Yachting Club CERN

Lottery and YCC courses 2012

2012-02-12T13:57:00.000+01:00

Registration to the 2012 YCC lottery for sailing courses is now open (deadline March 22nd at noon). Please see also the list of courses offered.

You are welcome to come at the 'club permanence' on February 16th and/or March 7th from 18:00 till 19:30 in the atrium of CERN building 40.

YCC winter evening 2012

2012-02-08T15:46:00.015+01:00

The first Winter Evening of this of this year will take place on Thursday 9 of February and will be dedicated to the organisation of sea cruises. Few brief reports of past activities and planning of the new season are foreseen.

Place/Time: Room 160-1-009 at CERN / 19:00

Tentative Agenda:

Michal will tell us about his Norway cruise and share some skipper insurance experience.

Detlef and Manfred will make a brief report about last Summer official cruise and discuss cruising plans for the next season.

Marek will tell us about the Turkey cruise last summer.

Other contributions from interested people are very welcome.

For all organisation questions please contact Kirill Prokofiev .

VHF+SSB radio and satellite communications onboard sailing boats at sea

2012-01-23T09:00:00.001+01:00

László Mercz donne prochainement des cours qui préparent aux examens de l'Office fédéral de la communication (OFCOM) en vue d'obtenir le Short Range Certificate (SRC) et le Long Range Certificate (LRC).

Le cours SRC aura lieu les samedis 25-2, 3-3 et 10-3 2012 à Genève. Le cours complémentaire LRC se fera les samedis le 17 et 24 mars 2012, également à Genève.

Prix pour membres YCC: 360 CHF (SRC) et 200 CHF (LRC), support de cours et simulateur compris. Plus d'information sur www.mercator-publishing.com, par courriel à laszlo.mercz@bluewin.ch ou encore en téléphonant au 0227910459.

László Mercz will run an SRC course on 25-2, 3-3 and 10-3 2012 with an optional follow-up on March 17th and 24th (always on Saturdays) for those who wish to obtain an LRC. These classes prepare for the Swiss OFCOM exams and the certificates are valid world-wide.

Price for YCC members is 360 CHF (SRC) plus 200 CHF (LRC complement). This includes the course, lecture notes and a simulator program. The OFCOM examination fees are not included.

These courses will be tought in French. László, a telecommunications engineer, is the author of several books on the subject and he has been member of the YCC for several years. For further information, visit www.mercator-publishing.com, write to laszlo.mercz@bluewin.ch or phone him on 0227910459 (he speaks English).

Another Caribean opportunity - January 2012

2011-12-01T15:42:00.007+01:00

Independently of Marek and Kirill's very interesting proposal, there is an opportunity to go to the Leeward Islands for 1 week at the end of January.

The cost of the charter is offered (GRG Prize won by Mamma Mia), so the biggest cost component is the flight: CHF 750 from Paris. The rest of the cost (fuel, food, insurance, harbour fees) will be shared among the crew and can be estimated at about 250 EUR.

We will probably start in Saint Martin. To read more about sailing there, check Croisières sans équipage à Saint Martin & dans les Îles sous le Vent.

If you are interested, please contact Michal.

Spring cruise to the Caribbean sea

2011-11-30T10:33:00.004+01:00

If you want to spend two weeks sailing in the beautiful waters of the Caribbean sea, visit several countries in few days and have a lot of fun, join Kirill and Marek, who are organising this cruise. While the initial advertisement was presented during the General Assembly, it is still not too late to join! Effective Summary:

Duration and dates: Two weeks at the 2nd half of March 2012.
Boat and crew: 40 feet catamaran (45 feet yacht - plan B) / 8 people.
Probable trajectory: Marinique - Guadelope - British Virgin Islands - Guadeloupe (to be re-viewed upon forming the crew).
Estimated costs: approx. 1600 Eur inclusive of boat charter, flight and food (if we act promptly).

YCC 2011 Photo & Video Contest

2011-11-03T15:46:00.003+01:00

If you have taken some great photographs or videos and would like to share them with the club, please consider participating in our annual photo and video contest! You can find the details of this year's rules here below.

Many thanks to Luigi Gallerani and Massimo Paladin for their help in organizing this.

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YCC 2011 Photo & Video Contest Rules

Contest Eligibility

To participate, you must be a YCC Member, participation is free of charge.
All photographs must have been taken between 1 November 2010 and 31 October 2011.

The photograph subject must be relevant to sailing in the following contest categories:
- YCC Club Life: (events, portraits, people, maintenance, q-boat...)
- Sport Photographs: (sailing, capsize, regatta, navigation...)
- Art (boats, landscapes, sunsets, details...)
- Video (sailing video, max 4 minutes long).

Printed and JPEG photographs are allowed.
You can submit your photographs online or send them via mail if printed.
Send an email to massimo.paladin@cern.ch for further details on how to submit
photographs online.

For each photograph you have to specify:
- the category
- its title
- a short description (when, where, who... when necessary)

THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS 18th November 2011

Ownership/Use Rights
Photographers retain the copyright to their photographs. By entering the
contest, photographers agree to have their submitted photograph used for
publication at YCC Photo Contest web page, where the photograph will be
credited to the author. Photographers also agree to have their submitted
photograph used for future publicity of YCC without any fee, for example in
printed materials, without the guarantee that the photograph will always
be credited to the author.

Judging
Photographs will be judged by the YCC Photo&Video Contest jury. If you are a
member of the club, you can be a member of the jury. Jury member will
meet, watch, discuss, evaluate and vote all the photographs and videos,
selecting the best photograph for each category.
Photographers joining the contest, can be member of the jury!
Jury will do his best to evaluate all the quality parameters of the
photographs and videos.

If you want to be a jury member send an email to massimo.paladin@cern.ch

Prizes
A prize will be awarded to the author of the best photograph in each category.

Paul Rabar, 1935-2011

2011-11-01T11:36:00.004+01:00

It is with great sadness that I belatedly share the sad news of the departure of such an outstanding YCC member.
Please take - as a small tribute - the time to read Marco's words below.

I have never met Paul personally, but I was moved by the thoughtful words Marco has for him. I really feel I missed the opportunity of meeting someone larger than life.

There is not much I can add except the wish for all of us to be inspired by Paul's stature.

Fair winds, dear Paul.

Sadly, our friend Paul Rabar has rounded the last mark. For more than twenty years, he was at the heart of the YCC lives, contributing to shape the Club to what all of us enjoy at present. Hungarian national, he was a humble man, with understated elegance and sharp irony, inspiring respect and admiration; definitely one of the best sailors YCC has had. He won countless regattas, participated in world championships and was well known in Switzerland, notably in the Yngling class association. Oddly, his favourite sport was not sailing but fencing. Paul won several European and Hungarian fencing championships. In his house, he had literally kilos of medals piled in a glass jar and incidentally it was during one European championship that Paul met Marianne, his wife.

Paul was my sailing father. I first met him in 1992 when I took the Soling test (that was the YCC's big boat before the Surprise era), during which we argued on practically everything. I just did not grasp his ironic lines, which were more than my ego could bear. Sometime later, by fluke, we found ourselves together on a Yngling during a YCC regatta, that we won hands down thanks to his knowledge of the boat. I couldn't help but admiring the man: he must have said seven words in total, but those were the things to say. We continued racing together and became the Yngling team of YCC.

In 1995, at the Buvette he got me stumped by asking, with his distinctive accent, if I wanted to helm Vas-Y (sic) in no less than the Yngling World Championship, which that year would take place on Lake Geneva. Despite being aware that with Vas-y we would not stand a chance, we took part. It was a memorable moment, and for the record we did not get last. Amazingly, Paul was known by at least half of the international teams, something that he found natural, like being known by one's neighbors.

It is difficult to list all he did for YCC. But if you sail Vas-Y, you should notice the two bilge pumps placed on the deck close to each shroud. He mounted them alone, in 95, before the championship. You should look at them with a bit of respect.

I will miss him a lot and I am sure that those of you who knew him will find it difficult to believe he's gone.

[Marco Benvenuti]

YCC 2011 Cruise reports

2011-10-26T11:16:00.000+02:00

The YCC 2011 cruise has taken place on the first week of September in Greece. 12 club members have participated to the event and two boats have been chartered. Joy Stephens shares with us the highlights of the cruise on board one of the boats with a very entertaining read and Detlef keeps us informed with the logbook of the other boat.
Many thanks to Manfred and Detlef for the successful organization of the cruise.

