Larchmont Sportboat Grand Prix May 23-24

[Peter Beardsley]

This event takes the place of the old LYC Memorial Day Regatta.  In response to feedback, the Vipers will be on a different circle from the slower, classic one designs in the area, with earlier first warnings and more races each day.  Same low key format otherwise with good fleet hospitality, cold beverages and a BBQ, housing for those who ask nicely, etc.  Also a qualifier for the WLIS Championship Circuit and a great chance to practice at the venue for the 2015 Viper North Americans.  20+ Vipers expected on the line for this one.  Register online at http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=1291

[Peter Beardsley]

Now up to 10 entries.  Happy to help out with any crew or housing needs.

[Peter Beardsley]

Now up to 13 Vipers.  1 month away.

[Peter Beardsley]

Now up to 16 Vipers with at least 2 more planning to sign up and another 4 who are thinking hard about attending. 

[Peter Beardsley]

Now up to 18 Vipers, with another 5-6 on the fence.

[Peter Beardsley]

Now up to 21 Vipers entered, though at least one of them can't make it, and a couple will only race Sunday (which has the better wind forecast coincidentally), should be a fun weekend.

[Ed "Buttons" Padin, Class Administrator]

What I learned at the Larchmont Yacht Club Sport Boat Grand Prix
By Zeke Horowitz, Viper #172

Memorial Day weekend was a beautiful weekend for racing on the Long Island Sound. Larchmont Yacht Club hosted 21 Vipers for the 1st annual Larchmont Yacht Club Sport Boat Grand Prix which was sailed under beautiful sunny skies and warm temperatures. Competitors got a little bit of everything, as far as wind goes. From 1-5 knots shifting through 60 degrees on Saturday, to a steady 10-15 knot sea breeze on Sunday. The renowned LYC race committee did an outstanding job managing tricky conditions to set up nine races over the weekend that were remarkably square and fair given some challenging wind shifts and current. And as always, the hospitality shown from LYC was unparalleled, as sailors were greeted each evening with friendly smiles, a beautiful view, and plenty of adult beverages and hot dogs to go around after racing.

Racing was very tight, which gave my team of all first time "Viperers" a great chance to learn a lot. One big lesson we came away with was how important it is to recognize when conditions changed from what we called "tacking conditions" to "limiting tack conditions." We spent a good bit of time working on our light air roll tacks on Saturday, and we learned that with very good roll tacks, we really didn't lose any speed. This was important to know because on Saturday, it was very important to tack when we got a header because the shifts were so big. However, on Sunday, as the breeze and chop came up a bit, it became very important to try to limit tacks as much as possible because we really lost a lot of speed through each tack. This is very important information for a tactician, because as they think about the next step up the beat, it is really crucial for them to know if tacking is their friend or their enemy. In order to execute a good roll tack, the whole crew needs a lot of patience.

When the breeze is light, you are sailing a wide angle to the wind so it takes a little while for the boat to turn from close hauled to head to wind. This is where the most patience from the crew is required because if they roll too early, you end up with weather heel as you turn up and that is very slow. So the crew should stay in their normal sailing positions until the boat is passing through head to wind, and then go for their big roll. At this time, the helmsman should ease the main about 6-8 inches to allow for a powerful flatten, and KEEP TURNING. Ideally, you want to come out of the tack about 10 degrees below close hauled on the new board because that really powers the boat up. How many crews are needed to flatten depends on how much wind you are tacking in - sometimes you want all crews to flatten, and other times you just want the helmsman and maybe one other person. As the boat comes back to flat on the new tack, the helmsman gently turns back up to close hauled and then pulls the main back in once the boat is back to flat. (You want the main eased as the boat comes back to flat because the apparent wind shifts back as the mast comes back to vertical.) I learned the hard way a few times that is better to over turn the light air tacks than it is to under turn them. If you under turn, you feel like you have no power to flatten against.

