Winter Review JibSheet

JibSheet

SAILING NEWS FROM THE CAROLINA YACHT CLUB - WINTER REVIEW

50 East Bay Street, Charleston, SC 29401 | www.carolinayachtclub.com

Kate O’Donnell Named CYC Sailing Director

Kate began sailing as a kid in Connecticut, where she
spent her summers learning and racing with her sisters.
She fell in love with the sport again in college where she
helped found the Gamecock Sailing program. Kate is a
graduate of the University of South Carolina with a
Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in finance.
She is an active sailor and can always be found on or near
the water, whether coaching, volunteering, or
racing herself. Most recently, she has spent time
working with Quantum to develop her hands-on
knowledge of sail maintenance and care, as well as with
Charleston Community Sailing to create programming
and promote access to the water for the Charleston
community. She is excited to be returning to Carolina
Yacht Club to help bring our sailing programs to the next
level and continue to foster a love of the sport
throughout our community.

Meet Kate Drop-In

Friday, February 22
4-6 p.m. | Ft. Sumter Ballroom
Member Charge Bar | Complimentary Hors d’oeuvres

Parents, Members & Junior Sailors, come out and meet our new Sailing Director
Kate O’Donnell and hear her plans for the 2019 sailing season on our water-
front. Please stop by and say hello!
Following topics will be discussed:
Spring Sailing info
Summer Sailing info
Introducing Paddleboards & Kayaks
Ladies Sailing

VX One North American Championship Nov. 2-4

By: Reggie Fairchild

Alexander Surfs to VX One NA Championship

Awesome downwind planing on Sunday capped off 3 days of terrific racing between 29 boats at the VX
One North Americans in Charleston, SC. The regatta kicked off with boats from as far away as Toronto
and Dallas participating in practice starts and races on Thursday.
On Friday, Tommy Harken’s excellent Race Committee team, held 4 races lasting about 40 minutes
each. Foreshadowing things to come, Chris Alexander from Gulfport Yacht Club, took first in 2 of those
races. The Carolina Yacht Club finished off the day with a tasty shrimp boil dinner for the class under
the club’s Boathouse.
With lighter northerly breezes and a strong flood tide, there were 3 races on Saturday starting out by
Fort Sumter. After racing the competitors heard a chalk talk hosted by the new distributors for the boat:
Sailing, Inc.’s Bill Wiggins and Vela Sailing’s Rod Favela.
Sailing on Sunday was moved up 30 minutes to take advantage of the predicted weather. With the
breeze on, it was key to start with speed, get clear air, hike the boat as flat as possible and put the bow
down in order to go fast forward. Local Bill Wiggins on SendIt led around the first mark and popped
the kite for thrilling downwind action before happily settling for second in race one. Sailing in the VX
One for the first time this weekend, 2016 J/22 World Champion Mike Marshall learned quickly. He took
a 1 and 2 on the final day to move his team in second place overall. Ultimately, he bowed to Chris
Alexander’s experience in the VX. With John Bowden and Caroline Main onboard, Chris scored just 19
points over 9 races with one throwout.
This 19-foot sport boat is building momentum, with 2 new distributors and rapidly growing fleets from
South Carolina to Toronto. Since CYC member Jerry Callahan bought the first Charleston VX One 18
months ago, the Charleston fleet has grown to 4 at CYC, 6 in Charleston and 10 in South Carolina. See
Reggie Fairchild, Mark Marenakos or Jerry Callahan if you're interested in joining the class. Next year’s
North American’s are scheduled for Newport, RI.

Caroline Main Helps Capture 2018 VX One North American Championship

By: Eric Main
Past CYC Henry Clay Robertson award winner,
Caroline Main helped capture the 2018 VX One North
American Championship for her boat at the regatta
hosted by Carolina Yacht Club, on Nov 2-4th.
Congratulations to Christopher Alexander of
Gulfport, MS and local Charleston sailor John Bowden
who captured the Championship with
Caroline. Caroline’s sailing skills were honed over
many years in our CYC Youth Sailing Program. She
served as an CYC sailing instructor for many summers.
Caroline is daughter of CYC member Eric Main.

