Opening Day Team/Match Racing

Opening Day Team Racing & Match Racing Demo A Success

A group of 30 sailors came together to hold a team racing and match racing demonstration for the crowd attending opening day. Dressed in snow-white pinnies and hats, Team St. Francis battled for bragging rights. Dressed in bright red pinnies and hats, Team Ronstan was ready to test the resolve of the team in an afternoon of sailing that included two match races, and five team races.

Starting off spectators were treated to a match race sailed by members Shawn Bennett, representing Team STFYC, and Russ Silvestri sailing for Team Ronstan. Out of the gate there was action with the boats charging to within inches of each other and umpires initiating a penalty against Shawn Bennett and his team of Dana Riley and Peter Lane. With a penalty on his competitor, Russ Silvestri and his team of Kristin Maberry and JB Cianciarculo were sitting in a comfortable lead when Bennett’s team executed a perfect spinnaker take down at the leeward mark, passing Team Ronstan. From there Team St. Francis opened up a large enough lead to complete their penalty turn before Ronstan could catch up, giving them the win for the match.

The umpires were very busy giving penalties in the second match. Team St. Francis took it on the chin and was levied two penalties before the starting gun even went off. Russ Silvestri and his team were able to take the win in the match leaving the series tied at 1 win each, to be settled later in the grill room.

On to team racing and the true spectator delight. A six-boat fleet comprised of two teams of three charged up the city front sailing their J/22s within inches of the rocks and the grill room crowd that was cheering them on. The course was a “Z” pattern that put the leeward mark within sight of the crowd assembled on the race deck and what a show it was. Often times the teams were so heavily involved with setting “mark traps” and attempting to get a foul on their competitors that it took several minutes before any boat decided to actually round the mark. The boat handling demonstrated by the sailors was fantastic and many spectators commented that it was the most thrilling sailing they had ever witnessed. The crowd was kept current on what as happening on the water thanks to the superb commentary from our own John Callahan.

For many members, watching the match racing and team racing was the first tangible proof the club has enthusiastically moved forward with the purchase of J/22s for our own club boats program. While the boats sailed on opening day were borrowed from Cal Maritime, our own J/22s will look very similar and will begin arriving from the builder in June. The club has purchased seven boats and is currently looking to fund two additional boats with member donations.

Get Involved
You can learn how to match race and team race by attending the clinics being offered at St. Francis in 2010. Each clinic consists of 3 Saturday on-the water sessions along with evening classrooms the night before. Sign up online at the links below and the cost is $125 per person.

Excitement Builds
Judging by the crowd’s excitement, it’s clear that team racing and match racing are going to be a big hit with spectators and sailors alike. Don’t miss this chance to participate in or watch exciting sailing.

Links to online entry in the team racing and match racing clinics:
https://event-manager.compete-at.com/stfrancisyc/TR101

https://event-manager.compete-at.com/stfrancisyc/MR101

Link to photos of the event provided by Kristen Lane:
http://gallery.me.com/brickhouse539#100051

Stay tuned for more reports!

St. Francis Team Racing

Jackson Cup Information/Photos

Check out the Boston Yacht Club website for photos and information from the regatta.

http://www.bostonyachtclub.net/Racing/JacksonCup.htm

There are some great shots from the racing and the banquet.

St. Francis Team Racing

Jackson Cup, Day 2 Wrapup

Apologies for the delay in posting updates and results from Jackson Cup. The quick rotation format did not allow for frequent blog posts.

After the last blog posting on Day 1, St. Francis sailed two more races against Royal Thames YC and Corinthian YC. Both races were very hotly contested but unfortunately, both ended up with losses for St. Francis. St. Francis ended up the day still in a tie for 4th place with Eastern Yacht Club and Southern Yacht Club. What a battle of a regatta!

Saturday night was the traditional banquet for competitors with a great spread of food and festivities. After a great meal, the traditional introduction of teams and joke telling began. Mark Adams introduced Team St. Francis and told everyone how excited we were about getting our own fleet of boats and having events like this in the bay area which was received with a large round of applause by all teams in attendance.

