[C38] C38 Nationals and C38 Fleet formed on the Chesapeake

[Charles]

So.  Let's make it OFFICIAL!   We now have Three Fleets:  San 
Francisco,   Northwest,  and Chesapeake!

I have been discussing the future of the Catalina 38 Nationals with 
previous Commodores and Fleet folks over the past month and I think we 
have an exciting new way to promote our signature race.
A brief history is needed first.  C38 Nationals were held from 1979-2009 
in Southern California, but a combination of declining participation, 
interest, and/or exhaustion led to the last races having only a few 
boats participating.  At the same time, fleets of C38s were becoming 
larger and more active in other parts of the country.  The 2009 race had 
the same four boats that had regularly participated for several years.  
It is remarkable looking at the results to see roughly the same finishes 
over those years.

Many of us were sorry to see such a long tradition end and decided to do 
something about it!  We decided to move Nationals to San Francisco this 
year to take advantage of the large fleet in the Bay as well as the 
America's Cup venue to raise interest and excitement with a new group of 
folks and this worked out quite well.  There is even more interest in 
next year's event, with planning already underway by the San Francisco 
contingent.

So after significant discussion with folks who have indicated their 
willingness to take this on, here is the Catalina 38 Nationals racing 
venue for the next few years.

2013:  San Francisco Regatta will plan and host the Nationals. 
Preliminary planning sets the date as the weekend prior to America's Cup 
so Captains can both race and attend the Cup races.
2014:  Northwest Fleet, with leadership from or Technical Editor, Steve 
Smolinske, will plan and host Nationals probably at Steve's club.
2015:  Chesapeake Fleet with host National under the leadership of Dan 
Miller
2016:  To be decided, but I think first option should be offered to the 
Southern California folks.
And then we begin rounds again!

I am quite excited about this new venue!  It will provide opportunities 
for more boats to participate and should provoke both interest and 
excitement around the country for clearly one of the classic 
cruiser/racers of our time.  I hope with a clear venue and closer 
proximity to many Captains around the country, we will take advantage of 
these opportunities to keep our organization healthy and growing through 
the years.

Chuck Finn
Commodore
Catalina 38 International Association


On 9/23/2012 7:45 PM, dmills3 at comcast.net wrote:
>
> Hi all. Four C38's on the Chesapeake have formed a C38 Fleet. There 
> are several other C38's nearby that hopefully will join later. The 
> four as of now are, Brett Cureton "JAZZ", Michael Norcross "Escape" 
> (sometimes known as Orgazmo), Mark & John O'Dell "Momentous" and Dan & 
> Marcy Miller "Blonde Stranger".
>
> Over the weekend of Sept. 15-16, 3 of the 4 boats had our first 
> rendevous rallying around Craig & Vicki Steinkraus "Wings", a C38 
> passing through the Chesapeake on their way South to Key West from 
> Minnesota and then further South next year. We met in Whitehall Bay, a 
> beautiful anchorage just North of Annapolis.
>
> Wings took advantage of wind still from the South to get there on 
> Friday. By Sat. the winds had shifted as forecasted to about 15-20 
> from the NNW so Blonde Stranger and Momentous coming from the North 
> had a delighful sail down to Whitehall Bay. Escape would have the 
> hardest time because he was coming North. Blonde Stranger rafted up to 
> Wings and then Momentous anchored seperately. Mark and John dingied 
> over and invited us all out for a delightful sail across the bay just 
> South of the Bay Bridge. Winds still around 15 knots moved their boat 
> nicely even towing the dingy. I had never experienced self tailing 
> winches, so after sheeting the jib and tieing it off, Mark said "you 
> don't have to do all that they are self tailing". I will now most 
> likely be looking for a pair. Mark found a beautiful pair of Harken 
> 52's that looked as close to new as a pair of used winches could be.
>
> As we were returning to Whitehall Bay, Mark's phone rang and it was 
> Michael on Escape just South of us. He was by himself, but just had to 
> be there for the "first" C38 rendevous on the Chesapeake. After 
> everyone returned from Momentous, Escape rafted on the port side of 
> Wings. We had a Happy Hour on Blonde Stranger and then everyone had a 
> good time chatting and checking over each others boat. John and Mark 
> came over and there was a little guitar jam session. A very good time 
> was had by all.
>
> Here is a link to a video Mark took of the event. 
> http://www.c38momentous.com/2012/09/c38-annapolis-raftup.html
> He is very good at videotography. He has a blog posted on the C38 
> website of when he and his dad John first got Momentous. Other 
> pictures will be posted soon.
> Craig and Vicki have a blog also for anyone who would like to follow 
> their adventure. It's www.Sailblogs.com <http://www.Sailblogs.com> - 
> Wings
>
> Dan Miller #108 Blonde Stranger
>
>
>
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