Congratulations to 2023 Winners

Congratulations!

Here are the winners for the 2023 Season:

Fun Awards

Best dressed – Pope with a crew of monks – Bob Foley and crew – La Cinquième
Blind Squirrel – skippering Honey Honey – Jon Clarke

Sportsmanship – Mike Rajacich Jr.

Hugh Kabler Spirit of Sailing Award – Penny Rhine

High Point – Series and Season awards

Stars Class

1st spring – 1st summer – 4th fall – 1st overall – Manipulator – Matt Rajacich and Eric Wagner

4th spring – 3rd summer – 1st fall – 2nd overall – Cassie – Joni Palmer and Ray Gauthier

2nd summer – 3rd fall –  3rd overall – Betty Ford – John Jenkins and Rowan Perkins

2nd spring – 2nd fall – 4th overall – Wish – Will Murdoch and Carl Langkammerer

3rd spring – Alan Campbell and Ned Foster

4th summer – Tim’s Boat – Tim Paris and Tim Godlee

Racing Class

1st spring – 1st summer – 1st fall – 1st overall – UnPhased – John Hines and Willem Roosenburg

2nd spring – 2nd overall – La Cinquième – Bob Foley

2nd summer – mañana – Bob Bennett

2nd fall – Ostinato – Jeff Staley

Cruising Class

1st summer – 2nd fall – 1st overall – Ful Dek –  Jeff Pevey and John Volatile

2nd spring – 2nd overall – Cordelia – Nick Simpson

1st spring – Bella – Marty Minot

2nd summer – 1st fall – Honey Honey – Jeff Bates

Highpoint Award

Awarded to the winner of the most competitive fleet, as defined by the smallest number of points between the 1st and 5th boat. Most competitive: Dominating the class with consistent performance!

Ful Dek

Jeff Pevey and John Volatile

What a fun summer! Not as many races in August as we would have hoped, but we had a great time. An evening spent on the river with friends is always better than work!

Awards Friday

Remember, the Awards are on Friday at Higgins Yacht Yard!

When: October 20th at 6 p.m.

Where: Higgins Yacht Yard (205 Carpenter Street)

What to bring:

    It's BYOB, so bring some of your favorite beverage

    And Pot Luck!

    Does your last name start with A-G? Bring a dessert

    Does your last name start with H-M? Bring an entree

    Does your last name start with N-Z? Bring a salad or side

    If you need something to serve your dish, bring that too

 

Invite your friends and fellow boaters! The more people, the merrier!

Make sure you pass this information on to all your crew and friends. If you're reading this, that means you can communicate with your friends. Take the initiative!

See you Friday.

Awards Party Oct 20th

Wednesday Night Racing Awards!

It's the time of year for awards. Let's get together and celebrate the season of racing! Who is welcome? Anyone who sailed on Wednesday night is definitely welcome, but also invite your friends. Do you know people who like to sail (even cruise)? Invite them! How about those power boaters? Sure, invite them! This is a party for all those people who love the water - And we will hand out some awards.

When: October 20th at 6 p.m.

Where: Higgins Yacht Yard (205 Carpenter Street)

What to bring:

    It's BYOB, so bring some of your favorite beverage

    And Pot Luck!

    Does your last name start with A-G? Bring a dessert

    Does your last name start with H-M? Bring an entree

    Does your last name start with N-Z? Bring a salad or side

    If you need something to serve your dish, bring that too

We will provide some paper products and plastic ware. If your dish requires something other than standard stuff to eat it, you should bring that. Finger foods are often best! You don't need to bring enough to feed a Navy. Just enough for 5-10 to enjoy.

Remember that your skipper is terrible at communicating. If you're reading this, you should pass the word to all your crew and other friends!

Do you have a perpetual trophy for WNR at home? I'd love to have those back. Where is that lighthouse?

Results from 10/4

Here are the results from last night's racing.

https://nextsailor.com/scoring/view_results/558/787

Remember! Awards party October 20th t 6 pm.

Remember - Food and fun!

Remember - there will be food and fun at MRYC to celebrate the season of racing! Be sure to join us after the races on Wednesday.

Free this weekend?

MRYC could use some more help for the Albacore Regatta this coming week and weekend. If you can help on the water, get in touch with Penny at:

onecentrhine@gmail.com

Errors in Season Standings?

Did I mess up something? I tried to copy in the correct information to the spreadsheet, but sometimes I mess it up. Here are the results so far:

2023 Season Standings

Be sure to check

• Your finishes are correct
• I threw out your two worst races
• I have your mark boat service correctly listed

One more race to go!

