From the Captain
By Blaine Dickason, blainedickason@hotmail.com

In case you were wondering, it's now officially summer! Well maybe not officially (June 21), but since we've gotten through Memorial Day and had the mercury top 90 degrees it should qualify.  The long days have allowed for more time on the water and the recent weather has had the winds (for the most part) cooperating.

Kudos to Mike McGrath and Terry Annis for winning the SYSCO Spring Series onboard Solus, #6800.  They've shown how to sail fast consistently across the tremendously varied conditions we experienced during the 5-race series (actually 4-race after a no-wind cancellation).  As reported by another boat in the series, there were peak gusts of 25 knots in Race 3 to go along with 0-4 knots in the deciding Race 5.  All this, of course, was accompanied by our omnipresent current contributing up to 2 knots of westward "assistance".  My personal highlight of the Spring Series was having 5 boats line-up for the races (including a Ranger 20 that was quite competitive).  The starts certainly became more interesting!

Over Memorial Day, Cindy and I rendezvous'd with the SYSCO Cruising contingent for their annual Memorial Day Martin Island cruise (approx 6 nm downstream of St.  Helens).  Unfortunately this was only an overnight for us while the rest of the group used all three days.  Martin Island is a great destination because in addition to a calm and safe anchorage, it's a reason to spend time on a section of river not well explored during typical daysails between the bridges.  Every time I've brought Gromit down through St. Helens I've picked up the smell of salt in the air which only causes me to ponder our next trip to the San Juan's.

The weather gods must have confused which day we needed the NW and South winds because they were on the nose both ways.  Fortunately, near St Helens, the wind clocked West and we were able to sail the last third of the way. 

When we arrived at the anchorage, we also found Dale and Laura Mack on their Catalina 30 Celtic Myst.  They appeared to be lounging comfortably with other members of the Columbia River All Catalina Association enjoying the non-camping-like comforts of a 30-footer (Don't you wish you still cruised a 22 Dale?).  One advantage of our nimble boat is apparent on the return trip when we get to sail under the railroad bridge while the big boys play gin rummy waiting for the bridge to clear and swing open.

SYSCO, our umbrella sailing club is hosting its 25th Anniversary Regatta on August 9-10th with several races scheduled each day.  Regardless of whether you are experienced or still new to racing this will be a good event to plan for.  There should be a high level of participation across all the fleets accompanied by a party on Saturday night.  Also, please don't forget the Friday night beer can races.  They are another less formal way to spend time on the water practicing some of the aspects of racing in a very social atmosphere.

I hope everyone continues to enjoy their summer and look forward to seeing many of you on the water June 12th for the first race of the Summer Series.  As always, please contact me or Race Captain Don Bateson with any thoughts or questions.

Newsletters of the Northwest
By Dale Mack

Checkout these links to Northwest Catalina newsletters and local racing:

• Columbia River All Catalina Association (CRACA)
• Small Yacht Sailing club of Oregon (SYSCO)
• Catalina Association of Tacoma and South South (CATSS)
• Catalina Association of Puget South (CAPS out of Seattle)

Threes Company
By Dale Mack

Don Bateson and Mike Hibbs aboard Crocus.

Mike Hibbs and I have been in search of a Catalina 22 for about a year.  Why might you ask when I moved up to a Catalina 30, and Mike's family has been chartering to meet their family vacation needs?  For me the Catalina 22 has been and continues to be a great source of fun for racing, is a blast to day sail, and has brought me in contact with some very wonderful people.

With nearly 16,000 Catalina 22's built, finding the right boat was going to be a matter of patience, since Mike and I had established a low, but reasonable budget for the project.  We knew that complete boats within our budget sold all the time just from monitoring the Catalina 22 email discussion group and watching some sells around the country.

As the months went by we passed on several boats for various reason like:  too expensive, no trailer, no motor, too much work, too far away, etc.  Actually finding boats in the local area was the hardest part, not because there aren't lots of boats in the Portland area, but because you just don't see a lot of ads for them.

Crocus, #8244, although she flies sails with #4248 on them from Gold Rush which Don cut up.

