Welcome to the Frers 33 One Design Class Web Site

Frers 33 One-Design Class Champions, 2006

News Updates 

Number of boats listed for sale: 4

(July 8, 2008)

A couple of quick updates:

Dues reminder; Please support our efforts at keeping the class together through this web site and the One Design ad in Sailing World by sending your dues of $50 to David Nauber, 86 Coyote Trail, Higganum, CT 06441.  He has a new email address dnauber@yahoo.com.

Secondly, this is just about "last call" for Nationals in conjunction with NYYC Race Week.  Contact art@frers33.com or dnauber@yahoo.com for more information.  We can also help fill gaps in your crew if necessary.  There is nothing better than one-design racing in Newport!

(June 8, 2008)

It's time to get serious about our class National Championships!  We will be using NYYC Race Week in Newport (July 24-27). Brilliant is registered, who else is?  We have just over 6 weeks until race time.  There are still rooms and slips (as well as moorings) available, but you really need to get moving!  As a reminder, in case we don't get enough boats on the line to be given a dedicated division, we will race in a PHRF division and you will need a PHRF-NB rating.  This takes about two weeks, but can be expedited.  If you have a PHRF-LIS rating, that will get you a discount on the fee ($20 I think).  If we have 6 boats register ASAP, we can forego the PHRF ratings.  Please let me or Dave Nauber know if you are planning on attending. Art@frers33.com

(Hull #1 Found!)

We have found the elusive Hull #1.  I was doing a search for Frers 33's and came across a PHRF-NE rating for a boat listed as "Frers 33 Prototype/Light Interior, named Brigadoon IV.  I managed to track the boat by its sail number to the next and current owner, Jock Thompson.  Below is a note from him:

Yes, Beowulf is the elusive hull # 1. I bought the boat in early 1986 from Robbie Pierce at the Carrol Marine factory. He had sailed the boat on it's maiden circuit including the Key West Regatta where they tore up the IMS fleet. The Shore sailmaker that was on board was a guy named Moose Mcklintock.

We have raced Beowulf continuously since we bought her. In the early years we won some of the big Regattas in this area. In the last few years, we have raced only at our club Lakeside Yacht Club but are always in the hunt and last season won the overall in a 16 race series for boats rated PHRF from 114 (us) to 135.

Robert Morton was the original owner and I believe he was an investor in the original mold for the 33 as well as later Frers molds. Not sure on that.

Beowulf"s interior is a little different for later models in that the cabinet work for the refrigerator and oven/stove are located at the mast location. Above deck it is all business with 3 speed primaries and 2 speed winches on the cabin top. Adjustable sheet track with 4 to 1 tackle. She has a tiller rather than wheel and the skipper can manage the main sheet from the rail. Rumor is that the layout was Robbie's design.

That is it as far as a little history. She remains Navy blue with red and white boot stripe.

(February 18, 2008)

Many of you have spoken or emailed with our class president, Dave Nauber over the winter.  We have managed to fill out more of the class roster, and I think we have identified all but about a dozen owners.  There are another dozen or so other boats for whom we have owner information, but not hull numbers.  These help us identify ownership changes, as well as knowing which boats we are still missing.  Please, look up your hull number and forward to Dave or Art.  Does anyone know the  whereabouts of Hull #1?

For the racing crowd, I have updated the racing schedule for 2008.  After a dry year last year, I know some new owners are now over that "first year hump" and eager to come out and play!  Newport should be a great event - with a Rolex watch up for grabs!  Larchmont NOODs is sponsored by Sperry Topsider, so I suppose they give out shoes???  Let's race the event and find out.  Both events are also sponsored by my personal favorite - Mount Gay rum, so expect a good time at the parties!

The cruising crowd has suggested we attempt a Rendezvous this year.  Port Jefferson, Mystic, and Block Island have been tossed up as suggestions, seeing as the preponderance of boats is near Eastern LIS.  It seems that the folks attracted to this boat seem to be of a similar kind, so this has wonderful potential.  Another great opportunity to meet new friends and share knowledge about the boats.  Please express your interest to either Dave Nauber (click the "Join the Class" link) or Art@frers33.com.  Anyone interested in coordinating this event - we'd love to have the assistance.

What about the Great Lakes boats?  It appears from the roster that between Illinois and Michigan there are at least five boats out there.  Anyone interested in coordinating something out there?

