Results matching “Aphrodite 101”

BHIR 2010

By Norman H. Martin on September 28, 2010 2:27 PM
September 25th was the Boston Harbor Islands Regatta.  It is a "pursuit" type race around a number of the Harbor Islands.  Almost 100 boats participated.  There were two divisions, spinnaker and non spinnaker.  AVERISERA, led by skipper Elizabeth Lamb, sailed in the spinnaker division to finish fourth in class and 13th overall.  Our fleet finish is ironic as we were bow number " 13" as well.
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Crew of Tom Brown, Francois Asselin, Tara Knowles, Vasily and Nelli Gusev and Norman and Elizabeth pictured at the Boston Sailing Center's pontoons. The day started with the promise of lots of wind.  There was enough, about 10 to 15 knots with gusts to 20.  The sky was blue and filled with puffy clouds.  Fair weather and flat water.  Perfect sailing.

Constitution Yacht Club fared well as the best represented club and as the club with the best finishes.  Richard Tubman on CHARISMA finished first in Class E, non spinnaker.  He was 16th in that fleet.

Special mention has to go to two boats, CLUB CAR, an S2 7.9 that finished second overall, and RUFFIAN, a J30 that finished fourth overall. Credit goes to two boats that finished way up in the pack,  Typically, in PHRF Pursuit Races the last starters are the first finishers... or thereabouts.  The top dozen boats have ratings from -9 to 108.  The S2 rates 168, same as a J24.  A J30 rates 150 and our Aphrodite 101 at 13th, is a 135 rater.  Pretty slow boats to be mixing it up with a collection of boats with ratings mostly under 100!  

Looking forward to 2011

Pictures from the finish area.  Plans for pictures during the race fell apart quickly.  Elizabeth was busy being skipper and kept the crew focused.

IMG_3933.JPGA picture of the finish looking aft from AVERISERA's foredeck.  The Henderson 30, HEART OF GOLD from CYC has just rolled the C&C, MOJITO, also from CYC.  Had the race gone another 1/4 mile, the Henderson would have rolled us for certain.  Fast boats.  (A story for another day but our friend Ryan delivered an H30 from Trinidad to Barbados by himself in 2006.  Brave man and a great sailor.)


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MOJITO, a C&C 35-3 from CYC owned by Tim Goodyear crossed just astern of us.  After dueling all year in the Wednesday night series, it was remarkable to be able to hold them off. It is due, I believe, to the Henderson 30 kite blanketing the C&C.  We were able to stay just out of the Henderson's wind shadow.  Regrets to Tim and crew.

PHRF Pursuit Race tactics are still a new topic of discussion.  It is hard to attack a slower boat which is ahead and defend against a faster boat sailing up from astern.  Clear air rules.  One must look way, way down the track to find the clear air lanes and way way back to  keep clear air lanes.  Big rigs have a lot of advantages.  More discussion on this later!

Awards dinner tonight.


Skinny Boat Thoughts

October 28, 2009 11:21 AM
AVERISERA: Bow-on view. Hauled at Admiral's Hill Marina in Chelsea, MA. The Aphrodite 101 model sloop is uncharacteristically slender for the designs of the late 1970s. The IOR Rule encouraged beamy boats. The designers, Elvstrom and Kjaerluff tried something different, skinny. It worked out all right. There are pros and cons to skinny... and fat. We chose skinny.
AVERISERA
Slack bilges allow her to heel about twenty degrees without too much fuss. The hull bulge above the waterline immerses at that angle of heel and the boat becomes quite stiff. We have learned to reef as the angle of heel approaches twenty degrees. AVERISERA doesn't lose speed with the reduced sail area. The reduction in sail area reduces the leeway angle quit a bit, too. Narrow boats tend to go well in chop. Our boat has mostly dry decks. All good.
Fast reach on Cape Cod Bay
AVERISERA on a hard reach down Cape Cod Bay in winds around twenty knots. The Number four jib (77%) and two reefs are pushing us along at near hull speed. The rail is just at the water's edge. Except for the fog and cold and rain and lightning, it was a pleasant sail.
Home on the water during a rainy day
Drawbacks to narrow boats? Not much room below. Our friends with wider cruising oriented 33 footers have locker for most everything. Oh well...

