The Traveller January 2008

CBYRA MEMBERSHIP

By: Art Libby CBYRA Vice President

The Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association is the regional authority and coordinating body for sailboat racing in the Chesapeake. Its office is in the Eastport section of Annapolis. It is managed by the Executive Director – Beth Kahr (410/269-1194). Beth reports to a 13 member volunteer Board of Directors. Presently, there are 75 sailing oriented clubs and 1800 individual racers that are members of CBYRA.

Many have asked me: What does CBYRA do for me and why should I join?

Here are a few reasons.

SCHEDULING

Because there are numerous classes and clubs trying to plan regattas during a limited number of weekends in the summer season, chaos and race conflicts would prevail if it were not for CBYRA’s scheduling meetings and guidance. Once the schedules have been confirmed and the clubs have written their sailing instructions, CBYRA publishes the Red Book for Juniors and the Greenbook for all Cruising One Design and Handicap fleets. It is suggested that these same services be extended to the One Design Division classes and the clubs that sponsor their races.

REGISTRATION

On-line registration is now available through the CBYRA website for any sponsoring club that wants to upgrade their process. This avoids paper sign up and provides the racers to pay for the event via credit card. We encourage clubs to take advantage of this simple service as it provides for early sign up and on-line data for the sailors and the clubs for racing and social planning purposes.

RACE MANAGEMENT

CBYRA sponsors seminars for club race committees to improve their management skills. All of us in this great sport desire fair sailing and fun, competitive courses. The more expertise the RC has, the better the racing experience. CBYRA also will provide sponsoring clubs with volunteer support for on the water race management and certified judges if necessary.

SCORING

CBYRA is the depository for all class scoring for the season. Timely and accurate results are the goal but we rely on the information provided by the classes and clubs. It has improved, but needs further refinement.

HIGH POINT AWARDS

You must be a CBYRA member to compete for the highest award of the season in your class – High Point. The overall winner is the class sailor who has beaten more boats than his/her competitors during the racing season. It is the most coveted award on the Chesapeake Bay and is sponsored by CBYRA.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

CBYRA is a non-profit (501-C-3) membership organization. All dues, fees and contributions support its programs to make the sailboat racing in the Chesapeake region a pleasurable experience for the members and clubs. CBYRA also helps with financial support for qualified local sailors who are involved in National, International and Olympic campaigns.

DUES & FEES

The cost to be a member for a year is very reasonable:

Adult (CBYRA club affiliation) $45

(US Sailing & CBYRA membership $90

Family (CBYRA club affiliation) $60

(US Sailing & CBYRA membership) $120

Associate (not affiliated with a club) $30

Junior $20 (Combined CBYRA & US Sailing membership) $36

Green Book $18

Red Book $10

I urge you to join and support the organization that exists to improve your racing experience –
the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association.

Check out www.cbyra.org

The Traveler  December 2007

CBYRA Scheduling Regattas on the Bay

The 2007 sailing season has wound down, but even before the season is over, CBYRA and its member clubs and classes are already busy planning for next year! CBYRA schedules and sanctions the regattas hosted by clubs that are open to anyone racing the type boats invited. The sanctioning means the regattas are organized to a standard set by CBYRA and the entrants of those regattas are eligible to compete for season High Point Awards, in addition to competing in the regatta..

There are two major kinds of racing, one-design and handicap. Big boats have a mixture of handicap and one design events. The handicap racing uses systems like PHRF, MORC or IRC. One-Design is where all boats are identical. One Design in bigger boats is referred to as Cruising One Design or COD. Smaller boats race almost exclusively One-Design whether they are adult or Junior events. One Design and Junior boats are day sailing boats, usually not big enough to sleep aboard. The big boats (PHRF, IRC and COD) have bunks, stoves, and other amenities for overnight accommodations whether for sailing or anchoring overnight.

Regattas can be for a single class, such as in championship events, but more likely they have several groups of boats invited to race. That is the information the schedule will show, in addition to the date and location. The Region 1, 2, 3 and 4 events are for the larger boats, whether COD or handicap. One Design regattas are for smaller, day sailing boats. Junior regattas are for sailors between 8 and 18 are racing Optimists, Lasers, Laser Radials and 420s.

