Greetings From the Prez
Happy new year.
Well here we go again. Today begins yet another Fleet 5 season – my 31st but who’s counting. It’s hard to wrap my head around 31 seasons. I suppose that makes me an old-timer, alongside the likes of people like Jim Taylor, Steve Uhl and Mike Lane. The 30-year club! Not a bad club to be in, really. I mean it’s not like we’re doddering old has-beens unwilling to let go. Last year, Jim Taylor won East Coasts, Steve Uhl won nationals, and Mike Lane won the cup. Still kicking! We may be grey, but we’re still feisty.
I guess the point is that, though this fleet has been around a long time, it’s still compelling enough to keep us coming back. Despite an ever-changing cast of characters, it really hasn’t changed that much. Our culture of tough competition blended with lots of social and an emphasis on family has kept the fleet strong and resilient. We continue to attract great younger sailors like Matt Hooks, Rob Pascal, Jim & Dan Gabriel, Adam Roberts and Alden Reid. We are fortunate to boast a lot of great women sailors like Joan Thayer, Anne Sousa, Marine Regnault, Anne Marije Veenland, Renee Heffernan and Liza Clinton. In fact, a high percentage of women sailors has long been a Fleet 5 calling card and remains a key strength today. Nearly 25% of our skippers last year were woman. And yes we continue to attract families. In fact, today we have no fewer than 10 family teams (and counting). Husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, brothers and sisters – they’re all here. The bottom line is that, though a lot of names have changed, Fleet 5 remains the same warm, welcoming, vibrant, collegial community it was 31 years ago. Can we do more? Sure, there is always room for improvement, and we’ll keep at it. But as far as I’m concerned, Fleet 5 is a gem and always has been.
So on to business. As usual, the leadership group met in December to plan next season. The process isn’t done yet, but one thing is for sure, this year will be jam packed. On the racing front, the core as always will be MRA, accented by the increasingly popular Twilight series. As they did last year, the MRA remains hyper focused on improving our experience – more on that below. And as usual, Race Week will serve as the centerpiece, sandwiched by East Coasts in June and Nationals in August. Our East Coasts will be held in Boston Harbor, hosted by Fleet 45 and the Cottage Park Yacht Club. Nationals will be here in the friendly waters of Marblehead, hosted by Fleet 5 and the Eastern Yacht Club.
Off the water, we’re cooking up the usual array of parties, clinics, and any other excuse to break out the fleet bar, the stewardship of which, by the way, has been taken over by Team Denton. A former bar tender, Rosy asked if they could promote Fleet 5 signature drinks! Not a lot of opposition to that at the leadership meeting, and in fact, one of the first orders of business was to up the bar budget, so strap in.
Anyway, a lot of this is summarized in Upcoming Events below, and we hope to provide you a draft of the full schedule in March.
Welcome to the 2025 season. First gun is in five months.
Upcoming Events
An abbreviated calendar of events is below, and we’ll provide the complete draft 2025 calendar in the March newsletter. Here are a few near-term events you should know about.
Winter Party – Saturday February 1st. This year’s Fleet 5’s winter party will again be hosted by Anne Marije Veenland & Bryan Lee on Saturday evening, February 1st. The party will be potluck, and the Fleet bar will be in attendance. Circle the date and keep an eye out for the evite.
Spring Meeting – Thursday April 24th This year’s spring meeting will be held on Thursday April 24th at the home of Christina & Kim Pandapas. We’ll discuss racing, scoring and social details of the upcoming season, and vote on a few things, while enjoying hors d’oeuvres, the fleet bar and each other’s company. We’ll also have a laptop to help you register, courtesy of Timmy Dittrich.
MRA Kick-off Party – Friday May 2nd The MRA will kick off the season with a party at CYC on Friday evening May 3rd. Details to follow.
Short Tacks
2025 East Coasts in Boston Harbor– The East Coasts will be in Boston Harbor on June 21-22. The event will be hosted by Fleet 45 and the Cottage Park Yacht Club. We’ll let you know when the NOR is posted, and keep you updated on details as they are worked out.
2025 Nationals in Marblehead – This year’s Nationals is coming back to Marblehead on August 21-24. The event will be hosted by Fleet 5 and the Eastern Yacht Club. The event chair is our own Jeff Shoreman, who has provided this preliminary schedule.
Thursday, August 21st: Practice Race and Annual Meeting
Friday, August 22nd – Sunday, August 24th: Days 1-3 of Racing
We’ll keep you posted on the details as they come out. If you’d like to help, contact Jeff at jshoreman@gmail.com.
Two Clinics in 2024 – As we did last year, the fleet will again hold two clinics: one spring off-the-water Clinic, which is scheduled for May 8th, and an on-the-water clinic, tentatively scheduled for Saturday July 19th. Details are being worked out, so stay tuned.
