black bear yacht racing association

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Phrf black bear yacht racing association.

PHRF BBYRA REVIEW

                                          Yes         No

Rules Published               X

Base Ratings                     X

Minutes Published                       X

Historical Ratings                         X

Full Certificate Available             X

PHRF BBYRA (Black Bear Yacht Racing Association) covers keelboat racing on White Bear Lake, Minnesota.  PHRF BBYRA’s mission “. . . establishes a base rating for each boat using an average of reported PHRFs from selected US Sailing PHRF member clubs as reported in the US Sailing PHRF Handbook. ”

PHRF BBYRA rules

PHRF BBYRA is a basic system using standard rig and hull measurements to establish adjustments.  Base ratings are derived by comparing ratings from “. . . eight (8) reporting fleets in the US on which to establish base handicap ratings for the BBYRA boats. The fleets selected were Chesapeake, Florida Sun Coast, Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, PHRF Northwest, Lake Lanier, New England and Sail Colorado .”

Items specific to PHRF BBYRA are:

Rating Adjustments

Main Sails:  

There is no specific limit to main sail size or girth stations.  The only reference to an adjustment occurs under Rule 3. In part “ Adjustments may be made if aft stay mounting to the mast is altered to clearly allow for a larger mainsail than what is considered standard for the boat .”  There is no published adjustment table.

Jib/Genoas:  

Headsails are assumed to have a Base of 155% LP.  The only reference to an adjustment occurs under Rule 7.3. In part “ Adjustments may be made if forestay attachment to the mast is changed clearly to allow for a larger jib or genoa than what is considered standard for the boat. ”  The only adjustment for a non-standard headsail is “ . . . 3-second credit is applied if the largest headsail registered is a 135% or smaller ”.  No reference is made to boats designed with non-overlapping headsails elect to sail with overlapping headsails.

Spinnakers: 

Spinnakers are limited to the standard 1.8 x J for Maximum Girth and Luff Limit of 0.95 x √(I 2 x J 2 ) (it is not indicated if this only applies to Symmetrical Spinnakers only).  No table of adjustments or criteria for adjustment is listed in the rules.

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The Black Bear Yacht Racing Association Aims for New Prospects with the Message That Fun Comes First

Boat racing on White Bear Lake might sound intense and nerve-racking. Knowing how to hoist the sails, turning the boat to port or starboard side and not crashing into the other racers is a lot to handle. However, the folks at Black Bear Yacht Racing Association (BBYRA) don’t see all this as a complicated mess; they see it as a chance to learn, grow and have fun in the sport of sailboat racing.

It all began in the early 1980s when Lloyd and Muriel Bergquist founded the Brigadoon Yacht Club with the idea that it would be an organization for people who loved to sail and who could try their hand at racing. Having dipped their toes and hoisted a sail in one regatta, the club decided to step things up a notch and changed their name to Black Bear Yacht Racing Association in 1984, while encouraging others to come out and try the sport. “It really started primarily as a social club,” BBYRA member Lisa Klopp Mathewson says. “Over the years it started to lean toward teaching non-racers how to race, and now it is a nice balance between the racing and social aspects.”

With roughly 30 to 50 members, the BBYRA consists of three different tiers of membership, which are social, crew and boat owner/racer, with the biggest being social membership. “The simplest way to become involved is to become a social member,” member Tom Le Vere says. “It is the lowest cost and you get a combination, from young people who can’t afford more than that and want to be involved to the older people who are too old to sail, but still love to talk about sailing and love to be close to the water.”

According to the members, the best way to stay connected to the group is to simply attend any one of their social events. “We have one social a month, all year long, at different restaurants throughout White Bear Lake, and after every race we hang out by the docks or at the VFW,” commodore Cathy Huebsch says.

“One of the cool things about anyone who sails is that there is an automatic common ground that you have and can base a discussion around even if it’s somebody new coming into the club,” Le Vere says. “If they love to sail, love sailboats or love the water, they have something to talk about.”

