- Eddy Parker Awarded the US Sailing Arthur B. Hanson Rescue Medal February 1, 2016
HUGE congratulations to Viper 640 sailor Eddy Parker for having been awarded the US Sailing Hanson Medal for rescue at sea. As you can read below, Eddy was one of a host of NC sailors who jumped to action when a micro burst wreaked havoc on the 2015 Flying Scot ACCs being sailed in New Bern, NC on September 12. With numerous boats mast-down, Eddy and 13 others did what had to be done to bring ashore all the sailors…safe and sound.
An Editorial Note from your Class Administrator: What Eddy did was courageous in anyone’s book…but that’s what sets apart the sport of sailboat racing. In golf or tennis there is no real apparent risk in playing the sport; however, sailing is a sport of a different color. Every time you cast off there is the chance “something” may happen. Unfortunately, too often ...
...read more - Mike Hester Wins Arizona Yacht Club Birthday Regatta…but maybe NOT the Party! January 29, 2016
January 15-17, 2016
Lake Pleasant, AZ
By Thursday afternoon, the RV was set up awaiting the arrival of Team Cobra from SoCal (Tim Carter, Steve Bloemeke and Patricia) to join with Team Nectar Sled (Mike Hester, Sarah Hester and Scott Hoffman). With a few nectars under my belt, Team Cobra arrived and the party started. The Birthday Regatta has a bit of a reputation, and it isn’t usually the predictable breeze; but rather the predictable parties and unusual events. This year was no exception. As there is no lodging on site, many of the teams rent RVs for the event as there are services that will drop off and pick up for a pretty reasonable fee. These RVs are the center of the pre and post-race gatherings. Libations were flowing as many of the other teams arrived from their distant locations. Luckily ...
...read more - Jay Rhame, Peter and Rachel Beardsley win Sarasota Viper Winter Series #2 January 27, 2016
Round Two of the Sarasota Viper Winter Series was sailed January 9-10 in very fun
conditions with a great group of 21 crews. Saturday morning dawned with a touch of fog that burned off and gave way to steady 8-12 kts by the time the first race got under way. Justin Scott, sailing his new boat #237, drew first blood and had a good day to finish up leading after day one; the fleet was very close in each of the four races sailed. As a sure sign of how tight it was, every team in the top ten had a double-digit finish during the day.
Jay Rhame with Peter and Rachel Beardsley – Winners of Sarasota #2
PRO Ron Pletsch and the crack RC team got things underway promptly Sunday morning with the eager fleet pushing the line for
multiple general recalls. With the “I” ...
...read more - Gulf Yachting Association Board Confirms Viper 640 Selection January 12, 2016
Sunday, January 10, 2016
At its annual meeting of member club commodores, held at the Fairhope Yacht Club, the GYA Board of Directors voted to approve the association’s rules and regulations whereby the Viper 640 will replace the Flying Scot as the GYA’s Capdevielle boat starting in 2018.
This is great news for the Viper Class and it is the culmination of a five-year process started by the GYA’s Capdevielle New Boat Selection Committee headed by Southern Yacht Club’s Corky Potts. Corky and crew reviewed a score of different boats and by the January 2015 Annual Meeting had whittled down the list to two boats: the Viper 640 and the VX One. At that meeting, a team of Viper and Rondar Raceboats representatives made a comprehensive presentation to the Board about the boat, the Class Association, and, most importantly, the people who ...
...read more - Zeke Horowitz, Danny Pletsch, and Peter Beardsley on the Podium for the Sarasota Viper Winter Series #1 December 14, 2015
Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Sarasota, FL
The 2015-16 Sarasota Viper Winter Series kicked off on Friday December 11 with 15 of the 24 registered teams attending a full day clinic, hosted by North Sail’s Zeke Horowitz. Zeke took the teams through all aspects of rigging, tuning and tweaking the setup on a Viper. After a group lunch, the teams took to the water for some drills and practice races with Zeke coaching and filming from a RIB. The wind was sub ten knots, so the teams worked on light wind speed and crew work. Once back ashore, Zeke had a sit down video debrief and Q&A session using footage from on the water to help solidify the core concepts of trim and boat handling.
Day one of the Winter Series started with sunny skies, 80-degree weather and 8-10 knots of breeze from the ...
...read more - Vipers Ready to Return to Sarasota December 11, 2015
The Viper 640 fleet returns to Florida for the third annual Winter Series. Each year turnout in Sarasota has increased, and 2015-16 is no exception, with 28 teams already registered for the series, with more expected. The first circuit event December 12-13 is expected to have 24 teams on the starting line, including the first club team from the Gulf Yachting Association (GYA) from St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club in Panama City, Florida. To help get newcomers up to speed, North Sails is sponsoring a rigging, tuning and boathandling clinic on Friday, December 11 to get new teams up to speed and veteran teams more refined and dialed in.
Leading the charge from North will be one of the weekend regatta favorites, Zeke Horowitz (Greenwich, CT), who has been racing in Sarasota Bay his entire life. 2014-15 winter circuit winners Peter ...
...read more - Zeke Horowitz To Conduct Viper Clinic In Sarasota, FL, 12/11 November 24, 2015
Zeke Horowitz from North Sails One-Design will be on hand at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron on December 11 to conduct a “go fast” Viper 640 seminar. Zeke has been sailing Vipers these past few years and has proven very quickly that he understands the boats and how to make them go fast in any condition.
