Road To The Cup – Week 10 – Race Week Edition
Top-10 as of 7/31/23
What You Need To Know
- Team Hooks / Pascal notched their 2nd Race Week win.
- No Twilight race this week on August 3rd.
- The Labor Day Party will be after racing on September 2nd, hosted by Sarah Sheldon.
Last Week’s Racing
Fast Mermaid – Last Sunday, the BYC’s held its second annual Fast Mermaid Pursuit Race, a fund-raising event for domestic violence survivor Lindsay Smith. A tip of the cap to regatta organizer Steve Herman and the BYC for a fun and well-organized event. Five Fleet 5 teams competed, three – Teams Fava, Pandapas and Denton – in the spinnaker division and two, Anne Marije Veenland and Marine Regnault-Stoel sailing solo in the non-spinnaker division. Joe Fava, racing with his kids Ben Fava and Annabel Fava, won the Rhodes division, finishing 10th overall and 8th in the spinnaker division. Well done. You’ll find the complete results here. Below is a shot of Team Fava with the BYC’s Steve Herman, with thanks to Bruce Durkee.
Twilights – As you know, there was no twilight racing Thursday night due to Race Week. Instead, we were treated to Jennifer & Steve Uhl’s gracious hospitality – again! I’m pretty sure this makes about 20 straight years they have opened their home during Race Week, and as always, they pulled out the stops. Many thanks to them, as well as to Fleet Bar Czar Anne Marije Veenland for making sure we all got enough to drink.
Junior Race Week – 246 junior sailors with 171 boats from more than 30 programs as far away as Annapolis and Lake Ontario descended on Pleon Yacht Club last Sunday for Marblehead Junior Race Week, the centerpiece of the junior racing schedule. The event ran Monday through Wednesday, and enjoyed great conditions all three days.
The Opti Champ fleet was largest at 56 boats, followed by the 420 Champs with 52. Rounding out the fleets were Opti Greens (34), 420 Greens (23) and Lasers (6). As always, the fleets were split into four lines, including 420s, Lasers, Opti Champs and Opti Greens, run respectively by the race committees of EYC, BYC, CYC and MYC (Manchester Yacht Club). Between the race committees, safety boats and judges, there were no fewer than 50-60 volunteers on the water, plus a bunch more on shore.
Five Fleet 5 spawn competed in this event, but not as many as years past as the next bulge of fleet kids is still a couple of years away. In the Opti Green class, Ben Fava took 2nd, Jack Gabriel 8th and Ben Gabriel 15th. On the 420 Champ line, Felix Regnault finished 37th, and sailing in the laser fleet, Nicholas Regnault finished 3rd. Well done and congratulations to all. You’ll find the complete results here.
As in years past, legions of Fleet 5 members volunteered to support this event. Marine Regnault-Stoel co-chaired the regatta. Two of the four PROs are card-carrying members of Fleet 5, including Alex Felton on the Laser line and Kim Pandapas on the Opti Champ line. Other Fleet 5 members, alums and friends who served on RC included Christina Pandapas, Rob Ferro, Jennifer Jewel, Barbara Hallawell, Ken Adam, Judy Adam, Karen Finocchio and Dan Gabriel. Ramsay Hoguet served this year as safety czar with Patrick Andreasen, and Stan Schreyer, Ashley Hoguet and Sophie Lane served as coaches. I’m sure I’ve missed a few, so sorry, but it’s clear that the R19 community again stepped up in a meaningful way. Thanks to all!
Race Week – Race Week, as the only 4-day regatta on our schedule, never fails to deliver drama, intrigue, and the full range of emotions from crushing pain to unbridled jubilation. 22 boats registered, which is a little down from years past, but the field remained deep and the challenge no easier. A few of the notables among the field included Jim & Dan Gabriel, sailing their first Race Week together on a Rhodes 19, and Hugh Townsend, who came all the way from Belfast Maine with his brother Lou Townsend to join us. Welcome back to Ian Peebles, who finally made his 2023 debut, as well as to Tommy Tomkins, crewing for Peter Frisch, who was on the helm for the entire regatta. Tommy T., by the way, is not just a former national champ, crewing for Dave Curtis, he probably won more championships in more boats than everyone else on the course combined.
