Photo Credit: Arizona Yacht Club

Sailing Racing Rules Seminar

The world of sailboat racing updated its rulebook this year, sending sailors everywhere to the new books to see what they need to do differently. One of the key changes substantially alters the way competitors have to sail around the marks, expanding the area where they have to give room to a right-of-way boat.

The Arizona Yacht Club has arranged to bring to town one of the people who wrote the rules changes, US Sailing and international sailing rules representative Dick Rose. He�ll hold a three-hour seminar on Thursday, March 19 from 7-10 pm at the Tempe Police Apache Substation, located just east of McClintock on Apache (a few steps from the McClintock light rail station). This is a return engagement for Dick Rose, who dazzled a room of sailboat racers two years ago with his clear, concise, and insightful presentation of the rules.

Besides being one of the principal architects of the international racing rules, Dick Rose is a longtime racer and he writes the racing rules column for Sailing World magazine. No reservations are needed for the seminar, which will cost $10 at the door. More information at www.arizonayachtclub.org

Olympic Silver Medalist Sailor to Speak in Phoenix

One of two U.S. sailing Olympic medal winners will appear at the regular March meeting of the Arizona Yacht Club. Zach Railey brought home a silver medal for his performance in the Finn class at the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, an accomplishment that capped years of preparation for the personable young Florida sailor.

Zach will speak on Tuesday evening, March 10, at 7pm at the 19th Tee restaurant at the Rolling Hills Golf Course in Tempe. There�s no charge to hear Zach�s talk and no reservations are necessary.

Special Showing of Disney Sailing Film

When Roy Disney decided to make a movie about sailing, he pulled out all the stops. The result is a film called Morning Light, a multi-million dollar documentary-style film about a crew of kids recruited to sail Disney�s 52-foot high-tech competition boat in the 2007 Transpac race from Los Angeles to Honolulu.

Now the Arizona Yacht Club has arranged for a special, private showing of the film followed by a Q&A with one of the key players in the project, Disney�s longtime team leader Robbie Haines. The showing will be Tuesday night, April 21, at 7pm at a Harkins theater still to be chosen.

The movie tracks the selection and training of 15 young crew, most of whom were experienced in small boats but none of whom had ever made a major ocean crossing like the one required for the Transpac. Robbie Haines and his sailing experts put the crew through a year of training, welding them into a close-knit team capable of competing with some of the best sailors in the world.

Using video from fixed cameras, from one cameraman onboard, and from a chase boat and helicopter, Morning Light traces the trip across the Pacific, including an astonishing match race with their closest competitor thousands of miles from land.

More information on the film and the Q&A with Robbie Haines will be available on the Arizona Yacht Club Web site www.arizonayachtclub.org No reservations are required and the cost will be $10 per person payable at the door.