News Archive 2005

News Archive 2006

Holiday Flashback - 2006 Solomon's Island Race 12/29/2006

Wow! Has it already been 6 months since the last update. I wonder if anyone still looks at this site. The last article I received was 3 months overdue, so I decided to let it age some more (like a fine wine or cheese) so we could re-live a part of last season during the (somewhat) cold winter months. Well, here it is. John Ebell's (Hi Tide) write up from his win in the overnight Solomon's Race this past July. You can read it here.

Breezy on the Bay - West River Twilight Race

It was a beautiful evening for sailing, though having only 3 boats show was a little disappointing. Dottie Holoubeck sailed Lazy Ethel (ex Edelweiss) in her first Fleet 8 race. Captain Donna was there with Katitoode and Ducks was the third boat. The RC sent us from mark Z, off West River, down to R84 off Poplar, back to R2 at the mouth of the South River and back to Z to finish. The breeze was 13-15 out of the south at the start. Ducks picked the No 2, which turned out to be a very good thing. The RC tried to catch us napping by dropping two of the starts before us, which moved our start time up by 10 minutes. Good thing we were listening to the radio! It was a long beat down to R84, with all of going left to take advantage of the ebb in the trench and coming out of Eastern Bay. Just before rounding R84, the southerly piped up to 22-24, proving the weather guessers correct with their small craft warning. Ducks rounded first, stuck the jib out on the end of the spin pole and ran wing and wing north to R2. Had no intention of using the spinnaker! Did a lot of surfing and saw a gust of 29 knots. The RC had shortened course slightly, with the new finish at R2. Ducks finished while it was still twilight, so we were able to actually see R2, which is unlit. Boats finishing after us had difficulty spotting R2 (and not hitting it). Not the best choice of a race mark for a twilight race! Ducks finished first, Katitoode second and Lazy Ethel third. Congrats to all for persevering through the big breeze!

Hi Tide Perseveres in the Solomon's Island Race

John Ebell and crew on Hi Tide worked their way to a 28 minute and 2 mile lead at R76 only to see it evaporate with the wind at the mouth of the Patuxent River once the rising sun started cooking the race course. Hi Tide managed to still squeak out the win in the end after the one mile drag race to the finish when the zephyrs filled in and the anchors could be pulled up. A more complete skippers write-up will be posted soon.

Red Rum Takes the EYC OD Regatta & Leukemia Cup

Since the webmaster's boat didn't see the conclusion of either of the races, he's looking for someone to provide a summary...THANKS! Race results for the season can be seen here.

Pictures from the St. Michael's Weekend are in the Gallery

Click here....

Four Little Ducks wins the Twilight Race

Race summary from the winning skipper, Tom Walsh.... Hint Hint, it would be a good habit for the winning skippers to contribute to the website....

Always seems to be an ebb current when we race. Eight boats out for Twilight; Redrum, Katitoode, Odyssey, Airburn (err, Airborne), Finesse, Pussycat, Cheshire Cat and Ducks. We were all pleased when the sun came out just before the start and happy that the N’ly breeze held, though it varied between 8 and 16 knots. One of the best Twilight races I can remember. Course was R2, Hacketts, R90, R88, R2 and finish at G5 in Annapolis Harbor. Everyone started on stbd and went hard left to layline, except Pussycat and Odyssey, who tacked to port for clear air. Redrum and Ducks led after tacking to port on the layline to R2. Surprise, surprise, Pussycat appeared across our bows, leading by 25 boat lengths! We all passed R2 and kept right on going on port tack to Hacketts. Pussycat rounded first and Redrum second, having won the drag race with Ducks. Close reach on port to R90, with everyone holding high because of the current. Chutes were ready, but who would pull the trigger? Pussycat and Ducks were first simultaneously, with Redrum right behind. Mark appeared to struggle to get around R90 as the current swept him down but he made it OK. We all round, gybe to stbd and parade down the Bay sailing DDW. Pussycat rounded R88 still in first with a nice lead. Ducks rounded right behind Redrum and were able to hold a little higher line. Gradually Ducks worked ahead, passing Redrum and bringing Pussycat abeam by the time we had crossed the Bay and were off Tolly. Pussycat tacked to Stbd and Redrum just crossed them and immediately tacked to cover. Ducks had a 20 boatlength lead but stayed conservative and also tacked to cover. The rest of the way in Ducks kept a loose cover on Redrum, spending some of their lead in order to keep the lead and stay between Redrum and the finish. Redrum took second, Pussycat third, Finesse fourth followed by Odyssey, Airborne, Cheshire and Katitoode. Scott Maurer’s son Richard was with us for his inaugural High Point race. He really enjoyed it but said all that tacking at the end was a lot of work!!

Hi Tide earns the Peter Gookin Memorial Trophy for 2006

Hi Tide skipper John Ebell and his crew managed their way through the highly variable conditions over the Memorial Day weekend to capture two 2nd place finishes and the best combined score for the Miles River Race on Saturday and the Race Back on Sunday. Hi Tide's finishes were not without a little luck and the advantage you sometimes get from being behind.... way behind. Pussycat came back from even further on Sunday to win the Race Back. Swell salvaged third for the pack that escaped the doldrums to lead by over two miles at one point in the race but were done in by the light wind and strong bay current. Red Rum won the Miles River Race on Saturday and Finesse scooted by Four Little Ducks in the last 100 yards to take third. All the scoring can be seen here.... BTW, there were 13 Catalina 27's on the line Saturday and we were the largest one design fleet participating. It was great to see a lot of the new members out there mixing it up with the rest of the fleet.