Last Night is the Best Dressed Contest

The Race Committee will be dressed up as a real race committee for the last race of the year. Nothing like blue blazers to class up the race!

Are you dressing up for the last race? I know many boats will be decorating their boats and putting on costumes for the last race. It's always good fun. If you dress up, sail past the RC and tell us your theme. Sometimes it's obvious, but not always. We also like to take some photos!

Don't forget - The awards party is on October 20th at 6 pm. We will be at Higgins Yacht Yard. It's BYOB, so feel free to invite your sailing friends to come party!

Where are those perpetuals?

Do you have a perpetual trophy for Wednesday Night Racing? We need that back! Bring it to MRYC.

Here is is what we need:

• Hot & cold faucets
• Wooden Lighthouse
• The Ratty Squirrel
• Golden Vice Grips
• Get a Grip Wooden Plaque
• Best-dressed Blazer
• Other Crazy Trophies

Bring them back so that we can award them to a new crew!

Celebrate the last night of racing

October 4th is the last night of Wednesday Night Racing. Come by MRYC after for some food and drink!

Complementary appetizers starting at 6:45 pm

Music by Guthrie Matthew starting at 7 pm

Join us to celebrate!

Results from 9/27

Remember, the annual awards party is on October 20th at 6 pm. 

We're partying at Higgins Yacht Yard this year! That means you can bring your favorite dish, your favorite drink, and we're not charging for anything. Invite your crew and friends now.

Here are the results:

https://nextsailor.com/scoring/view_results/558/766

Results from 9/13

Finally got in a race! Here are the results:

https://nextsailor.com/app/scoring/view_results/558/753

Earlier starts

We're in September! That means shorter days and earlier starts.

Starting with this week, the starts will be 20 minutes earlier. The warning for the cruising class will be 5:35 p.m. Plan accordingly!

No Racing this week

Remember that we are not racing this week, September 6th.

Happy Labor Day!

Starting Early

Remember, we're starting early this week.

The warning for the cruising class will be at 5:35 p.m.

Read the JHWRTI Sailing Instructions.

Resail Jimmy Wilson

So, the wind did not cooperate when we tried to run the Jimmy Wilson Race. We will try again this Wednesday, August 30th. You can read the SI here:

JHWRTI Sailing Instructions

What do you need to know?

We will start 20 minutes earlier. The cruising class starts at 5:35 p.m.

It's a long race. Make sure your running lights work. We might finish after sunset.

We may shorten the course for light wind. What is the signal for a shortened course? Two horns with a flag "S" displayed.

How much warning will you get that we are shortening the course? Almost none. We will signal about 1-minute before the first boat finishes. Now, you think that we're wrong. Read Rule 32 and Rule 32.2 carefully. It states, "The shortened course shall be signaled before the first boat crosses the finishing line." It does not say that we need to give you more time.

Now you're thinking that you read something different about changing the course. You did! The rule about changing the course is Rule 33. It's a different rule, and it reads differently. We are not changing any leg of the course, but we might shorten the course.

Let's try again Aug 30th

We will try running the Jimmy Wilson Race again on the 30th. That means an early start on the 30th.

August 30th - The cruising class warning will be at 5:35 pm.

More info to follow.

Guest Skipper

Remember that this week (August 9th) is the Guest Skipper race. Find a friend or crew member to change places with the skipper!

If you would like to vote for when to run the Jimmy Wilson race, do that here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CM9PJ37

Re-Run Wilson Race?

Should we try to re-run the James H Wilson Race?

Take the survey here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CM9PJ37

Jimmy Wilson Race is tomorrow

Remember, tomorrow is the James H Wilson Round the Island race!

We start at 5:35 pm.

See the chart and SI at this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F1733h6fRAHILOGmEmqnqQVbsWrN0zKg/view?usp=sharing

Results from 7/26

 Here you go:

https://nextsailor.com/app/scoring/view_results/546/680

Remember that next week is the Jimmy Wilson Round the Island Race! We will start 20  minutes earlier than standard.

Season Score

The Season Scoring is available if you're interested.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17B0HPoLPMWlRcPErA2W4vR3Ws7VtN_WJO72DYaJ1RGc/edit?usp=sharing

I added one more throwout because we will have 10 races after we race on 7/26.

 

Results from 7/19

Here you go:

https://nextsailor.com/app/scoring/view_results/544/671

Results for 7/12

Here you go:

https://nextsailor.com/app/scoring/view_results/539/669

No Racing 7/5

 Remember that there is no racing on July 5th.

