Notice to OPO Mariners, December 1, 2007
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Hank Schmitt, P.O. Box 2032, Halesite, NY 11743
631-423-4988, 1-800-4PASSAGe, Fax 631-423-9009
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Editorial
We have had a long relationship with Nautor Swan Yachts over the years. For the past three years I have been trying to convince Swan to Promote our free crew networking service to Swan owners. Working through the Swan brokers and the US office has had some success, but the real way to get the word out is by networking and getting to know the Swan owners. We are pleased to announce that we have finally broken that glass ceiling. Buying a Swan was the key (or hammer). There has always been an American Swan owners Group, but the group has been fairly in-active since 2004. That is changing with the new year and a new board has taken the helm and will be promoting events and new services to the American Owners and the web site will be up and running once again by the new year. Not only has the group reformed, but I am one of 4 people on the board and we have received approval to list our service to the Swan owners on their site and in the first letter going out to all Swan owners after Christmas this year. I have also proposed having a special Swan Division in next years' NARC Rally which will hopefully lead to a lot more free opportunities to sail aboard a Swan. I trust all OPO members realize how big this new program may become and how it will bring OPO members a lot more great opportunities aboard a Swan and lead to some good contacts for our members.
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New OPO Gold Card Membership
Since 1998 I have made the annual trip from Newport to St. Martin aboard a Swan. Since 2000 I have been making the round trip running the Offshore Swan Program sailing the Swan Charter Fleet between Newport and St. Martin In 2004 we bought a Swan 48 that we have been campaigning in the Winter Caribbean Racing circuit ever since.
We have also participated in the last two Swan American Regattas in Newport, The past two Swan Rendezvous' in the BVI's and this year we are going to the Swan Worlds in Sardinia Italy
All this has put us in the unique position of having a good relationship with both the American Swan Owner's Group and the American Swan representatives and brokers here on the East Coast. A relationship that will soon allow us to offer our OPO crew networking service to Swan owners, first in the US and hopefully later all over the world. However we need to be careful implementing the new OPO membership Gold Card membership to make sure we only send qualified, courteous, neat and reliable crew to Swan owners and their skippers.
After the 1st of the year a number of OPO members will be notified and mailed a new Gold Card Membership card. Gold card members will fill out a new short form résumé sheet and will need to sign and return the OPO "Code of Conduct". All other members with not enough offshore miles or whom we have not met yet will have the opportunity to rectify this and become a new Gold Card member in the future.
There is no extra cost to becoming a gold card member this year. Gold card members will get e-mails about opportunities to sail aboard a Swan in addition to all the regular OPO notices. It will take us a few months to get the program going and get the word out to all the Swan owners. We want to have a base of 50 to 75 OPO members that are interested in sailing aboard a Swan for free. After the program is up and running the annual dues in September will be a bit more than regular OPO membership. There is added value to being able to sail aboard Swans of all sizes and to get the chance to make connections with full time Swan skippers and owners that may want to invite you again or for a regatta.
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NARC Rally Report
This was an interesting NARC Rally this year. We had to deal with tropical storm Noel while she was churning away in the Caribbean before our scheduled departure. We took the wait day by day, but the delay turned into a 6 day marathon of waiting and shopping and drinking in Newport. Noel did indeed turn into a hurricane and crossed our intended path between Bermuda and the States so it was very good that we waited. One boat, not in our fleet, did head south from Long Island and got in trouble, called the Coast Guard who diverted a ship to go get them. Climbing up the cargo nets, 2 of the 5 crew, fell back into the water and died. We will probably see this in Soundings publication next month, but is a good lesson in always staying with your boat unless it leaves you.
We departed 7:00 am Sunday morning with about 25 to 30 knots from the north and had a good days run to the Gulf Stream which turned out to be a non-issue. We did have about 28 to 30 knots for a day on the way to Bermuda, but the fleet arrived with little problems. Most boats stayed a day or less in Bermuda to stay on schedule with the privately owned boats with more time staying a it longer.
