News of the 2010 Sailing Season:2/15/09 - 2010 News and Other Stuff!!! 2010 Happenings and Events! (Not So) Random Video Link:
2010 Schedule: This years sailing is right around the corner! Yes it is! So, in accordance the schedule has been updated for the year. Check it out here. Awards Party: Ok, as usual we've not picked out a date for the Awards Party. We also have not picked out a date for the Annual Cat Sailors Invasion of Annapolis. Man, are we being lame. But hey, it's been snowing. And the dog ate my homework. Stay tuned, these events will happen as they do every year! 2009 Results Recap! As always, check out the results pages for the true skinny, but here's the top spots for 2009:
News of the 2009 Sailing Season:7/28/09 - 2009 News and Other Stuff!!! New Old Bar! This seems to be a repetitive story with us, but once again we hang out at a different venue. But, it is a venue we hung out at before, before they closed their doors. So, anyway, the new/old venue is the Portside restaurant in Galesville. Great stuff, friendly staff and atmosphere. They've also added a deli that I hear is quite good. So, next time you're down in Galesville on a Tuesday, stop by and see us at the Portside. Come down any day for that matter, and frequent the Portside! Here's a link - www.portsiderestaurant.net Also, here's a pic of a rogues gallery of cat sailors after a race:
Spring/Summer Series is in the Books! Yes, the first series of 2009 is official done! As is usual for late, the F-16s were right in there in the top. But the real news was that Todd and Leanne Berget had a great run going for first, but ended up losing the overall in tie-breaker with John Mclaughlin. Yes, that's right, a tie! Filling out the spots on the podium was Ed Mills grabbing third. Check out the results to see the whole story! 7/3/09 - 2009 News and Other Stuff!!! 2009 WRCRA Tuesday Night Racing is Underway! Entering our 20th year of bring catamaran racing to the weeknight racing seen on the Chesapeake, the Tuesday night racing in Galesville is going strong! We're just about finished with the Spring/Summer series with just races left, but there's plenty of excitement left! There's a great fight for first place going on between Todd Berget on his Nacra-20 "Grey Goose" and John McLaughlin on his F-16 Blade. Not too far out in 3rd is Ed Mills on his F-16 Blade "Lucky Duck". With two races left anything could happen... As usual, follow the results to see the whole story! 2009 Tybee 500 - Pirates of the Chesapeake! Alec Daunheimer and Keith Chapman mounted their second attempt at the Tybee 500 race this past May. The last time that they tried this in 2007, things just didn't go their way, and they still have the broken hull to prove it! That attempt started with Keith getting the stomach flu and ended with a crash in the Cocoa Beach surf. To be honest, the bad luck started early in that attempt - even getting the boat fitted out seemed to incur a long list of ridiculous happenings. But things definitely worked out better this year - sailing as the sixth boat in Team Velocity in 2009, their luck was quite different. And while they certainly didn't contend for the win, they had their moments and at times paced with the big dogs. The pic below is the first day's landing at Hollywood Beach. For more on this, go to http://www.teampiratesofthechesapeake.com, http://www.tybee500.com, and even take a look at the June issue of Spinsheet, where two whole pages were devoted to the race featuring pictures by Wendy Daunheimer.
The Chesapeake Pirates hit the beach in Hollwood! Photo by Wendy Daunheimer 2008 Awards Party! The Fleet finally got around to having its 2008 Award Party, literally about 2 weeks before the 2009 Skippers Meeting! Hey, you all wouldn't know it was us if we did something on time! In addition to handing fine Roger-made trophies for all the top spots, Ed Mills was once again crowned the winner of the 2008 High Point trophy. Way to go Ed! Check the results to see the whole story! For those up on their Fleet history, they'll know that this year marks the 20th year the Fleet has been bringing weeknight racing for beach cats to Galesville! There's one man responsible for making this happen, and that's Roger Holmes. To commemorate this happening and to thank the man responsible, Roger was presented with a framed copy of the Chesapeake Bay Magazine cover that featured his boat! The front carries an inscription expressing the thanks of the sailors, and Fleet members signed the back. Truly a great thing for a great accomplishment!
Roger getting his just reward! Photo by Wendy Daunheimer
News of the 2008 Sailing Season:12/17/08 - 2008 News and Other Stuff!!!
