BBYRA

The last race of the 2002 WINCHES season that was to be held on August 25 was cancelled on land due to lack of wind. However, all was not lost as the Men of the WINCHES (MINCHES) hosted an "elegant" social for the women that included wine, flowers and a wonderful spread of food. The race was rescheduled to September 8th.

The final race on September 8th included four boats (13 women). The winds were steady from the southwest at 8-10. The Olympic course proved to be a good choice. One boat, YumYum, even flew the spinnaker - nice job ladies! The scoring for this final race was a combination of crew participation points from the previous races and place finish from the final race. The results will be shown below shortly:

A first place trophy will be awarded at the banquet in November. There will also be a trophy awarded for participation in the WINCHES program. All participants will be receiving a ballot to vote on this year's traveling trophy winner. Women of the club will also be receiving a survey regarding this year's activities. The WINCHES committee looks forward to the input so we can continue to make this program meaningful for the wome of BBYRA.

Although the season has sadly come to an end, we will continue to post information on the activities of the committee / social events during what we hope to be a short winter.

The WINCHES of BBYRA had their first race on Sunday, June 16th under very windy conditions. Four boats participated: Blue Heaven, Windward Shores, YumYum, and Y3K. There was a total of 15 participants on the 4 boats with 5 of them being first time participants. The course was a T-1/3. As part of the planned race, all boats had to do a "man overboard" and a 360-degree turn at some point in the race. (These skills were taught by Tom Bain at the Thursday, June 6th women's sailing group.)

Two boats had crossed the finish line with the other two close to finishing when lightning was spotted and the race was abandoned. Thanks to Eric Hegland, Glenn Peterson and Clancy Gallagher for setting the course and "manning" the committee boat. The WINCHES also had a cheering squad/support boat that consisted of Greg Moulzolf, Steve Loomis, Bob Quirk, Bob Wentink, and Rob Wood. We want to thank all who have been so supportive of the WINCHES program.

Remember that the Thursday night informal ladies' sailing group meets at Tally's at 6:30, with boats leaving the docks at around 6:45. The next skills sessions will be July 11 and July 18 and will involve man overboard drills and 720-degree penalty turns. These are the skills that will be incorporated into the next race on July 21. The participants' meeting will be at 11:30 AM, with a 1:00 PM race start. As with the last race women and men will be able to participate in this race.

The first race started under very windy conditions. Four boats started - Blue Heaven, Windward Shores, YumYum, and Y3K. As part of the planned race, all boats had to do a "man overboard" and a "360-degree" turn somewhere during the race. A participant list will be provided shortly.

The course was set up as a T-1/3, with Eric Hegland, Glenn Peterson, and Clancy Gallagher on the committee boat. The winds settled down half way through the race, and then the rains came on the last upwind leg. All four boats were near the finish line or had just crossed it when lightning was spotted and the race was abandoned. Of course, once the boats reached the docks, the sun came out again. Thanks to Windward Shores for towing YumYum to the docks. More details to come.