News from the Star Fleet

With an amazing Western Hemisphere regatta at LSYC this last week you would think there would be nothing more to talk about. Let’s talk, team racing, world championships, and Star boat racing and the amazing talent we have in great sailors at LSYC. Today’s Main Sheet has our best talent facing challenges, heart breaks, and success. Our club has several former US Sailing team members. We have members that race internationally and compete in world championships. Let’s look closely at a few of the LSYC talent below.
For example, our own Duane Delfosse raced at the Royal Cork Yacht Club, Cork Ireland, in the 505 Worlds in a 75 boat fleet. Yes, Ireland that place across the Atlantic Ocean. It’s an awful lot of work just getting logistics and organized to get to the start line. If you looked closely on the water this summer Duane was out on Lake Sunapee practicing and training for the Worlds this summer. It takes dedication and commitment to race in a World Championship overseas. Duane’s dedication to the sport and willingness to accept a challenge is the essence of racing. Nice racing Duane!
Another LSYC sailor, Brian Doyle, faced a different challenge of returning the Hinman Masters Trophy to the New York Club after an 8 year drought. This year they found success in that effort. The Hinman Masters is team racing at its best. What…. team racing? Team racing has 3 boats on a team competing to get their three boats across the finish line first. The races have on the water judges that make the calls for penalties during racing. Strategy, tactics, and superior boat handling usually win the event. Congratulations Brian!
This year’s Western Hemisphere came down to the last day of racing, and the last wind shift of the day. Incredibly tight racing in mentally grueling conditions. On the last day of racing Andy Ivey, local Star legend, was in a commanding 2nd place position with Reid Krakower as his crew. He was closely followed by Peter Follansbee with crew Nat Cook, and former America's Cup skipper Paul Cayard, sailing with LSYC’s own Brad Nichol, former US Sailing team member. The last day would be a test of patience. 6 boats were in position to win the coveted Western Hemisphere Championship going into the last race. Shifts and lulls dropped boats from first to 20th in a single leg of the course. Andy faced heartbreak as the shifts did not play in his favor in both races on the last day. Sometimes a top boat was in position to win the event and then quickly saw it all erased in a wind shift or dying breeze. Peter Follansbee and Nat Cook were winning the Western Hemisphere regatta rounding the top mark in second place in the last race. The finish line was in sight for their win. Paul Cayard and Brad Nichol were slippery fast in the light conditions off the wind and were in first. A dying breeze spread the fleet across Lake Sunapee and collapsed 15 boats onto Peter and Nat’s position on the course. Agony!... Nat and Peter finished 12th in the race and dropped back to 5th overall for the regatta. Nat, Peter, and Andy are truly great sailors to have positioned themselves with the opportunity to win it all, earned admiration and respect, and they have the grit to win the next one. Paul and Brad found success and would go on to win the race and win the Western Hemisphere regatta. Congratulations Brad!
The Western Hemispheres on Lake Sunapee was simply incredible, the dinners, the racing, and most of all the people…amazing! Huge thank you to Brad Nichol and John Chiarella organizing the Star fleet, and Taryn Chiarella for working tirelessly behind the scenes. Many thanks to the Flag Officers and board and the Lake Sunapee Yacht Club (Ali and Tim) for making this event special.
This upcoming weekend the Stars will race on Saturday and Sunday in the Labor Day Series, and the Cruising Fleet has their End to End Race on Sunday at 1 pm. And don’t forget, the Sailor’s picnic is on Labor Day, Monday the 5th, at 12 pm. Would love to see you all there!

We have had some amazing weeks of sailing for youth, seniors, and world class sailors alike. With such fierce wind for many weekends this season, we were bound to run into some calmer days. This week we saw just that, but we still had lots of great racing.

Wednesday the cruising fleet saw many boats out racing in light and variable conditions. The start of the race had a large wind shift favoring the pin end of the start. This wind shift race shuffled the start line plans and forced boats to scramble to reach the start line on time. In the division 1, Mike Deyett and Scott Beckman were 45 seconds late to the start but finished 1st across the line in the Viper 640 (handicapped adjusted scores are yet to be posted). George Morin had an excellent race in division 2 in the Cal 24 and came away with the bullet.

