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Sign Up for the Dec 1 Governor’s Cup Regatta

By Mike Ferring on November 14, 2018 in Racing Updates

Almost as big as he is: In 2017, Martin Lorch hefted the Governor’s Cup, flanked by crew James Morphis and Katie Yearly. At right: 2017 Event Organizer Tom Errickson. Photo: Mike Ferring

This one’s for the BIG prize. This one’s for the Governor’s Cup. And, okay, this one’s really mostly for fun.

The Governor’s Cup regatta will be Saturday, December 1, with all boats starting at 9:30 am from a start line at the south end of Lake Pleasant. Finishing times will be adjusted for PHRF handicap and the winning skipper will walk off with that big trophy.

Here’s the link to the entry button and the race documents.

After starting in the south of the lake, boats will round drop marks on the north sides of Horse and Balance Rock Islands, then round another drop mark on the south near Bobcat Island (no rounding of the island this time), and finish outside Jackass Cove.

A post-race raft-up party will happen in Jackass Cove. Bring fenders. AYC will provide some appetizers.

Just to add to the giggles, there’s a handicap adjustment for any boat with a child under 12 onboard, a boat flying an AYC burgee, a boat towing a floaty-something that would hold a person, and a boat with a pet onboard. Just to be clear: The pet must be living. If you have them all, you’ll get a six-second handicap adjustment.

There will be multi-hull and monohull fleets. Awards will be given to the top-finishing multi-hull and the top-finishing monohull. The Governor’s Cup will go to the top-finishing boat in the fleet with the most entrants.

Heather McClain is the Race Organizer and Wendy Larsen is the PRO.

The start of the 2016 Governor’s Cup race. Photo: Michele Korszeniewski

Five Decades in the Making, Adopt-A-Boat Gave Me Opportunity

By Mike Ferring on November 12, 2018 in Member Interest, Racing Updates

AYC Lake Pleasant Lake Captain and J/70 crew David Newland this Sunday (11/11) did a foolishly brave thing: after never before sailing one, he adopted a Laser and went sailing at Tempe Town Lake in heavy, puffy wind. Crazy maybe, but he decided to, mmm, take the plunge.

Race results for the day

By David Newland

AYC Lake Captain David Newland at more familiar controls: the Boston Whaler. Photo: Mike Ferring

Overweight and out of shape, I decided to sign up for Bowline Cross Fit. I felt very intimidated when I arrived and saw Hurley crunching 100 sit-ups, Bernard bobbing and weaving the double-end boxing bag and Gibbs speed-skipping the gym rope.

Wait, did I say Bowline Cross Fit? I meant Laser racing.

In the late 70s, I spent many weekends motoring around Marina del Rey in my little Whaler. I liked to idle down and spectate when the kids were racing Lasers in the harbor. It looked like a ton of fun and I was quite envious. Getting hooked up with them never materialized.

Well, five decades and 120 pounds later (maybe 130), I got my chance! The weather forecast was on point this past weekend, so I reached out to Grant Younger to get signed up for an Adopt-a-Boat. He helped me pick out my weapon of choice and Joel Hurley helped me rig it (and de-rig and re-rig the items I thought I knew how to do without any instruction whatsoever).

OK, so far so good. Winds were blowing 20. KPH. Felt like MPH to me (And sometimes was –ed.). I got the Laser launched and was overly confident with the stability of this 2×4. Maryellen Ferring was helping with the bow line and just as she said, “don’t step on the…,” I stepped on the foredeck, and was immediately in the water. Note to self: That’s the wrong way to board a Laser.

What transpired during the next three hours was quite the combination of emotions. Mostly fun. Lots of laughs out loud to which the spectators on the shore and in manually-powered craft (to which I gave right-of-way) probably thought I left my medication at home.

Frustration. Mostly because I was envisioning my younger self in MDR. I just can’t duck the boom as efficiently as I probably could have 40 years ago! Surprisingly, I did fine. I still have all my teeth and no concussion symptoms yet.

Anxiety. That moment when you (okay, I) lose the tiller and the main sheet at the same time, knowing that capsizing is imminent. Thanks, Joel, for retrieving my hat. Did you see my Oakleys?

Let me digress for a moment. The wind was blowing. I faltered. Joel, from his cockpit, was able to maneuver his boat to help start my righting process, fixed some issue with my main sheet, located my hat, and then sailed off.

