SCUTTLEBUTT WEBSITE	FORUM INDEX	SEARCH POSTS	WHO'S ONLINE	LOG IN

Forum Index: DISCUSSION: Event Reports: 2009 International Sonar Class World Championship

The Publisher ***** Sep 28, 2009, 1:25 PM Post #1 of 5 (4673 views) Shortcut 2009 International Sonar Class World Championship Log-In to Post/Reply For Immediate Release Sonar World Championship at Noroton Yacht Club By Lee Morrison Racing for the 2009 International Sonar Class World Championship is set to begin next Thursday, October 1st. Noroton Yacht Club, home of Sonar Fleet 1, is hosting the event. The Sonar is a 23’ keel boat designed by Rowayton, Connecticut resident Bruce Kirby. It is known as an easy to sail, highly competitive, one-design boat appealing to club racing fleets, team and match racing championships, and para-olympic sailors. Fifty-five boats from 7 countries are currently registered for this year’s championships. Racing for the World Championship trophy will take place in the waters of Long Island Sound about 2 miles South of Darien, Connecticut. The venue is rotated between fleets and held ever other year. In August 2011 the Sonar Worlds will be run by the Royal Northern Clyde YC in Scotland. The International Sonar Class was founded in 1980 based on a principal of tightly controlled class rules ensuring that boats remain competitive over a long lifetime. In 2000 the Sonar class obtained Recognized status from the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and in the same year was selected as the Paralympic Keelboat. Its status as Paralympic Keelboat will continue at least through the 2012 London Olympics. Worldwide, over 800 Sonars have been built. Each day, Thursday, October 1st through Sunday, October 4th, competing boats will leave Noroton Harbor at around 10AM for up to 3 daily races. Each race is expected to take about 2 hours. Social events for the competitors, race committee, and jury is scheduled in the evenings after sailing ends. Contact: paulbbarringer@gmail.com 203-979-7977 www.sonarworlds.org

The Publisher ***** Sep 28, 2009, 1:25 PM Post #2 of 5 (4670 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] 2009 International Sonar Class World Championship [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply For Immediate Release Creation of the Sonar By Bruce Kirby 203 853-1899 The Sonar was born and raised at the Noroton Yacht Club. The club had both Solings and Tempests in the late 70s. These boats were very active nationally and internationally and we had some excellent sailors in both classes. But as these boats became ever more competitive and sophisticated - both were Olympic classes for a time - they also became less suitable for dad, mom and the kids The late Steve Nighingale was commodore at the time and he was urged by Bill Thomson to put a committee together to research existing classes with the idea of finding one that would be suitable as a family day racer. That committee, formed in 1978, had Bill Thomson as its chairman and included present club members Tor Arneberg, Jim Linville, Susan Sinclair and Sandy McDonald. In the summer of 1978 several existing boats were tested by this group, which at that time was called the One Design Committee. They couldn’t find any one boat that had all the characteristics they were looking for. The committee drew up a questionnaire asking Noroton members for their ideas for the ideal club day racer. The questionnaire was a huge success, with most answers describing a boat between 22 and 24 feet long, a keel boat with self-bailing cockpit, with spinnaker, comfortable for four adults (no hiking required or allowed) good in light air to suit the Long Island Sound summer, but with plenty of stability to do battle with the blustery winds of spring and fall. The questionnaire was then sent to other clubs on the Sound with the idea that if Noroton could come up with the right boat it might spread well beyond our own waters. This too was a great success and the answers that came back were very much in line with the ones received from Noroton members. Now the One Design Committee had a bunch of good ideas but no way to see them to fruition. It was then that long-time Noroton member and retired sailmaker Wally Ross stepped up to the podium. He said that if I would design a boat around the parameters outlined by Bill Thomson and his committee, he would pay for tooling and production and would market the boat. Up to this time most of the keelboats I had designed were to the International Offshore Rule (IOR), which caused some pretty weird hull distortions to take full advantage of the formula. But with the Noroton day racer (at this time unnamed) I had full freedom to come up with a shape not influenced by the measurer’s tape and plumb bob. The boat was designed during the late summer and fall of 1979. Wally had tooling made by a Connecticut shop and sent to a New Jersey builder. We were able to test a prototype in March of 1980 and there were six production boats at Noroton by mid-summer that year. It was Wally himself who came up with the name Sonar, and I had the sail logo designed by friend and graphics designer Mark Smith. The class had production and quality control problems with three builders until 1987 when Wally was able to employ the services of Ontario Yachts, owned by Dirk Kneulman. Not only is Dirk building us fine Sonars, but he participates in the class and has won at least one North American Championship. In 1991 Skip Shumway of Rochester, N.Y. bought the Sonar tooling and class trademarks from Wally and has continued to market the boat. He has arranged to have Sonars built in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, on England’s South coast, and the British builder has produced 70 boats so far. Hull numbers have now passed the 800 mark and it will be interesting to see who buys No. 1,000. Contact: paulbbarringer@gmail.com 203-979-7977 www.sonarworlds.org

