SLOOP TAVERN YACHT CLUB

We've got friends in cool places! Three of our own STYC members are currently racing in the National and World Championships in Denmark and it looks like they're having the time of their lives! Follow along with their journey through social media and check out this write up from 48North. https://48north.com/racing/race-reports/seattle-j-80-owners-are-sailing-at-nationals-and-worlds-in-denmark/

Ahoy Monday Night Racers,  

We are sure that you are aware that Monday is forecast to be an all time high temperature for Seattle.  Ballard Cup Series 2 Race 4 will take place but without a race committee boat on the water.  Participation in all of our events is strictly voluntary. As always, it is the skippers responsibility to judge the safety of the event for your crew. 

The course will be NUN. There will be no horns or flag signals on the water. The start/finish line will be between the N buoy and the Yellow Painted Rock approximately due east from the buoy.  Use your designated time to start as usual, using GPS time. We will attempt to make time calls over VHF for each class along with a repeat of the course at 5 minutes, followed by 5 second countdowns at 4 minutes, 1 minutes and start. You must take your own finish time including the seconds and report it along with the name of the boat in front of you and the boat behind you if possible.   The website to submit your finish time information is here:  Ballard Cup II Take Your Time Form.    

If you have not seen the U buoy before, here is a picture of it thanks to Paul Viola. 

Stay cool, bring sun block and ice cubes,  and send us your finish time!

Sara Billey and Al Hughes

STYC Race Co-Chairs

Check out this fun article in 48 North by Andy Cross 

Glorious Ballard Cup: An Ode To Beer Can Racing

Last night's BC race (BC2 race 3) had a few boats that didn't complete the course properly and were marked DNF.  The posted course of NEMN2 = NEMNEMN requires that each boat must cross the start/finish line from the Committee Boat to the N buoy on the leg from M to E in the middle part of the course.  For further information, see the explanation and pictures posted in Section 17 on "Starting and Finishing" of STYC GSI. 

Thanks, Your Friendly STYC Race Co-Chairs

Congratulations to Peer Gynt for winning the Round the Sound Race over the Memorial Day Weekend. They were the first boat to reach Gate 2, more than 100 miles into the scheduled 132 mile course. No boats were able to complete the full course. Good work by the whole crew, Sara Billey, Paul Viola, Amy Deckelbaum, Aden Draakkai, and Adam Schaefer. Puff finished second and More Jubilee rounded out the podium. 13 boats signed up, 12 started and 11 made it to Gate 1. Full results are on the race page. Thanks to both STYC and CYC for putting on a memorable event.  More photos can be found on the event website.

Congratulations to the winners of the Ballard Cup I series!!!!   Ballard Cup II starts on Monday, May 24th.    Are you signed up?

Class 1

1. Outlaw -- Cindy Gossett

2. Aquavit -- David Sinson

3. Perfectly Strange -- Paul Kalina 

Class 2

1. Rock Lobster-- Trent Piepho

2. Lady Too -- Damon Darley

3. Sea Haven -- Cary Kaczowka 

Class 3

1. 6 Feet More -- Ben Braden (Second Overall) 

2. Wizard -- Leo Morales 

3. Zap -- Don Sarin 

Class 4

1. Tonic -- Mark Brink

2. Mata Hari -- Jeff Blyth

3. Wind Dancer-- Chris McMuldroch

Class 5

1. RecklessSezer Emre

2. Jolly GreenRyan Porter

3. High FiveCharles Hampson

Class 6

1. Corvo -- Tom Kerr (Third Overall)

2. Peer Gynt -- Sara Billey

3. Creative -- Shauna Walgren

Class 7

1. Sabrosa -- Alex Simanis (First Overall) 

2. Eclipse-- Kirk Fraser

3. Nefarious-- Dan Randolph

Class 8

1. Freda Mae -- Vince DePillis 

2. Escape -- Yury Palaltnik

Congratulations to Christina and Justin Wolfe on the J/111 Raku from Orcas Island YC for convincingly winning our STYC Race to the Straits for 2021. Second place was the Melges 24, Distraction with Carol and Tom Greetham from STYC. Third place went to the J/27, 63 with Dan Falk and crew from CYC who nipped their sistership Wizard with Leo Morales and crew from STYC. Of special note, the top two boats were Jack and Jill crews as well. 

We couldn't do the traditional course to Port Townsend and back over the weekend due the Covid constraints on gatherings, but the traditional course will be back next year as we have reservations for the NW Maritime Center for May 8, 2022.  Thanks to all 67 boats who registered and participated in this year’s modified Race to the Straits!

Welcome to spring time racing!   In case you missed our Introduction to Keelboat Racing 101 talk, you can still catch the recording  Youtube: STYC Keelboat Racing 101!   

Good news!  The state of Washington is entering phase 3 of the COVID-19 Road to Recovery plan on Monday the 22nd of March.  As a result we have decided to remove the 5 crew restriction for our racing starting with the Carol Pearl Blakely Rock Benefit Race and Ballard Cup 1.  The NOR for those races have been changed to reflect the new policiesand we will update the other NORs soon.

We would like to remind everyone participating in our races that sailboat racing is voluntary and is done at your own risk. Compliance with Federal, State, and Local rules and regulations is required by the club and enforcement is the responsibility of the skipper. In particular, skippers are responsible for ensuring everyone in their crew complies with all guidelines, rules, and regulations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while participating in STYC races.    

Skippers are required tokeep a complete and accurate record of their crew and inform them in the event of any possible exposure to COVID-19 by other crew members. 

Further, please be especially careful of COVID-19 protocols while on the dock and using the facilities at the marina.   This includes wearing masks when on the docks, when sitting on the rail, or whenever you are unable to maintain sufficient physical distance. We also strongly discourage after-race gatherings on boats or docks at this time.

Please note, these updated policies appear in the new NORs as “Special COVID ..” statements.  These are a bit different than the usual rules in a NOR to allow for the constantly changing landscape of COVID regulations and recommendations.  These statements reflect the new policy stated above.  

Thanks for helping to keep sailing as safe as possible for all, while enjoying the freedom of being out on the water.   

Al Hughes and Sara Billey

STYC Race Co-Chairs

One of our member's crew wrote in with this find on an airplane. It's a feature of Sloop Tavern featuring past commodore Grant Fjermedal and current board member Ken Chin.

Sail Northwest covers us in a long article with photos by Jan Anderson. https://sailnorthwest.com/race-to-the-straits-2015/