In addition to regular and annual events, there are championship events to fit into the schedule. These include regional and National Championships for various classes as well as competitions on ladder events to represent CBYRA at the regional and national level.

There are five groups working on schedules. For big boats: Glenn Harvey is organizing the Northern Bay (Region 1) events, Bob Rutsch and his assistant Mark McGonigle are organizing the regattas in the greater Annapolis area (Region 2 and 3) that are for the larger boats and then they publish the Green Book, a compilation of all CBYRA big boat schedules and information. Lin McCarthy is leading the scheduling effort in the Southern Bay (Region 4). Tom Roberts is collecting dates and events from the clubs and classes for One Design racing, while the Junior schedule is being assembled by the incoming Junior Chairman, Bill O’Malley, with the help of the club Junior coordinators.

As you can guess, this means there are a lot of events and opportunities to race. Come join in the fun. Contact the club or class representatives near you and ask about their events, then come out and sail! CBYRA can help you find the racing available for your boat or where you sail. Come join us.

Tom Roberts
One Design High Point Scorer




The Traveler 

June 2007 
Small Boat Racing
 

Small sailboat racing is alive and well in the Chesapeake Bay. As the new One Design Division Representative to the Board of CBYRA, please allow me to brag about the benefits of this large racing division.

 

All of the 25 or so active one design classes are boats that are trailerable. Most of the boats are designed for 1-3 persons to race them competitively although at times, some are allowed to have 4 people in the crew depending upon weight restrictions.

 

The active classes on the Bay include: Soling, Etchells, Star, J22, Albacore, El Toro, Hampton, Mobjack, Laser, Int’t 14, Comet, Penguin, Laser, Int’l 505, Thistle, Lightening, Int’l 470, Club 420, Flying Scott, Snipe, Optimist, Jet 14, Chesapeake 20, Sunfish, Wayfarer, Flying Dutchman, Interlake, Windmill, Bucaneer, and Front Runner. If you can not find a boat among these varied designs to suit you, you simply are not trying. The cost to get a boat on the starting line varies from approximately $15,000 for an Etchells to $1,500 - $2,000 for an Optimist. Another benefit of this class of boats is that they are all trailerable. You can enjoy various racing venues in and out of the Bay very easily and inexpensively.

 

It has been suggested that I use my own 61 years of racing one design boats to point out the fun experiences and the learning curve by sailing small one designs. I learned to sail at age 7 in a 210 boat in Marblehead, MA. The 210 has just recently been introduced to the Chesapeake by the Gibson Island YC where its primary use is for team racing. The first boat that I owned was a Brutle Beast which in 1947 was the boat for young children. While still in Marblehead, I raced Town Class and 110 boats before moving to Annapolis in 1952.

 

In Annapolis, I raced a Penguin out of the Annapolis YC and then a Snipe out of Severn Sailing Association. It was great fun to put the Penguin on top of the car and attend regattas in places like Washington, DC, Oxford, MD and St. Michaels, MD. The sponsoring clubs did a great job of hosting races and fun parties as well as letting us pitch tents on their properties. I also crewed for a couple of the leading Chesapeake sailors. Dr. Stuart Walker asked me to crew for him on a Penguin then an International 14. Sonny Smith asked me to go with him on his Hampton then later his Cal 29. My first boat in Annapolis was an old Star that Bob Lippincott gave me. I found out very quickly in the first race that it was very heavy and not competitive at all.

 

In 1972, My wife and I purchased a Cal 25 for racing and cruising with our small children. Because this boat has cruising accommodations, it is part of the Cruising One Design Division of CBYRA. In 1972, I also started to race Sunfish out of the Fenwick Island YC on Little Assawoman Bay (yup, you read that correctly). I have been a member of that club all these years and love the laid back racing. The club makes its home on a pile driven platform at one end of Seal Island in the bay. They run one race every other Saturday in the summer. No matter where the wind is coming from, the race course is always the same. After the platform start, we round two buoys to port than leave another small island to port. If the race is twice around, after getting back to the start buoy, we now must go back around counterclockwise. Lots of fun!

