*Road To The Cup – Week 10 – Extended Race Week Edition*
*Top-10 as of 7/27/14*
As you know, there was no twilight racing Thursday night due to Race Week.
Instead we were treated to *Jennifer & Steve Uhl’s* gracious hospitality –
again! These guys went completely over-the-top with prosecco, sangria,
lanterns – I mean they really pulled out all the stops. As I’ve said
before, Jennifer defines graciousness – nobody does it better. Many thanks
to them for again opening their home to us, and also to *Elise Mazareas &
Mike Nash* for making sure we all got enough to drink.
So let’s start with Junior Race Week, which as you know ran Monday through
Wednesday. I sound like a broken record (I know – an increasingly
out-of-date reference), but the weather gods smiled again on the juniors
this year with three very nice, storm-free days. The regatta ran four
lines for 420s, Lasers, Opti Champs and Opti Greens. Like last year, three
of the four PROs are card carrying members of Fleet 5, including *Peter
Frisch* on the 420 line, *Conway Felton* on the Laser line and yours truly
on the Opti Champ line. Other Fleet 5 RC contributors included the usual
suspects of *Alex Felton*, *Christina Pandapas, Joe Fava, Kent Hallawell,
Barbara Hallawell, John Casler, Rob Ferro, Ken Adam, Chris Adam, Lisa
Adam,* and
even *Nicholas Pandapas. * Add to that *JP Zonnenberg* who donated his rib
to the effort,* Katie Bloxham* who helped out on registration, *Heather
Dalton* who did safety, *Vonda Raisides* who did a lot of everything, *Dru
Slattery* crew *Rick Myers* who was co-chair and several other folks
helping out onshore and on safety boats and it’s pretty clear that Fleet 5
members stepped up in a meaningful way. Thanks to all.
By the way, we ran the Opti Champs under an i-flag for all 12 races again
this year, with *Joe Fava* and* Nicholas Pandapas* hailing from the pin
boat end and *Rob Ferro* and me from the other. As you can see from the
photo below, it worked like a charm. This was taken with 30 seconds till
‘go.’
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Several Fleet 5 spawn competed in this event, and hopefully I can catch
them all. First is *Grant Adam*, who skippered a 420 in the 40-boat 420
champ fleet and finished 3rd. (He also recently qualified for the U.S.
Sailing Junior Championships.) *Will Daily* also sailed 420 champs. *Hunter
Zonnenberg*, who finished 12th last year in the Opti Champs, this year
graduated to Lasers and took 7th in the 17 boat Laser Radials fleet. The
largest Fleet 5 representation was on the Opti Champ and Opti Green lines,
with nine participants. On the champ line was *Nolan Adam*, *Wilson
Kaznoski*, *Grace Honos*, *Sophie Lane*, *Christopher Pandapas* and* Jack
Dalton*. On the green line were *Ashley Hoguet, Sophia Lanchulev* and *Luca
Ferro.* Apologies if I missed any, and congratulations to all of our kids
who participated.
So let’s get straight to the bottom line. Congratulations to* Team Holley*,
our 2015 Race Week champs, finishing with 60 points over 11 races. Well
done! *Jamie Holley* sailed with wife *Janice Holly* for the first three
days, and then brought out the heavy guns with son *Cameron Holley* on the
final day. Look, this was a long, hard regatta – the hardest I can
remember. A different person won each of the four days and a different
team led at the end of each day. Not only is that evidence of how deep
this fleet is, but it’s also testament to how tough the regatta was. The
difference between finishing 1st and 10th in any given race was typically
no more than 10-15 seconds. And the difference between finishing 1st and 5
th over 11 races was just 6 points. So this was a hard-fought,
saloon-clearing street brawl, and Jamie was the last man standing.
Congratulations. By the way, their victory was further sweetened by
winning the NOOD overall – a trip to the BVI. Nice!
Of course, as with all regattas, there was no shortage of heartbreak.
Finishing 2nd, *also with 60 total points* was *Ken Cormier & Steve Dalton*.
That’s right – a tiebreaker determined the winner. These guys sailed so
beautifully and came on strong in the second half. Well done! And
finishing 3rd was the team of *Dave Reynolds & Jeff Shoreman*, who put up
64 points. As far as I’m concerned, this team sailed more consistently
over four days than anyone else – it was just an outstanding performance.
Honorable mentions goes to *Evan Cooke & Pete Kaznoski (Pete & the Kid)* who
took 4th with 65 points, and to last year’s champ *Dave Nelson*, who took 5
th with 66 point. Well done to all.
