Road To The Cup – Week 15 – Labor Day Edition
Top-10 as of 9/2/24
What You Need To Know
- The 3-day Fall Series will commence Saturday September 7th and continue through the next two Saturdays (14th and 21st).
A reminder that we voted to include Fall Series in Cup scoring. - Our scored Twilight season is over, but if you haven’t had enough, Thursday night racing will be held for the next couple of weeks, with a start time of
5:30pm. - Circle the Dates – MRA Awards will be Friday, October 25th at BYC, and the Fleet 5 Awards will be Saturday November 2nd at Chez Pandapas.
More below.
Labor Day Regatta & Party – Huge thanks to everyone who helped to make the Labor Day Regatta a success. It was
Joe Fava’s brainchild, and he did all the organizing, trophies etc., so huge thanks to him. Huge thanks also to
Rebecca & Larry Ehrhardt for opening their home to us for the Labor Day ‘awards’ party, which was better attended than any of our LD parties for the past 4-5 years. Finally, thanks to
Anne Marije Veenland, who managed the Fleet bar and sent in a few photos.
Last Week’s Racing
Seven team showed up for our last Twilight of the season, which featured perfect conditions on a gorgeous late summer evening. Here is the summary from our newly minted national champion.
“Beautiful evening with nice southeast breeze, though fading over time. The first loop was short – to the Fort Sewall nun, then the green can (in front of Chandler Hovey) and return.
All of us rounded the nun close together. At the first windward mark, Steve Uhl had eked out a small lead, with the
Family Lane, and Timmy Dittrich sailing with Rich Denton close behind. The RC ambitiously decided to lengthen our beat out to the Archers Rock nun off Children’s Island. Fortunately, we all got around and back to the harbor just as the
breeze shut off for good.”
Thanks to Steve, though he neglected to mention that he extended his lead at every mark. The fleet later compressed near the finish as the pressure faded, but it was an impressive performance,
nonetheless. Worth noting is that RCs shorten courses all the time but extending them midrace is a little unusual. The Rhodes teams made it in by the skin of their teeth as the breeze died, though unfortunately, a few of the townies weren’t so lucky.
Anyway, for the record, taking 1st in this final Twilight of the season was
Steve Uhl with Felix Twaalfhoven, and sailing very much like the champ that he is. Well done. Finishing 2nd was
Team Lane, also sporting a newly minted national champ in Kathleen Lane, and taking 3rd was
Timmy Dittrich, sailing with Rich Denton. Honorable mentions go to
Anne Marije Veenland in 4th and Walter Colsman in 5th. Congrats to all.
So with that, Series 2 is in the books. We needed all five races to get a throw-out, but got in just four, so no throw-out for Series 2. Taking 1st was
Team Lane who put up a line of 2-1-DNC-2 for 11 points. Well done. Finishing 2nd four points back with a line of 6-2-2-5 for 15 points was
Walter Colsman, and taking 3rd on a tiebreaker was Steve Uhl, with a line of 1-8-DNC-1 for 16 points. Honorable mentions go to
Anne Marije Veenland in 4th with a 3-3-DNC-4, also for 16 points, and
Team Martini in 5th with a 4-5-4-6 for 19 points. Congratulations to all. Here are the Series 2 results.
So with Series 2 in the books, we also have Twilight overall final results. Taking 1st with 24 points was
Walter Colsman, which entitles him to a year of bragging rights and the coveted
Charlie Barr trophy. Well done! Taking 2nd was Team Lane with 26 points, and finishing 3rd was
Steve Uhl with 27 points. Honorable mentions to Anne Marije Veenland in 4th with 30 points, and
Team Martini in 5th with 36 points. Congrats to all. Here are the final Twilight overall standings.
Out on the MRA line, 11 teams showed up for the final two days of our MRA season. Conditions for both days were a little unsettled associated with a couple fronts pushing through, which
resulted in reasonably fresh conditions, though both days proved to be great days of sailing. You’ll recall that we decided to encourage a little more interest by repackaging the two days into a 2-day, standalone Labor Day Regatta, so we have three sets of
scores for you: Labor Day Regatta, MRA Series 3 and MRA overall. But first, a run-down of the sailing.
Labor Day Regatta – Day 1
Just seven teams showed up on Saturday, and though a not particularly impressive turnout, it was better than the two J70s. Saturday’s forecast was for SSE 5 to 8 kt, increasing to 8 to
11 in the afternoon, with gusts to 20 and seas 1 to 2 ft. That was generally accurate, but what we got was a building southeasterly at about 150 that started in the 10-12 knot range at game time and steadily built into the high teens while trending right
to 160-165, with the occasional impressive gust. Seas also built over the course of the day, putting an emphasis on good driving, and by race 4, we were surfing.