Meanwhile Don Bateson, last year's Fleet Racing Champion, had been thinking about selling Crocus because he felt like he wasn't giving the boat the attention it deserved and work and family just wasn't going change that in the immediate future.  Don approached Mike and I, and the rest is history, except for a little twist, Don still owns the boat.  Actually, Don sold us each a third of the boat after Mike talked him into staying on as a third partner.  Mike and I had been attracted to three way ownership for sometime, and you couldn't ask for a better partner and friend than Don.

Future plans?  Race the Summer Series and try to figure out how to beat Gromit and Solus, (probably wouldn't hurt if we made fewer mistakes).  In the Fall, pull the boat, switch over to VC17 (after lots of stripping and sanding), and drop the keel and fair it.  Other tweaks involve repositioning various blocks and cleats to provide more control over sail shape.

Open Invitation to Learn About Sail Selection
By Dale Mack

The Columbia River All Catalina Association (CRACA) has invited all Catalina 22 owners to join them at Damon's Grill in Tigard to listen to Kerry Poe from North Sails.

Ladies Cruise Gets a Great Turnout
By Dale Mack

No Catalina 22's attended the 2003 Ladies Cruise, but plenty of Fleet 20 women did.  Those attending the cruise included:

• Gail O'Neill
• Kathie Annis
• Sheila Drews
• Margaret Hanson
• Sandy Thomas
• Laura Mack
• and friend of of fleet Vicki Sanborn

To read more about the event and to see more pictures, click here.

Spring Series Results
By Don Bateson

Mike McGrath and Terry Annis aboard Solus, #6800.

Congratulations to Mike McGrath aboard Solus, #6800 for winning the Spring Series!  Mike once again has shown us what great helmsmanship, excellent starts, and tenacity are all about. The great part about the series is that Mike had to work to earn the win as Gromit was right in the hunt and Crocus was chasing hard once or twice.  Forrest Sietz and Rob Hinz have made a good first year showing in their "no name yet" C22; close starts and learning the "local knowledge" fast.

The series winds were not as good as last year, indeed there was no race in outing 2, supposedly for lack of wind. I would say that it was for lack of imagination on the part of the committee that night, but who would listen? Many thanks to Bob Gales and Nate Hanson for taking my boat out in race 4 and 5; duty called at work. Thanks go out to all of you who made the series; it's great to race the C22 as a one design.

Race Results:

Looking back on May's Race Committee Duty
By Don Bateson

Committee Duty on May 20th turned out to be a fine outing. Terry Annis volunteered the use of Lematike, his spotless and trim C-25 as committee boat.  We had an excellent crew; Terry, Doug Dillon, a long time friend of the fleet and crew, Doug Alexander, a new Fleet 20 member, Bryce, Blain Dickason's number one foredeck and crew member (pardon me Bryce, your last name escapes me).

We were out early and were on station and ready to set a course. The only problem was the lack of wind. Terry anchored at "C" and we set a start line mark and waited. Then we ate, had some beverages, ate some more, talked about boats and told a few requisite sailing lies. After 1.5 hours we went home. Many thanks to all who came out.

I Need Your Help with July 8th Race Committee Duty
By Don Bateson

I would like to encourage all of you to volunteer for Committee duty on the 8th of July.  It is a fine way to learn about the starting sequences, meet your fellow fleet members close up, have some victuals and beverages, and see some very competitive big-boat racing close up.  In short, an evening of fun.

All that is necessary for committing is making sure that one can make it to the docks by 4:45 on the 8th of July.  Please get in touch with me by e-mail at the following address:

donbateson@yahoo.com

I will get back to you with more details as the day draws nearer.

Summer Series Starts June 12th
By Don Bateson

It looks like we will be blessed with good winds and weather for the up coming SYSCO Summer Series.  If you have not signed up for the series it is not too late.

If you don't care to race your own boat, contact me and I will see if we can get you a ride as crew on the boats that are signed up. That e-mail address again is:

donbateson@yahoo.com

See you all out on the water.

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The Fleet 20 newsletter is published online once a month.  Articles are the opinions of the authors and don't necessarily represent the consensus of Fleet 20.