Salon du nautisme et de la croisiere 2011

2011-10-25T15:34:00.004+02:00

Cruising Club Switzerland (CCS) organizes the 12th edition of "Salon du Nautisme et de la Croisière" in Geneva, November 3rd till 5th.

Nanuq news

2011-10-06T20:56:00.014+02:00

Just in time before the cold season, a milestone has been reached: the last walls (kitchen and bathroom) were laminated with fibreglass and epoxy. This involved: 500 person-hours, a major part of which came from YCC members; 500 m² or 350 kg of glass fibre and peel ply, for a total surface area of 120 m²; 300 kg of epoxy; 200 l of silica gel and micro balloons and 5 m³ of polystyrene, donated by Swisspor.

The outer surfaces have been painted and fairing of the inner surfaces is underway. We will start assembling the 5 big pieces on Sat Oct 15th. The wooden floor, the kitchen, toilet and bathroom will follow.

The composite part of the boat is now at Honda, in the immediate proximity of the Zimeysa station. Participation in the construction is, as before, much appreciated. Please contact Peter for the detailed programme.

Meanwhile, Dujardin Icofrance has almost completed the aluminium part of the boat. We plan to put the ballast - 5500 kg of lead - in place between Oct 20th and 24th.

Thierry and Mic Mac in Translemanique

2011-09-01T11:06:00.008+02:00

Last Saturday morning, when some of us were waiting for the rain to stop so that we can start match racing, 100 single-handed boats approched the starting line under spinakers in a gusty 4B.

YCC Skipper - Thierry Boileau - started on port. To learn what happened next, check his blog.

Congratulations, Thierry!

Photo of one of Thierry's competitors by Jean-François Hervo, www.jfhphotos.com
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Official results

D & Y Match-Racing

2011-08-31T08:14:00.003+02:00
Last weekend saw our annual Match-Races for dinghies and Ynglings, organised by Christian Mester and Sanja Damjanovic. This year there were 5 dinghy and only 2 Yngling teams. The wind on Saturday was really good, the forecast for Sunday less so, and so it was decided to complete racing Saturday: a round-robin followed by the final for the dinghies, and a best-of-3 for the Ynglings. Thanks to umpire Patrick Diday and his crew on the Q-boat, to Annamarie Rowe and Tim Foster for helping with starting procedures, and to Haude Morel (photo adjacent) and Makiko Takayama: see https://picasaweb.google.com/101038642569402704263/MatchRace?authkey=Gv1sRgCJnw6P7U2NGuoAE#
Congratulations to the winners: Sebastian Lopienski and Yavor Konstantinov (Yngling), Sonia Mallon and Axel Bisschop (dinghy) and to the Michals (Kwiatek and Ropka): 2nds in both Yngling and dinghy classes!

Dinghy and Yngling match race

2011-08-22T10:53:00.005+02:00
YCC match race 2011 for dinghies and ynglings will take place the last week-end of August.

If you are ready to take the challenge, please register your team asap. Deadline for registration is August 24th at noon.

Additional info: Notice of race
Race committee: Christian Mester
Umpire: Patrick Diday

YCC shop updates and orders

2011-08-19T16:44:00.006+02:00

The YCC shop is refurbishing the stock! New items for 2011 with the YCC logo, available as pre-order include:
Fleece (Man & Woman)
SoftShell Jacket
Baseball Hat with back clip
Contact Patrizia to place an order and/or for more info.

Castor & Pollux first Laser regatta

2011-08-15T17:43:00.009+02:00

Last weekend Castor and Pollux have joined the Laser Class in the Coupe de Neuchatel. This regatta was quite an event with more than 80 boats at the starting line.
Actually, it was also an event for the YCC participating with club's boats to a dinghy class regatta! Thanks to Marleen, Reiner, and Sanja for having represented the YCC and opened the road for many Laser regattas to come!

Saturday: fireworks on board!

2011-08-11T15:15:00.004+02:00
We cannot resist another action photo from Sunday's regatta, this time of Maarten and Bettina, apparently without a sail but having a good time! Yet more great photos from Isolde Burgelin on http://obswww.unige.ch/~hagelber/album/index.html

Next, if you'd like a good time and a new experience, come watch the fireworks from the lake! Member (and experienced GS sailor) Sascha on sascha.schmeling@cern.ch has kindly offered three places on board as a club activity this Saturday: contact Sascha direct - now!

Monthly IV regatta

2011-08-10T08:07:00.004+02:00

Sunday 7th August saw a most successful Monthly regatta: virtually every dinghy (including new Laser 1's), both cats, some private boats, two Ynglings, and a gusting, strong Foehn wind (Bf 2-4) to reverse the usual Bise course and liven things up! Most boats capsized at least once (some picked up the habit...) which swapped the leaders around a bit and kept ResQ busy. All thanks to Jenny for organising it: she did comment at prize-giving that we all need to brush up our knowledge of the racing rules!

Photos: Isolde Burgelin

Castor & Pollux found their spot in the harbor

2011-08-03T18:07:00.004+02:00

The 2 new lasers, Castor & Pollux, have finally found their spot in Port Choiseul. They sit just next to the other dinghies. We can all now enjoy this 2 little boats (well as long as we have a D-key).

Luigi and Massimo have put together this nice page with some suggestions on how to rig the boats

enjoy and good wind to everyone!

Cruising opportunities

2011-07-15T15:30:00.004+02:00
A message from our fellow club member and experienced skipper, Marek: "I am organising two cruises in the nearest future and have some places left for both of them. I thought that some Club members might be interested.
The first cruise is in Scotland, starting from Largs marina, near Glasgow, from 30th of July to 6th of August. We have a Bavaria 44 and we will cruise around the places whisky comes from. A good opportunity for those who do not like hot summer in Geneva or want to practice tidal navigation. Quite a lot of sailing at a very interesting area.
The second one will be in Turkey, from Finike to Marmaris, from 1st to 8th of October on a Sun Odyssey 45. This one is going to be more relaxed and we hope to enjoy the sun. Turkish coast is very nice and there are interesting places on the shore, as well - we are going to visit at least some of them."
For details please contact Marek.Strzelczyk@cern.ch
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Tuesday dinghy training

2011-07-13T09:08:00.004+02:00

Some pictures from the first Tuesday dinghy training, if you wish to come along more info here
2011-07-12 YCC Tuesday Practise

Surprise spinnakers

2011-07-05T12:55:00.002+02:00

On their return to SLAC, Steve Smith and Terri Lahey have very generously donated two spinnakers to YCC. Although they are to Olsen 25 gauge, they will be suitable for the masthead symmetric spinnaker configuration of our Surprises and - if not regatta gauge - certainly provide us with some fun sailing and practice! Photos: John Fullerton, of Mic Mac's current spinnaker, and Steve Smith, of the donation (yes, the bridge is the Golden Gate - but that will cost us extra...). Many thanks from us all!

Tuesday dinghy training

2011-07-05T08:55:00.003+02:00
The enticing picture (Luigi Gallerani) of our two new Laser 1's Castor and Pollux is to persuade you that you need dinghy training on Tuesdays from 12 July - and enrolments open tonight at midnight (in time honoured fashion).

Open to all members, dinghy students or otherwise, first come, first served, and usually includes catamarans - but not, for the moment, the said Laser 1's: they are not yet allocated a parking place at Choiseul, and only participated (very successfully, it may be noted) in the Semaine du Soir by special dispensation (and the loan of a parking place from the CNV - thanks!).

Make sure you are near a computer tonight at midnight (places have been known taken up within some 50 seconds!), register on https://yachting.web.cern.ch/yachting/cgi-bin/res/training.pl , and get some excellent training.

Shocking!

2011-07-04T13:25:00.005+02:00
Your indefatigable correspondent is shocked to see that YCC members Andrea and Giacinto won the SDS last week at Port Choiseul - skippering some unknown 505, Festina Lente! Think how much better they could have done on a Club boat! All congratulations to them, to Jenny (2nd, with Rolling Stone), to Elena, 3rd on our brand-new Laser Castor, to Laura, 4th with (idem) Pollux, Alessandro with Rising Star, John with his own RS 800 Mac - in fact,congratulations to every Club member ensuring only five non-YCC were placed among the 16 winners - all the rest are YCC or Club members with private boats.
Keelboats did - ummm - less well, but I can tell you we had good fun and some students are sold on regattas for life! Ex-Vice President Marco brought Surprise Zig Zag to a creditable 8th place, Thierry came 11th (of 16) with Mic Mac, and Mamma Mia also came 12th, with scratch less-experienced skippers (sometimes) and occasional student crews.
Full results available separately.

