The last regatta of the
winter season was spectacular:
1. The crew was one of the best
Vee Jay had in the last three years [same crew as the GCSC
regatta],
2. In spite of our jib falling apart after just two
years, we still were able to come in second,
3. We survived a challenging weather
front that was unexpected and made the ride home from Marco exciting.
We were having so much fun during Sunday's last race
that we didn't realize that the front was moving down on us very quickly, and
way stronger than predicted ... from a sunny, gentle warm wind from the south,
it changed in just a few minutes into a 30 mph steady cold rainstorm that
yielded 4 in. of rain in 2 hours, tiny hail, 6 ft short wind driven waves, and
windgusts up to 57 mph. Now wearing life preservers, and unable to continue
north under power to Naples, we spent an hour running without sails off shore
to the west and open Gulf ... while the storm moved away to the east and the
Everglades.
Fortunately we had the foredeck crew
[Randy and Aaron] able to take over the helm in cold, soaking, high wind
conditions that sent the skipper below to keep warm and plot the GPS course
back. Tim, the only one with decent foul weather
gear on board, piloted us back up the Gordon River in the rain, which stopped
as we got to the slip.
Jabu and Shock ahead of us into the
storm.
Steve, John, Aaron and
Tom out of the rain for a bit.
Tim .... and
Randy and Rosie ... on deck.
MARCH 2010 --- Gulf
Coast Sailing Club 34th Regatta and Porsche Cup
All
reefed down ... BUT HEY ... this fourth race Vee Jay corrected out ahead of
Toad Hall [S2 9.1 and Foreign Exchange [Dehler 34] who ran over
powered.
Because of the wind conditions with
water over deck and flowing into the forward hatch we did not plan launching
spin the last leg of the last race. Then the crew voted to spin ... which put
Randy with a set up the spin at the last minute test: YouTube
Video of Randy at work.
Gulf Coast Sailing Club -- the Heart of Sailing in Naples -- holds one yearly
regatta and Vee Jay's highlight of the season. Three races on Saturday with
conditions ranging from drifting to nice; two races on Sunday with wind that
kicked up to 25+ and seas around 5+. Sunday's conditions were twice the
forecast and caught us with lightweight sails on.
Shock shocked us all by a definite, solid 1st place -- helped by
cleaning off a 1 in. column of barnacles from the leading edge of the keel and
rudder the week before. Shock, combined with two fast S2 7.9s, left us playing
only with the S2 9.1 and Dehler 34 -- tied the 9.1, with the 34 one point
behind.
MARCH 2010 ---
Naples Sailing & Yacht Club Winter Cup
What was
anticipated to be a COLD [when we left the dock it was 45 degrees !!!] one day
NSYC Winter Cup with gently sheltered breeze out of the East, flipflopped 90
degrees during the first race which was aborted. That was good because Vee Jay
made a LOT of mistakes that race and was trailing dead
last.
But three additional races later with its rock
stready experience in N/NW 15+ kts wind with building waves, Vee Jay took every
race in Spin b, and Overall Spin fleet third, losing only to Rod J's Banjo [J95
with an kicked up 155% genny] and Maria [Soverel 33].
Stbd-trim Tim, mid-bow Steve,
port-trim Tom, and skipper Vic
FEBRUARY 2010 ---
Marco Island Yacht Club Winter Cup
Two warm days
during a pretty unusual winter spell of cold fronts. Two light wind races on
Saturday; three on Sunday with Vee Jay edged out of 2nd place by 1 point. BUT
we did get some interesting video.
Sunday's Crew: Vic, Tim,
Steve, Tor, Rosie, and Aaron. Saturday had Tom and Dean on board.
The Shock Crew: George, Frank, Keith, Barb,
Jim, and Skipper Dave.
The most
interesting race saw Vee Jay and Shock battle it out with Shock crossing the
line 1 second ahead. We were sure it was the other way around, but since Dave
is the senior skipper we voted not to protest.
Can you believe two Alaskans
on the Vee Jay crew? Rosie and Aaron.
JANUARY 2010 ---
Naples AVOW Hospice Sixth Annual Regatta
Leading the Spin B fleet home: T-Bone,
Shock, Toad Hall, Foreign Exchange, and Vee Jay
Fortunately we had three
races. The first two were simple once around WL that we used for practice. The
third was a serious twice around which Shock managed to squeak by 39 seconds to
finish 1st; Vee Jay 2nd. Shock was using an oversized spin from a 1977
C&C33. Vee Jay using spin from Newport OD 1995.
Tor, Rosie, Steve, Tim, Vic, John, Tom, and Randy
.... photo taken by Aaron.
Skipper Vic used a CoutourHD sports camera straped to head
to capture the crew hoisting spin and bring Vee Jay to YouTube. For more clips
google: J30 Vee Jay 40569 video
JANUARY 2010 ---
Naples Sailing and Yacht Club New Year's Cup
Even though
Vee Jay just made the start at 11 a.m. for spin boats, the low, low tide
combined with the cold north 20 kt wind set Vee Jay records. It took the crew
45 minutes to break free of the mud at the City Dock slip.
Two lines were run from the outside pilings through
the bow chocks and back to the winches. Randy ran back and forth across rocking
the boat to the amusement of people watching us on the main dock.
Shock missed the first race aground at Dr. Pass. Vee
Jay picked up a bottle of Slavianskaya Vodka [Cranberry flavored -Red- for
second], but then the awards for all boats placing was a bottle of Vodka in
keeping with the cold weather, which barely made it to the low 60s.
While the Xmas spin was in the Vee Jay inventory for the last three years, this
was the first time we used it exclusively for a regatta. It is a 40+ year old
spin and interesting reflects the symbol for the Cross of Lorraine [a double
armed cross symbol associated with St. Joan of Arc, the patron saint of Vee
Jay].