 

After selling the Cal in 1978, we raced a J24 for two years before joining Rod Tate in racing a Pearson 30 successfully for 22 years. We had so much fun as partners, that we then purchased a J105 in 2003 together. After 3 seasons in the exciting J105, I purchased a banged up Cal 25 for $1 and raced it for two years with good success again.

 

This above story of numerous boats and experiences is a chronicle of lots of wonderful years on the water –  beginning with small one design classes then moving into cruising one design. My ambition has always been to be a successful “club” racer. A house full of lovely trophies will attest to the victories and near triumphs I have enjoyed over the years.

 

Except for single person boats like the Opti, Laser and Sunfish; racing sailboats is a team sport. Everyone on the boat has responsibilities for some of the numerous tasks that must work well to be successful. The best skippers in the world all started on small boats. I do not know of one large boat accomplished skipper that started in a 35’ boat. To get the true feel of the rudder, keel and sail trim; one should begin sailing in one of the small boats listed above.

 

The Chesapeake has produced numerous excellent skippers. Recently, Charlie Scott and John White stand out as consistent local winners. How about two others that are now professionals – Chris Larson and Terry Hutchinson. All these gentlemen started in small one design boats.

 

When folks ask me how I seem to do well consistently, I always say that it is because “I started in small boats”. The 25+ one designs mentioned above are all competing on the Chesapeake Bay today. You can pick one up inexpensively and compete against others knowing that all the boats in your class are the same and the difference between winning and losing is the tactics applied. Of course a little luck helps too. Another benefit of one designs is that they keep their value for resale better than other boats.

 

From Havre de Grace to Norfolk, one design racing is very active. You have numerous venues to participate in just by trailing the boat from one town to another. As the competitive juices change, you can move from a Snipe to an Etchells or from a Lightening to a J105 knowing that you have learned the basics of safety and tactics in the smaller boat.

The Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association (CBYRA) has 75 member clubs and 1800 individual members that enjoy the organization and leadership functions provided by this 93 year old authority. It is in the business of assisting members in their roles of race management. I want help promote the One Design Division. Please give me a call if you feel I may be able to assist..

 

                                                                    Art Libby  410-757-3623

                                                                  

                                                       

                                                       

http://www.compete-at.comhttp://www.compete-at.com

Traveler Article

February 2007

 

For nearly 75 years there has been a Bay-wide competition for High Point. This is essentially a yearlong series that lays on top of CBYRA sanctioned races conducted by CBYRA member Clubs. The competition is split into four Divisions to include Junior, One Design, Cruising One Design and Handicap.

The basic rules for the High Point competition are found in the CBYRA yearbook starting on page 37 in the 2006 edition. There are also additional rules for each Division found in the yearbook under the individual Divisions’ Rules and Regulations. In addition, there are individual Class rules that may have to be considered. For this reason CBYRA has a committee to score High Point made up of members who specialize in each division.

For the winners of High Point it is a culmination of a years worth of commitment and hard work. For our High Point scorers, it is the result of countless hours of pouring over the reported results from Clubs with different scoring programs in electronic and sometimes even paper formats. The results are originally published as “provisional” to allow competitors to review them and ask questions. The scorer then needs to review the concern and go back to the Club that ran the race in question. Only that race committee can modify a result. If that occurs, the High Point scorer must re-tabulate the results for the entire year. This is obviously very frustrating for everyone involved.

As most everyone is aware, CBYRA has upgraded its web site and internal processes to provide better value to its members. On the short list of things still to be accomplished is on-line High Point scoring. At first blush this seems like a relatively easy process. However, once you drill down to the basic fundamentals of the High Point scoring systems it becomes complex.

For example, there is a High Point scoring program for each Division with subsets for different Classes in the Division. Another example would be a multi-day race with different sanction numbers for each day. The Club will score the event as a series, but High Point sanction numbers separate it. The number of races, course length and speed for each race and tie breaking can produce a very different High Point result from the overall regatta outcome. The High Point scorer is responsible for separating out the Clubs reported results of the regatta into the appropriate format. Hopefully this demonstrates the complexity of the program necessary to do High Point on-line, and why competitor questions are understandable.

