Road To The Cup – Week 3

Road To The Cup – Week 3

Top-10 as of 6/10/18

Four boats showed up to do beer can battle on Thursday night.  Our summary this week is generously provided by Steve Uhl.

“Four boats showed up for twilight number 2 in a solid 10+ southerly.  The race committee sent us twice around to green can, nun by Peach’s Point and then back upwind.  All four boats reached the first mark within about 2-3 boat lengths of each other. Steve Uhl led, followed by Team (Jocelyn) Cook, Team Martini and John Casler, doing heroic seamanship sailing solo.  Ultimately, the finishing order was Uhl, Martini, Cook, Casler.  Martini and Cook was a close battle, with Cook very fast off the wind but Martini with the edge upwind.  Special bonus points also to the evening’s single-handing champion.”

Thanks Steve, and wow John, holding it flat in 10+ by yourself.  I guess all that strudel paid off. So, congratulations to Steve Uhl who took the bullet in his Twilight debut, to Team Martini in 2nd and Team Cook who took 3rd.   MVP on the night goes to John Casler, who would not be denied a Twilight race, even with no crew.  Now that’s dedication! Congratulations to all.

Out on the MRA line, where do I start.  On the positive side, 14 boats showed up, which doubled last week’s turnout.  Team Sheldon / Souza made its season debut, as did Team Shoreman/Reynolds, so a big welcome to them.  On the less than positive side, we all showed up for conditions that proved to be challenging at best and a complete crapshoot at worst.  To paraphrase one of my favorite lines from Airplane, “I guess PRO Susie Schneider picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.”  The forecast was all over the map, with some models predicting SW going to NW 5-10.  Others suggested SW to NW and back again to SW. Some predicted a sea breeze would overtake the light westerly in the afternoon.  And all agreed it would stay light all day, except one, which boldly predicted a 15 knot westerly late. Turns out, they were all right.  No kidding, we got all of that! Throw in a stiff outgoing tide that produced wildly different current directions depending on where you were and it was Wonderland out there.

Shockingly, Susie managed to get Race 1 started in the light southeasterly that replaced the westerly we sailed out on.  Mercifully, she shortened it at the second weather mark as the dying sea breeze battled the westerly gradient, producing 30 degree oscillations in a kind of convergence hell.  Make no mistake that this one involved more luck than skill, as people went from 10th to 1st and back again inside a minute.  The westerly encouragingly filled in after we finished, and in convincing enough fashion to rope-a-dope Susie into resetting the line further out (near the nun between the Brimbles and Halfway) and starting the J70s.  Between the prep and the start, the wind shifted hard left, enabling port tack starters at the boat to look like heroes. But they were barely up the track before the sea breeze filled back in from behind, forcing some to throw up their kites.  Susie rightfully blew that off, and generously waited a bit to see if things would settle down. They didn’t, and at about 3pm, she threw in the towel. Here is a shot of the 1st leg sent in by John Casler, who apparently was watching from a motorboat.  

Congratulations to Team Pandapas, who took the race and the day.  Finishing 2nd was Team Frisch/Hourihan and taking 3rd was Steve Uhl.   Honorable mentions go to Team Taylor in 4th and Team Sheldon/Souza in 5th.   MVP on the day goes to Susie Schneider and her team for hanging in there.

So in Cup competition, Team Pandapas lurches past the absentee Team Cooke/Kaznoski, who drops a couple of spots to 3rd, while our 2016 & 2017 Cup champs Team Frisch/Hourihan climb into 2nd.  (Actually, Pete Kaznoski was the only absentee from that team as Evan Cooke sailed with Nat Taylor.)  The top 10 are listed below.  

Week 4 racing will include Twilight 1-3 on Thursday night and the 2-3 races of MRA Series 1-3 this Saturday.  

Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt

CYC Recognizes Joan Thayer – The 17th Annual “Take the Helm: The National Women's Sailing Conference” was a big success on June 2.  A highlight of the conference was the recognition of our own women's sailing advocate, Joan Thayer. Here's what they said:

“The Board of Directors of the Women's Sailing Foundation and National Women's Sailing Association recognizes Joan Thayer for her extraordinary commitment, leadership and vision in her service to the organization as director from 2000-2018, as president from 2009-2013 and as chair of the Women's Sailing Conference since 2002. Through her dedicated efforts, the organization has been supremely successful in its mission to enrich the lives of women and girls through education and access to the sport of sailing.” Presented June 3, 2018, Corinthian Yacht Club, Marblehead, Massachusetts.”

Huge congratulations to Joan!  Well deserved.

Sportsmanship Update – Another reminder that we’re tracking penalty turns this season, with the intent of celebrating Corinthian sailing and doing the right thing.  We neither witnessed nor heard of any on-the-water infractions this week, so a tip of the cap to all. Team Rubin continues to hold the lead in our season spin competition with one.  Remember, if you spin, send it in.

Last Chance for East Coasts – Time is running out to register for the  2018 East Coast Championships will be held in Padanaram June 22-24.  To register, click here.

Friday Night Fights Start This Friday June 15 – Joe Fava and the CYC will run the first of three scheduled match racing series events this Friday evening.  The other two will be held on June 29 and July 6. For more info, contact Joe at joseph.c.fava@gmail.com or call 617-880-9807.

A Notice from Pleon – 2017 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Erika Reineke will be in Marblehead on Saturday June 16 to host two youth sailing events.  In addition to being the reigning Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, Erika is a multi-time World, National, and Collegiate Champion in a variety of classes.  She's currently sailing the Laser Radial full time in hopes of representing the United States in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Erika won her first National Championship at 12 years old in the Optimist and her first World Championship in the Laser Radial at 16 years old.  She is an excellent role model for youth sailors everywhere and has been an inspiration to many girls she has coached over the years. For more about Erika, check out her webpage.  

• For the June 16 Opti Racing Clinic – All [Racing] Levels, boys and girls, 12:30p-2:30p (fully rigged and dressed for sailing at 12:30p on Pleon Pier), $85/sailor, register here.  

• For the June 16 Q&A With Erika – Girls Only, All Ages – Opti-aged through College-aged! 3:30pm-4:30pm,EYC Sailing Center, no charge, no reservations required.

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  This year’s Race Week party will be on Thursday evening 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 will run on Tuesday evenings all summer (except the week of RW).  For info, contact Patrick Andreasen at andreasensail@gmail.com.  

Mail Bag

We heard from David Rubin, who thankfully caught a mistake in last week’s top ten list.  “Kim: Our boat number is 2495 but in the score sheet, Larry Ehrhardt is also listed with that number.  I think his boat is #1683. Thanks.”  Thanks Dave.  Actually, Larry Ehrhardt is 2435, 1683 is Matt Hooks.  Gets messy fast, right?  But take comfort that we’re on it.  We’ve alerted the quality control team and threatened to fire them if it happens again.

Fleet Captain Jim Taylor wrote in with a reflective  comment about his first day back on the water.  “Nice to be out there again, and thanks as always for getting out the RTTC.  They are always a good read, even if it does remind one of mistakes made on the race course!”

Jim went on to mention the Nahant Fleet’s appreciation for donated sails.  “Bob Cusack of Nahant Sailing has asked me to be sure to let Fleet 5 know that they REALLY appreciate the sails that various members have donated to them.  Even our old sails are a startling amount better than the old bed sheets that they replace there. Officially, they are Friends of Nahant Sailing, which is a 501-c-3 charity, so the value of any donations is deductible.”  Right on.  So if you have old sails lying around, email Bob at rjcusack@verizon.net.

Below is a crop of one of the shots sent in by John Casler of Saturday’s MRA race.  We thought it was interesting to compare the headstay sag between the left boat (982) and middle one (1210).  1210 is carrying a meaningfully more sag than 982, perhaps optimizing for a bit more crew weight. It goes to show that there is no one right way to tune these boats.

Finally, Jocelyn Cook sent in this shot taken of Twilights this past Thursday night, with the caption, “Taken my by husband from the lighthouse as my kiddos chanted “go momma go.”

–kp (kpandapas@comcast.net)