- World Sailing Class Status Confirmed for International Viper 640 February 21, 2017
In November 2016, World Sailing approved the International Viper 640 Class’s application to become a recognized World Sailing class. The International Viper 640 Class Association, at the same time, adopted an international constitution and signed a contract with World Sailing confirming the Class’s international status. World Sailing has accredited Zeke Horowitz, Ian Coleman, and Brendan Healey, all from Annapolis, MD, as Viper 640 World Champions, following their win last November at the first World Championships in Bermuda.
Commenting on the completion of this process, Viper 640 Class International Chairman Justin Scott said, “We have fleets in three continents and a circuit of destination regattas over the next three years that span spectacular locations across North America, Australia and Europe. The Viper 640 is now truly an international one-design class.” Jason Smithwick, World Sailing’s Director of Technical and Offshore, added, “The Viper ...
...read more - Zeke Horowitz wins 2016-2017 Sarasota Viper 640 Winter Series February 6, 2017
February 5, 2017
Zeke Horowitz (Annapolis, MD), sailing with Ian Coleman (Annapolis, MD) and Chris Klevan (Westerly, RI) won February’s final segment of the Sarasota Sailing Squadron’s Viper 640 Winter Series and, with that win, captured the Series title, too. The Sarasota Viper 640 Winter Series is a three-part event raced during weekends in December, January, and February. Twenty six Vipers were raci
ng this weekend and a total of 30 competed overall.
Sarasota Sailing Squadron’s PRO, Ron Pletsch, ran six races in challenging conditions as the shore and sea breezes battled each other. The conditions over the two days saw shifting winds with races run in winds from five to fifteen knots. It was a nail biter for the weekend’s results as Horowitz’s win in the final heat put him ahead of Peter Beardsley (Brooklyn, NY), Jay Rhame (New York, NY), and ...
...read more - Jay Rhame and Peter Beardsley Win Sarasota Viper 640 Series #2 January 9, 2017
January 8, 2017
Fun In The Sun, But Not Super Warm!
The January Sarasota Sailing Squadron’s Viper 640 Winter Series stop (January 7-8) got off to a slow start as teams fought their way south through the Winter Storm Warnings and snow that reached as far south as the Gulf Coast.
The Viper 640 team of Great Scott from Larchmont (NY) Yacht Club (Jay Rhame, Peter & Rachel Beardsley and Parker Mitchell) put up a solid score line of 1,2,1 to win the event followed by two host Sarasota Sailing Squadron teams (wearing every bit of cold weather gear they own): Sidewinder, driven by Travis Yates with a 3,1,3, and Coming In Hot driven by Michelle Lee with a 2,5,2. This was Michelle’s first trip to the podium as skipper. The Buccaneer Yacht Club’s GYA team on Danger Noodle skippered by Mobile, AL’s ...
...read more - Boston, Shuckerow, and Lawrence Hit The Jackpot at Sarasota #1 December 19, 2016
An epic weekend of sailing kicked off the Sarasota Viper Winter Series. While the rest of the country endured an Arctic blast Brad Boston, Lee Shuckerow and Luke Lawrence topped a fortunate fleet of 23 Viper teams that sailed 8 races in perfect Viper breeze with temps in the 80’s!
Zeke Horowitz, Brendan Healey and Ian Coleman finished up second with local team Travis Yates (Event Chair extraordinaire), Mike Meighan and Dave Hillmyer taking the last spot on the podium.
Great close sailing happened for the entire fleet with old friends and some great new faces joining the Viper fleet. Four teams came down from the GYA and Sarasota looks forward to seeing more Gulf Coast teams down at the GYA’s southernmost member club in the near future.
Some color commentary on the weekend:
23 teams raced, not all sailed all 8 races
Support/crash/media boats ...
...read more - Updated NoR for Sarasota Viper Winter Series December 1, 2016
Travis Yates, yes…the same Travis Yates who was the only one to go sailing on Thursday, November 17 in Bermuda Harbor (and had the ride of his lifetime)…has updated the NoR for the Sarasota Sailing Squadron’s Winter Viper 640 Series.
This is a truly great event and everyone should make an effort to sail in at least one of the three weekends.
2016-2017-sarasota-viper-640-notice-of-series-v1-1
...read more - Looking Ahead – Comments from Viper Int’l Chair November 30, 2016
At the Class AGM in Bermuda, the members approved the International Class Constitution which created an International Board of Governors (The International Board). We asked the newly elected Chairman of the International Board to write a few lines describing the role of the International Board and their priorities for the next twelve months.
Justin Scott wrote:
First of all, let me explain who is on the board. The Class consists of three regions; North America, Australasia, UK and Europe. Each region has its own regional Class
President and its own regional Executive Committee. The International Board consists of the three Class Presidents plus an elected Chairperson, an elected International Technical Committee Chair and three elected governors, one of who is serving as International Treasurer.
Thus the current International Board consists of:-
Steve Chapman – Class President of North America
Ian Nicholson – Class President of UK ...