So let’s get straight to the bottom line. Congratulations to Matt Hooks & Rob Pascal, who put on a clinic. I’ve said this before, but some regattas you win because you’re the last standing, and others you go out and take. Team Hooks / Pascal took this one, leading wire-to-wire and finishing with a line of 3-1-1-2-1-6-4-1 for 19 total points, averaging just over 2 points a race. In a fleet of 21 boats, their worst finish was a 6. They were simply unstoppable. They sailed fast, were generally mistake-free and opportunistically picked a lot of pockets at the corners. They sailed with purpose. The victory, their second, earned them a year of Race Week bragging rights as well as our highly coveted Race Week perpetual trophy; the Spittoon.
Sweetening the day further, they were later awarded the Norm Cressy Trophy for the most outstanding performance at Race Week. Well-deserved. Regrettably it was the last trophy awarded and the team had left to get kids home, so they missed that presentation.
Taking 2nd was Team Shoreman / Reynolds, who put up a line of 2-4-12-4-2-11-6-3 for 44 points. In most years, this would have been good enough to win, but unfortunately, not this time given Team Hooks / Pascal’s performance. They sailed exceptionally well, especially considering they haven’t been out much this season. But they are good, and were by far the fastest boat on the course. Well done.
Finishing 3rd was Team Frisch / Tomkins, with a line of 7-7-10-1-6-2-7-11 for 51 points. These guys sailed as though they have been sailing together for years. Always there, always fast and hard to get around. Well done.
Honorable mentions go to Team Pandapas in 4th with 53 points, and Team Lane in 5th with 59 points. Congratulations to all.
Race Week Recap – Day 1
The forecast for Thursday included a Small Craft Warning with a building southwesterly, topping out around 20 with gusts in the 30s, including pop-up thunderstorms, drenching rain, hail, possible tornadoes (and swarms of locust). That had a few folks wringing their hands, adjusting their rigs and scurrying around looking for thirds. Fortunately, we never saw thunderstorms, gusts in the 30s, a drop of rain or even a locust. Instead, we got an oscillating, up-and-down southwesterly in the 10-15 range that was relatively well behaved. The pressure and seas built gradually over the course of the day, putting a premium on good driving and keeping the boat flat. We got in three races, the 3rd of which featured surfing conditions.
All of that was very much to the liking of Team Hooks / Pascal, who were shot out of a cannon after a summer of sailing deprivation in the interest of domestic tranquility. They put up a 3-1-1 for 5 points to win the day handily and take an early and significant regatta lead. Taking 2nd was the similarly deprived Team Taylor, who rolled a 6-2-4 for 12 points, and taking 3rd was Team Ehrhardt with a 5-3-6 for 14 points. Honorable mentions to Team Daily / Westhoven with a 4-9-2 for 15 points, and Team Shoreman / Reynolds in 5th with a 2-4-12 for 18 points. Honorable mention also to Eric Thornton & Stan Schreyer who earned the Race 1 bullet.
Race Week Recap – Day 2
The Chamber of Commerce pulled out all the stops for this one, serving up a sparkling, sunny, hot, but lower humidity day. The forecast called for variable winds less than 5 knots, becoming SE 5 to 9 in the afternoon, with seas around a foot. It was surprisingly accurate as we got an oscillating south-southeasterly that was so back-and-forth, it had PRO Ken Adam talking to himself. Our courses were 185 for race 1, and 170 for the next two, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. And it was light, especially for the first two races. Painfully light. Chew-on-the-mainsheet light. That, of course, put a premium on playing the current, which is always more of a factor on light air days. Mercifully, the pressure built a little into the 10-knot range for the final race. Left paid nicely the first two races, but a 20 degree righty crushed those who defied Marblehead’s mantra of left-in-the-morning-right-in-the-afternoon.
