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July 2018 e-Starlights
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Honoring the Past, Leading the Future

 

President's Message

Dear Star sailors,

The first half of the year has already passed and we saw excellent championships and regattas with great competition. See some reports in this new e-starlight issue.
Recently I was asked by some young J 70 sailors what makes the Star so special. Difficult question!      I replied that I believe  the Star is still the best boat with it‘s technical equipment, the tactical racing and  the boat that  gives you lots of fun by just sailing it. But the difference also makes the people who are sailing the Star, so we have the high competitive racing on the water but also the great fellowship.
And we have a lot of famous sailing heroes in the class – one of my favourite is Mark Reynolds, sailing legend and sailmaker and for our new column in this e-starlight we asked him to tell us how everything started.
Maybe the next hero in the future will be 27 year old Bobby Lippincott (3rd generation from the famous Lippincott-dynasty), so you can read some interesting points about him  in this issue as well.
For the rest of this season we recommend you to join:

  • the  European Championship in Flensburg (almost 70 entries)
  • the North American Championship in the prestigious California Yacht Club (see also the link to Eric Doyle's stream)
  • the South American Championship in Rio de Janeiro
  • and of course the Star World Championship in Oxford!

I wish you all great fun and see you soon on the racecourse!

                  

Hubert Merkelbach  

NOTICE OF MEETING
ISCYRA Annual Meeting is set for 6 October, 2018. Tred Avon Yacht Club 1800
Resolutions are due 5 August.  Resolution submission form
Boat Registration Update
The new Star Class database is giving the office a chance to clean up past records.  Many Star Class owners have noticed missing or incorrect information in the 2018 LOG.  If you need to make changes, please use this link to update the Star Class records, or through your member profile.

2018 Dues

The new database is up and running.
  • Star Class members - click here and follow the instructions for Returning Star Class Members.  As this is a new database, you will need to first send yourself a new password, then access the database, renew/pay your dues and update your profile.
  • For NEW members - click here and follow the instructions
  • Check Membership through this link
Dues remain at:
  • Active & Isolated Active: $90
  • Associate & Isolated Associate: $35
  • Junior Active (20-30 or under 20 & skippering): $45
  • Junior Member (under 20): $22.50

Regatta Wrap-up

 

ERIC DOYLE AND PAYSON INFELISE WIN THE 2018 ROLLINS BOWL

12 stars came to San Diego Yacht Club over Memorial Day weekend to keep up the tradition of racing in the Rollins Bowl, named after the famous local star sailor Chick Rollins who donated the trophy over 50 years ago.  Conditions were typical of Southern California with 2-12 knots of wind and a nice ground swell.  Andy MacDonald and Brad Nichol came out of the blocks fast Saturday by winning the first race with Eric Doyle and Payson Infelise taking the next two.  

The traditional Rollins Bowl dinner party was enjoyed by all that evening at the home of the lovely Ruth Rollins.  Everyone enjoyed their fill of food and drink in order to fuel up for the remaining two races on Sunday.  Conditions were a bit lighter and with Eric Doyle being over early to score an 8th and Ben Mitchell handily winning the race, the regatta was still up for grabs among the top 4 boats going into the last race. 

Doug Smith and Brian O’Mahony led start to finish in race 5 showing the excellent speed they have worked hard to achieve over the past couple of years of racing together.  Andy MacDonald needed some points on Eric Doyle who was pushing Rick Merriman (sailing with Rick Peters) back in order to save the regatta.  In the end 4 boats all finished overlapped to create a 3 way tie for first between Doyle, MacDonald and Smith with Merriman 1 point further back, couldn’t get much closer.  A big thanks to the San Diego Yacht Club, the race committee, fleet captain Mark Butler and of course, Ruth Rollins. 

