GBCA Discussion Forum

Saturday, February 3, 2024 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm
Lakewood Yacht Club Harbor Room
Instructor: Chris Luppens, Area F Judge Coordinator, and Al Goethe, Area F Judge
This is an essential step for those interested in pursuing judge certification. It also provides an overview for any racer or race officer to understand the jury process. This knowledge will make you much more confident when you're going to 'The Room'! Taking the certification test is not required. This is a great chance for anyone to learn. Open to everyone.

Completion of pre-course work prior to the In-Person session is required. Attendance is required to complete and pass the course. About 10 days before your course begins, you will receive an email from US Sailing inviting you to participate in the course through Canvas, US Sailing's online learning platform. Click the "Get Started" link to complete your profile and access the required course materials. The lead instructor will email you with additional course information.
Course fee: $40. A discounted US Sailing special introductory membership is available for first-time participants during the registration process. Lunch menu will be available for purchase at the club. Registration closes January 24, 2024. Walk-In registrations are not allowed.

Details and Registration at US Sailing:
https://www.ussailing.org/competition/rules-officiating/resources/find-a-seminar/judge-seminar-calendar/

Come on, everybody! Sign up for the Charge! Cup on 9/4! This is one of the most interesting courses on the Bay! It's an opportunity to stretch your boat's legs and put some miles on the crew before HMR, J/Fest etc.!

If you know that you'll do it, cut the organizers some slack and sign up now so they know for what to prepare! We really should think about that more! The organizers are all volunteers - some forego racing the event to help organize it (I know I'm missing at least one of my crew to that!). All the local clubs have very generous cancellation/refund policies in case something gets in the way later.

Do it! It's an awesome event!

Just tried to register for the conundrum. Registration seems closed. Late registration should be open until 8/7 according to NOR. Any help?

Looks like TRW is on the calendar with the original June dates. That's about three weeks away. So far only two boats have signed up, and both did so prior to the Coronas arriving on our shores, i.e., they may or may not be 'on board' now. What is the plan, Scott?

America's Cup winning Navigator Peter Isler will come to Lakewood Yacht Club on Sunday 2/23/2020 to present a one-day seminar on the use of the Expedition software for buoy and long distance racing. The linked information gives some details. Sign-up is through Regatta Network at

Seminar Information: https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/regatta_uploads/20160/Texaspromo.pdf

Seminar Registration: https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_registration_form.php?regatta_id=20160

Note that the intent is to have the first member of a boat (skipper/owner/principal) sign up first. Other crew of the same boat can then get a discounted seminar price. All participants have to name their affiliated boat at registration to make this work.

There's a limited amount of slots available for this course, so don't delay!

Will there not be any single handed and doubles regatta this year? I didn't see it on the calendar.

Registration for J/Fest Southwest 10/26-27 is open! Early Registrants will get crew t-shirts and the boat name on the t-shirt! Early registration ends Saturday 9/7. Note that we are using Yachtscoring software for registration and event management this year. I'm including a - hopefully - helpful link on how to use Yachtscoring for those who have not used it before.

Here are some helpful links:

Yachtscoring helpful hints: https://lakewoodyachtclub.com/_filelib/FileCabinet/Yacht_Scoring_-_Getting_Started_.pdf
Yachtscoring Event Homepage: https://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=9577. You can actually get to everything else from there!
Notice of Race: https://www.yachtscoring.com/event_documents/9577/2019%20J%20Fest%20Regatta%20NOR.pdf
Event Registration: https://www.yachtscoring.com/event_registration_email.cfm
Current Registrants: https://www.yachtscoring.com/current_event_entries.cfm?eID=9577
Crew Waivers: The attached pamphlet explains how Yachtscoring handles crew waivers. It's very easy!!

For the J/70's this is a qualifying event for the 2020 World Championship. A minimum of 15 J/70's must be signed up to make it count!

Signing up early doesn't just help you make your crew happy - they're getting shirts - but also helps the organizers plan the best event for you! So: You know you'll do it! Sign up, please!

HYC's Offshore Regatta has been rescheduled for 8/24-25. That coincides with RR7. Any plans to move that?

Also: the calendar shows another round of Singles/Mixed Doubles August 17-18. Are we doing it again???

Dobbs Davis from ORC will be in town to measure a number of local boats. This is an opportunity for anybody with racing inclination to piggyback on the event and get their boat measured. This is NOT just for the hot-rod racers! The ORC formula provides a much more sophisticated rating taking boat and weather characteristics into account to generate a handicap that is much more fair than PHRF can be. For these reasons all local clubs are interested in offering races using ORC. Of course, it only works if there is a quorum of boats that have an ORC Certificate!

It is actually not strictly necessary to have any measurements done to get an ORC Club Certificate. If no measured data are provided, the formula will use the manufacturer's standard data. Hoever, since the boat weight is frequently under-reported, it is advantageous to have the boat 'weighed' by way of measuring the boat waterline. That's what Dobbs will do.

The cost for this most important measurement is $100/boat. This is a one-time expense. The annual cost for the Certificate - administered in the US by US Sailing - is $100.

For those interested in a 'full' measurement of the boat, which would include things like inclination/stability testing and rig measurements Dobbs' cost is $15/ft, which we might be able to knock down a bit with enough boats signed up.

The current plan is that Dobbs will be here from 3/7 to 3/11. If there's enough additional interest, we may get him to extend that. We currently have six boats on the list. Note that the waterline measurements require that the boat is empty!

If you are interested please contact either me or Dobbs directly at Dobbs at orc dot org.

Those of who have sailed under ORC have found it to be much more competitive and fun, even sailing against very different boats. I highly recommend using this opportunity to get into this system, irrespective of what kind of sailboat you have!

Anybody interested in postponing RR7 - maybe to 9/16? Windalert says 27kn gusting to 46kn for Saturday afternoon. Only riggers and sailmakers like those conditions.

What is y'all's opinion about the boat pix helicopter? We're thinking about getting it for one of the GB Races, maybe J/Fest? I know there are lots of opinions about this, so let me have it. Mine is that the guys are filthy expensive and hard to work with. But some of the best pictures of my boat - the ones on the wall - have come from that contraption. What do you think?

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