Road To The Cup – Week 11

 

Road To The Cup – Week 11

Top-10 as of 8/6/17

 

As it does every August, the start time for the post-Race Week return of Twilights moved ahead by a half hour from 6:30 to 6:00 in order to finish the race before dark.  Six boats showed up, though according to participants, only four sailed.  Our report this week is from Steve Uhl with an assist from John Casler.  

 

“Beautiful evening, and the breeze held through the whole race.  The course was a downwind start to Chappel Rock buoy then a beat up to Marblehead Bell.  John Casler led at the 1st mark, due, among other things, to his superior knowledge of where the mark was – the rest of the fleet sailed too high, followed closely by Steve Uhl and Team Heffernan.  On the upwind leg, however, Uhl and Heffernan passed and were able to extend.  The 2nd time around, we just went to Grey’s Rock.  The whole second beat was Uhl and Heffernan in a tacking duel but Uhl had a tight cover and was able to keep it, finishing 100 ft or so ahead of Bill & Renee.”

 

So, congratulations to Steve Uhl, who took 1st, Team Heffernan who finished 2nd and Team Martini in 3rd.  Honorable mention this week to John Casler in 4th.  Assuming I got this right, Ann Sousa was on the starting line but no one saw them actually race or finish, so we’ll score them a DNS for now.  Ditto an unidentified 6th boat.  If you have info on either of those, please let me know.  

 

Out on the MRA line, it just wasn’t meant to be.  A cold front was forecast to blow through over the afternoon and evening, promising a boatload of instability.  Fog socked in the harbor during the morning as a prelude to what the radar suggested was a nasty line of storms that looked like it would hit at about 11:30.  On top of that, isolated thunderstorms were promised throughout the afternoon.  The RC put up AP at 10:45, presumably to wait out the fog and see what happened with that line of storms.  Although the big line fizzled, the RC called it just before noon and fired off three.

 

For what it’s worth, not a lot of boats showed up.  We stopped by EYC and saw exactly no one getting ready.  And at CYC, only Steve Uhl, Team Heffernan / Harsono and Joe Fava (with Beanie Eisner) were ready to go.  Team Pandapas was there but never even hooked up (and frankly was looking for an excuse to take the weekend off).  So, it’s probably reasonable to conclude that our usual post-Race Week attendance drop-off was exacerbated by the forecast.  I also suspect that a good number of people wanted a weekend to recharge before Nationals ramps up.  

 

So winning the day was Mike Lane, who was in Martha’s Vineyard with the family, probably bitter that he was missing a day of sailing, and who incredibly managed not to lose a point.  Well done.  Taking 2nd was Team Frisch / Hourihan, for the same reason.  Although we have no idea if Peter was around, we know that Seamus’ boat was not on the mooring so assume he was gone.  Taking 3rd on a tie-breaker was Team Pandapas, who not only didn’t launch but went home right after AP went up.  And finishing 4th was Joe Fava, who hung around just a bit longer before throwing in the towel.  Honorable mentions go to Team Heffernan (Bill, Renee and Yati) for making the trek to Marblehead, and to everyone else who didn’t bother to show up.  Congratulations to all.  As a postscript, the thunderstorms never came and the cruds cleared out in the early afternoon, leaving behind a perfectly suitable sailing day.  The Townies eventually went out to sail their Nationals.

 

So, in Cup competition, no changes other than adding in the Twilight points.  The top 10 are listed below.  

 

 

Week 12 racing will include the Twilight on Thursday night and the second day of MRA Series 3 on Saturday.

 

Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt

Nationals Update  It’s getting close.  With just ten days to go, registration is up to 28 boats with a few more expected.  Ten of those are from out of town.  Co-chairs Matt Hooks & Nat Taylor, along with their team of talented volunteers have put in hundreds of hours crafting what promises to be an exceptional event.  Like every regatta, the racing will be what it will be, and if conditions allow, we’ll get in the maximum 11 races over three days.  But the social side of this event looks spectacular, including raffles, a dinner at the Hooper Mansion and of course, the big banquet at EYC.  Also, don’t forget that the Class Association annual meeting will be Thursday evening after the practice race.  The regatta committee could still use a few volunteers to man registration desks, welcome out-of-towners and stuff like that.  They also still need housing for a few folks.  And rumor has it that a few boats are still looking for 3rds.  So if you can help out with any of that, contact Matt or Nat at cochairs@r19nationals.com.  

 

Upcoming Measurements  The Fleet has two more pre-nationals measurements planned: one on  Sunday August 13 and the other on Tuesday August 15.  Measurer Peter Sorlien will start at 9AM each day.  Please note that Paragraph 6 in the NOR (http://2017nationals.rhodes19.org/notice-of-race/) says that you’ll need the measurer’s written approval to compete before you’ll be allowed to complete registration, so best to get it done in a relaxed setting while you still have time to correct any problems.  Contact Peter at psorlien@gmail.com / 781-631-5956 to reserve your spot.  

 

Mail Bag

At least one unnamed reader took issue with your fleet captain’s characterization of the Spittoon at last Sunday’s award ceremony, in which I said something along the lines of “this ugly hunk of metal is our most coveted prize.”  Well honestly, any references to Pulp Fiction aside, it’s hard to argue with any of that, right?  It is ugly, it is metal and it is our most coveted prize.  That said, the ever-vigilant Steve Uhl, obviously quick with his camera, caught this editorial comment and sent it in.  Better than spitting in it, I suppose.

 

 

 

When informed by text that the RC had fired off three on Saturday, Mike Lane texted this back: “Wahoo!”

–kp (kpandapas@comcast.net)