2015 North Americans @ Larchmont YC

Peter Beardsley · October 24, 2014, 03:59:24 PM

Planning began a long time ago, but we're buckling down now. One important thing to nail down are the exact dates. We know it will be some time between Oct. 15 and Oct. 18 -- just a few days after the 2015 HPDO in the same waters. We sent out a survey yesterday to owners about whether you prefer a 3-day format or a 4-day format in 2015, and whether you want Thurs-Sat, Fri-Sun, or Thurs-Sun (Wed-Sat is not currently an option). If you received the survey and haven't replied yet, please do so ASAP if you want your voice to be heard. If you didn't get the survey, email Class Admin Buttons Padin ([email protected]) to figure out why you didn't get the link to the survey (potentially a mailing list issue that we'd love to resolve). Thanks.

Peter Beardsley · August 19, 2015, 12:04:14 AM

yachtscoring.com registration is now open for the 2015 North Americans: http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=1518 - NOR, housing options and other info all up there. Post here or email with questions. Apologies to all for the delay -- it will be a great event and we are excited to host and have a large turnout and do what we can to find charter boats for those who need (locals are starting to get honest about whether they can attend or not, but certainly the best option will be your own boat if you can get it to Larchmont).

While you're at it, sign up for the HPDO (but only after you've signed up for North Americans): http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=1458

Craig Wilusz · August 19, 2015, 02:06:36 PM

Saw this on Sailing Anarchy today:

rent it

Big Pimpin'

The Viper 640 North Americans are in Larchmont, New York October 15-18 (30 minutes outside New York City, where there is a local fleet of 18 Vipers at LYC and 30 in the immediate area). The infamous High Performance Dinghy Open is Oct. 10-11 at American YC, less than 4 kilometres away as the crow flies.

There are a VERY limited number of charter boats available. If there are international teams interested in attending from across the Pond, we need to know ASAP. We can hook you up with free housing near the Yacht Club with area sailors. We may be able to coordinate airport pickups. We could even have boats rigged and ready on site to minimize fuss and muss, but we need to know post haste. Get in touch asap if interested!

We are aiming for 50 Vipers on the line for this one, which would be the largest Viper regatta in class history. NOR here.

Peter Beardsley · August 19, 2015, 02:12:05 PM

Well that's interesting. That is the exact text of an email I sent to at most a dozen international teams a couple of hours ago. No worries. A couple of them wrote back right away looking for boats to give the NAs an international flair. Stay tuned. 14 entries in the first few hours. A lot more to come.

Peter Beardsley · August 19, 2015, 07:43:14 PM

Now up to 21 entries, most of which are not local. When the local teams start signing up (hopefully tonight and tomorrow), we will be at 35+. Not counting other traveling teams. As they say in California, "this might be The Big One."

Peter Beardsley · August 20, 2015, 10:02:46 AM

Congratulations to Lake Champlain Yacht Club, the first multi-Viper club to have perfect attendance on the 2015 NAs scratch sheet (3 for 3), though not perfect attendance from the Lake yet until Brad Dumas signs up. Now up to 25 entries. Not even at 50% attendance yet from the WLIS fleet - once we get some more of those stragglers signed up we will be close to 40 entries...not counting other boats from the northeast. Don't be that guy in November wishing you made the trip.

Reasons to attend other than what has been previously stated:
- At least one day with on-the-water video for post-race coaching and video analysis for the fleet
- Sailmaker raffles for free sails - only the bottom 10 boats based on the scores that day will be eligible for sails (one sail to be raffled off each day) - you need to finish all the races that day though in order to be eligible for the bottom 10
- NAs is one of those rare "Viper-only regattas" - it's like Viper sleepaway camp. A chance to pick people's brains who have identical interests and figure out new rigging systems, boathandling techniques and other fun projects to keep you busy in the winter, plus a chance to meet Viper sailors from all over the globe (already up to 13 states and provinces on the scratch sheet with a lot more to come)
- Thanks to some fantastic sponsors, we will have excellent post racing activities. Beer is covered, some great dinners, etc.