Austrian National Championship

In perfect wind conditions between 8 and 18 knots, the state championships in the Star boat class were sailed 18-19 May. In a class of his own was the multiple European champion from Germany Hubert Merkelbach with his crew Markus Koy: Apart from an early start, they could discard, they sailed only first and second places and won by a clear margin. Second place went to the best Austrians, Christian Nehammer (UYC Attersee) and Florian Urban (UYC Traunsee), who became Austrian national champions. Old Master Albert Sturm, who celebrated his 76th birthday two weeks ago, became the fourth best Austrian overall with his foreman Michael Fischer (both UYC Attersee). The two won silver of the Austrian State Championship. Bronze went to Florian and Michael Felzmann (both UYC Attersee).

This state championship was also the dress rehearsal for the European Championships in the Star class, which will take place in the fall of next year, where we expect similar good results from the Upper Austrians for the expected 80 participants!

The attached pictures show the overall winner Merkelbach respectively the Austrian national champion and a start. The images are copyright free, subject to copyrights in connection with the coverage.

DOUBLE NATIONALS WEEKEND

In Brazil and Italy

It was a double trouble weekend the July 7th-9th with both Brazilian and Italian Championship taking place at the same time on different continent and Hemisphere. The Brazilian one was held in Ilhabela and was won by “His Sailing Highness’ Mr Torben Grael with crew Arthur ‘Tutu’ Lopes, follows by his brother Lars Grael with loyal crew Samuel Gonçalves; the bronze medal was won by Marcelo Belotti and Pedro Touche. In Italy the Championship was on Bracciano Lake, a place called home by a quite strong Star fleet. The Gold went to former Star World Champion Roberto Benamati and crew Alberto Ambrosini with three wins out of four races, silver went to a great returnee of the class Enrico Chieffi with Roberto Sinibaldi and bronze to Hungarian team Tibor Tenke with Miklos Bexereti - the official Italian Bronze medal went to fourth team Giampiero Poggi and Manlio Corsi.  

Ties for Winners
Regatta organizers & District Officers - please consider giving Star Class ties to the winners of your Green, Blue & Silver Star events.  Make it part of your regatta budget and contact the Star Class office early so we can mail them to you for presentation. It's a great way for sailors to be honored and showcase the Star Class!
 UP AND COMING STAR SAILORS -
Bobby Lippincott (USA)

In this e-starlight we meet Bobby Lippincott a passionate 27 years old Star sailor from the USA, whose favorite Star moment was at the last Bacardi Cup.. #ReadOn !!

Your first memory of ‘Sailing’?

My first memory of sailing was sailing with my family on a penguin.

Your sailing highlight?

My sailing Highlight is sailing internationally in the 2018 Star Eastern Hemisphere Championship in Trieste, Italy.

What does the Star mean to you?

The Star is an exhilarating boat for me. It's apart of my family tradition and I love how technical the boat is.

When did you start sailing the Star?

I started sailing the Star back in 2009, when I was 18 years old thanks to Barbara Vosbury who got me into the Star and the class back then!

Do you recall a special moment in the Star? If so, can you tell us about it?

My favorite special moment in the Star so far was when I was racing right along side the President of the Star Class, Hubert Merkelbach at 2018 Bacardi Cup and I saw a big gust come down the course and Hubert and his crew had pitch pulled downwind. I had never seen a rudder and skeg come out of the water before on a Star.

Who is your ‘hero’ in the Star class?

My hero in the Star Class is my Uncle Jimmy who was a skinny but also talented star sailor.

Life Style

Housework, cooking, gardening, what do you do at home?

At home I currently love coaching opti sailing but I also love to do fiberglass repairs in my free time .

What Can we find in your fridge?

Steak, mash potatoes, and green beans

Morning Ritual:

Tune the rig, put the boat in water, then eat a Big Breakfast!

Favorite Meal:

Lobster Dinner

On a Sunday when you’re not working, what do you do?
Usually sailing stars 

You have to choose three people to have supper with, who are they?
Arthur Anosov, John MacCausland, Roberto Benamati and we would probably talk about star boat parts.

The other sports you enjoy doing? 

Sailing, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse

The sport you could never have practiced?

Tennis

Who is your best mate in sailing?

Mike Zuschnitt 

Which sailor would you have liked to sail with and why?

Paul Cayard, Brian Faith, Frithjof Kleen because these guys have so much experience and knowledge about the boat and to just be able to sail with them in one event and to be able to absorb as much info as I could would be really cool. 

