The Traveler July 2008
The Race Committee Will Be There.
Jim Capron
President, US Sailing
Prompted by the discussion on the proposed membership prescription in the 2009-2012 RRS, the Board of Directors of CBYRA offered this month’s Traveler article to Jim Capron, President of US Sailing and CBYRA member. We also sent a survey question to our members on the proposed change. The survey results, along with other pertinent information can be found on our Website at www.cbyra.org. We would like to thank Jim for his thoughts and service to our sport of sailing.
As spring arrives, we start to think about the upcoming racing season. The sailboat race schedule moves to the top of the in-box. We decide which races we would like to enter and, for those of us with bigger boats, we start to arrange for crew. As the first racing day nears, we go on-line, fill in the entry form and pay the entry fee. On race day, with the boat and crew in various states of readiness, we sail out to the course. Somehow we subconsciously know, to paraphrase a well known movie, that if we enter the race, the race committee will come.
Certainly the volunteers and organizations which support the racing on the Chesapeake know that good, competitive racing is no accident. But for many racing sailors, the amount of resources and behind-the-scenes activity that goes into conducting a fair race is grossly underestimated. Clubs plan their racing seasons months and years ahead. A world championship requires hundreds of volunteers and years of planning, but even local weekend racing requires a lot of effort. Most of the effort and management of a race is neither visible nor readily known to the average sailor.
The organizing club and its race committee are certainly visible and central to making our racing possible. This is the work of dedicated volunteers. Most racing sailors know that and make an effort to say thanks. What is visible – the race committee boats, marks, scoring, trophies, and after race party – is not insignificant by any means. However, many of the things that make sailboat racing such a great sport happen far off the race course, and months or years away from race day. A lot of this effort is accomplished by your class association, or by organizations involved in coordinating and governing our sport, like CBYRA, US SAILING and ISAF.
Your class association keeps track of its class members, boats, results, history, trophies, records, measurers, and measurement equipment. For some classes, there is a class office with paid staff that promotes the class and communicates with the sailors. For other classes, the national class office is in the basement of a volunteer’s home. Either way, racing is better because a well run class levels the playing field.
The Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association (CBYRA) is the regional sailing association for about 70 clubs and over 50 classes across six states, which coordinates and supports the primary racing on the bay. In addition to maintaining the master schedule of local big boat and one design racing, CBYRA also represents its sailors, classes and clubs in US SAILING. Appeals of local protest committee decisions are decided by CBYRA.
US SAILING is the national governing body for the sport of sailing in the U.S. Through CBYRA and CBYRA member clubs, US SAILING provides certification of local judges and race officers, and representation at ISAF and the US Olympic Committee. US SAILING manages the IMS, IRC, and ORR ratings and their measurement systems, oversees the racing rules in the U.S., and decides appeals of the CBYRA Appeals Committee decisions.
The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) is the international governing body for the sport of sailing around the world. ISAF writes the Racing Rules of Sailing, manages the international race officials training and certification, is the organizer of the Olympic Games regatta, and represents sailors with the IOC. ISAF also creates the Offshore Special Regulations.
Racing works on the water because of the coordination, management and governance by each of these sailing organizations. Because of your class association, you have equal racing between boats. Because of CBYRA’s months of planning and coordination meetings, the complicated Chesapeake Bay racing schedule is harmonized. Because of US SAILING’s race officials certification programs, the highly trained Chesapeake area judges and race officers are among the best in the world. Because of ISAF’s Racing Rules Committee, you have a set of rules that provides fair racing for all kinds and sizes of boats.
So when we first stumble into the wonderful sport of sailboat racing, it seems pretty simple. We fill out the entry form, pay our entry fee, and the race committee will be on station when we show up. If we enter, they will come. It is only a little later that we begin to notice that CBYRA events don’t overlap each other, that the sailing instructions look almost the same here as on Long Island Sound, that the protest committee procedures are fair and standardized, that the rules work (if everybody read them), and how really good this race committee is.
The Traveler
June 2008
Tom Roberts
Region IV Vice President
The 2008 Racing Season on the Bay is well underway. All the winter time scheduling and planning, race committee and crew training, rules seminars and winter boat preparation are paying off. Spring regattas and series throughout the Bay are wrapping up and giving way to summer events. Just as we get used to brisk days and heavy air, the weather is warming, the foulies are traded for sunscreen, and light air tactics come into play. Longer days and warm nights make the evening races more fun, and the overnighters are close at hand. Southern Bay Race Week is upon us and now we look ahead to Screwpile, Junior Regattas, Annual Regattas, class championships, keeping track of High Point standings (who do I have to beat) and warm weather sailing.
CBYRA remains committed to helping clubs organize their regattas by posting or linking their Notices of Race, Sailing Instructions, and Results and now we are offering on-line registration for clubs who don’t have that capability. We also offer templates and examples of NORs and SIs for those struggling to put them together and we have plenty of experience to draw from.
Every success in racing is because you are looking ahead and anticipating. Help the Regatta host clubs anticipate by registering ahead of time, especially the one-design classes. Check out the CBYRA and club web sites, get the details, commit (you know you are going, let them know!), register, and go have fun! It will help the clubs plan and make sure they have the right amount of food, refreshments, tee shirts and trophies!