*Race Week Recap – Day 1*
The regatta started with a long slow sail out to the outside line in a
dying northwesterly, followed by AP while we waited for the sea breeze to
fill. Outside line in this case was indeed outside Halfway Rock. In fact
it may have been outside U.S. territory, prompting some to quip that we’d
need to clear customs on the way in. I’m sure the RC optimistically
assumed the northwesterly would hold, and they were rightly positioning
themselves to give us a weather mark closer to home. The northwesterly of
course, did not hold, which put our weather mark closer to Stellwagon than
Marblehead (just kidding, though having a trawler steam through our line
was a first for me). The sea breeze wasn’t particularly strong, with
20-degree oscillations as it trended first to the left and eventually back
right. We sailed two races, both relatively excruciating from the
perspective of keeping the boats moving in fickle breeze. Excruciating, of
course is probably not a word *Jim Raisides & Charlie Pendleton *would use
to describe their day, as they dominated with a 2-1 for 3 points. Nice way
to start a regatta! It’s always great not to dig yourself a hole on Day 1,
and they certainly managed that. Finishing 2nd with 4-4 for 8 points was *Team
Shoreman / Reynolds*, though with *Frank McNamara* crewing this first day.
Taking 3rd was *Team Taylor*, who rolled a 5-7 for 12 points. Honorable
mentions go to *Team Pandapas* in 4thwith a 12-2 for 14 points, and *Dave
Nelson* in 5th with a 13-5 for 18 points. Honorable mention also goes to *Team
Heffernan* who took the bullet in Race 1.
*Race Week Recap – Day 2*
Day 2 opened with a postponement while the RC worked to keep up with a 7-8
knot breeze that started at about 60 degrees at 11am and marched
consistently to the right. Our first race was at 115 degrees and our last
at 160. Conditions were generally a bit unsettled as rain clouds passed
through causing dramatic shifts, shutting off the pressure and generally
wreaking havoc on any sensible person’s need for order. Somehow, *Team
Pandapas* managed to make sense of all this and had one of those days you
want to frame and hang in the bathroom, winning the day with a 1-1-3 for 5
points, which gave them a 12 point regatta lead. Taking 2nd were old
friends *Pete & the Kid*, who sailed a remarkably consistent 7-3-2 for 12
points. And finishing 3rd was *Team Holley*, who rolled a 6-4-7 for 17
points. Honorable mention goes to *Dave Nelson* who finished 4th with a
4-7-8 for 19 points and *Team Reynolds / Shoreman *who took 5th with an
8-5-6, also for 19 points. A second honorable mention goes to *Team Fava /
Mazareas* for winning race 3.
*Race Week Recap – Day 3*
Conditions included a mixed bag of oscillating nor-easterlies and washing
machine seas. The pressure started it the 15-knot range and moderated
through the day while generally trending right. All of that, by the way
was exactly what the weatherman predicted, but for most of us, that didn’t
help a lot. This was a day that required patience and the willingness not
to bite on every shift or get seduced by what was happening somewhere
else. A handful of us did that well, while the majority of us did not.
The person who sailed it best was old friend *Ken Cormier,* sailing this
week with *Steve Dalton*. He put up a simply outstanding 5-1-2-6 for 14
total points, winning the day and climbing into 2nd overall with one day to
sail. How great is that? Finishing 2nd on the day was *Team Frisch /
Houihan*, who put up a 3-9-3-3 for 18 points. In this fleet and those
conditions, those are pretty spectacular numbers too. Taking 3rd was *Steve
Uhl & Rick Saunders*, who rolled a 4-5-1-12 for 22 points. Honorable
mentions go to *Team Fava / Mazareas* in 4th with an 18-2-6-1 for 27 points
and *Team Holley *in 5th with a 13-3-9-9 for 34 points. Another honorable
mention goes to *Pete & the Kid* for their race 1 bullet. Day 3 ended
with *Team
Shoreman / Reynolds* in 1st.
*Race Week Recap – Day 4*
The forecast for Day 4 was a little ominous, and included thunderstorms,
tornadoes and swarms of locust. Fortunately, the RC paid no attention and
took us out for what proved to be a spirited final day of sailing. The
pressure when we got out there was at around 155 degrees at 10 knots, and
then settled in at 165 by the start of racing. The breeze freshened to
about 14 knots at the start of the second race, which provided a nice
punctuation to our regatta. Right seemed favored on both a current play as
well as the nice header that lived out near the corner. But the pressure
seemed to build from the left, which neutralized all of that. The bottom
line is that it was a pretty even racetrack, which became abundantly clear
by the number of boats converging at the mark at the exact same time. To
say there was little margin for error would be a huge understatement.
