May 16, 2012 Wow, That was really light air.  Fortunately there were some puffs that filled in around 8 PM that allowed us to pick up several finishers.  And the start was positioned so the spectators could see several boats get confused about the starting mark.  The J24s provided some lessons in light air manuevering , things to do or not do as they bunched up at their finish.

Etcetera We are still looking for web sites with pictures of our races. Let us know and we will put in a web link to your site. Sailors, please, oh, please try to get all your sails to have the same number, and make it a unique number. Drives us crazy during scoring to have trouble ID'ing a boat. Don't forget that the buffet food is free for racers, Yes FREE.  Each Skipper gets tickets for the buffet after the race.  Please thank Villa Capri, and don't forget to tip your server, generously!! Food service off the menu is still available, just ask your server, but expect them to be busy when the crowd arrives.

May 9, Here we go.  Results were posted the same night.  Sorry about the longish courses.  We hear you and we will get better at this... We are now into the time when Sunset is after 8 PM, so we have a little more leeway.

May 2, 2012  Another beautiful night.  A little warmer, but still nice and dry and great wind.  The racing was magnificent and now we only have to get the audio system on the dock working so we can tell all our spectators what is going on.  Once again there were some very close finishes in the Spinaker class and a couple of five second corrected time differences.  The FJ fleet had some very tight races as well. Don't forget the sponsors.

April 25, 2012  Results are posted on the web site.  Som results have been updated as of 4/27. Apologies for the delay in scoring for this series.

A summary of the Series One results showing all classes is available now under the "Race Results Tab as Series Summary.  The intent is to keep the last completed series summary up through the season.

18  April 2012 Ah, what a Gorgeous incredible night on Clear Lake.  Chamber of Commerce weather, but a slightly dying breeze combined with the early sunset in this part of the season gave us a slightly shortened race.  Still a lot of fun for the 53 boats that were out there.  A few people had problems with the reaching start resulting in a few OCS calls, including one that went quite a ways before coming back.  And everyone needs to remember to actually read the race instructions about the co urses.  On Course One, only the first mark is taken to Starboard.  Other marks are taken to port or are a gate.

New Class The Flying Juniors are up over five boats, so beginning with Series 2 they will have their own separate start.  They will slot into the empty start right after the Non-Spin B (Novice) Class.  So far the Novices have managed to clear the line quick enough to allow this, and besides, the FJ's and the NS B folks will be going to different marks.

11 April 2012 Things are beginning to really come together. We had 61 boats tonight. Awesome. The Portsmouth class, swollen by the addition of the Flying Juniors from Lakewood Yacht Club, has been the real star with 20 boats. And the other classes continue to grow. This is really coming together. The onshore announcements are helping everyone appreciate the races and the on-the-water crew is getting aligned to their roles. If you think about it, what they do is incredible. Running off 8 starts on three minute intervals and then finishing boats that may arrive with only seconds (or less) between. We only had one miss in the scoring. The finish time of one Flying Junior changed by one minute. 7-8 top places in Portsmouth changed. New results are out for PM class.

Mark rounding mania. To clear up any possible confusion about the boardboat courses, we have modified the Sailing Instructions and the course diagrams to indicate that the large orange ("tomato") marks are no longer a mark of the course during the return to the finish line. The configuration of the course should prevent this being an issue, but now it is official. And Scott is splicing all the anchor rodes to the buoys.

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Etcetera We are still looking for web sites with pictures of our races. Let us know and we will put in a web link to your site. We have put most of the sponsors logos up on the website so they appear randomly on the left of your page. Please let the sponsors and Villa Capri know that you appreciate their contribution. Please, oh, please try to get all your sails to have the same number, and make it a unique number. Drives us crazy during scoring to have trouble ID'ing a boat.

And YES that is a new picture. Taken this year as the herds of Portsmouth boats descended on the race committee.

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4 April 2012, Second time out and the glitches are slowly fading away. Awards were only 5 minutes late, and so far, it looks like they went to the right people. We tried out the new course one's and it made for pretty interesting racing. The new system of announcements for the onshore watchers is catching on. Many thanks to our spotters, who really make things a lot easier.

We are still looking for web sites with pictures of our races. Let us know and we will put in a web link to your site. At your request we have cleaned out the "I want to crew" list, so if you were on the list before last season and still want to crew, please resubmit. We really need for the racers to use one and only one sail number, preferably unique, because that is how we score the races.

See you all next week!!!

Wow, what a night. We had over fifty boats out and excellent wind, nice and cool breeze and near perfect conditions. There were a few glitches in the scoring and the prize announcements were a little late because of having to handle all the new competitors. But we finally got it all put together and the results will be up on this web site soon. We did have a few errors and handed out some prizes to the wrong folks, apologies to Todd Sampsel in the Sunfish class, Ash Beatty in the Portsmouth class, and to Stuart Lindow, who is racing his J24 in the Spinnaker class. All of you took second in your class. And by some pretty close margins. We think the published results are finally right. Oh and I probably ought to mention that the Villa Capri is giving out free food to the racers. Your boat's Skipper should have received a months worth of tickets for the crew. See Scott if you don't have yours yet. And don't forget to tip your servers generously.

