TELL TALES (Apr. 7, 2010)

·        HAPPY BIRTHDAY greetings go to Truett Whitehead who will be 15 next Tuesday.

·        SCHEDULE:

Apr. 10 – Spring Series, race 5 (10-11, Mount Dora Regatta, Mount Dora)

Apr. 17 – Spring Series, race 6 (US Sailing’s Level 1 instructor course)

Apr. 24 – Spring Series, race 7 (US Sailing’s Level 1 instructor course)

May 1 – Spring Series, race 8

May 8 – Spring Series, race 9

·        REGATTA RESULTS:

1.      We had 66 skippers at our annual regatta in Englewood, which was five fewer than last year, but the weather was great. The Optimists had only six races, but the Lasers ran seven.

2.      VYBA took the top three in the 26-boat Green Fleet with Nick Hernandez capturing top honors. Louisa Nordstrom placed second and Bogan Whitehead took third. Truett Whitehead came in eighth and Alexis Jenkins was 12th and Courtney Purcell was 13th.

3.      Stephan VerHulst was the only VYBA sailor to rank in the top half of the 21-boat Red, White and Blue Fleet as he finished fourth, losing a tie-breaker to Jack Gower of Fort Myers.

4.      Tyler Thorpe won the Laser Radial class and Paul Kreider was second. Chloe Dietrich came in third in the six-boat division, five of whom were VYBA skippers.

5.      Cara Patete placed second in the Laser 4.7 bracket, which had four boats.

6.      And Beth Anderson, former VYBA secretary and board member, garnered the first place trophy in the Sunfish category. She was sailing for the Venice Women’s Sailing Association.

·        MANY THANKS go to all the VYBA board members, parents, Bitter Ends and friends who made this regatta so successful. Chairperson Celeste Patete did a masterful job organizing and carrying out the myriad of details that come with a project such as this. Appreciation also goes to John Whitehead and Steve Purcell who pulled our bigger trailers to Englewood and back.

·        MISCELLANEOUS

1.      If there is someone out there in our listening audience who knows how to doctor items electrical or electronic, please contact Jabbo. We have a sick megaphone.

2.      Correction: Last week, we reported that Cara Patete and Amanda Watson teamed up to take third in a high school regatta in North Carolina. We said there were 12 races against 17 other teams. However, the official results showed that there were 24 races against 10 other teams. High winds forced their scores to be somewhat higher on the second day.

3.      Portsmouth skippers need to be ready to go at 1 p.m. From now on, if anyone leaves the dock after 2 p.m., they shall be scored “did not start” for the day. It doesn’t make sense for a sailor to be first to arrive at the Pram Shed and last to set sail. Taking an hour to change clothes and powder your nose is too long. Presumably you are here to sail, not to chit-chat.`

4.      Mr. Tim Bretz, father of Alison Bretz, died unexpectedly last month. Alison is a former sailor and instructor here. She was in charge of our summer program in 2006.

5.      The Venice Yacht Club is hosting a Kentucky Derby party on May 1, beginning at 4:30 and proceeds from some activities will go to VYBA. Sailors and parents are invited to join the fun.

6.      Michelle Thomas, Bryan White and Blake Waldron will be our learn to sail instructors.