According to the schedule, this was to have been a short course Brimbles day, and while we did in fact sail on Brimbles, the courses were more in the 0.6 range, so more mid-length than short.
The RC set up uncomfortably close to the Brimbles day marker, so that a five-degree lefty on a pin start would have been a problem. Fortunately, we all managed to avoid it, and the gradual righty over the afternoon helped. We sailed four races, three W2s
and an M3, which was fun for a change of pace.
So, taking 1st on the day despite not sailing the last race was
Team Fava / Nash, who were simply lights-out, putting up a line of 1-1-1-DNS for 8 points. They sailed beautifully start to finish and were ungodly fast. There was simply no keeping up with them. Finishing 2nd on a 3-way tiebreaker was
Team Uhl / Lane, who rolled a 4-4-2-1 for 11 points, and taking 3rd was
Team Lane / Heffernan with a 2-2-4-3, also for 11 points. Honorable mentions go to
Team Pandapas in 4th with a 3-3-3-2, also for 11 points, and
Marine Regnault’s boat sailed by Stefan Thibodeaux in 5th with a 6-5-6-DNS for 22 points.
Labor Day Regatta – Day 2
Nine team showed up for Day 2, including four who weren’t out the day before. One of those was old friend
Frank McNamara, who was out the day before but sailing his J70. Great to have him back on our line.
The forecast was for SSW wind 8 to 11 kt, with a chance of shower and possibly a spot thunderstorm. What we got was a partly cloudy day that at times looked a little threatening, but also
was at times sunny, so generally a great sailing day. The breeze was an up & down southerly that averaged mid-teens and trended up later in the afternoon. The RC set up just to the north of Brimbles Rock and set their weather mark in the direction of Children’s
at 0.5 miles. We sailed four races and got in by 4pm. Perfect. A well-deserved tip of the cap to PRO
Tim McCaffrey and his team who did a terrific job.
Winning the day was
Team Lane / Heffernan, who put up an impressive 1-4-1-2 for 8 points. Finishing 2nd on a tiebreaker was
Frank McNamara with a 7-1-3-1 for 12 points, and taking 3rd was
Team P., with a line of 3-2-4-3, also for 12 points. Honorable mentions go to
Larry Ehrhardt in 4th with a 2-3-2-DNC for 14 points, and Team Denton in 5th with a 6-6-5-4 for 21 points.
As to the scoring, let’s start with our Fleet 5 Labor Day regatta, which is based on slightly different results than MRA because, 1) we use only the two days of results for a throw-out,
and 2) we scored everyone who sailed. Frank McNamara is registered for MRA in his J70, but not his Rhodes, so MRA did not include his finishes in their scoring, while we did.
So taking 1st was
Team Lane / Heffernan who put up an impressive 15 points, sailing consistently through the variety of conditions we had over the two days. Well done. Finishing 2nd was
Team Pandapas with 19 points, and taking 3rd (despite not sailing on Saturday) was
Frank McNamara with 33 points. Honorable mentions go to Team Fava / Nash in 4th (despite not sailing Sunday) just 1 point back with 34 points, and
Larry Ehrhardt in 5th (also not sailing Saturday) with 35 points. Congratulations to all.
Moving on to MRA, it’s worth mentioning that these final two days closed out Series 3 and with it, our MRA season. Three teams were competing for MRA overall, including
Teams Uhl / Lane, Pandapas and Lane / Heffernan. As Team Uhl / Lane didn’t sail Sunday, it came down to a battle between
Teams Pandapas and Lane / Heffernan. So the regatta within the regatta was effectively an 8-race food fight in which both sought to control and push down the other, regardless of whatever else was happening in the race.
Team Lane / Heffernan won that battle and emerged as winner of both Series 3 and MRA overall, but I get ahead of myself.
We sailed 11 races in Series 3, earning two throw-outs. Taking 1st with 15 points was
Team Lane / Heffernan. Finishing 2nd five points back with 20 points was
Team Pandapas, and taking 3rd was Team Uhl / Lane with 33 points. Honorable mention to
Team Denton in 4th with 42 points and Team Fava / Nash in 5th with 43 points.
For MRA overall, which includes Series 1, 2 & 3, taking 1st, and earning every bit of it, was
Team Lane / Heffernan who finished with 61 total points. Well done! Finishing 2nd just two points back with 63 points was
Team Pandapas, and taking 3rd with 72 points was Team Uhl / Lane. Honorable mentions to
Team Denton in 4th with 143 points, and Team AMV in 5th with 152 points. You’ll find the complete MRA scores
here.
