July 2, 2009    Billy Johnson died today. Billy was one of the last surviving original members of the Sailing Squadron. A classic, old school, seat of the pants sailor who sailed everything, every place, his absence casts a gloom on Sarasota Bay. He is survived by his wife, Pat and daughters, Susan and Linda. His passing marks the end of an era.   1996 Story on Billy.

June 30, 2009     Chris Stocke and Zeke Horowitz won Laser and Laser Radial classes at the US Sailing Youth Championships in Connecticut. Results

June 11, 2009    We interviewed former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens about Doug Fisher's Friday Night winning streak. The senator expounded at length about whether he thought Doug could continue the streak. Click below for his complete response.

June 5, 2009     Doug Fisher extended his streak of wins on different boats in the FN races. This time it was Randy and Deb St. James' J-80 Claire, winning by 3 seconds over Jerry Wheeler's SR 21 Demon, driven by Miro Kafka. Think you don't have a chance to win a race? Get Doug on your boat Friday night and see if you can end his streak. Results

May 9, 2009     30 boats turned out to sail a 12 mile course at the Sarasota Bay Cup. Doug Fisher's big yellow "XS" passed "Rita B" and "Claire" at the end of the last leg as Valdek Kwasniewski roared into fourth on his Corsair. Many boats finished neck and neck. Results

May 8, 2009     Dave Olson on "Necessary Evil" came out on top of a nice fleet of boats Friday Night tuning up for the Sarasota Bay Cup .

May 1, 2009     Craig Crosley and Doug Fisher brought out a new J-95 for the Friday Night Race and won a close victory over Dave Olson on "Necessary Evil".

April 21, 2009     Another YSP graduate is in the news again. Danny Pletsch has won the 2009 Interclub Nationals in a 55 boat fleet.   More info

April 21, 2009     The Sarasota High School team, led by Chris and Will Stocke, won the Southeast regional qualifier for the Mallory Cup...   more details from Anne Stocke

April 18, 2009    Dave Ettinger on "Mo' Air" was the lone SSS victor at the Shark's Tooth Regatta in Venice. He won Non Spin, the largest class consisting of nine boats.   Results

April 17, 2009     Bill Johnsen, Donna Steele and Tim Miller won the FN race by ten seconds over the boat named for Donna's mom. The Non Spins' race was abandonned because "F" went missing. If you see a Squadron mark off station, please report it to the office.

April 10, 2009     Some new faces showed up for the FN races. Irwin and Brenda Koster with Ron Frisosky were out on "Whoops". Randy and Deb St. James were out on their new J 80 "Claire". Tony Vandenover was out on his sporty Nacra 18. Richard Elsishan took the lead on a long run to J and never looked back. Tom Turner sailed "Freedom" to a win in NS. Kathryn & Paul Garlick won multihulls. Nice 8-12 knot breeze.

April 7, 2009     Nancy Carolen has been chosen as the new SSS manager.

April 3, 2009     Doug Dearden and the "In Tune" crew broke out their old spinnaker to win the first race they've sailed in that class for a long time. They corrected ahead of Richard Elsishan by 18 seconds. Rich Muro on "Blammo" won non spin.   Results

April 2, 2009     From John Domagala: We just learned that our bid to host the Flying Scot Midwinters in 2011 has been accepted. The event is being moved from St Pete YC and will alternate between the Squadron and Southern YC in New Orleans. Thanks to Alan and everyone who helped out with the warm ups held with One Design Midwinters. The great experience our fleet had there helped seal the deal.

March 29, 2009     The Sarasota Sailfest turned out to be a gear buster as a slowly approaching front whipped the bay into a frenzy. Once again, the Opti fleet proved it was the toughest, being the only one to complete a race on Saturday. An onlooker with an anemometer clocked a gust of 40 mph from the dock. Results

March 21, 2009     Seventy seven sailboats from all over the US and Canada competed on a breezy Sarasota Bay last weekend in the Michelob Light Midwinter Championship.

Local sailors won three of the six fleets.

In the 29er fleet, the crew of local youths Dalton Tebo and Dan Goldman jumped out to an early lead in the three day series. They struggled in some of the middle races and then won the last race to clinch a victory in the mostly Canadian fleet.

The 32 boat Flying Scot fleet was by far the largest. Local sailors Jim Egan and Richard Elsishan won the class ahead of Virginian Mike Miller who won a tie breaker over Tallahasseean Jordan Smith. 81 year old Dr. Jeff Pennfield placed a very respectable fifth in this most competitive fleet under conditions that forced many boats to retire.