Dinghy Day

2011-07-04T11:17:00.003+02:00
The second dinghy training day of the season took place Saturday 2 July: primary aim to allow D course and CNV D course students to get practice, plus allow non-course others to meet the boats, plus not least, allow us all to get to know each other better!
27 members in total were able to participate, first with Bf 3-4 but remarkably few capsizes; skill tested and enhanced for everyone. Afternoon session with an additional buoy and a required course to sail saw some fun impromptu competition between pairs of RS500's and Laser 2's - and some interlopers: an unknown (but well sailed) cat who now wants to join the Club, Moby Dick Soling, random RS 800's...
All this happened thanks to Jenny (fresh from being second-placed in the CNV SdS!) dealing with boat allocation, coaching from ResQ, Maarten for rigging advice, crew/helm substitution on the water, Klaus who just happened to be by, Nina and Ricardo for boat tuition on the Xenon for 2 x 2 members, Jan for helping place the buoy, Lucia on surveillance and of course Tim for expert handling of ResQ in demanding conditions, Rob for early morning (!) help, John and Sarah for help and resolution of the broken tiller extension problem, Julio for looking for crew for Isospin, Jan Fiete for help in rigging and unrigging.
All in all, a most successful outing and use of our boats. Photo: Daniel Teixeira.

Thursday practice

2011-06-29T08:01:00.002+02:00

Thursday practice will happen as usual 30 June (forecast good!) but you may like to note that many of the fleet will be occupied (crewed by YCC members of course) in participating in the Semaine du Soir, so your choices are more reduced than usual. Committed to SdS are both Surprises, Catapult and Meerkat, plus dinghies Rising Star, Rocket Science, Rolling Stone and (new Lasers!) Castor and Pollux. The regatta is great to watch, so plan on trying for Gipsy, the Ynglings or remaining dinghies.

Match-Racing Surprises

2011-06-27T08:34:00.002+02:00
Thanks to hard work this last winter (see Sanja's photo), both our Surprises were fighting fit for the Match-Racing, 25-26 June. Organiser Marco Benvenuti reports that team No President Onboard led by Sebastian Lopienki won the 2011 edition. On Saturday the weather was glorious with Bf 1-3. The four teams did round robins for a total of six regattas that gave a provisional ranking. On Sunday a knock-out session was in the program, with each match decided on the best of three races.
The semifinals were raced but not the final match, because the wind dropped to a total calm. Hence the ranks of Saturday were used.
Thanks to Q-boat crew, Rob Veenhof and Patricia Diday, and to organisers Marco, Asa, Anastasia, Helen, Thierry.

Take part in Semaine du Soir de Versoix

2011-06-16T09:35:00.000+02:00
The Semaine du Soir de Versoix regatta (SdS) will take place during the week of June 27th - July 1st.
This is a friendly, fun event - every day there is one race (starting at 19h00), followed by festivities on shore.

YCC traditionally takes part. The boats are assigned by the YCC Regatta Coordinator according to member preferences and boat availability.
Usually, many YCC members take part and teams change (sometimes daily) so the organization requires forward planning.

If you would like to participate, please register your interest for the given day of SdS using the External Regatta Calendar.
The deadline is Wed, June 22nd, at noon. I will then prepare and send by email the detailed schedule.

The following boats will be available:

- 2 new Lasers - please get in touch with Andrea.Messina@cern.ch for details,
- Rocket Science (RS500),
- Rolling Stone (RS400),
- HiggX (Xenon),
- Catapult (SL16),
- Meercat (Hobbie Tiger),
- Mic Mac (SU),
- Mamma Mia (SU).

Note: to skipper, you must be YCC Active Member and holder of the respective YCC boat licence.
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Wildwind again!

2011-06-16T08:04:00.002+02:00
Maybe you have already heard rumours but indeed this year YCC will be going to Wildwind again! Wildwind offers fantastic sailing experiences, on dinghies and catamarans, for beginners and experts (and those inbetween). We will go in September so the water will be warm (ideal for capsizing), the sun hot and the beer cold :) - and the food is good year-round!
If you are interested in improving your sailing skills while enjoying your holiday, then Wildwind is the place to be! The mornings tend to show calmer conditions, with stronger winds in the afternoons. Non-sailors have alternatives: mountain-biking, snorkeling, lounging by the pool, yoga,, etc.
The relaxed atmosphere, RYA qualified instructors and good wind conditions make this a perfect spot to improve your sailing skills.
A few place only left: week of 3-10 September and 10-17 - first come, first served! Contact marleenvannes@gmail.com

Cruise in Greece, July 2-9

2011-06-15T13:57:00.003+02:00

Nick Ziogas writes "I have chartered a Sun Odyssey 42i sailing from Syros in the Cyclades, Greece, from 2 to 9 July. I have at least 2 maybe 3 spare places (total number 5 or 6 sailors). The program is to enjoy the usually high winds but also the sea and beautiful coves. It is a cruise but with a lot of sailing in fantastic conditions and in a very beautiful spot. Please contact me, Nick.Ziogas@cern.ch or + 41 764874412 asap if you are interested!"

Regatta Sunday

2011-05-27T07:15:00.004+02:00

Forecast for Sunday's regatta is good; Sanja has sent members details, all you have to do is turn up on Sunday before 12:30 and put together a crew. Experience not essential (so beginners can be placed), depending on boat: all categories of boat are planned for this event.

Last Thursday (yesterday), Wojciech and new member Morgane took Meercat out for a little inversion - see picture! Solicitously attended by the faithful ResQ (taking pictures, thank you Anest Allaway) they had to force the actual capsize as winds had dropped (after a storm which unfortunately seemed to put too many people off coming to Training). Gennaker impeccably furled, sheets released, and that's the water-weight bag Wojciech is holding, as Meerkat recovers. We had nine boats out plus ResQ - and only 20 mins of actual rain!

YCC 2011 cruise planning

2011-05-05T12:00:00.006+02:00
Update (28-5): "The sailing area will be the Saronic islands starting from Kalamaki, during the Jeûne Genevois week (3 -10 September)". Please contact contact: Manfred Willenbrock and Detlef Swoboda asap if you would like to join.

In 2011 we propose to revive the long YCC tradition of a sea cruise during the Jeûne Genevois week (3 -10 September). Two sailing areas, both in the Mediterranean, are suggested: 1. Pontine islands in the bay of Naples. 2. Greek islands, starting from Athens either north (Sporadic islands) or south (Saronic islands).

Final decision will be taken together with the participants. The proposed routes are each of the order of 130-150 NM visiting a number of islands. The intention is therefore not to eat miles but to combine relaxed sailing with hands-on training in a beautiful environment with the visit of the local attractions. Participants should have some sailing experience – which goes without saying at the end of an active sailing season on the lake!

High wind

2011-05-02T10:22:00.016+02:00

The 2011 sailing season has started since a couple of weeks and we already had the possibility to sail in good wind. This year we will try to organize some sailing outing in fresh breeze. If you are interested in joining this activity, no matter if you are an experienced skipper or crew eager to learn, you are welcome to join the egroup club-yachting-high-wind-training.

The activity of the group will include discussions on how to rig the boat according to wind and wave conditions, safety aspects of sailing on the lake Leman, organization of adequate surveillance shift during high wind outings, and of course sailing. For more details check on the left banner the link: high wind issues. You will also find there the current wind-strength and wave-height limits for sailing the club's boats.

To start this new activity we are looking for the participation of all members willing to share with the club their experience as Q-boat driver or high wind skipper.

Join us!
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Sailing outings at sea: Fleur de Passion

2011-04-28T12:06:00.006+02:00
Our fellow club member Detlef, has informed us on sailing opportunities on board of "Fleur de Passion" a 33-meter ketch, recently renovated and managed by the non-profit Association Pacifique. The boat is also taking part of a larger scientific project "Antinea - The changing oceans expedition".