All in all, a fantastic start to a great new season. And by the way, could someone send me a new picture to use in this blog.

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Larry Blankenhagen, who found several issues with the course sketches, particularly for his class. As a result of his comments and a thorough review, we have updated all course sheets. The changes are minor enough that you could get away with just marking them on your laminated copy, but please take a look at your course sheet online before racing.

Fantastic Skipper's Meeting and Thanks to Villa Capri for providing Free food. Beautiful buffet with everything from quessadillas and taquitos to chicken wings and pasta. Fabulous. Villa Capri will provide a free buffet for all racers this year. Skippers need to get your tickets from Scott to take advantage of this. After we all stuffed ourselves silly, Scott announced a few of the details and then the hard core got down to some serious drinking. Please remember to tip the wait staff whether you paid for your meal or ate the free stuff. They do a lot of work to get ready for us every Wednesday.

NEW NOVICE CLASS RULE We have decided to make one more change in the Novice Class to raise participation. Any boat which is driven by a person under the age of 16 qualifies for the Novice class with no limitations on crew experience. As usual, anyone may drive in an emergency, but to qualify, the under 16 person shall be driving at least one minute before the start and during all mark roundings. So, the only thins keeping the class champions from turning their boats over to their kids is the rule that Novice Class winners don't qualify for the Fleet Championship. Even portsmouth class folks could do it as we are scoring time on time in all classes and portsmouth is a time on time handicap. More is better.

NEXT WEEK IS IT Get signed up and come on out to race with us. The new season starts NEXT WEEK. See ya out there. If you have not yet paid in person or sent your check to the address in the email you get when you sign up on line, Do so ASAP. We will accept your money at the party after the first race, but we prefer a check. if you must bring cash, wrap it in a copy of the email you got from registering on line or any other piece of paper with your name, boat sail number and class, along with how long you are signing up for. Find one of the folks at the computer or Scott Tuma and pay up.

For spectators, we will be available to answer questions and will have listings of the boats in each class at the Villa Capri, starting around 5:30-5:45. First gun is 6:15 and the first class start is at 6:18. Classes start every three minutes until all 7 or 8 classes are racing. The bigger boats will all come by the Villa Capri on every lap of their courses, and will finish in front of us there. Great fun. come join us.

Remember that this Wednesday is the official Skipper's Meeting, which is your last opportunity to register in person before the racing starts. Our preference is for you to sign up on the web site and bring your check and a copy of the email you get when you register online and come to the Skipper's meeting. We will make a few final announcements and get you officially signed up. Just be sure to include the name or sail number of your boat on the memo line of the check. We accept cash, too. S ee you at the Villa Capri, Casa Mia section.

Our Fearless Leader, Scott Tuma, presented the new Clear Lake Courses in the last of the Wednesday Night Racing Seminars. After considerable heated discussion, most of us concluded that the big guy done good. He showed how we would cover all wind conditions on the lake with a minimum of course types, with most of the courses being the more competitive W/L, but with a few reaching opportunities for those who like that sort of thing. In the Non-Spin classes our Novices will have two courses, with one being a shortened version that we will only use on short nights or light wind. The regular Non -spin class will do mostly trapezoidal reaching courses. The "board" boats, Sunfish, Portsmouth and the like will do W/L laps at the west end of the lake or South of where the keelboats are. In all cases they will have a fixed number of laps signaled at the start. All of the boats will go past the start/finish area until we shorten the course for their class. Scott showed us the new setup for shortening course by class. The other keel boats, J22 J24 C22 and PHRF Spin, will do W/L oer trapezoidal courses with a gate. These boats have three options. All courses will be described in the sailing instructions. In most cases the course will be chosen by the wind conditions and direction and will be fairly obvious except for the choice of trapezoid or W/L for the keelboats. Courses separate the big boats from the little ones and should be fun, fair and competitive. But if we don't like what we see, we'll change it...

Tom Meeh, SEVENTEEN TIME Winner of the Wednesday Night Sailboat Racing Championship!!! had a few words prepared on the subject of Strategy and Tactics for winning on Clear Lake. Once he got going, it turned out that some of what ha planned to say was not applicable to the new set of courses so the discussion ended up with Scott Tuma revealing the new courses and Tom and others commenting on the applicable tactics. Seems like the changes will level the playing field a little bit. As we hava heard a time or two before, Tom emphasized the importance of getting out early and sailing around and identifying how the breeze is blowing around the various shoreline obstructions and features. We should look at the velocity changes along the start line which may override the choice of favored end based on wind direction. Some of the courses will set up with a reaching start and probably reaching finish. Here the art of timing and position will dominate over other tactics.

