Road To The Cup – Week 17

 

Road To The Cup – Week 17

Top-10 as of 9/24/17

 

There was no sailing this weekend courtesy of Jose, as the CYC waterfront remained closed into Saturday.  That leaves just one week of sailing before we put the wraps on yet another season.  Where did the summer go?

 

A few quick announcements.  First circle November 4th on your calendar for the 2017 Fleet 5 Awards Banquet.  As it was last year, the banquet will again be graciously hosted by Elise & Mike Nash at their home on Longfellow Road.  Keep your eye out for the evite.  Not only will you get to cheer on this year’s winners, but you’ll also get to talk with your hands just one last time before the lights fade to blue and the curtain comes down on yet another sailing season.  To quote a popular fantasy series set in medieval times, winter is coming, so let’s bask in the glow of summer one final time together before it gets here.

 

And with the awards banquet comes the awarding of our perpetual trophies.  One of those is the Outstanding Crew Award, the nominations for which are submitted by you.  As its name implies, this trophy is awarded each year to that Fleet 5 crew who has totally kicked hiney.  It can be for outstanding crew work all season, for one regatta, one series or even just one race.  So send us your nominations along with a little supporting evidence (embarrassing or otherwise) and we’ll be the judge.

 

Also, new this year, we will be awarding the first annual Fleet 5 Hacker Award – exciting right?  The Hacker Award will be awarded each year to that boat owner, again as nominated by you, who somehow manages to catch our attention, though not necessarily in a good way.  They may be that boat that reaches down the starting line or is OCS but stays on your air.  They could be the perpetual fouler who always tries to stick it into traffic from port tack in the zone.  Or it could be the sailor who somehow manages to hold his or her boat together, year after year, despite him or herself.  Their equipment is old, their sheets are stiff and the main halyard blocks squeak.  If there is a shortcut, they take it.  If it’s heavy, they carry it.  If duct tape will fix it, they tape it.  If they procrastinate, they put that off too.  You get the idea, you know who they are, so let us know too by sending in your nomination with a short summary of why the nominee deserves this unique honor.  

 

In both cases, send your nominations to your soon-to-be ex-Fleet Captain at kpandapas@comcast.net.  Nominations will be carefully considered by an esteemed panel of subject matter experts, who will select the winners.  The winners’ names will be kept in a locked safe until revealed on the evening of November 4th.

 

So, in Cup competition, shockingly nothing has changed.  Team Frisch / Hourihan still holds the same lead over Team Lane / Heffernan and with just one day of sailing left, Mr. Lane may be running out of runway.  The fat lady is warming up.  The top 10 are listed below.  

 

 

Week 18 will be the final day of Fall Series on Saturday September 30th, closing out our 2017 racing schedule.

 

Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt

 

Awards Banquet  The 2017 Feet 5 Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday evening November 4th at the home of Elise & Mike Nash.  Circle the date.  

 

Another Winter Storage Option – Seacoast Specialty Marine in Newburyport is offering winter storage.  If you would like to reserve a spot email or call 978-255-2769.”

 

For Sale  The price has dropped again on 892, a boat that has won Race Week, East Coasts and Nationals.  Rick Smyers is now asking $9k.  You can reach him at ricksmyers@gmail.com.

 

For Sale  New, never used set (main + jib) of Doyle race sails for $1250 (almost 50% off).  2015 TackTick Micro Compass with mount for $275 (original $499).  Contact Peter at weisep@mit.edu

 

For Sale  Here are a couple of other boats listed on the class web site.  http://rhodes19.org/blog/2017/09/03/r19-no-2517-for-sale-make-an-offer/ and http://rhodes19.org/blog/2017/09/05/mid-seventies-oday-rhodes-totaled-will-sell-as-is-or-part-it-out/.

 

Donate Your Sails  The Nahant Sailing Program (NSP) has 6 Rhodes 19s that are used to teach kids and a twilight program for adults.  The majority of funding comes from an annual fund raiser by The Friends of Nahant Sailing.  The Rhodes sails need replacement, so if you have or are purchasing new sails, please consider donating your old ones to “The Friends of Nahant Sailing.”  Not only will it help the program grow, but the donation is tax deductible.  Please contact Bob Cusack at (781) 581-1159 or rjcusack@verizon.net if you are interested.

 

Mail Bag

Bob Cusack threw more kudos to Ben Richardson for a sail donation, writing, “Kim:

Just want you & the Marblehead Fleet to know that your Fleet member Ben Richardson is donating a complete set on sails and a second chute.”  As I think we may have said a couple of weeks ago, that’s awesome.  Who is going to be next?

 

Tom Dailey, who as many of you know, has done a bang-up job building the Laser fleet with his buddy Patrick Andreasen, writes in to suggest that Fleet 5 take a page form the Laser playbook and buy a boat to lend to new recruits.  He even sent in these pictures of a boat that apparently is for sale for less than $1000 (I think, don’t quote me).

 

           

 

 

Not bad, right.  It’s a great idea, though I wonder where we’d keep it, who would take care of it and so on.  I’m sure all that could be worked but as always, the devil is in the detail.  I’d be surprised if one of the three clubs didn’t show interest in helping to support one design through the donation of a dry sail spot, but I digress.  If you have any thoughts on this, please do tell.  By the way, I think you can get info on the boat in the picture by emailing Lisa MacGillivray at macgillivrayfam@me.com.  

 

–kp (kpandapas@comcast.net)