Road To The Cup – Week 18
9/21/25
What You Need To Know
- This is the final edition of RTTC for the 2025 season. The next fleet publication will be the November newsletter, which should go out around November 1st.
- The MRA Awards will be Friday evening 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
The Fall Series ended how it started – with no Rhodes 19s. It’s a shame really, because this year’s Fall Series enjoyed spectacular conditions all three Saturdays. Our loss. We thank the MRA and race committees for their commitment to put on this event despite low numbers.
So with that, our season limps over the finish line, locking in the season results, which frankly were a forgone conclusion weeks ago. Congratulations to Team Lane / Heffernan, our 2025 season champs, who put up 146 points across all scored races, including MRA, Twilights and Race Week (no Fall Series). They sailed well from May to August and unquestionably earned the right to hoist the coveted Nick Nichols Trophy, not to mention enjoy a year of bragging rights. We offer them a congratulatory tip our caps.
Finishing a distant 2nd on the season with 197 points was Team Pandapas, and taking 3rd with 204 points, almost entirely on the strength of an exceptional Race Week, was Team Taylor. Honorable mentions go to Team Uhl / Lane in 4th on a tiebreaker with 218 points, and Team Cooke / Kaznoski in 5th, also with 218 points. Congratulations to all. The top 10 are listed below, followed by the expanded season rankings and underlying series results.
Finally, as to our annual emphasis on sportsmanship, If You Spin, Send It In, we got this eleventh hour email from Jim Taylor regarding Nationals. “A spinning yarn spun: #1926 spun when we (probably) hit the top mark in Race 5, when the Bot mark viciously attacked us 😉 in the big sea state left over from Erin’s fly-by. We spun again in Race 10 when we (definitely!) hit the pin end when you could barely cross on starboard with a left shift and a ripping current. Oddly enough, those were our two double digit finishes! Coulda, shoulda, woulda…” Thanks Jim for letting us know.
So that brings this season totals to a record 13 teams who did their spins and left it on the course. Thanks to all of them for their sportsmanship, and for reminding us what Corinthian sailing is all about. Winning the pie (which this year could be something other than apple – stay tuned), with five fouls and a hit mark for six total infractions, was Team Regnault / Thibodeaux. We look forward to appropriately celebrating their sportsmanship at the awards on November 8th.
And just like that, our 2025 season draws to a close. Sad, right? It goes by so fast.
Though this is the final edition of our seasonal RTTC, we’ll send out our traditional Holiday Edition in December, and of course be back in the spring to do it all over again.
Before I go, a few shout-outs. First, the EYC, CYC and BYC make all this possible. The three clubs and their respective memberships provide the assets and resources to enable our sailboat racing, so huge thanks to them. Thanks also to the fine folks of MRA, a collaboration of volunteers from each of the three clubs, without whose hard work building and executing the harbor sailing calendar, there would be no regular summer one-design racing. Thanks to the legions of RC volunteers from all three clubs who continue to give up their days so we can play, again with a special shoutout to Twilight PRO David Graham, who continues to bring us Twilights. Thanks to EYC for taking the lead on robotic marks, which I expect will be the norm in the not-distant-future. And a grateful tip of the cap to EYC RC chair Jud Smith, who did an outstanding job as PRO for our nationals. And while we’re at it, huge thanks to Nationals chair Jeff Shoremanand his army of volunteers for designing and executing a flawless and enjoyable event. A well-deserved thanks to them. All these volunteers deserve our appreciation.
Quick Editorial
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to hop onto my soapbox for a second.
MRA racing attendance is down again this season for most fleets, including ours. This is the first time in my 30+ years in the fleet that no one showed up for Fall Series. As fleet captain 25 years ago, I was disappointed if we didn’t get at least 20-25 boats on the line on any given Saturday. How things have changed.
While life is busy, and we all have competing obligations, I think that to some extent, many of us take for granted the millions of dollars of assets deployed and the dedicated RC volunteers who show up every week, whether we’re there or not. I fear that if we don’t use it, we’ll eventually lose it. Certainly, if I were running things, I’d feel compelled to weigh the cost-benefit of putting on races every weekend when the RC volunteers often outnumber the sailors. Thankfully, those kinds of decisions are above my paygrade, but I’d be shocked if the MRA didn’t do a lot of hand wringing this offseason, wondering how best to address this.
