Inaugural Bayview One Design Regatta
- Thread starter L Z
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Mr. Squirrel
Super Anarchist
jsrussell1
New member
- 28
- 0
Great event, first class all the way. Thanks to all who gave thier time and energy to support this event and make it the success it was.
More Cowbell2
Super Anarchist
Certainly cannot complain of any lack of wind.
Congrats to Mr. Bill winning PHRF A. Nice job keeping your chute up on that last leg Sunday.
Fun regatta.
Congrats to Mr. Bill winning PHRF A. Nice job keeping your chute up on that last leg Sunday.
Fun regatta.
I was crewing a Beneteau on course B. Thanks for the solid RC work. You guys done good!Hello,
I was a member of Course B Race Committee, a very profesisonal and fun group of people. This was a well run event and one that I hope continues on an annual basis. The club members really supported the event - very helpful and friendly.
The golf cart transporation is wonderful improvement from my last visit to Bayview Yacht Club.
Next up, perhaps maybe the installation of another women's shower stall to bring the total number up to two ?
As mentioned, a really, good, fun event.
M.
(Especially thank you for answering our prayers on Sunday with a general recall that let our dumb asses catch back up to the fleet :wacko: whoooooooops)
More Cowbell2
Super Anarchist
......except for the windward mark boat that said during the start sequence on Sunday's first race when it was only 12 - 13 kts said "yeah, this wind should hold until this afternoon. Then it is going to lighten up."
Gary M
Member
I have to agree, great weekend, well organized, great committee work on Course B. And cheap booze! 9.1 fleet was a great experience.
ClimbnSail
Member
Checked the linky and can't find any pics. Thought there was supposed to be an 'event photographer' which I was hoping to be mrs. clean. Never saw a photog on the big boat course and I am sad I didn't bring my camera. There was plenty of wind, close roundings, knockdowns, carnage, etc. This would have been great if someone got it, but I guess not. Also, no frontpage coverage of a grassroots effort? Bummer for BOD and SA to not work together.
The link has the pictures right there. How did you miss them? The top six galleries on the page are from the BOD. Lots of pictures from the big boat course.
- Moderator
- #74
Mer was racing on a Viper, the Event Photographer was a fun but wacky Pole named Martin who pretty clearly had no idea what to shoot. We watched him clicking away for a half hour while we waited for the RC to set a course. Might be the world's best photographer, but doing regattas is a whole new ball of twine.
That being said, good on BYC for at least having someone dedicated to it for this one. Next year they'll hopefully get someone with a little experience, and maybe even hire a video team.
- Moderator
- #75
Having gone through the pics quickly, let me take a little of that back: He is not the world's greatest photographer!
Must be 2000 pics in those galleries, most of them useless. Anyway, pics and video are just a footnote to this successful event. They proved they could pull it off a lot better than Sailing World had been doing, proved they could get the entries (big boats alone were up over 40% over the 2011 NOOD, and all the dinghies were just gravy), and next year, Bayview can get all the little details right and prove that the BOD is an event everyone in the US should have on their calendar.
I'll give you one example of a really, really cool thing that I've never seen happen in the SW days: Only five Vipers made it town, yet on Friday the motorless sporties still had to sail upwind about 5 miles (against the current) to the C Course. The wind of course shifted during the day, and after 3 races, they had to sail that same distance, upwind, back to BYC. Saturday, they had a fast ride out with 15+ up the ass, but that had increased to 25-30 for a bone-jarring ride upwind ride back at the end of the day. Meanwhile, the Ultimate 20s, Rebels, and Wayfarers raced in the river all weekend, mere meters from the dock, on fun, short courses that every Detroiter who's done Thursday night beer cans is familiar with. Since there was obviously plenty of room in the river for a fistful of Vipers, a few racers polled their fleet, and asked Karl "sailski" Kuspa if it was possible to race in the river. Less than two hours later, the RC and organizers had sorted it out. With breeze in the 20s again on Sunday morning, I can tell you there were an awful lot of happy Viperers headed out to the course at 9:45 instead of 7:30. When chatting about the situation to a few Melges 24 and Viper friends, one of them made an interesting suggestion: "It would be great if the Melges 24s and Vipers could both have a day or two in the river to mix things up," though both Viperers and 24 sailors agreed that they wanted to race on the lake as well. It's the kind of unusual request that would never fly in the homogenized world of the NOOD, and just the kind of outside-the-box decision that helped the BOD attract nearly 200 boats to its inaugural event.
