Sarasota Florida Fleet Demo, January 5-6, 2013

[Dan Tucker]

It's official and the details are now confirmed. See http://viper640.org/rondar/demos/details/166-Sarasota%2012 There is a printable flyer on that page.

Welcome Dave Banyard to the Viper Class. He has jumped in, purchasing a certain championship winning Viper who's owners are ordering a new US built boat.

[Brad Boston]

I can't wait for Sarasota to have a fleet of Vipers there. It is a great place to sail..
Welcome Dave and Everyone else! Lets all help these guys out..

Brad

[Dave Banyard]

Thanks Brad and Dan.  You guys have been a great help in getting us started. We're looking forward to the demo and to getting the fleet rolling here.

Dave

[Travis Yates]

Looking forward to getting out on the water, huge thanks to those that have helped put the event together. It should be a great event and hopefully it will be the catalyst for many folks to become Viperers.

[Dan Tucker]

I'm looking forward to meeting you both, and more folks from Sarasota. Already have one team with a slot booked!

[Justin Scott]

Ive sent Dan a few more names from approx St Pete - Venice area who would be interested in joining a West Fl Coast/ Sarasota Bay Viper fleet.  + a couple of names from Orlando who currently dont ahve anywhere closer than Miami to race sport boats.
If someone buys a Viper, how difficult is it to join Sarasota SS? 

[Dave Banyard]

Very easy to join.  It is a very low key, member/volunteer managed club.  We have a very nominal annual membership fee (approx $225 for non-residents), a small initiation fee, and most other things are itemized (boat storage, hoist fee, dinghy fee, food/bev).  Storing a Viper in the yard will run about $530 annually.  No minimums on bev as there is no dining room to support, etc.  So basically, you could be all in for less than $1k annually.

Here is a link to the fee schedule:

http://www.sarasotasailingsquadron.org/membership/membership-rates/

The club is located right on Sarasota Bay - 5 minutes and you're out on open water.  If you want to go to the GoM, there is a drawbridge and a pass through the barrier islands, so takes more like 30 min depending on bridge.  Most OD sailors stay in the bay - plenty of space.

Anyone who is interested can contact me with questions.

Dave

[Justin Scott]

That is one hell of a deal. We should be pushing out news of a SSS Viper fleet to as many as possible.  I have sent some names to dan.

I have sailed my Viper at regatta at SSS twice. Back in aluminum rig days. Both regattas, it blew like stink. Fun days. Great location.   

[Dave Banyard]

Justin (or anyone who'd like to respond) - we would be happy to host a demo regatta as part of this event if there are people interested.  I've read the articles on the Larchmont event a few months ago - we could do something similar.

I realize that its first weekend after the holidays so folks may not be able to swing it, but if anyone is coming south and would like to come a little sooner and join us we can easily put something together.  Feel free to contact me.

Dave

[Justin Scott]

Dave.....I cant make Sarasota on 5th/6th.

I'm only home for 4 days between December 20 and Jan 13. Weekend of 5th/6th is stay at home, shovel snow and spend time with the family.  But by March I will be in Florida and looking fwd to meeting y'all.

[Brad Boston]

Sounds like the Demo went really well!!

[Dave Banyard]

Well, its official - there is now a Viper fleet in Sarasota, Florida.  Thanks go out to Dan for coming down south right after the holidays and for his patience in answering all our questions and helping us get our boats set up.  Also thanks to Lee for trucking all the way down with 119 in time for the weekend.  We can do a summary article with some photos if you guys want, but briefly:

We had two great days of sailing - with about 20 people trying the boat out.  We had three boats out on the water on Saturday:

#180 - Rondar Demo
#91 "Sidewinder" owned by Travis Yates and Mike Meighan
#119 "Tucker McElroy" owned by yours truly

Conditions were light, which was fine by us as we all tried to figure out the right strings to pull.  Was great to see the boat still moving along despite the 6 knots and below winds. 

Sunday had fewer people, but better sailing - several of us rotated through on the Rondar demo boat with Dan to get some more coaching on crew work, and for a while we joined the Sunday distance race - long enough to plane by everyone in the fleet and show off the new kid on the block.  We were kind and stayed to leeward as we passed them all. 

There was definitely a high level of interest around the club, so we are expecting a few more boat purchases to happen over the next few months.  In the meantime, I can't wait to spend as much time in the boat as I can ahead of Miami, which I'm planning on attending.  Looking forward to meeting more folks in the class and to some great racing ahead.

Dave

[Dan Tucker]

It was great to meet Travis and Dave and all of the other Sarasota folks. Lots of enthusiasm for the Viper, and the two that are there already are sure to spawn a few more in short order. Sarasota is a lovely place to sail and looks like a fun town to visit for a regatta!

Speaking of which, the Rondar works boat will be back in Sarasota March 23-24 for the Sarasota Sailing Squadron One Design Regatta. It's 2 weeks after Bacardi. We'd love to have 3-4 more Vipers join in to show the locals how much fun it is to race Vipers. We'd like to do something like we did in Larchmont in September, where the owner shows up to crew for a bunch of potential Viper owners. It's a homey and inexpensive venue. If you might be interested in helping to grow a new fleet, please let me know here or via email.

Thanks All!