Ventura Sailing Club
Things Coming Up and What Happened When We Were Sailing!!
Upcomming Events in the Ventura and Channel Islands Harbors
Check the Calendar and clear your days for Sailing Events You Like
Check the Calendar and clear your days for Sailing Events You Like
| Frenchy’s Rum Run 2026 Hello Sailors, Thanks for coming out and joining us for the 22nd Frenchy's Rum Run on June 13th. Our race committee, led by Bill Brayton, aboard the "Moby Dill" (owner John Gray is a retired specialty pickle producer) got the racing started right on time. We changed things up from the usual by starting the PHRF non-spinnaker class first (skippers, please remember to read the Sailing Instruction Amendments). This was an attempt to get the mark boat out to Frenchy's in time for the first boats. This did work, barely. It turned into a drag race between the Moby Dill, Cirrus, Fifty One Fifty, and Kanaloa who all were making great progress in the light air. The spinnaker boats started second, with Marisela, Chris, and (Salty the dog) Hancock joining the aforementioned spinnaker boats. The ORCA fleet included Wahoo, Akua Kai, and Miss Priss. Miss Priss is a new-to-him 23' trimaran owned by Bob Shirley. Bob is regular crew aboard Akua Kai and is joining the fleet as a skipper. Alicia sailed Akua Kai with an all girl crew in remembrance of Jane Thomas and all that she has done for women's sailing. The PHRF non-spinnaker fleet, who started first, was one of the bigger fleets. They included Velero and She Said No, and some newer names; Pythagoras, Zoarces, and Squared Aweigh that are shaking things up in the non-spinnaker division. It's great to see some growth in our sailing fleet! And the beachcat class had 6 boats starting this year with Danny Vazquez on a Nacra 5.8, Carl Oliver singlehanding a Dart, Hall Stratton on an A cat, Tim Hunter on a vintage Tornado, Bobby Marinez on Sailbad the Sinner, and Peter Karlsberg on a Weta trimaran. Conditions looked very promising at the start with white caps showing from a westerly breeze. I almost radioed Bill Mattson, our beachcat finish line volunteer, that we might be looking at a record breaking day. But alas, by the time the ORCA fleet started the wind backed to a more southwesterly direction and dropped to 5 knots or so. So once again, our simple parade to Anacapa Island and back became more strategic as tacking on the southerly headers became a possibility, and laying Frenchy's on one tack looked less likely. Although some boats managed to pull that off by just waiting........and waiting for the lift in the channel. I watched a group of closely spaced westbound ships go by in front of the fleet and was thankful we did not tangle with them. And there was a ship several miles behind them that looked like we'd all pass in front of, based on their speed limit in the channel being about 10 knots. But this ship appeared much quicker than expected and at least a couple of our boats crossed in front, to the tune of horn blasts. By the time the ship reached a group of us that were west of the fleet, the ship had slowed way down and was altering course toward the islands, which meant our group, Zoarces, Pythagoras, and I got a good view of empty shipping containers headed back to China for another load, while we waited. I took a chance and passed close to his stern and was rewarded with negligible prop wash and exited with my steering intact. Anacapa Island served up some more surprises with no wind for the early boats, a nice little band of wind coming through the gap at Frenchy's for the mid-fleeters, and the westerly filling in for later arrivals. Danny, on his Nacra, could be seen on just about every point of sail, trying to get to the mark, and the big monos were using every inch of their tall rigs to find some breeze. Wahoo sailed east along the island and then returned to Frenchy's screaming along the cliffs. The one thing that you can almost always count on for the Frenchy's races is the wind will improve at Frenchy's cove and for the sail home. Just give it some time. For that reason the slower boats have an opportunity to stay in the game. For the faster boats coming back, we had 5-10 knots of wind. The PHRF spinnaker boats were making good progress towards Mandalay. Danny, on his Nacra, did a horizon job on the beachcatters finishishing 20 minutes ahead of the next boat. Wahoo was leading the ORCA fleet and did so many sail changes it must have been inventory day or a day early salute to flag day. Bob Shirley had a great sail back, enjoying white caps all the way home. And the PHRF non-spinnaker fleet had enough wind to let their genoas bring them home at a nice reaching angle. All in all, we had another great day on the water. Thanks to all the volunteers that made this happen. Thanks to PBYC for hosting us after the race. If you took pictures that you'd like to share, send them to https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/df499hmsdqxv5aaw96c28/ACBWoU-_ZgUFWgIpo4TAdyo?rlkey=saw0x7pi0cf2pkg5za4uou1k3&st=ick0cuzq&dl=0 We need any pictures of boats ASAP for trophies. Results are attached. Awards will be given out at Victoria Pub on July 14 at 6:30. Come join us for discounted food and drinks. Hall Stratton VSC Commodore April 18th Beachcat Race Hello VSC Sailors, This past weekend we had the first beachcat race in several decades. This used to be a monthly occurrence in the 1970s, with one boat providing rabbit starts, and a series trophy each season. We had a variety of multihulls from Hobie 16s to 40' catamarans racing in those days. Our race last Saturday had 5 entries, which is about 1/2 of our local beach cat group. Thank you to Bob Shirley for organizing this event. And thank you to Alicia, Marisela Hancock, Lynda Blue, and Ralph for being race committee and mark setters aboard Akua Kai. