Fwd: RTTC Week 0 – Rhodes 19 Fleet 5

Road to the Cup: Week 0

Road To The Cup – Week 0

2021 Preview – 5/23/21

It’s that time again. As usual, spring gave us more than our fair share of cold and crappy, with a seemingly endless string of honking north westerlies. Hopefully, all of that is behind us now (especially the north westerlies – just not a fan), and the weather gods are about to flick the summer switch. You know the one – warm, sunny, sparkling water, 8-12 from the SE. I live for that. Next weekend kicks off our annual battle for the Nick Nichols Trophy, aka “The Cup.” I say annual, though we all know that we took a year off last year, which makes this one all the more meaningful. So, time to wash off the boat, lube a few blocks, throw in some new halyards, drag it to wherever you keep it, step the rig and get this season started.

I like to use this moment to review Cup specifics, so here is a quick refresh. The Cup is among our most coveted prizes because, it’s not just about winning a day or a regatta, but about sustaining a competitive campaign over the entire season. To win the Cup, you have to sail just about every week and turn in consistently solid results. You don’t necessarily have to win, but you do have to show up and be competitive. As you know, we’ll do our best to keep you up-to-date right here each week with riveting commentary and the updated top ten.

Cup scoring includes Spring Series, MRA Series 1-4, Race Week, Fall Series and Thursday night Twilights, and you’ll find the dates for all of that on the MRA schedule. Thank you, by the way, to the fine folks of MRA for reinstating the Fall Series. Fall sailing is awesome around here, and if you have designs on winning the Cup, I’d suggest you pencil in those dates. And don’t ignore Twilights either. You might be able to win without them, but it’s harder. Think of Twilights not just as awesome beer can racing, but also as a way to pick up 4-8 points a week on the guys who don’t show up.

Putting on my scorer’s hat for a second, I need to alert you to an MRA scoring change in the SIs. MRA is changing how it scores DNSs. For boats who miss a day, instead of scoring as the number of starters plus one point (as in years past), this season they will score it as the number of boats registered plus one point (SI 14.2 – RRS A5.3 applies). To be honest, that is not inconsistent with how regattas (like RW or nationals) are scored, and really, an MRA series is just a regatta held over a series of weekends. But the impact will be severe for anyone with designs on winning MRA, since missing even one day will likely knock them out of contention. Let’s say 30 boats register, you miss a day where we get in our usual three races, and they would hang 93 points on you. That’s a pretty steep penalty. Suffice it to say that I’m not a fan of this scoring change, but I understand the decision and am willing to see it play out for a season.

However, Fleet 5 will not make that change for Cup scoring. We plan to keep doing exactly what we’ve been doing, which is to score DNS as the number of starters plus one point for everything but RW, where we simply accept the points as listed in the published results. Hopefully that will keep it tight and strike the right balance between participation and achieving consistently good results.

A couple of additional scoring notes. First, MRA seems to have done away with the bye, so no byes this season. And second, MRA has added a second throw-out if you complete 10 or more races (14.1c). The language is a little confusing to me, but it doesn’t matter since we’ll follow MRA’s lead and allow you as many throw-outs per series for Cup scoring as MRA does.

So there it is. I’m ready, as is your entire RTTC team, which this year includes Twilight reporters John Casler & Steve Uhl, our distribution department Martha Martini, sideline reporters, contributing photographers and of course, my life editor-in-chief Christina Pandapas. They’re all here, they’re jacked and ready to go. Let the games begin.

So in Cup competition, we’re all tied up.

1^st	41	Team Sorlien
1^st	722	Team Shoreman / Reynolds
1^st	769	Rob Ferro
1st	802	Rich & Rosie Denton
1^st	982	Team Pandapas
1^st	1015	Tom Dailey
1^st	1137	Chris Adam
1^st	1210	Team Frisch / Hourihan
1^st	1217	Timmy Dittrich / Karl Renny
1^st	1228	Team Hoguet
1^st	1299	Team Felton
1^st	1316	Team Fava/Nash
1^st	1398	Sarah Sheldon / Ann Sousa
1^st	1466	Team Martini
1^st	1680	Chris Remeika
1^st	1683	Team Hooks / Pascal
1^st	1686	Jocelyn Cook
1^st	1775	John Casler
1^st	1782	Team Noble
1^st	1790	Stefan Thibodeaux
1st	1819	Eric Thornton
1^st	1925	Tim McCaffrey
1st	1926	Team Taylor
1st	1939	Team McNamara
1st	2435	Larry Ehrhard
1st	2495	David Rubin
1^st	2561	Walter Colsman
1st	2585	Steve Uhl
1st	2590	Team Berliner
1st	2623	Team Lane Heffernan
1st	2648	Team Cooke / Kaznoski
1^st	???	Anne Marije Veenland

