28.09.2012
Can anyone say they love summer more than we do?!
So many great months of sailing in New York Harbor, visiting the Honorable William
Wall,
hanging out with friends on boats and docks... oh, what a Great Silver Jubilee it
has been!
Sailing is such a great sport and together, we have created a great sailing community.
September 2012 Newsletter
Manhattan Sailing Club
Greetings from the Commodore!
Dear Members - This was Manhattan Sailing Club's greatest year ever. We were fortunate
to receive new sails from Mt Gay Rum, we had refurbished docks at North Cove, we
had Moet & Chandon sponsoring our 12 Meter, we had fully subscribed racing programs,
we had more Fleet Captain Sails than ever, we reintroduced the dinghy program and
our club has grown to over 900 members. Our club really had a great Silver Jubilee!
I also sailed more than ever this year and found my smile grew larger. But I would
like to recount one race, a lifetime experience. This was the Round Cornado Race
in San Diego. I had been invited by Dennis Conner to race on his boat Menace.
It started as any normal race. We had a good start, made a great move off the starting
line and were soon out in front. The race to Cornado was straight line but shifting
winds called for an asymmetrical to begin and then a genoa near the island. Oh,
and did I mention it was Dennis' 70th birthday! What a great party the night before.
Anyway, as we approached the island, boats to windward starting losing their wind.
We stayed closer to the island in breeze. A TP52 which was faster, sailed into
the no wind zone and started spinning around. We reached the lee side of the island,
avoided a diver in the water and continued to stay close. The no-wind zone was
about 15 boat lengths off the island. But within 8 boat lengths there was a reverse
eddy or downdraft of wind. Dennis felt this out, sailed brilliantly and we popped
out on the other side of the island, first and ahead of everyone, including boats
rated much faster. Then we began racing for home in more steady breeze. Five minutes
passed, then 10 minutes, then 15. Still no other boats popped out form the island.
It was a romp! But not just a normal romp, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience
for someone like me. I looked back at Dennis and said, "Happy Birthday." He looked
at me quietly and whispered, "Experience."
- Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh
Race on 12 Meter "America II" in NY Classic Week
One of the great opportunities every fall is to participate in a race onboard 12
Meter "America II." Each year, America II competes in New York Classic Week and
goes head-to-head against other great classics like Blackwatch, Adirondack and
Salty. This event is held over the 3 day Columbus Day Weekend. You can participate
in one of the three Classic Week races. Saturday will feature the "Verrazano Bridge
Race." Sunday will feature the "Statue of Liberty Race." And Monday will feature
the "Round Governors Island Race."
Up to six spots are available in each race for paying passengers. The ticket price
is only $390 and all proceeds go towards supporting America II. We hope to see
you onboard at least one day for this great event and thank you for supporting America
II!
Welcome Aboard to Olympian Sarah Lihan
Manhattan Sailing Club is honored to announce that Olympic sailor Sarah Lihan, who
represented the United States of America in the London Games, has joined our team.
Sarah will be based in New York City from now until Dec. 31. At that point, she
will decide about her future Olympic career and whether to begin training full-time
for the Rio Games in 2016. At the London Games, Sarah sailed in the 470 class along
with Amanda Clark. Sarah grew up sailing in Florida and then competed in college
at Yale University.
Our club is fortunate to have such a great sailor join us during our Silver Jubilee
season. Sarah's primary focus at the club will be helping our dinghy program grow
to the next level. She will also assist race committee, offer some coaching opportunities
and handle special projects. Her focus, achievements and drive will be an inspiration
to all of us here in Manhattan.
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Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge Won by Manhattan Sailing Club
In mid-August, 16 teams representing 9 countries came to our club to compete in
the 5th Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge. The participating countries
were Australia, Bermuda, Canada, China, Denmark Germany, Japan, Scotland and the
United States.