Must be 2000 pics in those galleries, most of them useless. Anyway, pics and video are just a footnote to this successful event. They proved they could pull it off a lot better than Sailing World had been doing, proved they could get the entries (big boats alone were up over 40% over the 2011 NOOD, and all the dinghies were just gravy), and next year, Bayview can get all the little details right and prove that the BOD is an event everyone in the US should have on their calendar.
I'll give you one example of a really, really cool thing that I've never seen happen in the SW days: Only five Vipers made it town, yet on Friday the motorless sporties still had to sail upwind about 5 miles (against the current) to the C Course. The wind of course shifted during the day, and after 3 races, they had to sail that same distance, upwind, back to BYC. Saturday, they had a fast ride out with 15+ up the ass, but that had increased to 25-30 for a bone-jarring ride upwind ride back at the end of the day. Meanwhile, the Ultimate 20s, Rebels, and Wayfarers raced in the river all weekend, mere meters from the dock, on fun, short courses that every Detroiter who's done Thursday night beer cans is familiar with. Since there was obviously plenty of room in the river for a fistful of Vipers, a few racers polled their fleet, and asked Karl "sailski" Kuspa if it was possible to race in the river. Less than two hours later, the RC and organizers had sorted it out. With breeze in the 20s again on Sunday morning, I can tell you there were an awful lot of happy Viperers headed out to the course at 9:45 instead of 7:30. When chatting about the situation to a few Melges 24 and Viper friends, one of them made an interesting suggestion: "It would be great if the Melges 24s and Vipers could both have a day or two in the river to mix things up," though both Viperers and 24 sailors agreed that they wanted to race on the lake as well. It's the kind of unusual request that would never fly in the homogenized world of the NOOD, and just the kind of outside-the-box decision that helped the BOD attract nearly 200 boats to its inaugural event.
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- Moderator
- #78
Marcin Chumiecki is the name of the photographer - you can check out his site here. Super nice, really interesting history with Lech Walesa, and going through his portfolio, seems quite skilled. But I think this was his first ever sailing event.
- Moderator
- #80
Just the facts, ma'am.
Clean Report
BODybuilding
It's been a couple of years since I sailed here in the Midwest; a bit ironic since sailing on Lake St. Clair is what got me hooked on racing in the first place. It's pretty sad that I moved back almost 18 months ago and my first time racing since then was just this past weekend, at the Bayview One Design regatta (the BOD).
Even when it was still a NOOD regatta, the BYC event was always one of the most fun, but rapidly declining numbers over the past few years had taken much of the life out of Michigan's biggest multi-class regatta. Enter Detroit jack-of-all-trades and pro sailor Karl Kuspa, whose foot injury kept him off of boats for a few months. Rather than sulk, Karl poured his energy into ensuring Bayview's success on their replacement for the NOOD, and an energized volunteer corps made it all happen. So what, exactly, did they change from the NOOD playbook?
There were some great creative touches, like commentated Moth racing on the river at the end of the day just meters from a packed deck of drinking sailors, with printed placards identifying the mothies for curious onlookers. The organizers held a 'champagne race' for some of the offshore boats; the first one back to the club for some classes won a bottle of champagne, and their finishes were cheered by those already drinking. The BYC kitchen catered incredible food – salmon, oysters, scallops, steaks; not for everyone and not cheap, but better than anything that's ever had a NOOD name on it. Live music from well-respected local bands every night; Mer and I spent a lot of time researching our wedding band, and it was a nice surprise to see our lead singer Jorg on the mike for Friday's live performance. And the girls…well, see our SCOTW above.
It was a welcoming event; Detroit mainstays like the Melges 24, Beneteau 36.7, Ultimate 20, Cal 25, and J/120 were here in numbers, but so too were newcomers that were never allowed or interested in sailing a NOOD. S2 9.1s – nine of them! -- had their first one-design start since the Franco-Prussian war, and Wayfarer and Rebel dinghies both made their first appearance at the June event. A handful of Stars and piles of Lightnings and Thistles were also first-timers, but all of the nearly 100% entry gain on last year wasn't from dinghies; the 2012 also attracted almost 40 more traditional NOOD boats than the 2011 event.