Are you always right?

Not always, but I try my best to be accurate.

OFF PISTE

What were you like as a child?

Independent, competitive, and well behaved!

The nickname that best suits you?

Switch

Your favourite subject at school?

Chemistry

The subject you least liked?

English

Your ideal redeployment?

Accountant 

Your dream retirement is where?

Nassau, Bahamas

During which period would you have liked to live?

Current period is pretty awesome so far.

Your main quality?

Out going... I am a people person.

You never leave without…
electrical tape, ring dings, and pins

World Sailing Incident Report

Sailing is a relatively safe sport, but there are occasions of injury.  ISCYRA is required by World Sailing to report within 30 days any incident which may have resulted in death or injury. Please contact the Star Class office if you have an incident to report.

Vintage Gold Cups
Zurich: August 18-19
Gull Lake: September 12-15

 
The Organizing Authority for the 2018 Star Worlds has been hard at work planning a terrific event for this October – it’s going to be GREAT!  If you plan to attend the 2018 Star Wolds in Oxford, MD please register as soon as possible.  While registration is open to all Star Class members, registration closes on August 7, 2018.
 
The 2018 Star Worlds website which contains the Notice of Race and the link for Registration is located here
 
Thank you,
 
R. J. Cooper
2018 Star Worlds Race Management Chair
Star – USA 8024
LIVE Facebook Streams for Star NAs to
Trim for Speed: Eric Doyle


If you missed the live stream of Eric Doyle's Trim for Speed talk on Friday, July 20, you can now re-play it on this link

California Yacht Club will host North Sails and 1999 Star North American and World Champion,    The Star North American Championship is a prestigious regatta where the best of the best come out to compete for the Silver Star and Championship title.   Past winners include Olympians, World Champions and Americas Cup Competitors mixed in bow to bow with local champions and racers.   Yacht Racing at this level brings everyone’s game up and is why the Star boat is still considered the hallmark of a championship racer.
 
Doyle hosted a live chat on trimming and strategy for racing the Star in the Santa Monica Bay.  Doyle is a regular racer at California Yacht Club competing in past events like the King of Spain, Star North Americans (2010) and the Olympic Trials (2008).   He knows how to win in this venue.    “I am really looking forward to racing the Star North American Championships at California Yacht Club.  The conditions in Santa Monica Bay are ideal for star sailing” says Doyle.  Adding “Cal Yacht Club is famous for their great race committee work and fabulous hospitality and the competition will be tight.”   “I hope everyone who has the chance will take the opportunity to join us.  The competition and racing will be great!  Hope to see you there next month.”
 
Many racers will travel in from all parts of the US and North America and California Yacht Club wanted to make the opportunity for a chalk talk available to all that are racing or interested in improving their racing skills.   “We thought – why keep it a local event?  Let’s open it to a world-wide audience!   With Facebook Live – racers from all over the world were able to watch & ask in real time.   We think it is a great opportunity for the class all over North American and beyond!” says Mary Stuyvesant, California Yacht Club’s Sail Committee Social Media Chair. ”


 
2018 Upcoming Silver & Gold Events
click on the logo for more information
Profile: Mark Reynolds
ISCYRA Secretary & Sailmaker

In the 70’s when I graduated from college becoming a sailmaker was pretty much what every sailor did if they wanted to keep sailing at a top level. There weren’t any professional sailors at that time, so the top sailors for the most part became sailmakers. Being a sailmaker provided the income to support yourself, covered the expenses to go sailing and even when you weren’t on the water you got to think and talk sailing all day long.
 
As a kid at SDYC we had the North loft right next door and I spent a lot of time there asking questions and learning about sails. This was not only Lowell’s loft but guys like Pete Bennet, Tom McLaughlin, Tom Nute and Jeff Lenhart were all working there at that time. I always liked to build things, and in fact, I could have easily also gone into boatbuilding (I also hung out at Eichenlaub’s a lot) but that seemed to be a tougher way to get hours on the water compared to sailmaking.
 