Cruising to the Maine Rocks Race and cruising home

September 9, 2009 3:18 PM
Maine, September 2009
Mama
Masked bird watcher strikes again.
Bent Pole off Cape Small Point

Every cruise starts with a Plan A. It is fun to check off the objectives as they are reached.
But.... For every Plan A there is a Plan B.
The stuff that actually happens brings unplanned joys.

Plan A: Zachary and Tabitha would cruise for a few days with Norm from Boston to Rockland. A rare treat as the kids are now back East. We all took the opportunity to visit the Maine Coast again. Check. Done. Beautiful. Continuing the Plan A: Elizabeth would meet us in Rockland by auto. The kids would drive the car home. Check. Plan A rocks.

After the kids departed, we planned to attend the Maine Rocks Regatta skipper's meeting, get a good night's sleep, and go double handed racing the next day. The double handed regatta is sponsored by Rockland (Maine) YC and Doug Pope of Pope Sails. Oops! Tropical Inconvenience Danny squashed that plan. Time for Plan B!

Plan B: Dodge Danny and cruise home in a sedate manner. Then: "ping." Oops! Plan C?
The starboard lower shroud chainplate failed. We used a few vacation days to fix it. A tip of the hat to the technicians at Journey's End Marina, Rockland, ME. Then, we had a comfortable cruise home. Check! Plan C rocks.

The essence of a good cruise: a quiet mooring and a hike ashore. AVERISERA in Seguin Island Harbor, Maine.

Zachary and Tabitha sailed with Norm from Boston to Rockland Maine via Monhegan Island, Tennants Harbor, and North Haven Island to Rockland, Maine. It was a treat to have the "kids" aboard. Monhegan Island anchorage in the background. We sailed overnight from Boston arriving at the anchorage early in the morning. Got a mooring assignment and had breakfast, a walk ashore, and lunch. Nice walks. Lots of art. Harbor Master, Sherm Stanley, is a fine fellow with good advice and some nice moorings. The harbor is inclined to be rolly...

Departed mid afternoon for Tennants Harbor. Got in just in time to score showers at Lyman-Morse Marine. Dinner at Cod End. Best fish cakes in the world! Mosquitos are of heroic proportions, as well. Showers + Dinner ashore with mozzies = Cruising at its best.
A whimsical house in North Haven overlooking the Fox Island Thorofare and the yacht mooring field.
Z + T + N at the town dock in Rockland. All cleaned up and pretty for mama to come aboard. Hard to imagine that a few hours later the rain and wind from Danny would start.
Motoring from a bouncy mooring in Rockland to a quiet mooring in North Haven.

It seemed to be raining a foot an hour. The wind wasn't strong but the rain came down hard. Averisera had arrived in Rockland at mid-day on Friday. That evening, we had a nice get together with the Maine Rocks Race sailors. Everyone was at the Rockland YC even though the race had been cancelled. Great gathering of sailors and sea stories. By early morning, Saturday, we were bouncing around on our mooring waiting for daylight. Waiting for visibility to make our break. Seems Danny had advanced on us by twelve hours. Oh well...