Sunday of the regatta began with an 830 harbor start with the first warning shortly afterwards. It was an early start but it was perfect because the conditions were great. St. Francis had 3 races to go in the second round robin against Eastern Yacht Club, Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, and Southern Yacht Club. If we won all 3, we were in the final four. If we lost one we still had a chance but needed some help. As it turned out, we ended up losing the first two races to Eastern and Seawanhaka in very close and exciting action so we were eliminated from the Final Four along with Southern Yacht Club. Our final race against Southern was another barn burner with us squeaking out a great victory. After the race we knew that there might be a hearing on the race as one of the Southern boats had a breakdown during the race. They won the breakdown hearing and were granted a resail. In another hot race Southern Yacht Club had a great start and previaled in the race.

The format called for a knockout series of the top 4 teams followed by a potential knockout for the bottom 4 teams. Unfortunatley the event ran out of time so only the top 4 knockout series happened and the event for St. Francis was over. In the first semi-final, Royal Thames Yacht Club eliminated New York Yacht Club and Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club eliminated Eastern Yacht Club in the other. In the petit-finals, New York got the better of Eastern for 3rd place. In the finals, Royal Thames accomplished the seemingly impossible and handed Seawanhaka their only losses of the regatta and took the title.

Final Results:
1st: Royal Thames Yacht Club (London, UK)
2nd: Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club (Oyster Bay, NY)
3rd: New York Yacht Club (New York, NY)
4th: Eastern Yacht Club (Marblehead, MA)
5th: Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans, LA)
6th: St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco, CA)
7th: Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead, MA)
8th: Boston Yacht Club (Marblehead, MA)

The Jackson Cup is a 3 on 3 team race in Sonars at Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA. Sailing for Team St. Francis is Mark Adams with crew Julie Papanek and Rolf Kaiser, Holt Condon with Bill Dana and Ethan Doyle and Harrison Turner with crew Alexis Zebrowski, Jennifer Dunbar, and Cindy Keppel.

St. Francis Team Racing

Jackson Cup Day 1 Mid-Day Report

Hello team racing fans! This is Team St. Francis Yacht Club coming to you from Marblehead, MA for the 2010 Jackson Cup at Boston Yacht Club.

After a brief skippers meeting, the racing got underway around 9:30 am in a great 8 knot Northwesterly breeze. St. Francis started out strong with wins against hometown Boston Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club (after they sailed through the restricted starting line). After that, we sailed against Royal Thames Yacht Club from London, UK and lost a heartbreaker to the gents from across the pond. Our next race we handily beat another hometown club Corinthian Yacht Club. We concluded the round robin with losses to Eastern Yacht Club (Marblehead, MA), Seahawankea Yacht Club (Oyster Bay, NY) and Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans, LA). After the first round robin, we are currently 3-4 but in a 3 way tie for 4th place.

Around 1 PM we rolled immediately into round robin 2 where we repeated the same schedule but switched boats. We started with solid wins against Boston YC and New York YC and currently sit 5-4.

The Jackson Cup is a 3 on 3 team race in Sonars at Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA. Sailing for Team St. Francis is Mark Adams with crew Julie Papanek and Rolf Kaiser, Holt Condon with Bill Dana and Ethan Doyle and Harrison Turner with crew Alexis Zebrowski, Jennifer Dunbar, and Cindy Keppel.

Stay tuned for photos and more updates from the water!

St. Francis Team Racing

Preparing for Jackson Cup

After a weekend off, the St. Francis Yacht Club Team Racers are preparing for Jackson Cup. Jackson Cup is a 3 on 3 team race in sonars (without spinnakers) held at Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA. The event has drawn international participation as the Royal Thames Yacht Club (London, UK) will be there along with New York Yacht Club, Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead, MA), Eastern Yacht Club (Marblehead, MA), defending champions Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club (Oyster Bay, NY), and our good friends Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans, LA). The St. Francis team for the event is: Mark Adams, Jennifer Dunbar, Bill Dana, Holt Condon, Rolf Kaiser, Ethan Doyle, Harrison Turner, Cindy Keppel, Alexis Zebrowski, Julie Papanek and Shannon Bonds. Most of us will be flying out Thursday night on the redeye and practice on Friday. Racing begins on Saturday, April 24th and will run through Sunday.

Check out the Boston Yacht Club website for updates as well as this blog.

St. Francis Team Racing

2010 Baldwin Cup Photos

Here are some photos from the 2010 Baldwin Cup, Saturday and Sunday

Racing action from Saturday

A steel drum band provided some background music while we raced.