On Thursday, the Juniors hosted the Rig It Up regatta in light breeze. The club had 9 - 420’s and 15 -Optimis Dinghy’s to compete against the best of LSYC juniors. There were 2 fleets for the Opti’s – Green (beginner) and Blue (advanced), each fleet got in 6 good races. The LSYC was well represented at the end of the day. Avery Blaquiere took 1st place in the Opti Green fleet. In the 420 fleet Cyrus Nolin and Aiden Ayers finished second overall, while Kelson Shea and Crosby Nolin finished 3rd. Congrats to our sailors for a job well done! Thank you to Aimee Ayers for coordinating and our great Race Committee.

On Saturday the Stars wrapped up the August series with one race on Saturday, due to the wind suddenly disappearing towards the end of the first planned race. There was an exciting finish with Andy Ivey/Reid Krakower and Peter Follansbee/Paul Skarin close together until Andy/Reid tacked and Peter/Paul ended up in a hole. Mike Kelly/Erin Kelly and Michele Wood/Mike Wood were getting close to the finish when the wind died. Swimming to the finish would’ve been faster! Second race was canceled for no wind. Not only did they win the race, but Andy and Reid also won the August series - congratulations sailors!

Sunday brought in the Lake Sunapee antique boat parade with some of the most spectacular wooden power boats in the world. Sunday also arrived with little to no wind. This made for tough sailing conditions with lots of waves and little power. The cruising fleet barely got one of their two races off in lumpy waves and variable wind, yet I was able to see smiles from most of the fleet despite the conditions. That’s sailing!

Overall, racing at the Lake Sunapee Yacht Club has had growing fleets, fun and exciting racing!

Preparations for the Westerns are underway; expect to see a lot of Star sailors out practicing next weekend!





 

This week was amazing!! We showcased our fantastic club and staff this weekend with multiple regattas. Thank you to Ali and his crew and all who organized, served, prepped, and managed the weekend.

On Friday we hosted the 1st annual NextGen under 25 Star regatta. This is for skippers under 25 to race Stars with the boat owners as the crew. We had 7 boats and nice wind for three great races. It was quite a sight seeing the younger sailors at the helm. We want to give a big shout out to all the crew who graciously donated their time and boats for this event. Many of the crew were off lake sailors looking to inspire our younger talent. The LSYC was well represented with Cyrus Nolin with Steve Braverman crew winning, Jasper Nolin with Josh Phypers crew second and Edward Coleman (Boston Harbor) with Jim Revkin as crew third. As the writer of this I will need to brag a bit about race #2 where the Nolin boys took 1 Jasper, 2 Cyrus, and 3 Crosby. It was an LSYC sweep – the Junior program is and has been doing some great things!! We finished the night with an Italian dinner and “Stories With The Stars” -lots of fun tales from the veteran Star Sailors.

Saturday was the kickoff for the 12th District Championship as well as the Lake Sunapee Open. We had sailors from Canada, Brazil, Colorado, Seattle, and up and down the East Coast. It was great to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones as the Star Fleet community is one of a kind. Thank you to all the members who hosted off lake guests – that is what makes these regatta’s work! We had planned for three races Saturday, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Instead of sailing, we swam, socialized and as Sailors do – had a few drinks as the weather was just not going to cooperate. While we didn’t have sailing, our membership and participants had a great Steak Dinner Saturday night. The food was delicious, and the stories and friendship were even better!

Sunday was an early start as we needed to get three races in for an official regatta, so out we went for a 9:30 am start. Fortunately, the wind was in our favor and we hit the lake ready to go. Of course, not all goes according to plan and one of our skippers was unable to participate leading to a frantic search of a replacement. Good thing our Yacht Club is full of great sailors, and Mike Deyett (former Junior Sailing Coach at LSYC) was waiting in the wings! We placed 24 boats on the starting line. Star starts, with a big fleet are really something everyone should see at least 5 times in their lives. It is a crazy and chaotic jostling of position and strategy. When the gun goes off it is race on!

An extra special thank you goes out to Lovelynn Ivey and Jenn Nolin for organizing an amazing weekend of sailing. Kudos also needs to be shared with all who volunteered on the Race Committee - Wendy Nolin, Carl Schellbach, David Cook, David Ivey, Don Eberly, Frank Lemay, John Gedaminski, Phil Desmond, Rip Cross, Robin Cook, Steve McGrath, Terry Fletcher. We certainly couldn’t do any of this without your time and energy!

