- Have you ordered your bow numbers yet? May 11, 2021
If not, click on this link to order yours: https://v6ca.wildapricot.org/event-3987541
Note, they take up to two weeks to get so don’t delay.
Questions, email Buttons Padin.
...read more - Better Know a Viperer: Alex Schon April 27, 2021
In our next installment of BKAV (Better Know a Viperer), let us introduce to you Alex Schon, who is one of the driving forces and sparkplugs behind the emerging fleet in South Africa! So as we emerge this year from our COVID hibernation and dream about sailing in amazing places, we should be dreaming of sailing with Alex on the Vaaldam! Alex aims to have a Viper worlds in South Africa and over the next year or two, as well as 4 more Vipers in the country in the next year or two. He’s planning a big marketing push and is working to organize the South Africa “Viper Shootout” that will attract the top sailors in the country (ie: folks from Americas Cup campaigns, Volvo Ocean Races of past, and the TP52 circuit). Alex and his fellow Viperers made the ...
...read more - Capdevielle Racing Underway for 2021 April 5, 2021
The GYA has its full schedule of Capdevielle Regattas posted with the New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Race Week kicking off the season. Of the eight Capdevielle boats competing, Buccaneer Yacht Club took the day followed by Southern and Pensacola Yacht Clubs.
In the Viper open division, five boats raced and Nick Lovell from Southern Yacht Club took top honors.
Results
Full Capdevielle Schedule
...read more - Geoff Fargo walks away with San Diego NOOD April 5, 2021
The 2021 Helly Hensen San Diego NOOD was held March 19 – 21. The regatta boasted a fleet of eight Viper 640s, which was the largest gathering of Viper640’s on the West Coast since the World Championship during the summer of 2019, according to Tim Carter, the US West Coast Viper Class Representative.
The event drew in new boat owners and teams as well as more seasoned Class members, such as Geoff Fargo’s Boomslang, which showed a dominant performance finishing in First Place overall, winning the last six races of the regatta.
Taking to the San Diego’s South Bay nestled between the Coronado Isthmus to the west and a fleet of US Navy Ships docked to the east, the one-design classes in attendance were treated to premier sailing conditions over the long weekend. The flat water, cool air (for Southern California!) and ...
...read more - Better Know a Viperer: Eleni Asimacopoulos April 1, 2021
Who better than to re-boot our beloved BKAV series (Better Know a Viperer) than our one and only Eleni Asimacopoulos! If you’ve been to a Viper regatta anywhere in eastern North America over the last 6-7 years, undoubtedly you’ve seen Eleni holding down the middle position on #39 (Patched Up), #235 (Meow!), or now via interfleet marriage (yay!): Porkchop (#166). Increasingly over the last 2 seasons, she’s also been working on her chops at the helm as she prepares for the 2021 Women’s Championship in Noroton, CT. Lets jump right in to the interview:
Name: Eleni Asimacopoulos
Viper sailed: Patched Up (#39), Meow! (#235), Porkchop (#166)
Home port: Marblehead, Massachusetts
So, first thing, what’s it like marrying a fellow Viperer?
It’s awesome! There are no arguments over whether to go to regattas or not (the answer is almost universally yes). And neither of us gets ...
...read more - Support the Geoff Ewenson EWE Spirit Foundation February 9, 2021
Help support the EWE Spirit Foundation that Mary set-up in Geoff’s memory. Everything that Geoff Ewenson owned has the EWE stenciled on it. Now you can, too, with an EWE sticker for your car. After all, “What would EWE do?”
For more information, to donate, and to get some great EWE Spirit swag, visit ewespirit.org
...read more - New Viper 640 Class Officers Elected February 6, 2021
During the two Annual General Meetings on Saturday, January 23, a new slate of Viper 640 Class officers were elected to office. In the International Class AGM, Steve Chapman (Alcove, Quebec, CAN) assumed the role of International Class Chairman. Steve, who has served as the North American Regional President President replaced Justin Scott (Darien, CT, USA) in this leadership position. Steve has done an excellent job as the NA President and is the ideal person to be assuming this role as he has deep knowledge of the Class operations…plus is a keenly active Viper sailor.
In passing of the torch, the Class thanked Justin for his decades-long journey on behalf of the Class. Justin orchestrated the creation of the Class Association, the purchase of the design and molds from the original designer, secured Rondar Raceboats as a new builder, and guided ...
...read more - South African Viper 640 Fleet Update November 11, 2020
South African Viper 640 Fleet Report
As Reported By Alec Schon, Lake Deneys YC
SA Vipers post Long Beach Worlds
After we had finished the 2019 Worlds in Long Beach, CA, most of us spent a couple of days exploring California. My partner and I took the scenic route to San Francisco and spent a lavish night there before our trip home.
After we arrived back in a now much warmer South Africa, it was straight into preparation for Keelboat Week which takes place at Vaaldam (our local “pond” which is about 100km south of Johannesburg). There were 19 boats in the gold fleet which in numbers was dominated by J22’s. Nevan Lucas, Steve Haywood and Yolande van der Vyver entered on Antidote 118, whereas Rafiki 290 was sailed by Marco Seitz (my trusty midshipman), hid dad Wolf and our mutual friend Dirk. This ...