Three days of competition were held and a total of 6 races completed. Our own Manhattan
Sailing Club team won the challenge. Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh was the skipper,
Allen Wolf trimmed genoa, Danielle Gallo did spinnaker and John Elliott was on the
pole. What a great achievement for our club in our Silver Jubilee season! Our
second club team skippered by Stephen Yip finished 5th, also the best combined finish
for our two teams.
In addition to the racing, the Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge
featured great social events. Afterall, the purpose of the regatta is to "promote
international goodwill through friendly competition." The whole week was an incredible
celebration of international sailors. Dozens of club members participated as club
reps on the race boats, club ambassadors at the docks, race committee on the water,
pit crew on the powerboats as well as taking pictures to document the event. Thanks
to all our incredible volunteers!
Bruce Hagan Memorial Regatta - Sat, Oct 20
The Bruce Hagan Memorial Regatta will be Saturday, October 20. This is our annual
end of season event which features a full day of racing. All club racing teams
are invited to participate. The regatta raises money for an Manhattan Sailing Club
charitable fund.
Corporate Sailing League Grows to 7 Teams
Nomura, DE Shaw and Park Avenue Venture Group are the latest 3 companies to join
the Corporate Sailing League. They spent the last 6 weeks racing against Merrill
Lynch, Cravath Swaine & Moore, Gerson Lehrman Group and Pushcart Coffee. The Corporate
Sailing League races on Thursday evening. Multiple short course races are held
each evening and teams fly spinnakers with corporate logos. The program almost
doubled in size from 4 to 7 teams this year. Looks like the competition is starting
to heat up! If you are interested in getting your company involved in 2013, send
an email to forms@myc.org [mailto:forms@myc.org].
Dennis Conner Rings Bell on NYSE
It was quite a year for Dennis Conner. Earlier in August, he won the "Greatest
American Sailor" competition set up by US Sailing. Lots of our club members had
a hand in his win by voting for Dennis. As a result of this recognition, as well
as his lifetime achievements, Dennis was invited to ring the bell and open trading
on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, August 17. It was a great experience
with special commemorative medallions being cast to honor Dennis. The bell ringing
went smooth and the markets appeared to have a significant uptick while Dennis was
in the building. He completed several television interviews including one with
Bloomberg Rewind's Matt Miller who had sailed at our club earlier in the year.
Among those joining Dennis for the bell were Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh (2nd
from right) and Jim Cavanaugh, former President & CEO of Battery Park City Authority
(2nd from left).
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Caribbean Regattas to BVIs and Belize this Winter
This winter, there will be two Caribbean Regattas. The first trip will be to the
British Virgin Islands from Jan 26 to Feb 2. The second trip will be to Belize
from March 9 to 16.
If you've never been to the Caribbean before, this will be your greatest vacation
ever. New sailors should start in the BVIs which are considered the best cruising
grounds in the world. This is the best place to learn about cruising. More experienced
cruisers can sign up for our club's first trip to Belize.
Would you like to spend one week during the winter sailing in warm tropical breezes,
soaking up the sun and relaxing with a great parties every evening? We charter
beautiful boats in the 34 to 40 foot range. Then we go sailing for a few hours
every day before dropping anchor in beautiful locations. You can spend the afternoon
relaxing, unwinding, snorkeling, exploring, reading a book or doing many other things.
Every evening, sailors get together to celebrate in Caribbean style.
If you would like to join de Caribbean Regatta and have the best vacation of your
life, please visit the website to learn more.
Also, if you are a skipper at the club and would like to skipper a boat in De Caribbean
Regatta, you can send a note to Commodore Fortenbaugh at mike@myc.org [mailto:mike@myc.org]
to begin a discussion.
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Annual Dinner - Wed, Dec. 5 - Special Silver Jubilee Dinner!
The Silver Jubilee Dinner, wrapping up an incredible 25th anniversary as well as
25 years of sailing in New York Harbor, will be Wednesday, December 5. Reservations
are now being accepted
The Silver Jubilee Dinner will be held at the Downtown Association on 60 Pine St
in Lower Manhattan. The evening will begin with cocktails in the main bar. Then
dinner will be served upstairs. Dinner will feature a presentation by Gary Jobson,
retiring President of US sailing. Trophies will be awarded for the club racing
programs. Coat and tie or equivalent dress are required. Seating is limited and
because it will be such a special occasion, the event may sell out. So please book
your tickets now.
