Atlantic vs Pacific Champs. Long Beach vs Newport. Bring on the Smack talk here.

[Justin Scott]

And dont forget the Gulf Coast, because they have feelings too you know.

[Tim Carter]

I think we are all going to have a GREAT TIME!  Atlantic coast is still the big gorilla, with the Gulf Coast and Pacific Coast showing great strength.  We are very exicted out West for or biggest regatta yet!  I know we only have 15, but 3 years ago we had three...  :)

Very soon the Westies and the Gulfies may get together and pull in a couple of dozen..  :)

I wish everybody a great regatta weekend.

Timbo

[Justin Scott]

Do Gorilla's get hangovers like this before the regatta has started?

[Justin Scott]

Our forecast is pretty unintelligble. But it doesnt look like we are going to have Yeehaw rides today. Whats the news from Long Beach and Houston?

Meteorologist Forecast
RI-newport forecast valid for Fri, Jun 24, 2011
Issued 6/23/2011 at 7:00 PM by meteorologist Dave Breckenridge - next update: 7:00 AM

Mild NE / E conditions with complications possible

A stalled frontal boundary will remain relatively overhead as an approaching low pressure system inches towards the area from the W. Centers of low pressure may develop along the stalled boundary.

? Positioning and or timing of the above mentioned features are critical to conditions induced. Watch trends, these systems are subject to a high degree of changeability.

? Heads up- Conditions for the last couple of days have been tricky and this trend looks to continue. A stalled boundary, that shifts far to our S could allow stronger than anticipated conditions into the area. Currently this is looking like a long shot.

? Brief surges above table values possible. Long duration consistent conditions of high quality not likely

? Showers and or thunderstorms possible which can put wide variation into the winds

Pt. Judith 6A 7A 8A 9A 10A 11A 12P 1P 2P 3P 4P 5P 6P 7P 8P
Speed (knts) 4-8 4-8 4-8 5-9 5-9 5-9 8-12
Direction NE NE ENE ENE ENE E ENE
 

[Justin Scott]

Wooden Heads in first and second after Day One on the East Coast.

Flooding tide and 27 Vipers on the startline made for at least 4 general recalls over three races, and we only got away under Z flag.

In shifty conditions with puffs rolling in from both sides, the Dutch are schooling us.

Good racing and Great Tent.

[Drew Harper]

Awesome LBRW.  light and shifty day one and day three...epic day two.

Tim Carter, SoCal Viper Rep, earned his win. He was over early on the first race...didn't hear it for 200 yards, flipped a U and came back 14 boats to win. Amazing boat speed...awesome crew.

We won every party, every night. Damn Speed Bumps all over the course. Had 2 dozen sailors come up and comment on just how much fun the Vipoer Class was having.  Texan Viperer Steve Lemay was in tears as he was forced to sail a Open 5.7 (Imposed community service sentence). Poor guy...lmao

Thanks again to EFG for sponsoring the Trans-Coastal Regatta and thanks to Justin for finding our sponsor.

Results here

http://www.lbrw.org/results_2011.html

[Jeff Jones]

I received about 50 text messages from LBRW, two had pictures.  On is attached, the other - i can not post.   

Only one cryptic post midnight voice message from the East coast.  I believe it came from JS's phone.  Very disappointed in the East, you boys and girls need to pick it up. 

[Jeffrey Young]

Congratulations, Timbo and crew.  Thanks for all the preparation and work you did in getting the West-Coast Viper fleet organized for this event.  You and Alamitos Bay Yacht Club were great hosts.  You sailed an amazing series.  You are a true champion.       

[Justin Scott]

Bacardi did a nice job at Newport.
Friday evening. Tent......much more collegiate than Miami or the Newport Country living regatta. With 28 Viper teams, it felt like our own regatta. Classy bar tender who knew how to mix a cocktail. After the tent a group of 30+ headed to Benjamins for a meal. Then we went to upstairs bar at The Landing where Eddy from bacardi was holding court.  A memorable moment was when Eddy heard that a group of Viperers were being asked for a cover charge by the bouncers downstairs. Eddy rumbled down the stairs (Eddy is not a small guy) and told the Bouncers " Asking my guests for a cover charge just doesnt work for me"....they were let in and Eddy spent a small fortune standing everyone rounds of Bacardi 8. "Its good, try it" and he was right it was good. Your new class prez insisted on several rounds before he pronounced it "Damn good".
Any cryptic messages may have been sent from the 'ding because we were not out of there until the early hours. I could have sworn we used Olaf's phone when he wasnt looking.

There is a new PRO on the Viper circuit and he is good. Anderson Reggio is son of Luigi and the gene pool is deep. He got one race off on Saturday and then told us to go home at 1.30 because the racing wouldnt be worthwhile for the rest of the day. We found out why. As we sailed back to the Newport down wind, we were met by spinnakers heading towards us in the opposite direction. A southerly met our Northerly and everything disappeared. A polite request to Melges 20s for a tow was equally politely denied but J80s obliged.    

[Justin Scott]

Best tow of the regatta award goes to the RC patrol boat that caribeened a bottle of rum to the tow line and sent it back to the Vipers, who took a swig and passed it along their tow line to the next Viper and so on. Who were those guys? It looked very cool and they deserve a special mention.

Great dinner at the Tent that night. Some had energy to go on to Pelhams. Jackie and I did the Newport tourist thang, which she loved and honestly...I had fun as well. Pelhams must have been okay because my crew Pete texted me at 4.37 am asking if we were going to drop by.

Luckily for Pete there was a postponement on Sunday. Anderson called it right again, sent us out at 12.30 for three great races. Piet, George and Jeremy lit up well earned cigars before the start of the last race and smoked us around the course.


Did we mention the cigar stand at the tent?

[Justin Scott]

Matt Sole won all the tug o war competitions on the beach, except for the one where I sabotaged him.

[Tim Carter]

Did we mention the cigar stand at the tent?

Was Monica Lewinski there??  :)

[Justin Scott]

The tent was PG13.

[Dan Tucker]

Then there was the group of 10 that Jep shanghaied for a quick boat ride to Block Island for mudslides at the Oar on Saturday night after dinner at the tent. Beautiful sunset over Pt Judith, and now I know what 50 knots on the water feels like... 45 minutes Newport to Block, 45 minutes in the bar, 60 minutes back (night + fog). Thank Jep & whoever picked up the rounds!

While the breeze was a bit less than ideal for 2 days, I actually enjoyed this Bacardi a bit better than Miami. As Justin said, it was a bit more collegial, we really did feel like the Vipers owned the joint, as we made up close 50% of the entire entries. And maybe not having to spend $3K on car repairs to get there helped too!

Another highlight was seeing Eddie from Bacardi trimming the kite on Fer de Lance on the way to the racecourse on Sunday morning while Glynn rode out on a mark boat. Brilliant way to make sure a key sponsor has fun and loves us even more, great move Glynn, Ian and David!

Anderson Reggio is a MACHINE. Listening to him decisively orchestrate 2 separate weather marks, a gate and pin was impressive. I ran gates for the J/24 District 1 champs the weekend before, I know RC can be hard, but Anderson didn't miss a beat, make or allow a single RC mistake all weekend.

[Rachel Ellis]

Video from the first day.... http://vimeo.com/25685245

Had an awesome time sailing with Tim and Kevin, couldn't have asked to be on a better boat! Looking forward to the next regatta!