Peter Beardsley · August 21, 2015, 05:11:02 PM

Now up to 34 entries. More to come...

Lee Shuckerow · August 25, 2015, 09:38:41 AM

Keep it going Peter. This will be an epic event.

Peter Beardsley · August 25, 2015, 10:03:22 AM

Now up to 41 entries. The 40th entry, new owner of # 165 Nick Ward, has an email in from me to pick his prize for being the 40th guy. There are still at least 47 Vipers within a 12-hour drive of Larchmont that have yet to register, most of which are within a 6-hour drive. There are 10 guys who have told me they are definitely coming who have yet to register and this still does not count some guys who may charter their boats out to boost traveling charter numbers (we have a number of inquiries from abroad and from some top sailors in other classes). So it should be fun.

The fun part for me is when people sign up. So please make that happen. HPDO late fee kicks in Sept. 1, so don't forget to sign up for that one and pay early.

Peter Beardsley · September 04, 2015, 09:54:19 AM

Now up to 48 entries. I know of about 6 more entries at minimum and have another 5 people on the hook.

Niels Warburton · September 04, 2015, 11:52:04 AM

Hi all,

If anyone is looking for crew for the North American's I'd be very interested. Sailing for 7 years, only crewed on a Viper a few times but absolutely loved it. Crewed for Cole Constantineau during the Marblehead NOODs and we came third so must be doing something right.

Cheers,
Niels

Cole Constantineau · September 04, 2015, 12:13:13 PM

Yes--someone should definitely grab Niels as crew! He's a great guy, a good sailor, and he likes fast boats! Maybe he can do HPDO or another NA feeder event for you too...?

Peter Beardsley · September 08, 2015, 11:32:30 AM

Now up to 50 entries. Congratulations to new owner Colin Santangelo for being the 50th.

Peter Beardsley · October 01, 2015, 03:17:04 PM

Viper NAs gear with event logo is now available for pre-order from The Pirate's Lair. THERE WILL NOT BE GEAR AVAILABLE ON SITE FOR PURCHASE - if you want gear, you need to order it online. If you order it before October 5 (this coming Monday) and use the coupon code below, there will be free shipping to LYC and you will get the gear at the NAs. We will have some samples available at the NAs for those who want to order gear to receive after the event.

http://store.pirateslair.com/viper/
Free Shipping Coupon Code: VIPER2015

In all likelihood we will not be doing free shirts / hats at registration for competitors this year, but we will have for each team member Viper Neck Gators to keep the sun off -- we all have a lot of hats and shirts, and if you want more, you can order some below. We haven't seen a lot of Viper branded neck gators yet. Thank your many sponsors, some of whom will be physically present at the NAs. Information below.

Stay tuned for communications in the next few days about the social calendar, sailing instructions, housing, inspection lists (which are online for those who want to make sure you have everything), boat hauling and storage (note in the NOR that there will be a staggered hauling schedule - boats will not be drysailed the entire time), and a bunch of other stuff. 51 boats registered and a couple more still likely to sign up. Looking forward to a great event and seeing everyone in Larchmont.

Peter Beardsley · October 06, 2015, 02:50:57 PM

52 entries and a couple more to go before the regatta starts in 9 days. Sailing Instructions are posted on YachtScoring.com as of an hour ago.

Please email me wpbeardsley [at] gmail [dot] com to let me know if you plan to launch your boat Wednesday at some point, or Thursday morning. Note as per the NOR there is a staggered launch/haul schedule - to avoid the delay associated with launching and hauling 50+ boats each day, we are allowing 50% of the fleet to haul each day. If you're in the water on Wednesday, you can (*but do not have to*) haul Thursday, must stay in the water on Friday, and can (but do not have to) haul on Saturday. If you're not in the water on Wednesday night, then you will be required to be in the water Thursday night, can (but do not have to haul Friday), and must be in the water on Saturday. No advantage to either system, planning an equal number of races with moderate luck on the various days, etc.