In this evolving landscape of overflowing racing calendars filled with increasingly popular team racing events, high profile away regattas, pursuit races, Wednesday nights, Thursday nights, Friday nights, Sunday mornings and so on, something has to give. We have only so much bandwidth, and maybe Saturdays have just fallen to the bottom of our sailing priority list. All I know is that in the end, it’s our responsibility to make the effort. MRA has been doing its part, and if we want them to continue, we need to do our part too.
Finally, as I point out every year, I sign these RTTCs, but it takes a village to put them out. Huge thanks to Steve Uhl and his eminence John Casler for keeping us informed about Twilights. Thanks also to photographer extraordinaire Bruce Durkee for sharing his excellence with us, as well as to all of you who contribute pictures and emails. And finally, thanks to my better half, Christina Pandapas, who continues to give me the annoyed eye roll every time I intrude on her Sunday morning to do a quick proofread but does it anyway. I ask that they all accept an appreciative tip of my cap, and I urge you to thank them when you see them.
Week 1 racing is expected to include the first two days of MRA Series 1 on Saturday May 23rd and Sunday May 24th. Have a great offseason.
Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt
Nominations for Outstanding Crew – This is your last notification that the nomination period for outstanding crew will remain open only until October 15th. Don’t delay, do it today. Nominations will be carefully considered by a super-secret jury under cloak of darkness. They will weigh the evidence and select the winner based on merit, a bit of subjectivity and the humor and persuasiveness of the nomination letter(s), which will almost certainly be read aloud at the awards banquet. Send your nomination to kpandapas@comcast.net with the subject line Outstanding Crew Nomination.
Names in Lights – You’ll recall that back during Race Week, the Lanes and Dentons were featured in the filming of a program called “Harbor Time” which is sponsored by the Japanese Vendée Globe sailing team. The production crew took advantage of the Race Week energy and activity, filming on the water action as well as on land. You’ll find that here.
Looking for 2026 Season Charter – A prominent member of the sailing community would like to sail a Rhodes 19 with his daughter for the 2026 season. He might eventually buy a boat but is looking to test drive things first. If for any reason you plan not to sail next season and are willing to charter, let me know asap at kpandapas@comcast.net.
East Coasts Headed Back to Padanaram – The 2026 East Coast Championships will be hosted by the New Bedford Yacht Club in Padanaram next June 27th-28th. Circle the dates.
Nationals In Chicago – The 2026 Nationals will be hosted by the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club from Wednesday through Friday, August 19th – 21st. Circle those dates too.
Rhodes Invited to 2026 Newport Regatta – The Rhodes have been offered a start at the 2026 Newport Regatta, which will be held July 11-12 in Narragansett Bay. Organized by Sail Newport, the Newport Regatta is a mainstay of the Newport One Design calendar, typically averaging 14 one design classes across four lines. Circle the dates and stay tuned for more info.
Leftover Nationals Swag – Regatta Chair extraordinaire Jeff Shoreman sent this in. “Can you put in the RTTC that we still have a few hats and hoodies from Nationals for sale if anyone is interested?” Consider it done.
MRA Awards – The 2025 MRA awards will be Friday October 24th at BYC. The event will start at 6:30 pm and is free to MRA members, crew and RC. The format is expected to be similar to last year. Circle the date.
Fleet 5 Awards – The Fleet 5 awards “banquet” will be Saturday November 8th at the home of Christina & Kim Pandapas. The event will be potluck, and feature both the fleet bar, as well as the final 2025 installment in Rosy Denton’s first season of signature cocktails. Circle the date and keep your eye out for the evite.
Doyle One Design Fleet Discount – Though we haven’t seen it yet, Doyle One Design is expected to issue its Fall Fleet Discounts. Last year, orders of six sails or more receive discounts of 20% if submitted by Oct 31, 15% by Nov 29 and 10% by Dec 31. Find a couple of friends and pull together an order.
For Sale
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Complaints Department
Got Gripes? Don’t be shy. Unload at kpandapas@comcast.net. The buck stops here. -kp