- Pulitzer Prize October 12, 2011
The Class Association is looking for a budding journalist/editor to assemble a bi-monthly newsletter (6 x per year) for the Class . More details on the class forums .
http://forum.viper640.org/index.php?topic=1114.0
...read more - Concours de Elegance for High Performance Dinghies – Why I keep coming back to the HPDO October 10, 2011
Carbon alongside wood. Blazers alongside malodorous wetsuits. Moths alongside Vipers. Greenwich hedge fund managers alongside a professional tree climber from Jamestown. The once manicured lawns of the American Yacht Club at Rye are awash with a melee of contrasts and drying spinnakers. It is once again that unique sailing pageant, the Heineken High Performance Dinghy Open.
According to the logo on a shirt in one of my closets, I first attended the HPDO on 2006. I haven’t missed the event since then. For anyone who enjoys a “back to the future” combination of modern boats and hospitality from a bygone age, this needs to be on your bucket list. The HPDO is partly about sailboat racing, partly about a social gathering of folks who love lightweight high performance racing boats, and partly a Concours de Elegance of carbon, wood and epoxy ...
...read more - HPDO – Quick and Dirty, First Report October 9, 2011
The HPDO is one of my favorite regattas. Two years ago, it blew dogs off chains. This year it was light. But still great racing and great boat porn.
Here is quick first summary. We will have some pics later, I’m sure.
Awesome Race Committee. Well done Sandy and his RC team. Truly exceptional. Squeezed in 7 fair and good races on Long Island Sound with a high pressure sitting overhead. Forecast was 5 knots. Sandy hunted out a small breeze zone, set up 0.7 mile legs, moved windward marks and start line at breakneck speed and got us rolling. As soon as our last boat was across the finish, the new start line would already be set, windward marks dropped and Sandy would roll right into the next sequence. In 10-15 knots of breeze this would be really good RC work. ...
...read more - Down to the Wire ! The Viper North Americans at Sarnia October 3, 2011
It all came down to the Last Race
Going into the sixth and final race of the 2011 Viper North American Championships we had an unprecedented three way tie for first place.
Tied with twelve points each after discard were;
Jackpot – Brad Boston, Lee Shuckerow and Erik Vinglass. Team Jackpot are two time North American champions going for the hat trick. They are also the hosts sailing on their home turf.
Mambo Kings – Justin Scott, Ched Proctor and Peter Largess from Connecticut and Newport. .
ANIMAL – Jeff Jones, Drake Borer (aka the Sea Monkey) and Jeff. The hard charging, hard partying team from Texas.
Only three points back and still very much in contention was the British/Australian team of Fer De Lance:- Glyn Locke, David Chapman, and Ian Nicholson. Aka “The Brits”. Glyn had shiipped over his boat from the UK for the Pan Am ...
...read more - Sailing in Sarnia – scouting for the 2011 NAs August 20, 2011
Sailing in Canada, The Sarnia One Design Regatta, August 2011
Our Canadian regatta adventure all started when my daughter heard people talking about Viper 640 North Americans being held in Canada this year, and she put in that she wanted to sail in another country. Now, racing Vipers with 9-year-olds is best done in easy-going, low-pressure settings, and the small Sarnia One Design Regatta held in early August seemed like a good target. It gave us a perfect setting to sail as a family, and it gave me a chance to pre-scout the site of the upcoming Viper NAs. Besides, we needed a family summer vacation anyway, and Sarnia promised an escape from the heat of the dog-days of August in Atlanta. So we updated the passports and made our arrangements. Canada bound we would be.
We arrived in Port Huron shortly ...
...read more - High Sierra Cover August 8, 2011
This is from Arizona Boating Magazine. Boat is Timbos #104 with the Rondar works boat #149 in the background. Great Press!
...read more - NOOD Newbie on a Viper August 5, 2011
Ben Steinberg picked up Will Ricketson, one of the US Sailing roadshow crew as a last minute fill-in for Friday of the Marblehead NOOD. Will had some very good stuff to say about racing in the Viper Class on the Roadshow blog… Check it out.