O’Pen Bic Midwinter Chamionship Nov. 17 & 18

By: Cathy Cooper
Regatta Chairman Bo Blessing oversaw a series of dynamic and sporting races as well as social events

for both local & traveling Bic Youth Sailors.
P.R.O. Walter Prause & M.C. Chris van Raalten set up courses (as well as the fun, spontaneous
mark-rounding challenges that have become signature to the Bic class) in breezes that ranged from

6-10 knots. The weekend marked another successful CYC Youth Event and our Club’s
second time hosting this Regatta. Note: U-13 Awards refer to individuals “Under 13” years of age.

Left to right: Lachlan Duer “True Grit Award”, Olin Guck 3rd Place Overall, Ashton Loring Top Female &
2nd Place Overall, Sabrina Stark 5th Place Overall & 2nd Place U-13, Arabella Duer 3rd Place Overall & 3rd

Place U-13, Elliott Lipp 1st Place Overall & 1st Place U-13

Regatta Chairman Bo Blessing awards CYC’s very own
Elliott Lipp with the First Place Overall &
U-13 (Under 13) trophies.

Amy Woodard (JIYC) wins The 2018 Carolina Yacht Club Ladies Cup

By: Guy Mossman

Sailing Committee Chairman, David Silliman on behalf of The overall positions at the start of the last race were;
Commodore Harry Jones, welcomed the sailors to the 2nd Amy 1rst (6pts), returning 2017 champion Cathy S.
annual CYC Ladies Cup. The good natured and competitive 2nd (7pts), Naomi 3rd (8pts) and Cathy L 4th (9pts).
atmosphere was very evident as he assured them the This set the last race up as possible regatta win for any
commodore had personally ordered the banner conditions of the top three boats. PRO Blessing kept a keen eye
and wished them all good luck in the event. on the line during prestart maneuverings and when
Principle Race Officer, Mr. Walter Blessing (14yr old) detailed Finn Marenakos (11yr old) struck the class flag a
the course location, the expected tide and wind conditions. smile was visible on the PRO’s face as he gave the “ALL
He did an especially good job, channeling Sr CYC PRO Mr. CLEAR”. Cathy S came out swinging at the start, on
Tommy Harken, as he “cautioned” competitor’s that he would the line with speed and won it with Naomi, Amy and
be personally watching the starting line. Cathy L just below her. Naomi was first to tack to port,
The skippers and crew hailed ducking Cathy S. Cathy S then tacked up on Naomi’s
from a variety of sailing
venues including the local hip heading right and Amy and
Charleston Harbor yacht Cathy L. continuing to the left.
clubs as well as Charleston The two sides came together,
Community Sailing and the tacked away then converged again
College of Charleston. One at the top mark. Rounding order
team actually imported her the first time up was; Naomi first
sister from Europe 10 hrs. by about 4 boat lengths, Cathy S.
before the event to round & Amy 2 and 3, rounding within
out the 4 person crew. a boat length of each other and
The .6 mile race course was Cathy L 4. A finish in this order
set about ¼ mile south of would have been a 3-way point tie
Castle Pinckney on an East- for first place with Naomi wining
West bearing. The courses sailed were windward / leeward by tie breaker. This really put
twice around, no offset mark and finish back through the the pressure on Amy and Cathy
start line. PRO Blessing got his line set and the first race off S. Naomi’s lead kept increasing
right on time. The 12-14 kt westerly breeze was fairly steady making it unlikely either could
across the course all day with more puffs near the top mark. get to her but the real race was if Amy could get
The incoming current was more a factor in the first two races past Cathy S. The boats got to the top mark last time
sweeping boats towards the line. During the first start, the around with Naomi in first (read: gone) and with Amy
boats got a little crowded at the pin end trying to prevent getting past Cathy S but overlapped at the mark. Both
being OCS, with Naomi Van den Bergh and Cathy Lipp boats had jibs wing and wing with skippers working
needing to bail out at about 30 sec. Amy Woodard and crew hard to stay in sync with their trimmers. Amy took
seemed to have the timing down and current push figured the right on the way down and Cathy S dove inside
and won the start cleanly. Amy W and Cathy Swanson tacked to take the left. At the finish with Jib trimmers fully
soon after the start towards the right side of the course while extended on the wing it was Amy Woodward and her
Naomi and Cathy L. continued left. The top mark rounding crew by less than 3 feet!
had Amy in 1rst followed closely by Naomi then Cathy L and Final results:
Cathy S. The 2nd time around kept the same order with Amy 1st-Amy Woodward, Jess Didyk, Mary Corbett,
finishing 1rst , Naomi 2nd, Cathy S. 3rd and Cathy L. 4th. Katy Perrin
Race two and three also had Amy wining the start but with a 2nd - Naomi Van den Bergh, Logan Hankel,
juggling of the finishes. The finish for race 2 was Cathy Lipp Foya Lazare, Aurelie Van den Bergh
1, Cathy S. 2, Naomi 3 and Amy 4 and the finish for race 3 was 3rd- Cathy Swanson, Rebekah Unger, Nancy Lucas,
Amy 1, Cathy S. 2, Naomi 3 and Cathy L 4. Carrie Metts
4th- Cathy Lipp, Catie Yeager, Wendy McKenzie,

