Fall Awards Banquet  The 2005 VSC Fall Banquet is Saturday, November 5^th with cocktails at 6:30, and dinner at 7:30 at the Dana’s Rusty Anchor.  Tickets will be $20.00, which includes tax and gratuity and the Surf 'n Turf menu which includes: prime rib accompanied with your choice of chicken parmesan, stuffed fillet of sole or crab cakes, twice baked potatoes, mixed vegetable, dinner salad, dinner roll and dessert. Please RSVP to Amber Gorman or call 518-563-7033 by October 31.  If you RSVP please note that if you choose to not attend you will be billed by VSC for the cost of your dinner. See you there! (posted 10-18-05).

Soling Weekend Series Complete  John Trombley and his crew Chris Lanigan and Shirley Tedford wrapped up a commanding series win on Sunday during the Soling LC Championship.  In the 16 race series John had six wins and his lowest scored finish was a fourth. He finished the series 23 points in front of the second place finisher David Gorman in his new boat USA 830. Ty Kretser finished the series in third place, Brian White in fourth, and Dan Inhelder in fifth. See full series standings. (posted 10-3-05).

Soling Lake Champlain Championship Dr. David Gorman wins the Soling Lake Champlain Championship sailed October 1st and 2nd. Under sunny skies and winds that built to over 20 knots on Saturday and a diminishing breeze on Sunday, seven boats competed for the coveted Lamp trophy. With the lead tied after five races Dr. Gorman needed to beat John Trombley in the last race. He did just that by winning the 6th race. John finished the regatta in 2nd place and Brian White finished third. See full results. See pictures. (posted 10-3-05)

Photos Online See lots of new photos from the season on the pictures page of this site.  Thank you to Beth Barnes for capturing such beautiful images of the sailing season. (posted 9-26-05).

Fall Classic Soundwave's new owner Dave Bashaw wins his first race with the new boat. In a 20-30 knot south wind competitors in the final Sunday series race of the year ran a triangle, windward/leward course in Cumberland Bay. Even though they had a mechanical breakdown which provented them from finishing, the crew of the Obsession captures the Sunday series win.  Don Duley and the crew of the Real Escape, finished second in the race and the series. Likewise, Grene Grafals and his crew on Graceful Spirit finished the race and series in Third. See race results and Sunday series standings. See pictures (posted 9-25-05).

Rhapsody 2nd in the Lake Champlain PHRF Championship  Rhapsody, the only VSC boat to enter the four required races of the Lake PHRF Championship Series finished second in the Series with 9.75 points, just behind K2 by a mere .25 points.  Peregrine finished third with 11 points.  The winning boat of the series gets her name inscribed on the Griswold Cannon Trophy maintained at the Shelburne Shipyard.  Trophies for other finishers may also be awarded.  Congratulations to the crew of Rhapsody! See Lake Champlain PHRF standings (updated 10-3-05).

Obsession wins Clinton Regatta The fourth running of the Clinton Regatta was won by the crew of Obsession by a commanding margin of more than 6 minutes corrected time over second place.  The race was enjoyed by the spectators on the bluff high above Lake Champlain watching the eight boats compete for the Clinton Regatta trophy. See full results. (posted 9-19-05)

Wednesday B Series Complete A tight battle between Obsession and Real Escape for the series lead was not decided until the last leg of the last race of the series. Both boats pushed hard all the way with Kjell Dahlen and his crew on Obsession finishing only a 20 second corrected time ahead Don Duley and crew aboard Real Escape. The win gave Obsession the series title by just one point. Craig Meyerson and crew on Rhapsody finished the series in third place. See full B series standings. (posted 9-14-05)

Latest Race Results Soling Tuesday 18 and Wednesday B8  (posted 9-13-05)

Soling North American Championships Two VSC boats attended the Soling North American Championships in Toronto Canada during the weekend of September 15-18. Peter Hall and Mike Parsons on Obelix and Chris Duley, Brian Dowling and Roland Sherman on Team Topophilia traveled to Etobicoke Yacht Club to compete with 17 of the best soling sailors in on this continent.  Tim McCormick and Brian White also attended to crew on other boats. See full results. (posted 9-13-05)

Soling Tuesday Series Decided  Entering the last race of the series John Trombley and his crew Chris Lanigan and Shirley Tedford trailed the boat of Ed Trombley by one point.  John needed to finish the race two places in front of his brother to win the series. He did just that by winning the race and keeping a boat between himself and his brother in third place. John and Ed finished the series separated by only one point after sailing 15 races. Congratulation to Ed and his crew Phil Gorman and Jordy Von Elbe for a hard fought battle down to the last leg of the season. Chris Duley and his crew finished the series in third place, only 6 points behind second. See Tuesday series standings for full results. (posted 9-13-05)