The club holds roughly 30 races from the end of May through the middle of September on Tuesday nights and Saturday afternoons, with Mother Nature determining the length of each race. “We have a judges’ boat that will determine the course of the race each night based on the wind conditions,” Le Vere says.

Keeping the wind conditions in mind, the judges try to keep the racers out on the water for at least an hour to get their time and money’s worth. However, the racing aspect is not the most important thing to Le Vere or to any member of the BBYRA.

“Being around people with similar interests as your own and being out on the water are the two biggest benefits to this,” Le Vere says. “We are always looking for crew and younger members who are interested or would like to know more about sailing and being out on the water. Come on down on a Tuesday night and just start asking around; we’ll find a place for you.

UPCOMING RACES

Tuesday nights Race starts at 7 p.m. Be there at 6 p.m. if interested in crewing for a boat or learning the finer points for the course that night. Saturday afternoons Race starts at noon Be there by 11 a.m. if interested in crewing for a boat or learning the finer points for the course that day.

Meet at the docks behind the Keep-Zimmer VFW Post 1782, 4496 Lake Ave., White Bear Lake.

To find out more about the Black Bear Yacht Racing Association and how to become a member, visit their website here . Keep up to date with social events and races by visiting the group’s Facebook page .

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• Black Bear Yacht Racing Association, Minnesota, United States

United States

White Bear Lake

Association

Black Bear Yacht Racing Association

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Contact Person

Gloria Drake

The Black Bear Yacht Racing Association is a sailing, racing and social club located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. The club conducts sailboat races, classroom instruction, on-the-water training, and various social events throughout the year.

PO Box 10802

651-426-8403

[email protected]

Contact Person Email

http://www.bbyra.com/

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Black Bear Yacht Racing Association

Keelboat Racing on White Bear Lake

Hi Sailors,

What a great Grand Finale Regatta. Wind all weekend long, if at times a bit stronger and/or extremely shifty. I guess everyone experienced knock-down of some 30-40 degree at times.

While the boats making the podium ware already pretty much determined after yesterday’s races it came down to the last leg on the around the lake race yesterday. A pack of 4 boats pulled ahead early and, from what I could see, rounded the last mark about a minute apart or so. It was pretty far away for me being about half a leg behind.

According to Craig on Hausboat, the clear leader after race 1 and 2, they ended up choosing the wrong side going up-wind and lost quite some time giving Echo and License to Chill the opening they needed to pull ahead. That pretty much sealed the deal for Echo to take the Regatta. The fact that I had the audacity to correct over Hausboat by – get this – 7 seconds corrected di not really make a differences as the tia breaker wood have been the last race when boats are tied on points and there are no scratches.

In any case, it was great to see a good crowd both on the water and at the social.

2024 Summer Race Season ends with Grand Finale Regatta

“Black Bear Sailors Feted At Banquet,” White Bear Lake Press, November 15, 2023.

2023 Award Winners

Keel Boat Racing FYI

Sailboat racing is easier than you think … more

Rules, racing tips and tests: View Speed & Smarts tab. 

Click here for Racing Rules Quiz – used at racing seminars.

Get cut off from a race? File a Protest Form .

2023 Race Season

Race Scores – Click here .

Race Calendar – Click here.

Boats For Sale –  Need a keel boat to sail? Click on link. Or use tab in top menu.

Favored End newsletter link.

“Racing Season Begins on White Bear Lake” ~ White Bear Press (click)

BBYRA 2016 Season video Link

Lake Superior 2016: Small boat cruising on Lake Superior’s North Shore and Nipigon Bay in a Precision 165.

2016 Leech Lake Regatta: Drone footage from a Phantom 4.

“How an All-Woman Sailing Crew Proved the Critics Wrong,” Article published 6/13/2019 in Wall St. Journal. Read  pdf

Documentary ‘ Maiden ’ tracks the 1989 journey of Tracy Edwards, who led the first female crew in the grueling Whitbread Round the World Race See trailer:  https://youtu.be/OMBM10cBhIs

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