Michigan Sailing Club Dan Rice Regatta (May 27th, 2018)

this coming Sunday, May 27th, the Michigan Sailing Club (part of the University of Michigan) is hosting their annual Dan Rice Regatta (NOR).

2017 Dan Rice Regatta (pic via Michigan Sailing Club)

The Regatta is open to all sailors and ALL Classes of sail boats up to 21′ with a US Sailing Portsmouth number. Only Members of the Michigan Sailing Club (MSC) may sail club owned boats.

The regatta will be governed by the Racing Rules of Sailing 2017-2020, the rules of each participating class and the Sailing Instructions.

We will allow co-skippering.

There is no fee for this regatta; it’s free!
We will collect an optional fee ($5/person) at the skippers meeting for lunch.
Feel free to bring your own food and drinks if you prefer.

Club members may reserve a boat in advance on a first-come, first-served basis. There may be a waiting list if all boats are reserved.

The regatta will be held at the club’s property on Baseline Lake, at 8010 Strawberry Lake Road in Dexter, Michigan.

last year’s Dan Rice Regatta summary can be found here.

sounds like a nice event if you’re in the Detroit metro area and haven’t gotten your sailboat out on the water yet this spring!

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today’s tunes: floating in the forth

I awoke to tragic news today – the lead singer for Frightened Rabbit, Scott Hutchison, has been missing for a couple days, and a body has been recently found on the banks of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Road Bridge – feared to be that of Scott.  I’ve loved this band since hearing them years ago on WOXY – great sound, intricate lyrics, and a passion for music.

I turned on a few songs this morning to listen to some of their early music, from their fantastic album Midnight Organ Fight, and the lyrics from the song “Floating in the Forth” are just chilling.

And fully clothed,
I float away
Down the Forth,
Into the sea
I think I’ll save suicide for another day.

So you just step out of the front of my house and I’ll never see you again.
I closed my eyes for a second and when they opened you weren’t there.
And the door shut shut I was vacuum packed, shrink-wrapped out of air
And the spine collapsed and the eyes rolled back to stare at my starving brain,

And fully clothed,
I float away Down the Forth, into the sea
I think I’ll save suicide for another day.

And I picture this corpse on the M8 hearse and I half run away to sleep
On a rolled up coat against the window with the strobe of the sun and the life I’ve led
Am I ready to leap is there peace beneath the roar of the Forth road bridge?
On the Northern side is a Fife of mine and a boat in the port for me,

And fully clothed, I float away (I’ll float away)
Down the Forth, into the sea (into the sea)
I’ll steer myself through choppy waves (through choppy waves)
As manic gulls scream it’s okay (it’s okay)
Take your life give it a shake (give it a shake)
Gather up all your loose change
I think I’ll save suicide for another year.

if you are having suicidal thoughts, reach out: to a friend, a family member, or even a stranger.
call 1-800-273-8255 (USA) or see the Suicide Prevention website.

UConn alumni sunfish regatta (2018)

a few weeks ago, the University of Connecticut held their annual spring Sunfish regatta – a great opportunity for alumni to mingle with and get to know current students in the sailing team at UConn.  from the regatta write-up (see link below), it sounds like it was a great event – with 15 alumni and 10 UConn students, with great weather and competitive sailing.

here is a short video from the regatta, shot & edited by LiftAndSea.com

you can find the full regatta write-up (.pdf), results (.pdf), or view the UConn sailing FB page or the UConn Alumni Regatta FB page.

sail on – the day is yours

an older Sunfish sailboat on prominent display in an old Reader’s Digest magazine from 1973.

found on sailing anarchy (@sailinganarchy).

windward leg archives

the Sunfish Class has made good progress on building up a nice electronic archive of the Class newsletter – the Windward Leg.

We have recently uploaded to the Class Website most of the Windward Leg issues since they were first published in 1979. The Leg was originally printed by the builder AMF and was also the newsletter for some of the other classes they manufactured during that period such as Force 5, Super Sunfish, Apollo, etc.