All of this rolled off the backs of Team Frisch / Tompkins, who won the day on a tiebreaker, with a 1-6-2 for 9 points. Really well done. Taking 2nd with a 2-1-6, also for 9 points was the unstoppable Team Hooks / Pascal who simply aren’t making a lot of mistakes out there, and finishing 3rd was Team Shoreman / Reynolds with a 4-2-11 for 17 points. Honorable mentions go to Team Rubin in 4th with a 6-5-7 for 18 points, and Team Pandapas in 5th with a 3-3-13 for 19 points.
So at the end of Day 2, the regatta standings looked like this, with a reminder that there are no throw-outs. With two days of sailing left, anything can happen, but Team Hooks / Pascal had carved out a pretty comfortable lead.
Race Week Recap – Day 3
Disappointingly, Saturday was a washout. The forecast was iffy at best, calling for light and variable with a threat of thunderstorms popping up around 1400. As in previous days, the forecast was right, at least partially, as there was barely a lick of wind. The day started with an on-the-water pause while each of the RC boats loitered in the vicinity of Marblehead Rock for a while waiting for some breeze to fill in before continuing out to sea. It eventually filled enough to rope-a-dope us (who can remember that reference?) into heading out, where we settled in for a long drift waiting for Godot (another arcane reference). Consistent with Samuel Beckett’s story (spoiler alert), like Godot, the breeze never showed up. Our line started voting with its feet around 1400, and the RC fired off 3 shortly after.
Day 3 has often been the Race Week inflection point: a day when the deck gets shuffled, hearts are broken and mathematical realities are begrudgingly accepted. This Day 3 was no exception, though for entirely different reasons. Assuming three races on Saturday and another two on Sunday, there is still plenty of runway for people to make meaningful moves in the standings. That was less the case after the lost day. Accordingly, the day 3 winner has to be Team Hooks / Pascal, whose 19-point lead with just 2-3 races to go, was looking increasingly insurmountable.
Race Week Recap – Day 4
The regatta changed our start time to an hour earlier in the hopes of getting in an extra race after Saturday’s washout. That proved to be a good thing as when we arrived early, we found our boats awash over the floorboards from Saturday night’s storms. That’s a lot of bailing. The morning started with a solid post frontal northwesterly that was forecast to trend west later in the day. As it turned out, that breeze died as we were heading out, leaving us to float around bare poled for an hour-long AP waiting for something to fill in. When something eventually did, it was a gentle southwesterly instead of the sea breeze we all expected, with small oscillations and scattered pockets of pressure. But it was enough to get races off. PRO Ken Adam and his team did a great job of getting things set up quickly and we got in two before the time limit expired.
Taking 1st on the day after overcoming an OCS in Race 2 was Team Lane, who rolled a 2-2 for 4 points. Well done. Taking 2nd was Team Hooks / Pascal with a 4-1 for 5 points, and finishing 3rd on a tiebreaker was Team Pandapas with a 1-8 for 9 points. Honorable mentions to Team Shoreman / Reynolds in 4th with a 6-3, also for 9 points and Team Fava / Nash in 5th with a 3-9 for 12 points.
So, a few random thoughts in no particular order. * How annoying is it to kick off RW with small craft warnings and threats of tornados after three straight days of gorgeous weather for the kids. * Jim & Dan Gabriel sure look great sailing a Rhodes together. * How on earth could Team Hooks / Pascal sail so well right out of the box after barely sailing all summer? It’s amazing. Ditto Teams Taylor and Shoreman / Reynolds. * We can all know the rules better. * I’m not a fan of no throw-outs. I get both sides of the argument – just not a fan. * During Friday’s racing, Team Daily / Westhoven executed the most perfect roll jibe I’ve ever seen in a R19. * It’s seldom we see Peter Frisch on the helm, as we did this week. After his A+ performance (sailing with old friend Tommy Tomkins), I find myself wondering why. He’s great. * Team Shoreman / Reynolds were by far the fastest boat on the course when the pressure was 10 knots or less. They had what I like to call ‘stupid speed.’ * Team Rubin’s performance (8th overall), and their Day 2 performance particularly, has to put them in the conversation for this year’s Most Improved award. * All three CYC Commodores and two EYC commodores sailed in this event. How awesome is that? * Helly Hansen’s impeccable launching and hauling logistical plan didn’t really account for visiting Rhodes, leaving Hugh Townsend to fend for himself. Huge thanks to Jim Taylor who stepped in to help. Fleet 5 spirit in action.