The next leg south was one of the better ones of the last 10 years (yes I have made the trip every year since 1998 on a Swan) making the trip in 5 ˝ days and very little motoring with the wind behind us most of the way. Even with the delay crew that had flights to catch were able to make their flights although a few chose to change the flights so they could make up for the missed drinking in Bermuda.
For a short while I thought I might not run the NARC Rally next year since we will be in Europe, but with our breakthrough with the Swan Owners Group and a second look at the calendar I have decided that we can still organize the event and fly back from the Med for a couple of weeks to make sure there are a fleet of boats looking for OPO members to sail south with them. The dates for next years Rally is to depart Monday October 27th.
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Winter & Trans-Atlantic Swan Opportunities
Trans-Ats - If you want to lock into a Trans-Atlantic or Winter Swan Opportunity you should decide soon. Avocation is already full for the trip to Europe in June and there are only three berths left for the ARC Rally next November. I know it is a long way off, but some people can plan that far ahead and they are signed up. We also have two Swans sailing from St. Martin to Europe departing about May 22nd. The Swan 46 with Gareth Hughes as skipper is sailing to Palma via the Azores and plan to be there by June 1st. The Swan 37 Coscoroba (Spanish for Swan), which I delivered to the Caribbean from Newport three years, is also departing St. Martin and sailing to Barcelona Spain. I hope to hear from OPO skipper Charlie Doane of Sail magazine soon to finalize his role as skipper. Most likely Charlie will make you famous by writing an article about the trip. He made the passage from South Africa last January with me and the article will be in the January Issue of Sail magazine which should be out on the news stands in a couple of weeks. Both opportunities cost less than sailing aboard Avocation, with the 46 costing $4000 person and the 37 only $2500 per person for over a month of sailing. These two trips include everything except your airfare and you only need a $500 deposit to secure a berth.
Trip North in May - It is also early to thinking about the May 11th return trip aboard Avocation from St. Martin to New York, but this two week passage opportunity has only two berths left so you may want to secure a berth now with a $500 deposit. The return trip costs $2365 which includes everything except your airfare.
Relaxing sailing vacation - The two charter weeks we mentioned in the fall are also full with 4 or 5 OPO members signed up for each week. I have added a third sailing opportunity later in the winter since theses filled up so quickly. It is a bit longer than the other two and will start in St. Martin on Saturday March 22nd and last until the start of the BVI Regatta Monday March 31st. This 10 day trip is only $1300 per person, plus a share of the expenses for the ten days. If you want you can also stay and sail with us for the BVI Festival and Race Regatta which would take you to the following Monday April 7th. If you wanted to really make a go of it and then sail back to St. Martin so you can fly to and from St. Martin on a round trip airfare then you could sail back with me and the boat and fly back from St. Martin a slate as April 8th.
Race Regattas - We have only three berths left for the Heineken Regatta March 3rd to 10th. We once again have sail maker Mark Washeim aboard to help run the crew and teach about racing and sail trim. There are more berths for the BVI Regatta the 31st of March to April 7th and the Antigua Sailing Week from 26th of April to May 3rd. Two or three crew can add a couple of days to both ends of Antigua Sailing Week and fly into and out of St. Martin and sail to Antigua and back with me. There is no extra cost for the added days. Heineken and Antigua costs $2200 and the BVI regatta costs $2000 and includes a place to stay either ashore or on a support boat whichever works best for that regatta. You only need to send in a $500 deposit now and the balance is not due until 30 days before the regatta.
Avocation is a very compeative boat and we do more than sail around the bouys. We have even had podium finishes and a couple of near misses over the years. You do not have to be a racer to join us since we have a couple of days to practice and all you need to do is learn your one or two positions. Racing is a great way to learn and practice sail trim and to get used to be close to other boats. It's also the real deal, Big Boat Caribbean Racing. We hope you will think about joining us.
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