The Publisher ***** Oct 1, 2009, 4:32 PM Post #3 of 5 (4630 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] 2009 International Sonar Class World Championship [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply For Immediate Release Thursday October 1, 2009 With conditions on Long Island Sound as far from typical as they get, the 58 boat Sonar Worlds fleet got off three races with winds gusting into the 20’s and temperatures well down in the 50’s. It was a cross between season’s-end regatta sailing and East coast frostbiting. With finishes of 2-3-4, Marblehead sailmaker Jud Smith holds the lead going in to Day 2. But he has only a two point lead over Bill Lynn, also of Marblehead, with Dave Franzel of Boston just one point behind Lynn. Peter Galloway of the host Noroton Yacht Club leads the local contingent as the record fleet, representing seven countries, heads into the second day of the four-day event. Contact: Paul Barringer 203-979-7977 paulbbarringer@gmail.com www.sonarworlds.org

The Publisher ***** Oct 4, 2009, 5:01 PM Post #4 of 5 (4365 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] 2009 International Sonar Class World Championship [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply For Immediate Release Contact: Paul Barringer paulbbarringer@gmail.com 203-979-7977 SONAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - 2009 October 2, 2009 Darien, Ct. - Marblehead sailmaker Jud Smith, master of many classes, continued to lead the Sonar Worlds at the end of the second day of racing. His 15th and 2nd, combined with a 2 – 3 – 4 the first day gave him a 26-point total and pulled him into a six point lead over David Franzel of Boston, who came through today’s two heavy air races with a 3 – 17. Long Island Sound again bared its autumn teeth with a south easterly gusting into the 20s and when the flood tide change to ebb, there was a short, sharp sea that made the upwind legs a challenge for helmsmen and the downwind legs a wave-rider’s dream. As on day 1 of the regatta, the temperature was in the 50s and multiple layers was the dress of the day. Four-time North American Sonar champion Peter Galloway continued to press the leaders and with today’s finishes of 17 – 1 is eight points behind Franzel in third place. With five races completed, three more are scheduled for Saturday and at least one for Sunday. After the sixth race there will be one throw-out, which will undoubtedly juggle the scores, but with a 15th to drop, Smith will be sitting on finishes of 2-3-4-2 and whatever the weekend brings. In fourth place going into the weekend is Karl Ziegler of Darien, Ct. whose family home looks out on the racecourse. His first place in the second race of the day gave him a five-race total of 49. Friday began for the 58-boat fleet with a flat calm, which slowly turned into an exceptionally shifty south-easterly, which forced the race committee to set and re-set the course four times. With a scheduled start of 10 am it was about noon before the fleet got off the line. From there the wind and sea built, but big shifts continued to play a major part in the outcome throughout the afternoon. Final Results Day Two: 1. Jud Smith, Marblehead, MA 2. Dave Franzel Bostob, MA 3. Peter Galloway Noroton, Ct 4. Karl Ziegler – Noroton, CT 5. Robert Wilber – Sachem’s Head, CT For more information and final results go to: www.sonarworlds.org