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/fyyk32hoappahqtfgc8go/AOBS9ivBP-MC3EM8BhXHDI8?rlkey=mqrg718rvyuiu2helspzo9zbp&st=mdgs7dap&dl=0 We had a light air day which was good from the standpoint of getting people and boats on the water that might be a little rusty. It's early in the season and some of us are less agile than we used to be. Nonetheless, the competition was fierce, battling it out in 5 knots of wind or less, that briefly teased us with about 8 knots. Race committee started us on 4 short windward/leeward courses giving us time to let the wind fill in, which unfortunately never happened. Bob was sailing his new-to-him Tremolino trimaran with Barry Nichols as crew, Chris Barrow and Don North were on a Prindle 18-2, Lance Inoue and CeCe were on Lance's Prindle 19, and Layne Stratton and I were on A cats. For this first race we decided to not saddle the RC with dealing with handicaps. The A cats and Lance's Prindle actually are very closely rated so sailing those boat for boat is reasonable. The Tremolino's rating will be a work in progress that just requires,,,,, sailing! Chris's Prindle rates slower than the A cats and P19 so he was given redress by allowing him to "cut the corners" at the marks to stay with the pack. This made it more fun for him and Don and also allowed us to get races started quicker. The first race was won by Layne. This was his first race singlehanding an A cat, and was a bit of a surprise to his dad. I had told him how to set up for light air, and just didn't realize he was listening. He figured out the toughest part on his own, which on an A cat in light air, is mainsheet tension. With a high aspect ratio sail, no jib, and super bendy mast, powering up is super touchy. In the second race I was able to beat Layne, however, so some face saving was possible for the old guy. In the third race CeCe and Lance were getting up to speed and beat both Layne and me. Race number 4 was windward/leeward with the finish at the launch ramp. We were teased early in the race with a little wind and then it pretty much shut off. Layne and I were trying to get back to the harbor by creating apparent wind, but that just meant we were reaching back and forth without actually going downwind very much. CeCe and Lance were able to drive deeper and win the final race. So with 2 wins, the regatta was won by Lance and CeCe. Back at the launch ramp Bob arranged pizza delivery and beer for everyone which was heartily enjoyed by all on a warm "summer" evening (remember the no wind part?). Hopefully we can do this again soon. We'd love to get more of our local beachcats out on the water. And for anyone interested in helping with Race Committee please let us know. It's a great way to participate in racing and gives you a whole new perspective on the starts. Years ago I volunteered for Race Committee duties at ABYC in Long Beach for several world and national championships (where the judges are actually certified) and it was a great experience. It's worth doing. See the Ventura Sailing Club drop box link below for pics. We just increased the memory on dropbox to accommodate all the pictures being posted. Here's a couple of pics for now. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/fyyk32hoappahqtfgc8go/AOBS9ivBP-MC3EM8BhXHDI8?rlkey=mqrg718rvyuiu2helspzo9zbp&st=mdgs7dap&dl=0 ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) |
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1st Annual Anacapa Arch Race
Hello Sailors, We ended up with a fantastic day on the water for our inaugural AAR. Mother nature kept throwing us curve balls throughout this process. We were looking at an 80% chance of thundershowers forecasted a week out from the race, just to keep us guessing on whether we'd be able to pull this off. But things improved and we had a one-day window between weather systems that gave us sunny and crystal clear conditions. The next curve ball came when what normally would have been a west wind with a parade of boats headed to the island, on the rhumb line, turned into a beat into a southerly wind. This presented many strategic options for our fleet, and things got interesting fast. We have many sailors in our group, that collectively have hundreds of years of experience sailing our channel. So, what course to sail? The first option was the tried and true "go south in a south wind". The second one was to "go west to get on the westerly shift", and lastly "play the shifts along the rhumb line". So with our fleet of 10 boats we managed to spread out over about 20 square miles. Unfortunately this made the shorten course option impossible and resulted in a few DNFs. Fortunately, for everyone that hung in there, the wind not only held, but increased, making for a fun spinnaker reach back to Channel Islands Harbor. Throw in a few dolphins, sailing through a pod of ORCAs, and of course the springtime beauty of Anacapa Island and this was a day to make some memories. And the last boat to finish, Jolly Jetsam, made it in 10 minutes before the deadline. That's taking advantage of every minute of a beautiful day! It was mentioned that Artem Babin, skipper of Jolly Jetsam, should get a prize for persistence, but I think he was the winner for maximizing his time on the water. The two Hobie 33s were engaged in a fun match race, swapping the lead a couple of times. And as always, it's fun to see our "vintage" boats, Spit Dog, Velero, and So Long out there in the channel sailing. Thanks to John Gray, Michael Gray, and Alicia aboard the "Moby Dill" for serving as race committee and mark boat. Alicia got lots of pictures, see drop box link below. Please send pics you have. Thank you Anacapa Yacht Club and Chuck Manley for hosting the post race festivities! We'll have trophies for first and second place in the Spinnaker and Non Spinnaker divisions ready for presentation at our May 12 meeting at Victoria Pub in Ventura. Our next regularly scheduled meeting is this Tuesday, April 14, at 6:30 pm at Victoria Pub. |
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Jane Thomas Presenting Ron Dietel with the Perpetual and Individual
1st Place Trophy for the 2024 ASBCYC High Points Award. |
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