TELL TALES (June 24, 2009)

· HAPPY BIRTHDAY:  At long last, Scott Trecartin will be 12 tomorrow.

· SCHEDULE:  Summer sailing hours on Saturdays run from 12 noon to 5 p.m. until further notice. 

June 27 – Summer Series race 4

July 4 – Summer Series race 5

July 11 – Summer Series race 6

July 18 –Summer Series race 7

July 25 – Summer Series race 8

· SERIES STANDINGS:  (After three series races)

Optimist Fleet: 1, Garrett Lawlor, 3; 2, Alicia Muscato, 6; 3, Stefan Johnson, 10; 4, Samantha Wood, 14; 5, Lucas Galarza, 17; 6, Scott Trecartin, 21; 7, Alex Soodak, 21; 8, Shaun Gallagher, 23; 9, Mariah Miller, 25; 10, Blake Erquiaga, 26; Stephan VerHulst and Toussaint Thomas have 29.

Portsmouth Division: 1, Michelle Thomas, 3; 2, Chloe Dietrich, 12; 3, Sami Tornese, 13; Evan Langer, 13;  5, Paul Kreider, 20;  6, Carla Johnson, 20; 7, Bryan White, 21; 8, Andrew Sosa, 21; 9, Cara Patete, 21; 10, Tyler Thorpe, 22; 11, Aubrey Khachetoorian, 25. 

· TROPHY PRESENTATION: Dr. Shaun Graser and his wife, Paula, will present trophies to Spring Series award winners near the flag pole, near the pool, about noon on July 4.

· BOAT DRAWING: Now it appears that the people who were going to give us a Hobie 14 have changed their minds. So at this point, there will be no drawing for $5 each. Sorry about that.

· KYLE COACHES: Kyle D’Arcangelis, who substituted for Jabbo a couple of weeks ago, will fill in for him again this coming Saturday. A certified instructor, Kyle will be a sophomore at UCF this fall.

· SAILING TIPS (This if for our sailors who look like they learned to sail in Yeehaw Junction).

1. Before you even think about leaving the dock, make sure you have plenty of water. Some of you are shoving off with only one bottle of water and that is not enough on these long hot afternoons. If you don’t want to take more than two in your boat, put some in a coach boat.

2. Make sure you take a bailer with you. Last week, one gal was using her hands and a guy was employing a water bottle. We have enough bailers to supply the Sixth Fleet.  Use them.

3. Opti sailors should make sure their sprit poles are tight before EVERY race.

4. Between races, don’t sail off into the sunset or into another zip code. A cardinal rule of starting is to be near the starting line when the sequence starts. Some race officers don’t like to dawdle between races and want to complete as many races as possible.

5. Normally speaking, the daggerboard should be down when going upwind and up when going downwind. Admittedly some people need a little more stability while running, but even so, the board should be up some. Otherwise you are creating drag and going slower.

6. Some of are putting your board down way too soon as you approach the leeward mark. It doesn’t take long to put it down and you can possibly gain valuable inches by keeping it up.

7. Where to sit keeps coming up -- unnecessarily. Those of you who insist on sitting in the back of the boat may luck out and do well in a couple of our races. However, you will be wiped slick when you go to regattas out of town. If you are serious about sailing, then sail like it.

8. Our drills are designed with you sailors in mind. They have a purpose, whether it is timing or boat handling or whatever. You should have a purpose when doing the drills. Practice hard.