Despite our brief introduction to the courses, Next week's program will involve a full discussion of each course and how the marks might be set for various wind directions. Those who were not there last night should come next week so you can understand the layout, and maybe hear meaningful comments from the audience about the courses or perhaps about Scott's family origin, personal habits, or ... Those who were there should come back to make those comments.... And to fix the layout in their minds before worrying about what to do duringg the first few races. Consensus of those who have thought about it is that it will be easier to figure out the courses .

We would like to also remind everyone that the first race of the season comes up on March 28. The kickoff meeting will be one week earlier at the Villa Capri, and the highly recommended session on March 14th will feature Scott Tuma revealing and offering the opportunity for folks to ask questions about the new courses. Please sign up on this web site to register for racing. You must sign up, either on line or in person at the Skipper's meeting or by sending in or delivering written information to the RC, and pay for your entry to be allowed to compete for prizes and recognition. Sooner is better, especially for the new classes.

At last week's Wednesday Night Sailing Seminar at the Villa Capri, Jim Tyson, a US Sailing Certified Judge, presented an overview of the racing rules that most impact us while racing. In the parlance of t he Racing Rules of Sailing, this is mostly Part 2, When Boats Meet. Jim is a member of HYC and races on the bay, typically in the non-spinnaker class. Jim is an official source of information on the rules. I missed this one, but I am sure that he reminded us that the person who knows and understands the rules has an extra advantage on the racecourse.

Coming up this week is Strategy and Tactics for winning on Clear Lake.

Apologies to Jay Lutz. I did not get to update la st week. See story below.

Jay Lutz provided us with several stories and personal experiences relating to sail trim from his incredible sailing resume and long history of influence in American sailing from 12-meters to modern sprit boats. Jay has been at the forefront of sail trim developments for most of his life and career as a sailor. It isnt as simple as "top batten parallel to the boom, and boom centerline" but he made it seem that easy. The message was well received by over 40 folks at the Villa Capri.

Farley Fontenot entertained and educat ed us all about starts and finishes at the Villa Capri last Wednesday night in the seccond of our Seminar series. He reminded us of the need to Prepare, Plan and Execute our starting strategy. Everything from getting out early to know the wind, current and visual status of each part of the course, to observing and planning our actions and contingency plans so that we arrive at the line on time and at speed.

These seminars will be conducted each Wednesday until the new season starts. Next week is Jay Lutz on trim and other tidbits about how to best enjoy your racing.

Reminder to all, Get signed up as soon as possible, through the Web site if possible, or by sending money and your information to the address shown in the Contact or Event registration menus across the top of this window.

For those who wish to sail in the new novice class, qualification is required. You must not only sign up for the class, but you must also submit your qualifications such as level of experience. Please do this as soon as possible.

See you Wednesday Night. And remember that the Villa Capri serves great food, so come a little early and eat with us too.

Mark Mathews gave the first of the Welcome to Sailing seminars this year to an audience of about 50 sailors, new and old at the Villa Capri. His discussion of the basics of sailing and some of the right of way rules was appreciated and enjoyed by all. Scott has bought a new projector for our use, so the seminars will include better graphics than we have had in the past. Villa Capri offered us food service (always excellent) and bar services during the show. The seminars continue next week with Farley Fontenot discussing starts an d finishes and some of the key rules to remember.

Registration is available on-line now, so please sign up and send in your fees. The schedule is posted, and the nor and Sailing Instructions will be available soon. Scott also announced that the courses will be different this year (simpler!) and there will be a new class strictly for beginners to come out and learn about sailboat racing. So give it a whirl!!

The new schedule is up. Still a hitch or two. But the info is best available per Scott Tuma.

The 2012 season for Wednesday Night Races is already ramping up. We will publish the schedule soon. There will be a new class this year:

Non-Spin Novice

. We are working on the class rules and the exact course (very simple). I will publish those once they are finalized. If anyone knows of someone that is half interested in getting their own boat out for some fun races, we have the class and course for them.

The party was Wonderful, Outstanding food at the Villa Capri and last shot at revisiting beautiful friendships of yet another excellent season of racing on Clear Lake and Galveston Bay. Now comes the best opportunity of the year to influence how next year and the future will go on Clear Lake. PLEASE take a few minutes to jot down a few thoughts about anything that you were thinking about this season, whether a magical idea to "make it better" or just noting what you like about what we have done. Send the ideas to Scott Tuma and we will review all and post some of the better ones. We will be moving a lot of the 2011 material to a new Archive section as soon as we can figure out how to do that.

Meanwhile, we probably need to start thinking about our over-the-winter program. In the past we have invited experts and knowledgeable speakers to come in and conduct Seminars about things that might prove useful about racing on our lake. Are people interested? What topics other than weather and the rules and how Stewart wins so many races would you like to hear about? We are thinking that the seminars should start early next year, but we need your ideas. We should note that regulars at he seminars generally did well this year, About half the class champions were there for sure and many others who did well.

Please communicate!!!