Road To The Cup – Week 2

Road To The Cup – Week 2

Top-10 as of 6/3/18

Before we get started, as you know, the fleet held its first party of this young season on Saturday night, and if you can judge a party by the number of people still there after 11pm, it was a success.  Huge thanks to our hosts Rebecca & Larry Ehrhardt for welcoming us into their home and showing us such warm hospitality.  Thanks also to Dave Reynolds for making sure we all got enough to drink.

Three boats showed up for the kickoff of Twilights on Thursday night, including Team Martini, John Casler with Walter Murphy, and new recruit Jocelyn Cook sailing with Charlie Pendleton.  While three boats may not sound like a lot, it’s par for the course this time of year as folks rouse themselves out of their non-sailing catatonia.  Conditions were described as picture-perfect, and certainly the night couldn’t have been more perfect for Jocelyn, who notched her very first bullet.  Our Twilight report this week is assembled from two accounts, including first our usual man on the scene, John Casler and second from Charlie.  

“Winds were probably a little higher than 10 prior to the start and died to 5-10 by the finish.  The course was out to the in-harbor can, then over to nun 2 off the Fort. Jocelyn & Charlie led from the start, or a minute or two after the start, all the way around; Martha & David were second all the way around.  ”

And this from Charlie, “Nice night tonight – perfect conditions.  A warm Southwesterly provided a consistent breeze and a downwind start that meant you had to time it well.  Jocelyn managed to burn off some speed as the final seconds counted down and hit the line perfectly at the gun.  That gave us a little gap at the start that we were able to hold to the first mark and then protect, despite the Martini's persistent chase in a two lap race.”

Sounds like a fun night.  So, to sum it up, Team Cook took 1st, reigning Twilight champs Team Martini finished 2nd and John Casler took 3rd. Congratulations to all.  (Please see important update on the Twilight Series splits below.)

Out on the MRA line, just eight boats showed up to kick-off Series 1, which though a bit of headscratcher, is explainable if you drill down into the many individual conflicts.  It was just one of those days where events seems to conspire to keep a lot of teams onshore. But like Bill Belichick, we’re not going to talk about the players who weren’t there.  Several teams made their season debut, including Team Taylor, Eric Thornton and Team Cormier/Dalton.  

The forecast couldn’t have been more ambiguous, driven by a weak cold front drifting in our direction.  The models couldn’t agree on when it would arrive or how impactful it would be, with some forecasting 8-12 going to 5-10 and others forecasting 17-20 with gusts in the high 20s and gradually diminishing to about 15.  The one thing they agreed on was that the breeze would start northwest and trend east, and they got that part of it right.

The 17-20 we saw at CYC around 10am had everyone aflutter and several people dialing for thirds, and fortunately, none of us found one.  We sailed out in a gradually diminishing 13-15 that trended right and finally landed in the 90-100 range, and by 90-100, I mean oscillating between 80 and 110.  PRO Tommy Tompkins set his line just outside Satan’s with a course in the general direction of Cape Ann, and had his hands full trying to get off races with square lines and square tracks.  But he and his team did a bang-up job, giving us two good races before the wind shut off completely.

Racing was tight, and despite just eight boats, starts were contested and marks were crowded. Congratulations to Team Pandapas, who won the day on a tiebreaker with a 3-1 for 4 points, narrowly beating Team Cook/Kaznoski, who took second with a 1-3, also for 4 points.  Team Taylor took 3rd on a tiebreaker with a 4-2 for 6 points.  Honorable mentions go to Team Frisch/Hourihan, who took 4th with a 2-4, also for 6 points, and Team Cormier/Dalton who took 5th with a 5-5 for 10 points.  Congratulations to all.

So in Cup competition, though obviously very early, Pete & the Kid cling to 1st by one thin point over Team Pandapas, with Frisch/Hourihan just 10 points back.  The top ten are listed below.

Week 3 racing will include Twilight 1-2 on Thursday night and the 2-3 races of MRA Series 1-2 this Saturday.  

Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt

Change to Twilight Series Splits – Last week, we ran the race dates of each of the two Twilight Series.  That split, you may recall, included scoring two additional post-Labor day race days that the CYC added this year, which reflected a change from our historical scoring.  After some prodding by concerned fleet members, who correctly pointed out that changes to scoring protocols should be subject to a bit more due process than the scorer simply deciding to do it, we capitulated and restored our historical split.  Obviously you can still sail the two Twilights after Labor day, but they won’t be scored. So, here are the updated splits.