Around Misery Islands Race – The oracles of booth racing, Bart Snow and David Graham, have selected Monday September 1st for the increasingly popular race around Misery Island. Circle the date.
Helly Hansen – Sailing World Sets Regatta Schedule The HH regatta schedule is set, and as usual, includes Race Week, which will be held July 24-27.
MRA Fall Meeting Update
MRA held its Fall ‘Town Hall’ in December, both to present survey results and solicit feedback. First the survey. Here are a few of the key survey response slides, courtesy of Jack Cochran.
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As they did last year, MRA assembled a representative panel of sailors and RC members who shared their views on various subjects. Fleet 5ers on the panel included Adam Roberts and Anne Marije Veenland. MRA’s key takeaways included the following:
- Need protocol for polling sailors on whether to race on marginal days,
- Need to better promote women in sailing,
- Need to find more access to dry sailing and moorings,
- Need to improve consistency of race management across PROs.
Fleet 5 2024 Awards Recap
Fleet 5’s 2024 awards party was held at Christina & Kim Pandapas’ house with 45-50 of us in attendance. Take a look.
KP presided over the festivities, which included a recap of all our series winners. The presentation closed with the spirited selection of the 2024 Hacker Award, a ceremony presided over by Elise Nash with an assist from Adam Roberts. All 2024 results are listed below, and it’s worth pausing one final time to celebrate the winners of our perpetuals. Photos below courtesy of Anne Marije Veenland.
Hallawell Family Trophy – Rich & Rosy Denton.
The Family Trophy was donated by Barbara & Kent Hallawell in 2000 to celebrate their family’s then 20, now 40+ year association with Fleet 5 and its strong family tradition. The trophy is awarded annually to a family for significant contributions to the class, to our fleet or to the sport of sailboat racing. Rich & Rosy are a husband-wife team who are regulars on the starting line, despite mooring their boat all the way over in Salem Harbor. They’ve climbed steadily up the rankings since their arrival 4-5 years ago, travel to all the away games and have endeared themselves to our friends across the class. They’re warm, friendly and humble off the course, and a growing force on the course. In short, they are culture carriers who embody our values and all that makes fleet 5 special, fostering and perpetuating our fleet’s deep family culture.
Rookie of the Year – Adam Roberts
This is awarded annually to that rookie skipper with an impressive showing, typically based on overall scores, though also on the basis of an outstanding showing, or importantly, overall enthusiasm and commitment. Adam is anything but a rookie. In fact, calling him a rookie is laughable. He’s raced since he was a kid, starting in dinghies in San Diego, raced extensively in high school and college, and later pursued an Olympic campaign in 470s. But with respect to Rhodes 19s and Fleet 5, he’s a rookie. This past year, as a fleet 5 member, he won Race Week, won the beer can ‘Around Misery’ race, and then traveled to Hingham and took 2nd in Nationals, winning both the Cressy runner-up trophy and the Novice trophy. He brings energy and spirit to our racecourse, and we hope to see a lot more of him in the coming seasons.
Most Improved Skipper – Anne Marije Veenland
Most Improved is awarded each year to that skipper who demonstrates the most improvement from the previous seasons. Selection is based primarily on a year-to-year comparison of the overall score, including MRA, Twilight series, Race Week and the Fall series (if there is one). In MRA, Anne Marije improved from 14th overall in 2022 to 5th in 2024. In Twilights for the same period, she went from 8th to 4th, and in Cup competition, she improved from 17th to 4th.
Richie Santos Outstanding Crew – Stefan Thibodeaux
This is awarded each season to that individual who most distinguishes him or herself as crew. Selection is based on long-term contribution, overall performance during a single season or regatta, or even a single compelling event. Stefan Thibodeaux joined Marine Regnault mid-season and as noted in her nomination letter, was positively impactful in multiple ways. “I was at my wits end early in the season, sailing with new crew all the time. Stefan responded, and right from the start it went well. Sailing with him re-energized me. He works tremendously hard inside the boat (the spinnaker, pulling up the traveler) and outside the boat on tactics and wind. We have been exploring offline and online how to improve our skills, and ways to make the boat easier to sail. We have been improving as the season continued and are having fun. I am very excited that we will be sailing together next year.” Communicates well, additive, committed and having fun is in many ways the very definition of outstanding crew. Other 2024 nominees included Liza Clinton, Dan Gabriel and Renee Heffernan.
President’s Trophy – Steve Uhl
The President’s Trophy is awarded annually at the Fleet Captain’s discretion to that person who has been of most help or generally contributed above and beyond the call. Steve always pitches in, and importantly, does it quietly and without fanfare. Sometimes, he does stuff before you know it needs doing. More importantly, Steve is that person who I can always count on for advice. He’s a clear thinker, he pushes back, he offers unvarnished views, and always tell the truth. Steve defines our Fleet 5 culture – he sails almost everything, he sails competitively, is a gentleman on the water, and a prolific contributor off the water.
