- Better Know a Viperer: Dawn Kozak October 2, 2012

Now that we’re into October and on the wrong side of the class’s Annual General Meeting where our class officers were reappointed for another term, we’ve decided that it’d be worth the effort to get to know some of them better for the latest in the “BKAV” series — our officers hail from New Jersey, Arizona, Connecticut, Washington State and New York, so they’re all over the place. First up is our Class President, Dawn Kozak. Dawn was appointed late last year after Dan Tucker stepped down, and has been a great ambassador for all things Viper, owning three boats since 2005 and racing up and down the east coast. Dawn currently serves on the Board of Governors at Raritan Yacht Club in Perth Amboy, NJ in addition to chairing the club’s Red Grant Regatta, the largest keelboat regatta in ...
...read more - Better Know a Viperer: Doug Stumberger September 27, 2012

If you’re in the Viper class and you know Doug Stumberger, then either:
You’re from Seattle; or
You pay incredibly close attention to class activities and get a gold star.
Doug owns the newest Viper in the Pacific Northwest, seen here (below) picking up Viper 174 in late 2011 from Garrett Greenhalgh of Spinnaker Sailing. Doug may be too new to have pictures of him actually sailing his Viper, but we promise it’s happened, as we met at Pacific Coast Champs at Whidbey Island Race Week this summer. He has however, been around long enough to learn from past class president Justin Scott that it’s ok to drive 800 miles with an all white Viper and no bottom cover (though not long enough to be fully indoctrinated into the school of psychedelic West Coast Viper gelcoat hull colors). Doug is also a sailing ...
...read more - Better Know a Viperer: Pat Gibson September 24, 2012

The Viper 640 class has presidents past and present, fleet captains, sparkplugs and various other dignitaries. It does not have many commodores, but Pat Gibson is here to change that. After taking delivery of Viper 152 in early 2011, Gibson also took the top spot at Houston YC, host of the 2013 Viper NAs. Everything is bigger in Texas, and while we’ll all get to know Commodore Gibson a bit better next year, we wanted to get a sneak preview of the man behind the ice sculpture.
Name: Pat Gibson
Location: Houston, TX
Viper currently (or past) owned — name(s) and sail number(s): 152, Seco Tu Pelo
Tell us a bit more about the origin of the name of your Viper: Once at aTex-Mex restaurant, we were talking about names of a prior boat. My (now sailing at College of Charleston) daughter who was ...
...read more - Pieter Taselaar and Bliksem Team Win 2012 NAs September 10, 2012

Press release attached. More photos and videos to come in the following days.
...read more - Day 3 of NAs: Bigger Breeze and Swells Separate Standings September 9, 2012

Press release for Day 3 posted.
Quick video from Day 2 by Leighton O’Connor
Photos from Days 1, 2 and 3 on the Viper 640 Facebook page.
...read more - Day 2 of 2012 NAs: Down Under On Top September 7, 2012

Press release posted.
...read more - 2012 Viper NAs: Taselaar and Locke Tied for the Lead September 6, 2012

Day 1 is in the books in Marblehead. Press release here, photos by Leighton O’Connor here, results here.
...read more - Start Your Engines: 2012 Viper NAs Set to Begin September 6, 2012

MARBLEHEAD, Mass. (September 6): After months of planning, over 45 Viper 640s have returned to the class’s unofficial home in Marblehead, Massachusetts to compete in the fleet’s largest North American Championship to date. Teams are signed up from five countries and eleven states and provinces, including two teams from Western Australia who will be chartering boats for the week. Racing begins on Thursday, September 6 and concludes on Sunday, September 9. Thursday’s forecast calls for light air, which may build late in the afternoon. READ MORE.
...read more - Better Know a Viperer: Deborah Wilusz August 23, 2012

Any time your Viper sailing spouse has as his forum profile quote “Don’t Piss Deborah Off……..please”, you know you’ve found a candidate for your next installment of “Better Know a Viperer.” Deborah Deats-Wilusz has made a strong impression on the class in a short period of time. She and husband Craig finished a strong 9th at their first Charleston Race Week in 2011, following it up with a fifth at the 2012 Bacardi Cup and four top-three race finishes. Barring any late summer hurricanes, they’ll be hauling Viper 100 “Ice Melted” from the Florida panhandle to Marblehead in a couple of weeks for the NAs, so we figured it’d be best to talk to her now and get on her good side before the first crossing on the course or the rum tent…
Name: Deborah Deats-Wilusz
Location: Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Viper currently ...
...read more - Better Know a Viperer: Kay VanValkenburgh August 17, 2012

