Bucs Beat

Winds Picking Up Behind RBR Scholastic Sailing Program

Bucs sailing team making waves, but still need push from "rich uncle" to become full-fledged varsity program.

A co-ed crew of sailors from Red Bank Regional has recently made significant headway for their high school program with strong showings in regional and local competitions. The Bucs finished second among their New Jersey peers and 11th out of 18 schools at the Mid-Atlantic Scholastic Sailing Association (MASSA) Fall Championships held at The Stony Brook School’s sailing club in Port Jefferson, NY and took first at the New Jersey Interscholastic Sailing League's regatta in Brant Beach, NJ (near Manahawkin) last month. Coach John Garth said the MASSA finish was significant because it showed that Red Bank, which is not currently a varsity program, can compete with some of the best high school sailing programs in the Northeast. "You had 18 of …

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First Annual Shrewsbury Sailing & Yacht Club Junior Regatta

SSYC is celebrating 75 years of sailing on the Shrewsbury River in Oceanport. On Wednesday, they held their first Junior Regatta.

Sailors and boats came from all over, there was a sailor from Texas who was stopping to race here on his way home from Canada, boats came from as far north as Nyack Boat Club in New York, and as close as across the river from Rumson Yacht Club.  Over 60 boats competed in the first annual Junior Regatta at SSYC. As well as the Junior Regatta, sailors competed Wednesday  for the NJYRA Class Championship in C420s and Optimist, Red, White and Blue Fleets.   Maureen Kearney organized the regatta, with John Garth as the PRO.  In the morning winds were out of the SW 5-7 knots with a forecast that they would build to 12-15 knots by the afternoon.  Three races were completed in the morning followed by a break for lunch and two races after lunch.  …

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Junior Sweeps Wraps Up for 2011

An August tradition for at least 45 years, the Junior Sweepstakes Regatta wrapped up on Thursday.

After 4 days of sailing, 2 days on the Shrewsbury River and 2 days on the Navesink River, the final results are in. There was sunshine and wind all 4 days, beautiful conditions for sailing.  The regatta consisted of 10 races, and sailors were allowed 1 discard, their worst race. All in all, 117 kids from 5 area boat clubs sailed in 101 boats (420s are sailed by 2; all other boats are single handed).  Following are the top 5 boats in each fleet overall: Green Optimist Fleet (these kids are first year sailors) White Optimist Fleet (ages 10 and under) Blue Optimist Fleet (ages 11 and 12) Red Optimist Fleet (ages 13-15) 420 Fleet Laser Fleet

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South Shrewsbury Junior Sweeps: Day Two

The South Shrewsbury Regatta wrapped up today with the final two races.

Sailors, instructors and parents packed up gear to move to Monmouth Boat Club to sail the North Shrewsbury Regatta tomorrow and Thursday on the Navesink River.  Bill Heath and the trophy committee moved quickly to score the final two races for the day today and wrap up the final scores for the South Shrewsbury Regatta before anyone got too wet.  As the award ceremony began, skies over the Shrewsbury River began to darken, and storms moved into the area early this afternoon.    Despite a protest, a snapped mast and a laser capsize; there were a lot of smiles to be found at SSYC today.  When all was said and done, and one race dropped the final results were in. The forecast for tomorrow is mostly sunny with a high around 90 degrees, with a …

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Dinghies Today, America's Cup Tomorrow

With the wind in their hair, scholarship winners are wrapping up a summer of fun at Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club

When the tanned and freckled faces of Little Silver and Oceanport kids head back to school this September, there will be three who have something special to write in their "what-I-did-this-summer" essays. Fifth graders Erine Ruane and Julie Valinoti of Oceanport and Will Perry of Little Silver were each winners of an essay contest this spring, sponsored by the past commodores of the Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club (SSYC) in Oceanport. The winners each received a scholarship for a summer of sailing lessons at the club. From their essays you can hear the sailor's heart in each of them. Erin opened her essay with this: "Since I was three years old, whenever I went over the Gooseneck Bridge I would see the little, tiny sailboats in the river…

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Sun Smiles on Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club's 75th Anniversary Regatta

Under puffy white clouds and beautiful blue skies, sailors had a perfect day for their one race regatta

If you happened to drive over the bridge from Little Silver to Oceanport Sunday afternoon, you may have caught a glimpse of the boats out on the Shrewsbury River, competing in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club. The format for the regatta was a Portsmouth Yardstick, which rates boats of different classes sailing the same course. This uses a time-on-time handicapping system, with each class of boat given a documented rating. There were cruising boats, 420’s, Lasers, Comets, Sanderlings, WoodPussys, and Flying Scots. (I hope I didn’t miss anyone, apologies if I did! ) Portsmouth Numbers are defined as the length of time boats would take to sail a common, but unspecified distance. Each skipper who …

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Cloudy and Shifty, What Do You Mean I Have to Use a Drop?

Championship Series Number Two was held at SSYC on Sunday, June 12, 2011.

On a day that seemed to constantly threaten with rain and thunderstorms, and little or no wind, Principal Race Officer John Garth managed to get in the Second Championship Series at Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club.  Missing were the Comets, they were out competing at the Nationals.  John, assisted by Mac and Ann Barnes set courses for Lasers, Wood Pussys, Flying Scots, a lone 420, and Sanderlings.  Over on the Opti course, Liz Gearon set a course for the Bronze and Gold Fleets. Here are the results from Sunday… Laser Radial First                       Jess Gruskos Second                 Robert Gruskos Third                      Chris Pomerleau Laser Full First                       Jack Swikart Second                 David Whittle Third…

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