TELL TALES NO. 11 (Dec. 19)

• Going back to Tampa's Thanksgiving Regatta, we neglected to mention that some of our alumni did fairly well. Michelle Thomas took third and Christi Frost finished fourth in the eight-boat Laser 4.7 competition. Molly McKinney came in 17th out of 21 in the Laser Radial class.

• In the Junior Olympics Regatta at Jensen Beach on Dec. 8-9, Michelle grabbed third place out of 25 Laser 4.7's. Abby Featherstone of Sarasota's Youth Sailing Program captured top honors.

• Ten sailors have signed up already but this is another invitation to the team racing clinic at the Pram Shed this coming Saturday. Bill Ward will be the keynote speaker, instructor and coach. His school won the national team racing championship when he was in high school in California. Bill has coached at Washington College and Georgetown and is currently an assistant coach at St. Mary's College in Maryland. He also has coached the US team in the Pan-Am games. Since Saturday is an optional sailing day because of the Christmas holidays, the hours will be 1000 to 1500. This gives you a little more time to sleep, but there will be a lunch break. So bring yours.

• On our second Saturday during the holidays, Dec. 29, plans are afoot to have a windsurfing session. Coach John Thomas and George Gabriel working on that possibility. Stay tuned.

• Jan. 5 and Jan. 12 will be regular sailing at the usual times. However, Green Fleet sailors will be allowed to stay in the afternoons and work with the RWB Fleet if they feel so inclined.

• Jan. 19 is on the schedule for a regular sailing day, but the Southeastern team racing championships will be in St. Petersburg on Jan. 19-20. Several of our sailors are planning to go.

• Sarasota's Youth Sailing Program once again has moved its Sailfest Regatta from the first weekend in May because of the Optimist team trials which in 2008 will be in Annapolis, Md. However, YSP did not schedule Sailfest to conflict with Sarasota's annual boat show this coming spring, but has chosen the first weekend in April, which may conflict with Mount Dora's event.

• The state 420 regatta is slated for the Sarasota Sailing Squadron on Mar. 29-30, 2008.

• VYBA sailors who would like the new red Venice Sailing Team sweat shirts that John Thomas introduced at the Thanksgiving Regatta should contact Mrs. Celeste Patete. They are $20 each.

• Fall series trophies are in and will be awarded in January. Here are the final scores:

Green Fleet Ð 1, Stephan VerHulst, 16; 2, Aubrey Kahchetoorian, 24.3; 3, Garrett Lawlor, 25; 4, Zack Jordan, 28; 5, Ashlyn Weed, 31; 6. Sami Tornese, 34; 7, Jonathan James, 36; 8, Andrew Sosa, 37; 9, Stefan Johnson, 48.

RWB Fleet Ð 1, Cara Patete, 9.6; 2, Alicia Muscato, 26; 3, Paul Kreider, 31; 4, Chloe Dietrich, 39; 5, Evan Langer, 39; 6, Tyler Thorpe, 43; 7, Marissa Phillips, 47.

Portsmouth Fleet Ð 1, Bryan White, 13; 2, Kyle D'Arcangelis, 16; 3, Mallory Phillips, 22; 4, Sarah Vogelsong, 22; 5, Jackie Sims, 24; 6, Amanda Watson, 27; 7, Samuel Dolby, 29.

All scores include a throw-out. Aubrey and Cara have decimal points in their scores because they received regatta points (an average of their other scores) when they attended the Naples Cup Regatta on Nov. 10-11. In the RWB Fleet, Chloe and Evan both had 39 points, but Chloe won the tie-breaker by having a second place finish. Sarah and Mallory both had 22 points in the Portsmouth Fleet and while Sarah would have won the tie breaker by having a win, she was ineligible for a trophy because she attended only four of the nine sessions. Winters series standings, computed after the first three weeks, will be posted in the next "Tell Tales".