GREAT CIRCLE RACE 2010

March 5th & 6th, 2010

Mobile Yacht Club

• PHRF and Portsmouth Cruising Classes
• Registration Friday, March 5th @ MYC 5:00 pm till 7:30 pm
• Skippers Meeting at 8:00pm
• Warning Signal Saturday 6th, 10:55am
• USSA Members $25.00
• Non-USSA Members $30.00

This will be a one race event and the skipper decides which way to round the island!!! Come join us!!

(1) MYCC Certified MSD Inspectors (aka Special Agents) are:

(2) Fees for service are

(3) Inspection location restrictions for MYC Special Agents are as follows:

(4) Scheduled inspections will be done on a first-come, first-served basis. However, MYC Special Agents may perform inspections at their convenience at any time.

(5) MYCC Certified Inspectors are unpaid MYC volunteers who receive no financial consideration for their time or efforts.  They are performing this service on behalf of the yachting community and the MYC Cruisers. Our Special Agents have been certified by the State of Alabama and have a legal obligation to perform all inspections professionally and legally.

(6) If you do not see a MYC Special Agent working the harbor during the hours shown below, please make contact on VHF channel 68 or inquire at the clubhouse.

(7) No fines will be given by MYC for non-compliance and no information regarding the condition ofyour vessel will be given to any governmental agency.

(8) Inspection stickers expire on September 30th annually.

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The Mobile Yacht Club sponsors and participates annually in numerous regattas, which are described below. Those individuals interested in participating, or seeking participants, may post their name and contact information in the enclosed link, Available Crew. Notice of Race Events and race results from MYC sponsored events can be viewed below.

• Thursday Night Fun Races – These fun races are open to all sailors, casual (no spinnakers allowed) and there is no entrance fee. This is a great time for all people interested in sailing, amateurs and experienced sailors alike, to enjoy racing at a leisurely pace and watch beautiful sunsets on the bay. The race features a “Bermuda start”, which is a start based on the boat’s handicap rating and ensures exciting finishes since all boats (theoretically) should finish at the time time! The course is approximately six (6) miles around established channel markers. Races are held each Thursday beginning and ending with Daylight Savings Time. Weekly winners receive a prize, and at the end of the season the overall champion is announced. Thursday Night Fun Race Instructions & Course
• Senior Bowl Regatta - Sailing enthusiasts from throughout the Southeast gather each year to officially kickoff Senior Bowl Week festivities, and the start the sailing race season (the Senior Bowl Regatta serves as the first two races of the Mobile Yacht Club’s Winter Race). All participants receive T-shirts and jackets and the overall winners also receive tickets to the Senior Bowl football game. The Regatta winners also receive the Perpetual Senior Bowl Trophy, a grand silver wine cooler engraved with all of the past winners of the Food World Senior Bowl Regatta.
• Winter Series Races - The Gulf Yachting Association’s premier winter racing event kicks off with the Senior Bowl regatta above and is followed by two more weekends of racing. This Series offers some of the best competitive and challenging racing on Mobile Bay. The Series offers trophies for each race and an overall winning skipper in each fleet will have his or her name placed on the Perpetual Trophy.
• Great Circle Regatta - This fun race provides skippers with relief from onerous sailing instructions. They are: “After the start, sail around Gaillard Island – any direction you choose – then finish.”
• Norton Brooker Broken Triangle Race - This regatta was formerly known as the ADA Broken Triangle Race and is the Club’s premier charity fund raising event. In 2006 the regatta name was changed to honor past commodore, and GYA commodore, Norton Brooker. A silent auction is held the night before this regatta, which annually raises several thousands of dollars. Participate receive T-shirts marking this event.
• Round-the-Rig Regatta - This regatta, usually beginning at 4:30 p.m, is the only potentially overnight race on Mobile Bay. The course is simple, race from a start near MYC to around the Exxon Mobile Bay #63 Natural Gas Rig, near the tip of Dauphin Island, and back.
• MYC Anniversary Regatta – The Club’s premier regatta is held in honor of the founding of our Club.
• Dauphin Island Regatta - arguably the largest single day point to point sail race in the U.S.A., the Dauphin Island Regatta has endured since 1957 through the continuous support of the four Mobile Bay yacht clubs that rotate as host. Annually, hundreds of boats with over a thousand crew members participate in this weekend regatta which heralds the end of winter. The activities begin with a warm-up race held the Sunday before the regatta. Typically the actual race weekend begins the last weekend in April with the race starting in the middle of the bay and finishing at Dauphin Island. The Saturday evening features a party on the island highlighted by the race awards ceremony. A return race on Sunday concludes the regatta.
• Area D Quarter Finals - There are ten “Areas” in the United States. “Areas” have a representative on the Board of Directors of the United States Sailing Association and the same individual serves as a member of the Council of Sailing Associations, an important representative body within US Sailing. The Mobile Yacht Club is proud to Area D quarter finals, which represents more than 160 sailing organizations in the southeast and includes the following Associations:
  • GYA – Gulf Yachting Association
  • DIYRA – Dixie Inland Yacht Racing Association
  • FSA – Florida Sailing Association
  • SAYRA – South Atlantic Yacht Racing Association
• Summer (One Design ~ Capdevielle) Race

Sailboat cruising is yacht racing’s more relaxed sibling, where the concerns are not for speed and competition, but for voyaging, exploration and fellowship – sampling different areas, or just cruising over to the next harbor, river, bay or cove.  Cruising . . . the passage . . . the landfall . . . the adventure!