Decommissioning the Fleet - Sun. Oct 21
All hands are needed on deck for the fleet decommissioning. It is always a bittersweet
time of year when our great J/24 fleet is put to bed. But it is also a celebration
of the great sailing we have done. And it is important to put our boats to bed
properly, fully cleaned and organized so they rest well over the winter.
The Decommissioning begins at 10 a.m. and goes until 3 p.m. During this time, members
come down and clean the cabins and lazarettes, remove salt from the sheets and lines,
refold the sails for the winter and drop the masts. Members are encouraged to bring
pot-luck food to the decommissioning and there is the annual chocolate chip cookie
competition.
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Are you Interested in Racing in Monaco?
As our Silver Jubilee Season comes to a close, maybe we should do one more final
event? What about finishing our celebration at the Primo Cup in Monaco? The Primo
Cup is Yacht Club de Monaco's annual one-design regatta in February. Our club participated
in the Primo Cup in 2007.
This year, we have the possibility of chartering some SB20 and racing February 8,
9 & 10. Sarah Lihan, our Olympian, has been working on details and it appears we
may be able to charter SB20s for about 1,300 Euro which is about $1,700 depending
on the exchange rate. The SB20 (previous known as SB3) is a very exciting sportsboat
designed by Laser. The boats can race with 3 or 4 people. If the cost of the charter
is split among the crew, that would be $400-$600 per person.
If enough teams are interested, we could field boats and then make this our club's
Silver Jubilee Championship. If you are interested in fielding a team, please send
a note to sarah@myc.org [mailto:sarah@myc.org]. If we get racing teams together,
then we may also invite non-racing members to join the trip as part of our social
team.
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Winter Educational Seminars
At the end of this season, the Honorable William Wall is coming straight into North
Cove rather than going to the shipyard (she only has to do a dry dock inspection
every two years). We will take advantage of this by beginning our Winter Educational
Seminars in November. Educational Seminars are run by members for members. Any
member who wishes to speak on a subject which would be of interest to other members
is invited to contact Emily Whipple at emily@myc.org [mailto:emily@myc.org]. The
seminars are usually held on Tuesday evenings. In the past, some of our top club
racers have given talks on how to sail well at the club. We are looking for new
subjects so if you have any ideas, please let us know.
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Seen at the Club
Here are some of your fellow members "Seen at the Club." Do you have pictures we
could consider for this column? Please submit them to forms@myc.org [mailto:forms@myc.org]
Ben Ainslie (right), the greatest Olympic sailor of all-time, stopped by the club
recently. He has won the gold medal in the Finn class for the last 4 Games! Here
he was greeted by Commodore Fortenbaugh. Ben then came over to the classroom and
shared a beer with many of the lucky members who were at the docks that day.
Some of the sailors who competed in the Annual Women's Championship. Thanks to
Scot Surbeck for taking this and so many of the other pictures used in the club
newsletter and on the club website.
A new tradition is beginning at the club - the Pirates Pursuit Race. The sailors
pictured above were part of the historic first event. Next year, it will be Saturday,
Sept. 21. Mark your calendars now, arrgh...before they get stolen!
Wednesday evening races at the club. This is what our club is really about. Great
people, great boats and a great sailing area, all coming together to give us our
weekly racing fix!
Special thanks this summer to the Volunteer Race Committee as well as the members
of our Race Management Team!
Some days on the harbor are just pure magic.
Club members rig the boats back at dock.
Stratos leads across the start during one of the J/105 races on Wednesday evenings.
The club J/105 fleet grew again this year with the arrival of JSony.
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Manhattan Sailing Club | 385 South End Ave. #6H | New York | NY | 10280
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