US Snipe Sailor Having recently taken the role of National Secretary, I am noticing that there are three levels of planning that exist depending upon one’s role and interest in sailing and the Class. For you weekend warriors / local regatta go-ers, “planning” involves checking on that Saturday morning if you have a crew or don’t have too many house chores to decide if you race. For those who could be categorized as “campaigning” as part of training or aspirations to race at a higher level, you need to check race calendars months Art Rousmaniere in advance. For Fleet Captains, you incoming US National Secretary should be thinking of fleet race planning and fleet building months before your Snipe hits the water because those weekend warriors and campaigners rely on schedules for their own purposes. And for your Board members, the summer’s schedule of national and regional regattas has been set for months thanks to all their work - and we are already looking forward to 2017! I submit to you that it is the misconception or mis-appreciation of these various planning “horizons” where anxiety and frustration occurs. Now (early spring) is the ideal planning season for most of the US fleets, except for the lucky southerners who smile while racing their Snipes when they hear of the rest of the fleets being snow / cold bound. Since January, I have received great feedback from many fleet captains. Some express the dilemma of having not-quite critical mass of sailors in their fleet. And others shared their experiences of things they do / have tried over the years. Below are a few that you may want to consider trying… Expand via outreaching. Mark Williams (Dallas fleet, 45 fleet races in 2015) writes how they encourage participation from other fleets, clubs, college race teams and friends [ed note: the Winchester fleet (54 fleet races in 2015) also has been proactive about reaching out to friends and local Tufts college sailors who have fleet raced loaned Snipes over this past summer]. This results in a wide variety of names in the fleet scores which is good though take care not to get frustrated of how you still may have a small group of core skippers. This requires a core
SCIRA USA 2812 Canon Street San Diego, CA 92106 619-222-0252 Danielle Richards, Executive Administrator danielle@odmsail.com Sherri Campbell, SCIRA Finances sherri@odmsail.com Jerelyn Biehl, SCIRA Executive Director jerelyn@odmsail.com or jerelyn@odmsail.com
fleet energy source such as Dallas’s Gene Soltero, but can involve as little as periodic e-mail updates to a fleet e-mail list that can / should include “friends of the fleet” (i.e. not just paid fleet members). Another method: Mary Buckley from the Lincoln fleet (25 fleet races in 2015) describes how they reached out to the local Young Professionals Group in an attempt to decrease the median age of their fleet. Fifteen “20-30-somethings” attended free clinics over two weekends and much interest was sparked, though as with most investments, no new members yet but they expanded their contact list. Try novelty. Santa Monica’s fleet captain Robert Garlipp says their Classic (wooden) fleet has been a great success to their club. They serve as an alternative to their C15 and Lido 14 fleets for those who are wooden boat aficionados or less interested in the pressure of overly competitive fleets. Be creative. Quassapaug fleet’s (>50 fleet races in 2015) pillar of commitment Joel Zackin reports that they have started fleet races via rabbit starts for years since Whitey (their no-sailing experienced but still dedicated RC) retired many years ago. Even at the large fleets, such as the Medford-Winchester fleet, we only get 4-5 Snipes out from time to time and have no race committee volunteer. In the past, we would cancel racing. We are lucky enough to have permanent marks so we have set the leeward mark as the right end of the line and using an “imaginary” pin as the left end of the line. Courses are simple windward-leewards 1-2 times around. One sailor calls out the starting sequence and logs finishes. For anyone who has played a competitive game where a “regular” referee does not show, the lack of structure can actually bring out the best of all sailors. Make lemonade from lemons. James Rix confesses that the Wichita fleet is struggling. But his is optimistic that a shift to a different site and support from District Governor Steve Tautz by having James host the D2 Districts may draw in some new blood in the area. Keep a sense of humor. Newport (Rochester NY) YC fleet captain Charlie Courtsal acknowledges that his fleet does not appear on the radar much, but they had an average 5 boats in 69 fleet races in 2015 and are the most enduring, socially active and close-knit fleets at the club. They have informal picnics after each day of racing and hold several pot-luck get-togethers at fleet member’s homes. And I love the creative trophies they give, including Most Improved and Tipover trophies, Active Geezers (minimum age of 80) trophy and Grand Masters trophy where both skipper and crew must have Medicare cards. These are all great ideas. Try some out in whatever variations you can concoct. And get back to me with if / how they work. Looking forward to getting back out on the water.