The E Scow class was won by regatta organizer Jim Barr despite a valiant effort by runner up Bruce Hilton.

Barney Harris from Arlington, Virginia, ran away with the Albacore Class trophy in a fleet that was half Canadian.

In the International Canoe fleet, Steve Clark from Warren, Rhode Island, was testing out a new boat he had just built for a customer in Germany. After a fourth in the first race, he port tacked the fleet to win the second wire to wire. That began a string of bullets that led him to win that class by 8 points.

Two women skippers battled throughout the weekend for the top of the Daysailer Class. At the end, Dede Plessner from Ozoma FL, eked out a victory over Chris Kelly from Dunedin, FL.

Complete Results

March 14, 2009     28 boats turned out on a beautiful spring day with an 8-12 knot southerly for the Pot o' Gold Regatta. Dave Ettinger won Non Spinnaker, the largest class. The Maine Twinems won the Flying Scots. Jason Roznos on Rhumba won Cruising while the crew of Connelly, Revou, Doyle and Clifton won Spinnaker.

February 16, 2009     A large amount of emails and phone calls have been coming in from members expressing concern over the mooring field. The predominant opinion is that we should take Option 1, thank the State for their offer to settle the matter, incur no large, long term debt, avoid opening the SSS to non-members, and proceed with efforts to secure a long term lease with the City.

February 15, 2009     83 Master Laser sailors from Germany, Canada, Dominican Republic and all over the US raced 9 races over the weekend in their Midwinter championship. Brett Davis from Naples, FL won overall.

February 14, 2009     Crews on Jerry Wheeler's SR Max, David Wilson's Hunter 30 and Rudy Reinecke's Beneteau 40 won Spinnaker, Cruising and Non spin classes respectively in the Cherry Pie regatta.

January 28, 2009     At the special board meeting, it was decided that an improved option would be sought from Tallahassee. Unfortunately, the clock is ticking on this time bomb. One onlooker asked if Art Nadel had been involved in disbursing these moorings. SSS had an approved mooring field for 38 moorings. How did over 80 more moorings appear, many over a period of time when a BOD mandated mooring moratorium was in effect? What the costs will be and who will pay them is still up in the air. But in the meantime, SSS is footing the bill to find out.

January 27, 2009    A special board meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow evening to make a decision on whether or not to spend well over $100,000 on the mooring field per year forever. Those who have followed this saga over the years (seePrevious Reports   from November 2006 forward) will remember backers of this project saying that the cost would be less than $20,00, then $50,000 and now $???. Should the SSS be on the hook for mooring charges from the State that mooring owners may decide are too expensive so they simply remove their boats?

The board is taking no input tomorrow but this issue could make or break the future of the SSS. Click here for Jo Dzina letter on the subject.

January 22, 2009     Amazingly, Doug Fisher and crew were back on the water racing XS after repairing the mast.

January 20, 2009     90 minutes before Barack Obama was sworn in as President, approaching the first mark in the first race today at Key West Race Week, the mast of XS broke 10 feet above the deck. Doug Fisher's Robertson 41 was leading PHRF 1 after yesterday's races. Initial reports indicate no one was injured and the boat was under way toward the harbor with sails and remainder of rig aboard.

January 13, 2009     At the monthly Board meeting, many members spoke of the good job Greta Dabringhaus had done as manager. Her resignation was lamented. Interim Manager Nancy Carolan was introduced. The Board and Management have a full plate on the table to deal with Accounts Receivable and Payable and reconciliation with the state of the Mooring Field problem, a sticking point that is holding up any chance of obtaining a long term land lease from the City.

January 11, 2009     The Stocke brothers continue to win honors on the sailing circuit. Chris placed first of 110 Laser Radials at the 2009 Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami December 26-30.   (Results)
Will was featured in the January 2009 issue of Sailing World magazine as one of Gary Jobson's 6 Junior All Stars selected from across the country.

January 1, 2009     A good turnout sailed in the Hangover Regatta in a puffy easterly under sunny skies. Swim Mart was the first over the line. Canadian Barney Edwards in his Albacore probably won on corrected time but nobody knows how to run the QuickScore program. SSS is in dire need of a volunteer to perform this task for our regattas. Contact VC John Huber if you are interested.