Road To The Cup – Week 15
9/1/25
What You Need To Know
- The popular Around Misery Island Race will be held (today), Monday September 1st. SIs are attached.
- The Sail Salem Charity pursuit race also will be today. Info here.
- The Fall Series will start this Saturday September 6th, and continue on September 13th & 20th.
- The MRA Awards will be Friday October 24th starting at 6:30 at BYC.
- The Fleet 5 awards will be Saturday November 8 at the home of Christina & Kim Pandapas.
Last Week’s Racing
Just three boats made it out for the final Twilight. Not sure why so few, as it was a beautiful evening. Perhaps is had something to do with a Nationals’ hangover. In any event, Steve Uhl was out of town for this one, so today’s summary is from old friend John Casler.
“Only three boats turned out for the final Twilight Race of 2025. The wind 15 minutes prior to the warning was light enough that I had to use the paddle to get toward the line. The RC accordingly gave us a shortish 22-19 twice around course. The breeze freshened on the broad reach out to 19, the nun off the fort, with all three boats close together. At the nun, the Martinis made the better rounding and took a lead that they never relinquished. By the second leg, a one-legged beat to 19, the can off the lighthouse, the gusts had Rob Ferro and me up on the rail of 1775, and likewise Jay Wager and his crew in 1219. We both should have had a weight advantage on the Martinis, but they sailed flawlessly and held their lead. On the second go round, 1775 and 1219 had a couple of position changes, with 1775 taking the second.”
Thanks John. So, for the record, taking 1st was Team Martini, finishing 2nd was Team Casler and taking 3rd was Jay Wager. Congrats to all, and to everyone who participated in Twilights this year.
So, with that, Twilight 2 is in the books, truncated to just three races due to weather and Nationals. Of course, with just three races, there are no Series 2 throw-outs. Congrats to Steve Uhl, who finished 1st with a line of 1-1-DNC for 6 points. Finishing 2nd on a tiebreaker was Team Martini, who rolled a DNC-3-1 for 9 points, and taking 3rd was Team Casler / Ferro with a 3-4-2, also for 9 points. Here are the Series 2 results.
So, finishing Twilight 2 locks in the Twilight overall results. Congratulations to Steve Uhl, who finished with just 11 points – fewer than half the 2nd place finisher, just annihilating the field and earning him the 2025 Charlie Barr Trophy and a year of Twilight bragging rights. Congrats to Steve. Congrats also to Team Martini in 2nd with 25 points, and John Casler / Ferro in 3rd with 28 points. Honorable mentions to Team Lane who took 4th on a tiebreaker with 29 points, and Jay Wager in 5th, also with 29 points. The full season results are below.
Out on the MRA line, a cold front passed through on Friday and high pressure built in behind it, leaving clear, dry, sunny weather for the long holiday weekend. In other words, a chamber of commerce weekend. As you’d expect, after three solid days of racing at last week’s Nationals, we suffered a bit of a Nationals hangover. That, combined with revoked hall passes and the gorgeous holiday weekend (just perfect for corn mazes, apple picking and other family activities) made for disappointing participation, with five boats out on Saturday and just two on Sunday.
Saturday’s conditions started with an unassuming little northwesterly, that would occasionally strain up to double digits, but was generally a well-behaved 8-10 type of breeze. EYC PRO Bill Lynn (who did an excellent job by the way), took the combined (South) line of six fleets out far enough to give the J105s and IODs the mile plus legs they were looking for. Etchells were next and he combined the J70s and Vipers into one start, and of course we started last. He got the J105s off in the northwesterly and was in the middle of the IOD sequence when the wind shut off. He eventually called back the J105s and we all waited. A fickle sea breeze of 5-10 finally arrived by about 2pm and filled in nicely across the course. By fickle, I mean this one was doing its best northwesterly imitation with 30-degree oscillations, which made things interesting for the racers but had to have had Bill Lynn pulling his hair out trying to manage three course for six fleets. We finally got our first start around 2:30 and managed to get in two (with the second shortened at the gates in the dying breeze). Saturday’s biggest challenge was sailing back to the harbor in the dying breeze, which shut off completely around Marblehead Rock.