As the Sunfish Class became more independent in the late 1980s, the Windward Leg gradually became the exclusive and official Newsletter of ISCA. Some of the original issues are still missing, but we are working actively with class members order to have these added to the library.

when you join the Sunfish Class, you receive the newsletter a few times a year, with race results from around the country (and world), as well as how-to tips for racing, recreational sailing, and common repairs.

you can browse the scanned Windward Leg archives on the Sunfish Class website.

sunfish adventure raid [June 2-3, 2018]

Laser Performance is sponsoring a 2-day sailing event on the lower Connecticut River near Hartford this summer.

Rig your Sunfish or any boat that can be beached (daggerboard/centerboard), pack your sleeping bags, and grab a friend!! After hearing from the sailors, ISCO has revived the Sunfish Adventure Classic and, transformed it into an annual roaming event for the Sunfish fleet to take any shore. To be known as the Sunfish Adventure Raid, ISCO is proud to host its first regatta. Join us for a two-day fun race following the lower Connecticut River from the industrial banks of Hartford, past meadowlands and wetlands, meandering past eighteenth-century seaports, to finish at tree-covered Essex. Up to two people sail per boat, carrying on board the necessary camping gear (tents, sleeping bags), life jackets, clothing and foul-weather gear, lunch and drinks for two days. LaserPerformance provides the food, drink, and staff for the Saturday night cookout and a complete breakfast Sunday, as well as a post race party! Register for two days of family fun and adventure!

sign up/registration information can be found here.  additional details can be found at LP’s Facebook page for the event.

this event has been held annually for the last several years, but had been mainly initiated and organized by just a few Sunfish enthusiasts.  it’s nice to see Laser Performance sponsoring the race this year, and hopefully they will continue that sponsorship for future years.

historically, the Connecticut River race was a huge Sunfish event, with even reference to it in the Sports Illustrated article “Here She is, the True Love Boat“:

Enthusiasts have been known to enjoy offshore cruising in, and overnight camping from, Sunfish, and have used them on river trips. Every May a fleet of about 100 of the little boats participates in a three-day race down the Connecticut River from Hartford to Essex.

I’m not sure that any of the recent events have come close to that many participants, but perhaps with LP acting as a sponsor, it will help create more interest in getting this back as a Sunfish tradition.

 

bow-shackle pen by Oceanus Brass

for those looking for a something with a nautical theme for the sailor in your life, this may be a perfect new gift idea.  it is the bow-shackle pen from Oceanus Brass.  soft polished brash, clean lines, with a small brass bow shackle attached to the top of the pen.  brass is always a common theme with nautical gifts, and while a nice compass and sextant set looks nice on an office desk, they are usually not very practical.

the pen is a conversation starter for sure: I had tucked into my shirt pocket the other day, and everyone who saw it asked about it. the pen has a nice heft to it, and is comfortable in your hand as you write with it.  the length of the pen is probably a tad too short for the size of my hands for any amount of long-term writing, but is perfectly functional for writing a quick note, or penning a card to a loved one.

the craftsmanship of the pen is quite stunning – there are two joints in the pen that are almost imperceptible.  smooth threaded joints allow you to spin off the upper part of the pen to reveal the pen tip for writing, and the 2nd threaded joint unscrews to allow you to change the pen ink refill.

the pen certainly bucks the trend these days to have everything disposable, made from cheap plastics that can be used briefly and then easily discarded.  at $100, it certainly isn’t in the price range of a box of cheap Bic ball point pens, but it’s a bargain compared to a Montblanc.  the solid brass construction is nearly indestructible, so for the cost of pen ink refill every couple of years, this pen will likely last forever.  Oceanus Brass currently has a kickstarter campaign to help fund a re-tool to their pen design to now include a Fisher Space cartridge, details here: Bow-Shackle Pen + Fisher Space Cartridge.  if you support the current kickstarter by Oceanus Brass, you can get one of the new pens for a nice discount.

you can also purchase a Bow-Shackle pen or other nautical inspired gifts (lots of brass!) from their website.  you can follow Oceanus Brass on Twitter and Instagram.

full disclosure: I received this pen as a gift in exchange for writing an unbiased review.