CBYRA membership is made up of clubs, classes and individual sailors. We are one of the Regional Sailing Associations (RSAs) of US Sailing and help bring a standard of racing to the local level. Individual sailors get the benefit of competing for High Point awards. By becoming a member of CBYRA they also strengthen their club and class.
You must be a member to compete for High Point. There is talk at US Sailing of being a member of US Sailing (and also your RSA) in order to race. In order to do that we would need to make it easier to find your way through all these prerequisites and show more value.
Presently it is possible to join or renew membership in USSailing and CBYRA at the same time, with a discount (a good deal!) through the Golden Anchor program. CBYRA has a large portion of its members who do this and because of that US Sailing offers some incentives to RSAs which we would like to make available to the clubs and classes. CBYRA presently has a large credit, good for US Sailing Education, Cruising and Racing materials such as training materials, books, videos, guides, etc. Clubs and classes are welcome to make requests through the office for any of these materials they wish to own to help any aspect of their program: Learn to sail, racing, class development, cruising, first aid, safety, tactics, tuning, etc. Use them at club and class gatherings, pass them around, offer them to newcomers. Check out the “Store” on the USSailing web site. http://store.ussailing.org/ Let’s not let this opportunity go by if there are needs that can be met.
There was a recent survey of a large sample of individuals, club representatives and class representatives in which CBYRA was soliciting opinions on various ideas and possibilities but also looking for needs that we could meet. We are already working on the results of that survey.
There are regional competitions leading to USSailing Championship events in which representatives of CBYRA compete with representatives from other Regional Sailing Associations for US Sailing Championships. These include the Sears, Bemis and Smythe competitions for Juniors, The Mallory and Adams Cups and the O’Day Trophy for one-design and the Lloyd Phoenix for big boats. Some of these you may submit a resume for selection to represent CBYRA, others are local competitions. To get information pertaining to a particular championship, such as dates, venues, type of boat, notice of race, or contact information check the CBYRA schedule and web site or the US Sailing web site. http://www.ussailing.org/Championships/
Finally, while it seems strange to mention Labor Day just as we are enjoying Memorial Day, CBYRA Race Week is just over the horizon, but plans are well under way for what has become a Labor Day weekend classic. Look for on-line registration for ARW 2008 to open up about July 1, 2008.
The Traveler May 2008
CBYRA Junior Sailing Comes of Age
Bill O’Malley
Junior Sailing Division, Chairman
Spring is here, the end of another school year. Parents and kids are thinking about a summer of junior sailing. Well, not quite! Junior sailing has changed; it now has multiple seasons, high school teams, team racing, 29er skiffs, and college coaches looking for the next All-American and Olympic sailors. Like so many aspects of our sport, junior sailing is advancing. Technology, equipment, boats, ever-increasing events, and competition have junior sailors “talking the talk”—discussing tactics, boat handling, and displaying post-race sailing karate that rivals any adult regatta.
Don’t believe me? Take a walk through the USODA Optimist Team Trials May 1-4, hosted by Annapolis YC. The good old Opti now has epoxy-composite blades, carbon-fiber tillers, radial sails, and hi-tech lines. Sailors, coaches, and parents precisely tune boats to match the sailing condition in much the same way a Farr 40 team prepares.
Intimidated? Wondering how you are supposed to keep up?
Where do parents and sailors begin?
Start with CBYRA!
2008 brings increased communication and fantastic opportunities for junior sailors throughout the Bay. CBYRA has adopted several initiatives aimed at improving communication. The new CBYRA Jr. Sailing website will be a portal where sailors, parents, coaches, and program directors will find everything required to learn and stay informed.
What’s New?
· New CBYRA Jr. Website—better interaction and information
· Online registration—for easier regatta entry and access to entry lists
· Automated High-Point Standings—to provide updated results throughout the year
· Improved Calendar functions—to enable better searches for events
· Discussion Forums—where sailors, parents, and coaches can easily share information
· Jr. Sailing E-News—to announce results and provide reminders for upcoming events
· Jr. Sailing Blogs—to inform and educate about what CBYRA Jr. sailors are doing
Corum-CBYRA High-Point Jr. Sailing High-Point Championship
CBYRA Jr. Sailing High-Point remains the premier ranking among Bay sailors. In 2008, CBYRA brings exciting changes to the High-Point Championship. Corum Watch has joined CBYRA with a specific focus on junior sailing. Corum has provided CBYRA with a new High-Point perpetual trophy, custom-designed and built in the facility in Switzerland. The winners in each class will also receive keep-sake trophies and in the case of the Club 420 and Laser Radial classes, scholarship awards. At the conclusion of the season, the awards will be made at a Junior Sailing High-Point award ceremony. This event will be dedicated to the junior sailors, providing them a chance to enjoy their efforts in the company of their friends and parents.
High School Sailing Has Exploded on the Chesapeake Bay!
In the Mid-Atlantic Scholastic Sailing Association (part of the Interscholastic Sailing Association), nearly 30 high schools on the Chesapeake Bay have teams registered and competing. In 2007, at the Mallory National Championship, the Severn School and Broadneck High School competed as two of only 20 schools in the United States qualifying to compete. The 2008 Mallory National Championship is hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy on May 9-10.
Chessie Jr. Racing and Storm Trysail Club Bring Big-Boat Sailing to Juniors