Canandaigua Yacht Club Vanguard 15 Fleet 75

Interested in trying racing?

The V15 is not just a great boat to simply enjoy sailing in; it is also one of the premier boats to race in! And due to the simplicity of the boat itself, racing is no longer an obscure sport open only to those who spend hours each week practicing. No way! In fact, much of the V15 racing in the country is done by couples or parent / kid combinations that only sail on weekends!

So OK, the class is accessible to people just starting to race – what about the seasoned racer? Consider this – the Vanguard 15 is the defacto international team racing boat. And it is used widely for both high school and college sailing programs, replacing the 420 and FJ classes. The boat can plane upwind in 15 knots of breeze – something usually reserved for trapeze boats!

No, this boat has a serious side! Here are a few more racing factoids:

The hull weights 190 lbs – very light for 127 sq. ft. of sail!
Large fleets – over 60 boats at most major regattas
Rigging all Harken. Simple yet rugged.
Strict one-design
Rugged, designed for abuse – angled deck prevents serious collisions
Standard construction (unlike JY-15) – normal fiberglass repair techniques
Double bottom (boat comes up dry after a capsize)

At this point, until such time as we actually have a racing fleet in hand, detailed arrangements have not been made for when the fleet would race – but racing will be guaranteed. Time possibilities include one of the weeknights (similar to the Sunfish fleet, although probably on a different day), during Sunday morning or afternoon racing, or even sometime on Saturday. The boat also lends itself well to frostbiting—but one thing at a time…

Probably the best type of racing for these types of boats is “short course, intercollegiate style” racing. With this type of racing, races are short (15 minutes), and you get to run 4 to 6 in an hour and a half. First and foremost, this keeps it FUN – if you get behind, no problem, next race you get another chance. And it keeps it intense, as there are always boats close to race against. With all this going on, you won’t miss the spinnaker at all! And after racing, there will be plenty of stories to share during the socializing afterwards – after all, this is about fun!