Hacker Award – Joe Fava & Elise Nash
This year’s Hacker competition included two strong contenders in Team Pandapas who plowed into Bowdich Ledge, and Team Fava / Nash, who entertainingly worked to shoo a bat off their boat during Race Week. Elise fought a valiant fight, persuasively arguing her case and landing several punches. But as Hackmaster Adam Roberts astutely pointed out, “the more you protest, the funnier it gets.” So in the end, Team Fava/Nash lost the day and won the award.
Congratulations To Our 2024 winners
Scuttlebutt
Fleet 5ers Recognized – Two card carrying CYC members from Fleet 5 were recognized by Eastern Yacht Club at their sailing awards. Joan Thayer received the Eugene Connolly trophy, recognized for her love of sailing, sportsmanship and contributions to the sport. Pictured below is Robbie Doyle presenting the trophy to Joan with Vice Commodore Larry Ehrhardt looking on.
Mike Lane was awarded the Commodore J. S. Lawrence Bowl, which recognizes the winner of Marblehead’s most competitive fleet.
Congrats to both.
Mail Bag
Lots of mail on the Holiday Edition of RTTC. Here is a smattering. Charlie Obersheimer lobbed in “Thank you, it is a wonderful newsletter,” and Judy Adam wrote, “Loved the wrap-up column!”.
Joan Thayer wrote, “Fabulous! Great writing to keep us smiling and laughing. Glad we have you (and your proofreader) around for another year.”
And this from old friend Charlie Pendleton – “These are always amazing. You outdid yourself this year – I laughed, I cried. Terri kept asking – “what’s so funny” every time I burst out laughing. Really well-done Kim.”
Finally, Peter Sorlien took issue with the topic of mainsail reefs. “Thank you for the Holiday Edition of RTTC, a tradition I would hate to miss. You probably will hear from Fleet Historian John Casler on this point, but much as I applaud Anne Marije for owning a R19 mainsail with reef points, she was not the first to use one. As owner of the founding boat of Fleet 5, #41 then named Sea Fever, I can testify that her original 1959 mainsail has two sets of reef points! The first year that I owned her, I sailed out to watch a race on a breezy day with one reef tucked in (and some refreshed duct tape). Having enjoyed that experience of sailing comfortably upright while the racers sweated with their butts as far over the rail as their abs allowed, I commissioned a new sail with reef points in 2022, and with it have sailed solo comfortably in well over 20 knots. Of course, I cannot testify whether the extra grommets make #41 any slower, since I have always been at the back of the pack on my own merits anyway.”
Old friend John Casler wrote in earlier this month with this optimistic thought. “Marblehead Sunset on December 12 was at 4:10. The great news is that Marblehead Sunset for this coming Thursday will be 4:12. Progress in the right direction for the first time since June, 2024!”
Racers Resource Board
Alcole Marine – Luke Andrews (978-500-1505) and Renato Qarri (781-470-4550) do high quality fiberglass repair, gelcoat & Awlgrip and boat detailing. Email alcole.marine@gmail.com.
Cape Cod Shipbuilding makes Zephyr extrusions and a full range of mast and boom hardware and fittings. Call Dick Landis at (508) 295-2240.
Chris Small – Full restorations and glass work- csmall9021@yahoo.com, (978) 500-9021.
Doyle Sails – Call (978) 740-5950 for new sails, sail repairs and all variety of canvas work, including boat covers, rudder bags and marine stitching.
Neal Lewanda – Repairs, fiberglass/gel coat, rudders, keel work, etc. – neal@lewandamarine.com, or call 978-525-2700
Sailor’s Tailor www.sailortailors.com for boat covers, rudder bags and marine stitching.
Seacoast Specialty Marine – Call Greg Dolan at 978-255-2769, click on seacoastspecialtymarine.com, or visit on Facebook @seacoastspecialtymarine.
Stuart Marine – Dave Whittier of Stuart Marine in Rockland Maine is the exclusive builder of Rhodes 19s. Call Dave at 207-594-5515 for pricing on new boats, used boats, repairs and parts.
The Trailer Shop – Located on 87 High St. in Danvers for any trailer repairs. Call Dan Sullivan at (978) 750-6799
Newsletter Schedule
Fleet 5 newsletters are distributed on the 1st of January, March, April, May and November. The Road to the Cup mailings are distributed weekly starting one week before the season with the ‘Week 0’ edition, and continuing through the end of the season, typically on Sunday mornings, unless there is racing on Sunday, in which case Monday mornings.
Complaints Department
Got Gripes? Don’t be shy. Unload at kpandapas@comcast.net. The buck stops here.