Fleet is pleased to announce the inauguration this year of the Ice Breaker Series, which replaces the keelboat practice racing at the beginning of the season.
So what is the Ice Breaker Series, and why is it being introduced? Traditionally, launch date at both NSC and BYC has been the first Saturday in May, and Interclub keelboat racing has begun on the Tuesday immediately following launch. However, the Interclub racing program cannot begin until the gates are out at BYC, and so, in 2007, NSC began hosting practice racing on Tuesday and Thursday evenings until the BYC Race Committee and competitors could make it to the race course, in those years when the gates had to remain in place due to high water levels. Then, beginning in 2012, practice racing in the week following launch was included in the schedule, regardless of whether or not the BYC gates were out.
In 2013, the water levels were at near record levels and the BYC gates remained in place until June 5th, which meant that our Interclub racing program got off to a really late start. And that slow start seemed to impact the whole season, with general racing attendance being down across the board. To counter the negative impact of a late start to the racing season due to BYC boats being landlocked by high water levels, several directors proposed the idea of a pre-season series for NSC boats. Hence, the idea of the Ice Breaker Series was born.
After some thought and debate, it was decided that the Ice Breaker Series will be scored like any other Interclub series, and will be open to all boats registered for PHRF, JAM and One-Design Interclub racing. The series will use the same format as has been used for the practice races run since 2007, and will continue until the BYC gates are removed, at which time the regular Interclub Spring Series will begin.
The Ice Breaker Series may be as short as one race, or if water levels remain as high as they did in 2013, it could run for 5 weeks (or more). NSC will present keepers for the top three in the Ice Breaker Series. It is hoped that by making this racing an official series*, it will encourage boats to get an early start to the season, and avoid the very slow start experienced in 2013.
Planning for this series actually began in the spring of 2013, and the plan solidified over the winter of 2014. Now, with the recent decision to postpone launch a week, Fleet faced the dilemma of whether to also postpone the start of the Ice Breaker Series. The decision was made to not postpone, so the first races of the Ice Breaker Series are scheduled for May 6th and 8th.
*Note: the Ice Breaker Series will actually consist of 3 separate fleets/series: Tuesday night PHRF (all boats start together), Thursday night JAM (all JAM boats start together) and Thursday night PHRF (all PHRF boats start together). Sailing Instructions specific to the Ice Breaker Series are found in Part G of the SIs.