Clearing after Danny.
North Haven Island
The honeymooners (haha) hitched a ride to the market on North Haven Island, provisioned, and walked home. Nice place, friendly folk.
Sailing out of the Fox island thorofare about an hour before "Ping!" Uh oh...
One of the two attachment bolts let go. We replaced all chainplates. Why take a chance?
The missing nut.
Elizabeth making repairs.
During our stop in Rockland at Journey's End Marina a super yacht captain, Mike, who stopped by to visit. He owns a San Juan 33, in Florida. It is a near sister to Averisera. Seeing us cruising our little boat reminded him of his "Eagle 1." He longed to get out cruising on his boat after working on the 111 footer, Adrianna, pictured. We think cruising on our boat is pretty nice, too. Later, we saw Adrianna and Mike in Boothbay and in Boston. This picture is at Carousel Marina in Boothbay. A favorite stop for Averisera. Later, Mike emailed us a picture of his baby. Beautiful. It is interesting to recall the many friends we make during a cruise.
Baltimore Clipper, "Pride of Baltimore II" sailing out of the harbor as we arrived that evening. We took pictures of her. Their guests took pictures of beautiful Averisera.
A perfect day of sailing from Long Cove/Tennants Harbor to Boothbay.
Long Cove near Tennants Harbor is a quiet anchorage. We shared the space with a 1914 built English yawl, Cooya. The couple said they had cruised her over 20 thousand miles without incident. They may be in Boston this winter. All through the trip, we met and had conversations with interesting sailors.


Seguin Light House from the top of the island. The light keepers are an interesting couple from Maryland. They lived on the island all summer maintaining the grounds and giving tours.
Mama seeking shelter from the hot sun. We both have tan lines under our wedding bands!
Back in Boston, we encountered a BSC Beneteau 343 sailing out. Big swells from an overnight Easterly rolled through Massachusetts Bay.
More photos are in the Facebook album.
Aphrodite 101 specs at http://www.aphrodite101.com/

AVERISERA Cruise of 2009

August 3, 2009 1:08 PM
June and July, 2009:


BANANA SPLIT, a Lagoon 440, in Morehead City.NC. Norm's last job as a sailing instructor was aboard this boat in June. The first leg of the trip to Newport was BVI to West Palm Beach via San Juan. This leg, the catamaran was sailed from North Carolina, outside of Cape Hatteras to Newport, RI. Most of the trip was upwind in a full gale. Exciting! The NE gale presaged the season, to date. Beautiful days punctuated by strong winds, hard rain and bright lightning.

Home from the work of sailing. Time now to enjoy the pleasures of sailing for pleasure.

East Boston, MA: A view from AVERISERA of the Piers Park waterfront. The Tartan 30 belongs to the Piers Park Sailing Club. We sail out of an attractive area.

East Boston, MA: Another view of the park. Often we see wedding parties doing their photo-shoots here. It is a beautiful place reconstructed by Massachusetts Port Authority about ten years ago from old and abandoned rail yards and warehouses.

Getting ready.
AVERISERA hauled for new bottom paint plus a wash and wax of the topsides. Ready to go for a cruise to Newport and the New England Solo-Twin Regatta. She was both shiny and fast. Thanks to Boston Sailing Center for hauling and launching services.

Gone Cruising.

Drying out at Newport Yacht Club. The trip to Newport was generally a wet from rain event. AVERISERA dried out and cleaned up nicely in an afternoon. We arrived in driving rain. Awoke the next morning to a sunny day and got right to work with cleaning chores.

Buzzards Bay: Sliding along gracefully under the 1.5 oz. spinnaker, on our way home from NEST.

Cape Cod Bay: Elizabeth completed her first head sail change by "peeling the 4 inside the newly set 3." Well done. We have talked about changing over to hanks on the jib. A winter sail repair project?

The Aqua Grille Restaurant in Sandwich. We arrived in time to be greeted warmly and served a sumptuous meal of tapas.

Skinny boats are pretty. Some examples:

Camden, ME: A Peter Norlin designed Avance 33, PEGASUS of Marblehead. Very similar to the Aphrodite 101 but with more headroom. Also, very much like the Abbott 33, SHEARWATER, that won our class at NEST. There is something attractive about those ten meter long boats from the Baltic regions.
Castine, ME: Another skinny Scandanavian design, Steve White's 50 foot VORTEX of Brooklin, Maine. Norm sees her in the Caribbean. Next year... AVERISERA in the Caribbean racing circuit? Steve agrees, the conditions are perfect for our boats.

