2021 Winter Speaker Series

Lecture 4. On Tuesday April 27 at 7:00pm. Tides and Tidal Currents in Eastern Long Island Sound presented as a virtual discussion via Zoom by Frank Bohlen, John Burnham, and Carl Fast.

VIEW ARCHIVED LECTURE HERE
Passcode: 1#.qYmLq

If you have comments, you may direct them to our commodore, Harlan Fredericksen.harlanfred@gmail.com

Lecture 3. On Tuesday, March 30, Bill Gladstone will present a Two Hour Trim Class.

North U Director Bill Gladstone will lead the session. Bill has been teaching and coaching for decades. Graduates of his programs are winning races in fleets the world over.

This Trim Webinar is a quick two hours.

Part 1: Upwind Trim
We open with Theory in (very) Brief, and look at Sail Power, Total Power, Mix of Power, and Sail Controls. We will change the way you think about upwind trim.

We then apply those concepts to the full spectrum of sailing conditions: moderate, light and heavy air; smooth water vs. chop; and best trim through puffs and lulls. We use the exclusive North U Upwind Sail Trim Simulator to see how changes in sail controls change sail shapes and performance, while video clips show real life trim and performance technique.

Part 2: Downwind Trim
Symmetric spinnakers are odd by design: The luff and leech are identical! No other sail is designed that way. In Symmetric Spinnaker Trim we show how refinements in trim can improve spinnaker shape, performance, and control. The Asymmetric Spinnaker Trim portion shows how to make best use of the limited array of trim controls and take advantage of the inherently better shape of asymmetric spinnakers. Of particular interest are techniques to allow sailing deep with a fixed sprit position and how to find the optimum angle and speed for best downwind performance.

The downwind session also includes tips on Non-Spinnaker Jib & Main performance both reaching and running.

Lecture 2. On Tuesday, February 23, Dave Perry was featured.

Dave Perry is well known for his enthusiastic and engaging teaching style for sailors of all ages and levels, as well as highly respected for his deep knowledge of the sport of Sailing. He is one of the sport’s leading coaches and rules experts, serving on the US Sailing Appeals Committee and being the Rules Advisor for several recent America’s Cup teams and the US Sailing Team at the 2008, 2012 and 2021 Olympic Games.

Dave is excited to continue his work with the sailors and race officials in eastern Connecticut, to help them know the rules better so they are more confident in close-quarter action at the starts and around the marks, and so they can play and run the game at a higher level. Dave encourages sailors of all abilities, or who normally crew, to join us because knowing the rules better will dramatically increase their racing enjoyment.

Lecture 1. On Tuesday, January 19, at 1800 Yacht designer and author Dick Carter gave a Zoom lecture on how yacht design evolved in the 1960s and 70s intertwined with some story-telling of his racing adventures which included two Fastnet wins. It should be noted that several Off Soundings members including our Commodore, cut their offshore racing teeth aboard one of Dick’s designs, the venerable Carter 39. So far the talk has been well-received by the Royal London YC, the NYYC at Newport and Storm Trysail club among others.