I survived. Quite well actually. I wasn’t a worthy racer, but I knew going in that racing wasn’t going to be my priority. It was getting my feet wet (and every other body part) with the Laser Fleet at TTL. What a great group of sailors. And thanks to Adopt-a-Boat for the opportunity.

Thank you Race Committee, as well as Toyota Motor Company for making a fantastic waterproof key fob, and to Bayer, maker of Aleve.

Oh: my disembarking. Yup. Cannonball! No more Laser foredeck for me.

You know it’s windy when the Laser sailors start swimming. This shot was taken a few years ago, but it could have been snapped Sunday. Photo: Mark Howell

Dave Perry Headlines 2019 Birthday Regatta & Leukemia Cup

By Mike Ferring on November 5, 2018 in Events

Dave Perry invites you to join him for the Arizona Yacht Club Birthday Regatta & Leukemia Cup at Lake Pleasant Arizona Friday-Sunday February 8-10, 2019.

This is Arizona’s big regatta, the 61^st birthday of the yacht club, with an expected 75 boats competing in as many as 13 classes.

On Friday night, Dave will lead a free seminar loaded with racing tactics tips and humor to get your weekend off to a good start. On Saturday, he’ll prowl the race course on a powerboat with his video camera, recording what you do right and what you could do better. After an intense editing session at the end of the day, he’ll present the results so all the racers see the hits and misses during the day’s racing.

But Dave Perry is just part of the show. Every good regatta needs two things: close racing and great food and drink. The Birthday Regatta & Leukemia Cup has both. Staged on beautiful Lake Pleasant northwest of Phoenix, this 10,000 acre lake is a gorgeous venue for racing. And after the racing, the party convenes at the top of the south hill overlooking the lake.

Friday night, Back in Thyme will bring the food while the Barley Hound bar in Prescott, Arizona, is mixing complementary craft cocktails. And Tony Chapman and Kelly Beaver promise to offer their famous annual rum bar.

Saturday night will be special. One of Arizona’s finest catering companies, Arizona Taste, will serve a three-course dinner in our regatta headquarters, a 40×70 tent, fully decorated for the occasion. Featured entrée is Chicken Piccata Medallions in a Caper Lemon Chardonnay Sauce, accompanied by Panzanella Salad, Market Vegetables, cookies, coffee, tea and water. Adult beverages? Craft beer and a quality selection of wines.

Fence off February 8-10 on your calendar to meet Dave Perry at this memorable version of the Arizona Yacht Club Birthday Regatta & Leukemia Cup.

Here’s more on the regatta, including the race documents.

Dave Perry is one of America’s best-known sailors and speakers, a perennial match-racing champion and rules expert who’s spoken at hundreds of yacht clubs and racing events over the years. He’s a member of the US Sailing Appeals Committee and has advised America’s Cup campaigns and the U.S. Olympic team on rules. He’s written three books on sailing, including the go-to reference on racing rules, Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing.

Score Another Nice Lake Pleasant Weekend

By Mike Ferring on November 5, 2018 in Racing Updates

Make it three race weekends in a row of nice temperatures and good wind at Lake Pleasant.

Saturday (11/3) was delightful, with good breeze most of the day; Sunday (11/4) started with white caps and petered out to glass, but only as the final race of the day ended. The battle in the Santana 20 fleet continues to be the contest to watch, with Santana 20 newcomer Joel Hurley taking it to perennial champ Martin Lorch. So far, Joel is coming out ahead, but the scores are close.

The PHRF Spin fleet was the host race committee.

Scores here.

Yes, it’s that close. Left to right: Martin Lorch, Mike Parker, Joel Hurley. Photo: Charles Landis

Mike Hester’s Viper 640 steps out in front. As usual. Photo: Charles Landis

After Mike Ferring tries to port tack the fleet on a start, he tacks to starboard with just enough space to slip between Tony Chapman and the RC boat. Photo: Charles Landis

No Zip TTL: Zip for Wind

By Mike Ferring on October 29, 2018 in Racing Updates

Somehow we ghosted around the TTL race course for a single race, just a breath of air when there was any at all. We call this sailboat racing. I was 10 feet from the finish when a delicate puff came from the right instead of the left and there I was moving… backwards.

