Santana 35 Fleet Meeting, Fall 2001

 

The Fall fleet meeting was held on Wed, Dec 5, 2001 at South Beach Yacht club.  Represented were the following registered yachts:  Bluefin, Gandalf, Ice Nine, Spellbinder, Flexible Flyer, CAYankee, Spirit of Bombay.  The published agenda was followed; here are the results:

 

Choose 2002 Season Fleet Officers:

The following officers were nominated, seconded, and voted on for the 2002 season:

 

Fleet Captain: Joel Davis, Spellbinder

Fleet Treasurer: Mike Whalen, Spirit of Bombay

Fleet Secretary: Brendan Busch, Ice Nine

Fleet Measurer: Jeff Jamieson, CAYankee

Past Fleet Captain: Brendan Busch, Ice Nine

 

The vote was 7 for, 0 against.

 

Discuss and decide on 2002 racing schedule:

The fleet decided to continue to race as part of ODCA. 

 

Season Championship:

The fleet decided to use the following races as counting races for the S35 Season Championships:

 

May 18^th, 2 races city front (ODCA)

June 8^th, 2 races Knox course (ODCA)

Jun 22, 1 race Knox long course (ODCA)

July 27, 1 race Encinal opener long course

August 3, 2 races city front (ODCA)

August 17, 2 races olympic circle (ODCA)

 

There are 10 counting races, with 2 throwouts.  Any races may be used as the throwouts.  There is no first half/second half distinction.

 

National Championship:

No decision was made, but the choices for this venue were reduced to the following two events:

 

September 7/8, SFYC Quick Boat regatta (Oly Circle)

September 21/22, GGYC Catalina 34 Nationals (city front)

 

Investigation will be performed by Brendan Busch as to whether we can piggy back on either of these events and what format the events will be run.  The fleet will vote via email—we will then make a motion for the popular event and vote on that motion, all over email.

 

Other S35 One-Design events:

The events below are one-design events, but do not count towards the season championships:

 

Vallejo:  We are entered via ODCA in the Vallejo opener, thus we will have our “own” start for this event (likely combined with other ODCA fleet), and will be scored as a one-design fleet (ie, not in our PHRF division).  Other S35s (ie, those not joining ODCA) wishing to join in our one-design start for Vallejo should contact BrendanB and I’ll do what I can to get you in our start rather than in the HDA start.

 

Tune up regatta:  The fleet decided to use the SBYC April 6^th regatta as a tuneup regatta.  Interested parties should contact Joel Davis.

 

We voted on the entire schedule above, 7 for, 0 against.

 

Decide and discuss non-race events for 2002

There was no discussion on this topic.

 

Discuss fleet dues and treasury

Mike Whalen, fleet treasurer, reported on the status of the fleet funds.  We have $1400 in the treasury and this has been growing over the past few years.

 

A proposal was made to revise the types of membership and cost thereof: 

• Remove the cruising membership
• Reduce the cost of a full membership to $50/year (no discount for first year yachts)
• Retain the associate membership as is.

 

The proposal was passed 7 for, 0 against.

 

Revised S35 Rules

Brendan Busch rewrote the S35 fleet rules for clarity and organization, and closed some open issues that either had been questions in the past or had the potential to be issues in the future.  We went through the substantive changes in the rules and highlighted each of them.  The short version of actual changes in substance:

• Fleet meeting dates reduced to one fall meeting, and others as specified by the fleet captain.
• Fleet communication clarified as to be via www.santana35.com and email.  Phone option is available for those without email
• The format of next year’s Championship Season is to be determined at the fall meeting
• USSA rules and sailing instructions to determine rules, exonerations, and scoring for events
• Provision made for season championship races where non S35 yachts are in the same start
• Period of registration and voting privileges clarified
• Provision for spare backup #3 jib to be carried during season championship races
• Competitor eligibility section rewritten to have more reliance on current USSA rules for definitions

 

The new rules were approved 7 for, 0 against.