Race Committees were communicative and helpful; there were errors like at any event, but they were quick to repair them and move on, and attentive to their fleets' needs. Some boats wanted to go in after three big-air races on Saturday, and their fleets were polled. When everyone agreed, they went in. Others didn't agree, and they stayed out to run more races.
Here's another example: Only five Vipers made it town, yet on Friday the motorless sporties still had to sail upwind about 5 miles (against the current) to the C Course. The wind of course shifted during the day, and after 3 races, they had to sail that same distance, upwind, back to BYC. Saturday, they had a fast ride out to the course with 15+ up the ass, but that had increased to 25-30 for a bone-jarring ride upwind ride home at the end of the day. Meanwhile, the Ultimate 20s, Rebels, and Wayfarers raced in the river all weekend, 50 from the dock, on fun, short courses that every Detroiter who's done Thursday night beer cans is familiar with. Since there was obviously plenty of room in the river for a fistful of Vipers, a few racers polled their fleet, and asked Kuspa if it was possible to race in the river. Less than two hours later, the RC and organizers had sorted it out. With breeze in the 20s again on Sunday morning, there were an awful lot of happy Viperers headed out to the course at 9:45 instead of 7:30. When chatting about the situation to a few Melges 24 and Viper friends, one of them made an interesting suggestion: "It would be great if the Melges 24s and Vipers could both have a day or two in the river to mix things up," though both Viperers and 24 sailors agreed that they wanted to race on the lake as well. It's the kind of unusual request that would likely never fly in the homogenized world of the NOOD, and just the kind of outside-the-box thinking that could bring in more boats next year if the fleets are into it. While there
Mother nature seemed to approve of the changes, as she provided plenty of breeze – more than enough for many on the Saturday and Sunday, though there were plenty of white-knuckle rides before the needle went to 30+ on both days. Competition was tight in most fleets – the Melges 24s saw a tie for 1-2 and another for 3-4, though Keith Ziegler spanked me and the rest of the Ultimate 20 fleet for the victory. Everyone had between 6 and 10 races, most with wind over 5 knots; Kind of like Charleston, without the thousands of hot college girls or 80 degree temperatures. Complete results are here.
I enjoyed the hell out of my regatta, despite coming in a lackluster 4th. I was glad to finally get to race with some old friends, though our combined weight was probably more suited to a bulk carrier than a sportboat. We went upwind okay in the 7 boat U-20 fleet, but downwind, even puffs of 20 had trouble lifting us out of the water, though the waifishly crewed boats went zooming by. It didn't matter, though – one of the many things about short course racing in the river is that there isn't much time to dwell on how much you suck; 25-minute races and quick turnarounds require forward thinking, not backwards. More importantly, 6 races only lasts four hours, and we were on the deck, drink in hand, catching up on old times, for a solid hour before any other boats showed up. I liked that, too.
I grabbed Karl after the regatta to congratulate him and pick his brain some more. "We've always like regattas that go out of their way to deliver exactly what the racers want, and we talked to hundreds of our members and racers all over the world to make sure we had it right," he said.
I'd say they did.
Photos from Marcin Chumiecki/Photoelement.com with a scary volume of free-to-download pics from the event here.
Clean Report
BODybuilding
It's been a couple of years since I sailed here in the Midwest; a bit ironic since sailing on Lake St. Clair is what got me hooked on racing in the first place. It's pretty sad that I moved back almost 18 months ago and my first time racing since then was just this past weekend, at the Bayview One Design regatta (the BOD).
Even when it was still a NOOD regatta, the BYC event was always one of the most fun, but rapidly declining numbers over the past few years had taken much of the life out of Michigan's biggest multi-class regatta. Enter Detroit jack-of-all-trades and pro sailor Karl Kuspa, whose foot injury kept him off of boats for a few months. Rather than sulk, Karl poured his energy into ensuring Bayview's success on their replacement for the NOOD, and an energized volunteer corps made it all happen. So what, exactly, did they change from the NOOD playbook?