But *Jamie
Holley* figured it out. Sailing this final day with son *Cameron Holley*,
Jamie rolled snake eyes for 2 total points, the dénouement that won him the
regatta. Finishing 2nd with a 4-2 for 6 points was *Team Taylor* – those
guys sail so well together. And taking 3rd with a 7-3 for 10 points was *Pete
& the Kid.* Honorable mention goes to *Team Frisch / Hourihan* who
took 4th with
5-6 for 11 points, and *Ken Cormier & Steve Dalton *who took 5th with a
2-11 for 13 points.
Race Week is never without a lot of interesting story lines, and this one
is no different. Let’s start with young *Ashley Hoguet*, who you may
recall first graced our line last season at the tender age of 10. Well,
after taking 3rd in the Opti Greens at JRW, she climbed into her dad’s R19
and sailed with us. If I’ve got my math right, she’s now 11, which would
have to make her, not just the youngest skipper in Race Week, but I’d wager
the youngest ever in Race Week. And let’s be clear, this kid wasn’t just
sailing around the course. She was mixing it up at the starts, sticking
her bow into leeward rounding, looking around all the time…. she’s a
gamer. I tip my hat to Ashley’s dad (and crew) *Ramsay Hoguet.* You guys
got something special going on. By the way, she’s not the only JRW racer
who couldn’t get enough. *Hunter Zonnenberg* & *Grant Adam* jumped aboard
the green boat with *Chris Adam* to make it seven straight days. That’s
pretty amazing, right?
Another interesting theme is the return of some of Fleet 5’s more notable
alums. Everyone knows *Dave Nelson* by now, though many may not know his
crew *Frankie Hart*, who tore up this Fleet back when some of us were still
sailing optis. In fact, these guys won Nationals at least twice. Also
back for this regatta was *Mark Crawford*, sailing with our 2015 nationals
PRO *Tommy Tompkins*. Mark used to sail with *Tom Dimond* and *Seamus
Hourihan*, and that team won nationals three times and was one of the most
dominant Fleet 5 programs ever.
How about the number of national champs we had on our line. Just off the
top of my head, I got 14 – *Bill Heffernan*, *Renee Heffernan*, *Charlie
Pendleton*, *Jim Raisides*, *Elise Mazareas*, *Shannon Lane,* *Jerry Blouin*
, *Mark Crawford*, *Frankie Hart*, *Tommy Tompkins*, *Dave Nelson*, *Seamus
Hourihan*, *Jim Taylor* and *Nat Taylor *(sorry if I missed any). Wow!
The depth of Fleet 5 is mid-boggling.
A few final thoughts in no particular order. PRO *Rick Hamill* and his CYC
team did a really good job through a bunch of varying conditions – a tip of
the hat to them (though I probably would have lived a longer, happier life
without that 4th race on Saturday). * More than a few of the ladies on
our line were disappointed that conditions generally reduced the
amount of *Rick
Saunders* shirtless time. Hey, I get it – we all have our needs.
Hopefully we’ll get a string of sunny days in August to rectify the
injustice. * It sure was nice to have *Pete Kaznoski* back. * Note to
all – if you invite *Shannon Lane* to sail with you, don’t even think about
not bringing beer. * *Dru Slattery* is so good at the corners and
boat-for-boat stuff – every time I get close to her on the racecourse, I
lose. * I stopped trying to keep track of who was sailing *Eric
Cressy’s* 2568.
It seemed to change from the top mark to the bottom. At one point, I
swore *Norm
Cressy* was on board. * Same goes for 1210. * *Stefan Ianchulev* is a
really good guy – I sure am glad he’s in our fleet. * *Joe Fava &* *Elise
Mazareas* hugged just before rounding a top mark in front. How cute is
that? It takes a hell of a lot more to get a hug from my crew. * *Frankie
Hart’s* 11 or 12 year-old son *Colin Hart* sailed as 3rd with he and *Dave
Nelson*. I just love that. * It sure was nice to see *Team
Berliner* rounding
in the top pack of races 3 and 4 on Saturday. * And finally, who were
those kids in the powder blue boat? Welcome to our fleet!
So, in Cup competition, Race Week always seems to have the most material
impact on the standings due to the sheer number of points, but not so much
this year. The deck got shuffled a little but no one dropped off or was
added. The only real change is that *Team Hourihan / Frisch *extended
their lead a bit. The top-10 are listed below.
1st
1210
Hourihan / Frisch
179.29
2nd
1217
Pendleton / Raisides
196.75
3rd
982
Team Pandapas
236.86
4th
2585
Steve Uhl
239.86
5th
3172
Dave Nelson
249.00
6th
2692
Team Heffernan
265.00
7th
2623
Mike Lane
266.57
8th
1683
Matt Hooks
268.00
9th
1926
Team Taylor
282.00
10th
1316
Fava / Mazareas
290.00
Week 11 racing will include Twilights this Thursday night and the 2-3 races
of MRA Series 3 Day 1. -kp
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