Taking 1st on the day on a tiebreaker was Team P. with a 2-1 for 3 points. Finishing 2nd was Team Lane / Heffernanwith a 1-2, also for 3 points. And taking 3rd was Team McNamara, who rolled a 3-3 for 6 points. Honorable mentions to Team Martini in 4th with a 4-4 for 8 points, and Team Thornton in 5th with a 5-5 for 10 points.
Sunday’s conditions were rinse & repeat. It was another sunny day that started with a gentle westerly that eventually yielded to a gentle sea breeze that built nicely into the 10-12 range. Unfortunately, not a lot of folks made the effort (including, regrettably, Team P.), as only two teams – Uhl and Martini – showed up. We saw this post on WhatsApp at 12:21pm from CYC RC chair Dan Himes. “Anybody coming to Brimbles? RC is lonely out here.”
What has become of us?
Anyway, here is a brief summary from Steve Uhl.
“Just Clark Uhl with his dad, and Team Martini, on a gorgeous day with nice southeast breeze. With nobody else on the line, we had the RC run two quick W2s at 0.3 and let them get in early. Pretty much match race maneuvers so Clark had the edge.”
So, in case you somehow missed Steve’s subtle message, Team Uhl took both races and Team Martini 2nd. Congratulations to them both for showing the flag.
And with that, my friends, Series 3 stumbles across the finish line, and with it, the 2025 MRA season. Taking 1st for the series was Team Lane / Heffernan with net 13 points. Finishing 2nd was Team P. with 20 points, and taking 3rd was Team Hooks / Pascal on the strength of their 3-bullet day, with 28 points. Honorable mentions to Team Martini in 4thwith 31 points, and Team Cooke / Kaznoski in 5th with 33 points. Congrats to all.
So, for the MRA Season, congrats to Team Lane / Heffernan, who finished with just 40 points, 23 points ahead of the next boat. Well done!
Finishing 2nd was Team P. with 73 points, and taking 3rd was Team Uhl / Lane with 87 points. Honorable mentions to Team Gabriel in 4th with 102 points and Team Cooke / Kaznoski in 5th with 107 points. Congratulations to all. The full 2025 MRA season results are below.
So, in Cup competition, the day off did nothing to threaten Team Lane’s perch at the top, and with just three days of Fall Series remaining, I’m willing to go out on a limb and congratulate Mike Lane & Renee Heffernan as our 2025 season champs. The top 10 are listed below.
Week 16 racing will include the first day of Fall Series this Saturday.
Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt
If You Spin, Send It In – Bill Colehower let us know that Team Colehower / Quigley hit a mark during Nationals, which is now reflected below. We applaud their sportsmanship.
Name Those Sailors – can anyone tells us who these handsome lads are?
We’re Not Alone – Bruce Durkee caught this unexpected mark rounding at Nationals last week. Sometimes it’s worth remembering that bats aren’t the only critters on our course.
Mail Bag
We got a few emails on last week’s nationals and related reporting. First from class president Mike Hebert. “Kim, Just read the road to the cup. Awesome as usual.”
And second was from Joan Thayer, who wrote, “Fabulous all-inclusive reporting on nationals! Great photos too. Thank you. The photo of the disappearing boats in the swells reminded me of racing with my father in his IOD Pompano. You had no idea who was on the other side of that swell until the sea brought you up. How you can remember all those details over the 4 days is “impressive” as you might say.”
Thanks, Joan, but I can’t remember what I had for breakfast. The daily summaries are written daily, before the details evaporate. As to the photos, a tip of the cap to Bruce Durkee, who’s racecourse photography, in my view, is second-to-none.
Hull’s Joe Berkeley sent this in. “Thank you for a fun regatta. Jud as the PRO. That’s one for the ages.” I agree. Jud and his team did an outstanding job.
Finally, Cindy Smith sent this photo with the caption, “Winning the last race of nationals.” It’s only fitting, right?
We got an email from Rob Patterson of the Rockport fleet about our ‘Name That Boat’ challenge. Here is the photo to refresh your memory. Rob makes a pretty compelling case.
“Isn’t it pointy on both ends? If so, not a Raven and the sail class symbol looks more like a Loon, Whimbrel or Ibis …, but there don't seem to be any designs with those names that I could find. I followed up the Joel White lead and voila!”
“Congrats on the Nationals!! 4 races a day, I'd be dead 😉….”
Complaints Department
Got Gripes? Don’t be shy. Unload at kpandapas@comcast.net. The buck stops here. -kp