"...the boat will stay in the red sea until end May. Then it will transit by the Suez channel to Crete. From there it will go (possibly via Malta) to Riposto/Italy. For these to transits there will certainly be some places available on board." Please contact Deltlef for further information.

Season Opening Dinner Event - May 8th

2011-04-18T14:45:00.008+02:00

On May 8th, in the best YCC tradition, we will meet for a dinner and party after the First Opening Regatta at a restaurant that will be open just for us: "La Caravane Passe" in Versoix. If the weather is nice we will be able to profit also of the terrasse outside and there will be music!
Click here to book your place by May 1st!
DATE: May 8th 2011
TIME: from 7:00PM
WHERE: www.lacaravanepasse.ch
---MENU: Variety of Mezzes (Caviar d'aubergine's, Hummus, Tzaziki, Aubergines a l'ail, Riz libanais aux vermicelles, Ailes de poulet au citron, Kafta de boeuf-agneau, Kebbe, Falafel, Feuilles de vigne, Fatayer au fromage de brebis, Poulet a l'ail et au paprika) + dessert(either: baklava or gateau chocolat) + wine + the/coffee for 45CHF (Vegetarian option available, ask Patrizia)
(Children's Menu up to 10 years for 14CHF)

Success and opportunities in external regattas

2011-04-18T14:36:00.007+02:00

YCC members have been very active in regattas - and successful, too!

Mic Mac, led by Andrea, completed the Hivernales series on the podium as the second boat overall and the best Surprise. Among the dinghy enthusiasts, Jenny and Maarten completed last year's FVLJ Championship on the very good 4th place, followed by 3 other YCC teams.

This augurs well for the season which is just starting. In fact, the 2011 External Regatta Calendar has only been published, but some keen racers already managed to register their interest. If you are new to the Club, you will be happy to learn that everybody is welcome to participate. All you need is the initiative and a bit of commitment to get in shape (both for the boat and for yourself). Use this link to communicate your experience, expectations and availability and we will help you find the regatta team that fits you!

Compared to last year, small changes in the rules have been introduced following the discussions during the Regatta Kick-Off Meeting: boats will be assigned more in advance (3 weeks in general) to facilitate training and those who train and help with maintenance will get priority. Regattas will still be available to everybody; these adjustments will only help us develop our seamanship.

Check it all out under Regattas - External from the menu on the left.
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YCC External Regatta pages

YCC theory courses 2011

2011-03-30T13:41:00.004+02:00
The sailing season is rapidly coming to a start and so are the YCC courses!

Please check the following link for the calendar of the YCC theory courses.
Everybody is welcome to our theory classes. Attendance is free to all classes (there are no additional charges). Non YCC members are also welcome.

YCC 2011 Regatta Kick-off Venue

2011-03-07T11:15:00.003+01:00

The Regatta Kick-off Evening will take place on Tue, 3 March at 20h00 at Bowling de MEYRIN (click on the link for address). We will begin with a game of bowling and continue with a meal at the restaurant.

If you don't play bowling, you are just like me, so don't worry! More than 20 people will be coming and the bowling is just an excuse for informal discussion among a larger number of people.

If you can, please try to send me one sailing-related fact from your country, for example:

Name - Michal
Country - Poland
Fact - Polish skipper nicknamed 'Gutek' is currently 2nd in the Solo round the world race "Velux 5 Oceans".

Again, this is just for fun - I will try to use these facts so as to start off discussions of our next racing season.
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Bowling de MEYRIN

Sailing outings at sea in May

2011-03-03T15:40:00.005+01:00
A few private outings are being organized in May by YCC club members. If you are interested please contact the organizers listed here below. Happy sailing!
A cruise is being organized to Marseille, Barcelona and Palma, from May 11th till May 22nd. Ideal for people needing miles for their sea sailing permit. For more information please email Jean-Marc Leiser
Dinghy sailing outings to Minorca sailing are being organized in the week 13-20 May and in the week 20-27 May. For more information email Luca or John.

YCC lottery and sailing courses 2011

2011-03-01T13:00:00.000+01:00

Registration to the 2011 lottery for YCC sailing courses is open! Please see also the list of courses and places offered.
The deadline for registration is March 17th at noon.

You are welcome to come and discuss your questions with the club committee's representatives (club permanence) on February 17th and/or March 9th from 18:00 till 19:30 in the atrium of CERN building 40.

YCC 2011 Regatta Kick-off Evening

2011-02-25T13:39:00.005+01:00

When: Tuesday, 8 March, 20h00
Where: in Meyrin, venue to be confirmed

If you want to:

- Learn how to take part in regattas on the lake,
- Discuss various aspects of racing: training, sails, racing rules - and more,
- Help to shape the rules on who gets what boat for which regatta,

then send an email to Michal.Kwiatek@cern.ch and join us for this Kick-off evening on Tuesday, 8 March. I'll confirm the venue depending on how many we are!
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More information: YCC External Regatta Rules.

CCS: soirée avec Yann Elies

2011-01-31T19:55:00.003+01:00
Dans le cadre de son jubilé, la section genevoise du CCS (Cruising Club de Suisse) organise
une soirée en présence de: Yann Eliès le mardi 15 février 2011 à 20h00
à Uni Mail, Bd du Pont-d’Arve 40, Genève,Salle R080, parking souterrain «Uni Mail».

"Yann nous racontera son expérience du dernier Vendée Globe et plus particulièrement
ce fameux jeudi 18 décembre 2008 où il se blesse gravement au fémur,
contraint d’abandonner la course en attendant ses sauveteurs.
Entrée libre, vos amies et amis sont les bienvenus. Informations: 076 509 56 10"

Italian Garda Cup 24/25 April 2011

2011-01-27T09:00:00.003+01:00

The Italians are kicking off their international season this spring, hosting the Garda Cup on the 24th and 25th April 2011 (International RS Classes: RS 100, RS500, RS Feva, RS Tera). An invitation has gone out to invite all foreign visitors. There will be charter boats available. A good opportunity to sharpen up with sun on your backs!

Click here for NoR. Bando Garda Cup (Notice of Race)

YCC new Committee

2010-12-20T13:09:00.003+01:00
As President Alex sails his Boss into the Christmas sunset, we report that the General Assembly duly took place, solved all the problems, and then went out for the enjoyable annual Closing Dinner. We are happy to welcome new Committee members Sanja Damjanovic, Andrea Messina, Paul Smith and Alessandro Thea. All of us (see Web) are happy to receive your comments and suggestions - and a very Merry Christmas!

Surprise success!

2010-12-09T16:38:00.008+01:00

Fearless YCC sailors took the YCC Surprise fleet to the 2nd Hivernal regatta last Saturday. Result: Mic Mac won the race and after 2 races, Mamma Mia and Mic Mac are respectively 2nd and 3rd in the general ranking. Very good result for the YCC! On top of that, it was a beautiful, sunny winter day and all the 10 people involved had a whale of a time.

This year it is Mamma Mia's turn for hibernation and winter maintenance, but Mic Mac will stay afloat throughout winter. So if you want to do some sailing, you can! Plans for both leisure and training outings are communicated via the YCC-Regatta-Training@cern.ch mailing list - you can register directly through eGroups, or if you are not familiar with this interface, ask Ricardo, Kirill or Michal to do it for you.

The next winter regattas are scheduled for: 05-02-2011, 05-03-2011 and 02-04-2011. If you are interested, please register at the External Regattas pages. Don't miss the advertised deadline (usually 8 days in advance ) - there is a lot of interest among our members this year!
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To see who else is interested in the forthcoming events, click here.

General Assembly, today!

2010-11-25T17:32:00.002+01:00
Don't forget the general assembly which will take place today at 6pm (sharp!)
in the CERN main auditorium!
Members that do not have a valid CERN access card: the meeting point is at the parking outside CERN at 17:50 sharp, one of the Committee members will accompany you on-site.

SwissSailing

2010-11-24T21:42:00.007+01:00
Last Saturday (Nov 21st), the general assembly of SwissSailing has welcomed the YCC as new member - "Gleich zu Beginn gab es Erfreuliches: Die Versammlung begrüsste den Yachting Club of CERN aus Genf mit Akklamation als neues Mitglied von Swiss Sailing."

(From the press release.)

