Monday, June 14, 2010

Ummm... No!


I had to chuckle at yesterday's press release from the New York Yacht Club which was faithfully republished by that well-known faithful republisher of press releases, Scuttlebutt. The opening paragraph reads...

Known as the longest running regatta in America, the New York Yacht Club’s 156th Annual Regatta presented by Rolex also has the distinction of kicking off the sailing season in New England. This past weekend, June 11-13, over 1,000 sailors on 111 boats gathered from across the U.S. and Europe for three days of racing on Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound.


"Kicking off the sailing season" on the second weekend in June!!!

Ummm... No!

Who are these people? Don't they have eyes to see?

Dear New York Yacht Club, some of us have been sailing in New England since January. If you had bothered to look out of the windows of your Harbour Court club house in Newport on January 10, you might have seen us. That's when the sailing season started around here. Not June 11.

18 comments:

Dan said...

I always laugh when I read about the beginning of a sailing/racing season. In the PNW we race all year. Most of our popular races are during the winter and summer is when a lot of us take time off from races to go cruising. Probably the closest thing we have to a beginning of racing season is the first weekend in December when the four race South Sound Series starts. And the season ends with the Gran Prix 3 day regatta in late October/early November where the winners from the preceeding 12 months are invited.

The first weekend in May is the Opening Day of Boating Season in Seattle. It is a big boat parade with decorated boats, dressed up yachties and lots of media hype. One club finally came up with a two day race on that weekend for those that are not into the pomp and circumstance to get out of town.

bonnie said...

Pretty darned funny.

Verification: dienut. Did the commodore of the venerable NYYC know that this plebian (who gleefully started her 2010 sailing season back in March & is on the water 12 months out of the year) was reading, and snickering?

Tillerman said...

To be fair to NYYC, there are a lot of sailors in the north-east who have the mentality that the sailing season runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day. My first club in New Jersey operated on that basis, for example.

Dan said...

I am sure weather is a concern also. Don't most boats in the NE get hauled out for the winter?

O Docker said...

This was probably the first sailing event of the year where they served canapés and watercress sandwiches.

Tillerman said...

Dan, my boat gets hauled out very time I go sailing.

O Docker, you can grow watercress in pots and have it all year round. It's as easy to grow as basil.

bonnie said...

oooh, harsh...

Tillerman said...

Yes, watercress can be a little harsh. If you find it so, you can always cook it. This does inevitably destroy some of the nutrients but cooked watercress has a less harsh flavor, while still retaining its characteristic peppery taste.

bonnie said...

And Dan, yes, seriously most boats in the NE do get hauled out. And if you had a big boat, this was a good year to have it on dry land - I don't think my basin ever quite iced over but the Hudson? The ice yacht folks had a good season.

Me & my frostbiting friends are definitely the exception to the rule - and like Tillerman, our boats get hauled out every time we get back, which makes the getting damaged by the ice (or sinking from snow) an non-issue.

But even so, I think most boats around here are back in the water by Memorial Day weekend & just based on numbers of boats on the water, I'd tend to call that the start of boating season.

TQ (my boyfriend) & I took a great class out in Deception Pass a couple of years ago. We were telling the the local paddlers about our conditions. They were a little jealous that we could paddle in shorts & t-shirts in the summertime (I don't think they ever do less than wet suits out there, not the ones who know what they're doing anyways) - but any envy was balanced out by their horror at our stories about icebreaking (literally) in the wintertime!

bonnie said...

"Memorial Day...just based on numbers of boats on the water, I'd tend to call that the start of boating season." - ah, and I see I was seconding Tillerman's take based on when he was sailing in the tri-state area.

Chris Partridge said...

Watercress grown in pots? Eh? Watercress only grows in fast flowing streams like the River Meon. What sort of herbage are you talking about?
And here on the South Coast of England we row all year round despite being fully 10 degrees further north. It's paradise.

O Docker said...

I don't understand this indecision about putting boats in and pulling them out all of the time. Can't you east coast folks just make up your minds?

Nor do I get the obsession with ice. Is it that hard to choose between cubes and crushed?

I'm sure Joe would agree with me.

Blogger said...

Oh Tillerman, you are so sensitive. It all depends on what you sail, doesn't it?

Pat said...

Let's see, I did get around to posting one of those New Year's Day photos from my blog on FaceBook as well, didn't I?

Tillerman said...

Scuttleblog, ummm... no. The start of the sailing season in New England doesn't depend on what you sail. It starts when people start sailing.

Pat said...

But is it a yacht?

Do the little peoples' boats count?

For that matter, when was Opening Day for the Leprechaun Sailing Club?

bonnie said...

No leprechauns in the Paerdegat, but we do have the Midget Squadron next door. Close enough?

bonnie said...
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