Road To The Cup – Week 4
Top 10 as of 6/18/23
Seven Twilight teams were treated this week to one of the nicer Thursday evenings of this early summer. Here is a summary from Steve Uhl. “Despite a dreary week, the weather gods blessed us with a beautiful twilight evening with a light but solid northwesterly that held up nicely through sunset. We started with a broad reach to the bell buoy, which then gave us a nice long, fair beat to the harbor nun, and then a short reach to finish. There was some incoming tide, so on the beat, it generally paid to go right initially and get into the best incoming flow. But otherwise it was a nice play-the-shifts and pressure affair. Seven boats showed up with 2585, 1466, 1790 in 1,2,3 and 1217 and 1925 close behind.”
So, finishing 1st for the third straight time in three races was Steve Uhl, who at 3-0, has come out the box on fire this season, taking a commanding lead in both Twilight Series 1 and in Cup scoring. It must be all that Tech Dinghy and Laser sailing he’s been doing. Great job Steve. Finishing 2nd was Team Martini, and taking 3rd was newcomer Bill Colehower for his first podium finish of his early Rhodes career. Honorable mentions go to Timmy D. in 4th and Tim McCaffrey in 5th. Congratulations to all.
Out on the MRA line, the forecast was for rain, and that’s exactly what we got. Persistent, unrelenting, bone-chilling, bail-between-races rain. Seven teams braved the forecast, including Timmy Dittrich and Eric Thornton, both making their 2023 MRA debuts.
Aside from the rain, conditions weren’t bad, featuring a gentle 5-10 knot southeasterly that backed from 160 to 90 over the course of the day, and in fact, over the course of the first leg of the first race. The pressure increased a little to the 8-12 range as the afternoon progressed. The outgoing tide produced a relatively stiff current for a low breeze-to-current ratio, meaning that current was a factor, and it behaved unpredictably depending where on the track you were. The RC worked hard to stay on top of all this and got us two races. They offered a third A-course, but we respectfully declined after a quick on-the-water poll by the fleet captain of our cold, soggy, teeth chattering competitors.
Taking 1st on the day was Team Pandapas, with a 1-3 for 4 points. Interestingly, the bullet was earned despite being on the right (i.e. wrong) side of a 40+ degree lefty during the first leg. The boats that went left were living large early in the gradual persistent shift, but quickly found themselves massively overstood, and forced to reach down to the mark. Too much of a good thing! Taking 2nd on a tiebreaker just 1 point back was Team Uhl / Lane, who rolled a 4-1 for 5 points, and finishing 3rd was Team Lane / Heffernan with a 3-2, also for 5 points. Honorable mentions go to Team Denton in 4th with a 2-5 for 7 points, and the Frischless team Frisch / Hourihan in 5th with a 6-4 for 10 points. Congratulations to all (including our RC friends) for making it out on this wet, dreary day.
With that, MRA Series 1 is in the books. With no races on each of the past two weekends, we got in a total of only eight races out of a possible 15. Though a disappointingly small number, it was still sufficient to trigger one throw-out. Taking 1st on the series with a hang-around-the-hoop type of win was Team Pandapas with 18 points. Finishing 2nd just one point back was Team Frisch / Hourihan with 19 points, and taking 3rd was Team Uhl / Lane with 20 points. Honorable mentions go to Team Cooke / Kaznoski in 4th with 31 points, and Team Denton in 5th with 32 points. Congratulations to all.
So, in Cup competition, the red hot Team Uhl / Lane remains atop the leaderboard with a 15-point lead over Team Frisch / Hourihan. The top-10 are listed below.
Week 5 racing will include Twilight 1-4 on Thursday night, the 2-3 races of MRA Series 2-1 this Saturday, and East Coasts in Hingham on Saturday and Sunday. A reminder that the fleet voted not to score MRA Series 2-1 to support the East Coasts. So, for those not going to ECs and planning to race MRA, we will have a start, but all racing results that day will be unscored for both MRA and Cup scoring.
Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt
Last Chance to Register for East Coasts – Register and pick up the NOR on the Hull YC website and Regattaman. If questions, please contact Tod Riedel, Fleet 46 co-captain for the Hull Yacht Club (todriedel@gmail.com , 617-543-5262) or Dave Nelson Fleet 46 co-captain for the Hingham Yacht Club (dmch.nelson@icloud.com, 508-446-4053).
Race Week Registration – The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta will be Thursday through Sunday, July 27-30. Your MRA fee covers the entry fee, so you don’t have to pay, but you do have to register, which you can do here.
Fleet 5 Hits EYC’s Safety At Sea Seminar – A few Fleet 5 members attended the Safety at Sea Seminar at the EYC last weekend. The event drew 68 attendees, among them Fleet 5ers Anne Marije Veenland and his eminence, the Commodore Peter Frisch. It’s possible Seamus Hourihan and Debbie Noble may have been there as well but no confirmation on that. Here is a recap from Toby Reiley, courtesy of Anne Marije Veenland. “Sixty-eight students, including many powerboaters, took the Safety at Sea Hands-on Practical Seminar last Saturday. With 4 life rafts for students to enter from the pool, the Marblehead Fire Department on the beach teaching fire control, and lots of flares to practice with, the students were put through their paces! We received many emails with positive comments for the EYC team who organized the event.”
If You Spin, Send It In – We were informed of no incidences this week, so the spin totals remain unchanged.
Remember if you spin, email kpandapas@comcast.net and let me know how many fouls you committed for which you exonerated yourself.
Fast Mermaid Pursuit Race – The Fast Mermaid Pursuit Race, a fund-raising event for Lindsay Smith, will be held July 23rd. You’ll find more info and can register here.
Boat for Sale – Steven Kylander of Hingham is relocating so selling his O’Day. It includes a trailer, though “does need a new mast. I have near new main and jib as well as bevy of other sails. Looking to just get a best offer for someone to give it a new home.” Contact Steven at stephenkylander@gmail.com.
Mail Bag
As you may have heard, Stefan Thibodeaux is taking the season off to do some cruising with Peter Sorlien. but he’s not just cruising. He’s also been getting in a bit of racing with other Rhodes fleets, as noted in his recent update. “I have been traveling and had the opportunity to sail in Chicago and New Orleans. The Rhodes 19 fleets in both cities have been so welcoming and helpful. I never had a problem getting on a boat even if they were not all Rhodes 19. Really, nice to be able to enjoy our passion of sailing across the country with only an email introduction, handshake at the boat, and food and drinks afterwards.”
Twilight PRO David Graham wrote in with some thoughts on potentially abandoning last week’s Twilight. “On last Thursday evening’s drifter, my mind toyed with cancellation halfway through the race, but once a winner was in sight, doing so was out of the question!” Makes sense. He also threw in this zinger related to the buck stopping with me, which I assert at the bottom of each of these emails. “Bottom line is correct, Kim. Whatever is done, it’s always Kim’s fault!” You’re right, of course, and not just in Fleet 5, as my wife will attest.
Complaints Department
Got Gripes? Don’t be shy. Unload at kpandapas@comcast.net. The buck stops here.
–kp