Photo contest 2010

2010-11-03T21:54:00.004+01:00
If you have taken some great photos or videos and would like to share them with the club, please consider participating in our annual photo and video contest! You can find the details of this year's contest rules further on in this post. Many thanks to Luigi Gallerani for his help in organizing this.
--------------------------------------

YCC Photo & Video Contest Rules 2010

Photo Eligibility

To participate, you must be YCC Member.

All photos must be taken between 1 November 2009 and 31 October 2010.

The photo subject must be relevant to sailing in the following contest

categories:

- YCC Club Life: (events, portraits, people, repairing, qboat...)

- Sport photo: (sailing, capsize, regatta, navigation...)

- Art (boats, landscapes, sunsets, details...)

- Video (free theme sailing video, max 4 minutes long).

Printed and JPG Pictures are allowed.

Photographers can upload up to the ycc2010 PhotoBucket account or send a printed version of their picture.

Send an email to luigi.gallerani@cern.ch and you will receive UserName, Password, instructions, tech details, and support for digital and for printed images.

Entrance is free; each photographer may submit up to 6 photos.

Photographers have to indicate the category of their picture, their name, give a title to their picture, and a short description (when, where, who... when necessary).

DEADLINE FOR PRINTED AND DIGITAL IMAGES & VIDEOS IS: 18 NOV 2010.

Ownership/Use Rights

Photographers retain the copyright to their photographs. By entering the contest, photographers agree to have their submitted photo used for publication at YCC Photo Contest web page, where the photo will be credited to the author. Photographers also agree to have their submitted photo used for future publicity of YCC without any fee, for example in printed materials, without the guarantee that the photograph will always be credited to the author.

Judging

Entries will be judged by YCC Photo&Video Contest jury. If you are a member of the club, you can be a member of the jury. Jury member will meet, watch, free discuss, evaluate and vote all the pictures and videos, selecting the winner photographer for each category.

Photographers joining the contest, can be member of the jury!

Jury will do his best to evaluate all the quality parameters of the images and videos.

If you want to be a jury member... send an email to luigi.gallerani@cern.ch

Prizes

A prize will be awarded to the author of the best photo in each category.

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RRS training

2010-11-01T23:09:00.003+01:00
Forthcoming RRS classes:
November 13th 2010, 9am to 5pm, in Grandson: Cours IIIa, for judges;
February 26th 2011: Cours 1, case study for sailors, race officers and judges;
March 26th 2011: Cours II, race committee and protest committee procedures;
Spring 2011: Cours IIIb, for race officers.
All classes will be held in French. Please contact Séverine for further information.

Winter regattas

2010-11-01T10:38:00.006+01:00

If you like good winds and are ready to put on some warmer clothes, please check the YCC External Regatta pages.

The first regatta is already this Saturday - if you are available, please register at: the Regatta Calendar.

YCC sailors participated in these regattas for several years. It is a great way to keep in touch over winter and sharpen your skills before the next summer season! Also, experience shows that you can expect good sailing conditions (force 3-4 on average).

Nanuq - interested in building a piece of a real boat ?

2010-10-01T10:40:00.002+02:00
Current situation: It is now too cold in BA5 to cure epoxy and BA5 is anyhow needed for the YCC dinghies from October 23rd. The Nanuq floor boards, bulkheads, kitchen cupboard and roof sections have been moved to winter storage for further assembly in spring.

On October 13th, representatives from Swisspor, manufacturers of the foam core of the composite, payed a visit to BA5 and to CERN. A countervisit is planned in November.

Forthcoming events: During the winter months, we will do the calculations of the rig (shrouds, spreaders, mast profile) and cross-check the mechanical qualities of the composite. Further information on this will be posted.

Photo Contest?

2010-09-27T14:09:00.004+02:00

The committee is looking for a person to organize the 2010 edition of YCC Photo Contest. If you are willing to organize this colourful activity, please get in touch with the President.

Last year's results (announced at the 2009 Closing Dinner) are available here. Finally, if you have taken some YCC-related photos this year and they are available offline, please send the link to Michal to have them added to the YCC Photo Page.

Race training - before season closes

2010-09-22T14:03:00.002+02:00
Thursday training 23rd, and a special, Monday 27th, will include an opportunity of race training, kindly masterminded by Marco Benvenuti (whose daughter Giulia, adjacent, is caught heading for a regatta win this season) and Christian Mester. Turn up as usual for key distribution: optional training for racing happens at 18:45 at the wall regatta mast, for dinghies and Ynglings.
Still one regatta to go this season, or get a head-start on next - and maybe win yourself a beer!

Yngling Swiss Championships

2010-09-02T10:28:00.002+02:00
Marco Benvenuti's extra photo of Sebastian and Yavor, YCC's winning Yngling team from the Match-Racing last weekend, is a convenient way to announce the Yngling Swiss Championships in Nyon, from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 September.

We are not participating, but it should be good spectator sport for all you Yngling fans and new keyholders of this season!

Visit http://www.yngling.ch/sm2010.htm

Match-Racing

2010-08-31T09:15:00.002+02:00
Last weekend saw our annual Match-Races for dinghies and Ynglings: an impressive 7 and 4 teams respectively. Saturday winds good, Sunday less so. Great flexibility from organiser and Q-boat driver, umpire ... (all our thanks) Christian Mester: when a dinghy sail was damaged, he imaginatively swapped those competitors to Ynglings - aren't we versatile!
His particular thanks to his assistant Sanja Damjanovic, a newcomer bravely helping with one of the more complicated regattas to understand, let alone organise! And to all the other welcome volunteers who helped to make the weekend a success.
Congratulations to all the winners: Sebastian Lopienski and newcomer Yavor Konstantinov (see Marco Benvenuti's photo), to Giulia Benvenuti and Martino Ferrario (dinghy winners) and to the Michals (Kwiatek and Ropka): 2nds in both Yngling and dinghy class!
Remember no regatta this Sunday 5th (cancelled as too many potential participants are honing their skills at Wildwind, Greece ...) so see you Sunday 19 September.

YCC at the translemanique en solitaire

2010-08-27T17:29:00.019+02:00
At less than 24h from the starting signal of the Translemanique, Saturday 28-8 at 9.30am, everything is ready for the regatta. A few words from Andrea, the skipper for this event:
"I would like to thank everyone that helped me during these months. There has been an incredible number of people helping with preparing the boat, training, and giving me good suggestions and support. I really think that without the participation of so many club members in this adventure the boat and I wouldn't have arrived prepared for the start. Thank you all! PS for participants to match race: beware there will be a blue surprise crossing the regatta field tomorrow around 11am on a starboard tack and with limited maneuverability :)"

This is the link to follow the regatta live.

Outcome of the naming poll

2010-08-20T22:38:00.008+02:00

Thanks to the 82 club members who participated in the poll! The winnig choice for our new Hobie Tiger catamaran is.. Meerkat.
A comment on the chosen name: besides being the English name for a small mammal, the word meerkat, in Dutch has the literal meaning of 'lake cat'.

New Catamaran naming poll

2010-08-11T12:08:00.005+02:00
Many thanks to all those who sent us their suggestions for a new name for the new Hobie Tiger catamaran.
It is now time to vote for your preferred choice using this link!

Participate in external regattas

2010-08-10T18:43:00.002+02:00
The sailing season is in full swing and so are external regattas. You are welcome to participate!

Already this weekend two regattas will take place:
- Rumfass du lac de Morat (Dinghy, Catamaran)
- Regates du Joran (Surprise)

Then every evening of next week (Aug 16-20):
- Semaine du Soir de Founex (all classes)

Semaine du Soir is very interesting, as every evening race is followed by events on shore in Founex – the village next to Versoix.
Our new Surprise is reserved to take part and you are warmly invited on board.
It is a great opportunity to sail, get that missing manoeuvre practice and then socialise over a glass of wine!

If you like the idea, please check the details in the YCC External Regatta Calendar.
Then use this page to register according to your availability. The deadline is at 12h00 on Thursday, Aug 12.
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For more info, see: YCC External Regatta Pages.

Tiger Triumphs!

2010-08-09T09:55:00.002+02:00

That's not actually the winning team from Sunday's regatta (photo Luigi Gallerani, from previous regatta) but yesterday the Club's new Catamaran Hobie Tiger came a resounding first (with a little help from Marleen van Nes and Ricardo Goncalo), followed by Maarten Schokker (despite a capsize he'd rather you didn't know about - but it was well recovered!).

