JYCA E-NEWS

Leadership

• Welcome to two new District representatives:

David Hoye, Southwest District

John Woolschlager, Southeast District

            John has started a new e-mail newsletter for sailors in the Southeast. Please contact him at the hyperlinked e-mail address if you did not receive last month's copy.

Many people, including the new district reps, have asked me "what is a district rep supposed to do?" Well, the answer is - we are still working that out. Prior to the Hunter Boats relationship, district reps were regional sale people for the JY15. That is not necessarily the case today. Among other things, I look for them to:

• Generally promote the class

• Represent the region on the class council

• Help organize a regional championship regatta

• Be the contact person for JYCA on what is happening in the region

I will be organizing a class council meeting in the near future to discuss this and other class issues. Please contact your district rep with your issues and concerns so that they may more effectively represent you.

What can I do to help?

People have volunteered or asked me how they can help the class. There are several key areas we could use your help.

• Testimonials on JY Sailing - We have a page on our website which is dedicated to JY sailors expressing what they think is special about racing the JY15 and belonging to the class. This is important because people who are looking for a one design dingy class to belong to will check this out to find out what the JY15 is all about. The website is our portal to the world of dingy racing. Is this a collegiate hot-shot class? How will I fit in? Is it new sailor friendly? These are all questions they will have. Help them understand the JY class sailing by providing us a paragraph expressing what JY sailing has meant to you. Several people have already sent me input - Thanks.

• Pictures - People are always asking for pictures of JY sailing ( see the Midwinters report below) Please use your digital cameras to take some JY racing pictures this season and send them to us or let us know if they are on your site so we can link to them.

• Events - Send a paragraph reporting on your local regatta to JYCA and we will include it in the newsletter.

Regattas

Well the 2002 season is really heating up. There are so many JY racing opportunities to choose from it is really getting hard to keep track. Contact your local fleet or district rep for series and other racing in addition to what is listed here.

The Southwest Championships are set for May 18&19 at Rush Creek YC in TX. Fleet 69 will be hosting and it sounds like a great time with a Saturday Night Fever Disco Party planned for (when else) Saturday night. I plan on being there and so should you. For more info check out the Notice of Race at  www.rcyc.org/jy15/index.htm

The Midwinter Championships were held April 6&7 in Jacksonville Florida. Congratulations to winners Greg and Suzanne Griffin of The Florida Yacht Club. Twenty three boats sailed in eight races that were held over two days on the St John’s river in Jacksonville. The first two races were sailed in a dying Northwesterly. The second race was shortened to finish on the downwind leg of a windward - leeward course as the boats in the middle of the course struggled to find clear breeze. After a few minutes for a lunch break, the sea breeze came roaring in with 12 - 15 knots from the East. The race committee quickly reset the course and put out a jibe mark for three (long) Olympic triangles which tested the hiking endurance of all competitors. After racing we all shared stories over dinner at the club and then retired to try and find the hot tub. The breeze on Sunday started out around 10 knots but built steadily to 15+ with some higher gusts. Considerable chop in the shallow river put a premium on keeping the boat powered up and the Griffins, who are local sailors, seemed to know just how to handle the conditions. The Griffins are also avid sailors in the Thistle class where Greg is current class president. We look forward to seeing more of them at other JY events. Many thanks to Buck Mercer and the folks at the Florida Yacht Club for a great event! Pictures can be seen on the Fleet 72 website at http://www.unf.edu/~jwoolsch/JY-1.htm.

Tuning Guide

The technical committee sent out survey forms to some 30 JY sailors in the past week to gather input on the new tuning guide. Each is requested to comment on their "go-fast" settings in 44 different areas. The committee will compile the responses identifying consensus and divergent opinions. It will be real interesting to see how all this plays out. All of the sailors have demonstrated significant success in JY racing. Will they agree about tuning the boat? ....stay "tuned" and remember, you must be a current member to get the guide which is due out in June. 

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