So how can CBYRA improve on the High Point scoring process? Our first step will be to change the form and function of our Annual Race Management Seminar to be held on Saturday, February 24th. This year we are having a Race Management Meeting. We are asking the Race Committee chairman from our member Clubs along with class and PHRF representatives to attend this meeting. One of the principle topics will be High Point. The goal will be to reach an understanding at this level of what High Point is and what effect race management decisions can have on the outcome. We also want to hear from the Clubs on what CBYRA can do to help them meet our mutual race management goals. We also hope that this format will foster better communication and participation between our member Clubs.

 

The winners of High Point for PHRF are listed in this issue of SpinSheet. The winners of other Divisions will be listed in subsequent issues. CBYRA congratulates the winners and thanks everyone that has participated in CBYRA sanctioned events this past year!


December 2006 - Traveler Article

CBYRA Regions I and II - A brief tour:

 

Regions I and II encompass the area of the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay from the Magothy River and Gibson Island on the south, all the way up to the head of the Bay at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and Havre de Grace and North East River. If you follow your charts, after you leave the Magothy you can pass Rock Creek and enter into the Patapsco that takes you to Baltimore Harbor. Or continuing north from the Patapsco you can see Sparrows Point and North Point to your port side. Next you encounter the Hart-Miller Island that is the location of our famous “dike.” At the north end of the dike, looking west is the Middle River and a view of Towson sitting high on the horizon. Just to the northwest the Gunpowder River. You will then past Pooles Island and Bush River. For the next two to three hours (motoring at six knots), you be looking at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, until you arrive at Spesputie Island. Turning to true north and heading across the Susquehanna Flats, you will see the town of Havre de Grace seated at the mouth of the mighty Susquehanna River.

 

If you had gone up into Baltimore you would have passed Forts Howard and Smallwood and the island that is Fort Carroll. They were constructed to defend Baltimore from invasion from the sea after the War of 1812. Fort Howard is at North Point where the British landed their army and marines at move into Baltimore by land. Just north of the Key Bridge you will pass the spot where Francis Scott Key spent the night with the British fleet during their bombardment of Fort McHenry. You can see Sparrows Point, once one of America’s largest steel mills, and the location of the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard where several hundred World War II liberty ships were built. Passing Fort McHenry and the Star-Spangled Banner and arriving in Baltimore you are in the waters of once one of America’s greatest seaports and centers of commerce and industry. This is where the railroads and the telegraph got started. Scanning the skyline you can see many of Baltimore’s famous landmarks and old ethnic neighborhoods.

 

Had you ventured into Middle River you would have passed the seaplane ramps of the Glenn L. Martin Co., where seaplanes were launched and towed by tug out to the mouth of the river to give them room for takeoff. Just across the Frog Mortar Creek is where a Stealth bomber crashed during an air show not too many years ago.

 

Had you ventured north to Havre de Grace you could have visited one of Maryland’s small towns full of charm and history and famous in the past for its fishing, oysters and waterfowl.

 

For those of us who ply these waters, we cannot forget the richness of the history and the importance this area played for several hundred years of development of the Bay and Maryland. All we have to do is look around, the history, the beauty, is everywhere.

 

A little piece of history for this time of year: From the early 1800s to just a generation or so ago, this area was notorious for its duck shooting. Most of the shoreline was home to clubs where shooters from New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore came by coach and steamer, and later by train, to this area where the living accommodations were plain, but where each meal was a banquet. In the memoirs of one of Baltimore’ mayors during the late 1800s he stated “my waterfowl taken, over a period of nearly forty years, averaged about $3.60 per bird; but more closer to double that if travel, incidentals, a little liquor, etc., were counted in (the birds would have cost $2 to $4 a pair at the market). Men went to the clubs, not so much for the sport, as for the relaxation which could be obtained nowhere else [sounds like us boaters]. Further, more deals were closed over Canvasback and Diamondback, than by way of lobster and champagne.”

 

John Latrobe

Region I V.P.

 Traveler Article - November 2006

What’s in a name

 

By Patrick Teeling, Secretary

 

As an officer on the board of Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association I am concerned whenever I hear a sailor ask the question “ What does CBYRA do for me” or “What does CBYRA do?” For all the hours that a dozen or so volunteers regularly put in each month to make our racing experience a full one, I can only conclude that the organization is a world class YRA in desperate need of a marketing consultant. In the interest of saving the consulting fees, I present here a brief overview of just what CBYRA accomplishes for racers in the Chesapeake region.