New Discussion Board A new and more user friendly discussion board had been added to this site.  Use the link at the left or click here to visit the board.  You can post without registering but if you do the free registration the board has some useful features you might like. The board will be free for the first month and after that the club can pay to keep it free of pop up ads. As customary, keep your language clean and avoid personal attacks. Let the sailing talk begin! (posted 9-1-05)

Naked Turtle Cup The third annual Naked Turtle Cup took place August 28 in a 20-30 knot southeast wind with higher gusts.  So much wind in fact, that of the six boats that started only four finished, and none of those elected to fly a spinnaker. Don Duley and crew aboard the Real Escape beat the crew of Obsession by only 20 seconds (results are tentative because of pending protests).  All the boats did a fine job dodging the dozens of wind surfers that littered the second reaching leg. Thanks you to the Naked Turtle for sponsoring the race and providing prizes to all the successful finishers. See full results. See pictures. (posted 8-28-05)

Soling Weekend 3 was sailed Sunday August 21 in changing winds.  The first race and a half was sailed in a moderate southerly breeze until the wind changed suddenly to the west catching several boats on the wrong side of the course with chutes up. The last race was completed in a puffy westerly winds until it died with half the fleet finished.  John Trombley had no problem managing the shifty wind and finished all three races in first place.  Brian White finished the regatta in second place and Dan Inhelder in third. Thanks to OD's Bob Bunnell, Lew Turner, and Angie French for completing three races in tricky conditions. See full results. (posted 8/21/05)

The McDowell Cup started with a light west breeze that calmed after the first leg of the race testing the racers spinnaker trimming abilities.  After a time the breeze began to fill in from the north, whereupon the race committee appropriately changed the weather mark for the last leg of the race.  Obsession took full advantage of the stronger breeze, powering around the windward mark and extending her lead before the breeze calmed for the second time.  After several close mark roundings with Rhapsody, Soundwave and Graceful Spirit, RealEscape managed to also extend their lead to finish second.  After diagnosing the weeds around the keel problem, solved by diving overboard during the race, Adhara managed to regain some of her lost time.  Thanks to Eddie Trombley and Jordy VonElbe for managing the days difficult wind conditions as Officers of the Day. See full results. (posted 8-15-05).

Ladies Cup on Saturday August 6 was held in tortuous drifting to light air conditions resulting in 9 of the top 10 finishers being Spinnaker C or non-spinnaker class boats.  VSC’s Rhapsody, on the left side of the course and Obsession, on the right side of the course, had great starts and led the 34-boat fleet for a majority of the race.  After approximately one hour and half of floating, a light breeze filled in on the right side of the course.  The J-24 “Ice Cube” won the race, followed by the non-spinnaker boat “Wingdam” and the Spinnaker “C” class Sonar 23 “Sonar”.  Rhapsody led VSC’s representatives with a 9th overall and 5th in class.  Obsession took line honors, first in her class and finished 15th overall. See full results. See Lake Champlain series standings (posted 8-10-05)

Lake Champlain Race Rhapsody, the only VSC boat in this year's Lake Champlain Overnight Race, took first in class, third overall in this 17-hour, 13 boat marathon.  Only K-2 and Adventure, the new J-105 from LCYC, finished ahead of Rhapsody. She finished ahead of such distinguished boats as Bark Ode, Gingerbread Man, Shockwave, and Endo.  Her nearest competitor, Morning Star, came in 9 minutes corrected time later. Rhapsody, with its crew of Amy Jordan, Kate Konstanty, John Zielinski, Patrick Ruster, Ty Kretser and Craig Meyerson, is scored a second for this race as part of the Lake Champlain Race Series.   It was a jolly good time for everyone!!!  See full results. (posted 8-4-05)

Start time change Please note that starting Tuesday August 2nd all weekday races for the rest of the season will now start at 6:00 pm (warning signal at 5:55 pm). See full racing schedule. (posted 7-28-05)

Eisinger Cup The Eisinger Cup, a two race format, held July 24^th opened with a light and variable breeze.  The Race Committee of Chris Lanigan and Lew Turner postponed the first race 30 minutes until the breeze settled in somewhat consistently from the south/southeast.  After a long single windward/leeward lap, the Race Committee shortened the course for the finish of the first race.  Although Obsession took the gun, with the times corrected, Adhara placed first, followed by Obsession, Graceful Spirit, Eerie Mist, RealEscape, Sound Wave, and Rhapsody.  The breeze steadied for the second race, allowing racers to get two laps completed before the Race Committee shortened the course.  Although there was a change in the finish order for race 2, Adhara finished with a second.  Congratulations to Adhara for winning the Eisinger Cup.  Thanks go to Chris and Lew for managing the difficult race conditions of the day. See full results. (posted 7-25-05)

