| Thistle Fleet
133 |
| Jacksonville, Florida |
| Fleet Captain |
| Greg Griffin |
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Winter Training a Blast!
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The first ever Winter Training Session was a huge success! The weather was looking questionable leading into the weekend – but we made the call on Thursday to stick to the schedule. We had five boats drive between 4 and 15 hours to take part in the Session – compared to four local boats. We even had Horseshack(Craig Koschalk) fly in from Kansas City. Everyone seemed to have a great time and there has been tremendous positive feedback. Thanks to all of the local sailors that came out to fill out our crews. We might even have a new Thistle sailor as Mike Loesch and his wife are very interested in getting involved. They just happened to stop by FYC to look at boats and see all the activity.
The weekend started with an informal gathering at BW3 for wings and cocktails. Skip Dieball explained the drills on the white board on Saturday morning and we hit the water by 10:45. After a full day of learning, everyone cleaned up and hit the Griffin household for chili, beverages, and a video debrief led by Horseshack and myself. Many people indicated the video review was invaluable. Sunday we continued with the “skewed beat drill” and then got one Fleet Race in before the wind died.
The next Winter Training Session is coming up quickly on February 17-18. We again have boats coming from out of town – let’s try to get 7+ fleet boats out this time! On Sun we will again hold Fleet Races beginning around 11 am. Please shoot me an email if you plan to attend.
Greg
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Thistle Fleet 133 Ready for a Great Year
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| We had a great gathering at Paul Abdullah's house to kick of our plans for a busy 2007. A great time was had discussing some new ideas and enjoying burgers and beverages. The Spring Schedule has been finalized and can be downloaded from the Notice of Race page. We will have two race days in February following the Winter Training Series events we have planned(see below for details). If you haven't registered your info under either the Crew or Roster sections - please do so. This will aid greatly in communication.
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Fleet 133 Winter Training Series
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| The plan is to have a flexible, informal, fun weekend learning to sail Thistles better and faster. Skip Dieball of Quantum Sails has several drills that we will utilize to accomplish this goal. The plan is to have a coach boat that will be manned by a rotation of Skip, Greg Griffin, Scott Griffin, Craig Koschalk, and Paul Abdullah. At the latest day of Thursday prior to each event, the decision will be made to “go” or “no go” based on the weather forecast. Since people will be traveling long distances, this will avoid a “wasted trip” due to weather. So far we’ve had a very mild winter and it will hopefully continue. Anyone is welcome to attend; we just need to know if you are coming so we can plan accordingly. The only costs will be for your food and beverage and maybe a small fee($5) if we get a videographer. We can arrange to store your boat as well. It should be a great time of learning and fun. The scheduled weekends are February 3-4 and 17-18. WE will have fleet racing starting at 1230 each Sunday of the Training Series as well.
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Orange Peel Regatta - It's Gonna Be Big!
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Plans are well underway for the 33rd Annual Orange Peel Regatta on March 16-18. The website is presently being updated with more current information - but most of it is already set. Last year we improved by nine boats over the prior year for a total of 37 boats. This year the goal is to do the same - at least nine more boats. That will put us at a record turnout of 46 boats! I've already been getting inquiries from several new folks that are interested in coming and bringing friends. Last year we housed nearly 80 competitors on couches, beds, boats, etc. I'm really going to need help coming up with places to stay with the expected turnout. Please let me know if you can spare some space for a couple to a few days. Some people have started arriving earlier to take advantage of the Coach TCA Concentrate program we run on Friday. This program will again be outstanding as Skip Dieball of Quantum Sails and Greg Fisher of North Sails will be on hand to help out our regular abundance of coaching veterans. We will again be doing the Sunset Cruise to the Landing on Friday night and I expect were going to need a lot of boats. Saturday, Greg Fisher is going to video the races. We will view them with his commentary on Saturday night - this is a great opportunity in itself. Not only is Greg the current Midwinter West, Midwinters East, and National Champion, he was also nominated for the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. I know you are probably disappointed that he won't be racing - but it looks like we will have the majority of the top ten from the 06 Nationals here competing. Shoot me an email if you can help out with housing, race management, regatta organization, or want to crew. All you Fleet 133 skippers should go register now if you plan to sail. Check out all the fun plans on the website: http://www.thistlefleet133.com/orangepeel/
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