Your first step is to register for the Sarasota Winter Circuit HERE and then get yourself to Sarasota a day early to be part of this clinic.
Questions, contact Zeke at Zeke.Horowitz@NorthSails.com.
...read more - Craig and Deb Wilusz Win Pensacola YC’s Jubilee Regatta November 16, 2015
The Jubilee Regatta annually hosts Lightnings, Thistles, and Vipers. The regatta is also timed with the Naval Aviation Blue Angel Airshow overhead while sailing. Though this year found cloudy skies with light and shifty winds on Saturday.
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...read more - Gulf Yachting Association’s Flag Officers Part of 2015 Viper 640 North American Championships November 2, 2015
At the invitation of the Viper 640 Class Association and Rondar Raceboats, the current Commodore of the Gulf Yachting Association, George Goodall from Fort Walton Yacht Club, and Vice Commodore, Cathy Cromartie from Fairhope Yacht Club, traveled to Larchmont, NY and spent four days as part of the Viper 640 community. While they were there to learn more about the Viper, which the GYA has recently designated its new inter-club boat staring in 2018, they were also interested in meeting Class officials and the Viper sailors themselves.
The following articles were posted in a recent GYA member e-newsletter. Vice Commodore Cromartie’s letter is a particularly fun read as it retells her first ride on a Viper.
From the Commodore…
As most of you already know, at the semi-annual meeting of the GYA BOD in September, the Viper 640 was selected to be the ...
...read more - Keep It Affordable, Keep It Fun – Scuttlebutt Interview Brad Boston October 21, 2015
Craig Leweck, editor of the Sailing Scuttlebutt e-newsletter, just published an interview he conducted with 2015 Viper 640 North American Champion Brad Boston. It’s a good read. Thanks, Craig
http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2015/10/21/keep-it-affordable-keep-it-fun/
...read more - Viper 640 North American Championship Won Again By Brad Boston October 18, 2015
Larchmont, NY
October 18, 2015
The 2015 Viper 640 North American Championship set a lot of firsts. The largest Viper regatta in Class history and the largest North American Championship. It was also one of the windiest and one of the coldest.
Larchmont Yacht Club, with its fleet of 19 Viper 640s, hosted the Class’s 2015 North American Championship. Sailed from Thursday, October 15 through Sunday, October 18, an even dozen races were completed off Larchmont Harbor. When planning the Championship, the decision was made to have a four-day event in mid-fall when winds on Long Island Sound dodn’t cooperate. As it turned out, the competitors were treated to four days of competitive and challenging races in puffy, shifty northwest breezes that gusted to 20 knots frequently, with each day slightly colder than the day before after starting the week in shorts and ...
...read more - Blowing Dogs Off Chains At The Viper 640 North American Championship October 17, 2015
September 17, 2015
Larchmont, NY
Day Three of the 2015 Viper 640 North American Championship, hosted by the Larchmont Yacht Club, was another day of sailing for the record books. The winds started to build as the sailors arrived early in the morning with temperatures in the high 40s. The dress code for the day was “more layers” as the forecast was for winds in the high teens to low 20s with temperatures only in the low 50s.
LYC PRO Charles “Butch” Ulmer ran three exciting and challenging races before significant wind shifts in the afternoon ended the day’s sailing. Regardless, “I believe everyone got his share of sailing today,” said Ulmer, as downwind boat speeds were frequently well above 15 knots in the puffs.
It was an up and down and up day for Day Two leaders and 4-time Viper North American Champion ...
...read more - A Champion Day of Sailing for Viper 640 North American Championships October 17, 2015
September 16, 2015
Larchmont, NY
After a shifty Day 1 with light to moderate Day 1 with major wind shifts, Day 2 turned into the ideal day for racing a Viper 640 sportboat. The winds were out of the northwest as predicted, but the 8-10 knot forecast filled-in at 10-15 knots with gusts to-20. As with any fleet when the winds become brisk, the 48 boats on the line divided into the elites, the really good sailors, and those experienced sailors still learning their way around the Viper.
The top group was larger than smaller as 16 different boats scored at least one top-10 finish in the four races held. As an indication of how competitive the racing was, Day 1’s leader, Zeke Horowitz from the host Larchmont Yacht Club, won the first race of the day but then finished 15-10-11 dropping him ...
...read more - Zeke Horowitz leads Viper 640 North Americans after Day 1 October 16, 2015
September 15, 2015
Larchmont, NY
It was challenging sailing on Western Long Island Sound off Larchmont Yacht Club today as 48 Viper 640s began racing for their 2015 North American Championship, with the leading four boats finishing the day within six points of each other. With the first race started promptly at 1100, the nor’wester of 8-10 knots provided more than its share of opportunities to gain or lose as dramatic shifts created gains that could be quickly given back. It was the host club’s Zeke Horowitz, sailing JENNY with Ian Coleman and Brendan Healy, who won the first race and maintained his fleet leadership throughout the day with a third in the second race and a tenth in the third.
The start of race 2 was delayed as the wind died and then came back as a 5-8 knot westerly that backed ...
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