The Full Moon Regatta Results - Bad News / Good News

Last weekend, TSC was scheduled to hold it's first Full Moon Regatta.  The plan was to have a pursuit start race to Cedar Mills on Saturday night (under a full moon), stay overnight in slips provided by the Cedar Mills Marina, then race back on Sunday.  But, as always, our plans are subject to the weather and last Saturday was no exception.

Saturday afternoon, we had plenty of lightning and tornado watches/warnings around the area.  As a result, the Race Committee team of Jack Montani/Pete Nitsche/Judi Nitsche made the correct call to scrub the race on Saturday.  That left a little bit of a dilemma; what to do on Sunday?  The RC team came up with a great idea; we'll do a distance race!  But, setting up and taking down marks for a distance race can take hours.  So, the team came up with the idea to make this a GPS based, honors system race to "virtual" marks.  They made the entry fee $20 and away we went.  The course was N (in front of The Point), D (South of Braswell's), H (The Crosses) and back to N.  The marks/course was selected to maximize reaching.  It was 16.5 nm and took about 3 hours to complete.

Trust (Bill/Mary Nichols), TBD (Mike Meinhardt), After Dark (Lee Spruill) and Solstice (Jack Montani) all competed with the finish being Solstice, Trust, TBD and After Dark.  The weather was beautiful and the competition was good.  Trust and Solstice were close most of the way around the course.  We'll award trophies during the chili cook-off on November 6.

There were a number of great things about this type of race:

1. Does not require a committee boat (hence, we save gas/oil, wear and tear on the boats)
2. Does not require a race committee.  Just someone to calculate the starting times.
3. The pursuit start limits the drama and intimidation of the starting sequence.
4. The distance and reaching format means that you can do this with a smaller crew.  In fact, this is a great way to race as a family.
5. Provides great navigation practice with your GPS.

So, while the original Full Moon Regatta was a washout, the resulting Sunday race was a huge success!  So much so that we are incorporating this format into the 2011 racing schedule.  We are planning to have 4 "Free, Family Fun Flotillas" sprinkled through the spring and fall of 2011.  We are also planning a similar flotilla to be an option during 2011 Lakefest (though we will have marks and a fee tied to a donation to Make-A-Wish).

Thanks to those that raced!  Special thanks to Jack, Pete and Judi for serving as Race Committee and for their inventiveness!

Make it a great day,
Capt. Dave

An Introduction...

I have met many of the members of TSC, but not all.  So, allow me to introduce myself.  I'm Dave Long and I've been Race Captain at TSC since 1/1/2010.  My wife Patty and I own Tip & Ring, a Catalina 310 on dock 7.  We have three grown children and live in McKinney.

I've been sailing for more than 30 years, starting on a Sunfish on a lake in Omaha, Nebraska.  In the mid-90's, we bought a Catalina 22 that we sailed as a family.  More recently, I bought a Capri 22, then the Catalina 310 in 2005.

My youngest, Erin, currently races a Laser on the Grapevine Sailing Club youth team.  My son Bob is Race Captain for the Texas A&M Sailing Team at College Station, racing 420's and is Head Instructor and Racing Coach for Grapevine, for the last two summers. Their big sister Katie helps on TSC Race Committee and takes awesome pictures, but fashions herself more as a cruiser.

I received my USCG Captain's License (Master; 50 GT; Tow and Sailing Endorsements) in 2007.  I also earned my ASA Instructor certification (BKB, BCC, BBC, CN) the same year.

As far as sailboat racing... I'm a certified Club Race Officer and a Judge-In-Training for US Sailing.  I started racing in the fall of 2005 with Tip & Ring, but moved to crewing on Godspeed in 2007 (with my son Bob).  With my Race Captain commitments, I'm now somewhat of a journeyman crewman, as well as occasionally racing Tip & Ring.  I also have a Laser (bought it to match race against Erin), but I have yet to get out on it (maybe this weekend).

When I'm not doing something with sailing, I have my day job, which is Executive Vice President of Operations and Product Development for Taqua in Richardson.

I hope to use this blog to talk about upcoming TSC racing events, descriptions of what happened in previous weekends, as well as any tips/hints that may come my way.