Results from 6/28

 Here you go:

https://nextsailor.com/scoring/view_results/533/658

Results from 6/14

Here you go:

https://nextsailor.com/scoring/view_results/519/640

Results 6/7

 Here you go:

https://nextsailor.com/app/scoring/view_results/518/631

Results from 5/31

 Here you go:

https://nextsailor.com/app/scoring/view_results/503/617

What's my Rating?

If you want to know all your ratings, you can see them here:

>Current Ratings<

This link is available on the Blog on the right and will be available as the season progresses. It might not work next year, but it should work this year.

Not everyone has a rating for all wind speeds yet. That's because we don't have enough information on those boats. When we get more info, we will update the ratings in the sheet.

These are Assigned Ratings! We are assigning you a rating for all wind speeds and course configurations based on the available information we have about your boat. We have very little information about most boats, so we are assigning ratings based on all available information we can conjure. Don't like your rating? The solution is simple - get more information about your boat. Get an ORC certificate, have your displacement measured, measure your sails... These are all good ways to get us more information.

Why are we assigning ratings? We have boats racing on Wednesdays that have never received a PHRF, ORC, or ORR certificate. We have boats racing that have never been measured. We have boats that race for only a few races a year. We have to assign them something, or we have nothing.

Remember, we're trying to invite boats to come out racing. If you have an Island Packet docked at Higgins, and you want to come out racing, we will assign you a rating. You can come out to play.  This is entry-level fun racing, folks. We want people to learn with us.

Results from 5/17

Clear skies, warm temps, and plenty of wind! I hope you made it out there last night. In August, you will be wishing for this weather.

Congratulations to Bob and crew on La Cinquième for a first-place finish in the Racing class. Also having a great night coming in first was Marty and crew on Bella in the Cruising class as well as Alan and Neddy in the Star class. 

You can see all the results >HERE<

That line is not for you

Remember rule 10.1 in the Sailing Instructions - If you're not starting, you need to stay well clear of the starting line.

When are you starting? When your Class Flag is flying, or from 5 minutes before your start to your start.

Other than that, hang out away from the line and wait until it's your turn.

What sails can I use?

There are no limitations, but your certificate needs to include your sails.

Let's say that you go buy a new blooper sail. You want to use this new sail when racing low angles downwind. To use the new sail, you will need to get a new certificate from ORC that includes the new sail in the VPP information. Once we have that information, you can use the sail.

We want people to use their sails in two configurations. For the sake of naming, let's call the two configurations "Default" and "Alternate." Each configuration is a basket of sails that are on your certificate. The certificate shows a VPP for that basket of sails.

Everyone races together. The VPP allows people to compete because they choose their basket, get a certificate for that basket, and race with that basket. The contents of the basket are irrelevant; only the VPP matters.

We could tell people they can only have one rating and must fly a spinnaker. We could tell people that they must have lifelines. We could tell people they must carry a storm trysail and a liferaft. Many races do just that. We don't. We just want people to come out Wednesday nights with sails they can manage and race for fun. We allow people to get a certificate that matches their desired fun and just come racing.

Many organizations tell people you must be a specific type of racer to come out and play. The J/70 start in Annapolis will not let a Cal 33 on the starting line. If you spend enough time putting up barriers so people can't participate, they will eventually go away. We take the opposite approach. Everyone is welcome with whatever boat they have. Put on some sails, and let's go!

Results from 5/10

Such a nice night to be on the water - thank goodness the wind finally filled in.

Congratulations to Jeff and crew on Honey Honey for a first-place finish in the cruising class. Also, congrats on coming in first with a great race goes to UnPhased in the racing class and Joni and Ray in the Star class.

You can see all the results >here<

Results from 5/3

Plenty of wind, but just a little cold. Great night for our first Wednesday night of the year! We had all kinds of fun getting back into the process of running a race. The boats that made it out last night had a great time on the race course. We shook out the cobwebs, so now the serious racing starts!

Congrats to Dennis and crew on ReJoyce for a first-place finish in the Racing class. Also having a great night and coming in first were Marty and crew on Bella in the Cruising class and Matt and Eric coming in first in the Star class!

You can see all the results >HERE<

See you next week. Fingers crossed for no rain.

Default set or Alternate set?

Arguh! More changes for the Handicap boats.

We need to explain how to choose between spin and non-spin.

Here's the idea - You can use two sail configurations for racing on Wednesday night. Most people will choose a complete set of sails using the spinnaker as the default. That makes sense. Then you might want an alternate set of sails with no spinnaker. That's good for short-crew nights.

