A long time Casco Bay racing scene fixture passed away last week.  See the Obituary below.  George sailed a memerable J24 named Trick or Treat. Often with a black cat or other holloween type image on the spinnaker, you could see george leading the very competitive and large local J24 Fleet 43.  The season trophy for best performance of a Fleet 43 boat is named for George as his legend of competing lives on.

Recently I was going through some race results from Portland Yacht Club in Falmouth, Maine and noticed that George at the young age of 80 won the PYC Lightship race.  The race is a twenty plus mile all day race from Clapboard Island to the location of the lightship buoy and back.   Often the race produces a wonderful long windward beat and a long and fun downwind sled ride.

George Tonini PORTLAND — George Tonini born in Trieste, Italy, Dec. 20, 1922, passed away Feb. 19, 2009. George was a Merchant Marine and trained on the Italian navy ship Amerigo Vespucci. During WWII he was an Ensign and while cooperating with the U.S., he served in The Royal Italian Navy as navigator on the Italian submarine Goffredo Mameli.

He was stationed in many different places, but the most interesting was Great Diamond Island in Casco Bay. He also worked as a dispatcher and translator at the American Motor Pool for the Allied Military Government in Trieste, Italy.

He settled in Maine, married and worked the rest of his life as a Chef and Caterer in several different capacities. (If you were one of the lucky ones you would have tasted his food). He was a member of the Portland yacht Club since 1964, he taught many people how to sail, and was an avid J/24 racer until the ripe age of eighty.

There was so much more to his life then we can put into words. He loved life, the ocean, sailing, dancing, cooking, playing poker, fishing, the Caribbean, and most of all, his wife Dorothy of 50 years. He was loving, vibrant, flirty, energetic and cute. We will miss him dearly.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Tonini of Cumberland; daughter Juliana Tonini of Windham, son Daniel Tonini of Portland; along with his granddaughter, Aria Tonini of Alfred; daughters Adele Harnois of Portland and Linda Beck of Gorham, sons Eric Tonini of Ft. Myers, Fla., and Giorgio Tonini of Trieste, Italy. He has five grand children.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 27, 2009, at the memorial Chapel of Independent Death Care, 471 Deering Ave., Portland.

Memories may be shared, condolences expressed and a guest book signed at the obituary page at www.independentdeathcare.com

Donations may be made to: American Stroke Association 51 U.S. Route 1 Scarborough, Maine 04074 or Animal Refuge League 449 Stroudwater St. Westbrook, Maine 04092 George Tonini

Regatta Promotions was there for the first annual Leafer’s Last Leg Regatta hosted by SailMaine a non-profit organization that benefits sailing in Maine. We took photos of the regatta which was held in light winds on a somewhat damp but not cold day. 8 teams competed in 420s and Ynglings in a college format regatta for families and individuals that wanted to show there support for SailMaine. There was also an open 420 division for people that wanted to sail but couldn’t put together a whole team. The results are posted here.

To see the photos of all the teams click this link!

Make sure to scroll the page down to see the individual boat galleries to see the photos of yourself or your family member.

SailMaine has added a new series to Casco Bay racing scene this summer — the 1st annual Summer Team Race Series.

Team racing consists of boats (usually 3 to a team) helping each other to the best combination of finishes against another team of boats. The team with the lowest combined score of all three boats’ finishes wins.

Racing is Monday nights from 5pm ­8pm in SailMaine’s fleet of 18 collegiate 420′s. The last two Monday¹s have been fantastic with great breeze and clear skies.

SailMaine encourages anyone with experience in team racing to come sailing.
Many people arrive each Monday without someone to sail with. After a quick assessment of a person¹s experience, pairings are made and teams are made up. Presently we have 4 teams on the water (12 boats/24 people) If there are more than 24 people we rotate crews into the racing.

The group sailing each Monday is impressive. Of the 38 people so far fifteen adults were college sailors with extensive team racing experience. Seven sailors in the series are presently sailing in college at a variety of schools, including URI, Harvard, UVM, and St Mary’s . Many have commented on how “psyched” their coaches are going to be when they hear how much practice they got over the summer. The rest of the people signed up to team race are a part of the High School Sailing Program at SailMaine or experienced sailors.

For more information on the Summer Team Racing Series at SailMaine go to:
http://www.sailmaine.org/pages/Racing/TeamRacing.html

~ Sarah

sarah@sailmaine.org
207-650-2085
www.sailmaine.org

The Newport Bermuda Race will begin June 20th and there are a few local boats that will be in the mix this year. Derek Ratteray with crew Merle Hallett and others will be sailing in the Cruising division on Alida, an Alden 50. Also in the cruising division will be W. Bradford Willauer in his J-46, Breezing Up. Sponsor of the PYC Race Series, Jonathan D. Knowles, of East Coast Yacht Sales will be racing his J-46 Abracadabra. Fred Maderia will be racing his J-44-WK Resolute. The website for the event is linked here and they do a great job covering the locations of the fleet during the race with iBoat. Good luck to all the Maine sailors and sail fast!