Red Rum navigates their way to the High Point Lead

"Never underestimate the value of a packed chute..." Carl Engle and his crew didn't and got past the lead boats on the final leg to take the St. Brendan's Cup by 3 seconds over Finesse and Four Little Ducks who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. The win catapulted Carl into the lead for High Point going into the Miles River Race on the Memorial Day weekend. Pictures of the NOOD Awards Party have been posted on the Gallery....

Couple of New and Old things added to the Website.....

For those new to racing, or those who think they may want to race, I have reposted an updated version of an old primer on how to get started racing on your Catalina 27. Just click here. I also placed on the website a recent post to our email list where a former (or current, it's been so long) Catalina 27 National Champion Skipper gives his tips and techniques on making a Catalina 27 go fast. You can get to it here.....

Hi Tide takes the 2006 Annapolis NOODs for the Catalina 27's

John Ebell and crew won the last race on Sunday of the five race regatta to win the NOOD Regatta for the fleet. Tom Walsh on Four Little Ducks finished one point back. Carl Engle on Red Rum took third one point behind Ducks. The racing was very tight, and the weather was gorgeous. Results can be seen here.... John also got a nice little write up in Sailing World. You can read it here.

And then, the rest of the racing pre-Season..... (updated 5/6/06)

Click here to see the crew sign-up list collected at the party.....

The SpinSheet Crew Listing Part is Saturday, April 22nd from 5-7pm @ J-Port. The Catalina 27 Fleet 8 will have a fleet photo table set up to hopefully help entice new crew to join our ranks....and don't worry, I'll be careful not to include any pictures tht may be considered embarrassing! We'll also have a crew signup sheet available for those crew not "snatched" up by a captain but want to be called to race. Everyone wear their gaudy floral shirts so we can stand out!

followed by......

The Oyster Stew Tune-Up on Sunday the 23rd. Bring the crew that you found the day before and knock some rust off the old-hands. Read here to see the particulars....

To see the all the planned events for the season.....go take a look at the Calendar....

Next up, Racing Rules and Tactics

The Fleet 8 Seminar on "Racing Rules and Tactics" will be held on Saturday April 1st @ 4:30PM @ The Gardens of Annapolis Apartments in Annapolis. For mapquestors, the specific address is 931 Edgewood Road, Annapolis MD 21403. It is located near the corner of Forest Drive and Edgewood Rd. (Seven 11 store on corner) Please park in the Giant Shopping Center parking lot and cross Edgewood to Apartment Bldg. Light snacks and bevies will be provided. Get the date on your calendar now!

Please check the Fleet 8 website for the other upcoming fleet events for April...Spinsheet Party and our Oyster Stew Tuning Session. Good events to strengthen/ re-enforce your crew list and work out your Winter mental and physical atrophies!

Seaya on Saturday!
Donna, Fleet Capn'

2006 Seminar Season Begins!

Hi Fleet!
We've scheduled the first of the two fleet seminars to be held on Saturday, March 18th at 1PM @ Muellers Eastport Marina. This is the first seminar (at least to my knowledge) that our fleet will be addressing 2 key issues in racing:

Rig Tuning : something a lot of us are either confused by or unfortunately overlook
Crew Racing Positions: where to be, when to be, and why to be!

Julian Richards, as you may know, if very adept in rig tuning amongst other talents and has graciously accepted the task of sharing his knowledge with us. Mike Rickels, as one of the best Catalina crewman, will be sharing his thoughts and skills in the crew positioning aspect of this seminar. As there are 4 Catalina 27's in a row @ Muellers', this will be a hands on experience so do not miss out and have your key crew persons be present...they can't learn if they're not there! There will be snacks and beverages aplenty. (Seminar should take no longer than 2 hours tops)

See you on the 18th!
Donna, Fleet Captain

*Muellers is located at the end of 3rd Street on the Back Creek side. Plenty of on street parking available. Only 1 dock so you can't get lost!

2006 Seminar Season Begins!

Rig Tuning : something a lot of us are either confused by or unfortunately overlook
Crew Racing Positions: where to be, when to be, and why to be!

See you on the 18th!
Donna, Fleet Captain

*Muellers is located at the end of 3rd Street on the Back Creek side. Plenty of on street parking available. Only 1 dock so you can't get lost!

Next up, Racing Rules and Tactics

And then, the rest of the racing pre-Season.....

The SpinSheet Crew Listing Part is Saturday, April 22nd from 5-7pm @ J-Port. The Catalina 27 Fleet 8 will have a fleet photo table set up to hopefully help entice new crew to join our ranks....and don't worry, I'll be careful not to include any pictures that may be considered embarrassing! We'll also have a crew signup sheet available for those crew not "snatched" up by a captain but want to be called to race. Everyone wear their gaudy floral shirts so we can stand out!

followed by......

The Oyster Stew Tune-Up on Sunday the 23rd. Bring the crew that you found the day before and knock some rust off the old-hands. Read here to see the particulars....

To see the all the planned events for the season.....go take a look at the Calendar....