Sputnik had another great showing this past weekend in the SBYC Snowbird Series, Race 4, taking 3rd place in the class.

Way to go Sputnik, we will see you out there soon!

Cheers

The latest Moore 24 NW Fleet newsletter is now online!

Go get it now by clicking the image below, or click the newsletter link above for an archive of this and all the other newsletters. Hours of Moore 24 reading!

Thanks to all the contributors, Sean Trew for some awesome photos, and our sponsors Kam Gear and Ballard Sails!

Well done to the fancy red Moore for a second place in division 3 of the Sloop Tavern YC Iceberg Regatta this past Saturday!

With only twenty three seconds between first and second place, we’re guessing it was a fun time. It’s 2012 and Sputnik has put up a great first NW Moore result of the year.

(For those of you outside of Seattle we’d love to hear what your sailing schedule is going to be this year, drop us an email or post to the yahoo group)

Ok, so no actual Moore 24s will be at the boat show, and instead you’ll have to settle for boats that the Moore could blast past (and probably fit inside).

However, rumor has it that Ronnie Simpson, new owner of US 101, will be making an appearance at the Seattle Boat Show to talk on behalf of Hope for the Warriors & Quantum Sails, the sponsors of his 2012 Single-handed Transpac bid. Check it out:

http://www.openbluehorizon.com/index.php/ships-log/14-january-20-2012-huge-update.html

Local Moore available!

Hey all, there’s a great local (Seattle) Moore 24 available for sale now! If you have been interested in joining the fun, now is definitely the time!

Check out the listing at:

http://moore24.org/node/2109

Get on it quick, #114 is not going to sit around long at that price!

Thanks to all who made it out for the Moore 24 NW Christmas party. A good time was had by all, and in between hefting sloopers, we managed to decide on the official NW Trek 2012 Schedule (click here). These are only a small sampling of the great events coming up this year, and if you are planning on taking your boat in other events let the fleet know and see if you can get together a few more Moores!

More Cowbell #124 received a well earned trophy for their win of the 2011 NW Trek. Although the trophy seemed to grow heavier as the evening went along, they lovingly lugged carried it home, and found that it offers the unexpected ability to pacify large animals.

Moore 24 sponsor Kam Gear also supplied some awesome embroidered limited edition Moore 24 Northwest hats for the event. Moore sailors are suckers for things with Moore logos on them, and these hats sold out quickly, providing a great support to some future fleet building activities. Thanks to Kam Gear, local made in Ballard, check em out!!

Click on any of the photos for the full size version.

Today’s an exciting day, and not just because it’s Friday! (although that helps).

No, today is exciting because today represents the revival, resuscitation, and release of the newest Moore 24 NW Fleet Newsletter!!

Read all about the Braden’s epic David v. Goliath battle at Round the County. Get a moment of Moore 24 zen from outgoing fleet captain Doug Archbald, and learn just who this new fleet overlord, erh captain, is who took Doug’s place.

What are you waiting for? Go get all that newsletter goodness, as well as all the back-issues by clicking the newsletter link above!

Thanks to everyone who contributed (and if you didn’t you are next) and also a big thanks to our generous sponsors Kam Gear and Ballard Sails. We hope to get some print copies of this floating around soon.

Congrats to Ben & Jen Braden on Moore Uff Da for a great job at this year’s Round the County Race!

Team Moore Uff Da took second place in division III, behind only the schooner Martha…a boat 60 feet longer than a Moore.

No doubt this sixth place overall finish was done in style with some ribs grilling on the BBQ making the competition jealous. Hopefully we’ll get a full account of the race soon, but in the meantime nice job Uff Da!

PSSC marked the final race on the NW Trek calendar and also our Fleet Championships.  Sailed off of Shilshole in light air in a 6 boat fleet #124 More Cowbell dominated the weekend and took home the Perpetual Championship Trophy for the second time in 4 years.  With this win they also come out on top of the NW Trek standings taking 1st by 1 point over #26 More Uff Da.  With no boats doing all 6 races, only 2 boats raced 5 of them, it came down to having the best throw-outs for this 2 throw-series.  Check out the result totals above for all the placings.