So, in Cup competition, Race Week always results in a lot of reshuffling, and this year is no exception. The top four teams remained relatively unscathed, with Team Uhl / Lane clinging to a 22-point lead. But the biggest moves include the addition of Teams Hooks / Pascal, Shoreman / Reynolds and Fava / Nash, none of whom, as you know, have been able to sail much in the first half. The top 10 are listed below.
Week 11 racing will include the 2-3 races of MRA Series 3-1 this Saturday. There will be no Twilight race on August 3rd.
Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt
If You Spin, Send It In (aka Road to the Pie) – There were two spins this week that we heard of, but surely there had to be more. We also saw a few fouls that that didn’t involve spins, though also didn’t land in the room, so presumably the parties worked it out. The two we are sure of include Team Lane / Uhl and Team Pandapas, both of whom pushed it a little on port tack approach in the zone.
Remember if you spin, email kpandapas@comcast.net and let me know how many fouls you committed for which you exonerated yourself.
2023 Nationals in New Orleans – The 2023 Nationals will be held October 4-8 in New Orleans, hosted by Fleet 7 and the Southern Yacht Club. It’s never too early to register. You’ll find more details here.
Labor Day Party – Circle Saturday Setember 2nd for our annual Labor Day Party, which this year will hosted by Sarah Sheldon. More details to follow.
Mail Bag
This came in from EYC Sailing Director Franny Charles. “I have been remiss in not writing sooner to you. Your weekly summary newsletters to the Fleet are fantastic. The vibe is contagious and your excitement comes through in every edition. Looking forward to making the rounds over the next few days but I especially wanted to thank you two for all you do to inspire and welcome new sailors in the harbor.”
–kp (kpandapas@comcast.net)
Road To The Cup – Week 10 – Race Week Edition
Top-10 as of 7/31/23
What You Need To Know
- Team Hooks / Pascal notched their 2nd Race Week win.
- No Twilight race this week on August 3rd.
- The Labor Day Party will be after racing on September 2nd, hosted by Sarah Sheldon.
Last Week’s Racing
Fast Mermaid – Last Sunday, the BYC’s held its second annual Fast Mermaid Pursuit Race, a fund-raising event for domestic violence survivor Lindsay Smith. A tip of the cap to regatta organizer Steve Herman and the BYC for a fun and well-organized event. Five Fleet 5 teams competed, three – Teams Fava, Pandapas and Denton – in the spinnaker division and two, Anne Marije Veenland and Marine Regnault-Stoel sailing solo in the non-spinnaker division. Joe Fava, racing with his kids Ben Fava and Annabel Fava, won the Rhodes division, finishing 10th overall and 8th in the spinnaker division. Well done. You’ll find the complete results here. Below is a shot of Team Fava with the BYC’s Steve Herman, with thanks to Bruce Durkee.
Twilights – As you know, there was no twilight racing Thursday night due to Race Week. Instead, we were treated to Jennifer & Steve Uhl’s gracious hospitality – again! I’m pretty sure this makes about 20 straight years they have opened their home during Race Week, and as always, they pulled out the stops. Many thanks to them, as well as to Fleet Bar Czar Anne Marije Veenland for making sure we all got enough to drink.
Junior Race Week – 246 junior sailors with 171 boats from more than 30 programs as far away as Annapolis and Lake Ontario descended on Pleon Yacht Club last Sunday for Marblehead Junior Race Week, the centerpiece of the junior racing schedule. The event ran Monday through Wednesday, and enjoyed great conditions all three days.
