Reports

Regatta Report
Bill Heintz

The first time I sailed in a Soverel Nationals was coincidentally the first time I ever sailed on a Soverel 33. Needless to say didn't know a whole lot of people at the event. This year was my sixteenth consecutive Soverel 33 Nationals -- I've had the opportunity to race on six of the seven boats in this year's regatta.

It seems a lot of emphasis is put on finish positions and overall race results, that's only a fraction of what the Soverel Nationals really is: the rest is meeting up with old friends and making new friends, discussing the races, discussing the boats, asking questions, getting answers, seeing solutions to common rigging problems, and having a good time.

Soverel 33 Nationals has become a yearly ritual for me: a regatta, a reunion, and a party all rolled into one. It's also a hell of a lot of work for each of the boats that entered -- hats off to all the skippers and crews that were able to make it this year. Mark McCarthy made a lot of calls trying to get boats to the regatta, I'm guessing for every boat that raced, he called two others that couldn't make it.

Race 1 - Saturday, sunny, wind 7-3 kts clocking from E to SE. There was a lot of current in the first race, making it difficult to cross the starting line except at full speed. The key to this race was sailing where the wind was. Both Whacko and Slàinte seemed to have the knack for being in the right place at the right time. Dead Money closed in rapidly in the downwind leg but fell into a whole at the leeward mark. The race was shortened to a 3 leg W-L course, securing the finnish positions.

Race 2 - Saturday, sunny, wind 7-3 kts clocking from SE to SW. A little less current in this race. Again sailing where the wind was seemed to be the call. Initially Adrenaline had a good lead of the left side while Whacko and Slàinte looked good on the right. By the time we got to "final approach" to the weather mark everything looked different and Black Pearl found a private breeze on the left that just about launched them around the mark. They were closely followed by Whacko and Slàinte. Sometime later . . . the rest of us found our way around the windward mark, fortunately we brought some of the breeze with us down wind and by the leeward rounding were fairly close. With the leaders splitting: Black Pearl and Whacko going left and Slàinte going right. Initially Deviation started to go left, but Whacko persuaded them to go right. After crossing tacks with Slàinte, Deviation continued into stronger pressure and a lift to the weather mark. The race also was shortened to a 3 leg W-L course, locking Deviation's lead.

Sunday was a bit more cloudy, fortunately Team Monkey Farm had very bright shirts on to light the way . . .

Race 3 - Sunday, wind 7-3 kts SE. Strong Current from East to West. Whacko attempted to port tack the start but unfortunately had no space to squeeze in. Initially Slàinte and Deviation went left. Deviation split to check in with Whacko. Slàinte took advantage of more wind on the left and lead around the windward mark followed by Deviation, Mischief and Whacko. Deviation trailed Slàinte downwind but was able to pass at the leeward mark. Deviation lead to the windward mark. After rounding the lead changed several times with Deviation edging out Slàinte at the finish.

Race 4 - Sunday, wind 6-2 kts E. Still some current. Deviation sandwiched between Whacko and Slàinte at start. Slàinte tacked, followed by Deviation and Whacko. In the mean time Black Pearl and Adrenaline were sailing higher and faster on the left hand side of the course. After much deliberation, Deviation split away from Whacko and Slàinte and were able to catch up to Black Pearl by the weather mark with Slàinte and Whacko trailing by 100 yards. Deviation and Black Pearl were neck and neck at the leeward mark and had extended their lead. Slàinte and Whacko rounded the leeward mark with a totally different wind and were fetching the weather mark in a stiff wind. Both Deviation and Black Pearl attempted to tack to get into the new wind. Deviation gave a loose cover on Slàinte whereas Black Pearl followed Whacko a bit farther away. Slàinte lead the race from there to the finish. (it must have been the shirts).