Next up in our series is Viper veteran Kay VanValkenburgh, better known to some folks in the class as “the really tall guy with the blonde ponytail.” And while that is accurate, you may also soon know him as “Viper Class Governor,” since Kay has been nominated by the class’s Executive Committee and existing Governor to serve in that capacity. In advance of the Annual General Meeting September 8, 2012 in Marblehead at the NAs, we wanted to catch up with Kay to find out what makes him tick and whether he has a new Viper world order planned…
Name: Kay VanValkenburgh
Location: Boston, MA
Vipers currently (and previously) owned: 28 Qirq (first), 74 Qirqii (briefly), 98 Lo.qi (current)
Tell us a bit more about the origin of the name of your Viper: the Viper is my first boat – I attributed my early ...
...read more - Double Damned If You Do… August 14, 2012

The Double Damned Race is a rite of passage for sporty sailors in the Pacific Northwest — 42 miles, point-to-point, usually downwind, on the scenic Columbia River from Cascade Locks to the dam at The Dalles. It’s The Oregon Trail, and while you shouldn’t get dysentery, the windy run may give you the runs as you try to keep your $hit together with boats wiping out around you as puffs funnel through the infamous Columbia River Gorge. Anacortes, Washington Viperer Steve Orsini kidnapped Kaa (Viper 129) to brave one of the west coast’s wildest races. Unfortunately, the 2012 race disappointed with a light air edition, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t stories to tell…
We arrived at Cascade Locks at 4:00 pm on Friday, August 10. It was howling at 30 knots with gusts to 40. We set up the rig, ...
...read more - Better Know a Viperer: Harvey Barnes August 13, 2012

Editor’s Note: We’re starting a new feature on viper640.org where every few days, we hope to profile a different Viper sailor so that everyone can get to know that person a bit better. Skippers, crews, young and old are welcome.
Harvey Barnes is between Vipers, but he’s still in the game. Many of you have sailed against our friend from north of the border (or as Canadians call it, “home”), but even more of you have seen his slickly edited videos promoting the boat and the class. Harv came down to Charleston Race Week in 2012 without a boat to make his latest series of videos (linked below), so we decided it was time to learn a little more about the man behind the camera…
Name: Harvey Barnes
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Viper currently (or past) owned — name(s) and sail number(s): Past ...
...read more - A Silver Lining (or, how I learned to stop staring at the hole in my boat and love the Viper fleet) August 10, 2012

Editor’s Note: Brian Barmmer is the owner of Viper 92 “Adrenaline” out of Marblehead, Mass.
I am relatively new to sailboat racing. My first race was less than 5 years ago. Last year I purchased the first boat of any type I have ever owned…..a Viper . Everyone who participates in close quarter racing in sailboats harbors at the back of their mind the fear that one day that close crossing will be a bit closer and their pride and joy will take a hit. At the Viper New England Championship this year in Newport, my worst fears were realized but I learnt something about the Viper fleet and my fellow owners that you just cannot buy in a brochure.
“Starboard!!!!!!” “Starboard!!!!!!” *BAM!
This was a full on high speed collision. In any other class I think both boats would be struggling ...
...read more - WHAT HAPPENS ON WHIDBEY, STAYS ON WHIDBEY July 31, 2012

Editor’s Note: Whidbey Island Race Week, held July 16-20 in the lovely Pacific Northwest, was home to the Viper class’s Pacific Coast Championship in 2012. The sailors who attend this event are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: those who enjoy the rain and decide to live in Seattle, and those who enjoy driving from California and are cold and confused. These are their stories.
Whidbey Island Race Week, day five. Tensions are high. The west coast Viper fleet is being towed out to the course for one final race. It’s cold and there’s a misty, light rain falling. There’s little to no wind. It doesn’t look good, but we NEED one more race! Team F.N.G. and Team LocoMotion are tied for second, both one point behind the local boat KAA. Despite an early lead in the regatta, ...
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