The Opti Champ fleet was largest at 56 boats, followed by the 420 Champs with 52. Rounding out the fleets were Opti Greens (34), 420 Greens (23) and Lasers (6). As always, the fleets were split into four lines, including 420s, Lasers, Opti Champs and Opti Greens, run respectively by the race committees of EYC, BYC, CYC and MYC (Manchester Yacht Club). Between the race committees, safety boats and judges, there were no fewer than 50-60 volunteers on the water, plus a bunch more on shore.
Five Fleet 5 spawn competed in this event, but not as many as years past as the next bulge of fleet kids is still a couple of years away. In the Opti Green class, Ben Fava took 2nd, Jack Gabriel 8th and Ben Gabriel 15th. On the 420 Champ line, Felix Regnault finished 37th, and sailing in the laser fleet, Nicholas Regnault finished 3rd. Well done and congratulations to all. You’ll find the complete results here.
As in years past, legions of Fleet 5 members volunteered to support this event. Marine Regnault-Stoel co-chaired the regatta. Two of the four PROs are card-carrying members of Fleet 5, including Alex Felton on the Laser line and Kim Pandapas on the Opti Champ line. Other Fleet 5 members, alums and friends who served on RC included Christina Pandapas, Rob Ferro, Jennifer Jewel, Barbara Hallawell, Ken Adam, Judy Adam, Karen Finocchio and Dan Gabriel. Ramsay Hoguet served this year as safety czar with Patrick Andreasen, and Stan Schreyer, Ashley Hoguet and Sophie Lane served as coaches. I’m sure I’ve missed a few, so sorry, but it’s clear that the R19 community again stepped up in a meaningful way. Thanks to all!
Race Week – Race Week, as the only 4-day regatta on our schedule, never fails to deliver drama, intrigue, and the full range of emotions from crushing pain to unbridled jubilation. 22 boats registered, which is a little down from years past, but the field remained deep and the challenge no easier. A few of the notables among the field included Jim & Dan Gabriel, sailing their first Race Week together on a Rhodes 19, and Hugh Townsend, who came all the way from Belfast Maine with his brother Lou Townsend to join us. Welcome back to Ian Peebles, who finally made his 2023 debut, as well as to Tommy Tomkins, crewing for Peter Frisch, who was on the helm for the entire regatta. Tommy T., by the way, is not just a former national champ, crewing for Dave Curtis, he probably won more championships in more boats than everyone else on the course combined.
So let’s get straight to the bottom line. Congratulations to Matt Hooks & Rob Pascal, who put on a clinic. I’ve said this before, but some regattas you win because you’re the last standing, and others you go out and take. Team Hooks / Pascal took this one, leading wire-to-wire and finishing with a line of 3-1-1-2-1-6-4-1 for 19 total points, averaging just over 2 points a race. In a fleet of 21 boats, their worst finish was a 6. They were simply unstoppable. They sailed fast, were generally mistake-free and opportunistically picked a lot of pockets at the corners. They sailed with purpose. The victory, their second, earned them a year of Race Week bragging rights as well as our highly coveted Race Week perpetual trophy; the Spittoon.
Sweetening the day further, they were later awarded the Norm Cressy Trophy for the most outstanding performance at Race Week. Well-deserved. Regrettably it was the last trophy awarded and the team had left to get kids home, so they missed that presentation.
Taking 2nd was Team Shoreman / Reynolds, who put up a line of 2-4-12-4-2-11-6-3 for 44 points. In most years, this would have been good enough to win, but unfortunately, not this time given Team Hooks / Pascal’s performance. They sailed exceptionally well, especially considering they haven’t been out much this season. But they are good, and were by far the fastest boat on the course. Well done.
Finishing 3rd was Team Frisch / Tomkins, with a line of 7-7-10-1-6-2-7-11 for 51 points. These guys sailed as though they have been sailing together for years. Always there, always fast and hard to get around. Well done.
Honorable mentions go to Team Pandapas in 4th with 53 points, and Team Lane in 5th with 59 points. Congratulations to all.