Art.rousmaniere@gmail.com “A ship in harbor is safe – but that is not what ships are built for” – John A. Shedd
Winter 2016
News from the Districts District 1 News Spring is almost here in the Northeast and preparations are underway for a great sailing season in District 1. We are looking forward to hosting several class championships in the district and hopeful that this will allow us to share our hospitality to our snipe friends from across the country and make many new sailing friends. We continue to look for way to build on our strong fleet and membership base through loaner boat programs, fleet development activities, and district support across the area. We are seeing growth in several of these fleets and hope to continue to expand our numbers for more “Serious Sailing, Serious Fun!” Schedule: We have a large number of fleets in the district each hosting 1 or more major annual invitational regattas in additional to regular fleet racing and social activities. This year, there are several major class championships including North American, Junior, and Women’s National championships. To fit these championships into the district’s already full sailing season, we have linked these regattas to run at one of the annual invitation event dates. Look for these events on the SCIRA US website or reach out to the fleet captains for each fleet listed below: Travel Events We are have strong group of members who travel to events in nearby districts and across the country. We are blest with a large number of fleets in other bordering districts within driving distance. We are looking for ways to help get more of our teams out of their home waters for more sailing fun at the many great events offered around the country. There are 14 fleets/venues within driving distance from SSA that all regularly host great snipe events but strong fleets are available around the country and around the world. Best Fleet and District Highpoint Awards We recently reviewed an article about District 2’s new approach last year to encouraging more travel between fleets in the district and plan to copy that effort in District 1 this year. We will be selecting 5 events to encourage our district members to travel to another fleet’s home waters they may not have been to or at least not recently. We will award a best fleet through cumulative scores by members of each fleet at these event. We will also award a best sailor to the skipper and separately, best crew, who collects points at each of these events. We look forward to this pilot and a new way to generate some friendly competition in the district. We have not yet selected the list of events but expect to try to create an easy migration path linking northern and southern fleets passing through events in the middle of the district. Look for follow-up information coming soon.
We look forward to seeing you at one or more of these great venues this year. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or new ideas for growing your fleet or event that you may need help getting off the ground. Sincerely, Chris Ryan cryanwork@hotmail.com
Spring 2016
2
News from the Districts District II News Hello From District II – Its getting warmer and we will be sailing soon. I want to bring everyone up to speed to with what has been happing in District II from my perspective. First of all I encourage everyone to send in their dues. You can submit online at the following address: https://snipeusa.com/joinrenew-online/ 2016 Sailing Schedule We have a great regatta lineup this year and want to thank all the host clubs for organizing their regattas. The 2016 District II Regatta Schedule is as follows:
May 28-29 June 25-26 July 9-10 July 16-17 Sept 10-11 Sept 14-17 Sept 24-25
Southwestern Championship Firewater Norm Tanner District II Championship Missouri Valley Championship US Nationals Rocky Mountain Championship
Best Fleet Award
2016 District II Championships Our District II Champion is being hosted Ninnescah Sailing Club in Wichita Kansas. The regatta is called the Whitecap Regatta and I have attached the NOR with this Newsletter. We can all help the Wichita fleet gain acceptance in the yacht club by having a good showing of Snipes. It is a nice facility and more information about the club can be found on their website: http://www.ninnescah.org/about_us/ Bow Mar is Hitting the Road
The Bow Mar Yacht Club has big travel plans for the Fall/Winter sailing season. They are building a White Rock, Dallas, TX triple trailer that will travel to the Lincoln, NE Nationals in Texas, it will go on to the Halloween Regatta in Atlanta and then Bow Mar, CO go down to Florida for the Winter Ninnescah SA, Wichita, KS Circuit. Having the triple will allow Omaha, NE most of the teams to fly to the various Rush Creek YC, Dallas, TX regattas saving hours of travel. Bow Mar hopes to involve up to 6 different Union Res, Longmont, CO teams throughout the fall/winter regattas.
