Racing May 2018!

  MAYOR’S CUP UPDATE!! The Mayor’s Cup is just around the corner!!!   May 19th and 20th we will hold our first major regatta of the season. Race Documents and the Registration form can be found online at www.ecsail.org under the racing tab.  To pre-register, go to www.regattanetwork.com or fill out the registration form from our website or on the race shack bulletin board and mail or give to me. Come out for great on- the -water racing, and off- the- water food, music and beverages. Remember, the Mayors Cup party is not just for Racers anymore. All club members are invited to come to the party, hang with the racers, eat some delicious Da Blue Lagoon food, also, enjoy some beer or pop and good music from Leslie Red and Friends. The party starts around 5 with a Rum Pour and snacks. The band will start around 6:00, and dinner at 6.30.  ALL THIS FOR ONLY $15! Mayor’s Cup shirts will also be available (while supplies last) for $20 per shirt (nice tech fabric shirts). Racers, your $50(-$5 US sailing membership) registration fee includes one $20 shirt and one $15 dinner. [divider height="30" style="default" line="default" themecolor="1"] Wednesday Night Series April has seen some great racing. The numbers are growing each week as the temperature continues to rise. [divider height="30" style="default" line="default" themecolor="1"] Plan on racing the Super Sunday Series on the forth Sunday of each month with pitch-in dinner following the afternoon’s racing, with a special main dish provided by club. Special Thanks to Chef John George and Chef Janet Hickok for getting the first Super Sunday off to a flying start. Please, sign up for RC duty http://signupgenius.com,  we still need help on the RC boat so come on out and have some fun. Another special thanks to fellow club member and good friend Dan Nicholas who has volunteered for Safety boat duty for the year’s club series racing! The next event after the Mayor’s Cup will be the Super Sunday on May 27^th at @ 2pm and a traveling regatta to the Geist Guzzler on June 9^th and 10^th.   Bob Hickok

How to Race Your Cruiser: The Boat There’s no reason you can’t be both a cruiser and a racer. Better yet, you don’t need to have a two-boat program either. Quantum’s Jay Sharkey details how to optimize your current boat to make you competitive in the performance cruising circuits. Everyone loves to sail fast, even the hard-core cruiser. When the racing bug bites and it’s time to dip your toe in the local race circuit, there are hundreds of thousands of sailboats marketed as dual-purpose racer/cruisers that fill marinas around the world. These boats tend to be neither overbuilt offshore passage-makers, nor stripped-out high-tech racing machines, but they can fill both roles for most sailors’ needs. However, there’s no need to trade in your trusty cruiser or buy a second boat, there are a number of things you can do to optimize your current boat to be competitive in performance cruising circuits and still be able to enjoy a comfortable sunset sail. Whether it’s your current cruising boat or a new racer/cruiser, they can be optimized for racing or cruising without huge expenses or modifications. In this piece, we’ll examine the racing part of the equation and how to best set up your boat for the racecourse. Optimizing Your Sails The most obvious place to start is with a new set of sails. Many cruiser/racers today come with OEM sails. Being a line item that affects the overall cost of the boat, these OEM sails are usually inexpensively constructed out of cross-cut Dacron panels (the standard since the Nina raced the Pinta and Santa Maria across the Atlantic). Not much consideration is given to their use. These low-tech sails tend to lose their shape after a few years. Even though they appear to be working, they lose efficiency, keeping the boat from performing at its full potential. The most common upgrade is to a radial sail. The design technique allows sail designers to save sail weight by assembling them in a way that orients the sailcloth to the direction of the loads, allowing for less material use in the “unloaded” direction. Radial sails also have more shapeable panels in their construction, giving the designer more room to fine-tune the finished flying shape. At the high-end of the technology scale are Membrane (“string”) sails, such as Quantum’s Fusion M™ product line, where the sails are custom-engineered for the load paths. Fusion M™ sails are built for both racing and cruising applications with options such as double-sided taffetas and light-skin laminates to increase their longevity and long-term shape retention. Once you’ve decided to upgrade your inventory, there are a few things to discuss with your sailmaker, such as the type of racing you’re planning to do (inshore vs. offshore) and whether your sails will be used for both racing and cruising. These details are important because they allow your sailmaker to custom-tailor your inventory for your needs. (Your sailmaker will also be an important ally in tuning your mast and rigging appropriately, as well as helping set up your boat to get the most out of your sails.) Optimizing Your Rigging Upgrading your sail inventory is just the first step. You may need to make other modifications to take full advantage of your new sails’ performance. Higher-tech sails stretch less than the cross-cut Dacron variety, so it’s important to make sure the lines controlling them are as equally stretch resistant. Jerome Sammarcelli, owner of Sailutions, a Marina del Rey-based sailboat optimization company, suggests making the change to Dyneema-cored lines. They’re not only stretch resistant, they’re also lighter aloft. “Owners making the switch should consider going to the smallest diameter lines that will still work with their current deck hardware,” says Jerome. “The weight savings aloft can add up fast, creating the opportunity to take advantage of a righting moment, which was previously not there.”   Optimizing Your Electronics Along with sails and rigging, optimizing your electronics will help you improve your racing performance. The most basic modern electronics package will usually have the essentials: wind speed/direction and boat speed.   Optimizing Your Boat Finally, the boat itself can be optimized for racing with a few tweaks: lightening your boat as much as possible is the cheapest and easiest first step, just make sure not to violate any rules about removing standard equipment like locker doors and cushions. Remove all extra tools, spares, and any other items you won’t need to race (investing in a dock-box will give you a place to store things, like your barbeque and water toys, while you race for the day).   Make sure all water tanks are empty. Stow all gear as close to the middle of the boat and as far down as possible. If you have a fixed propeller, switching to a folding prop will also make a big difference (at the expense of maneuverability under power), as will fairing the keel and rudder. The idea is that the smoother the flow across the bottom, the faster the boat will go.   Ready, Set, Race! Taking the leap from cruising into racing doesn’t have to be intimidating. By following these steps, you’ll see a definite jump in your boat’s performance.   Now comes the fun part – get out there and mix it up! Good luck, and welcome to your new addiction: sailboat racing!   Bob Hickok, Racing