Race Week Recap – Day 1
The forecast for Thursday included a Small Craft Warning with a building southwesterly, topping out around 20 with gusts in the 30s, including pop-up thunderstorms, drenching rain, hail, possible tornadoes (and swarms of locust). That had a few folks wringing their hands, adjusting their rigs and scurrying around looking for thirds. Fortunately, we never saw thunderstorms, gusts in the 30s, a drop of rain or even a locust. Instead, we got an oscillating, up-and-down southwesterly in the 10-15 range that was relatively well behaved. The pressure and seas built gradually over the course of the day, putting a premium on good driving and keeping the boat flat. We got in three races, the 3rd of which featured surfing conditions.
All of that was very much to the liking of Team Hooks / Pascal, who were shot out of a cannon after a summer of sailing deprivation in the interest of domestic tranquility. They put up a 3-1-1 for 5 points to win the day handily and take an early and significant regatta lead. Taking 2nd was the similarly deprived Team Taylor, who rolled a 6-2-4 for 12 points, and taking 3rd was Team Ehrhardt with a 5-3-6 for 14 points. Honorable mentions to Team Daily / Westhoven with a 4-9-2 for 15 points, and Team Shoreman / Reynolds in 5th with a 2-4-12 for 18 points. Honorable mention also to Eric Thornton & Stan Schreyer who earned the Race 1 bullet.
Race Week Recap – Day 2
The Chamber of Commerce pulled out all the stops for this one, serving up a sparkling, sunny, hot, but lower humidity day. The forecast called for variable winds less than 5 knots, becoming SE 5 to 9 in the afternoon, with seas around a foot. It was surprisingly accurate as we got an oscillating south-southeasterly that was so back-and-forth, it had PRO Ken Adam talking to himself. Our courses were 185 for race 1, and 170 for the next two, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. And it was light, especially for the first two races. Painfully light. Chew-on-the-mainsheet light. That, of course, put a premium on playing the current, which is always more of a factor on light air days. Mercifully, the pressure built a little into the 10-knot range for the final race. Left paid nicely the first two races, but a 20 degree righty crushed those who defied Marblehead’s mantra of left-in-the-morning-right-in-the-afternoon.
All of this rolled off the backs of Team Frisch / Tompkins, who won the day on a tiebreaker, with a 1-6-2 for 9 points. Really well done. Taking 2nd with a 2-1-6, also for 9 points was the unstoppable Team Hooks / Pascal who simply aren’t making a lot of mistakes out there, and finishing 3rd was Team Shoreman / Reynolds with a 4-2-11 for 17 points. Honorable mentions go to Team Rubin in 4th with a 6-5-7 for 18 points, and Team Pandapas in 5th with a 3-3-13 for 19 points.
So at the end of Day 2, the regatta standings looked like this, with a reminder that there are no throw-outs. With two days of sailing left, anything can happen, but Team Hooks / Pascal had carved out a pretty comfortable lead.
Race Week Recap – Day 3
Disappointingly, Saturday was a washout. The forecast was iffy at best, calling for light and variable with a threat of thunderstorms popping up around 1400. As in previous days, the forecast was right, at least partially, as there was barely a lick of wind. The day started with an on-the-water pause while each of the RC boats loitered in the vicinity of Marblehead Rock for a while waiting for some breeze to fill in before continuing out to sea. It eventually filled enough to rope-a-dope us (who can remember that reference?) into heading out, where we settled in for a long drift waiting for Godot (another arcane reference). Consistent with Samuel Beckett’s story (spoiler alert), like Godot, the breeze never showed up. Our line started voting with its feet around 1400, and the RC fired off 3 shortly after.
Day 3 has often been the Race Week inflection point: a day when the deck gets shuffled, hearts are broken and mathematical realities are begrudgingly accepted. This Day 3 was no exception, though for entirely different reasons. Assuming three races on Saturday and another two on Sunday, there is still plenty of runway for people to make meaningful moves in the standings. That was less the case after the lost day. Accordingly, the day 3 winner has to be Team Hooks / Pascal, whose 19-point lead with just 2-3 races to go, was looking increasingly insurmountable.