...read more - Eight Bells: Geoff Ewenson October 15, 2020
It is with great sadness that we learned that we lost our friend Geoff Ewenson to a massive heart attack yesterday morning, October 14 at the very young age of 50. Since joining the Viper Class 5+ years ago, Geoff and his wife Mary have been two of the sparkplugs that have helped the Viper Class remain vibrant, active, and fun. Together, Geoff and Mary started the now-booming Viper fleet in Annapolis. Together they loved going to Miami for the Bacardi Cup and the Sarasota Winter Series, they traveled to all the major regattas, won a bunch of them, and were on the podium for almost all they entered, including a second place finish at the 2019 Worlds in Long Beach, and a third place finish at the 2018 North Americans in Kingston.
Then, suddenly yesterday we lost one of our ...
...read more - American Yacht Club’s High Performance Regatta October 12, 2020
October 10-11, 2020
2020 has been a challenging year for the NYC tristate area, for our country, and for the many people and families that have been personally affected by the pandemic. Viper sailing has been collateral damage to some extent compared to our usual turnouts with some folks away and others unwilling to sail with non-quaranteams. So, it was nice to end the season on a high note this weekend with the return of the Vipers to the High Performance Regatta f/k/a the HPDO. AYC “hosted” by providing RC and trophies, but none of it would have been possible without the 13 Vipers who decided to compete and the Larchmont Yacht Club flag officers that allowed visiting teams to launch from LYC (non-AYC members were not allowed at AYC).
The conditions ended up being close to perfect both days, with something ...
...read more - Team “Big Rooster” Wins 2020 Annapolis NOOD August 31, 2020
Sailing in Annapolis in August is always challenging. Plug in the passing of a tropical depression and the current pandemic, and the conditions are properly difficult.
The one out-of-town team that came for the Annapolis NOOD was Tyler and Jane Moore’s “Big Rooster” with Hampton native turned Annapolitan Austin Powers and his girlfriend Kayla Harper. The remainder of the fleet was made up of the local Annapolis gang.
Over the span of three days. the Vipers were treated to 10 races in a range of conditions.
Friday was generally light to moderate and had a massive range of wind directions as the weather tried to play tricks on the race committee. With the fleet set up off Greenbury Point, the breeze oscillated from the Severn River to the Bay. The fleet was very mixed with everyone having challenges getting the shifts right. At ...
...read more - Marblehead Vipers keeping it fresh… August 17, 2020
With COVID19 putting a hurt on the normal sailing season, the Marblehead Viper Fleet has been starting to return to a sense of normalcy. Since mid-June, the 6 (out of 10) local boats who felt safe to do so, have been out sailing with the Marblehead Racing Association. The fleet has had some great days on the water, with highly competitive racing. The teams on the water have been far more stable than in past years, with people wanting to maintain their ‘COVID bubbles’, a bit more shorthanded racing, and less recognizable than normal faces hiding behind masks; however, the sailing has been familiar: very close racing, fast and fun boats, and good socially-distanced camaraderie surrounding the Saturday’s racing… The local fleet is keeping things local this year through the end of September–keeping skills sharp for the next time we have ...
...read more - Southern Yacht Club Wins 2020 GYA Junior Lipton Challenge August 13, 2020
Gulfport Yacht Club, August 1-2, 2020
This year’s Junior Lipton Challenge was the 75th running of this historic regatta, one of the crown jewels of the Gulf Yachting Association’s Capdevielle interclub championship series. Hosted by the Gulfport (MS) Yacht Club with their Sailing Director and Viper sailor Sam Vasquez as Event Chair, the regatta reached its 6-race limit for the ten teams participating.
Of interest to those not familiar with the Capdevielle series, it is a twelve club-vs-club events with its own team composition requirements. For the six races sailed, any member can crew for all of them, but nobody can helm more than two races. This results in a cadre of sailors from each club participating with helms and crews jumping into and out of the boats constantly.
Saturday saw winds in the 8-12 knot range with Sunday’s wind peaking at around ...
...read more - Matt Kaplan and Harry Koeppel win Viper 640 2020 Atlantic Coast Championship – David Owen wins Larchmont Race Week August 13, 2020
Sailed over the first weekend of Larchmont Race Week, July 11-12, nine Viper crews contended with face masks, social distancing, and light, fickle Long Island Sound winds. In the end, however, it was the host Club’s Matt Kaplan and Harry Koeppel sitting atop the leader board and taking the win with a scoreline of 3-1-2-2. On the opening day, the light southwesterly wind that (at first) made the right side of the course look favorable proved to be a loss leader. Matt and Harry bailed out and went left on the first leg and were able to climb back into the hunt among the boats on the left. From there out it was a crap shoot to pick a side, look for pressure and, if possible, stay in phase.
Matt, a 2019 All-American from Bowdoin, and Harry, All-American Honorable Mention from ...
...read more
