Road To The Cup – Week 5

Road To The Cup – Week 5

Top 10 as of 6/27/21

Before we start, I’d like to share this report on the Thayer Cup, sent in by my better half who chaired the event. “A bunch of Fleet 5ers are part of the inaugural Corinthian Yacht Club’s National Women’s Invitational Team Race for the Thayer Trophy taking place this weekend. The regatta, which honors Fleet 5’s own Joan Thayer and her mother Eli’s contributions to women’s sailing, is full-on keelboat team racing in Sonars with spinnakers. Six teams with a total of 69 women from across the country are here competing and Fleet 5 is well represented. Fleet 5ers sailing in the event include: Elise Nash, Christina Pandapas, Beanie Eissner, Dru Slattery, Katie Bloxham and Debbie Noble. Behind the scenes, Joe Fava put in countless hours organizing and CYC Vice Commodore Jim Raisides, along with the rest of the CYC leadership, provided tremendous support to make the event an outstanding experience on and off the water. On Saturday, Thayer Trophy competitors were treated to the same wind conditions we had out on the MRA line, giving PRO Forbes Barber all the juice he needed to run 30 races on Saturday with help from Lisa Adam and Joan Thayer on the signal boat. EYC team had a strong day, winning all but one race. The repechage and final knock-out rounds start late this morning. Good luck to all the teams!”

Eleven boats showed up for one of the best Twilight sailing nights in recent memory, featuring a fresh south easterly that made for a nice long beat out to the midchannel buoy. Today’s report is from Steve Uhl.

“Gorgeous night, solid easterly which was quite fresh outside the harbor but light topsy-turvy inside. Also a great turnout of boats – I can’t list them all. Walter Colsman won the start and led down to the red nun. After that it was a long, perfect beat to the bell buoy – best beat in a twilight in my memory. Anyway, with the breeze fresh, Walter was at a disadvantage sailing solo, and Mike & (son) Matt Lane passed them – on their way to a total horizon job bullet. On the reach back into the harbor, Team Shoreman/Reynolds smartly stayed low, away from land, and passed several boats enroute to a 2^nd. Team Uhl (with Kathleen Lane) finished 3^rd. We’ve had some beautiful evenings so far this year – get out there!”

Thanks Steve. So congratulations to Mike and Matt for the horizon job. Team P. watched from shore as they rounded the point, and waited a good minute before the next boat came into view. That’s a shocking amount of distance for a Thursday night. Congrats also to Team Shorman / Reynolds in 2^nd and to Team Uhl/Lane in 3^rd. How do like that? Multiple Lanes on the podium. If we were to create a trophy for number of family member appearances in a season, the extended Team Lane would surely win it this year. Honorable mentions to Stefan Thibodeaux in 4^th and old friend Phil Rotner in 5^th.

So in Twilight Series 1 with four races in and two races (and a throw-out) left, here is how it looks.

Out on the MRA line, 16 boats showed up for the final day of MRA Series 1. Making it out for their MRA debuts were Team Shoreman / Reynolds as well as old friend Ken Cormier, sailing his old boat 1790 with Peter Sorlien (while Stefan Thibodeaux sailed with me on 982). Welcome back to them. Also, several new faces graced the line this week, including Bill Lynn sailing 1210 for the absent Team Frisch Hourihan, Dave Leahy crewing with Steve Uhl, as well a few folks I don’t know.

Conditions included a spirited southerly with up-and-down pressure between 10 and 15 knots, and occasional gusts in the high teens. Seas were big enough to surf occasionally and the moon tide current was impressive, generally going for most of the day.

Taking 1^st on the day on a tie breaker was Bill Lynn, who rolled a 1-1-5 for 7 points. Bill never fails to amaze with his ability to jump in a boat and make it a go. Taking 2^nd with a 2-4-1, also for 7 points, was Team Cooke / Kaznoski, and finishing 3^rd was Team Hooks /Pascal with a 6-2-2 for 10 points. Honorable mentions go to Team Ehrhardt in 4^th with a 3-5-4 for 12 points, and Team Lane / Heffernan in 5^th with a 5-3-11 for 9 points. Congratulations to all.