Race Week Recap – Day 4
The regatta changed our start time to an hour earlier in the hopes of getting in an extra race after Saturday’s washout. That proved to be a good thing as when we arrived early, we found our boats awash over the floorboards from Saturday night’s storms. That’s a lot of bailing. The morning started with a solid post frontal northwesterly that was forecast to trend west later in the day. As it turned out, that breeze died as we were heading out, leaving us to float around bare poled for an hour-long AP waiting for something to fill in. When something eventually did, it was a gentle southwesterly instead of the sea breeze we all expected, with small oscillations and scattered pockets of pressure. But it was enough to get races off. PRO Ken Adam and his team did a great job of getting things set up quickly and we got in two before the time limit expired.
Taking 1st on the day after overcoming an OCS in Race 2 was Team Lane, who rolled a 2-2 for 4 points. Well done. Taking 2nd was Team Hooks / Pascal with a 4-1 for 5 points, and finishing 3rd on a tiebreaker was Team Pandapas with a 1-8 for 9 points. Honorable mentions to Team Shoreman / Reynolds in 4th with a 6-3, also for 9 points and Team Fava / Nash in 5th with a 3-9 for 12 points.
So, a few random thoughts in no particular order. * How annoying is it to kick off RW with small craft warnings and threats of tornados after three straight days of gorgeous weather for the kids. * Jim & Dan Gabriel sure look great sailing a Rhodes together. * How on earth could Team Hooks / Pascal sail so well right out of the box after barely sailing all summer? It’s amazing. Ditto Teams Taylor and Shoreman / Reynolds. * We can all know the rules better. * I’m not a fan of no throw-outs. I get both sides of the argument – just not a fan. * During Friday’s racing, Team Daily / Westhoven executed the most perfect roll jibe I’ve ever seen in a R19. * It’s seldom we see Peter Frisch on the helm, as we did this week. After his A+ performance (sailing with old friend Tommy Tomkins), I find myself wondering why. He’s great. * Team Shoreman / Reynolds were by far the fastest boat on the course when the pressure was 10 knots or less. They had what I like to call ‘stupid speed.’ * Team Rubin’s performance (8th overall), and their Day 2 performance particularly, has to put them in the conversation for this year’s Most Improved award. * All three CYC Commodores and two EYC commodores sailed in this event. How awesome is that? * Helly Hansen’s impeccable launching and hauling logistical plan didn’t really account for visiting Rhodes, leaving Hugh Townsend to fend for himself. Huge thanks to Jim Taylor who stepped in to help. Fleet 5 spirit in action.
So, in Cup competition, Race Week always results in a lot of reshuffling, and this year is no exception. The top four teams remained relatively unscathed, with Team Uhl / Lane clinging to a 22-point lead. But the biggest moves include the addition of Teams Hooks / Pascal, Shoreman / Reynolds and Fava / Nash, none of whom, as you know, have been able to sail much in the first half. The top 10 are listed below.
Week 11 racing will include the 2-3 races of MRA Series 3-1 this Saturday. There will be no Twilight race on August 3rd.
Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt
If You Spin, Send It In (aka Road to the Pie) – There were two spins this week that we heard of, but surely there had to be more. We also saw a few fouls that that didn’t involve spins, though also didn’t land in the room, so presumably the parties worked it out. The two we are sure of include Team Lane / Uhl and Team Pandapas, both of whom pushed it a little on port tack approach in the zone.
Remember if you spin, email kpandapas@comcast.net and let me know how many fouls you committed for which you exonerated yourself.
2023 Nationals in New Orleans – The 2023 Nationals will be held October 4-8 in New Orleans, hosted by Fleet 7 and the Southern Yacht Club. It’s never too early to register. You’ll find more details here.
Labor Day Party – Circle Saturday Setember 2nd for our annual Labor Day Party, which this year will hosted by Sarah Sheldon. More details to follow.
Mail Bag
This came in from EYC Sailing Director Franny Charles. “I have been remiss in not writing sooner to you. Your weekly summary newsletters to the Fleet are fantastic. The vibe is contagious and your excitement comes through in every edition. Looking forward to making the rounds over the next few days but I especially wanted to thank you two for all you do to inspire and welcome new sailors in the harbor.”
–kp (kpandapas@comcast.net)