Why no pictures from the race? "We are pretty busy," is the short answer. The race started in strong winds, 20+ knots from the NW. Busy. We shared a starting area with a Swan Regatta. Busy. Averisera shot out of Newport harbor at 8 knots with a full main and Number 4. Busy. Tacking around Block Island against the current in a dying breeze. Busy. A long run in light air and a left over sloppy sea. Still busy. A long beat home with lightning approaching. No rest yet! Finish. Finally. Fourth by a few minutes to friends on Palangi. Momentum was second and Shearwater first.

More to follow.

Fall CPM completed

October 14, 2008 9:45 AM
9-13 October 2008 aboard Melissa.
The Crew: Tom at Weepecket Island after a swim.

Elizabeth before her swim at the Weepecket anchorage.
Chris using the lead line, "Dunker Plongee," off Kettle Cove on Naushon Island.
A week ahead of the course's start date, the weather looked awful! In New England, things can change. Change they did... we had the most pleasant cruise, gentle winds, warm days and chilly nights illuminated by a nearly full moon shining through a clear sky. Stunning.


MELISSA, at the dock in Menemsha. Our neighbor, Bob, on his Tartan Ten, "Fiddlin in the Wind" came over for dinner. Elizabeth's famous flounder pie with several side dishes, Bob's jug of wine, and a few hours of great story telling completed a fine night. The next evening, we were alongside Bob at the Black Dog Wharf where we dined ashore at the restaurant. More stories... Cruising adventures.
The beach at Weepecket. The tiny figure on the beach is Christopher. Rugged fellow... he swam ashore to explore.

Vineyard Haven images. Not visible are Bob of Fiddlin, Elizabeth of Melissa, and Charlene Douglas of Mac Nab jamming with violins at the end of the pier. Music as the sun set. The Douglas' sloop, Mac Nab is out on the harbor undergoing engine repairs and testing. Bob and Charlene were prepping for their end of season cruise.

Bob's T-10 at Menemsha. The T-10 is a Sparkman and Stephens design modeled after the Aphrodite 101. Averisera and Fiddlin must find time to rendevous next season.


Last year... Norm at rest off Little Bay, Tortola. In a few days it is back to the BVI for Norm

Melissa at rest in Boston.

Averisera Crew Shirts

By elizabeth on April 15, 2008 11:33 PM

I thought I should post a picture of our very stylish (we think so) crew shirts. My brother-in-law, a T-shirt graphic artist, did the art work. We love our shirts. So does the crew.

On the back, he has screenprinted the line drawing of the Aphrodite 101.



Deni works at Merchant Direct. We were very happy with the screenprinting and the quality of the shirts. Look for us on the race course.





Wait, wait, what is this? A crew shirt on a catamaran, in the Caribbean???? Who could have left this draped over a salon berth??? Norman? Wut?



Such a hard life, teaching sailing in a tropical paradise....



Say Hello to the Ruddy Turnstones. They should be arriving here in Massachusetts in very short order.

Boat Dimensions

May 21, 2007 10:19 PM
Averisera is an Aphrodite 101. The design, as originally conceived was 10.1 meters long. Because of a boat tax thing in Europe, the hull was shortened to 9.95 meters. In practical terms the boat is 30 feet from the headstay to the backstay, 8 feet wide, has a draft of 5 1/2 feet and headroom of about 5 feet. Averisera is small by any measure.

Our sail area and displacement are similar to a J30 or a Tartan Ten. Our PHRF (Mass Bay) rating of 141 is also similar.

We are familiar with both types of craft and picked the Aphrodite 101 because of what we call the "pitter-pat" factor. The darn boat make us smile like no other boat. Kestrel in Bellingham, WA was the first one we saw. Love at first sight?

To date, nothing has popped up to make us wish we'd chosen otherwise.

The Aphrodite story is found at: http://www.aphrodite101.info/
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