Reports

Regatta Report
Bill Heintz

     The first day of the 2005 Soverel 33 Nationals was great for racing, with enough breeze for the class to get three races off. Wind speeds hovered in the low teens, 10-to-15 knots. With a front pushing down from the north and a southerly trying to build from the south, there tended to be big shifts. In the first race Whacko and Grey Seal started hot off the starting blocks and lead to the weather mark. On the last beat Deviation, accompanied by Adrenaline and Slàinte, was handed a big right hand shift. The second race saw Santana head for the wrong mark followed closely by Deviation -- leaving Phoenix and Slàinte in the lead to fight it out to the finish. In the third race Phoenix and Slàinte lead most of the way around the course. On the last leg to the finish, Deviation got a bit of a better spinnaker set and passed Phoenix at the finish by inches. Meanwhile, Norm Dean decided not to harm his aquatic jungle on the bottom of Whacko, and confirmed that nice guys will finish last.

     Day two saw pretty much the same weather pattern but with a little less wind and more clouds. In the forth race Santana shot out like a watermelon seed at the start and remained free and clear for the remainder of the race. Slàinte experienced some engine trouble and was about a minute late for the start, but by the weather mark had already caught up to the back of the pack. Before the regatta, Tom Griffin of Mischief said that his goal was to not be dead last in any race, I thought of that when they effectively pushed Deviation out the back of the pack at the start. Later Phoenix was ever so friendly with Deviation and kept us company whenever we tried to wander off for clear air . Whacko, now with a clean bottom was up to speed and pushing at the front, adding a whole new dynamic to the class. The final race was the closest -- with the distance from the first boat to the last rarely more that about a half a dozen boat lengths. Unfortunately Grey Seal was not able to find crew on Sunday, so they did not compete.

     Most of the Soverel 33's stayed at the Bell Haven Club, which is at a spectacular location overlooking the Captains Islands and Long Island Sound. On Saturday night John Glynn, owner of Grey Seal, hosted a great party with drinks and barbeque on the front lawn of his club, followed by the class meeting. On Sunday Mitch Wells, owner of Flexi-Flyer, sailed with us. All in all it was a great weekend; really good fun!

     Talk heard around the club after the regatta:
     • "Phoenix has risen from the ashes, it's the beginning of a new dynasty."
     • "There are two empty placards on the trophy . . . I plan on putting my boat's name on both."
     • "You were supposed to win . . . now we're going to hear about it all year."
     • "Can we get some long sleeve shirts that say 'Phoenix, World Champions' on the sleeves?"
          [ All quotes may be paraphrased or taken out of context -- anonymous unless otherwise indicated. ]

AGM Report.
2005 Annual General Meeting for Soverel 33 Class at Bell Haven Club, Saturday, August 27th

Agenda / Meeting:

I) Call meeting to order at 18:35 II) Roll call of attending boats owners / members:     Erik Will (BushWacker),     Iris Vogel (Deviation),     Norm Dean (Whacko),     Mark McCarthy (Slàinte),     John Glynn (Grey Seal), and     Patrick Croke (Adrenaline) and Robin Ricca (Phoenix) (later) III) Old items     A) 2005 Schedule - discussed this year's schedule and trouble getting attendance at Block Island and Cleveland Race Weeks     B) Rookie Trophy - discussed again, agreed that it should be awarded to the highest placing "new owner" (with less than two years participating in the class) in the National Championships (or something like that). Thus, the 2005 Soverel 33 Rookie Trophy is to be awarded to Tom Griffin and the crew of Mischief. IV) New Items     A) 2006 Schedule - discussed next year's schedule. The nationals at Sodus Bay will be a two day event 5-6 August 2006 as part of the LYRA .     B) Location of Nationals - discussed the idea of moving the nationals to different locations contingent on the winner of the nationals. There was some concern that the winner would like to take it someplace remote such as Timbuktu -- decided to put the motion out to a class vote via postal ballot.     C) Default for one Design Events Advertising Category C - no major opposition to the motion -- decided to put the motion out to a class vote via postal ballot.     D) Class Officer Vacancy - Iris Vogel agreed to remain at the position of Class Secretary - Treasurer for another term, or until someone else decides that they want the position.     E) Dues & Membership - Financial Report - discussed the financial status of the Soverel 33 Class: membership, dues, costs of advertising, promotion, web site, etc. for 9/1/04 through 8/26/05. Decided that Dues for 2006 would remain at $100     F) Asymmetrical Spinnakers - As the rule now stands, Spinnakers can not be bigger than girth requirements in rule III.E.4. Decided to keep the rule as it is, but to close the loophole that allows asymmetrical spinnakers at one-design events - to be reviewed annually. -- decided to put the motion out to a class vote via postal ballot. V) Call meeting to close at 19:20

Setup & Rig

Yacht Name	Fleet	Hull	Sails	R=Running Backstays C=Checkstays	Max Headsail	Mast	Pole
Phoenix	1	70 SVM	UK/Doyle/North	R & C	155%	Kenyon	14' CF
Santana	1	27 SVM	North	R & C	155%	Ballenger	14' CF
Deviation	1	89 TAR	UK	Checks only	145%	Ballenger	14' CF
Slàinte	1	31 SVM	Kappa/Haarstik	Checks only	151%	Kenyon	14' Al
Adrenaline	1	304 RPZ	UK	R & C	155%	Kenyon	14' CF
Whacko	1	116 PCX	Doyle	R & C	145%	Kenyon	14' CF
Mischief	1	68 SVM	UK	Checks only	145%	Kenyon	14' Al
Grey Seal	1	10 SVM	UK /Doyle	R & C	155%	Kenyon	14' Al

Chart of Area

click on chart to expand image.

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