...read more - New Viper 640 Class Officers Elected At AGM November 28, 2016
Through the combination of online and in-person voting, a Constitutional Quorum of over 100 Owner Members cast ballots for new Class officers to serve two-year terms (2017-2018). The new slate of officers is:
North American Region
President – Steve Chapman
Secretary – John Leyand
Treasurer – Tony Chapman
Northeast – Peter Beardsley
Southeast – Travis Yates
West – Geoff Fargo
Great Lakes – Darren Gilbert
European Region
Europe Pres – Ian Nicholson
Europe Secretary – David Pittman
Australasia Region
Australasia Pres – Graeme Monkhouse
Australasia VP – Mark Griffin
Australasia Secretary – John Park
Australasia Tech Comm. Rep – Rod Beurteaux
International Board (includes three Regional Presidents)
International Board Chair – Justin Scott
Int’l Gov. – Tony Chapman
Tech Comm. Chair – Dave Nickerson
Int’l Gov – Tim Carter
Int’l Gov – Kay VanValkenburgh
...read more - All Rules Change Proposals And International Constitution Accepted at 2016 AGM November 28, 2016
At the 2016 Viper 640 Class Association’s 2016 Annual General Meeting held November 17, in Bermuda, the Class voted on four specific changes to the Class Rules as well as voting on acceptance of an International Constitution. Over 100 votes were cast on each issue which represents a 50% quorum of Owner Members required for passage. The specific new rules follows:
1) Hiking Lines – Amends Rule 8.3 in the Equipment and Fittings Section – Passed with 96% approving
The new rule will allow hiking lines to be attached the hiking straps and to the hiking strap eyes on the cockpit floor. The change allows a more direct line of support to the person hiking and can help pull the strap up so feet can get under more easily. It also better accommodates the needs of teams sailing 4-up.
Effective March 1, 2017
2) GYA ...
...read more - Zeke Horowitz, Ian Coleman, and Brendan Healey Win Aspen Viper 640 International Championship sponsored by EFG November 20, 2016
Sunday, November 20, 2016
When it was decided that the Viper 640 sports boats would travel to Bermuda during November 2016 for its major regatta, everyone was looking forward to the big winds that prevail on the Great Sound at that time of year. Unfortunately on two of the days too much wind prevailed. The 4-day event, the Aspen Viper 640 International Championship sponsored by EFG, was held from Wednesday – Saturday, November 16-19, in conjunction with the 2016 North American Championship. The regatta came down to only six races over two days of sailing. As was the case on Thursday’s second day of the event when 25+ knot westerly winds with puffs well into the 30’s kept the racers ashore, the final day’s racing also had to be cancelled as the low hovering around Bermuda brought winds well in excess ...
...read more - Aspen Viper 640 International Championship Day 2 – A Boat Breaking Day November 17, 2016
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Day 2 at the Aspen Viper 640 International Championship Regatta, Hamilton, Bermuda
“Boat breaking conditions”, is what competitor Nick Lounsbury titled today. At noon the wind was 32 gusting to 43 which put sailors on standby until 1220 at which a final decision was made to cancel for the day. What is it like sailing Vipers in these conditions? “We go into safety mode,” said 2015 North American Champion Luke Lawrence. “On a day like this, even Brad (Boston) and I would have flipped.” The team of Sidewinder wasn’t going to accept a day off, there was plenty of breeze funneling right into Hamilton Harbour that made for a run for the speed record. Topping off at 16.4, Travis Yates, Mike Meighan, Dave Hillmyer, and guest Lara Dallman-Weiss were awarded with both the daily speed record (accompanied by ...
...read more - Cardwell Potts and Ted Ferrarone win EFG Viper 640 International Championship Warm-up Regatta November 14, 2016
November 14, 2016
For Immediate Release
Hamilton, Bermuda
Cardwell Potts and Ted Ferrarone win EFG Viper 640 International Championship Warm-up Regatta
Cardwell Potts, sailing with his wife Jennifer, Ted Ferrarone, and Kendra Emhiser, a quartet of Viper 640 sailors from Larchmont (NY) Yacht Club won the Viper 640 International Championship Warm-up Regatta in commanding fashion with a line score of 1-2-1-3-2 over five races for a total of nine points. That performance gave the Potts/Ferrarone team a 23-point lead over another Larchmont Yacht Club team comprised of Peter and Rachel Beardsley with Jay and Rachel Rhame. Viper Class Governor Justin Scott (Darien, CT) was in third with 36 points followed by Zeke Horowitz (Annapolis, MD). Several teams opted to sit the last race out in building breeze and with several days of sailing to go and plenty of beaches to see.
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> Hosted by the ...
...read more - Scuttlebutt picks-up on Snake Bytes’ Words from the Prez… November 2, 2016
Scuttlebutt Editor Craig Leweck regularly reads Snake Bytes reflecting his long-term interest with in the Class. In the last issue of Sailing World he did an article on Group 3 pros in one-design racing and incorporated some thinking the Class had shared with him about how we successfully manage…and welcome…Group 3s to sail with us…under our terms!
This morning he received Snake Bytes and picked-up on the Words from the Prez article from Dr. Jim Sears, outgoing Viper Class Prez. Craig added some interesting and compelling context to Jimbo’s comments boosting further the imagery of the Viper 640 as the sportboat to race. Here’s Craig’s posting:
Make it Hard for People to Leave
by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt
When the Viper 640 Class gathers in Bermuda for its International Championship on November 16-19, there will be 46 teams representing five countries to compete for the ...
...read more - NoR for Sarasota Winter Circuit Posted October 17, 2016
Notice of Race HERE.
Series invitation and logistical overview HERE.
...read more - Dates for 2017 Viper 640 North Americans Announced October 3, 2016
October 25-28, 2017
Ft Walton Yacht Club, Ft. Walton Beach, FL
Mark your calendars now…
The Ft. Walton Yacht Club will be hosting the 2017 NAs on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. Craig and Deb Wilusz are working on all the details and will post the NoR shortly.
Got any ideas for NA sponsors??? Contact Craig at contact@gulfperformancesailing.com.
...read more