Oz - Into the Sunset 2008 Wrap-Up! The pic above sums it up - 2008 heads into the sunset. Also fitting is that Roger is heading back to the Church Street Lot in this photo, taken by some folks that happened to be out watching the action that caught up with us at Thursday's. It's been an eventful year for the Fleet, sometimes in a good and sometimes in a bad way! We pulled off another year of racing, got some new members, and solidified cat sailing in Galesville. We got to see triumphs like the arrival of the Bertholf, and recognition of Andy Herbick's talent. We sailed a bunch, and had a lot of stories to tell of it. Enough of looking back, though. What's next? Well, 2009 is right around the corner. The next activities to look for are the Annual Beach Catters Assault on Annapolis, and the ever awesome 2008 WRCRA Awards Party! Stay tuned for announcements on those events. As always - Enjoy your family and friends this holiday season, celebrate your life. Be safe and join us in 2009! January 2009 Issue of the Chesapeake Bay Magazine! In the Way Cool Department - The rag-tag bunch of beach catters from Galesville have finally hit the big time! That's right, the January 2009 issue of one of our favorite magazines - Chesapeake Bay Magazine, features our group of sailors in a beautifully written article by Ann Levelle. And if a feature article weren't enough, our very own Roger Holmes and Mike Murphy are on the cover sailing the Fleet flagship Oz. The article itself has other pics of Fleet sailors as well. Seriously cool stuff, I recommend you go out and buy a couple of copies (and if you aren't a subscriber - well, I don't want to hear about that, you fix that problem soon). Talk to Roger soon, because it may be soon that you have to through his agent! 2008 Frostbite! The racing for the year is over now that the Frostbite is complete. Weather and other factors made the Turkey Buzzard race not happen this year, oh well! The Frostbite served up a good battle for the trophy spots, but in the end Joe prevailed. Here's how they stacked up: 1st - Joe Kaiser, A-Cat #USA-136 2nd - John Geiger, "*&%$@ Racing", Nacra-20 #513 3rd - Roger Holmes, "Oz", ARC-22 #2225 Pretty awesome duel, congratulations to all! Check out the series scoring results for the full story. 11/9/08 - 2008 Frostbite!!! The Frostbite action is really heating up! With just two races left, the top spots are all up for grabs! There's a tie for 1st, 3rd is just one point behind, and 4th and 5th are a couple more points out! It's anybody's game! How will the tie between Joe and John end up? Will Roger crush them both? Will Pirates finally figure what the $&*!# they are doing and jump into trophies? Or will Ed sneak in and dash trophy hopes? The suspense is killing me! Come on out and watch, and follow the results here! Come out and chat with us at Thursday's afterwards! Here's some more eye candy from Leeanne Berget (all rights reserved):
10/7/08 - 2008 Frostbite!!! Here we go again! The WRCRA Frostbite series starts this coming Sunday, with the start at 12:00. Come on out and sail with us, or come on out and watch! 10/7/08 - Gone Baby Gone!!! Here are some of the things that, due to recent events, are gone: The 2008 Summer/Fall Series: Is now officially over! That raps up the Tuesday night racing for this year, and it's been another great year of sailing in Galesville, with a few exceptions (see below...). But, back to the fun stuff. The F-16 dominance continues, and the dominance of two stellar sailors continued alongside. The F-16 ranks did let another boat slip into the trophies, but I'll bet they try not to let that happen again! Here's how they stacked up: 1st - Ed Mills, Blade F-16 "Lucky Duck" 2nd - John McLaughlin, Blade F-16 3rd - Keith Chapman/Alec Daunheimer, Nacra-20 "Pirates of the Chesapeake" Check the results to see the whole story! With the Tuesdays done, the Galesville catamarans now move to Sundays for the Frostbite series. Can the F-16 dominance continue? Stay tuned... The Topside Inn: We're bummed. After the Riverview closed last year it opened this year as the Topside Inn. It recently closed again. We're sorry to see it close, and it just adds to our feelings of homelessness. But, in this respect we have a new home, and that's Thursday's at Steamboat Landing. This is kind of like a homecoming for us, as the Fleet used to berth alongside the parking lot. Come hang out with us there, catch some of the sailing and hear the exaggerated tales afterward! The WRCRA Church Street Lot: Yep, you read that right - the Fleet has lost it's home! It was a rocky year for our home base. In the end, the County decided that launching some sailboats from a maritime zoned lot (with lots of similar historical use) in a town where you're almost required to have a boat in your yard is as repugnant as they have recently decided farmers selling produce from roadside stands is. If we had decided to build a mansion with a lighthouse and pool on an island without a single permit being filed, we would have been ok. But we didn't, and we're out. While this has been a set back, the Fleet and the racing continues, and we will continued to support the Galesville businesses - long live Fleet 15! Lots of Menhaden: Recently there have been large fish kills in the rivers of the Bay. Whatever the cause (most likely the oxygen-poor "dead zones"), it drives home that we need to take care of this precious resource. As sailors we're hopefully a little more in tune, but we can do more - we should support groups that are fighting for the Bay, volunteer to plant marsh grass, be a river keeper, and think twice before you spread all the things you spread on your lawn. Our 401k Plans: All I can say here is "egads!"
8/22/08 - The Summer/Fall Series is Underway!!! Yes, we're back at it again! The new series is underway and the racing as usual is great. Here's John McLaughlin making it look good!
