Road To The Cup – Week 11

Road To The Cup – Week 11

Top-10 as of 8/2/14

The dominant theme in the mailbag this week was rules and exoneration after
committing a foul (nothing like a street brawl to get people digging for
their rule books). I guess the issue is that we don’t seem to be spinning
as much as we are fouling. Hey, I get it. We’re all friends, we cut each
other slack, we let things go and we avoid ‘the room’ like the plague. But
that’s a slippery slope in a self-policing sport. As one insightful reader
put it, “ We seem to be on a slow slide from a healthy ‘forgive and forget’
approach to people taking unfair advantage of the fact that we seldom go to
the room.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. So let’s try harder not
to take advantage of our collective good nature.

Also on that topic, there seems to have been some confusion around the
number of spins required after a foul. The RRS says one turn for hitting a
mark and two for breaking a Part 2 rule. But in MRA, we sail under Appendix
T (and will in Nationals too). Simply put, Appendix T allows us to take
just one turn if we break a Part 2 rule outside the zone but requires the
mandatory two turns if the infraction occurs in the zone. Here is the
actual wording.

T1 PENALTIES AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT

The first two sentences of rule 44.1 are changed to: ‘A boat may take a
One-Turn Penalty when she may have broken a rule of Part 2 or rule 31 while
racing. However, when she may have broken a rule of Part 2 while in the
zone around a mark other than a starting mark, her penalty shall be a
Two-Turns Penalty.’

Appendix T also allows for an alternative penalty to be taken ashore. You
might want to check it out.

And while on the subject of rules, I’m going to throw out the ‘M’ word one
final time. Nationals is coming and it should go without saying that we all
need to sail compliant boats. So if you haven’t been measured or you have
done a little work, added stiffening, changed out a boom, a mast,
floorboards or whatever, please call Josh and get it done.

The Twilight race was cancelled last Thursday on account of weather. We do,
however, have the Series 1 results for you (i.e. the first half of the
summer). Taking 1st was Steve Uhl with 14 points. Finishing 2nd with 19
points was Sara Sheldon, who on a tiebreaker narrowly squeaked by Team
Martini, also with 19 points. Honorable mentions go to John Casler in 4th
with 21 points and Rob Ferro in 5th with 23. Congratulations to all.

Out on the MRA line, just ten boats showed up for the post Race Week
hangover start of MRA Series 3. Although this day has traditionally seen a
light turnout, ten boats was particularly light. It doesn’t surprise me
that people needed to recharge their batteries, particularly after last
week and with Nationals just around the corner.

Our Saturday result was not a lot different than the Twilight as weather
shortened our day to just one race. The forecast called for light &
variable trending to light southerlies, possibly strengthening to 11-12
knots and with a chance of thunderstorms. Well we got all of that – in one
race. What started as a light air current bet on the right versus the
15-degree lefty (worked out pretty even really) turned into a crapshoot
drifter on the final run – just before the big purple cloud blew over. The
fleet was littered across the run with chutes draped over head stays when
the westerly came roaring in. Chutes dropped, jibs went up and pockets were
picked. Where you finished was to a great extent determined by where you
were on the racecourse when the pressure hit, and Team Fava/Mazareas
positioned themselves beautifully, finishing 1st and winning the day. They
rounded the top in 3rd but had the sense to stay right in the dying
pressure. That gained them the lead when they came back left and positioned
them to be first to the pressure. Well done. Team Uhl/Saunders, who had led
for most of the race finished 2nd, and Team Pendleton/Raisides came from
behind to pilfer 3rd in what has to be one of the greatest heists of the
season. Honorable mention goes to Mike Lane, sailing with Renee Heffernan
who took 4th.

In all the RW commotion, we forgot to congratulate the winners of MRA
series 2. Finishing 1st with 31 points was Team Pendleton/Raisides. Well
done. Taking 2nd was Team Hourihan/Frisch four points back with 35 total
points. And finishing 3rd was Team Heffernan with 36. Honorable mentions go
to Mike Lane in 4th with 37 points and Matt Hooks in 5th with 40 points.
Congratulations to all.

So, in Cup competition, a couple of positions swapped, due primarily to
people taking the day off. Team Hourihan/Frischretains its hold of the top
spot. The top-10 are listed below.

1st

1210

Hourihan / Frisch

186.29

2nd

1217

Pendleton / Raisides

199.75

3rd

982

Team Pandapas

241.86

4th

2585

Steve Uhl

241.86

5th

3172

Dave Nelson

260.00

6th

2623

Mike Lane

270.57

7th

2692

Team Heffernan

276.00

8th

1683

Matt Hooks

279.00

9th

1316

Fava / Mazareas

291.00

10th

1926

Team Taylor

293.00

Week 12 racing will include Twilights this Thursday night and the 2-3 races
of MRA Series 3 Day 2. -kp