 

Race Sanctioning Perhaps its most challenging task, sanctioning races on the bay is at the core of what CBYRA provides for racers and clubs alike. With over 75 member clubs on the bay, many of which would like to host a race that qualifies as a high point race, it’s a real juggle to accommodate that much racing into just 30 weekends. CBYRA acts as the traffic cop to help avoid too many races being held at one time in one region. Imagine if three clubs held three events in one area. Participation in each of the events would be watered down and diminish the quality of racing. You can be assured that the races entered in the Greenbook have been carefully chosen to represent the best on the Bay.

 

High Point Award You’ve raced hard all season, bow to bow with a tight group of competitors and at the end of the season, one of you will have earned the honor of being tops in your class. It’s now time for CBYRA to tabulate and process a mountain’s worth of rows and columns to determine a winner. If ever you’ve tried to tally this info yourself you know what a monumental task this is. Our scorers spend hours, no, make that days, making phone calls to competitors and clubs searching for missing or confusing info before they press the final keystroke for results. The scorer’s names are listed in the yearbook: Thank them when you see them.

 

Junior Sailing If the juniors themselves don’t quit understand what CBYRA does for them it’s perhaps because they are busy concentrating on what really matters: Keeping their Optis ,420’s, and Laser Radials going the right way fast! But mom and dad can depend on CBYRA to help them plan the summer’s racing schedule with the aid of the RED BOOK. The junior program also provides assistance and guidance for member clubs in establishing junior sailing programs as well as fostering growth toward championship events. So if you are a member of a club that would like to establish a junior sailing program, CBYRA is front and center to help.

 

USSailing

If ever you’ve expressed an opinion about how racing could be improved in general, your one voice can be amplified many times over by coordinating with CBYRA your thoughts on how to improve our sport both locally and nationally. With a voice of nearly two thousand members, CBYRA, as the regional representative of USSailing, carries a certain tonnage at the national level.

Racer Support

This is what CBYRA does on a day-in day-out basis. Besides the myriad of questions that our ever helpful administrative director, Catherine Day, fields in a typical day (“Hi, CBYRA? Can you tell me whether I need…), our bread and butter duties include the following: Sail number administration. While you probably wished you didn’t have sails numbers as you are called over early just after your “picture perfect” start, you’re certainly happy to see them up on the scoreboard when you aced your fleet in a regatta. If you just purchased a new boat or your boat has never raced before, you’ll need to get sail numbers assigned to your boat. (Trivia: if the second number in the series is a “3” it means that boat originated its racing career here on the bay)

Greenbook publication. You’ll know the significance of this publication when you’re heading out to the racecourse and you hear the skipper ask the tactician “do we start before or after the J105’s?” Without the Greenbook you’d better quick hunt down and ask (sheepishly) an honest competitor.

Race management and judging workshops. You’ve just bought a new suit of sails, attended a racing seminar and the crew has wet-sanded the bottom. Now it’s time to go out and get the gun. But what if the race was poorly conducted or you lost a protest because the judges didn’t follow well-honed conventions. All your effort is now lost to circumstances beyond your control. Fortunately though, this scenario is less and less observed due in part to the efforts of a cadre of talented volunteers that CBYRA calls upon to conduct race management and judging workshops. This helps to cultivate improved skills among current race officers as well as encourage new blood to come up to speed. It’s no accident that race officers from our area have been asked to help run races around the world.

Year Book Publication. Need to call a competitor about something? Chances are their name is listed in the book. Need the yacht club’s phone number to alert them to the overnight express envelope with your race entry? it too is in this book. How about a question about High Point scores? It’s in there as well, along with scoring rules, financial grant guidelines, and myriad other details.

 

Website

 

If there’s one thing we know about our website it’s that we get quite a jump in traffic on Monday mornings. Yep, more than just a few people are warming up for the week’s work ahead by first surfing through the weekend’s race results. And by Wednesday, folks are checking out the upcoming weekend schedule. Coming soon, we hope to have real-time high point scoring available as well. The site also contains the scheduling calendar, and is a one-stop contact reference for members, clubs, and classes to mention a few of its features.

