Road To The Cup – Week 19
Top-10 as of 9/27/15
Before we get started, I’d like to pause and remember Karen Finocchio’s mom Louise Hansen Finocchio, who passed away last week. There probably are not many of us who knew Louise personally, which by all accounts is profoundly our loss. But anyone who has spent more than a minute on the Corinthian deck surely caught a glimpse of Karen and her Mom sharing time together. If one measure of a life well lived is the love and adulation of our kids, Louise soared. I’ve never seen a more loving and caring relationship between mother and daughter than that between Karen and her mom, which is both heart-warming and a hugely useful lessen in how to prioritize the important things in life. The collective hearts of Fleet 5 go out to Karen and her family during this difficult time. You can read more about Louise at www.salemnews.com/obituaries/louise-hansen-finocchio/article_603c60c9-2dd1-5c58-8c67-4f5b92e1b84d.html?mode=jqm.
Lots of Rhodes sailors participated in last weekend’s CYC 2×2 team-racing event, and regatta co-chair Joe Fava reports that the event went well and they had two perfect days of sailing. Finishing 1st was the EYC, whose team included Fleet 5 members Matt Hooks, Beanie Eisner & Paula Grasberger. Well done. Taking 2nd was the New Bedford Yacht Club, and that team also included Fleet 9’s Chris Murray & Emily Babbit, who sail out of Padanaram. Severn Sailing Association took 3rd (no Rhodes sailors there that we know of) and BYC with Ron Homa took 4th. And finishing 5th was CYC, whose team included Steve Uhl, Mike Lane & Karen Lubeck. Congratulations to all. Also on the team racing front and looking ahead to next year, Joe reminds us that there will be informal interclub team racing on Thursday nights.
Four boats made it out for a beautiful final day of our season (which by the way is four more than showed up two weeks ago). Of course I wasn’t there, but thankfully Steve Uhl was, and he sent in this.
“With a brisk NE breeze and chop, the Race Committee raced inside with the start not far from the harbor mouth. Walking away in compelling fashion with three bullets was Larry Ehrhardt, sailing with young son Allen Ehrhardt. They sailed fast and smart throughout. Allen sails Opti’s in the summer (and fall) so keep an eye out for him in the future.
“Not to take away anything away from Larry, but it didn’t take him long to figure out that Steve Uhl, sailing with Maura Power, and Mike Lane & Josh Wheeler, were match racing. (On the porch he noted “I figured that out when I saw you tacking on big lifts.”) Careful observers of The Road to the Cup might have noticed that prior to this weekend, after a year of sailing and 330 points, Mike had a 0.29 point lead over Steve in the all-important bragging rights for 4th vs. 5th, so this was a final death match day.
“In the first race, won by Larry and with a strong 2nd by Rick & Jessica Berliner, Steve edged out Mike for 3rd. But in the second race, Mike beat Steve. Both races were nip and tuck battles all the way around the C-course, with multiple lead changes and nothing over until the end. So it all came down to the final race. Unfortunately for Steve, Mike smoked him completely on the first beat and it wasn’t close after that. And thus the season ended.”
So there you have it. Thanks Steve. For the record, because this was the only day of our Fall Series, winning the series was Larry Ehrhardt with a 1-1-1 for 3 points. Taking 2nd was Mike Lane with 4-2-2 for 8 points, narrowly beating Steve Uhl’s 3-3-3 for 9 points. And finishing 4th was Team Berliner, who rolled a 2-4-4 for 10 points. Congratulations to all.
So, in Cup competition, Steve said it all. Mike Lane won the hotly contested battle for 4th leaving the final rankings unchanged. Congratulations again to Peter Frisch & Seamus Hourihan who are our 2015 season champs, and to all who came out and made them earn in. The top-10 for 2015 are listed below.
| 1st | 1210 | Hourihan / Frisch | 238.29 | |
| 2nd | 1217 | Pendleton / Raisides | 246.75 | |
| 3rd | 982 | Team Pandapas | 286.86 | |
| 4th | 2623 | Mike Lane | 339.57 | |
| 5th | 2585 | Steve Uhl | 340.86 | |
| 6th | 3172 | Dave Nelson | 361.00 | |
| 7th | 1683 | Matt Hooks | 375.00 | |
| 8th | 2692 | Team Heffernan | 398.00 | |
| 9th | 1316 | Fava / Mazareas | 402.00 | |
| 10th | 1926 | Team Taylor | 404.00 |
A few final thoughts before I sign off. Regarding the depth and parity of our fleet, consider the following. By my count (and admittedly I did it quickly), 12 different teams won the day over our 21 days of sailing (including Race Week and Nationals but not East Coasts). That’s a pretty remarkable distribution. The big winner on that score was Team Pendleton / Raisides who won four days. Team Pandapas had three and Teams Nelson, Frisch / Hourihan, Hollyand Fava / Mazareas each won twice. But as it was last season, the real blockbuster statistic is that three different teams won the big three events (East Coasts, Race Week and Nationals), which is a spectacularly healthy outcome for our fleet.
Many thanks to the three clubs, the MRA and the scores of race committee folks who volunteered their time and experience so we could play.
A couple of reminders – The MRA awards party will be held the evening of October 14, 2015 at 6:30 at the Boston Yacht Club. There will be free hors-d’oeuvres and a cash bar. MRA will hand out season awards as well as crew awards for each fleet. Circle the date.
Also, the first tier of the off-season Doyle Sails discount expires 9/30/15. Doyle is offering a 20% discount through 9/30 and then will gradually reduce the discount over the next couple of months. So if you want to save money on next year’s sails, do it today.
The Fleet 5 awards party will be held on the evening of November 14th at the home of Elise Mazareas & Mike Nash. Keep your eyes peeled for the invite, which should be forthcoming. You also can go ahead and circle January 9th on your calendars, which is the probable date for the Fleet 5 winter party, which will be held at our house.
Finally, I may sign these Road blasts but as you know, getting them out every week is a team effort. Huge thanks to John Casler and Steve Uhl for keeping us informed each week about Thursday nights. Thanks also to scorer Jim Raisides, who earns the MVP for waking up every Sunday to an impatient text from me demanding scores (rough duty!). And thanks to Fleet Secretary Jeff Shoreman who routinely dropped everything to get these out to you beforeSunday night. Finally, thanks to Charlie Pendleton, who pinch-hit for two weeks while I was away in June. I’m sure all these guys had better things to do with their Sundays, so I ask that they accept a gracious and appreciative tip of my cap, and I urge you to thank them when you see them.
Week 1 racing will include the first day of the two-day Spring Series on Saturday May 27th, 2015. Have a great offseason. –kp kpandapas@comcast.net” >kpandapas@comcast.net