How will you tell us what you are using? We assume you are using the default set of sails and corresponding ratings. If you want to use the alternate set, hail us on the water or VHF 78. Easy, right?

Read the amendment here:

SI Amendment

Here is what you will ask us...

What if I don't have a spinnaker?

Tell us, and we will make that your default rating.

What if I want to use an unusual sail?

You can use any sail declared in your certificate and part of your rating.

Can my alternate ratings include an unusual sail?

Yes.

Can I have three (or 4 or 5) different ratings?

No, just the default and the alternate - two total.

When do we have to declare that we are using our alternate set?

Before the starting sequences. If there is a class flag up, it's too late.

Will the RC be handing out candy bars?

No, you will have to bring your own.

How many days until we can race?

Seven!

Sign up for mark boat

Did you get an award last year? You need to sign up for mark boat:

Mark Boat Signup

Did you participate in races for more than half the time? You need to sign up for mark boat:

Mark Boat Signup

Having competitors help by setting marks is how we keep Wednesday Night Racing simple and available to everyone. I know you have a boat. I see you in your boat on the course. That is your boat to use when it comes to setting marks. You don't need to be fast, you just need to be responsive.

Sailors are the best people to set marks. Why? You know the difference between a good course and a bad course. We will work with you on the Race Committee to help you. 

Are you a member of the Club? If so, you can use the Club-owned boats in the summer. Just sign up as a crew between 6/20 and 8/13, and you can use a club boat as the mark boat.

Sign Up Now - or I will assign you a week to do mark boat. You can pick a week that works for you by selecting it on your own. If you wait for me to assign you a week, then you don't get to choose.

Mark Boat Signup

When you serve as mark boat instead of racing, you will get an average of your races. That means the race will not count for or against you. You could get a friend to do mark boat for you. That's always nice, and it will count. When it's your week for mark boat, you need to organize it and be ready to go.

We have a guide on the website that you might find helpful. I can also help you get started if you need help.

Now is the time. Sign up now!

Mark Boat Signup

Competitor's Meeting recorded

For your enjoyment!

Couldn't make it to the meeting on Wednesday? Have no fear - the recording is here:

Zoom Recording

Times they are a changing

The number two complaint in Wednesday Night Racing concerns the old B class finishing so late. Everyone complained. The level of anger was crazy!

How do we fix it?

We're flipping the starting sequence around and starting earlier!

When do you start?

• Are you in the cruising class (formerly B class)? Your warning time will be about 5:55 pm.
• Are you in the racing class (formerly A class)? Your warning time will be about 6:00 pm.
• Are you in the Star class? Your warning time will stay the same - about 6:05 pm.

We will start our announcements on the radio at 5:25 pm. Remember that we start even earlier in September. We will adjust the times when the days get shorter.

Yes, I'm sure you feel the change in start times is a great travesty. It will be okay. Get it out of your system now. We'll see you on the course at about 5:30 pm starting May 3rd.

p.s. 

Yes, the number one complaint is about ratings. ORC should help there, but you were going to complain about ratings regardless.

Sailing Instructions

The sailing instructions are ready. You can vire them here:

Sailing Instructions

We also had one more amendment to the notice of race so that we fix all the issues with the changing handicap system. You can see that here:

NOR Amendment 2

Competitor's Meeting tomorrow

Remember that the Competitor's Meeting is tomorrow, Wednesday, April 19th, at 6 pm at Miles River Yacht Club. Join us in person or over Zoom:

Join Zoom Meeting

We'll talk ratings from 4 pm to 6 pm if you want to talk ratings.

See you there!

Competitors Meeting 4/19

 It's happening!

The Competitors Meeting is scheduled for April 19th at 6 pm at MRYC. We'll go over the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions.

Can't make it in person? We'll also be on Zoom:

Join the Meeting 

What's your rating? Come as early as 4 pm to talk about your rating. When we get to 6 pm, we'll stop talking about ratings and talk about items interesting to everyone.

Time to Register

We're working on the new ratings for all the boats this year and making progress. 

Are you going to race? I hope so.

Help us out by registering early. Once you are registered, we will work on your rating.

You might notice that there are three classes. Which class should you choose? The one where all your friends are racing!

There is a "Racing" class for the boats that used to be in the A class and rating under 143; There is a "Cruising" class for the boats that used to be in the B class and rating over 143; And there is a Star class for people with a Star boat.

If you're a Star, choose that class. Otherwise, the option is up to you. Register where you feel comfortable racing. The cruising class will start first, so you can have more time on the course.

Don't freak out - we can move you if you find out you would prefer to be in the other class.