Week 1 racing will include the two days of Spring Series on Saturday May 29^th and Sunday May 30^th. Also, don’t forget that Twilights start up this week on Thursday May 27^th. We don’t start scoring them until after Memorial Day, so you can consider that first one a practice race. The first scored Twilight race will be Thursday June 3^rd (series splits below).

Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt

Time To Register – If you haven’t registered yet, what are you waiting for? You can register for Fleet 5 here, the Class Association here, and MRA here.

More MRA Updates – In addition to the scoring changes, here are a couple additional MRA updates. First, the RRS mandated some changes to the NOR and SIs, which has resulted in MRA abandoning its long held practice of publishing one combined document and now publishing two separate documents – NOR and SI. Both include important information that isn’t necessarily covered by the other, so suggest you print them out and keep both on the boat. Second, the new rules include a change that affects when you are judged to have crossed the starting or finish lines. It used to be equipment in its normal operating position (or something to that effect). Now it’s the hull. So ROs this year will be starting you (and calling you over) and finishing you based on when your hull breaks the line versus anything else.

MRA Meeting on May 24^th – The Marblehead Racing Association will hosts a Zoom meeting on Monday, May 24, 6:45-7:45 pm, to discuss how the new rules impact you and some of their changes. This is the link. The meeting ID is 831 0626 8911 and the passcode 243209.

Twilight Series Scoring –Cup scoring includes only the Thursday night Twilights between Memorial Day and Labor Day (with breaks for Race Week and Nationals), which we split into two series. Here is the 2021 split.

Series 1 – June 3, June 10, June 17, June 24, July 1, July 8

Series 2 – July 15, July 29, August 5, August 12, Aug 26, September 2

There will be one throw-out per series, assuming we get in five races for that series. Attached for your convenience is a PDF of the Twilight SIs, to which we’ve appended the mark descriptions and chart.

No Sunday Morning Booth Racing For R19s – The Town Class will hold their Sunday morning racing again this year, but since no Rhodes showed up over the past few years, they’ve rightly offered our starts to the Tech Dinghies and 2.4 Meters. So no soup for you. (Anybody recognize the soup reference? Can you tell me where it’s from?)

Thank you Jud & Tomas – In case you missed this, this year’s spring clinic ‘How to Win the Big One’ was a total home run. Jud Smith & Tomas Hornos led us through their thinking on a range of topics related to the planning and execution of winning regattas, and totally hit it out of the park. The evening included so many nuggets of wisdom, I wouldn’t know where to start. Just Jud’s thoughts on playing current was worth the price of admission. So thank you Jud and Tomas. If you missed it, you’ll find the recording here.

First Fleet Party on June 19^th – Circle the date. Fleet 5 will hold its first party of the season after sailing on June 19^th. This was to have been held at the home of Christina & Kim Pandapas, but regrettably it won’t. Despite the promised reopening on the 29^th, it’s still a bit too early for us to host 40-50 in our house, so this one will be virtual on zoom. Keep your eye out for the invite.

No East Coast Championships – Again – Our friends in Manchester tried to host the ECs again this year, scheduled for early June, but alas, it was again not to be. We thank the Manchester Fleet, Manchester Yacht Club and their team of exhausted volunteers for trying again. Hopefully we’ll be back to normal by next year.

NOOD at Marblehead Race Week – The centerpiece of our season will be held Thursday through Sunday, July 22-25, which will be here before you know it. EYC is hosting. A reminder that your MRA registration fee covers the entry fee, so you don’t have to pay more, but you do have to register. Unless I missed it, they don’t have the registration page up yet, but you can keep checking here.

