This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

Local Lorain, Ohio racing was once again put on hold to allow for fleet members to attend the 2011 Michigan State Championships sailed out of Crescent Sail Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe.  Mike Phinney and Thad Brej both ventured north of the border (Ohio-Michigan border that is) to visit the Detroit River boys for two days of racing on Lake St. Clair.  The weather was absolutely perfect and a great time was had by all.  The Detroit River gang, with their distinguished leader Rollie, hosted a fantastic regatta.  Here is the link to the regatta report on the Star Class website:           2011 Michigan State Championships

After getting three boats out for four races last weekend, threatening weather and missing crew kept the fleet ashore today.  Dick, Lou, Ray and Jim worked on the fleet loaner boat to ready it for anyone interested in experiencing Star sailing first hand.  Racing next weekend is still up in the air due to the Michigan State Championships being held next weekend in Detroit.

On the Sailing Anarchy forums, I came across this article about rebedding deck hardware that is a great source of information for anyone who works on their own boat.  Check it out if you need to mount/re-mount hardware on your Star:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/63554-bedding-deck-hardware-butyl-tape.html

The Championship of Michigan, as hosted by the Detroit River Fleet out of Crescent Sail & Yacht Club, will be held June 25th and 26th on Lake St Clair.  Original dates that were posted on this website have been corrected.

After a one week delay, the 2011 season kicked off this weekend with three Stars making it out to the racecourse in almost perfect Star weather.  The winds were 6 - 10 knots from the Northwest and the seas were relatively flat making for ideal sailing conditions.  The cobwebs were all blown out and all three boats enjoyed an uneventful first outing.  Due to boat renovations and registration issues, the fourth boat was not able to make it out to play with the others.  The race committee didn't miss a beat in getting off 4 races just to the west of the mouth of the Black River off the Lorain coastline.  If this weekend is any indication of the season to come, we are in for a great 2011.

SLE helmsman Mike Phinney teamed up with Thad Brej  to attend the 2011 Tulip Time Tune Up at Gull Lake, Michigan over the weekend of May 21st and 22nd.  The Tulip Time Tune Up is by far one of the best regattas on the 4th District schedule and possibly one of the best events in the US.  Superior regatta management, unrivaled hospitality from the entire Gull Lake fleet, and an idyllic inland lake made for unbelievable Star boat sailing.  This year's event had nearly perfect conditions with temps in the mid to high 70's and breeze ranging from 8-12 for most of the weekend.  Crews from Racine, Chicago, Lake Springfield, Seattle, and Lake Sunapee converged on Gull Lake to start the season off while competing for the coveted wooden shoes.  Don Parfet, Jon Vandermolen, the Gull Lake fleet, and all of the Gull Lake Yacht Club staff should be proud of yet another awesome Tulip Time regatta! 

By Andrew Campbell at www.campbellsailing.com

In what seems like yet another major oversight by the ISAF Council, the two keelboat classes: the Olympic Star and the Women’s Match Race formats were both dropped from the next Games in 2016 in Rio. This happens to some class or another every time there is a vote for classes at the Olympics. The Star was dropped before the 2000 Games in Sydney before being reinstated. The Soling Match Race event was dropped for the 2004 Games. The Tornado Multihull was dropped for this upcoming Olympics in London and Weymouth. And now the Olympic Keelboat both Men’s and Women’s have been conspicuously omitted from the 2016 program in Rio. It’s a major disappointment for a lot of sailors both on and off of the Olympic circuit. Unlike Women’s Match Racing the Star has had a venerable run in Olympic competition having first been introduced in the 1932 Olympics. Yes, you read correctly, 80 years of Olympic history, finished. 2011 is almost ironically a big year for the Star class as it celebrates its 100th year of history at the Centennial Regatta in Larchmont, NY this September.

Without a doubt, Star sailing is what inspired me to pursue my Olympic ambitions first in the Laser and now in the premier one design keelboat in the world. San Diego Yacht Club’s hosting of the 1994 Star Worlds opened this 10-year-old’s eyes along with hundreds of other junior sailors showing us what world class international sailing was all about. We pushed trailers around the boat park and helped tie boats up to slips while we marveled at the many languages and experiences bellowing from these giants (quite literally in some cases) of the sport. These guys were my heroes in the midst of the America’s Cup also going on at SDYC at the time. Today as I walk the docks of these foreign ports and mingle with the elite sailors of Olympic as well as professional sailing it is never lost on me that there are young eyes observing our every move, following our results, and practicing their skills long after we have left town with hopes that they may one day be able to compete with us and at our level. Perhaps the greatest asset that the Star class brought to the table for this Olympic selection was the caliber of the talent and its strong connection to fleets around the world. Each top sailor involved at the Olympic level has a strong connection with his home fleet in some way or another. That trickle down in the form of inspiration and exposure to sailors both young and old across the globe is not to be diminished as a major factor for the health of our sport.

While I understand the desire for ISAF to pursue the faster, more accessible, and media friendly classes for the Olympics, I cannot agree with their casting aside of the single most recognizable representation of our sport to sailors and non-sailors alike: the keelboat. I felt much the same way about the multihull and the decision to remove that sector of the sport from the docket in 2012. ISAF is missing a grand opportunity to showcase a very important part of our game by not presenting the multihull when the Olympics come to London and Weymouth. The difference in my mind is while multihulls are one sector of the sport, while keelboats are the mainstream. Dinghy sailing is a precursor for sailors all over the world who will eventually pursue their passion in some form of keelboat sailing. Without a doubt the omission of the keelboats for both men and women will likewise omit some of the gravitas involved with Olympic competition in the future. Regardless of Olympic status the Star will continue to attract some of the best sailors in the world simply because of the support of its fleets and its history, but it will likely lose some of the elite competition driven by the additional weight of Olympic dreams. Beyond that the class will remain as the single greatest example of any Olympic class in history for its evolution and adaptation to maintain Olympic status. Other classes on the chopping block should observe how the Star has preserved both its fantastic culture of racing at the Local, Regional, and International level, while also continuing as an Olympic Class. Other Olympic classes can boast one or the other, but not often both. The developmental nature of the class rules and the progressive and intuitive nature of its membership are quite simply unparalleled. What better year to be involved with the Olympic Star than 2011? This story will undoubtedly develop over the next few weeks as we head to Weymouth to start our Olympic Trials next month.

Stay tuned at www.CampbellSailing.com

For more information: StarClass.org

The 2011 Fourth District schedule has been released and is noted below (click on event title for more info):

        -Tulip Time Tuneup                                Gull Lake, Michigan                        5/21 through 5/22
        -Fourth District Green Star                 Paw Paw Lake, Michigan               6/18 through 6/19
        -59th Mission Regatta                           Racine, Wisconsin                           6/25 through 6/26
        -Michigan State Championships       Grosse Pointe, Michigan               6/25 through 6/26
        -Lorain One Design Regatta                Lorain, Ohio                                       7/16 through 7/17
        -Al Henning Regatta                              Racine, Wisconsin                            8/06 through 8/07
        -Paw Paw Lake Open                              Paw Paw Lake, Michigan               8/13 through 8/14
        -Crescent Sail Regatta                           Grosse Pointe, Michigan               8/23 through 8/24
        -Fourth District Blue Star                    Chicago, Illinios                               8/26 through 8/28
        -Greening Regatta                                   Lake Springfield, Illinios              9/17 through 9/18
        -J. Holt Thomas Regatta                      Peoria Heights, Illinois                  9/24 through 9/25
        -Ice Breaker Regatta                             Grosse Pointe, Michigan               10/01 through 10/02