The NO answers are the winners when it comes to National Security. Most of you said that you will NOT be thinking of National Security when you are out on the water this summer. That is great because we want you to be thinking about all of the fun you will have at the regattas planned for this summer. Our next poll asks you which is your favorite GMORA Sanctioned event of the summer. We have some options to choose from or write in an event that is not listed. We want to know, so take the poll today!

The Summerguide 2008 for Portland Magazine has an interesting article about the history and family dynamics of the of the Portland Company, located on Portland Harbor. The property houses many 19th century brick buildings that were used over the years to make steam locomotives, artillery shells, 30,000-pound propellers for Liberty ships, and now home to small businesses and Portland Yacht Services. The property, owned by Phineas Sprague, Jr., is for sale and the future of this historic site is unknown. Sprague says that any offers on the property must meet certain conditions; mainly that PYS can stay & that many of the old buildings will be preserved. Any future plan will have to be approved by city hall and politics often get in the way of creating a master plan, the article says. The city has tended to want to piecemeal out tiny increments of development, rather than creating a master plan. This is a good read, so if you are interested in the article, look for the Portland Magazine Summertime Guide 2008 at your local newsstand for more information.

Pilot Regatta just 1 Week Away!

There are already 24 boats registered for the Pilot Regatta, why not add your boat to the growing list? The $25 late fee will begin next Monday, so get signed up before you get stuck with the late fee. Register here today!

Click below to see who has signed up for the Pilot Regatta

• June 21st & 22nd
  Pilot Regatta

2008 Pilot Regatta Highlights

• Pilot Regatta Tee Shirts now available ONLINE Order now before they all run out!
• Custom Pilot Skipper Bag- Each entrant receives a custom Pilot Regatta Skipper bag
• $50 Henri Lloyd Gift Certificates – These will be given out to the racers chosen at random
• Yale Cordage Sheets – Winners will get a certificate for new genoa or spinnaker sheets with your trophies on Sunday provided by Maloney Marine Rigging and Yale Cordage
• Live Music with “Punch Buggy” playing classic & contemporary rock at the club after racing
• Maine Sailing Partners Gear – Free Maine Sailing Partners hats & shirts given away at random
• Be a part of Summer Sailstice – Celebrate the longest day of the year by getting on the water
• This year the PILOT REGATTA has a little SOMETHING for EVERYONE!!!

Leavitt & Sons Market to Offer Discounts on Sandwiches, Beer and Ice for Regattas

Our PYC Race Series sponsor, Leavitt & Sons Market, located on Rt 1in Falmouth (next to the NEW Rite Aid), will be offering discounts for all regatta participants. There is a full deli with delicious sandwiches, as well as cold beer and ice for purchase. And coming soon a SKIPPER MENU with less expensive boat appropriate crew sandwiches. Stop in and tell them we sent you!

Pilot Regatta History

This year will be the 42nd Annual Pilot Regatta. In the beginning, the Pilot Race was begun as a race for the Hinckley Pilot. It wasn’t until the late 70′s that the race took the format we know today; two days of racing in and around Casco Bay, and open to any type of boat which has increased participation. The Pilot Race was one of the original races in the group that was the basis for the creation of the Gulf of Maine Ocean Racing Circuit years ago. We hope that you will be a part of history and join us for the first of the PYC races this summer.

Much more information is Available:

Go Directly to the 2008 Portland Yacht Club Race Series site to get the scoop on all the racing, parties, bands, registration, entries, race series gear and more!

Go to www.portlandyachtlcub.com any time for a link to this race site or any other PYC information.

The first day of the Pilot Regatta, June 21st, will take place on the longest day of the year! To celebrate this day, there is a national data base of events found at www.summersailstice.com.

You can find an event in your area, or if you are in Casco Bay that weekend, sign up for the Pilot Regatta and join over 5000 other sailors worldwide who are celebrating the summer solstice by getting out on the water and sailing. We hope to see you out there!

Regatta Promotions is now working with Keith Luke, our photographer extraordinaire, and we have many of his photos available through our website. He will be with us this summer getting all the great shots and we will bring you all the pictures from the events in 2008. We now have galleries from the MS Regatta, the Shipyard Cup Regatta, the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club Regatta and the New York Yacht Club Cruise in Boothbay Harbor from previous years. Within each gallery, there are sub albums sorted by boat, which will eliminate the endless search through thousands of pictures to find what you are looking for. You can find the MS gallery here, the Shipyard Cup here, the Boothbay Harbor Regatta here and the NYYC Cruise here.

Here are a few to enjoy:

Points East Magazine now has a monthly article in the racing pages. Each month, he will be sharing sailing tips, race management tips, and other interesting points in the article. Check out the new June Issue this week for this month’s article on how volunteering at regattas can help your racing knowledge and expertise.  Points East Magazine is a free mag available at your local chandlery, sail loft, marina or boat yard.  Check it out!