Central New York Lightning District - Recent News

Central New York Lightning District

Please Please share that you are looking for crew and or housing on the site! You can also post if you have a cottage or space available to host teams for the WJMs or the NAs. I know there are lots of people out there looking for both so put yourself out there!

Looking for crew:

 Paige Fagan - Sodus Bay Junior Sailor looking for a crew job

Nancy Ghertner(Sodus Bay Native)- Looking for experienced bow crew for the Womens

AJ Murphy (Willowbank Junior)- Looking for crew for the Juniors

Looking for housing:

Gustavo Tamayo Arango (Colombian Team)- Looking for Housing for him and his crew

Additional Housing Available:

Central New York Lightning District

 1.  14821 Ched Proctor, Jay Mueller, Jimmy Barnash 11 pts.

2.   15355 David Starck, Jody Starck, Ian Jones 18 pts.

3.   15393 Marcus Eagan, Marc Eagan, Kippy Chamberlain 20 pts.

4.   15164 Jed Dodge, Bill Dodge, Sarah Costich 26 pts.

5.   14905 Jamie Allen, Jay Deakin, Marc Littee 27 pts.

Central New York Lightning District

The 2009 Caz Flash Bash Lightning Regatta was held over a soggy Fathers Day Weekend.  Willowbank Yacht Club in picturesque Cazenovia New York hosted the 19 boat regatta and certainly did their best to prepare crews for potential heavy air... the food was endless!  Dick Hallagan, Pam Murphy, and Rick TenEyck won the regatta on a tie breaker over Jed Dodge, Bill Stuart, and Sarah Costich.  Cazenovia local ace Federico Meira took a tight battle for third over Bob Wardwell in fourth and Bob King in fifth. 

Central New York Lightning District

Hello Everyone! I know there are still some people searching for crew for the NAs. The best suggestion I have is to let it be known! If you are looking for crew respond to this blog.. or if you are looking for a crew job. You can than exchange information and get set up for the regatta. 

Central New York Lightning District

Newport Yacht Club, located on Irondequoit Bay of Lake Ontario, held the annual Celebration of Spring Lightning Regatta over the June 6th weekend.  Ched Proctor with teammates Jay Mueller and Jim Barnash made the trek from Connecticut to Rochester and won the regatta by winning three of the five races and placing no worse than fourth in any race.  According to Jay, "Ched is fast".  2009 Lightning Boat grant recipient Dan Thompson edged out Dan Pope for second while Jed Dodge and Mark Sertl rounded out the top five.  In all twenty one boats competed in this regatta, though sadly I was not one of them and therefore don't have any details to fill in.  I realize this race was a few weeks ago, but please feel free to fill in any details if you have them.  Results are located

Lightning Boat Grant Program

The International Lightning Class has just announced the recipients of the prestigious 2009 Boat Grants.  This ground breaking program is in it's third year of existence and has recieved nothing but rave reviews.  We're looking forward to another successful summer sailing season, particularly in the Central New York District.  The future of the district is looking bright!

Here is the press release from the class office:

Central New York Lightning District

The preliminary schedule for the 2009 Central New York Lightning sailing season has been set.  Look for more details in the near future.  Looking forward to June 6 and the first day on the water!

Newport Yacht Club (Irondequoit)
– June 6^th & 7^th

Central New York Lightning District

10/05/2008 - 13 Boats competed in the 1998 Ithaca Frostbite Lightning Regatta, the final one day regatta of the season for the Central New York Lightning District. The event was held out of Ithaca Yacht Club, on the western shore of picturesque Cayuga Lake. Jack Jones and team continued his fast sailing to take the top spot at the end of the day. It was not an easy win, as Dan Pope and Dick Hallagan were both in contention to win. Dan and team were tied with Jones after the final race but lost a tie breaker to finish in second. Dick Hallagan and team were two points behind to claim third.

Central New York Lightning District

The 2008 edition of the Caz one day Lightning Regatta was sailed on September 20, 2008 out of Willowbank Yacht Club in picturesque Cazenovia, New York. Mark Sertl, Katja Sertl, and Lynne Thomson dominated the day winning the regatta with a string of all firsts (and a second, which was thrown out). Jack Jones, Anne Kearney, and Lori Foster were a solid second place with Landy Atkinson, Jillian Dart, and Gordon Wright finishing third. Once again I missed out on another Central New York Regatta, but from the pictures it looks like it was a gorgeous day on the water. If you were there, feel free to provide some stories of the racing and festivities!

Central New York Lightning District

Olin J. Stephens passed away this weekend at the age of 100 years.  Olin will always be remembered as one of the most accomplished yacht designers ever having designed 8 Americas Cup winners and numerous other "ageless" boats including smaller day sailors like the Lightning.  There is an article about Olin's life posted on the New York Yacht Club website here and some pictures of Olin through the years posted here. 

Central New York Lightning District

Twenty-one boats braved the weather brought along by tropical storm Hanna to compete in the 2008 edition of the Skaneateles One Day Lightning Regatta. Two races were completed on the stormy Saturday... well, it looks like one race was completed by all of the boats, and the second completed by a few. Anyone who sailed care to comment on all those DNF's?

2008 Lightning North Americans

In order to better understand the design of urban waterfronts it is important to understand why people visit the waterfront. What draws you to the water? Do you find that it is peaceful and calming? Are you a sailing or boating enthusiast who cant live without being on the water? Do you like to shop and eat while watching whats going on out on the water? Tell me what you think!

2008 Lightning North Americans

Here is a link to the major cottage rental agency on Sodus Bay. There are several cottages to choose from that are all located on or very close to the bay. Check it out and get your cottage booked for the NAs!!  http://www.sodusvacationrentals.com/ 

Central New York Lightning District

August 12-13, 2008 - Sodus Bay, New York

         Sodus Bay Yacht Club hosted the 2008 Central New York Lightning Championships as part of the "Centrals" regatta, which included lasers, optimists and 420's, on a seperate course. Seventeen boats competed.

