Fleet 2021 Spring Note
Choptank
Fleet,
I hope you are reading this note on a warm sunny Spring day with a 8-10 kts blowing on the Choptank. It’s finally time to wake your boat from hibernation and contact your crew - Sailing Season is Almost Here!
In this note I’ll highlight several changes (hopefully improvements) for this season and alert you to a Zoom call on Wednesday, April 21 at 7:00 pm (I’ll send out a Zoom Call invitation).
From George Breig — also shown on the ESSA Blog. Click here for 2021 course list.
This year the Choptank Fleet will be using a predefined list of 32 courses. Several courses were deleted due to lack of use and redundancy. Some have been modified and added to provide more reaching legs. The list has been reorganized from Zero degrees Magnetic to 360. So trash last year's list. This is a major edit.
Laminated copies will be available after the Choptank Fleet meeting on April 21. Distribution will depend on COVID restrictions.
On occasion, the Race Committee may decide to customize the race course depending on weather conditions. Print a copy of the list and keep it in your boat. Skippers are expected to have the list. The committee boat will only post and announce the course number
New
Starting Protocol
To improve the flow of the starting process for the Race Committee, the 5 minute countdown to the start of the NonSpin Fleet will now begin concurrently with the start horn for the Spin Fleet. This will do away with the 6 minute warning signal for the Non Spin Fleet.
New
Cruising Class Fleet
This season we are introducing a Cruising Class Fleet. This new fleet is designed to attract skippers of boats better suited for cruising and skippers who are new to racing and do not want to deal with congested starts.
The Cruising Fleet will start 5 minutes after the Non Spin Fleet. The starting line will be “open” for 5 minutes to allow skippers to start when they want within that time. Boats will then report their elapsed time after crossing the finish line at buoy Z and the Yacht Club.
ESSA will waive membership dues and racing fees for 1 year to attract new boats to join us on Wednesday nights. If you know of a skipper who may want to sail in the Cruising Fleet, please encourage them to contact me at (513) 477-2584.
May
Race Schedule
Practice
Race - May 5
Series
1, Race 1 - May 12
Series
1, Race 2 - May 19
Series 1, Race 3 - May 26
FYI - Stedman Smith on June 5. We will again have the traditional crab cake lunch at TAYC. More information to come.
Sailing
Open House
We will be partnering with the Cambridge Yacht Club to hold a Sailing Open House on Saturday, May 1 from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm at the CYC gazebo
At the Open House we hope to attract sailors new to the area who have a boat and want to learn more about racing with us on Wednesday’s. Also, we expect that people who want to learn about sailing and are interested in crewing will stop by. So if you need crew, please come and we’ll introduce you to potential crew members
Also we’ll provide information on the new Cruising Fleet and hope to sign up a few new skippers.
The
Yacht Club will be showcasing several sailing programs at the Open House
including:
A
new Adult Learn to Sail program
A
season long G19 Buoy Challenge
The Summer/Fall Cruising Program
Final Thoughts - I expect the 2021 Season to be a return to normal for Wednesday Night Racing. I’m hoping to see several boats back on the starting line after sitting out 2020 plus a few new boats and new faces who will add to our fleet.
So get your boat ready. Again, if you need crew, recruit them at the Open House on May 1. Hope to see you on the line May 5 for our practice race or on May 12 for the first race of the 2021 season.
Bob
Gallagher
Choptank
Fleet Captain
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