There were some great creative touches, like commentated Moth racing on the river at the end of the day just meters from a packed deck of drinking sailors, with printed placards identifying the mothies for curious onlookers. The organizers held a 'champagne race' for some of the offshore boats; the first one back to the club for some classes won a bottle of champagne, and their finishes were cheered by those already drinking. The BYC kitchen catered incredible food – salmon, oysters, scallops, steaks; not for everyone and not cheap, but better than anything that's ever had a NOOD name on it. Live music from well-respected local bands every night; Mer and I spent a lot of time researching our wedding band, and it was a nice surprise to see our lead singer Jorg on the mike for Friday's live performance. And the girls…well, see our SCOTW above.
It was a welcoming event; Detroit mainstays like the Melges 24, Beneteau 36.7, Ultimate 20, Cal 25, and J/120 were here in numbers, but so too were newcomers that were never allowed or interested in sailing a NOOD. S2 9.1s – nine of them! -- had their first one-design start since the Franco-Prussian war, and Wayfarer and Rebel dinghies both made their first appearance at the June event. A handful of Stars and piles of Lightnings and Thistles were also first-timers, but all of the nearly 100% entry gain on last year wasn't from dinghies; the 2012 also attracted almost 40 more traditional NOOD boats than the 2011 event.
Race Committees were communicative and helpful; there were errors like at any event, but they were quick to repair them and move on, and attentive to their fleets' needs. Some boats wanted to go in after three big-air races on Saturday, and their fleets were polled. When everyone agreed, they went in. Others didn't agree, and they stayed out to run more races.
Here's another example: Only five Vipers made it town, yet on Friday the motorless sporties still had to sail upwind about 5 miles (against the current) to the C Course. The wind of course shifted during the day, and after 3 races, they had to sail that same distance, upwind, back to BYC. Saturday, they had a fast ride out to the course with 15+ up the ass, but that had increased to 25-30 for a bone-jarring ride upwind ride home at the end of the day. Meanwhile, the Ultimate 20s, Rebels, and Wayfarers raced in the river all weekend, 50 from the dock, on fun, short courses that every Detroiter who's done Thursday night beer cans is familiar with. Since there was obviously plenty of room in the river for a fistful of Vipers, a few racers polled their fleet, and asked Kuspa if it was possible to race in the river. Less than two hours later, the RC and organizers had sorted it out. With breeze in the 20s again on Sunday morning, there were an awful lot of happy Viperers headed out to the course at 9:45 instead of 7:30. When chatting about the situation to a few Melges 24 and Viper friends, one of them made an interesting suggestion: "It would be great if the Melges 24s and Vipers could both have a day or two in the river to mix things up," though both Viperers and 24 sailors agreed that they wanted to race on the lake as well. It's the kind of unusual request that would likely never fly in the homogenized world of the NOOD, and just the kind of outside-the-box thinking that could bring in more boats next year if the fleets are into it. While there
Mother nature seemed to approve of the changes, as she provided plenty of breeze – more than enough for many on the Saturday and Sunday, though there were plenty of white-knuckle rides before the needle went to 30+ on both days. Competition was tight in most fleets – the Melges 24s saw a tie for 1-2 and another for 3-4, though Keith Ziegler spanked me and the rest of the Ultimate 20 fleet for the victory. Everyone had between 6 and 10 races, most with wind over 5 knots; Kind of like Charleston, without the thousands of hot college girls or 80 degree temperatures. Complete results are here.
I enjoyed the hell out of my regatta, despite coming in a lackluster 4th. I was glad to finally get to race with some old friends, though our combined weight was probably more suited to a bulk carrier than a sportboat. We went upwind okay in the 7 boat U-20 fleet, but downwind, even puffs of 20 had trouble lifting us out of the water, though the waifishly crewed boats went zooming by. It didn't matter, though – one of the many things about short course racing in the river is that there isn't much time to dwell on how much you suck; 25-minute races and quick turnarounds require forward thinking, not backwards. More importantly, 6 races only lasts four hours, and we were on the deck, drink in hand, catching up on old times, for a solid hour before any other boats showed up. I liked that, too.
I grabbed Karl after the regatta to congratulate him and pick his brain some more. "We've always like regattas that go out of their way to deliver exactly what the racers want, and we talked to hundreds of our members and racers all over the world to make sure we had it right," he said.
I'd say they did.
Photos from Marcin Chumiecki/Photoelement.com with a scary volume of free-to-download pics from the event here.
