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Written by John Riddell
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Wednesday, 19 September 2007 12:33 |
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We are goin' to kick off our first season as a Viper fleet with a tuning and demo session from the man himself
After an excruciatingly long and hot summer here in the Valley of the Sun, it is finally here, sailing season!!! To this, I am pleased to announce that we now have five Vipers, yes… physically in Phoenix, and will be sailing as a fleet within the AYC in the upcoming ’07 Fall Series for the first time and then hopefully for many years to come. As if this news isn’t enough to bring a tear to one’s eyes, the Viper fleet is going to kick-off the sailing season one weekend early with two full days of Viper sailing and tuning with Paul Young, the President of Rondar Raceboats, in the U.K. and the Viper builder, right here on our own little pond in the middle of the desert. Yes, it is true, Paul is coming to Phoenix, AZ, a place not on his usual ‘ports of call’, to welcome the arrival of the two new boats and to work with the fleet for two days of rigging, sailing and on-water tuning. We are planning on sailing two, if not three or four, Vipers on Lake Pleasant Sat PM, Sun AM and, depending upon the wind, possibly Sun PM. We will start off Sat AM going through the rigging and tuning of the new boats. I will have Laurent’s new rig (yes, brand new carbon fiber… ooohhhh!) at the lake at that time. I will also bring a full set of tools so we can change out the rig on his boat Sat AM before we go sailing. I will have my current hull #21, along with hull #72, one of the two new boats, out on the lake. Laurent’s #31 and Gilmore’s #71, another new boat, will also hopefully be on the lake. I say hopefully b/c I know this is short timing, and for that I apologize, but we did our best and here we are. I will also be bringing the RIB so we can have a chase/video/beverage boat. I expect, under the necessary medication, Jackson to be on this boat so he may participate to the best of his ability. (Rule #1 – if he consumes Coors Light while on pain meds, he must wear a life jacket… J) The RIB can hold up to 6 adults comfortably so if you are interested in coming, but can only make it for a short while, please come. We can run folks to and fro the dock anytime. Saturday post racing, we will be driving down to Red Robin, or something similar, for dinner.I am inviting friends of the Vipers from other classes because we dont want to hog Paul all to ourselves and I thought we all might enjoy spending some time on the water with Paul. Paul knows a whole lot about how to make any boat go fast and I am sure the sailing/tuning aspect of the weekend will be very informative and educational to all of us. So spread the word. Each Viper can take 3. If we have three boats out there, that equates to 9 of us, each one taking their time on the tiller, if you so chose. Through in a few ‘on-deck’ players on the RIB, and we are able to accommodate anyone who wishes to join in. Please RSVP as soon as possible so I can get a headcount for the # of boats to have rigged and the numbers for dinner. Dinner is not mandatory if you sail, so if you have other plans for the evening and want to sail during the day, please come. Also, please call me with any questions – 602-757-2488. |