Julia Lines

Spring Sailing is Here

Our Spring sailing season will begin March 1st with many of your favorite classes
returning –
Our Jr. Race Team will be practicing Tuesday/Thursday afternoons and Saturday
mornings. This is a racing program intended for intermediate/advanced sailors
aged 10-18. Practices will be held as specified by fleet choice March-May. We highly
encourage participation in more than one fleet – branch out and try something
new!
This season we will be training a number of new teams on the water; introducing a
Youth Keelboat Team in our J/22s that will compete in local Saturday racing and a
Laser team coached by local laser guru Lucas Sawin.
Race Team Schedule
Opti [Thursday 4-6PM] $325 members/$350 guest sponsored
O’pen Bic [Thursday 4-6PM] $325 members/$350 guest sponsored
C420 [Tuesday 4-6PM] $325 members/$350 guest sponsored
Laser [Tuesday 4-6PM] BYOB $200 members/$225 guest sponsored
J/22 [Saturday 10-1PM] $325 members/$350 guest sponsored
Green Means Go
Green Fleet Opti practice will be Tuesday afternoons from 4-6pm. This class is
for our beginner sailors looking to learn the basics and develop their skills on the
water. Great practice for those looking to join our Opti Race Team this summer!
Classes will run March-May and taught by returning instructors Connor Marion
and Brian Baker. Space is limited, reserve your spot today!

Email Kate at [email protected] with any questions.

Ladies Sailing is Back

Classes will resume Tuesday and Thursday
mornings 9-11:30AM. These classes are
for women, by women, with all female
instructors and a supportive learning
environment for new and experienced
sailors alike. First class back is March 5th.
Classes are $25/session for participants and
free for all fleet pass holders.
Please email Kate to sign up.

Fleet Pass

Annual fleet passes are available for purchase for the use of our fleet of J/22’s
– be sure to ask about our pre-rigged services! This is a great way to get out on
the water at your convenience. Bring the family and enjoy an evening cruise or
weekend adventure. Fleet passes are also available for our advanced youth sailors
– the perfect reason to put the screen down and enjoy the company of friends on
our beautiful harbor.

Summer Sailing

Summer Sailing schedule will be out soon. Keep an eye on emails and the website for
more information and how to register.

Meet the Team!

Nate Sucher

Waterfront Director
[email protected]

843-408-3492

Kate O’Donnell

Sailing Director
[email protected]

203-448-8773

Ryan MacDonald

Dockmaster
203-940-1440

Call for Submission

Have some information you think our CYC Sailing Community
would enjoy hearing?

Pictures and/or results from a Regatta you participated in?
Boats and Sailing items for sale you would like to advertise to our Membership?

If you do, send an email to Ashli Bogart at
[email protected] and she will include it in an upcoming Jib Sheet.