These are not the days that put the fun and romance in sailing, are they?

Results for Sunday, October 28.

Glass for a lake as Mike Ferring and Dave Haggart struggle to finish. John Mayall and Dick Krebill had already crossed. Photo: Will Zornik

Cindy Pillote Wins Ruth Beals Cup

By Mike Ferring on October 27, 2018 in Racing Updates

Cindy Pillote won the 2018 Ruth Beals Cup that included five boats piloted by kids from the Foundation for Blind Children and entered by Tiller & Kites. Here’s a first-person account of the race from the perspective of Mike Ferring, the main-sheet trimmer on Melissa Kay.

The wind turned light as we approached the start line for the 2018 Ruth Beals Cup, on port and with about a minute to go. You’ve been there, right? Creeping to the line, but this time close enough just to keep moving. To our left, Cindy Pillote at the helm of Bob Worrall’s Catalina 22 Spirit.

“We could take her up,” I say to Maryellen, who’s driving our J/70. “No,” she says. Women are nicer than men, she says. And so we tack off the line instead of trying to sail past Cindy. The wind to the left looks better anyway.

By the time we get to Horse Island, our first rounding mark, we have a half mile lead on the fleet. You can guess what happens next. Our wind stops. The wind line from the south brings everybody to us, led by Morgan Marquis with Victor Felice on an Andrews 26. Victor’s Tiller & Kites has entered five boats in the Ruth Beals Cup, sponsored by the Foundation for Blind Children and carrying visually impaired kids they’ve been working with to learn to sail.

The wind sputters and pops as we round Horse and then Balance Rock. We’re barely moving. We’d sailed upwind to the islands from the south part of the lake and now the wind was shifting and we’d be sailing upwind to Bobcat. Our spinnaker stays in the bag while most of the boats behind us entered as non-spin and gained a PHRF bump because of it.

Finally staring at Bobcat, we see nothing but hazard buoys all the way to shore. Time to get brave. We pick out two likely suspects and sail through them. Nothing crunches. Aboard the Olson 25 Stargazer, Brianna Voron and Sean Brown and maybe others later decide not to risk it and retire.

We ease past Bobcat and finally raise the spin, still barely turning 3-4 knots as the wind offers a last gasp for the day. It’s enough to begin to open the gap with Morgan and the Andrews and put us over the finish first. Line honors. Maryellen has sailed well and she’s delighted.

We pop some beers and lean back to relax after just under three hours of racing. Here comes Morgan. Then Cindy. The C22 is rated at 270 and the J/70 at 114. She’s been sailing nicely and wasn’t that far behind us rounding Balance Rock. Some 44 minutes after our finish Cindy and Bob cross the line. And correct over us for first place. We’re second. Morgan is third and Jessica Rawlings fourth. We’re still pleased with our day and happy for Cindy. I email Scorekeeper Dave Christensen, who did the scoring from Dallas. How much did she get us by? Less than three minutes, he says.

Now to the Scorpion Bay restaurant for the post-race lies.

Cindy Pillote approaches the start of the Ruth Beals Cup 2018 with Bob Worrall peeking around the headsail. Photo: Mike Ferring

Lake Pleasant Delivers the Wind for Week 3

By Dave Christensen on October 22, 2018 in Racing Updates

The wind returned for our third weekend of the Lake Pleasant fall race series. Excellent conditions for the sailors, but challenging for the race committee. It was warm and windy but very shifty, especially on Sunday when the race course kept moving and kept the committee and PRO Bob Worrall busy trying to anticipate the shifts.

The scores for week 3 of racing at Lake Pleasant are posted on the results page, or by clicking here.

One of the most entertaining contests puts seven-time club champion Martin Lorch up against Joel Hurley in the Santana 20 fleet. Both are excellent sailors and after the weekend, Martin was ahead in the series 32-34 before throw-outs. Joel and crew Grant Younger are new to the boat and are still figuring it out: witness the Saturday calamity, “skying” the main halyard when the knot didn’t hold.

Laser champion Joel Hurley joined the Santana 20 fleet this fall, giving perennial winner Martin Lorch some tight competition. Here Martin stays just ahead of Joel downwind. This photo by David Newland was taken on weekend two.

Look familiar? This photo by David Newland was taken on weekend three.