Series 1 – May 31, June 7, June 14, June 21, June 28, July 5,

Series 2 – July 12, July 19, Aug 2, Aug 9, Aug 16, Aug 23, Aug 28

Sportsmanship Update – Just a reminder that we’re tracking penalty turns this season, with the intent of celebrating Corinthian sailing and doing the right thing.  As far as we know, this week’s sailing was clean, with no reported fouls, circles or related crankiness (which is awesome, right?). However our report last week of no fouls during Spring Series proved wrong.  Steve Uhl wrote in with this, “The Rubins did one circle for fouling me.  It was a minor foul so totally a “doing the right thing” point for them.”  Thanks Steve, and tip of the cap to Team Rubin who currently lead our season spin competition with one.  Remember, if you spin, send it in.

East Coast Championships – Our 2018 East Coast Championships will be held in Padanaram June 22-24.  If you haven’t registered yet, what are you waiting for? Just click here.

Friday Night Fights Start June 15 – Following a great weekend clinic of match racing with Dave Perry, Joe Fava and the CYC will run match racing this summer on Friday evenings – June 15, June 29 and July 6 – in the Friday Night Fights Match Race series.  For more info, contact Joe at joseph.c.fava@gmail.com or call 617 880 9807.

NOOD at Marblehead Race Week – RW will be Thursday through Sunday, July 26-29. which will be here before you know it.  A reminder that your MRA registration fee covers the entry fee, so you don’t have to pony up any more money.  But you do have to register. Click these links to register and download the NOR.

Race Week Party  While on the subject of parties, this year’s Race Week party will be on July 26th, and again will be generously hosted by Jennifer & Steve Uhl at their home on Front Street.  Dave Reynolds will supply the bar.

Lasers Summer Series – The Laser Summer Series started this week and will run on Tuesday evenings all summer (except the week of RW).  For info, contact Patrick Andreasen at andreasensail@gmail.com.  

Mail Bag

We got a few emails on last week’s RTTC, many about the Twilight splits which we won’t bore you with.  The most interesting of those was from Rockport Fleet Captain Rob Paterson, who wrote, “Love getting your updates.  I’m attempting to mimic for Fleet 36.”  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

Elise Nash wrote in with this good news, “Despite being trapped on land on this beautiful MRA Saturday, I did get some good news for this week's RTTC.  Yesterday Joe Fava was made a Partner at PWC.  So a big congratulations to him!  PWC is lucky to have him.”  Huge congratulations to Joe, and also to his better half Marisa.

Elise also sent in this college sailing update that hits pretty close to home.  “Not sure if Evan (Cooke) is still coaching, but the BC Women’s Team won Women’s Nationals this week and MIT won Co-ed Nationals – so a big congrats to Coaches Greg Wilkinson and Matt Lindblad – our spring clinic leaders.”

And speaking of Elise Nash, take a look at this shot taken at the party.  I guess we shouldn’t expect to see her on the race course any time soon.  

We got several emails on Thursday’s Twilight race that didn’t make it into the recap above but are worth passing along nonetheless.  First is this confession from Charlie Pendleton. “Despite all the years I’ve had in the Rhodes fleet, this was my first twilight race – you’ll be entertained to know, I had no clue how it worked.  Jocelyn was pretty patient in explaining how the starts and courses worked (she had plenty of experience from her Town Class days). I’m glad I finally did a Twilight race – it checked a box that had been blank for too long.  For those that have not done a twilight race – you have GOT to try it. I regret not doing more of these. Super fun format and a relaxing way to end a summer day – I had an absolute blast.”  How ‘bout that!  Glad to hear it Charlie – what took you so long?  By the way, a tip of the cap to you and to EYC for helping to get the Cook program going.

Excited about her win, Jocelyn Cook wrote in with this, “I actually almost called you all giddy after the race because I was soooo excited.  Beginners luck but a welcomed high after a stressful week of new boat ownership and challenges.  The night provided much learning and a few laughs. I continue to be immensely thankful to have joined the R19 fleet and look forward to a season (and years) of growing both in technical knowledge and friendship with the wonderful members of Fleet 5.”  

And finally, as is often the case, this last word from John Casler, “Can't get a better promo for Twilight racing than that.”

–kp (kpandapas@comcast.net)