Underwater Obstruction at Oak Orchard

This underwater boulder has been hit a few times in recent memory. The first time I remember hearing about it was when my dad hit it with the Coronado 25' FOXFIRE back in the late 1970s.

Last Race of the Season - The Catch Up Race

A short video of the race that would end the OOYR season.
Video by John Smith aboard EMERAUDE.

Race 2 - No Wind at Oak Orchard

Again the wind has failed us. But, once again it was beautiful weather for floating on a sailboat.

Season Opener at Oak Orchard

Winds were light then nonexistent as the race began at 6:40. Mojo, College Tuition, and perhaps Mariah made it over the start line - by 7:10 the race was cancelled.

W

2012 Lake Ontario R-CLass Documentary

2012 Lake Ontario R-CLass Documentary at the NYC One Design Regatta
by LakeOntarioRClass
This Documentary was made during the 2012 Lake Ontario R CLass National Yacht Club One Design Regatta yacht race.

The Documentary features the following R-Class Sloop boats:
Diana R-8
Nayada R-20
Vitesse R-3
Gypsy R-13
Fantome R-18
Archer R-15

The film was produced by architectural photographer Tomasz Majcherczyk of http://www.dashousephoto.com/

Emeraude - Cal 2-27 gets repowered

After having intermittent reverse gear for quite a few seasons, Ray Leonard replaced the worn transmission on his Farymann A-30, German made diesel engine. It was a beautiful spring day at Lake Breeze Marina, and things went well as the engine was hoisted using a come-a-long attached to the boom. Within a couple hours the engine was fastened to the stringers and the shaft was coupled back together.

Emeraude will be back out for another season of racing.

Frostbiting - the movie

Rochester frostbiters to be in new documentary "Frostbiters".

Emmy award winning Thurston Smith directs an upcoming documentary called 'Frostbiters'. "It explores the extreme sport of Frostbiting -- where it is done, who does it, and why."

Thurston Smith is an Emmy Award winning director, writer, producer and editor. Thurston received his Emmy while still in college for producing "The Richmond Rage - History in the Making" (1997) a documentary about a young women’s basketball team. Thurston currently works as a Producer and Senior Avid Editor at Getty Images. Thurston has created countless spots and award winning demos for companies such as Aquafina, Discovery and Quest. He co-directed and edited for Disney's feature length film "Illumination 2000 - Reflections of Earth" which aired at Epcot for one year.

JFK's VICTURA

50 years ago this month, information that Soviet missiles were found to be in Cuba was released to the American public. Here is a pictorial history of our then President in a place that he is quoted as saying was his favorite place to be - VICTURA.

"We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came."
John F. Kennedy

Boat Make Wianno Senior

Boat LOA: 26 Feet

Boat Width: 8 Feet

Boat Weight: 3500 lb

Boat Material: Wood

Boat Builder: Crosby Yacht Yard in Osterville, MA

Boat Launched: 1932, Joseph P. Kennedy purchased it the same year as a 15th birthday present to his son John. It was President Kennedy's favorite boat.

Olympic Sailing History - A Family Affair

Out at Oak Orchard, not unlike many other places were club sailing takes place, sailboat racing is also part of family time. Sailing is a sport, or recreation that is uniquely suited to allow a wide range of people, from almost any age group to sail around the buoys, or just sail  two miles out and two miles back as some people prefer.

Olympic history holds evidence that, in fact sailing is very much a family sport with some interesting firsts. One has to go back to Count Hermann de Pourtales of Switzerland, in the 1900 Olympic games for evidence. He was the oldest sailor in the games at 53. Sailing alongside was his wife, Helene de Pourtales at 33, the oldest woman in any of the 1900 Olympic sports. Helene became the first female Olympic medalist when Lerina (pictured below) crossed the line in a corrected time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 32 seconds in Race 1 of the 1-2 Ton Class. The wife and husband sailing duo were also joined by their nephew Bernard and they added a silver medal to their collection in Race 2 after they finished behind the German boat Aschenbradel.
Resource: http://www.sailing.org/17516.php