(February 2008)

I can't believe it's been this long since I've updated these pages.  My deepest apologies to all.  With the turnover of a few key boats last winter, our usual one-design events did not materialize for 2007.  A few of the new owners have committed to being ready to race this year, so we are optimistic about getting a good season in for 2008.  You will find a couple of boats listed in the For Sale section, so if you know of anyone interested in joining us, point them in our direction.  Dave Nauber (Class President) and I will be starting to discuss ideas for the coming season and revitalization of the racing fleet.  Anyone having ideas or interested in joining the discussion please let either of us know.  I'd like to keep Newport in the schedule for our National Champs since is such an excellent venue, but if moving it will bring out more boats, then so be it.  More on that to come - but feedback welcome.  Larchmont NOODs of course is close to my heart (and closer to my home than Newport) so of course I'll be trying to promote this event as well.  For any new owners who don't think you're ready for these types of events, let me just tell you that attending them made a huge difference in my crew's attitude and performance.  There's just nothing like it.  I've rambled on a bit here - maybe it's the rum - but it's time to start shaking out the cobwebs and getting ready for the business of real fun! <Art>

(April 2007)

The season is coming quickly.  We need to confirm attendance for both Cedar Point One Designs (June 2 & 3) as well as The Newport Regatta for our national champs July 13-15.  See the "Racing" page for more details, and let me (Art) know if you are planning to attend either event.  I am planning on attending both, assuming we turn out enough boats to have a division.. 

Best wishes to all for your spring preparations, and don't forget our FAQ section for those pesky maintenance issues. Please submit any additional FAQ's or tips to art@frers33.com for posting. 

(February 2006)

Please see the Regatta Schedule page for tentative one-design events for 2007

A message from our class president, Kurt Hudson

Forgive my minor edits (ed.)

As we have purchased a J105, it’s time for me to step down as President of the Frers 33 Class Association. I would like to nominate David Nauber as the next class president, and Art Kelley as the vice president/secretary. Dave and Art have both been very active in the class. Dave is always spreading the word and taking prospective new owners out sailing. Art has spent countless hours behind the scenes working on our great class website. If anyone else would like to throw their hat in, we can take a formal vote. Otherwise, I’ll make the change official.

 Also class dues are due for 2007 (and some people still owe for 2006). Please take a look at the attached spreadsheet to see your dues status. It costs just over $700/year for expenses (most of that goes to our Sailing World One Design Ad). Please send a check today to:

Kurt Hudson

c/o Frers 33 Class Association

24 Hartford Street

Medfield, MA  02052

Above contact info is out of date.

Help keep the class going – pay your dues!

(October 2006)

Posted results and brief commentary for the Larchmont NOODs.  Congratulations to Brilliant, Wolverine, and Out of Reach II.

Check out the boats for sale section and spread the word to folks you know who may be looking for just our type of boat.

(July 2006)

The Frers 33 National Championships held in Newport under the auspices of the Rolex NYYC Race Week was to all measures a success.  Full one design standings will be posted when they are available.  We had 5 Frers on the line with some very tight racing.  Stay tuned for more commentary and pictures. 

Start planning now for the Long Island Sound Championships, to be held at Larchmont in conjunction with the Sailing World NOODs September 9 & 10.  We have a real chance of getting 6 boats on the line for this one.

(May, 2006)

Winter is over, boats are launching, and many of you are already racing.  As a reminder, even though there hasn't been much in the way of visible updates to the site over the winter, there has still been quite a bit of chatter over the discussion list.  Please check out the archives, and feel free to sign up if you haven't already.

I should also point out the addition of an FAQ section - see the menu on the left.  We are looking for additional information so if you have postings, or even questions, please send them to art@frers33.com or post them on the discussion list and I will add them to the permanent collection.

* MAJOR NEWS *

The class National Championship is changing venue this year.  It will still be in Newport but has been moved to the NYYC Race Week - July 15-18.  While we will probably not have a one design division, there will be more Frers-33s on the line, 4 days of racing instead of 3, and a larger division to provide greater challenges.  We will score the Frers-33 class within the division and award separate trophies.

(October, 2005)

We have new members to our fleet.

Jonathan & Kim Morse purchased ALMA from John Ricci and renamed her "September".  Welcome!

The crew of Eclipse recently spotted another Frers 33 racing.  It turns out to be Stargazer - not Nancy Ogden's Star*Gazer, but instead this one belongs to Adam Frawley.  This Stargazer is x-Midnight Run #39.  Adam recently purchased the boat and is building a crew, hoping to join use next year in Newport.  Adam, welcome to the fleet!

Frank Albert now has a page of photos for Relentless - #33, check it out!

(September, 2005)

How to sum up the Larchmont NOODs?  The best I've seen was from Eric Kerman (Tease)

Persistence persisted, Brilliant sometimes was, Out Of Reach uncharacteristically seemed to be, and of course TEASE teased especially upwind.

