Forwarded through District Governors to all fleet captains, the following announcement . . .

 Austin, Texas - The U.S. J/24 Class Association is soliciting petitions from qualified J/24 Youth teams and All-Women teams to represent the USJCA at the 2008 J/24 World Championship.  The Championship will be held 5-13 June 2008 at Club Nautico Arzachena in Cannigione, Sardinia, Italy.

The solicitation is in response to the initiative of the International J/24 Class.  The IJCA granted each NJCA two additional world slots - one for a Youth Team (all crew under age 25 on the first day of World Championship racing) and one for an All-Women team.  These slots cannot be assigned for any other qualification method.

The USJCA Executive Committee will select teams for each slot based on sailing resume, experience in the J/24 Class, and financial means.  Teams are encouraged to submit sailing resumes for all team members, not just the helmsperson.  The helmsperson must be a member of the U.S.J/24 Class Association.

Cover letter, resumes, and any other supporting documentation shall be submitted electronically to the USJCA Office at email address: J24class@compuserve.com. Deadline for submission is December 31, 2007.  Team selection will be announced January 15, 2008.

For further information, contact: Nancy Stark Zangerle at nzangerle@yahoo.com

Hi All,

The 110th Annual Empire Reindeer Club Christmas Party is December 1st.  Everyone that has sent me there mailing addressshould have received an invite.  If you still have not received the invite please let me know.  I need theRSVP’s by this Friday.  Thanks for your help.  This years party is going to be epic.

Nicholas Dambrie

I need address I have only received five.  Please send them to ndambrie@homesinmaine.com

Hi all.  Just starting to mail out the invites for the x mass party and need all your mailing addresses if you would like to go.  Please email to ndambrie@homesinmaine.com 

Nick Dambrie

Thanks to our sponsors and to all those who volunteered (fleet member crews and those outside the fleet) to make the 22nd Annual Downeast Regatta a success.  We had a very strong showing from out of town boats this year and we delivered a fun and competitive regatta.  Many of the away boats were repeat customers from past years, but there were some new faces as well, particularly from Portsmouth.  Although we won’t be hosting the D1 championship next, let’s hope we can build on this year’s great success and attract even more boats next year.

 Congratulations to Lee Buress’ On the Beach for and impressive 3-2-1-2 regatta victory.  Alas, Lee is a D2 member so the D1 champ is . . .

 . . . Andrew Carey’s Mr. Hankey who also walked away as the second place finisher in the Downeast, as the Maine State Champion and Fleet 43 Tonini Series winner.  Talk about a trophy haul.  Team Hankey had an incredible second half of the summer.  After placing 4th in Wednesday Series I, they dominated late-July, August and during the Downeast.  Congratulations to Andrew and the Mr Hankey crew.

 Keep an eye out for the J24 class magazine this winter.  It will feature an article (as it did last year) on the Downeast.

25 boats registered with 7 days to go to the Downeast / J24 District 1 Championships!

 Don’t forget weigh-in on Friday afternoon. Come down and mingle with the competition “from away”.  Skippers’ meeting on Saturday at 0845.

 It will take all of our efforts to make sure things run smoothly, that the away boats enjoy themselves, that we leave the Club in good shape and that we build on the past success of this regatta.  So, as a reminder, the assignments for each skipper and crew are below. Even if it is not your responsibility, if you see something that needs to get done please pitch in.   

Regatta Mgmt:        Howard /  Carter
Race Mgmt:             Belafonte / Nick Dambrie
Breakfast:                Pit Party / Steve Fernald
Boat Launch / Haul:  Second Chance / Rich DeGranpre
Friday Set up:       Flying Circus / Howard
Friday Clean-up:  Bad Apple / Bruce Morse
Saturday Night Set-up:   AL / Mark Klein,  Barking Spidah / Scott Smithwick
Saturday Clean up:   Flying Chicken / Rich Carlson, Ed Rowe & Mr Hankey / Andrew Carey
Sunday Post-race fare:   Denali / Tony Jessen
Sunday Clean up: Jazzazi / Jim Dodd
Food shopping:    Meg Fenderson / Shelly Paules
Measurement / Keg/Lobstah:    Steph Helms
Registration:        Dan Marston
T-shirts:    Emily Kalkstein / Jess Harris

Transportation:  All (please be wiling to drive away boats to the designated remote parking sites)

Congratulations to Andrew Carey and the Mr Hankey team who registered 7 bullets in the 14 race Series II.  2nd place went to Flying Chicken helmed by Rich Carlson who slipped past Jeff Smith’s Second Chance on the last night of racing.  I’m not sure Rich appreciates it being noted that he is a “rookie” helmsman, but his results this season belied the label.

Checking back on results from recent past summers tells me that we had a really successful summer on Wednesday nights.  We sailed on more nights (12) and got in more races (26) than  any time in the last five seasons (which is all the records I have).  In addition to the statistics, Wednesday nights this season were marked with good competition and especially good comraderie.

The Downeast Regatta in 8 days will mark the end of Fleet 43’s racing for this Summer.  As of this writing, we have 22 boats registered, including 12 away boats.  The winner of the regatta will be the J24 District 1 champion.

Hard to believe we’ve already reached the last two weeks of the season, but in fact, we have.  Don’t forget that first gun is scheduled 1/2 hour early at 1730!!

Fleet 43 had 13 boats out this week for the (delayed) start of Wednesday Series II.  The day’s hot, clear weather generated a fairly steady 6-8 knots seabreeze that held in until after sundown, a marked improvement after last Wednesday’s windless, foggy weather.  Kudos to Matt Blakeman and the Kinda Blue crew for setting up such a nice course (3/4 mile windward leg,  square line just the right length for a tight start), for getting off two races and for good work on the signals.)

An incoming tide favored the Falmouth shore, but the left side had more consistent breeze and a nice left-hand shift in the corner and the fleet split on all three windward legs without either side gaining a major advantage. Flying Chicken won the evening with a 1-2.  They key to victory?  Ed Rowe was at the helm for the first time this year. (No offense to rookie driver, Rich Carlson, who has been getting better every week and wasn’t really rookie-like anyway.) Mr. Hankey (that’s Hankey with an “e”) took second with a 3-1 and Mark Klein finally returned from vacation to log an overall third sailing a 4-3, with Carter White at the helm in at least the second race.

Fleet 43 is expecting 6 boats for the Handy Boat Regatta this Saturday. Some of the boats may need crew, if anyone whose boat is not sailing wants a ride, give me a buzz.

–Howard

The annual Handy Boat Regatta is this Saturday (the 28th).  Registration is at Handy’s.  Skipper’s meeting at 1115 and first gun at 1300.  We’ll have our own start. We’ll run “round the buoys”, rather than drop-mark, courses. As per our scoring rules, a minimum of five Fleet 43 participants are required to score the race in the Tonini and Weekend Series.

 As of Wednesday at 1450, Second Chance, Kinda Blue and Mr Hanky were registered.

 –Howard