Right out of school I did a full time Olympic campaign in the FD with Augie Diaz but had already figured that I’d go into sailmaking as soon as our program finished in 1980. In the fall of 1979 Pete Bennet came to me to see if I wanted to go into the sailmaking business with him. I had assumed that I’d go to work at North but I was advised that if I really wanted to learn sailmaking Pete Bennet was the guy to learn from. I accepted, and we looked at a few buildings that we could rent while I was home for Christmas. Unfortunately, by the time I got back home a few months later Pete was diagnosed with cancer so I went to work at North instead.
 
Pete loaned me his Star boat that summer and I won my first Blue Star in his boat. At the end of that summer Pete passed. I worked at North for about a year and a half sailing and selling Snipe sails and borrowing Stars whenever possible. In the fall of 1981 after sailing the Worlds in Marblehead I decided that the only way I could focus on the Star and do another Olympic campaign was going to have to be with my own sail loft. 
 
In 1982 with some direction from Dennis Conner and help from Peter Conrad and Tom Whidden I opened a Sobstad loft just up the street from North Sails and SDYC.  As soon as Pete’s wife Sally heard that I was going out on my own she gave me all of Pete’s notes on sailmaking which included a Star main he had designed after leaving North. I borrowed some money from Peter and Tom to open the loft and borrowed money from my grandmother to buy a Star. Peter Conrad had also been building Star sails and he sent me his design which was probably the first to start to control clew stretch by incorporating a radial panel. I thought I had something by combining the expertise of the two Pete’s.
 
The first year we did really well in the Snipe but just sold 13 suits of Star sails. Pretty much the same in year two where we sold 14 suits of Star sails.  I made a few more changes for 1984 in the sails and borrowed a better boat from Trig Liljestrand. Along with the boat came Trig’s crew at the time, Chris Gould. We went to the Bacardi for our first regatta and won most of the races including the regatta. We had a fuller sail but though better control of fabric stretch it didn’t get fuller when it got windier. The Bacardi was typical 10-14 but the next regatta was in Nassau. Word on the dock was that my sails were fast at the Bacardi in light/moderate but wouldn’t be good in the strong winds in Nassau. That said I still had a bunch of sails to make for Nassau including a set for Bill Buchan. Bill won the Silver Star but Chris and I came 2nd. After that we got more orders for the trails and the Olympics. Many people in the trials and the Olympics started with the sails they had been using but by the end of the regatta were using my Sobstad sails. Our sails ended up winning all 3 medals at the 1984 Olympics.  We sold over a hundred suits in 1984.
 
The Star became our primary class after that and continues to today. At the end of the 90’s most of the lofts associated with Sobstad had left, most joining up and forming Quantum. We were pretty much the last to leave as our business wasn’t so dependent on being in a group but with design programs, plotters and stringing machines the business was changing somewhat and despite a lot of offers from other sailmaking groups, we decided to join up with the Quantum guys. The 2000 Olympics was another proving ground for our sails, now with the Quantum logo. I had a bit of a slip up at measurement, you were only allowed 2 layers of additional fabric outside a radius of the corners at that time. On our jib head we were about 2mm over just on one corner. I had to recut about 40 jibs up the street from the Olympic sailing venue. It all worked out though, our sails were used by all three medal winners and Magnus and I came back from earlier poor finishes to win the Gold.  We are still making winning Star sails at the same location we started in back in 1982.

 

2019 & 2020 Fixtures List
Approved Events for your calendar

World Championship - June 13-23, Porto Cervo, ITA
European Championship - May 4-11, Riva, Garda, ITA
Eastern Hemisphere - September 1-7, Attersee, AUT
Western Hemisphere - May 20-25, San Diego, CA, USA
North Americans - September 9-14, Tom's River, NJ, USA
South Americans - Argentina


2020
World Championship - November, Rio de Janeiro, BRA
Western Hemisphere - June, Lake Sunapee, NH, USA
Copyright © *2018* *ISCYRA*, All rights reserved.

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office@starclass.org
office: +1 619.222.0252
fax: +1.619.222.0528

 
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