There were many tired Star sailors on Saturday afternoon! The wind was quite strong for the first 2 races. Crews and skippers alike got drenched and had very sore muscles after three long races. It was a great day; Andy Ivey and Reid Krakower took first twice and are currently leading the August Series, and Scott Beckman and Chip Nolin took first in the 3rd race. Peter Follansbee continued his good skippering this season with Duane Delfosse as his crew. John Wulff with Joe Richter and Chris Eldrige with Mike Miramonti both had exciting days and are currently tied with each other in the August Series. Mike and Erin Kelly also did well and enjoyed their day of sailing, and Michele Wood returned to Star sailing, with Mike Wood as her crew, for the first time in 2 years! We're glad to see her back. In all there were 7 boats; a fantastic showing that made for a good day of competition. Thanks always to the race committee!

The star open/districts are this Saturday and Sunday with 24 boats registered. The Next Gen Junior star event is this Friday with 9 boats registered. Please reach out to the Star Fleet Secretary, Lovelynn Ivey [email protected] to volunteer to house a Star crew, provide spectator support, or volunteer in other ways.

No races last weekend for the Cruising Fleet. However, they did manage to sail a light air event last Wednesday. Division 1 (spinnakers division) had 8 sonars on the start line with 7 more boats in division 2 (no spinnakers division). John Gedaminski won division 2 for the night.

Overall, many boats were out on the water sailing for fun or practicing. The juniors were seen out practicing in a Sonar mid-week. They received a flyby from a Viper 640. This past week had good wind on a great lake. Sailing out of an awesome club with availability to all to come out and sail or race.

 

 

Another great week of weather and sailing at LSYC is in the books.  First off - a big congratulations to Kelson Shea and Crosby Nolin for representing the LSYC at the W.A.R. last Thursday. They finished a very respectable 4th out of 9 boats in the 420 fleet. They learned a lot and will be ready to compete in the Rig It Up August 11th!  The Star Fleet finished the Summer Series this weekend. Congratulations to Andy Ivey for winning the series with crews Paul Skarin and Jason Peters. Peter Follansbee and Nat Cook were 2nd, while Chris Eldridge and Mike Miramonti finished 3rd.  The Cruising Fleet had a hot and low wind race Wednesday night. Brian Doyle and team took 1st place, with Terry Fletcher in 2nd, Besty Cetron in 3rd and David Heckel finishing 4th. Remember, we have packed the summer with amazing events Lake Sunapee Open and 12th District Championships (August 6-7), Western Hemisphere Championships (August 21-27), Rig It Up (August 11), Next Gen (August 5), along with the seasonal schedule for both the Cruising and Star Fleets. Please make your reservations early (we have a lot of off lake sailors coming) for the fleet development stories after the NextGen Star Regatta Friday August 5th, and the Infamous Annual Steak Dinner Saturday August 6th, “Open seating”. If anyone is interested in hosting families or being a spectator boat, please reach out to Andy Ivey at [email protected]

Whether you do or whether you don’t often depends upon the weather! This was the case for this last weekend.  It was warm, dry, and there was no wind. Star and Sonar races were canceled for Saturday and Sunday. Without any wind, many sailors were seen fine tuning their boats chasing the next speed advantage. For star boats, tuning might be an essential key ingredient to compete well against an international star fleet coming to the club soon.   How do you get a chance to skipper a star boat? If you are under 25 years old and have a keen sense of racing, then come race a star on Friday August 5th. This will be the first annual “NexGen under 25 Star Open Regatta”. This one-day event will give the younger sailors an opportunity to sail in a low-key, fun star race with an experienced star crew and boat owner. If you are under 25 and are interested in sailing, please contact Jenn Nolin. Follow up your race day at the club on Friday night, August 5th, for an Italian buffet and “Stories from the Stars” followed by live music in the bar.  All are welcome to come out and support the youngsters. The Lake Sunapee Star Fleet is rigging up for its annual Lake Sunapee Open Regatta, August 6th through 7th. LSYC is hosting the Legendary Sailor’s steak dinner on Saturday August 6th which is open to ALL club members. This year it is being run in unison with the 12th District Championship. We hope you will join us and meet the international sailors that will be enjoying your club’s hospitality.  Click here for Lake Sunapee Open Dinner Reservations The Juniors have their Winnipesaukee Annual Regatta (WAR) this Thursday, July 21st. Teams are busy training for this event. We cannot wait to see our young juniors show their skills.  Let’s say a prayer for more wind!