The boat for the weekend, a Harbor 20

Team St. Francis Yacht Club: (back row, left to right) Harrison Turner Scott Sellers, John Collins, Edward Conrad, Shawn Bennett. (front row, left to right) Geoff McDonald, Avery Patton, Kristin Maberry.

More photos are available at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/107669657077078882316/2010BaldwinCup?authkey=Gv1sRgCKDNh7LRvLP1yQE&feat=directlink

St. Francis Team Racing

Baldwin Cup, Final Day Recap

The final day of the 2010 Baldwin Cup at Newport Harbor Yacht Club greeted the sailors with grey skies and a great 8-10 knot breeze. Racing got started on time at 10am and the racing was intense. Every team has grown over the course of the regatta to a point where there were no easy races. Top to bottom, the competition was fierce.

St. Francis started the day tied for 4th with 10 points and had 4 races left (worth 2 points each). In order to secure a spot in the Semi-Finals, we either had to win all 4 of our races or win 3 of the 4 races and hope for a little bit of help from other teams.

Our first race of the day was against Rochester Yacht Club. This team started the regatta off a bit slow but quickly caught up by pulling off surprise victories against New York Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club. Unfortunately, they got the jump on us too as we ended up losing the race to them. This put us in a very tough spot to make the Semi-Finals but there was still some hope.

Our second race of the day was against Boston Yacht Club. Where we had a relatively easy time against them in the first round robin, Boston came out guns blazing in this race. It was a very tight race that we ended up pulling out just at the finish line.

The third race of the day promised to be a barn burner against our friends from across the bay, San Francisco Yacht Club. Not only was this race for bragging rights, it was for at least 5th place overall in the standings. The losing team in this race was eliminated from a potential spot in the Semi-Finals. The race was intense with the lead changing multiple times. We got one of the San Francisco boats to foul at the last mark and were able to isolate another boat to finish the race with a winning 3,4,5,6 combination to San Francisco's 1,2,7,8. The tiebreaker for the even scores is the team with the 1st place loses the race.

In between the San Francisco race and our final race of Round Robin 2 was a small break in our schedule which enabled us to watch the action and root for some teams that would help us get into the Semi-Finals. Unfortunately, we did not get the help we needed and were eliminated from the Semi-Finals just before our last race of Round Robin 2.

With nothing to lose, we went into our final race against Southern Yacht Club. The race was another tight one (as they all were, across the board). We held a dominant 2,3,4,7 around the leeward mark and did a great job of zone coverage up the final beat to take out Southern Yacht Club.

Our regatta over, we then took to the spectator seats on the dock to watch the Semi-Finals and Finals. In the first semi, Southern Yacht Club was defeated by New York Yacht Club 2 wins to 0. In the second semi, top seed Newport Harbor defeated Seattle Yacht Club 2-0. This set up a thrilling final between NHYC and NYYC. New York ended up winning the finals 3 races to 1 to repeat as Baldwin Cup Champions. Congratulations to New York Yacht Club!

Final Standings:
1) New York Yacht Club
2) Newport Harbor Yacht Club
3) Southern Yacht Club
4) Seattle Yacht Club
5) St. Francis Yacht Club
(I did not get the full final standings but will get them soon)

St. Francis Yacht Club Team Racing had a good event and grew immensely during the racing. We know that we had the talent to compete for the overall win but just had one too many stumbles during the round robins to keep us out of the Semi-Finals. We would like to thank Newport Harbor Yacht Club for putting on a fantastic event and Phil and Peggy Koen for hosting some of our sailors. The next event for St. Francis is the Jackson Cup in 2 weeks (April 24-25) at Boston Yacht Club.

Stay tuned for photos from the event!

St. Francis Team Racing

The 2010 Baldwin Cup is a 4 on 4 team racing event at Newport Harbor Yacht Club sailed in Harbor 20s. Sailing for St. Francis were: Scott Sellers/Geoff McDonald, Shawn Bennet/John Collins, Edward Conrad/Avery Patton, and Harrison Turner/Kristin Maberry.