I hope everyone saw the article in the US Snipe Sailor about the Best Fleet Award. If you did not, then I have attached a link for you to see it. https://issuu.com/ jbiehl/docs/ussnipewinter2016 Bow Mar bought the trophies but would appreciate donations from the other fleets to help spread out the cost. If each fleet did $100 it would cover the total cost but anything is appreciated. Please contact Mike Slouka at mike@omnibend.com or send a check to: Mike Slouka 4925 Larkspur Littleton, CO 80123 This year the 5 regattas that will qualify for the Best Fleet Award will be:
1 2 3 4 5
3
May 28-29 June 25-26 July 16-17 Sept 10-11 Sept 24-25
Southwestern Champs Firewater District II Champs Missouri Valley Rocky Mtn Champ
Other News If you have any other news that you would like passed on to the District, please let me know. See you soon, Steve Tautz District II Governor below: Ninnescah Sailing Association Clubhouse - Kansas
Spring 2016
SCIRA USwww.snipeusa.com Racing Calendar Month
Date
March April May May May June June June June June July July July July August August August August August Sept Sept Sept Oct Oct Oct Oct
27-28 9-10 7 21-22 29 3-5 11-12 18-19 25-26 25-26 9-10 9-10 15-17 16-17 7-8 13-14 20-21 20-21 27-28 3-4 14-17 17-18 1-2 15-16 29-30 29-30
Event
Ironman Regatta Earl Elms Memorial Regatta Ron Payne Memorial Ocean Race Herb Shear Memorial Goombay Regatta North Americans/Colonial Cup Atlantic Coast Championships Jr Atlantic Coast Champs/Jr Nationals Indiano Open Whittemore St John Norm Tanner Memorial Winchester Invitational Women’s Nationals District 2 Championship Make-a-Wish Oxford One Design District 6 Championship Briody Board of Governors Florida Juniors US Nationals Mystic Lake Open Frigid Digit Southerns Halloween Regatta Carolyn Nute Memorial
SCIRA USA Gift Membership Program Membership is good for the class as well as for new Snipers. So how about giving a year’s membership to your crew or interested junior or friend as a year-end holiday gift? It is simple and sure to be remembered all year long with each Snipe Bulletin. And by clicking on the box when on-line ordering, the recipient will receive a card notifying him/her of the gift. It’s a great way to help spread the joy of serious sailing, serious fun! https://snipeusa.com/joinrenew-online/
Spring 2016
Host
Birmingham SC, Birmingham, AL Mission Bay YC Lauderdale YC, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Mission Bay YC Miami, Coconut Grove SC Severn SA, Annapolis, MD Surf City YC, Surf City, NJ Severn SA, Annapolis, MD Indianapolis SC, Indianapolis, IN Quassapaug SC, Middlebury, CT Bow Mar YC, Bow Mar, CO Winchester BC, Winchester, MA Beverly YC, Beverly, MA Ninnescah SA, Cheny, KS Cottage Pare YC, Winthrop, MA Oxford, MD Mission Bay YC, San Diego, CA Newport YC, Rochester, NY Quassapaug SC, Middlebury, CT Coconut Grove SC, Miami, FL Rush Creek YC, Rockwall, TX Medford BC, Medford, MA Severn SA, Annapolis, MD Birmingham SC, Birmingham, AL Atlanta YC, Acworth, GA Mission Bay YC