class="" style="vertical-align:top;width:740px;" >   Many thanks to Robin and Dave Cook, the Sailing Race Committee for all their hard work. Sailing is on at the Yacht Club and another beautiful and busy week is put into the memory bank!   The Junior program is in full swing with the Adventure Sailors taking a fun trip to Soo-Nipi, and the Advanced 420’s starting their racing season.  This week the Advanced 420’s will be prepping for W.A.R., the team will be headed to Lake Winnipesaukee next week for their first off lake regatta of the year. The Cruising Fleet and Sonar’s hit the water Wednesday night and Sunday.  While it was a blue sky day Sunday, the wind didn’t want to cooperate for good sailing.  Those are the breaks with sailing on Lake Sunapee, but I am sure no one would have rather been anywhere else. The Star Fleet went out for another beautiful, sunny day of racing on Saturday.  The wind was quite fickle, and the sailors did their best to read and adjust to the constant changes.  It was a very fun day with 5 boats racing, two father-daughter teams, a crew new to the lake, and a Sonar crew trying out Star racing.   With the shifty wind, the windward mark had to be adjusted before racing even began, and the fleet was in great hands with Robin and David Cook on the Race Committee boat.  They adjusted as necessary and patiently waited for all the sailors to cross the finish line – longer than normal with the wind conditions!  We appreciate their efforts virtually every Saturday, and the fleet benefits from their patience and guidance.  Andy Ivey, whose boat was skillfully crewed by Sunapee newcomer Jay Peters, came in first twice, and traded leads with Peter Follansbee and Nat Cook, who took first the other of the 3 races.  Jon and Kiersten Wulff and Mike and Erin Kelly were the father-daughter teams, and Chris Eldridge also skippered with Mike Miramonti, who usually crews on Sonars.  Remember, we have packed the summer with amazing events Lake Sunapee Open and 12th District Championships (August 6-7), Western Hemisphere Championships (August 21-27), Rig It Up (August 11), Next Gen (August 5), Sailing with Stars (July 23) along with the seasonal schedule for both the Cruising and Star Fleets. Please make your reservations early for the fleet development stories after the NextGen Star Regatta Friday August 5th, and the Infamous Annual Steak Dinner Saturday August 6th, “Open seating”.

Another great week with excellent weather and great sailing on Lake Sunapee. If you were at the club on Wednesday for dinner you saw spectacular sailing from the Cruising and Sonar Fleets and enjoyed another great meal from chef Tim Burke. Good food and good sailing are winning combinations for the club. Fifteen boats were racing right up to the club last Wednesday. Betsy Cetron had a solid night of sailing in the Sonar in a strong 6 boat fleet. Last weekend Brian Doyle raced at New York Yacht Club against top notch sailors. That left Terry Fletcher to win the day (1st and 2nd) on the June 26th Sunday Sonar race.  Star fleet was on the lake for the beautiful 4th of July Star weekend series. The stars launched on Saturday and Sunday for their annual 4th of July series in a beautiful sunny prevailing southwest summer breeze.  Great star racing ensued with a perfectly square starting line, set by Robin and David Cook leading the boats up to the weather mark off Loon Island Lighthouse. Dag Lidbeck with Peter Pike as crew, Nat Cook with John Robinson and Andy Ivey with Lovelynn Ivey exchanged leads throughout the day. Whoever got to the wind first coming from the left or right side of the course gained the advantage. Same happened downwind as each boat jockeyed their positions. Andy and Lovelynn Ivey took three bullets (1st place) on Saturday in real nice sailing conditions. Persistence with racing pays off as Mike and Erin Kelly won the weekend series with 5 boats. Katie Ayres was spotted teaching kids at the Lake Sunapee Junior Yacht Club. After a long day of teaching, she was back at work in the evening preparing the club Sonar for more racing with the kids.  The Sonar fleet truly enjoys having a Sonar filled with Junior sailors on the starting line.  Katie’s passion for sailing is inspiring and I hope contagious. Katie, thank you for helping the LSJYC program get off to a great start!