TELL TALES NO. 10 (Dec. 13, 2007)

• VYBA had two boats in Venice's annual Christmas boat parade and several of our sailors were aboard Jim Liston's boat or John Thomas' vessel. Many thanks go to those gentleman for providing their sailboats and to all those who helped decorate the boats and the Pram Shed.

• Any Green Fleet parents who would like to ride with John Dexter aboard his Cape Dory "Katie" on Saturday mornings are cordially invited. John has served as race committee for years.

• US Sailing's National Sail Training Symposium will be at St. Petersburg's Hilton Hotel on Jan. 9-13. John Thomas and Jabbo Gordon will be attending, but parents are also invited to go.

• Our sailors did well at the annual Thanksgiving Regatta which was held at Tampa's Davis Island Yacht Club the weekend following Thanksgiving. Cara Patete finished sixth out of 19 in the Opti Red fleet, missing a plaque by only one place. Paul Kreider was 17th. In the Blue fleet, Alicia Muscato came in 12th out of 16. In the overall RWB standings, Cara was 8th out of 41 while Paul was 33rd and Alicia 34th. VYBA's Green fleeter were pretty close together as Garrett Lawlor took 21st, Stefen Johnson was 23rd, Andrew Sosa, 24th and Sami Tornese, 28th out of 43 competitors. The Green fleet had nine races while the RWB did eight races. Both fleets had a throwout.

• St. Petersburg's Valentine's Day Regatta, which is actually on Feb. 9-10, is our next big regatta. The Notice of Race is posted on the bulletin board and a sign-up sheet is on the TV cabinet door.

• To review VYBA's policy on regatta attendance, there are only four regattas that the board of directors regards as special. This means we don't have sailing in Venice even if the minimum number of sailors fails to sign up for the regatta. Those four are the Sarasota's Labor Day Regatta and Sailfest, Fort Myers' River Romp and our own Jabbo Gordon Regatta which we hold in Englewood. Two regattas are done. Our regatta will be Mar. 22, the day before Easter, and Sailfest, which used to be the first weekend in May, will be the first weekend in April.

• Saturday, Dec. 15, will be sailing as usual. However, on Dec. 22 and 29, we will have optional sailing, which runs from 1000 to 1500. On Dec. 22, though, we will have a special treat for you because Bill Ward, an assistant coach at St. Mary's College in Maryland, will give a team racing clinic. He will review the rules and then go out for some practice races on Roberts Bay.

• Jan. 5 will be regular sailing, but there is a chance we may try to attend the Snowbird Regatta at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron on Jan. 12. More information will be coming on that possibility.

• Opti sailors: please put your sails in the correct slot and make certain that the gooseneck (yoke) on the boom is around the mast. Leaving it loose on the side is hard on the sail, mast and boom. Also your blades (rudder AND daggerboard) go in your boat, not in the racks inside or worse, outside up against the Pram Shed. This is part of taking care of your gear.

• 420 sailors: your sails are to be rolled, placed in the sail bag and placed in the overhead area where the Opti regatta sales are stowed. The bags are numbered, so make sure the sail number matches the boat number. The spinnaker poles go behind the water tank next to the cubbies. Please do not leave them or the sails in the boats because the covers leak.

• If anyone needs to use some VYBA equipment, please put it back where you found it.

• When you are at regattas, try to keep your equipment together so that your life jacket, for example, does not wind up in a different car although we usually bring some spare equipment.