A fun event all round, thanks Marco Benvenuti and Jenny MacGregor for organising, Tim and crew Wojciech and Carolin for buoy-laying duties, and all those dinghy crews who turned up. A single privately owned keelboat, Nick Ziogas' beautiful racer, was unfortunately DNF so there were no keelboats - what an opportunity we all missed to collect points!

Don't forget the next regatta, the standard monthly, less than two weeks away!

Mini 650 - The Race

2010-08-02T09:51:00.005+02:00

Our club member and Surprise instructor, Rémy Andréan, has taken the start on a major Mini 650 regatta: Les Sables - Les Açores - Les Sables. Three of our club members are following this race from the suport boat. For the rest of us interested in this adventure, we can follow the progress of the race in real time from the web.
Our best wishes of good winds to Remy!

Greece, cruise, early September

2010-07-29T09:13:00.002+02:00
We are pleased to offer this message from an ex-member -
...Dennis Grier, a very old (founder) club member until recently. Along with a friend, Hans Ludin, I was hoping to cruise in Greece for a week or 10 days in early September. Unfortunately the two ladies that were to accompany us have dropped out. Before canceling my charter reservation I thought maybe the club might have two or three members who would like to have a holiday learning a bit about cruising. We have no age or other specification except a desire to sail.
If you know of any candidates please mail me: dennis.grier@bluewin.ch

Tuesday dinghy training

2010-07-15T12:51:00.002+02:00
Every Tuesday from now until nearly the end of the season, training sessions will take place. We have surveillance, so you will also be able to sail a boat without having the key (given that you have some experience with the boat and the person organising the training on that day is fine with it). If you are just looking for experience you can also crew for someone who already has the key. The training is from 18.00 to 20.00, (if you are not on time your place might be attributed to someone else). To enrol, login at https://yachting.web.cern.ch/yachting/cgi-bin/res/training.pl You can enrol or cancel until 16:00 each Tuesday.
For the moment D and ED boats are included (Catamarans maybe, once the courses are finished).
There will also be the possibility for tests, but please ask me about this a few days in advance. See you soon on the lake, Jan Fiete
Photo: Daniel Teixeira, of John trapezing his RS 800 during last regatta.

Saturday dinghy

2010-07-14T12:28:00.002+02:00
A few dinghy candidates have organised a training outing, this Saturday (12:00-18:00). Some places available. Sing up on Doodle below by Friday, 5 pm, so that we can release any spare boats for the use of other club members. Christian, Maarten, Rob and Jenny have kindly agreed to help out on the Q boat and at the landing area. This support gives us a great opportunity to practice and, weather permitting, to have a go at the dinghy test... The weather looks promising: Meteo Suisse forecast a moderate Juron wind (Bf 3-4) and temperatures of up to 31°C. So, bring sun cream, water, sunglasses and a hat. We will be expected to sail a simple course around a designated buoy and within a well defined area for safety and communication purposes.Please aim to be at Moby Dick for 11:45, so we can start allocating boats promptly and get out on the water. Photo Luigi Gallerani, from last regatta.http://www.doodle.com/ebu5dfbuw3dvsgpe

Mic Mac and Translémanique

2010-07-13T10:20:00.002+02:00
Members may like to know that, after considerable discussion, your Committee agreed to an unusual request, from Andrea Messina: to be able to take Mic Mac on the Translémanique en solitaire. He has therefore been authorised to use the boat solo for the weekend of 28 August. He is already working hard at preparing the boat (at his own expense for those necessary extras) and has had offers of help in preparation and training. A very good impression of his efforts already is to be found on his Blog:
http://micmac-andrea.blogspot.com/ . Go check it out and wish him well!

New Boats Naming Poll

2010-07-12T21:32:00.009+02:00
Our latest addition to the fleet, a 18 feet catamaran Hobie Tiger, is eagerly waiting for a name that should be fun and reflect his nature of high performance boat.
Please send your suggestion by mail or post them to the YCC friends facebook group. A poll to vote on the best suggestions will follow.

Sunday regatta

2010-07-09T10:57:00.004+02:00
You too can be out there improving your suntan, Sunday! Don't forget our next internal regatta, come collect points towards winning the seasonal regatta prize, tell everybody how it was your crew that made a mess of the spinnaker ...

Sunday 11th, Buvette at midday to allocate boats: no prebookings, not even previous experience if you like, just turn up, find yourself a team and a boat, go polish the hull and fine-tune your sheets !

Photo: John Fullerton

1 July Regatta, Semaine du Soir, Versoix

2010-07-02T08:33:00.005+02:00
So many Club members are involved in this week's regattas, a photo may almost be superfluous - except it's a nice boat with an impeccable spinnaker! (Photo: David Gold) Very good turn-outs from YCC: Surprises, lots of dinghies (water dotted with "RS" in different iterations), Cats, private boats - plus spectators! Sad to say, the winds have not been too good: Thursday's regatta was brought to a close early, for instance, at 8 o'clock, which at least gave us time to swap anecdotes over a drink. It's a great learning experience: don't forget our internal regatta, Sunday 11th.

Semaine du Soir de Versoix

2010-06-25T21:05:00.006+02:00
Semaine du Soir de Versoix will take place next week. The organization (who races on which boat and on which day), as well as the list of people available to step in at the last moment is available here.

Note that the boats which are not registered for the regatta can be used for courses or leisure outings! And you can join us later for the pizza and discussions of regatta tactics.

Goodbye ResQ

2010-06-21T13:49:00.003+02:00

These two suspicious characters must be the ones who bought ResQ, thanks to a lot of hard work by Francesco Bertinelli, advertising, showing potential purchasers the boat (and getting turned down ..). Yes, ResQ was sold yesterday, and of course ResQII is now well-run in to Surveillance duties. Like these three who gave up a piece of Sunday to YCC Duty, please give a thought soon to what you can do for your Club yourself!

YCC Surprise Match Race

2010-06-08T22:18:00.004+02:00
Don't miss the YCC Surprise Match Race on June 19-20!

If you have your Surprise key, form your team now! If you don't yet have Surprise key, talk to a friend who does! Participating in this event is not only fun, it is a great way to learn regatta sailing and to meet other club members. We will also organize a session in Versoix to explain the rules of match racing so that even beginners can join us.

Click here for more info on YCC internal regattas, and the Notice of Race for the Match Race: http://yachting.web.cern.ch/yachting/Internal/
Click here for more info on past Match Races: http://yachting.web.cern.ch/yachting/matchRace/

More regatta stories

2010-06-03T15:18:00.006+02:00

A mixed-age, mixed-nationality YCC team finished on a very good 5th place in the Coupe du Petit Lac last weekend. Before you check Torkel's report (below), note that we need one more skipper for Bol d'Or on Jun 12-13. Contact Michal.Kwiatek@cern.ch if you are interested!

Now on to Torkel's report from last Saturday:

Regatta: Coupe du Petit Lac
Organizer: SNG
Date 29.05.2010
YCC participation: Surprise "NoName" (NewSU), SUI 702
Skipper: Sebastian Lopienski
Crew: Torkel Alfthan; Andrea Messina; Bartek Pawlowski; Jarek Polok;

We left Port Choiseul at 10.45 and preceeded by motor to Port Noir in Geneva.
The race started at 12.40 in a NE light air, 1-3 kn. On the line were 13 Surprises and also many bigger boats. No. 702 started in the middle of the starting line and the field of Surprises; during the entire race we stuck to the middle of the race course which proved a good choice. The bigger boats disturbed our wind conditions in the beginning, but soon the wind become free. As the fleet approached the first windward mark, the wind gradually faded away, but soon there was a gentle SW breeze – 7-10 kn that was sustained until the finish. Correct tacking decisions as the wind shifted somewhat on the last leg made no. 702 gain a few places. An overall fifth place among 13 finishing Surprises (15 registered) is a highly commendable result. We returned by sail (spinnaker) in a good, increasing gentle to moderate SW breeze (10-12 kn) and moored at Port Choiseul at 17.15. It was an excellent outing!

And the photo of the capsizing catamaran was taken at the time of the regatta, but on a different lake altogether...
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New Boats' Names

2010-06-01T10:13:00.005+02:00
The result of the pool for naming the new boats are the following:

New RS500: Rocket Science
New Q-boat: ResQ II
New Surprise: Mamma Mia

The full poll results are visible at this link.
Many thanks to all those who participated with ideas and their vote. Happy sailing!