The new and old rules will be posted on www.santana35.com until the start of next years season (March 1) after which the old rules will be deleted.

 

Dry sailing discussion

The issue of dry-sailing was discussed at length, with particular attention paid to whether the difference in weight resulted in a significant advantage.  Last year, a one-year trial was approved at the fleet meeting where we’d use float marks to determine a weight penalty for dry sailed yachts.  This trial was never implemented, but had many merits.  In general, the fleet did not want to undertake a long-term weight equalization rule due to the complexity and potential cost of implementing it, so the preference was to provide for drysailed yachts by requiring a fixed amount of corrector weight.  This approach was voted on and approved, and an approach for determining the penalty weight was also voted on and approved.  The exact wording was not finalized at the meeting, and I’ve attempted to address issues of potential abuse of this rule such as intentionally “drying out” a wet-sailed boat before an important event, as well as including a time period required to convert a dry-sailed yacht to a wet-sailed one.  If you have issues with the exact wording (and were a voting member at the meeting), please let me know.

 

Under the SAILING WEIGHT section, a new provision:

• Yachts that are “dry-sailed” will carry corrector weights of <XXX> pounds.  This weight is to be non-movable and attached securely.  The corrector weights are to be positioned as follows: <YYY>. 
• Yachts that are stored out of the water for extended periods in a given season or for purposes other than repair and maintenance will be deemed to be dry-sailed yachts.  Yachts must be in the water at least two weeks before a major one-design event, including Championship Season races and the National Championships, excepting necessary and unpredicted repairs.   The fleet measurer can make determinations on borderline cases, and his findings may be appealed to the fleet officers.
• Yachts previously considered to be dry-sailed yachts must be in the water continuously for 2 months before they will be considered “wet-sailed” and can remove the corrector weights.

 

Two crucial clarifications need to be resolved, and the approach for this is as follows:

<XXX>: the amount of corrector weight to be carried by a dry-sailed yacht will be determined as follows:  Bluefin (an excellent example of a dry-sailed Santana 35), Ice Nine, and CAYankee (two boats which showed very competitive and comparable boat speed at the 2001 S35 National Championships, finishing 2^nd and 4^th) will be brought to Treasure Island simultaneously and no later than April 8^th, 2002.  (Note, Carnaval was also included in this list, but dropped due to its location in Monterey, CA).  The boats will be stripped of all loose gear and float marks will be drawn on Ice Nine and CAYankee.  Whichever of these two yachts that floats higher will become the wet-sailed standard measurement.  Float marks will be drawn and measured by the same criteria that the Tartan Ten fleet uses (as they’ve spent significant energy in investigating this issue).  Weight will be added to Bluefin until she floats at the same marks as the wet-sailed standard.  This amount of weight will become the standard corrector weight for all dry-sailed yachts.  If the difference in weight between Bluefin and the wet-sailed standard is less than the difference between Ice Nine and CAYankee, then we will abandon this rule and make no provision for dry-sailed yachts.

 

<YYY>:  attaching corrector weights in an equitable fashion was a tough thing to decide at the meeting, since it was unclear how much weight this was going to be.  It was agreed that this weight would be distributed in a reasonable manner below the waterline, and not clustered directly above the keel.  The Tarten Ten guidelines will be a prominent consideration, as will be issues of safety, minimal impact on structural and aesthetic properties of the yacht, reversibility, etc.  Other impartial “experts” may be brought into the discussion.  The fleet officers and the owners of Bluefin should agree with the ultimate decision on distribution of weight, at which point this rule will be clarified and finalized. 

 

The rule was voted on and approved, 6 for, 1 against (the dissenting yacht was not Bluefin, who was very accommodating and willing to participate in this approach).

 

Crew weight

 

A motion was made to remove the restriction on minimum crew (currently the crew weight rule requires a minimum of six crew members and a maximum of 1800lbs).  the motion was voted on and approved, 6 for, 1 against.

 

Thanks to all those who attended, and particularly for Joel for hosting us at SBYC.

Brendan Busch

S35 Fleet Captain