The Mobile Yacht Club Cruisers (MYCC) mission is to get MYC members and their boats out on the water by participating in a variety of boating and cruising activities that appeal to those with varied levels of boating interest and experience.  All MYC members, power and sail boaters alike, as well as club members who don’t own a boat but love the water, are welcome to join MYCC.

JOIN US FOR OUR NEXT CRUISE!

The MYC Cruising Committee develops and executes programs and activities for Mobile Yacht Club members that educate and benefit our cruising community.  Those activities may include cruises, sailboat races geared toward cruisers, training classes, educational seminars, courtesy vessel inspections, banquets, parties and social events.

MYC Cruisers are fortunate to have so many different environments in which to experience the joys of cruising; blue water, ICW, bays, sounds, and rivers. Within easy reach from MYC are no less than five U.S. and Civil War era forts to explore, numerous opportunities to drop the hook and go to the beach, and a wide array of marinas, harbors and anchorages.  Yacht cruising is not the preserve of the rich and famous, anyone can experience its unparalleled feelings of freedom and natural wonder but be prepared – it can easily take over your life.

To join MYC Cruisers, an application form should be completed. Membership is not required to participate in the cruising activities, but the MYCC Committee maintains communication with the cruising members regarding upcoming events and completing the application provides us with the information we need to contact members and plan cruising activities. Those participating in MYC cruising events should also refer to the Standing Cruising Instructions.

To see a calendar of cruising events, click here. For more information about MYCC, contact the MYC General Manager at (251) 471-3131 or manager@mobileyachtclub.org.

To assist MYCC members in planning and preparation for cruising, the following documents are available in printable PDF format. Please click on the document name to the right to view the document.

Popular destinations for overnight and extended cruising from MYC include:

• Surrounding GYA affiliate yacht clubs
• Gaillard Island
• The Mobile River delta
• The Grand Hotel
• Dauphin Island
• Sand Island
• Mississippi Sound cities of Biloxi, Gulfport, Bay St. Louis & Long Beach
• Mississippi barrier islands including Petit Bois, Horn, Ship and Cat
• Louisiana destinations including the Chandeleur Islands, New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain
• Alabama inland waters of Ingram’s Bayou, Pirates Cove, and Orange Beach
• Pensacola area waters including Redfish Point and Pensacola Bay
• Florida panhandle cities of Destin, Fort Walton Beach and Panama City

As an MYC Cruiser, you can use your GYA-affiliate yacht club reciprocity to berth in GYA yacht club harbors to get in a little “landlubber” time. The following GYA member clubs offer reciprocity to Mobile Yacht Club members. For more information, please visit www.gya.org or the GYA member yacht club’s website.

*Charter member yacht clubs of the Southern Gulf Coast Yachting Association organized in 1901 and reorganized in 1920 under the Gulf Yachting Association. ** Charter member clubs of Gulf Yachting Association. *** Both.

The Mobile Yacht Club welcomes you to our web site! This site is dedicated to providing current information about the club and associated evnts.

Located approximately 5.3 miles south of Interstate 10 on Dauphin Island Pkwy in Mobile, Alabama, the clubhouse stands just north of the mouth of Dog River facing Mobile Bay. The clubhouse is located 20’ from the water’s edge and offers panoramic views of the bay and its water based activities.

The Mobile Yacht Club sponsors and participates in numerous regattas. The Club is actively engaged in various sailing programs and local schools to encourage youth participation in the sport of sailing. Additionally, the Club maintains a fleet of Flying Scots, Club 420’s and Optimist dinghies for membership’s use in day sailing or competitive racing.

In addition to sailing, the Club provides a friendly atmosphere for social gatherings and camaraderie. Our friendly staff offers a comfortable dining experience for all members and guests. The full service restaurant and bar will cater to your individual needs in the spacious dinning area, or prepare to-go snacks for when you’re cruising on the bay. Along with your unique dining experience, the Club hosts live music and other social activities on a routine basis. The women’s organization, Bay Gales, has been instrumental in enhancing the fun, growth, and sense of community within the Club.

The harbor is located behind the club house in a well-protected bayou off Dog River. The harbor has been dredged to a depth of 8 feet at low tide. City water and 110 volt electrical power are available. Transient slips are furnished on a space available basis. Our slips are regularly filled at 90% capacity.

AGoverning Board, elected by the membership, is charged with maintaining the business, financial, and operational matters of the Club. The Board consists of a Commodore, Vice Commodore, Rear Commodore, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, and Treasurer; plus six Directors at Large. Members are encouraged to actively participate in club proceedings.

We encourage all individuals considering us for membership to contact a Board member to schedule a visit to see what our Club has to offer.