Baldwin Cup, Banquet Recap

On Saturday night, the Newport Harbor Yacht Club held the traditional regatta banquet. Dress was "Yachting Formal" (blazers and ties) and the spread put on by NHYC was impressive. Each team had a table (some had two tables) spread across the ballroom at NHYC. The food at the dinner was amazing but the atmosphere was the highlight of the night. The fine folks at Southern Yacht Club started off the evening with a toast to the rest of the competitors, the umpires, the host club, and everyone else involved with the regatta. The night then went into the infamous joke telling that is always a hit at these regattas. After Southern told a hilarious joke, we were interrupted by Captain Jack Sparrow from the Disney movie series The Pirates of the Caribbean. Captain Jack went around the room, toasting each team and fostering a festive environment. The event was a lot of fun and definitely a highlight of the regatta. Pictures (hopefully) to come.

Stay tuned for the final day recap!

St. Francis Team Racing

Baldwin Cup, Day 2 Recap

What a great day of racing in Newport Harbor. The morning clouds over the harbor quickly gave way to sunny skies and a great 7 knot breeze that stayed with us all day. Newport Harbor went all out for this event with commentary from fellow team racers and a steel drum band providing a festive atmosphere that you could really feel out on the course.

For the St. Francis team, we started out with a race against our neighbors on the bay, San Francisco Yacht Club. This races was very hotly contested (they all seem to be) with San Francisco pulling out a victory right in the last 10 feet of the course. A tough race for St. Francis but a great showing by SFYC.

Our second race of the day saw us against Southern Yacht Club. This one was over as it started as the St. Francis team struggled to get off of the starting line and Southern sailed away with a comfortable win. After this race, our first round robin was complete and we found ourselves 4-5 for 4 points and tied for 5th.

This is where things get interesting. The races in the second round robin are worth 2 points so just about every team is still in the regatta. St. Francis caught fire early and started out with 3 solid wins over San Diego Yacht Club, New York Yacht Club, and Balboa Yacht Club. Our last two races of the day were barn burners with Seattle Yacht Club and the hosts, Newport Beach Yacht Club. As we stepped off of the boats after the last two races, we were told by the commentators that those were the best two races of the day. Unfortunately both were losses for St. Francis but exciting races none the less!

So as of now, St. Francis sits with 10 points and is tied for 4th. Tomorrow we will complete the round robin and move into Semi-Finals and Finals if time permits. Stay tuned!

St. Francis Team Racing

Photos from Baldwin Cup, Day 1

Photos from Day 1 of the 2010 Baldwin Cup:

Baldwin Cup Day 1 Recap

The St. Francis Yacht Club Team Racers finished day 1 of the Baldwin Cup at 4-3. The racing was very exciting and often came down to the last 100 yards of the race. This along with the finish line 50 feet off of the rotation dock provided some great spectating.

Race 7:
Our final race of the day was against Boston Yacht Club. Boston came out of blocks determined to get our boats in bad positions but after some great boathandling in the Harbor 20s and some nifty positioning we ended up rounding the mark in a winning combination. Around the leeward mark Boston got the jump on one of our boats and were in a winning combination for a bit but some great team racing and communication allowed our team to claw back and end up winning with a solid combination.

We then waited on the dock as we were out for a few rotations. Hors d' oeuvres and Arnold Palmers (iced tea and lemonades) were served as we waited for the next rotation. At 530, the racing was called for the day as the social atmosphere began to heat up. We partook in the festivities including an awesome Burger Bash with the membership of Newport Harbor Yacht Club.

Tomorrow we hope to complete the first round robin (two races left) and then another full round robin. Our team is very happy with our positioning as our goal is to be in the top 4 to make it to the Semi-Finals. It should be an exciting day of racing provided the wind cooperates as it did today.

Stay tuned to the blog for updates and photos.

St. Francis Team Racing

Day 1 Baldwin Cup, Mid-Day Report

Hello race fans! St. Francis Yacht Club is off and running in the 2010 Baldwin Cup at Newport Harbor Yacht Club. So far we have completed 6 races and currently stand with a 3-3 record. Below is a quick description of our races.