Lerina - 1900 Olympic games

This feat would be repeated by the British couple eight years later in the 7 Meter division. The skipper was Charles James Rivett-Carnac who, at the age of 55 in 1908, remains the oldest Briton to have won an Olympic gold medal in sailing. His wife, Frances Rivett-Carnac, was one of the crew, and became the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal at sailing.
Resource: http://propercourse.blogspot.com/2012/04/sail-over.html

7 Meter - Bluebird

Father and son Paul and Hilary Smart won a gold medal for the U.S. in 1948, sailing in the Star class. It’s a family feat not since repeated, in any sport, summer or winter.
Resource: http://startsailingnow.com/ and  http://savingsailing.com/2012/04/03/unlike-any-other-sport/

Paul and Hilary Smart

Fast forward to 2012 with brother and sister, Zach and Paige Railey from Clearwater, Fla., birthplace of the Optimist dinghy: "We were pretty much those tan little hippie babies with bleach-blond hair running around with their mom down at the beach," Paige Railey said. "It just seemed like a natural thing for us to go into a sport that was associated with the water. Our whole life was based around the water." When Zach was 8, their family dentist suggested that his mother, Ann, enroll him in a summer sailing program. Three years later, it was Paige's turn. They both fell in love with the sport and began winning regattas.
Resource: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sailing-siblings-zach-paige-railey-191026792--oly.html

Zach (Finn) and Paige Railey (Laser Radials)

Sailboat Racing - Ronstan ClearStart Watch

$60 - Ronstan ClearStart 

It's always a good idea to have more than one watch counting down on a start. In some instances the clock that we are counting on to get us to the line may obscured by the flailing arms and off-balance bodies of the frantic crew, and perhaps with an extra clock running, a bowman could let the skipper know if it's going to be close.

Finding a countdown timer that doesn't have whole bunch of useless functions that invite disaster and also comes with a reasonable price tag is a pretty narrow search. However, the Ronstan ClearStart Sailing Watch is just the ticket.

The watch is usually available at West Marine, but at the time of this post they were out of stock. A quick Google search will usually result in multiple places to purchase this $60 watch.

The size of the numbers on the dial is really nice and big for folks who don't want to wear their reading glasses during the start sequence. Also, the 5 minute, 3 minute, 1 minute and then every 10 second beeps are nice and loud. You can set the watch to count up the time after the start to find your elapsed time - all good stuff.

West Marine did a great job of showing the features of this watch in the following video:

Fifth and Final Race of Mid-Summer Series

Winds went light out of the southeast as the last race of the season saw boats drift across the finish line of a shortened course.

Thanks to all participants for a fantastic 2012 racing season. Thanks also to Bruce Franklin for this evenings "Committee Cottage" shoreline start and finish times.

Name------Place.-----Corr. Time

Spinnaker Fleet

Red Line ----------2-------55:03
Emeraude ---------1-------54:04
College Tuition-----DNR-----
MoJo--------------3-----1:06:43
Blast Wave-------DNR------

Genoa Only Fleet

Sciabola---------2------1:00:27
Sea Dog---------DNR------
Mariah-----------3------TBA
Damas-------------DNR----------
Advantage-------1-------1:00:07
Col. 26-2---------DNR-----------

Many thanks to Mike Goheen, vacationing from his home state of Texas, for crewing aboard BLAST WAVE and then on board EMERAUDE.

Want to post crew pictures and thank-yous to your crew here on the racing page?
Email any and all pictures along with captions and names to: OurBoatingLife@gmail.com.We'll make them available for any and all to see...

Mike Goheen aboard EMERAUDE at end of race No. 4

Results of Race Four of Mid-Summer Season

Name------Place.-----Corr. Time

Spinnaker Fleet

Red Line ----------DNR-------
Emeraude ---------1-------50:44
College Tuition-----2------53:57
MoJo--------------DNR-----
Blast Wave-------DNR------

Genoa Only Fleet

Sciabola-----------1-------54:28
Sea Dog---------3--------57:34
Mariah-----------4-------58:12
Damas-------------DNR----------
Advantage-------2--------57:22
Col. 26-2---------DNR-----------