Crisp Fall Series at Tempe Town Lake

By Mike Ferring on October 15, 2018 in Racing Updates

Scott Sharples upwind. Photo: Mike Ferring

The rain stopped, the sky cleared, the air turned crisp. Nice day on Tempe Town Lake.

The Laser turnout this fall has been spectacular, with lots of new racers joining the fleet, many in adopt-a-boats. As a result, there’s the experienced bunch at the head of the group and the less experience group fighting their own entertaining race farther back. Fun.

Sunday (10/14) was that kind of day, with the C14 fleet on race committee, with the Juniors sailing a shorter course, and the Opti classes adding to the entertainment of sails on Tempe Town Lake.

Here are the day’s results.

Here are some shots from me, Mike Ferring:

Amazing lighting on Tempe Town Lake. Photo: Mike Ferring

Ruth Beals Race October 27 at Lake Pleasant

By Mike Ferring on October 10, 2018 in Racing Updates

The all-woman Ruth Beals Cup Regatta will return to Lake Pleasant on Saturday, October 27, with the starting gun at 9:30 am. It’s for women at the helm in run-what-you-brung boats rated by PHRF handicap.

Race documents here. Registration is closed.

The race is named for the founder of AYC, Ruth Beals, and offers a chance for the women of the club to compete against other women. Men are allowed to crew, but not to get too close to the tiller.

There will be a single long-distance race, following the familiar course from a start/finish in the south portion of the lake, around Horse and Balance Rock and No-Name island (also called Bobcat), back to a finish line in mid-lake. It’s more or less the same course we’ve used for the Governor’s Cup and the Tall Cactus Regatta.

After the racing, there will be a gathering at Scorpion Bay’s restaurant deck with AYC-offered nibbles and cash bar.

Ellen Wesley is the defending champion, teaming up with Victor Felice in a J/24 to win in light air one year ago. Maryellen Ferring finished second in her J/80 and Ryane Griffis was third in an Etchells.

This year, Victor has entered five (yup, five) boats that will include crew from the Foundation for Blind Children.

Ellen Wesley won the Ruth Beals Cup despite the two characters flanking her.

Pleasant Pleases Plenty

By Mike Ferring on October 8, 2018 in Racing Updates

It was one of the best racing weekends any of us could remember: good wind and comfortable temperatures nearly the entire time, perfect enough that each fleet scored a record number of races over the two days. Credit the wind and the multi-hull committee team that turned races quickly.

Rain forecast for Sunday morning instead struck overnight, leaving the sky clear at race time. The biggest surprise of the morning came when the race committee and Lake Captain David Newland arrived to find the Pleasant Harbor Marina launch dock floating 100 feet offshore—with the committee boats still tied to it. The RC were ferried to the dock and headed out while the PHM crew went to work to attach the dock back to the land.

After a couple light-air races Sunday morning, the wind came up again and with it the smiles of race teams that knocked off a half dozen races before stopping.

Ace scorekeeper Dave Christensen needed to do a lot of number crunching, but he did it and you’ll find the results here and on the Results Page.

Laser champion Joel Hurley joined the Santana 20 fleet this fall, giving perennial winner Martin Lorch some tight competition. Here Martin stays just ahead of Joel downwind. Photo: David Newland

That’s the Pleasant Harbor Marina launch dock floating offshore with the AYC RC boats still tied up. Photo: David Newland

Tony Chapman at full downwind chat. Photo: Scott Agan

The Ferrings’ J/70 Melissa Kay edges past the finish ball downwind. Photo: Scott Agan

Wind Whips TTL and Lasers Love It

By Rob Gibbs on October 1, 2018 in Racing Updates

Mike Bernard. Photo: Debbra Heisler

Hurricane Rosa brought a blast of wind to Tempe Town Lake Sunday afternoon (9/30), more or less straight out of the WNW and the Laser fleet got after it!

Several boats went over in the puffy, powerful wind and both safety boats were busy chasing the capsized craft. Laser sailors think that’s great sailing so they’re wet and smiling.

You’ll find results here and on our Results Page.

Here are some shots by Debbra Heisler and Ron Sands.