Race 1:
Our first race of the day had us paired against San Diego Yacht Club. Off the starting line, things were looking good for us as we sailed towards the windward mark. Half way up the first beat, there was a foul on San Diego which resulted in their boat becoming disabled. We sailed on and finished with a 1,2,3,6 for the win but were not scored with the win due to the breakdown. After a jury hearing, it was determined that the San Diego boat's breakdown was due to their own actions so our win stands! 1-0

Race 2:
Our second race pitted us against the very good team from our friends at New York Yacht Club. New York had a great start and was able to control the action for much of the race. Some good moves got us back into the action but ultimately we lost the race. 1-1

Race 3:
The third race was against another local team in Balboa Yacht Club. They were fast in the Harbor 20s but some good positioning and good speed from our team enabled us to sail to a solid victory. 2-1

Race 4:
So far, this race has been the highlight of the regatta. It was against Seattle Yacht Club. The combinations changed so much during the course of the race that it was hard for us to keep track of who was ahead and who was behind. The race came down to the last 10 feet of the course where two boats finished within a second of each other. When we got to the dock we saw that it was Seattle that got the better of us but both teams had no idea who won the race. 2-2

Race 5:
Race 5 was against the very impressive team from Newport Harbor Yacht Club. We knew this was going to be a tough race and it did not disappoint. Somehow we were able to neutralize their speed advantage and make it a tight race but we ended up losing to the undefeated NHYC team. 2-3

Race 6:
Race 6 was exciting at the start, as multiple boats were over early but it quickly became a solid combination for St. Francis with some great downwind positioning. Add some good zone coverage on the last beat and we finished with a 1,2,3,4 against Rochester Yacht Club. 3-3

Stay tuned for more updates!

St. Francis Team Racing

Boggity Boggity Boogity... Let go racing boys!

That quote is one that Darrell Waltrip utters as 43 cars take the green flag at a NASCAR race.

Sticking with the NASCAR theme of the weekend, the boats are leaving "pit row" and heading out to the race course for the first flight of races. The breeze is 8 knots out of the SSE and looks to be holding. St. Francis Yacht Club will have its first race in flight 3 against San Diego Yacht Club. Looks to be an exciting day on the water.

Check for updates throughout the day!

St. Francis Team Racing

Baldwin Cup Practice

The St. Francis Yacht Club Team Racers arrived at Newport Harbor yacht club to a festive environment and some teams out on the water sailing. See the photo below of the NASCAR themed banner hanging at the club.

After assembling the team from various airports and cars, we went out on the water for practice. We had a great practice where we familaized ourselves with the boats and then did some simple team racing drills. After about an hour the wind died down so we headed back to the dock for a quick debrief. We are very excited to start the regatta tomorrow morning. Stay tuned to the blog for updates and photos!

St. Fracnis Yacht Club Team Racing

Here are some photos from practice:

Getting Ready for Baldwin Cup

The St. Francis Team Racers are getting ready to head to Newport Beach, CA for the 2010 Baldwin Cup April 9-11. The event is a 4 on 4 team race in Harbor 20s with a crew of 2. Sailing for St. Francis Yacht Club are Scott Sellers, Geoff McDonald, Shawn Bennett, John Collins, Harrison Turner, Kristin Maberry, Edward Conrad, and Avery Patton.

The competition at the event will be fierce with teams representing New York Yacht Club, Balboa Yacht Club, San Diego Yacht Club, Seattle Yacht Club, Southern Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, and hosts Newport Harbor Yacht Club.

The team will travel down to Newport Beach to practice on Thursday before the racing which will take place Friday through Sunday. Check the blog for updates from the water and post racing debriefs!

St. Francis Team Racing

Southern Soiland Cup Wrap-up

On November 7-8, 2009, the St. Francis Yacht Club Team Racing Team traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana and the Southern Yacht Club for the 2009 Southern Soiland Cup. The annual event is a 3 on 3 team race in Flying Scots sailed right out in front of the Southern Yacht Club on Lake Ponchartrain. Sailing for St. Francis Yacht Club were Holt Condon, Logan Jager, Natasha Baker, Edward Conrad, Rolf Kaiser, Avery Patton, Harrison Turner, Matt Gregory, and Cindy Keppel.

St. Francis Yacht Club finished in 5th place and won the Silver division in this highly competitive event. Unfortunately, the regatta ran out of time before St. Francis could advance to the Final Four. The event was won by the host, Southern Yacht Club.
Results and information can be found here.

Check out the write up from the Southern Soiland Cup at Southern Yacht Club written by St. Francis Yacht Club member Kimball Livingston.

A special thanks to the Conrad family for hosting some of our sailors and to the Southern Yacht Club for putting on a fantastic event in a beautiful new clubhouse.

Until next regatta,

St. Francis Team Racing