Dead Money	Adredaline	Mischief	Mischief	Mischief	Whacko	Black Pearl	Whacko and Slàinte
Black Pearl	Slàinte, Dead Money, Deviation	Slàinte	Dead Money	Black Pearl and Whacko		Team Monkey Farm	Iris
On the Line

 

AGM Report.
2009 Annual General Meeting for Soverel 33 Class at Riverside Yacht Club, Saturday, August 8th

Agenda / Meeting:

I) Call meeting to order at 18:35 II) Roll call of attending boats owners / members:     Mark McCarthy (Slàinte),     Iris Vogel (Deviation),     Vicky-Jo Niner (representing Whacko),     Don O'Brien (Dead Money),     Tom Griffin (Mischief), and     Patrick Croke (Adrenaline) III) Old items     A) Dues and Participation - discussed class particapation, attendance at regattas and discreate ways to improve the class balance sheet.     B) Bill Soverel Trophy - unfortunatly the Bill Soverel Perpetual trophy was not recieved in time due to a shipping debacle. IV) New Items     A) 2010 Schedule - discussed next year's schedule. Decided to send out a balot to the voting class members for a perspective venue for 2010. Red Grant (Raritain Bay), American Fall Series (Rye, NY), Greenwich Cup and YRALIS (both Greenwich) were all suggested. Perhaps other venues will be put forward as well.     B) Class Officer Vacancy - Iris Vogel agreed to remain at the position of Class Secretary - Treasurer for another term, or until someone else decides that they want the position.     C) Dues & Membership - Financial Report - discussed the financial status of the Soverel 33 Class: membership, dues, costs of advertising, promotion, web site, etc. for 7/11/08 through 9/08/09. Decided that Dues for 2010 would remain at $100     D) Class Limit for Wind Speed at One-Design Events - Some classes, such as Farr 30's and J-80's, have limits on the maximim wind strength to hold a class regatta. This discussion was tabled as a good item to discuss on the class group discussion. -- decided to put the motion out to a class vote via postal ballot. V) Call meeting to close at 19:20

Setup & Rig

Yacht Name

Fleet

Hull

Sails

R=Running Backstays C=Checkstays

Max Headsail

Mast

Pole

Cap

D1

D2

Headstay

Deviation

1

89 TAR

UK-Halsey/Doyle

Checks only

145%

Ballenger

14' CF

30 [1208]

20 [1000]

25 [1176]

6' 7"

Slàinte

1

31 SVM

Kappa

Checks only

151%

Kenyon

14' Al

31 [1251]

8 [674]

17 [757]

6' 5.5"

Whacko

1

116 PCX

Doyle/North

R & C

155%

Ballenger

14' CF

32 [1295]

21 [1032]

10 [587]

6' 8.25"

Black Pearl

1

118 SVM

North

R & C

155%

Kenyon

14' Al

Dead Money

1

86 TAR

R & C

155%

Kenyon

14' CF

30 [1208]

14 [853]

7 [533]

6' 4.75"

Mischief

1

68 SVM

UK-Halesy

Checks only

145%

Kenyon

14' Al

32 [1295]

4 [579]

15 [700]

6' 5.5"

Adrenaline

1

304 RPZ

UK -Halsey

R & C

155%

Kenyon

14' CF

See http://www.soverel33.com/Articles/Content/LoosRRTGauge.html for explanation on the Shroud Tension numbers.

Rake/Headstay length was taken from halyard hoisted (w/ attached tape) to the top of the boom fitting (square pivot fitting) [gooseneck] or at the upper edge of the black band, for all boats the deck to "black band" was 3'5". The halyard was then swung out to the headstay (which is is tensioned). Measurement was taken from the halyard down to the Stainless Steel bow fitting intersection of the bow and deck plates.

Click on image to see Rake Measurement

Shroud Tension: Measured with Loos Tension Gauge, Model RT-10, numbers in brackets are from the needle position on the gauge. Lowers and Uppers are 0.198" dia, and Intermediates are 0.172"

Chart of Area

click on chart to expand image.

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