Here is a little message from our outgoing fleet Captain, Doug Archbald

I am delighted to write this email in advance of the PSSC weekend and announce that Julia Wenegrat has agreed to take over as the NW Fleet Captain. I am sure most of you know Julia by now. She and her husband Jacob are the proud new owners of #60 (Moorosaurus), and if you have had the pleasure of meeting Julia you know her smile and her enthusiasm. I think Julia is going to make a terrific fleet captain! Be sure to take a moment to thank her this weekend for taking the job. It is truly a service to us all to have someone like Julia representing the fleet and organizing the sport and the boats we love!

As for my time as the fleet captain, I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who has participated in events, given feedback, written articles, or done all the things that many of you do to support the fleet and its captain. I appreciated all the help and the involvement. I hope that participation will grow in the coming years. I truly value racing in the NW fleet, and it has been great to see us all get better as sailors as we race together. I look forward to many years of great racing in the future.

My final thought relative to passing the NW Fleet torch; the single most important, simple thing that everyone can do to support the fleet captain is to engage in the conversation of the day. Even if all you have to say is that you aren’t coming to an event, take just a moment to jump on the email and let the fleet know that. It lets the fleet captain know that they are working for something that people appreciate, and it builds our identity as a group.

While the tough NW Moore persons challenged the Gorge, Jake Kennedy and I sailed south to Gig Harbor in the Sloop Tavern YC “Down the Sound” event (summer version of the Race to the Straits). Well, we sailed about 3/4ths of the time – we drifted the rest. Drifted and waited, and hoped, and cursed and watch our fortunes rise and fall in the fickle, cruel tides and winds. Actually, the first half of each day was pretty nice with Sputnik right up there with the leading boats (that means we watched and followed Mark Brink aboard the amazing Ladybug) until we ran out of air and into a ebbing tide as we tried to cross the halfway mark on the north end of Vashon island. We didn’t make it – only a few boats did – those with BIG spinnakers (which I once again realized RULE in very light air). So we, and some 40 others, turned motors for a long grind south to Gig Harbor arriving about 8:00 for a nice moorage and really FINE catered dinner. Up Sunday morning looking for OB gas, anticipating another drifter north through the strange tidal currents of Clovos Passage.

Happily, we had a favorable southerly for the start and by playing the east side beach, we were right up there with the lead boats (in a constant tete a tete with the Express 27 Ultimate Reality) with all of us following Lady Bug who began to do another horizon job. We were about the 4th boat to cross the mid-point and exit Clovos Passage. We then had to commit to passing Blake Island one way or the other – the Express went west and we went east into what seemed a building southeasterly breeze. But it slowly died and died and died. The next 3 hours were spent broiling in the sun with collapsed spinnaker watching boats take various drift routes north. Some sailed deep into the Seattle harbor before moving along the Magnolia bluff. That seemed smart – for a while. . . Our spinnaker seldom filled but the boat did move north – or was it just the ebb tide.

The cut off time was 7:00. At 4:30 we were in mid channel opposite West Point. Ladybug was between us and the Point, constantly changing from kite to jib, kite to jib. The Magnolia bunch were static. Three GIANT cruise ships went between us and Ladybug. It was nearing 5:00. We’d been rolling and slating for some four hours in the sun.

So, I invoked my age and suggested to Jake “F… this” and turned on the outboard. Of course, half way back to Shilshole, a northerly began to fill in – although not at first for the fleet camped out back at West Point. As we hoisted the boat out at Shilshole we did hear someone get the finishing horn. (at this writing, the results still have not been posted)! I had conflicting feelings about quitting. However some 17 hours of sitting on the Moore over 2 days, no more beer, dehydrated, frustrated by slop, tides, wind and no wind, it was good to quit. After all, it was just a sailboat race. . .

Steve Bunnell, Jake Kennedy, Moore 24 Sputnik