Regatta Legends .. Sunday 30th May

2010-06-01T09:22:00.001+02:00
With forecast of rain and strong gusty winds, there was a large turnout of hardcore dinghy sailors, no keel boat skippers and only one crew - who converted to dinghy. Resulting in 6 club dinghies going out, plus John and Sarah on their new rs800, Reiner + crew on his 49er, and our club president Alex nursing a very painful wisdom tooth on his ISO.

The wind was whistling through the masts in the port and out on the water the waves where impressive and at least one dinghy returned to the safety of the buvette, but as a lull in the wind came, they were back out on the water.

The classic banana course was fairly close to the harbour, and dinghies encountered some localized gusting, and even the more experienced sailors had a few capsizes.

Jenny on the rs400 demonstrated again her skills and came consistently first past the start, upwind mark and finish in all the three races.
With the rs800 in second position, third position going to the xenon (missing the kicker) with David and Tim, former keel-boat crew.

There was very tired but satisfied group of dinghy sailors afterwards in the buvette.

A special thanks again to the regatta organiser Jose Gomez Costa who spent the afternoon under the rain, Maarten who jumped in last minute to save the regatta, driving the Qboat and providing essential safety cover (sacrificing sailing in such great conditions) and the two intrepid crew (Rainer and Anton).

Mini 650 adventures in 2010

2010-05-26T11:45:00.005+02:00

Our club member and Surprise instructor, Rémy Andréan, shares with us some updates regarding his preparation and adventures in solo sailing the Atlantic Ocean in his Mini 650 in 2010.
Follow this link to: Soleto-650 May 2010 Newsletter

New Boats Naming Poll

2010-05-22T00:57:00.006+02:00
Three new boats have enriched the club's fleet between the end of 2009 season and the very beginning of 2010.. and they need a brand new name!
Thanks to all those who sent their proposals. It's now time for all members interested to cast their vote. The deadline is May 29th.
Please vote using this link!

External regattas in the next two weeks

2010-05-21T16:07:00.002+02:00
The beautiful sailing weather (at last) is a good occasion to speak about the external regattas that will take place within the next two weeks.

Regatta: Coupe du Petit Lac
Dates: 29-05-2010
Boat type: Surprise

Regatta: Open de la Gruyère
Dates: 05-06-2010 - 06-06-2010
Boat type: Dinghies, Catamarans

Regatta: Genève-Rolle-Genève
Dates: 05-06-2010 - 06-06-2010
Boat Type: Surprise

If you are interested to take part in these regattas on a YCC boat (either as skipper or crew), please contact Michal.Kwiatek@cern.ch.

Note that to skipper in an external regatta, you need to have the YCC key for the given boat, as well as a Swiss Sailing regatta licence.
If you can skipper and you do not have a crew, please let me know, so that I can put you in touch with some people interested to crew.

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See: YCC External Regatta Calendar

Further Regatta successes!

2010-05-18T14:17:00.006+02:00
Last weekend Jenny MacGregor and Maarten Schokker took the RS400 to the first regatta of the FVLJ championship and, competing with 11 dinghies from Friday onwards in a total of 5 races of +/- 45 min, came a very good overall 4th! Winds strengthened Saturday, shortening the plans. Sunday all wind disappeared so all races were cancelled. So we packed up the boat and returned to Versoix! More info and pictures can be found here: http://www.cnty.ch/index.php/news/38/15/Open-des-Deriveurs-FVLJ-Compass-et-Criterium-Corsaire.html
The following race in the championship is in Gruyères on 5th 6th June. We already have 3 teams wanting to participate so if you feel like sailing...More information on the championship you can find here: http://www.fvlj.ch/f/deriveur/regate.php
Note the photo of Maarten and Jenny ignoring others' agony.
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may 20th Thursday outing cancellation and EGA (vf en bas)

2010-05-18T12:53:00.001+02:00
Dear fellow members,
please remark that as announced on may 12th, this thursday (may the 20th) 6-8 pm you are invited to join the General Assembly in the CERN main auditorium (bldg 500) in order to take with us important decisions about the future of the Club (see the may 12th message from the president, see https://apex.cern.ch/pls/htmldb_ycc/f?p=200:24). For this reason the thursday outing has been canceled, and boat usage will not be allowed. You are strongly encouraged to come and contribute to the decision!
the YCC committee

------------------------------------------------------------

Chers membres,
jeudi prochain - le 20 mai - des 6 a 8 heures vous etes invites a participer a l'Assemblee Generale du YCC qui aura lieu dans le grand auditorium du CERN, batiment 500, pour prendre des importantes decisions sur le futur de notre Club (voir le message du president du 12 mai et https://apex.cern.ch/pls/htmldb_ycc/f?p=200:24). Pour cette raison, la sortie du jeudi a ete annullee et les bateaux seront bloques. Vous etes tous pries de nous joindre et contribuer aux decisions de l'Assemblee!
le comite` YCC

Racing YCC boats

2010-05-14T11:07:00.010+02:00
As we write this (14-5) two of our club boats are participating to external regattas. Our best wishes of good wind to both teams! News has come that after 2 regattas YCC's New Suprise is performing well at the Swiss championship, well done!
We can follow their progress at the following link.

New SU

2010-05-12T09:58:00.004+02:00
To all SU skippers, the "horror" picture (thanks Kirill) of the new SU keel shows that she is leading too careless a life already. This is in hand but as more and more skippers wish to take her out, please remember the rules of use: http://yachting.web.cern.ch/yachting/Surprise/2009-Learning-the-new-YCC-Surprise.pdf. We were amazed only this week to discover that a "qualified skipper" did not know that the new furling Genoa jib may NOT be used to reef that sail in strong winds! It is not designed for that and will damage the luff of the sail if so used: please revise your familiarity before taking her out.

General Assembly reminder

2010-05-06T17:57:00.002+02:00
Don't forget that as decided on the November 2009 general assembly, we will have an extraordinary general assembly on May 20th 2010, in the main auditorium at CERN.
The only topic in the agenda is the discussion on whether the YCC should join the Swiss Sailing federation. Detailed information on this topic will be circulated later.
Please consider seriously taking part into this important discussion on the future of our club!
Alex

Your new Q-boat needs you!

2010-05-03T08:37:00.002+02:00
Q-boat drivers, M key holders, we need you! Lessons start this week, we have crews pretty well in hand - but they need their driver!
Photo: Francesco Bertinelli: the new boat and a member of her first crew...
Please sign up to help your club:
http://cern.ch/club-yachting-surveillance

Open des dériveurs FVLJ Compass

2010-04-29T23:59:00.003+02:00
A week after YCC Opening Regatta (scheduled for May 9th) there is the first external dinghy regatta of the year: Open des dériveurs FVLJ Compass, 14-16 May next to Yvonand on the Lac de Neuchatel. YCC dinghies can participate in this regatta!

If you have the time, a team, the D key and a means of towing the boat trailer, please get in touch with Michal.Kwiatek@cern.ch.

One experienced team is already going, so you could use their guidance.

Here are the details of the regatta: Open des dériveurs FVLJ Compass

2010-04-29T07:31:00.002+02:00
Dear YCC Members,
Don't forget you and your family need to sign up now for our Season Opening Event. This will be a brunch in a farm with a vast variety of local products. The farm is located in a beautiful area with plenty of green space!
When: Saturday, 8th of May at 10h in the morning Where: Ferme de Merlinge, 85 Route de Gy, Genève (http://www.fermedemerlinge.ch/index.html) Price: 40.-CHF per adult. Kids up to 5 years are free. From 6 years, the price is 1.-CHF per year (example: 8 years old = 8CHF)
Event registration: please follow this link ://www.doodle.com/7nk66yx2qx7geb6s
Please note that the reservation is mandatory. Reservations will close on Wednesday 5th of May at 18h.Hope to see you all there!
For questions, please contact Patrizia.Azzi@cern.ch
YCC Committee

Q-boat for sale

2010-04-22T07:31:00.002+02:00

Following our purchase of a new Q-boat, our trusty Boston Whaler Montauk 17 (1993) is for sale, at CHF 15,000 with her Yamaha 80 hp engine (2002, 1432 hours). Any member interested? - or please help spread the word to your friends! Contact Francesco Bertinelli, Tel. 076 487 3803, Francesco.Bertinelli@cern.ch

2010-04-19T10:07:00.003+02:00

Thanks to all those (and we were many and early!) who helped launch the fleet Saturday 17th: John's picture shows the tidy view at the end. Note that there is still work to be done commissioning most boats but this Thursday 22nd will already welcome the first Practice - see you there!