We had a range of wind from very light Saturday morning to 20 kts Sunday morning.  There was some incredibly close racing throughout the series.  Mark roundings were typified by at least 3 Frers trying to round together.  This was one-design racing at its best.  The only blemish on the series was that we only had four Frers-33s sign up, so we were joined by two J-29s racing level with us.  One of these, Hustler, is a real hotshot and they walked away with 4 bullets.  Persistence was second with 11 pts, Brilliant 3rd with 15 edging out the J29 FastLane in a tie breaker.  Tease was close behind with 19 and Out of Reach with 21.  I believe everyone who participated was impressed with the quality of the race committee (PRO Butch Ullmer) and the level of competition.  Let's try to get 5 or more Frers-33s out next year and declare it our class Long Island Sound Championships! 

On a different subject, Frank Albert (Relentless) submitted this video with the comments: "Not long after we shot this footage we broached the boat.  In retrospect we should've had twings on the spinnaker sheet to better control that spinnaker in what was 20 knots of true wind (you'll see that on the instrument, second from the left).  After the broach no one had much stomach for any more spinnaker flying for about four hours.

(August 8, 2005)

I have been a bit remiss in maintaining the news section here, my apologies.

The class enjoyed another exciting weekend of racing in Newport for our class National Championships July 15-17.  The wind was lighter than last year allowing us to only get 6 races completed as compared to the 10 races last year.  We were also plagued with fog on Sunday.  I must say that it sure makes for an interesting race when suddenly, not only do all the marks disappear, but so does the rest of the fleet.  Then you hear that deep horn of a passing freighter out of nowhere....

In any event, congratulations to Dave Nauber and the crew of Wolverine taking home the honors, beating Greg Ames and crew in Windswept by only 2 points.  Breaking into the top three for what I believe is the first time, is Louis Nees in Out of Reach II.  Great move up from 5th last year guys!  I'm sure it was a bit of a nail biter for Eclipse as well, missing that 3rd position by only 2 points.  Speaking for the back of the fleet, we had some tough competition as well.  While the numbers alone don't show it, there were many tough battles for WildThing (5th), Brilliant (6th) and More Magic (7th). 

For those of you who didn't come because you are still in "crew development" phase, this event is not to be missed.  My crew came back so pumped, and so much more capable, it was dramatic.  And it wasn't just us.  We could easily watch Jim and the crew of More Magic getting tougher every race.  Great job everyone!  (Art Kelley)

(January 30, 2005)

A belated Happy New Year to all!

Well a couple of boats changed hands over the winter.  Knotless became Pelirrojas, and the first Pelirrojas is becoming "Ms. B. Haven (again)" after a complete refit - thanks to hurricane Ivan.  There is some activity in the For Sale section relating to sails and equipment.  Please feel free to send me postings!

Sail Newport is scheduled for July 15 - 17, so save the date for our class Nationals!

(October 3, 2004)

Apologies to any who missed us.  The domain registration expired and there were some issues getting it reinstated.  We are working to prevent that from happening again. 

Check the "For Sale" section for more sails listed!

Larchmont Disappointment

For the first time since the inception of the NOODs, we were unable to field a fleet of Frers 33s.  There were a lot of very good excuses, but not a lot of boats signing up.  I think I counted 20 boats in the Western Long Island Sound area, and I tried calling most of you.  One-Design participation is a large part of what keeps our class alive and desirable.  What can we do to improve participation next year?  Any suggestions?  (Art Kelley, Brilliant).

BRAGGING RIGHTS

Frank Albert (Relentless) sent the following note Sept. 21:

This past Saturday we raced in the 50th Annual Naval Academy Sailing Squadron race from Annapolis Maryland to Oxford Maryland. We retired after 45 minutes of gale force winds and 5 to 7 foot seas. However, prior to retiring from the race we may have hit the all time speed record for a Frers 33. In a 42 knot gust we surfed down a 7 foot wave and hit 14.9 knots on the knot meter (I have a picture of this). We did this with only a reefed main, no head sail.

For proof, check this link and this (wind speed to port, boat speed to starboard).

Can anyone top this??

(July 11, 2004)

Results of the class Nationals are now posted here.

The event was a tremendous success and the competition tough.  A full summary will follow.  Suffice it to say that going into Race 10 the top three boats were within a point of each other and no finished below a 3rd.  The other four boats were in a different cluster, but were busy trading positions all weekend as well.  Congratulations to Wolverine, Windswept, and Eclipse for showing the rest of us how it really gets done.

If anyone has any good photos, send them to Art and I'll post them.

For additional Frers 33 class information, contact the Class President, Dave Nauber at dnauber@classeaudio.com