  

Left: The Green fleet breaks for lunch!  Lunchtime entertainment included a brief talk on the benefits of Circus Peanuts with a group sampling afterwards.  Right: The Green fleet fighting both the current and light wind to get to the upwind mark – Joey in sail 7 and Nora in sail USA 4.

     

Left to Right: Wes, Joey & Corina, Nico on the far right, and Ben on the far left.

  

Teamwork Pictures!  On the left: Ben helping Corina get to the finish line and on the right: Erica coaching the kids on the course.

  

Left: Neil heading downwind during the final race.  Right: Charlotte and Neil racing in the Championship fleet.

Neil winning the pin.

Nor Cal #9 and #10 – Really Heavy Breeze, Rolling Waves, Hail Storms and Nail-Biting Moments of Action Packed Racing for RYC’s High School Teams Last Weekend.

Well – just sort of.  Well – actually not at all.  Talk about much adieu about nothing – there wasn’t even a ripple in the water, let alone a bit of breeze for our High School sailors for most of the weekend.  Fortunately on Saturday there was just enough wind for the Gold Fleet to complete 3 races and the Silver Fleet to complete 1 race.  As the sailors bobbed around waiting for enough breeze to start a race, Sam kept everyone entertained with his kazoo – playing classical favorites as well as some Smash Mouth.  He was even taking requests from the race committee.  But alas, the wind died off even more and the RC called the race around 2pm.  

Sunday turned out to be an even more mellow day than Saturday down at Oyster Point.  So our RYC sailors rafted their boats together and had a float-a-thon until the RC called the race.  Oh well – thank goodness it wasn’t raining!

  

Left: From Saturday – Grace & Ellen out in front in sail #60.  Right: From Saturday – Grace & Ellen and Jack & Maddie rounding the mark in the top 5!

  

Left: Also on Saturday – David & Little Bear near the front in the Silver Fleet, with Erica & Raymond sneaking up to the front from the right side.  Right:  Sunday – not a whole heck of a lot happening!

  Gotta love that extra glassy look!!

Better luck with the weather next time!!

RYC’s Little Daddy – January 14th, 2012. RYC Team, David and Little Bear, win the Silver Fleet!

RYC hosted the Nor Cal #8 Event on Saturday the 14th.  Over 50 High School Teams were competing and the event was a great success.  Beautiful weather, lunch from the taco truck guys, and steady wind.  Not bad for a day in January!

RYC had 10 boats competing.  All of the teams had some very strong finishes which was great.  Congratulations to David and Little Bear for their 1st place Silver Fleet finish!

 

RYC Team Members – Little Bear and Sarah (left) and Erica with Maria in the background (on the right) getting their boats ready in the morning.

 

Left: the small boat ramp is getting a lot of use!  Right: Gold Fleet at the upwind mark.

 

Left: Maria and Tanner.  Right: Haydon and Maddie.

 

Left: Sarah and Lauren looking great in their extra spiffy boat.  Right: Sandy and Cameron.

 

The wind was a steady 10-12 knots all day with very little shifts.  The rare consistency was nice!

 

Left: Silver Fleet Winners – David and Little Bear.  Right: Ella and Amelia.

 

Left: Sam and Erica decide to switch things up a bit.  Right: Heading downwind – last race of the day!

Next up for the High School Team: a 2 day event in Oyster Point on January 28th and 29th.

RYC Mid Winters #2 – Junior El Toro Sailors Rule the Course! (Sorry Seniors … hee-hee!)

The breeze was light and shifty, the temperature was in the 60′s and the sun was shining.  All in all, a beautiful day for sailing.  The Junior El Toro Sailors were out in full force!  Over 30 Juniors came out to race and they seemed to all have a blast!  Check out the pictures below

 

Wow!  A very crowded start line!

 

On the left – Drake (an Opti racer) works on learning to race an El Toro as well.  On the right – Mitchell having a great race day.

 

On the left – heading upwind.  On the right – Oscar, a beginner, in one of his first races!  Great job Oscar!

 

On the left – our fabulous Chris Nash, who spent the day on the race course with the kids, helping the Beginners learn how to race.  On the right – Opti Teammates, Drake and Kelsey, have a blast racing El Toro’s too!

 

On the left – Berky and Connell having some fun in between races.  On the right – Hayden heading to the upwind mark.

 

There were simply a lot of Juniors out there!!

 

On the left – our upwind finish turned into a downwind finish – all in one leg.  Yep – the wind was that shifty!!  On the right, Devon and Michaela go to plan B for getting back to the dock when the wind shut off.  It was pretty funny!

CONGRATULATIONS JUNIORS!   Looking forward to seeing many of you at class next week and looking forward to seeing everyone else at the next RYC Mid Winters Race!