2010-04-13T12:37:00.002+02:00
Our very own member, Rachel Hosein Nisbet, notes that this Saturday, 17th April, at 16:00 the English Bookstore, Books, Books, Books (Rue de Mercerie 12, Lausanne) is hosting Alayne Main,the author of Sailing Promise, described by Tom Neale (All In The Same Boat), as 'entertaining, exciting, thought provoking, and inspiring '.
The book recounts the four-year journey she took around the world with her husband in a 33-foot catamaran. She will be talking about the beautiful seascapes, fascinating wildlife and the crazy adventures encountered in her 60,000 kilometre journey.
For more info go to: http://www.booksbooksbooks.ch/events.php

Surprise Swiss Championship

2010-04-06T11:42:00.002+02:00
The Swiss Championship of the Surprise class is scheduled for 12-16 May in Pully (Lausanne). The registration deadline is next week.

With the brand new boat and a brand new set of racing sails, this is a unique opportunity for YCC members!

If you are interested to participate, please send an email to Michal.Kwiatek@cern.ch saying also if you would like to skipper.

Note that all crew members must be available throughout the entire championship.

Outcome of the 2010 YCC Course Lottery

2010-03-26T12:39:00.010+01:00

Many thanks to all participants for their interest in club's courses and activities, there was a total of 215 applicants registered for this year's lottery which was held as announced, on March 24th.

Follow this link to see the outcome of the lottery

Private cruises

2010-03-08T10:56:00.004+01:00

Our fellow club member Detlef, is organizing a couple of very interesting cruises, and has places available for those interested. A few places are still available for the cruise on May 14th till June 4th from Tenerife to La Palma (the boat is a Hanse 400e and it's possible to join for 1 week only). Other plans: September to the Aeolian Islands. Interested? please contact Detlef.Swoboda@cern.ch for further info.

Registration for the YCC course lottery 2010 is now open

2010-02-21T16:32:00.000+01:00

Please take note of the new lottery registration system and the updated course structure for 2010.

For further information you are welcome to the club's permanence on March 8th and March 17th from 18:00 till 20:00 in the atrium of CERN building 40.

Atlantic solo sailing and club's winter evening on 18-2

2010-02-15T09:50:00.000+01:00
Our club member and Surprise instructor, Remy, will share with us some highlights of his adventures on solo sailing the Atlantic Ocean in his Mini 650. He will also present his sailing plans for 2010 and how YCC members can participate in this type of events.

This will also be a good occasion to meet and hear about the latest news from the committee and plans for the 2010 season.
Please fill in this doodle if you plan to come.

Program: CERN, 160-1-009, 18-2-2010, 19:00.

YCC winter team moving up

2010-02-04T22:09:00.007+01:00

You may know that YCC Surprise is participating in "Les Hivernales" winter series organized by the Yacht Club de Geneve. In the race that took place on Saturday, Jan 30th, the team finished 2nd and moved to the 3rd place in the overall classification. With 2 more races to go, we are losing 1 point to the second team. Will we make it?

The next race is scheduled for Feb 13th.

If you would like to participate, or simply discuss your participation in future regattas, please contact Michal.Kwiatek@cern.ch.

Photos | Results of the 3rd race | Results overall after 3 races

YCC Regatta Pizza

2010-01-26T09:54:00.002+01:00

Have you started thinking about the next sailing season? Some of us are meeting to discuss sailing business over a pizza.

On the agenda are regattas and racing in general: tactics, manoeuvres, sails, rules and organisation.

When: Thursday Jan 28th at 20h00
Where: Pizzeria La Meyrinoise (marked as "A" on the map)
Prerequisites: enthusiasm for sailing!

Please join us and send an email to Michal.Kwiatek@cern.ch by lunchtime on Thursday so that a big-enough table can be booked.

Vote in the YCC Photo Contest!

2009-11-19T12:08:00.006+01:00
Have you already voted in the YCC Photo Conest? Exactly 36 photos have been submitted to the photo contest and the level this year is very high! The winners will be decided by you - the YCC members.
Click on the following link to look at the photos and cast your votes: YCC Photo Contest 2009.

The voting is open until 13h00 on Wednesday, 25 November. The results will be announced at the closing dinner on the following day.
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See also: YCC Photo Page

26 November General Assembly and Closing Dinner

2009-11-18T17:41:00.004+01:00
The YCC Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday, 26th November at 18:00 in the Main Auditorium at CERN. Members that do not have a valid CERN access card: the meeting point is at the parking outside CERN at 17:50 sharp, one of the Committee members will accompany you on-site. The notification of the General Meeting can be downloaded here The meeting will be followed by our Closing Dinner, the same evening, in the Smash restaurant, just in front of CERN in the Maisonnex Sports Complex. Please book before Friday the 20th November.

L'Assemblée Générale de l’YCC aura lieu jeudi le 26 novembre à 18 heures dans l'Amphitéâtre principal du CERN. Pour les membres qui n’ont pas une carte d’accès CERN valable : le RdV est sur le parking devant le CERN à 17:50 pile ! Un membre du comité va vous accompagner sur le site. La convocation peut être téléchargée ici. L'assemblée sera suivie par le dîner de clôture, le même jour, dans le restaurant Smash, en face du CERN dans le Complexe Sportif de Maisonnex. Veuillez SVP réserver vos places avant le vendredi 20 novembre.

2009-10-27T15:34:00.004+01:00

Dear Sailors,
As we have announced previously YCC is participating in a cruise on the tall ship 'Pogoria'. We will be racing in the Garibaldi Regatta starting in Genoa finishing in Trapani, Sicily (http://www.sailtraininginternational.org/page.asp?partid=1009), then sail for few days around the Aeolian Isles and finish in Palermo. This is an excellent opportunity to taste life on high seas which does not come by frequently! Can you imagine a starting line with tall ships on it?
The cruise will take place from 10th to 21st of April 2010. Cost of the cruise is CHF900 *not* including transport to Genoa and back from Palermo.
Some of the club members have already signed up for the cruise but we would like for several more to take part. Please email Wojtek by Friday if you are interested."

Photo Contest deadline approaching

2009-10-07T15:24:00.008+02:00

The sailing season is gently coming to an end and I'm sure your memory cards are full of beautiful sailing photos!

Participation to the YCC Photo Contest is as simple as choosing your 4 best photos and sending them by email to Michal.Kwiatek@cern.ch before the end of this month.

Send each photo in a separate email, together with the title, date and place of the photo. Only this year's photos are eligible!

Best photo in each category will be selected by popular vote among YCC members. There will be prizes for the winners!

Check also the rules of YCC Photo Contest
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YCC Photos

Surprise, Surprise

2009-09-30T13:58:00.007+02:00
The long-awaited acquisition - a brand new Surprise - is in Versoix and can now be sailed! She has taken the place of Miss Match and she can be reserved on the standard rules. In fact, some of you have reserved her already!

Please note that:
- the new roller system must not be used to reef the genoa - for strong winds we still have a jib, which is as easy to rig as it used to be,
- you must not step on the fore window, as it is often left open (although locked) to enable air circulation – close it before you start sailing.

Both skipper and crew will learn more by checking the two-page guide: Learning the new Surprise. The boat is immaculate, so no more excuses: leave her as tidy and perfect as you have found her! If you have comments, please send an email to club-yachting-committee@cern.ch.

I wish you to enjoy the new boat (but please show good seamanship when handling her).

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Check: Learning the new Surprise

Dinghy and Yngling match race 29-30 August

2009-08-26T09:00:00.000+02:00
The club's Dinghy and Yngling annual match race will take place the week-end of 29th and 30th of August. If you are interested please take note of the notice of race for further details on how to register your team (note that there are some minor changes from last year's edition).

For new comers to the club, please note that regattas are open to all club members and are really fun events to take part to. Match racing has a special set of rules that put an extra emphasis on strategy compared to fleet regattas (match racing rules are used for America's Cup too, BTW).