Racing Seminar #1 Recap: We would first like to thank everyone that turned-out for the first of the three Racing Seminars for 2018. There was a great turnout, 27+ racers! It was great to see everyone, and we know you are all excited as we are for the season to start! Special thanks to our guest speakers Reagan Lessick and Adam Ondrejack. Reagan gave a great presentation and synopsis of her racing exploits at the Orange Bowl in Miami, while Adam updated us on ISC racing plans and schedule for 2018. We would also like to thank Rich Fox for his continued dedication to ECSC. We are VERY lucky to have such a person that continues to take the fleets rhetoric and abuse, all while maintain a calm demeaner and his constant smile (we could all take a page for Rich’s book on how to conduct ourselves in calm & respectable manner). Rich has worked diligently to formulate some new PHRF ratings for ECSC in hopes of tightening up the fleets that will be implemented this coming season. Rich has dedicated himself for the past seven years or so and has complied a great deal of historical data that supports his adjusted PHRF ratings. We feel this is a great step forward to having very competitive racing series for years to come. Thank you, Rich! Click here to sign up for for RC Duty - SIGNUP GENIUS   Please sign up as soon as possible. Sign-up deadlines are 4/12/18 for Spring Series, 6/28/18 for Sumer Series, and 9/5/18 for Twilight Series. The Race Chairman will fill all open slots after the deadlines posted above. Captains & Crew will be obligated to switch or have covered their assigned RC Duties. Here are a few excerpts that we’ve come across that pretty much sum-up RC Duty at ECSC and around the world. Enjoy! WTH? I’m On Race Committee?! What would you rather do? Race or do race committee? Well, the answer is easy! We go to the trouble of buying boats, maintaining them, practicing with them, stocking the cooler for our crew, and most importantly - spending down marital credits to disappear for a day or two (the price varies according to season, mood, time of month, and whether or not we’ve been attentive to her/his needs) all because we want to sail and compete against other sailors! So, lots of sailors moan about, bitch about, and even actively shirk their race committee duty, even though it's glaringly obvious that if there is no race committee, there is no racing. I’ve never really had a problem with doing race committee, though it often seems a shame when we have to pull from the fleet that is racing, thereby reducing the fleet by one or more boats, in order to form a race committee. But it is what it is, and we should all try and do our part with a smile and positive attitude. We all have met (and maybe are) sailors who always seem quick to complain about a race committee. That seems unduly ungrateful, and most sailors endure whatever mysterious trials that the Race Committee puts them through because they're RACING!, instead of stuck doing, well, Race Committee. But all of us, even if we try to be patient and keep our mouths shut, sometimes find ourselves wondering, “WTH is Race Committee up to?” The best antidote for Race Committee grousing is, of course, to do Race Committee. It’s refreshing to see the fleet and the racing from the anchored perspective. It’s also a fun and interesting challenge to try and deliver lots of good racing, especially on Eagle Creek. Next time we are racing, try not thinking “WTH?” Instead, try to think “They must have their reasons” …..up to a point, at least. ? Race Chairman & Assistant Race Chairman: ECSC is a great club, thanks to our members. We are fortunate to have all types of sailors and people (not just racers). We should all strive to conduct ourselves in a courteous & respectful manner whether we are on the water, off the water, social media, gatherings, etc.                

Racing January 2018

Well, it’s the heart of winter, 3 inches of snow on the ground, and -3 degrees or something like that and I am writing my first racing article. [one_second] [/one_second]     Well...you might ask what am I wearing?  I’ll tell you, because I’m thinking about the warm, sunny and windy weather of summer.  Picture this: I’m wearing swim trunks and flip flops in the heart of winter and I’m not even in Florida. Hah! But the hot tub is calling my name.         OK,  maybe don’t picture me in my  flip-flops, but YOU: sailing away from the dock on your boat at ECSC and you’re going out to your first race ever. You went to a couple of winter racing seminars (which are the fourth Wednesdays in Jan, Feb and March), you have learned about safety, starting, sailing the quickest course, finishing the race, AND having a blast doing it!  The best part? Lively discussions around the liar’s table with the seasoned salts and new buds, having a bite to eat and a beverage to boot.  It’s going to happen, and sooner than you think!  

Race Meeting #1

January 24th-6:30

9247 N. Meridian St.

Food and Beverages Provided

The Race Meetings are open to ALL who are interested in racing or LEARNING to race or even just wanna hang around the cool kids. The 1^st meeting will include a discussion of the racing schedule, the recommendations of our PHRF(handicap) ratings (led by our scorekeeper Rich Fox), some reminders concerning safety while racing, and (hopefully) a special guest speaker who is sure to enlighten and inspire! Race Committee- Bob Hickok & John George  

2018 Strictly Sail Chicago Boat Show

Show Location:

McCormick Place—South Building, Chicago, Illinois

Show Dates:

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 through Sunday, January 14, 2018

Show Times:

Wednesday: 2:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Thursday: 11:00 am - 8:00 pm Friday: 11:00 am - 8:00 pm

Saturday: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm

Sunday: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Admissions:

Adults: $14.00 Seniors (62+): $10 Wednesday, January 10th only!!!

Children (15 and younger): FREE

When accompanied by a paying adult.