The Publisher ***** Oct 5, 2009, 6:34 AM Post #5 of 5 (4323 views) Shortcut Re: [The Publisher] 2009 International Sonar Class World Championship [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply For Immediate Release Contact: Paul Barringer paulbbarringer@gmail.com 203-979-7977 Dave Franzel Wins the 2009 Sonar World Championship October 4, 2009 Darien, Ct. - With completion of the sixth race of the Sonar World Championship on Saturday, the one throw-out came into play and moved Dave Franzel of Boston into the slimmest of leads over Jud Smith of Marblehead. The two were tied at 26 points, but Franzel’s first place in the third race gives him the lead on the tie break. So it all came down to the final races scheduled for Sunday. The 57-boat fleet floated around in a typical Long Island Sound calm for nearly four hours before race committee chairman Mark Murphy was able to set a line and get the fleet away in a light south westerly. The east – going ebb had begun and the weather leg was directly uptide. As the wind faded it was obvious that no boat was going to make it to the first mark before the 45-minute time limit. So the score was unchanged and Dave Franzel became the 2009 Sonar World Champion. Sailing with Franzel were Greg Anthony, Todd Cooper and Conor Hayes. Saturday had been another day of unreliable winds on Long Island Sound (or is that an oxymoron?) and only one race of the scheduled three was completed. That race was started in a 10 – 14 knot southerly, which shifted to the left nearly 30 degrees on the opening leg. If you got to the left early you were in the hunt; if you chose the right it was a very long race. Neither of the two series leaders was in the top 10, but Franzel finished 11th and Smith 18th. Smith dropped his 18th, and Franzel dropped his 17th from the previous race and this brought them to the tie on points. Karl Ziegler of Rowayton, Ct. moved from fourth to third, replacing the host Noroton Yacht Club’s Peter Galloway, who was saddled with an OCS penalty. The wind had dropped to near zero by the end of the race and the ever-patient race committee, along with the 57 competing boats sat for nearly an hour until the wind got back up to 8 knots and another start was called. Between the one minute signal and the start the wind swung 45 degrees to the left and 10 minutes into the contest, with the port tack boats laying the weather mark, two signals sounded the end of the race. After another long wait racing was cancelled for the day when radar showed a line of thunder squalls descending on the race area. It was a good call, as the “squalls” produced plenty of thunder, lightning, very heavy rain and virtually no wind. Final Scores – 2009 Sonar World Championship 1. Dave Franzel 26 2. Jud Smith 26 3. Karl Ziegler 36 4. Peter Galloway 40 5. Lee Morrison 50 6. Colin Gordon 52 7. Robert Wilber 52 8. Scott Harrison 64 9. Bob Monro 66 10. Bill Lynn 72 For more information, see: http://www.sonarworlds.org/...orlds2009Results.htm Caption for the water shot: Dave Franzel, Boston, as he approaches the windward mark on Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Sonar World Championship at Noroton YC. He beat second place Jud Smith, Marblehead, in a tie-breaker to become the 2009 Sonar Champion. Attachments: IMG_8967-2 (2).JPG (74.8 KB)

Viewing the Forums: No members and 834 guests   DISCUSSION     Dock Talk     Event Reports MARINE INDUSTRY NEWS     Products and Services     Businesses and Personnel     Boats     Clothing and Accessories CLASSIFIED ADS - FREE     For sale: Products and Services     Wanted: Boats/Gear/Jobs     Available Jobs         Coaching/Instruction         Sailmaking         Other     Boats for sale         Sail: 25-feet and over         Sail: under 25-feet         Power

Search this forum this category all forums for All words Any words Whole Phrase (options)

Contact Forum

Forum FAQS

Markup Tags

Forum Rules