HPDO 2011 (Oct. 8-9, Rye, NY) - 30 registered so far...

Peter Beardsley · September 14, 2011, 10:31:46 AM

Luke Porter is now in, vowing to make the drive from Halifax for his first Viper one-design event ever. So that's 26 Vipers, with a few more who say they are coming (2 of whom are busy with Melges 32 Worlds commitments right now). We have as many Canadians signed up as we do Newporters for any of the Newport boats who like to read the forums...

Reminder that if anyone is looking for crew, we have several really good Larchmont sailors who are actively looking to crew at the HPDO in Vipers -- a few of whom are strongly considering buying Vipers in 2012, so email me ASAP if you need crew.

Justin Scott · September 14, 2011, 02:22:55 PM

Quote from: Peter Beardsley on September 14, 2011, 10:31:46 AM
Luke Porter is now in, vowing to make the drive from Halifax for his first Viper one-design event ever. So that's 26 Vipers, with a few more who say they are coming (2 of whom are busy with Melges 32 Worlds commitments right now). We have as many Canadians signed up as we do Newporters for any of the Newport boats who like to read the forums...

Reminder that if anyone is looking for crew, we have several really good Larchmont sailors who are actively looking to crew at the HPDO in Vipers -- a few of whom are strongly considering buying Vipers in 2012, so email me ASAP if you need crew.

Do they have internet in Newport?

Ben Jacobsen · September 14, 2011, 04:53:05 PM

Hey play nice Justin!

I can't go. My wife and I have a no regatta agreement that came with getting the open a few years back. It's been broken a few times to sail on OTHER PEOPLE'S BOATS (how I got to sail with you Justin) and only when called and asked specifically, IE I'm not looking for rides. It's a time and money thing for me. With a 5 month old and 3 year old, it's too much to leave them with the wife for an entire weekend right now. Same reason I didn't sail in either of the Newport regattas this summer (well, we didn't have a boat for one, but still).

Next season I'm hoping for Wickford since it's local (closer to home than our weekly race for me) and Newport Regatta...

Peter Beardsley · September 27, 2011, 08:41:34 PM

Update: 27 boats registered and I know of a couple of more who say they are coming but who haven't signed up yet.

More importantly, I know of 6-8 good crews (some of whom are *really good*) in the area who are desperately looking to race a Viper that weekend in case anyone is short a person or two -- just send me a PM or email. And sign up ASAP if you haven't yet. http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=478

Eric Vigrass · September 27, 2011, 09:32:32 PM

Wow more boats for hpdo then the north Americans............

Matt Sole · September 29, 2011, 11:43:30 PM

Big difference in fleets though. There are so many LIS boats that do not travel that make up this fleet. The quality at the NA's is astounding. The guys who do the NA's then HPDO will dominate the top of the fleet.

Looking forward to seeing all my friends at this event!

Peter Beardsley · September 30, 2011, 01:09:04 AM

They're both good fleets, but Matt is right that the makeup is very different (though it's almost fighting words, esp. among the western LIS folks, to suggest that the guys from NAs are going to eat our breakfast). I think the real issues if you look at the HPDO fleet are as follows: of the 28 boats currently signed up:

11 just bought their boats in 2011 (for at least 4 of them, the HPDO will be their first regatta). 11 of the 28 as new owners...new owners = less likely to travel.

Of the other 17 boats, at least 4 of them have this as their first regatta of the year that's had more than 5 Vipers in the same place -- so clearly they just don't travel much. That's 15 of the 28.

I only count 5 boats who are doing both NAs and HPDO. That means that you have nearly 50 different Vipers sailing two different big events within reasonable driving distance of each other on back to back weekends. That's a good thing at the end of the day. I realize it would have been a better one if more people had made the NAs their big event, but it wasn't meant to be this year.

Tougher nut to crack is why we don't have even more boats at HPDO. By my math, there are 12-15 Vipers in the northeast who aren't doing either regatta. Some of them have good excuses -- maybe they all do -- hard to tell with the lack of internet in Newport (I am presuming that Matt transmits his posts via smoke signal to Tiverton, where someone on the mainland transcribes it into the forums). :-)

Matt Sole · October 02, 2011, 11:51:05 AM

I had to go to Florida to get internet. Back in the Electronic wasteland of Newport on Tuesday.......

Darren Gilbert · October 02, 2011, 02:48:38 PM

Guys, I hate to say this, but there's a possibility #29 will have to backout for HPDO. Some guy smashed into me 2 days ago while I was at a stop light and mangled up my trailer hitch. Hopefully insurance will get it all sorted out in time, but there's a chance we won't be there.

Fingers crossed!

Peter Beardsley · October 02, 2011, 11:09:48 PM

No crews with trailer hitches?

Darren Gilbert · October 03, 2011, 08:12:08 AM

Quote from: Peter Beardsley on October 02, 2011, 11:09:48 PM
No crews with trailer hitches?

Unfortunately I was meeting my crew there. I'm coming from Canada, and they're coming from Boston. Good news though, I had a hitch guy check out the damage, and he thinks I'll be able to tow.

Peter Beardsley · October 03, 2011, 11:46:54 AM

Excellent.

In the meantime, a heads up for everyone:

- If anyone needs crew, or is on the fence about coming because they don't have crew, we have A LOT of really good, experienced crew, who are desperate to race Vipers this weekend -- some of whom are potential owners as early as 2012 -- them getting in a day or two on the boat could be the difference between them being on the line with us in Marblehead at 2012 NAs or not.

- AYC says they are able to host all of the Vipers despite damage to their docks during Irene. That said, if anyone wants to sail out of LYC with shorter lines to the hoist, please email me ASAP at wpbeardsley[at]gmail.com -- we're happy to help, and at minimum, the Larchmont Vipers will all sail out of LYC since it is only a 2-3 mile sail at most to the racecourse from LYC -- no sense in us taking the boat apart for the short trip. We're happy to accommodate others, but we'd need to know who they are in advance to help work with AYC on the safety boat patrol end, etc. It's only a 10-12 minute drive from LYC to AYC for the party.

Darren Gilbert · October 03, 2011, 02:42:58 PM

I'm good to be at either club. With how busy AYC might be, is there any benefit in the whole class sailing out of LYC?

Peter Beardsley · October 03, 2011, 02:56:49 PM

This is my first HPDO in a Viper -- I've done it 5 times previously in a 505, which is very different -- ramp launching, not a big deal getting in and out.

We can take more Vipers at LYC, but if everyone wants to come over, I need to know ASAP so that I can run it up the flagpole for permission. We have 3 hoists at LYC for Vipers (for anyone who remembers the half ton hoist from Memorial Day, that hoist is now a 1 ton hoist with a longer arm, so we have a 1 ton, 2 ton and 4 ton, and if coordinated well with trailer movement, we can use all 3 simultaneously).

Pros for Larchmont = faster in/out at hoist once you're there, hang out with super cool LYC Viper sailors.

Cons = farther from the party, farther to the line at the start and end of the day. It is possible that the longer sail home will cancel out the saved time at the hoist, but honestly, I can't tell for certain. Also, the bulk of the Vipers will be at AYC no matter what I suspect, so it may be slightly less social until you get to the party.

Chris Shaughnessy · October 03, 2011, 06:37:20 PM

Dropped off 108 at AYC yesterday on way home from Sarnia & said Hi to our HPDO hosts.
(As luck would have it the AYC fall regatta was wrapping up so had a few free beers on the lawn after a long drive).
Like last year, they will again be putting vipers on the lawn right next to the hoists with a white lined space assigned to each.
worked great last year (with 35 boats) so wouldn't be too concerned about space & hoist time at AYC.