 

These are just the highlights of what CBYRA does for its members. The organization continues to evolve since its inception in 1934 as tool to help maintain and improve your racing experience here on the Bay. It nearly goes without saying that your comments and suggestions are vital to this ongoing endeavor. Please let us know what you think. And finally, join us if haven’t already.

www.cbyra.org

 


Traveler - Spinsheet September 2006
CBYRA member, Jim Capron, nominated for US SAILING President

 

Jim Capron’s sailing experience started with him sailing/exploring the South River as a teen with a friend on their parent’s Penguin. He has owned and raced a Lightning, J-24, J-35, and currently owns and races an Etchell out of Annapolis Yacht Club. He is a certified US SAILING Judge and Umpire as well as an ISAF International Judge and Umpire. Jim’s US SAILING Opinion, as stated on their website, is:

“I see US SAILING as an organization of dedicated, hard working volunteers and staff that administer more programs than can be adequately funded by US SAILING’s traditional sources of revenue. The majority of revenue comes from membership, and those members come to US SAILING mostly through segments of sailboat racing activities. Yet many of the programs and services that US SAILING provides, or is expected to provide, serve all sailors and all areas of the sport. US SAILING will continue to be constrained in its activities if it cannot attract a significant number of racing and cruising sailors who most benefit from those activities."

 

CBYRA asked Jim a few questions:

 

What are your goals for your term as President of US SAILING?

“Right now, I am in the fact finding stage in setting goals. I know that US SAILING has lots of room for improvement in its programs and services to local sailing organizations, but with limited finances, we have to set priorities, which will necessarily set my personal goals for the association. I would like to see US SAILING significantly increase its race administration and training programs, which are two areas where we have real impact on the quality of sailing at the local level.”

 

What are the biggest challenges facing you as President of US SAILING?

“Finances, membership and IT infrastructure are all high on the list of challenges. US SAILING continues to struggle to support the many US SAILING programs that promote sailing at the grassroots level. A sound financial footing, backed by strong member support, is essential to effectively meet our strategic goals.”

 

In your US SAILING Opinion and challenges you face as President, how can CBYRA members and other sailors help?

“When someone joins a yacht club, there are a lot of easily identifiable, tangible benefits that come with that membership - dining, parking, boat storage, nice bar, ability to entertain friends and associates, etc. For US SAILING and our partner sailing associations like CBYRA, the tangibles are not all that obvious. Nevertheless, I think the bottom line is that a sailor, whether a racing or cruising sailor, gets an awful lot of bang for the buck when he or she joins CBYRA and US SAILING. This is because the programs that are implemented with the revenue from membership are multiplied many times over by the free time and talent provided by thousands of volunteers. For example, US SAILING, with local sailing organizations' help and hard work, organizes and runs 25 Junior Olympic Festivals around the country that are attended by about 5000 youth sailors. We do that pretty cheaply, because our volunteers do almost all the work. Together, our associations run 18 national championships attended by over 2000 competitors. We train race officials and sailing instructors, certify judges, provide safety at sea seminars, administer rating systems, develop the racing rules - all volunteer run with the programs developed and managed by US SAILING and CBYRA. For racing sailors it’s a no-brainer, but I also think promoting the sport should also be important cruisers. Joining US SAILING and CBYRA is a very inexpensive way to promote the sport.”

 

 

Even though Jim is running unopposed, all CBYRA/US SAILING members are urged to show support by casting their vote in the upcoming election. The election period will run from September 19, 2006 to November 8, 2006. There will be three ways to cast your vote: 1.) Online at http://www.ussailing.org/BOD/election/ 2.) Printed ballot, downloadable through above the website, and mailed to US SAILING at P.O. Box 1260, Portsmouth, RI 02871 3.) Attending the US SAILING Annual meeting, November 15-19, 2006, at the Hyatt Regency Newport, Newport RI. For those reading this article, support sailing by joining CBYRA and US SAILING.

 

See you out on the water!

 

Scott Gitchell

Cruising One-Design Representative, CBYRA