Wednesday A Series is now complete with Don Duley and the crew of Real Escape capturing the first place award. In the four races they scored three wins and a second place. Ty Kretser in his soling placed second for the series, including two wins. Gene Grafals and the crew of Graceful Spirit finished the series in third place.  In the series' eight scheduled races three were abandoned for lack of wind. See Wednesday A8 results and Wednesday A Series Standings. (posted 7-22-05)

Soling Weekend 2 Under threatening skies but a brisk southeast winds eight Solings competed in the second weekend series race of the year.  The results were very close, the top four boat were only separated by four points, after the four races were competed. John Trombley, Chris Lanigan, and Shirley Tedford came out the winners on board Shakedown Street. With the win John's boat takes a commanding weekend series lead by eight points over second place boat of Ty Kretser. Thanks to the officers of the day Luke and JP Varin for their hard work. See full results. (posted 7-17-05)

Valcour Race On Sunday July 10^th, the Valcour Race took place with a steady gentle to moderate south breeze.  Unlike the rain drenched Mayor’s Cup of the day before, the sky was blue.  True to the name of the race, the Officers of the Day, John and Steve Pytlak, sent the fleet on a 15.8 nm race around Valcour Island .  Obsession took early command of the race and once again revealed her long distance speed, taking the race from RealEscape, Graceful Spirit and Rhapsody.  Thanks go to the Pytlak brothers for running the race.  See full results (posted 7-10-05)  

Mayor's Cup Regatta Lake Champlain most prestigious regatta was sailed on Saturday July 9th under gray skies and steady rain. The north west wind cooperated by starting to blow just as the first races started at 10 am. VSC members finished very well in the regatta, including Mike Parson's Witchcraft winning class B, in her first race of the year.  Also of note, was the soling class winner John Trombley on Shakedown Street who was the winner of the second race of the regatta. The Mayor's Cup overall winner was the J-24 "Last Kid Picked" owned by Alan Ouellette of Stowe, VT. See full results. See pictures. (posted 7-12-05)

Cracked Pot Race The Cracked Pot Race, held Sunday July 3^rd, started with a moderate SE breeze that dropped to a gentle 9-10 knot SE breeze as the day progressed.  The race is unique in its structure in that the PHRF time handicap is taken at the start of the race.  The race committee opted for a 13.35 nautical mile race contained in Cumberland Bay .   Obsession showed her long distance speed by coming from 18 minutes behind to catch Rhapsody, Graceful Spirit, RealEscape and Adhara.  The newest boat to join VSC, a MacGregor 36, trailed along the course while her crew practiced and familiarized themselves to the new layout.  Thanks to John and Leann Trombley and Jordy VonElbe for being Officers of the Day.  See full results  (posted 7-6-05)

Isle St. Michel  took place on a beautiful sunny day June 26, that had calm to light breeze.  After a 40 minute postponement, the breeze filled in from the east enabling four racers to start the race.  Obsession took command of the race from the first leg.  A good race ensued between Graceful Spirit and the Real Escape, with several close crossings, while Rhapsody raced her own course.  Typical for the summer day, at noon the breeze calmed and race committee appropriately shortened the course after two laps. Thanks go to Tim McCormick as the Officer of the Day. See results. (posted 6-27-05)

Kent Delord Cup presented by the Women’s Health Center was held on a beautiful warm day, Sunday June 19. Racers opened the morning with a gentle breeze out of the N-NE, with easterly puffs. After a crowded, but clean start, the majority of the fleet opted to run up the west side of the course. Obsession took the horn for the first boat to finish. See results for corrected finish order. Kudos is given to Adhara for having a very good race. Kudos also goes to Eerie Mist. She is extremely fast on the beats and a concern for the race. The 8 knot average breeze allowed the race to be completed within two hours. Thanks go to Mike Parsons, Patrick Larkin and Amy Jordan for running the race. (posted 6-22-05)

Royal Savage VSC’s Obsession and Rhapsody participated in the two race series Royal Savage hosted by the Mallet's Bay Boat Club on Saturday June 11.  Obsession finished third and second respectively in the two races, finishing third overall in the seven boat Class A.  Rhapsody finished fourth in both races and fourth overall in the seven boat Class C.  K2 won the Royal Savage Trophy given to the overall winner of Class A and B.  Last Kid Picked won the Ted Brooks Trophy given to the overall winner of Class C & D.  See complete results. (posted 6-15-05)

US Soling Championship Noroton Yacht club's home team are the new U.S. Soling Champions. The team of Peter Galloway, Paul Steinborn and Greg Anthony nearly swept the 6 race regatta. Stu Walker of Annapolis placed second. John Kennedy (the former class president) placed third. The team from VSC skippered by Chris Duley was fourth. Scott Richardson from Maine was fifth. Joe VanGisson of Annapolis was sixth. John Morgan Seventh and Tom Mitchell of Toronto was eighth. Everyday the winds were light in the mornings so after RC flew the postponement flag we had several hours to get to know our fellow sailors. Noroton is a great club, everyone was really friendly and our hosts Peter Galloway and Paul Steinborn did an amazing job getting this regatta together. Read more on the US Soling Website. (posted 6-14-05)