So in Cup competition, with just three race days left, I can hear the fat lady backstage warming up, as
Team Lane / Heffernan’s 25-point lead might be too high a mountain to climb. The top 10 are listed below.
Week 16 racing will include the first day of Fall Series on Saturday 9/7, which we expect will be on South Line with all of the other fleets.
Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt
Experienced Team Interested in Sailing Fall Series
– Peter & Katie Christensen moved to the area from Long Beach recently and are interested in joining Fleet 5. They raced together in college, got married and are still racing together,
so right out of Fleet 5’s central casting. They expect to buy a boat this fall and sail with us in 2025, but in the meantime have interest in either crewing for someone or chartering for the last two days of Fall Series. If you need crew or are willing to
lend out your boat, contact Peter at pchris9694@gmail.com, or 914-588-8950.
Need Crew?
– Rob Weaver of Manchester is considering buying a Rhodes, but would like to sail one first. He wrote,
“I’ve sailed 420s, 470s, M scows, Thistles and FJs. Have a couple of R19s (keel) in mind to add to the fleet, but need some sailing time in one first.”
Contact Rob at r2wsubsc@gmail.com.
Reminder – Nominations for Outstanding Crew –The nomination period is open. Email your nomination to
kpandapas@comcast.net.
Laser Housing Needed – EYC is hosting the ILCA US Masters Sept 20-22. They expect 100 boats and are looking for housing.
Anyone willing to host a Laser sailor can contact Ledyard Mcfadden at 978-828-0685 or Ledyardmcfadden@gmail.com.
MRA Awards – The 2024 MRA awards will be Friday October 25th at the BYC. The event will start at 6:30 pm and is free
to all MRA members, crew and RC. The format will be similar to last year with light dinner fare (vegetarian/GF options), cash bar, music and a wine pull.
Fleet 5 Awards – Fleet 5 Awards will be Saturday November 2nd at the home of
Christina & Kim Pandapas, starting at 6pm.
2025 East Coasts – We have it on good authority that the 2025 ECs are likely to be hosted by Fleet 45 and the Cottage
Park Yacht Club. The dates they are rumored to be considering are June 21 and 22. How awesome would that be? Stay tuned.
If You Spin, Send It In (aka Road to the Pie) – We observed
Team Lane / Heffernan spinning after a minor starting line incident in the 4th race on Saturday. Thanks to them for keeping it on the course.
Forget Something? – This occasionally happens to everyone, right?
Mail Bag
We heard from a few folks with reaction to
Steve Uhl & Kathleen Lane winning Nationals. First from Joe Fava, whose reaction was pure excitement.
“Wait! Steve Uhl!?! National champ?”
He went on to ask, “Did Kathleen crew?”
His question about crew was due to the fact that the
regatta results page page didn’t list her name, a point old friend and former national champ
Justin Scott, also took issue with. “For your Marblehead Nationals, you might consider an NOR that requires crew name on the registration and results. Just sayin.”
Justin went on to say,
“Thrilled for Steve Uhl. Please congratulate him from me. I could not be more thrilled – that Kathleen is a national champion. It goes to show that sometimes the nice guys finish first! For me personally, of all the various regatta results this
year, including my own results at Antigua and friends results in the UK and US – nothing gave me a deeper glow than seeing Steve and Kathleen capture the R19 trophy. ‘Well earned’ doesn’t begin to capture.”
Finally, from
Steve Uhl himself, “Kim as always, awesome write up. Thanks for the very kind words.”
David Graham wrote in with this comment on our remembrance of
Henry Peper. “Thank you for the very kind words of remembrance relating to Henry Pepper III. He was indeed a champ – in everyone’s book!”
David also provided this brief retrospective on the 2024 Twilight season.
“It started-out being kind of a funky season – and did its darndest to remain that way! Still, I am hopeful that the Fleet 5 participants found it to be a worthwhile effort. We who have been on duty at the Twilight Booth, certainly did (and will for 2025)!”
Fleet 5 thanks you, David.
Anne Marije Veenland wrote in with this about the party,
“Great party, thank you to all who showed up and a big thank you to our hosts Larry and Rebeca;, Kim for grilling and Joe for everything else. Folks ask where the cake was from: Elm St Bakery in Everett.”
Alex Felton wrote in with another one-design challenge. Anyone have a guess?
Finally, in response to last week’s picture (below) of
Rick Myers being towed by TowBoatUS, Rick wrote, “Shame! In our defense I think the issue was a bag we picked up in our intake while we were towing you.”
Complaints Department
Got Gripes?Don’t be shy. Unload at
kpandapas@comcast.net. The buck stops here.
-kp