         Saturday the forcast was for fair weather and PRO Jerry Dodge took the Lightnings out the channel into Lake Ontario, about a 45 minutes sail from the Yacht Club dock. The breeze was off-shore, and light, about 4-6. The day would prove to be all about staying in the pressure, where ever you could find it.

Newport Yacht Club Lightning Fleet

The 2008 Lightning Youth World Championship was completed on Friday July 18 after 6 races over 4 days.  11 teams representing Brazil (2), Canada (5) and USA (4) competed for the title of Lightning Youth World Champion.  Check the ILCA Website http://www.lightningclass.org/index.asp for the final results but Taylor Lutz won followed by Ian Shillebeeckx and Matt Schon all from the USA.  4th and 5th teams were from Brazil.  For Photos check http://gallery.mac.com/shatkins#100154 or go to the link on the ILCA Website.  Briefly, the practice race on Monday ended when a storm front pushed through and one boat capsized breaking a mast.  The first day of racing was nearly prefect conditions but on the 1st windward leg a Port/Starboard collision took out two more boats so racing ended for the

Central New York Lightning District

On Friday July 11th at around 9:30 the 2nd annual SBJSA lightning clinic began. There were 11 lightnings that lined the Sodus Bay YC parking lot. I knew we were already off to a good start. The teams for the day would include a veteran lightning skipper (in most cases the boat owner) and 2 junior sailors. The day started with rigging and getting to know your team. Once the boats were rigged and launched we began the morning sailing session. The morning sailing session was done in order to get the young sailors familiar with the lightning as well as their new skipper for the day. It was a bit rainy but the teams geared up and headed out anways. It was time to practice!

Central New York Lightning District

The Lightning Class 70th Anniversary Regatta was held in Skaneateles, NY, the birthplace of the boat and class, over this past July 4th weekend.  Lightning sailors from all over the country, and even as far as Finland, came in to celebrate their beloved square boat.  Over 120 boats were in attendance, meaning that close to 400 people were taking part in the sailing.  It seemed as though Skaneateles Country Club had a personal helper in place for every one of the sailors involved.  Needless to say, they did a fantastic job organizing the event.  From the Lightning Lab's with some great guest speakers on Friday to launching and hauling 120 Lightnings each day using the fleet of 4 wheelers, every detail seemed to be covered, and covered well...except for one.

Central New York Lightning District

Hammonsport, NY 6/28/08

Dan Pope bested the fleet at the 40th Annual Champagne regatta this weekend. The fleet of ten visited Kueka Yacht club for a one day event on June 28th. The wind blew from the south between ten and fifteen knots. Four five legged races were sailed.

The five top positions were closely contested. Most passing was done along the west shore, were there seemed to bit a little lift most of the time. Dane Pope got there most consistently and won the regatta with finishes of 1-4-1-2. Bob King was second with finishes of 5-1-3-1. Four boats finished with 14 points, Dick Hallagan, Bob Bush and Clay Murphy. Murphy won the tie breaker on account of his two second place finishes.

Central New York Lightning District

I was saddened last night to hear that George Fisher had passed away after a hard fought battle with cancer.  George will be dearly missed by all who knew him.  My thoughts and prayers certainly go out to all of his family who fought alongside with him.  George accomplished much in his life, and it is safe to say that he has had a huge influence on one-design sailing through his many volunteer efforts.  The sport that we know and love would be quite different today had it not been for George's hard work and loyalty.

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Central New York Lightning District

6/20/08

Nineteen Lightnings met at Willowbank Yacht Club on Cazenovia Lake, just east of Syracuse New York, for their annual Lightning regatta, the Caz Flash Bash, on June 14th and 15th. The sailors caught up, tuned up and registered for the regatta early Saturday morning. Since thunderstorms were threatening three races were planned before lunch.

As the fleet left the dock they sailed in a westerly of four to seven knots. Cazenovia Lake is only about a half-mile from east to west. The west shore, where the weather mark would be located was well sheltered by green rolling hills. It would certainly be a challenging morning.

Willow Bank Yacht Club

If anybody is looking for crew, to sail, or need housing post here and I will try to hook you up.

Central New York Lightning District

At the Newport Yacht Club Celebration of Spring Lightning Regatta this past weekend, we ended up having a protest hearing after racing on Sunday for an incident at the start.  Briefly, what had happened was that the boat end of the line was incredibly favored making it very advantageous to start right at the boat.  If you were down the line even a few boat lengths you would immediately be behind. 

Newport Yacht Club Lightning Fleet

Newport Yacht Club, on Irondequoit Bay hosted their annual spring Lightning regatta on May 31st and June First. Thirteen boats from around the Central New York District attended. Regatta chairman Dick Hallagan teamed up with fleet captain Dan Pope and the members of Newport Yacht club to run a superb event.

Saturday brought a moderate westerly breeze, which makes for challenging conditions on Irondequoit bay. Four races were sailed. Jed Dodge won the first and fourth races. The second and third races went to Bob King and John Boxberger respectively. At the end of the day Dodge led, followed by King, then Hallagan who had finishes of 2,3,4,5.

Newport Yacht Club Lightning Fleet

I am need of crew for the Celebration of Spring Regatta at Newport May 31/June 1.

John

Central New York Lightning District

Happy Friday!!

 Today SailingSmarter members Bob King, Sarah Costich, and myself will be traveling to Pymatuning Yacht Club to compete in this weekend's Spring Classic Lightning Regatta.  Should be a good time and I'll be sure to write a regatta wrap up when we get back!  Have a great weekend.

 ~Owen