Nationals Update – As long as you have your calendar out, circle August 16-20, which is when Fleet 5 and the CYC will host our 2021 National Championship Regatta. You’ll find the NOR and other info here. The schedule includes measurement on Monday, practice race on Tuesday and then three days of more fun then you should be allowed to have with your pants on (Wed-Fri). The regatta committee needs volunteers for helping to measure boats and sails, staff the registration desk, and several other things. And if you’re not planning to sail but are willing to make a few bucks chartering your boat, we can help you out there too. For all inquiries, please reach out to regatta co-chairs Elise Nash (elise.mazareas@gmail.com) or Kim Pandapas (kpandapas@comcast.net).

Measurement Days – Speaking of measurement, we’re hoping to get all local boats without a current certificate measured before Nationals (and frankly, before Race Week). So if you don’t have a certificate or you’ve had any work done, please reach out to Fleet Measurer Stefan Thibodeaux at sjthibodeaux@gmail.com. You can check your certificate status here.

New This Year – Speaking of Stefan Thibodeaux, rumor has it that he has or is about to purchase 1790 from the retiring Team Cormier / Dalton. While we are sad to lose two good friends who have been so integral to the fabric of our fleet for so long, we also are excited for Stefan, who belongs in his own boat, and will now have one. So congratulations and a formal welcome to Stefan & Julianna. And to old friends Ken and Bill, please don’t stop coming to the parties.

Team Denton – New to the fleet this year is Rich & Rosie Denton, who purchased #802 about 3-4 months ago. These guys have spent the last few months rehabbing their boat themselves, including dropping the keel, sandblasting and fairing it, putting in new ribs, etc. Truly an awesome effort from these two and we couldn’t be more privileged to have them join us. I hear Rich is a pretty accomplished wind surfer who lives for heavy air, so definitely keep an eye out for them. Welcome Rich and Rosie.

Chris Remeika – Also new to the fleet this year is Chris Remeika, who purchased 1680 from Chris Small a couple of months ago. We are saddened to see Chris go. He’s such a great sailor and exceptional human being. But we understand. He hasn’t been out for a few years and his boat is simply too fast to be sitting on the trailer all summer. So heartfelt goodbye to one Chris and an enthusiastic welcome to another.

Crew Available –Dave Leahy, who has been learning to sail at MIT for the past few years, has taken an interest in Fleet 5 and is looking for a crew situation for the season. You can reach him at dleahy76@me.com.

If You Spin, Send It In – To promote fair sailing and keeping it on the race course, we’re continuing our successful initiative ‘If you spin, send it in.’ It’s worked well the last few years, so why not keep it going? So if you spin, please send me an email rafter racing with the subject line ‘Circles’ and let me know how many fouls you committed for which you exonerated yourself on the water. I’ll tally them up, give an appropriately laudatory sportsmanship shout-out, and also keep you apprised of the season totals. The season winner with the most spins will be appropriately recognized at the awards party this fall, and maybe even get a little swag.

An Invitation to Fleet 5 from GHYC – The Great Harbor Yacht Club of Nantucket is inviting three teams to compete in the GHYC Rhodes 19 Challenge on Sunday, August 1, 2021. The full day regatta will be sailed in centerboard Rhodes 19s on Nantucket’s inner harbor. Boats will be provided to competitors, and they expect at least 14 teams from around the region. Please let them know ASAP if you’re interested. The entrance fee is $100. For more information, contact Emma Hermanek at ehermanek@ghyc.com. You can register here.

Boat for Sale – #606 – Lots of recent improvements and comes with a trailer. Asking $5000 or best offer. Call or text Susan Crowley at 617-797-3082.

Mail Bag

Stefan Thibodeaux’s swim at the end of last season lives on. There was some banter last year about creating an award specifically for Stefan, but what to call it. John Casler lobbed in this. “I would suggest calling it the ‘Nautic Combined’ award. We could schedule an event each year. Start at the usual Twilight line, race the course that has been set, finish, pick up any mooring, swim to CYC and down a beer.”

Ramsay Hoguet wrote in looking for used sails. “Hey Kim. We need to get some newer sails. Ours are quite old. Do you know anyone that might want to sell any sails that are still decent for racing?” If you have sails for sale, contact Ramsay at rhoguet@gmail.com.

–kp (kpandapas@comcast.net)

SI_TOWN-CLASS-TWILIGHT-2021.pdf