For additional information contact: Lin McCarthy, (757) 850-4225
Southern Bay Racing News You Can Use #485
SBRNYCU is an independent weekly publication of southern Chesapeake Bay racing happenings. Founded in April, 2000.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG! THE GRASS HAS RIZZZ! WONDER WHERE THE RACERS IS?! Wonder no more - racers are jamming boatyards, attending seminars, burning socks, flipping the pages of their Layline@ catalog, surfing the web for parts, and haunting the aisles of West Marine.

Spring has sprung. Get ready to get racin'! You'll need to be part of a crew on a race boat. Start by being at the SpinSheet Crew Listing Party - South, on Saturday, April 3, (5pm - 7pm) at Marker 20, a racers' restaurant/bar/grill, in downtown Hampton. This event is OPEN TO ALL. Here is a golden opportunity for crewbies to find skippers and vice versa. Find your ride or find your crew for the 2010 season. Check out crew and check out skippers! Racers, experienced and newbie, also will be able to look at offerings of various southern Bay yacht clubs and sailing organizations which will have representatives at the party. All you have to do is show up - no sign-up required. OH, and wear socks you can burn! If you have attended a sock burning already, it's ok; racers may attend multiple sock burnings and make numerous sacrifices to the "Racing Gods"! SpinSheet Magazine is the organizer of this event. For specific information please contact event liaison Dave Taylor at (757) 344-5292.

Race Committee members gettin' ready. Forty (40) attended the NUTS & BOLTS Race Committee Clinic Saturday morning at Hampton (HYC) Yacht Club. Experienced hands as well as new-comers gathered to get into the nitty-gritty of on-the-water procedures, requirements, and "can-you-believe-this!" situations. John McCarthy led the clinic which was sponsored by HYC and Cruising Club of Virginia (CCV).

SCHOONER VIRGINIA - A chance to help put the wind back in her sails. Schooner Virginia Spring Fling! April 24th (noon to 6pm), at Rebel Marina, Bayville Street, Norfolk (the tip-end of Willoughby Spit). Joe Maniscalco, Bob Zentz, Elton Williams Steel Drum, and the Tanners Creek Whalers will perform. Pig-picking with all the trimmings, soft drinks and two beer tickets are included in the ticket cost - $45 in advance, $50 at the door. Here's a special message from "volunteer organizer" Sarah Murphy, ". . .[this] fund raising event has been organized by a handful of Schooner Virginia volunteers. We have been organized since the laying of the keel; I have been the volunteer coordinator since 2003. . . Because the volunteers have a dream to have VIRGINIA sailing by Summer, we have been renamed the "Dream Team" by Capt. Stefan Edick!" For info and tickets, call (757) 339-8738 or visit Skipjack Nautical Wares, #1 High Street, Portsmouth, VA. Raise some funds to raise VIRGINIA's sails!

CCV Rules Clinic and 2010 Racing Guide distribution. Monday, April 5 (6:30 pm) at The Mariners Museum, Newport News. OPEN TO ALL. CCV members can pick up their 2010 Racing Guides, non-members may join ($25 annual) and receive the Guide as part of the membership package. Brush up on the rules and see your fellow racers in "real clothes" one last time before the season gets underway. For additional info contact Jake Brodersen at (757) 875-9797.

PIRATES AND CAPTAINS DO WELL. Hampton University and Christopher Newport University sailing teams finished first and second, respectively, at the CNU 2-on-2 Regatta this weekend. Eight collegiate teams sailed in the event hosted by Christopher Newport.

Bluewater Racers. The application for entry deadline for the 2010 Newport Bermuda Race is Thursday, April 1, at 1700 hours. Already 160 boats have entered. For forms and info go to www.bermudarace.com Be aware also that the make-up Safety at Sea Seminar for NBR is scheduled for June 16 in Newport. Seminar info is also at the www.bermudarace.com website.

Fishing Bay Yacht Club offers the FBYC Safety-at-Sea Seminar on March 27 (0815 - 1530) at FBYC, Deltaville, VA.. This seminar is OPEN TO ALL. The Seminar will cover electronics, electronic interfacing, weather, medical emergencies, and sea sense (man overboard techniques, warps and preparation for helicopter pick up). Cost of $10 includes a lot of instruction and lunch. Kevin Fay, Mayo Tabb, and Dr. Sterling Ranson will lead the seminar. A fun and informative day. For info and/or to register contact event chairman Joe Schott (804) 776-6004 or go to www.fbyc.net. (NOTE: While this seminar is not intended to meet the US Sailing sanctioned Safety-at-Sea Seminar required for the Newport-Bermuda Race, it would be a good preparatory course.)

APRIL is here - it's gonna be a hot-diggity 2010 season. Use legal size paper for your list, and do as many as you can.
April 1 Thursday SAILBOAT RACES' NATIONAL HOLIDAY (also April Fools Day)
April 1 Thursday Newport Bermuda Race, application for entry deadline - www.bermudarace.com
April 3 Saturday SpinSheet Crew Listing Party - South - at Marker 20, Hampton - Dave Taylor (757) 344-5292
April 4 Sunday EASTER
April 5 Monday CCV Rules Clinic and 2010 Racing Guide distribution - at The Mariners Museum, Newport News
April 8 Thursday Charleston Race Week opens
April 11 Sunday CCV Tune-Up Races - Jake Brodersen (757) 875-9797
April 17 Saturday SOUTHERN BAY RACE WEEK , Early Bird Entry incentive deadline - www.blacksealcup.com
April 17-18 Sat-Sun FBYC Spring Opening Day and Spring Series Day 1, www.fbyc.net
April 18 Sunday CCV Spring Series, Races #1 and #2 - John McCarthy (757) 850-4225
April 24 Saturday Schooner VIRGINIA Spring Fling, Willoughby Spit (Norfolk) - call (757) 339-8738
April 24 Saturday Yankee Point Yacht Club, Women on the Water Series opens
April 24-25 Sat-Sun Azalea Festival Regatta - www.norfolknavalsailing.org or Mike/Kathy Barber (757) 254-3174
April 25 Sunday CCV Spring Series, Race #3 - John McCarthy (757) 850-4225
April 25 Sunday FBYC Spring Series - www.fbyc.net
April 30 Friday Annapolis NOOD (National Offshore One-Design) Regatta begins
May 2 Sunday CCV Spring Series, Races #4 and #5 - John McCarthy (757) 850-4225

The 2010 SOUTHERN BAY (Region 4) Racing Schedule is available by email, courtesy of Southern Bay Racing News You Can Use, by replying to this email and saying, "I really need my schedule!" , OR by sending an email to mcbear@earthlink.net requesting the 2010 schedule.

MURPHY'S LAW: It's time to get all the required racing paperwork done. Yrs Truly, the Racing Beagle, will do forms for PHRF, USSA, RBYC, and AKC! Gettin' ready to race! /S/ Murphy the Racing Beagle, the sailing spirit in us all.

To SUBSCRIBE directly, send an email to mcbear@earthlink.net , put SBRNYCU on the subject line, give your name, and say, "Sign me up!" SBRNYCU is free. If you wish to UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email to mcbear@earthlink.net and put UNSUBSCRIBE on the Subject line OR, simply hit "reply" and put UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line. The postal address associated with this email is: SBRNYCU, 4401 Chesapeake Avenue, Hampton, VA 23669. You may reprint or forward all or any part of this publication as long as you give credit to:
SOUTHERN BAY RACING NEWS YOU CAN USE, Lin McCarthy, Editor