Another big lesson we learned was how to properly execute a good "blow-thru" gybe in light air. The most important thing is that, just like in the roll tacks, the helmsman steers A LOT. If you steer too slow, you end up pointing too downwind for too long, and you lose all your apparent wind so the spinnaker never truly back winds against the jib (and the trimmer is now very unhappy that they have to pull the kite all the way around!). So you want to steer quite aggressively to get right to your hot reaching angle on the new gybe so that the spinnaker back winds early and then blows around the head stay with ease. It was really surprising for me to learn just how aggressively I needed to turn. Doing it this way also allows the boat to get some heel in it as the spinnaker backs, which allows the boat to "squirt" forward as you finish the gybe.

I'm really looking forward to continue along the learning curve in the Viper, and to continue to get to know all the kindhearted, fun loving people that make up the class, as that is truly what makes One-Design racing so much fun!
Zeke Horowitz is part of the North Sails One-Design team and if you have any questions for him, he can be reached at [email protected].

[Peter Beardsley]

Results from the weekend posted at http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=1291 and photo slideshow from LYC RC member Maureen Koeppel posted at http://youtu.be/Xm614GyfAuY

[Peter Beardsley]

Nice little video of some of the tough light air racing on Saturday...from a drone.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyMIkLzu7Zs

[Ed "Buttons" Padin, Class Administrator]

Zeke Horowitz Wins First Larchmont Yacht Club Sport Boat Grand Prix

Over the Saturday and Sunday of the Memorial Day Weekend, 20 Viper 640s battled at the inaugural LYC Sport Boat Grand Prix. After nine races over two glorious late spring days, it was LYC Summer Member and new North Sails rep Zeke Horowitz who took home the first Grand Prix title. Sailing with an all-star team of College All American Graham Landy, Sammy Stokes, and Alyssa Aitken, Horowitz won five races, finished second three times, and had a fifth place finish for his throw-out. With his 11 point total, he won handily with LYC's Nick Buc, Sarah Gillman, and former Danish 49er national team member Simon Karstoft on the tiller in second with 33 points. The host club's Ghost Panda team of Peter and Rachel Beardsley with David and James Owen took third-place honors beating in a tie-breaker fellow club members Ted Ferrarone and Jamie Anderson sailing with Ted's regular dinghy crew Meredith Killion, each with 42 points.
Results: http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=1291
Photo slideshow by Maureen Koeppel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm614GyfAuY&feature=youtu.be
Read More: BREAK HERE LINKING TO FULL STORY ON SITE

Event Chairman Bob Matthews, who by the way finished the regatta in eighth, shared the following about the Grand Prix, "It was a great, early season Viper event: great competition in a wide range of conditions, excellent race committee, great facilities, and beautiful weather to boot. What a way to kick off the summer sailing season! The Larchmont Sportboat Grand Prix is sure to become a mainstay on the calendar of the Viper and other sport boat classes."

The LYC Yachting Committee conceived of this new event as a way to build upon the strength of the LYC Viper Class—now 18 strong—while attracting Viper and other sport boat sailors from the northeast. It was scheduled separately from the traditional LYC Memorial Day Regatta in an effort to give the sport boat sailors more races. As such, Saturday's first warning was at 1230 and Sunday's was at 1100. Due to light and shifty winds on Saturday, only three races could be run, but Sunday's 10-15 knot sea breeze allowed the Race Committee to take advantage of its 1600 last race cut-off. As the southerly was still blowing briskly, the sixth race of the day began at approximately 1530. While some of the more "mature" sailors found the sixth heat of the day a bit of a challenge, everyone arrived ashore having received a full dose of sailing for one weekend.

Zeke Horowitz noted, "The renowned LYC race committee did an outstanding job managing tricky conditions to set up nine races over the weekend that were remarkably square and fair given some challenging wind shifts and current. As always, the hospitality shown from LYC was unparalleled, as sailors were greeted each evening with friendly smiles, a beautiful view, and plenty of adult beverages and hot dogs to go around after racing."