Register Here:    https://www.nextsailor.com/app/page/regatta/456

Ratings based on ORC

After all the fun with ORR-Ez telling us to go away, we've decided to provide ratings for everyone based on the ORC rating system. ORC is being used by many clubs on the Chesapeake, so using ORC should be more universal for all of us.

For this summer, we will work to assign you a rating based on similar or sister ships that currently have ORC certificates. It's not perfect, but we will be a lot closer to a fair rating based on wind and race configuration.

Using a sister ship is not ideal, though. If you want to have a more accurate rating for your boat, getting an ORC Club certificate will make sure your rating is accurate for your boat. If you get a certificate and you hope to sail non-spin on occasion, make sure to also get a non-spin certificate.

If you plan to do Bay races (not just Wednesday nights), having a real certificate could open up more regattas for you to participate. Be sure to check out the options, but ORC Club will get you far without lots of complicated measuring. Two sites of interest are:

https://orcches.org/

and, of course, https://orc.org/

We needed to amend the NOR, so here it is:

NOR Amendment 1

Dinner and Videos!

 Yes, we're gathering one more time for dinner and videos. Join us!

April 5th, 6 pm, MRYC

Nope - Not ORR-Ez

Well, we heard from ORR-Ez, and they do not want us to use ORR-Ez.

Do not get an ORR-Ez certification for now. We're working on something else.

If you already applied for a cert for ORR-Ez, let us know. We'll try to get you a refund.

It's a crazy world!

Notice of Race 2023

Yeah! We have a notice of race available. It looks like a lot of changes, but most of them are very minor. Here is a list of big changes that you might want to note.

1. Remember that handicapped boats will use ORR-Ez
2. We are using a new registration site this year - nextsailor
3. There are two Wednesdays "off" - no racing on 7/5 or 9/6
4. We will have three series over the summer
5. The signal boat will announce the rating for the evening with flags and the radio

It doesn't feel like spring yet, but it will any day now!

Here is the Notice of Race.

Yep: ORR-Ez

It finally happened! We decided on a rating system for this coming summer in Wednesday Night Racing.

As a starting point, we will use ORR-Ez. You can read about it and get certificates here:

offshoreracingrule.org/homepage/orrez

If you don't have a certificate, we can work around that for this summer. It would be easiest for you to apply for a certificate, but we can also use a sistership or a similar boat for a rating. One design classes probably already have a rating. We want to be inclusive and allow people to participate without a big commitment, but serious racers should consider getting a certificate.

Why ORR-Ez?

Good question. First, we think it's less expensive in the long run. Other systems can add up expenses quickly. Second, there are more certificates available with non-spinnaker ratings. We still want an option for non-spin, so we need a way for people to get non-spin ratings without going through an extra hassle. Third, other systems seem to favor racing boats. We have many boats that fall into the "classic" category, and we want a rating system that produces fair results with all types of boats.

Can I use my sails?

No one out there has a sail or other equipment outside the rules of ORR-Ez. When you apply for a certificate, they ask you about all your equipment and any modifications made to the boat. This all goes into the final rating, as seen in other rating systems. Your particular setup is fine as long as you declare it for your certificate. You can read about all the rules here:

offshoreracingrule.org/orr-ez/orr-ez-rulebook

It's a change, and that can be hard!

Change can be challenging, but we think this approach is better for Wednesday Night Sailing in the long run. We will need to work through the rough edges as we transition. Remember - the goal is to create a format for racing that is fair to everyone. We're on your side and are trying to do just that. Take a few deep breaths, and we can get through this.

Videos and Roast this Wednesday

 Remember that we have videos and a roast of Corbin this coming Wednesday, March 1st, at 6 pm.

Have a good story or joke about Corbin? Send it to us here:

marshall.patterson@gmail.com

Roast Corbin?

  

Let's roast Corbin! Come out on Wednesday, March 1st, at 6 pm, to MRYC. We have videos and a roast. And dinner, of course.

We need your stories! Write a story or a joke and email it to:

marshall.patterson@gmail.com

I will compile the stories, and Sweall will read them to the audience!

Does your story need to be true? No

Does your story need to be nice? No

Does your story need to be funny? Definitely!

Sewall will read the stories and jokes to the group, and Corbin will try to figure out the author. We'll let him offer prizes based on his criteria.

Remember to send your stories and jokes to me!

marshall.patterson@gmail.com

Dinner and drinks?

 Looking for a chance to get together with other Wednesday Night racers? Remember we have videos playing This Wednesday, January 4th, at Miles River YC. Come on by to laugh about the upcoming season!