Lasers fly downwind. Photo: Debbra Heisler

Paul Miachika. Photo: Debbra Heisler

Scott Sharples. Photo: Ron Sands

Laser sunset. Photo: Ron Sands

Opening Day at Lake Pleasant

By Mike Ferring on September 24, 2018 in Racing Updates

The Rawlings Race Team. If the kids look a little damp, it’s because they were splashing around in the lake minutes earlier. Photo: Mike Ferring

Opening Day for the Lake Pleasant Fall Series started with a bit of a whimper instead of a bang (weren’t you supposed to bring the wind?), but then picked up for Sunday’s action.

Scores are posted on the Racing Results page, or click here.

Saturday’s wind allowed for only one or two races for all fleets, including a large contingent of multi-hulls out for the day. It concluded with a nice gathering at Spinnaker Point, a lush layout of charcuterie catered by Martin Lorch.

Here’s what PRO Martin told us about Sunday’s racing:

“We started the races promptly at 9:00am in 7 to 8 knots of wind from the north (about 345-350 magnetic). The three fleets racing completed the race rapidly. The second race was started right away at about 10am, and the wind began failing before they got to the windward mark. The boats came to a crawl for about thirty minutes.

“Then, the wind rotated around from the west, the east, back from the west and settled from the south (approx 165-170 mag) where it generally stayed at 7 to 11 knots. We moved the north mark to the west at the start of the second race and moved it back to its original position at the start of the third race. We adjusted the red start ball once because the committee boat had rotated and also because we needed to give the Outrage crew something to do!

“Thistles got their three races in by 11:30, the PHRF Spin fleet completed 5 races by 1:05pm.”

Scott Richardson and Skip Kempff getting off the line in light air. Photo: Mike Ferring

Paul Liszewski checking main trim as the team goes Rolling in the Deep. Photo: Mike Ferring

Jim Tomes and his Bimare F18ht cat. Photo: Mike Ferring

TTL Fall Racing Opens Hot

By Mike Ferring on September 18, 2018 in Racing Updates

Quite hot, actually, but with enough breeze to make the opening day at the lake a good contest.

There are some 37 entries at Tempe Town Lake for the fall series, including 10 C14s, 13 Lasers, seven Portsmouth, and six in the new Junior Fleet. The Juniors are sailing in Bics and Lasers under the guidance of Rob Gibbs.

Lasers were on race committee duty the first weekend, leaving the rest of the boats to duke it out. Mark Howell has again agreed to crunch the scores for TTL. Here they are.

Results of week one of Tempe Town Lake racing.

The next race Sunday will be September 30 with Portsmouth on race committee.

Some of the race action at Tempe Town Lake with the new Junior Fleet in the foreground. Photo: Marc Danner

Are You Cat Curious?

By Rob Gibbs on September 17, 2018 in Racing Updates

Hobie skims Lake Pleasant. Photo: Charles Landis

By Tony Knauss – TSC/Hobie Fleet 514

We have a few of our Hobie and Multihull skippers who are inviting the boatless and the cat-curious to crew for us at the AYC Fall Series season opener this Saturday, Sept 22, to see what it all about.

First-come-first-served, and just a few openings available, but nobody has committed, so those spots are all still open! Hobies are of course fairly athletic to sail and you won’t be spinning the blender for boat drinks. We will have all the harnesses/PFDs/wetsuits to get you geared up.

Sound like fun? Let me know! abkrauss@cox.net

Fall Racing Kicks Off at Both Lakes

By Mike Ferring on September 11, 2018 in Racing Updates

Racing at Tempe Town Lake begins at 3pm Sunday (September 16) and at Lake Pleasant the following weekend, Saturday at 12:30 pm and Sunday at 9 am, September 22 & 23.

Registration, race documents, and race committee assignments are here.

The fleet line-up looks very much like last year, except that the Santana 20 fleet will be back as a separate fleet rather than being combined with the PHRF Spin fleets, as they were last year.

If you haven’t raced before, if you’re a little rusty, or if you’d like to crew, we have options for you:

A free Introduction to Sailboat Racing class for anyone new to AYC racing. The class will help you adjust to how we do it here. The class is held once a year, this year on the evening of Thursday, September 20. The class is full now and can’t accept more registrations.
A crew party was held on Saturday, September 8. If you’d like to crew, check here.
Would you like to team up with 2-3 others on your own chartered Catalina 25 to race in the Jib and Main fleet? Contact Mike Ferring to learn more.

See you on the water!