Picture by Leanne Berget, all rights reserved 8/22/08 - Results from the Spring/Summer Series!!! The Spring/Summer series is complete, and wouldn't you know, the F-16s are still dominating! Fast Boats + Excellent Sailors = Big Trophy take! Here's the rundown: 1st - Ed Mills, Blade F-16 "Lucky Duck" 2nd - John McLaughlin, Blade F-16 3rd - Constantine Seremetis, Taipan 4.9 F-16 Ed has really been putting the hurt on the Fleet? Can anyone stop this juggernaut? Keep checking the results to see! 8/22/08 - Bertholf Invades Fells Point!!! On June 26 the USCGC Bertholf made her way up the Bay to Annapolis. The next day she headed for Fells Point. The WRCRA sailors sailed to greet her on the way in, and then joined the crew at the Annapolis Fleet Reserve. That weekend the cat sailors met up with their distinguished alumni and got a tour of the ship. Check out some pics here.
6/23/08 - She's on Her Way!!!
An absolutely beautiful shot of the Bertholf leaving the Gulf on her first cruise. She will be in the Bay on the 26th! The Fleet will be there to welcome Pat and his new ship on the way to her anchorage off Annapolis. 5/5/08 - 2008 Cat Racing Season in Full Swing!!!
Keith and Alec heading for A mark in the 2008 WRSC Spring Regatta! So many things, so few updates! That's the way it goes with new additions in the house! So, here goes... 5/5/08 - 2008 WRCRA Spring/Summer Series!!! We're back to racing on weeknights on the West River! It's been an interesting Spring from a Fleet perspective, but hey, we're still here and we're still racing! The first Tuesday night race is in the books. The F-16s are once again showing how tough they are - will the rest ante up and meet the challenge? Stay tuned! Watch the Results for weekly updates, cheer your favorite team, or better yet come on out and watch the action from the many venues in Galesville. Or, even better, come on out and go sailing! We'll show you how to get started. The Fleet is working on a new home for apre' sail activities - the current front-runner is the newly re-opened Topside Inn. Look for us there after the racing to meet the Fleet and eat. If we're not there, then you should hit all the bars in Galesville, we're likely to be at one of them! 5/5/08 - 2008 WRSC Spring Regatta!!! April 25/26 saw the 2008 version of the Spring Regatta being held at the West River Sailing Club. The event hosted the 505, A-Class, and Nacra-20 one design classes. It was a well attended event, and both days gave some great sailing.
5/5/08 - 2008 WRCRA Skippers Meeting The Fleet met to discuss the new year's activities and decide whether to change anything regarding how we race. And we changed - nothing! Same game as last year - let's go sailing! Old News:Check out the Old News Pages for previous year's happenings and pics! In Memoriam: Joe Williams and Rob Wilson The Fleet has lost two of its great friends, one a sailor and one not. Joe Williams, or "Fort Knox" as many called him, was a Galesville institution, having spent almost his whole career working at Pirate's Cove. He was definitely part of the Fleet, and if you didn't like his open friendliness, ability to remember people and make them feel at home, work ethic, or his gold teeth and $100 bill bow tie, you had to love his cherry Pontiac GTO Judge. Quick with a joke and a smile, we'll miss hearing him call out our names as we come in and seeing us off with "love ya, see you next Tuesday". Rob Wilson was a sailor through and through, and he had knack for being unflappable and keeping Tornado skippers at ease. A forensic engineer by trade, he had a eye for how things should be. This, combined with a dry wit and a Scottish accent made him a fixture in the core of the Fleet. He sailed with Chris Ford when Chris had his Tornado, and over the last couple of years sailed with Kevin Cook on Kevin's Tornado. He also crewed for Mark Schneider and others, again mostly on Tornados. Kevin and Rob often were out sailing when the rest of us were futzing around on the beach waiting for the skipper's meetings. I always thought they were sorting out the boat or practicing something, but Kevin revealed that Rob basically told him that it's a beautiful day, forget the meeting let's enjoy the time out sailing. As it should be. As we start the new season it's hard to imagine our friends are not here in person. But they sure are here in spirit. Guys, thanks for spending some of your time with us, we're all the better for it! Cheers.
The Start of the 2003 WRCRA/CRAC Icebreaker Race! Chris Ford on the West River! Picture from Teri Nilson
This is Chris Ford on his Tornado burning up the West River! Looking good! Feeling good! New Stuff on the Site - 8/22/08! Old news has been put into links for each year. Some pics added to Gallery! New news has been posted. But then you already saw that... Interested?
Make sure you visit Thursday's At Steamboat Landing in Galesville, and tell 'em the cat sailors sent you! Ever been to Galesville? No? Really? Check out the following links to see what you've been missing! The Galesville Heritage Society West River Improvement Association
Raising Hull in Galesville on a Weekly Basis!
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