Commodore's Cup Don Duley and his crew on board Real Escape wins the Commodore's Cup. In light, but sustained, winds six PHRF boats competed in the first Sunday race of the year. After the race, competitors enjoyed a BBQ on the point of the boat basin hosted by Commodore, Phil Gorman. See results. (posted 6/5/05)

Soling Spring Regatta  After abandoning the first day of the Soling Spring Regatta because of fog and light wind, the race was competed the second day. Light winds and threatening skies did not stop the fleet from completing the regatta on Sunday. Peter Hall and Mike Parsons were able to sweep all three races on Obelix. See full results here. (posted 5/29/05)

Book Ready The 2005 course book with the notice of race and sailing instructions is now ready for distribution.  If you are a paid member and have not received a book yet please contact the treasurer Brian White. You can also read and print the book on this website with the NOR and Sailing Instructions link. (posted 5/24/05)

Spring Banquet This year's festivities will be held on Saturday, May 7th at 5:30pm with dinner at 6pm at Dana's Rusty Anchor (formerly Harborside) at the beautiful Snug Harbor Mariana. The cost is $18.00 per person which includes tax and gratuity. Please RSVP to Amber Gorman at (518-563-7033) or amber.gorman@charter.net, with the number of guests in your party and your menu choice. Choose from the following: beef sirloin tips, stuffed fillet of sole with Newburgh or Chicken Parmesan. Each dish is served with salad, vegetable medley and a starch, with cake for dessert! If a vegetarian dish is needed please make the special request to Amber. Please RSVP by May 4th. (posted 4/25/05)

2005 Membership Forms  With the sailing season rapidly approaching the executive committees is kindly asking all previous and new members to fill out the 2005 VSC Membership application and return to the club's PO box.  The dues structure is the same as last year: $250 for full members, $50 for associate members, and free for crew members. Follow the Forms & By-Laws link at the left or click here to access the membership application. (posted 4/18/05)

PHRF Rating Forms The VSC rater,  is asking all boat owners to fill out the 2005 PHRF rating form. If no changes have been made, there is no need to complete sections B and C. However, please be sure to include all contact information that applies so we can contact you in the future if needed. The form can be found on the Forms and By-Laws page in both .doc and .pdf formats. (posted 3/29/05)

Soling Regattas New on this website is a page with a list of regional soling regattas. All are within a one day drive and have been attended by members in previous years.  Follow the link to the left or click here. Remember that you can save $10 by paying your US Soling Association  dues by April 1. (posted 3/22/05)

British Virgin Islands In January, a group from Plattsburgh chartered a 43 foot catamaran and sailed the BVI for 10 days. VSC members included Lew and Linda Turner, Bob Bunnell, and Angie French. Craig Meyerson and Kathy Hill also met up with the group in their own charter boat, a 34 ft Monohull. See pictures of the trip. (posted 2/25/05)

Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions A draft of the 2005 book has been added to this site for members to read and make suggestions. Any corrections or improvements should be sent to Vice-Commodore Brian Dowling. To view the book you can follow the link on the left or click here.

Midwinter Sailing Fiesta  All are invited to our Midwinter Sailing Party on Saturday February 26th at 6:30pm. It will be at the Lake Placid Brewery in Plattsburgh. It is located on Military Turnpike just past the route 3 intersection. The theme of the party is to bring a friend or someone who hasn't been sailing with the club. It's a potluck dinner so please bring a dish to share with everyone The price is $15 for all you can drink of the Lake Placid Brewery beer, and everyone will get a free glass with the beer. There is going to be raffles for LP brewery t-shirts and for various gift certificates as well. Mark Z. will provide our DVD's of the 2004 season for sale at $15. Entertainment will be provided, music and the DVD. so bring a friend, tell a co-worker or even a family member to come and hang out with the club.

Rules Quiz  Check out this website for interactive sailing rules quizzes. It is a German website but has an English version.  The animations are very well done. It is quite educational.  Thanks to Tim McCormick for finding the Link.  Click here to play.

New Rules of Racing Most of you may know that starting in 2005 the Racing Rules of Sailing were changed.  You can read about the changes to the rules and find out how to order a new rule book at the US Sailing website.

Vendee Globe  If you are seeking a fix for your sailing withdrawal during the off season try following the Vendee Globe non-stop around the world alone race.  While there is only one American sailor entered the race and it started in November it is still interesting to check the progress of the competitors each day. Follow this link to the official Vendee Globe website