...read more - Three Generations, Three Grins August 2, 2011
...read more - High Sierra Regatta 2011 July 27, 2011
HIGH SIERRA REGATTA – JULY 15-17, 2011
For anyone that has never attended this Fresno Yacht Club event at Huntington Lake, in the Sierra Mountains of Central California, there are many reasons to add it to your “must-do regatta” list. For those of us in Arizona the excuse is very simple – it is a way to get out of the crazy heat. For others there are many more reasons to make the effort to attend.
The lake itself, at an elevation of 7200 feet, is spectacular, being surrounded by the tree covered mountains of the Sierra National Forest. This year it was even more spectacular as there was still snow on some of the surrounding peaks. And as usual the wind gods provided great sailing conditions by turning on great breeze each day prior to the start of racing and then ...
...read more - Newport RI Makes a Statement July 13, 2011
That picture by new Viper 640 owner Ben Jacobsen truly warms my heart- 3 boats to 10, seemingly in the blink of an eye. Thanks to Vinnie at Sail Newport, lining them up together makes a bit of statement, eh?
Much greater thanks to the Newport, RI true believers/early adopters Zach Freeborn and and Matt Sole, as well as Jep Peacock who saw the light as long as 3 years ago. They built it (the Newport fleet) and more have come. Even more are on the way, from the rumblings I hear. The Newport Viper fleet is going to explode over the next couple of years, I predict. Vipers will own that boat park!
This is a striking visual example of how a few true believers can make it happen. And it’s happening everywhere: Washington; Rhode Island; Texas; New York; California; Connecticut; ...
...read more - It’s a Knock Out! KO sailing becomes a Viper nest July 8, 2011
After months a quiet negotiations, and supportive conversations with Viper sailors in CT and TX, Mark McNamara sent an email to Viper sparkplugs late last night.
“The Cat is out of the bag. All official. My Viper and I are now residents of Houston Texas! The Family will follow later this year. I just could not pass up this awesome opportunity to implement my model into KO and grow it.
Thank you to all the Viper fleet for the kind words and support. I can’t miss a chance to thank the Viper people of Houston, like Pat Gibson, who have been so supportive of this venture. I am really jazzed about the whole thing.
My Viper is sitting in the Lot at KO. Its really bugging me. After all the work with the transaction, I need to get out sailing. Great Breeze here! Be ...
...read more - Missing Texan Viper Sailor July 7, 2011
Lost Viper Sailor Alert
If you are new to the Texas Viper fleet (post MGRW) then you may not know Dr. Drake Borer. But, you will soon. Mr. Borer owns “Sea Monkey” out of Austin, Texas and after Mardi Gras in March, has had to spend time studying for his boards in lieu of sailing. After that there’s been conflict after conflict but he’s itching to get back and Drake, we miss ya! See you at the OD Regatta in September!
...read more - Ahhhhhhh Marblehead! July 3, 2011
I was back racing at Marblehead yesterday. It has been close to 12 months since I have raced with the local fleet. I can only describe it as delicious.
The first gun was at 12.00. Despite four classes on the line, the RC banged off four races for the Vipers. 1 mile windward/leeward twice around and back to the dock by 4.30 pm. The great thing about Marblehead is that you leave the harbor, turn right, past Marblehead Rock and you are immediately in open ocean. The race course is right on the doorstep.
The breeze was from East South East 8-10 , gradually building to 10 -12 and higher puffs. Long gentle swells coming from the south. Hint to visitors:- Don’t make the mistake that I made on the first two races and over anticipate the sea breeze. It was hot and ...
...read more - 2011 Long Beach Race Week June 28, 2011
The 2011 Long Beach Race Week was the perfect venue to kick off our EFG Pan American Pacific West Coast Championship. We had 15 Vipers on the line and some really great competition. We had several new boats, all sporting different colors from mint, yellow and purple. I don’t know what it is about the Viper fleet or drinking, but when I mix the two, my inner Texan comes out… strong. You can ask anyone and they would say the line of the weekend was “that ain’t right!” Well there were some things that ain’t right about that weekend (too many speed bumps, etc), but our sailing was not one of them!
Friday was a light air day, which made it key to catch all the shifts. We had poor starts and were over early in the second one, but managed ...
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