This was also one of the first symbols used on
Christmas Seals just about 100 years ago. Just goes to show you what you can "acquire"
when no one else bids against you on Ebay. Nevertheless, it was good enough for
Vee Jay to hit sustained gps speeds over 7.5, with peaks to 8.5 kts. In honor
of St. Joan ... only a little blood was shed.
Tippycanoe [Farr 39.5] "didn't see us."
Astutely the Vee Jay crew pulled legs inside ... all except for Randy who was
sure if we did hit he would be in front of the impact
site.
Vee Jay did have right of way considering that
we were leeward AND Tippy was overtaking. We let them pass us and tacked behind
them.
Crew was Ben [14], Tim, Steve, Randy, Tom, Joe,
Frank LoR, and Vic
T-Bone
watches Vee Jay catch them at the finish ... they opted not to fly spin waiting
for replacement rigging. However, they did correct over us for
1st. Cap'n Vic keeps the Shock away.
We had an
amazing Winter Break the last two weeks of December with a number of "kids"
taking time to sail on Shock and Vee Jay -- with several two boat tune ups to
entertain everyone.
Sophie and William -- J30 Belle
Faster crew.
The Team Weinstein Sisters
Tim coaching Ben and George.
Crew on Foredeck
DECEMBER 2009 ---
Naples Yacht Club Boca 90 Mile [nautical]
Naples Yacht Club, 90 nautical mile
overnight race from Naples to San Carlos Bay "SC" to Boca Grande "R2" and
return to Naples Pier. Friday, Dec. 11 started at
4:05 pm., Saturday finish at 5:22 am. Won 2nd Spin [beat
Santa Cruz 37, lost to Tartan 4100].
Dave, Randy,
Vic, Dr. Helen, Tim
George
Dave
Tim
Randy
Dr. Helen
Steve
This was the third Boca 90 for Vee Jay and
the fastest race of them all. 13 hours with sustained ~ 20 gusty winds NNE to
NE. Winds not right for spin runs, but we would have had to think about it with
the wave action and wind strength as it got a little aggressive off shore on
the return south from Boca Grande. Water now and then on the side decks but
nothing into the cockpit. As it was we were averaging GPS speed close to 7 kts
for the entire race.
Dr. Helen had no stitches to sew
with just a few contusions and abrasions, and as always she was prepared for
anything.
With the wind pretty fixed Vee Jay basically
did one tack north and one tack south. No real decisions to make except to sail
safe. Typical Naples December weather: really warm day, chilly night. Of 13
hours: 2.5 daylight, minor moonlight.
November 2009 -- Marco Island Yacht Club
Fall Regatta
Six races over the
weekend with Vee Jay picking up a third place over all. Photo is Shock in lead
over Vee Jay.
October 2009 -- Naples Sailing and Yacht
Club Commodore's Cup
Arrived for
the season mid Oct. and had to start racing two weeks later with the Naples
Sailing and Yacht Club Commodore's Cup. Dave arrived a week before the regatta.
We ended up using the regatta as "practice" as we had
not seen our Naples' crews for six months. Half the crew was different each day
with five races over the weekend.
Three Spin B skippers: Vic [Vee Jay] 3rd,
Dave [Shock] 2nd, Jason [T-Bone] First
Matt keeping the boom in
check.
Ben moves up from Opti to
trimming J30 Spin.
Mike L from J30 Belle Faster
drives us home Sunday.
Mike M and Tom ran the back of the boat on
Saturday.
Dave thought it would be
entertaining to try out some of his sails from his Baltimore boat Bandit, [a
Cherubini 33] on Shock and it was a fun day.
The sails
are LARGE for Shock, but somehow "fit."
In light wind
they moved the boat. And kicked up a relatively quiet day.
Fall 2009 Spin Practice Sessions
Frank, Dave, Tom, Steve, Walker, Mike
D
Jim, Lisa C, George, Dave, Steve, Randy,
Tim
Bill K, Steve, Tim, Frank,
Dave
Lisa C, Frank L, Tim, Steve,
Jim
Jorge, Tom W, Vic, Frank B, Chris,
Steve
CREW OPENINGS: NEWPORT SUMMER
2010 Vee Jay 2 planning to do Tues. and Wed. night
races if can find enough crew ... with weekend practice sessions. Good
option for J24 crew who may be getting a bit mature, or a bit "heavy" -- J30
weight limit is 1400lb. Vee Jay races for fun, but always interested in crew
looking to do, or learn how to do, a spin run.
Vee Jay and Shock
Crew Coordination Site Winter
2009-2010 Naples Schedule [Note: we are currently using direct emails for crew
availability: Vic2010@CaptainVic.com]
Tim, the only one with decent foul weather
gear on board, piloted us back up the Gordon River in the rain, which stopped
as we got to the slip.
Shock shocked us all by a definite, solid 1st place -- helped by
cleaning off a 1 in. column of barnacles from the leading edge of the keel and
rudder the week before. Shock, combined with two fast S2 7.9s, left us playing
only with the S2 9.1 and Dehler 34 -- tied the 9.1, with the 34 one point
behind.
While the Xmas spin was in the Vee Jay inventory for the last three years, this
was the first time we used it exclusively for a regatta. It is a 40+ year old
spin and interesting reflects the symbol for the Cross of Lorraine [a double
armed cross symbol associated with St. Joan of Arc, the patron saint of Vee
Jay].
Tippycanoe [Farr 39.5] "didn't see us."
Astutely the Vee Jay crew pulled legs inside ... all except for Randy who was
sure if we did hit he would be in front of the impact
site.
T-Bone
watches Vee Jay catch them at the finish ... they opted not to fly spin waiting
for replacement rigging. However, they did correct over us for
1st.