So the first series goes to Team Cooke / Kaznoski with 19 points. Team Frisch / Hourihan (with an assist from Bill Lynn) took 2^nd with 21 points and Team lane / Heffernan took 3^rd with 32 points. Honorable mentions go to Team Uhl in 4^th with 44 points and Team Ehrhardt in 5^th with 47 points. Congratulations to all.

So in Cup competition, the deck has been shuffled a bit driven by big Twilight turnouts and the MRA 2^nd bye kicking in. Team Lane / Heffernan remains poised at the top sitting on 7 point lead. The top-10 are listed below.

Week 6 racing will include Twilight 1-4 on Thursday night and the 2-3 races of MRA Series 2-1 this Saturday.

Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt

Nationals Help – If you plan to sail Nationals, please register (so we know how much booze to buy) and get measured if you don’t have a valid certificate (see below). Also, we need a ton of help so if you can pitch in, please reach out to regatta co-chairs Elise Nash (elise.mazareas@gmail.com) or Kim Pandapas (kpandapas@comcast.net).

Measurement –If you don’t have a certificate or you’ve had work done since your last measurement, please reach out to Fleet Measurer Stefan Thibodeaux at sjthibodeaux@gmail.com. You can check your certificate status here.

If You Spin, Send It In – We’re tracking penalty turns, so if you spin, please send me an email and let me know how many fouls you committed for which you exonerated yourself on the water. I’ll tally them up and give an appropriately laudatory sportsmanship shout-out. We had one late entry from last week. Team Rubin spun for a port-starboard, so huge thanks to him for doing the right thing and letting us all know about it. We also got one spin this week from Team Uhl, also on a port starboard. Thanks Steve!! So according to our 2021 Spin Tracker, that brings our season total to 4.

Shout-out to Walter Colsman & Jocelyn Cook – While on the topic of spins, Walter and Jocelyn had an interaction at a leeward mark last Saturday in which no one hailed protest and no one spun. So the matter remained unresolved though clearly they had very different perspectives on the situation. I bring this up because the two subsequently talked it out off the water and came to an understanding, which is outstanding. Obviously, the best outcome of a rules violation is for one boat to hail protest and the other to acknowledge and spin. But I get that just because someone thinks you fouled them doesn’t necessarily mean that you did, and the rules can be complicated. So it’s hugely positive to talk through the situation after the fact. It clears up misunderstandings, mends fences and who knows, maybe even teaches you something. So a tip of the cap to Walter and Jocelyn, who earned my vote for this week’s ‘What a Guy’ award.

NOOD at Marblehead Race Week –A reminder that your MRA registration fee covers the entry fee, so you don’t have to pay more, but you do have to register. Registration is open here.

Race Week Party This year’s Race Week party will be on Thursday evening July 22^nd, generously hosted again by Jennifer & Steve Uhl at their home on Front Street.

Bottom Cleanings – Diver extraordinaire Bill Schneider has been cleaning boat bottoms in Marblehead harbor for something like 25 years. He’s dependable, careful and does an outstanding job. If you’ve had enough hauling or swimming, he’s a great solution. Bill charges $49 for R19. You can reach him at bschneider8@comcast.net.

Mail Bag

This note from Nat Taylor on last week’s Team Taylor debut was sent in by Elise Nash. “I finally got on the water yesterday and was relieved that upon reflection we actually did most of the things I wrote about in May 😂. We tuned up, we checked current, we knew the forecast, we watched the other fleets to scope out the course and we had a plan. All was going well in the first race until Mike planted an excellent lee bow at the top of the first beat, after which we couldn’t quite pick him off over the next 2 miles.”

Jim Taylor also wrote in (very communicative, those two). “It was great to be back on the MRA line (and at Anne Marije’s party) with Fleet 5 friends on Saturday, doubly so because Nat and I hadn’t been on a race course together since the 2019 Hingham Nationals. The nasty AM slop flattened out before we started, the breeze was on at least until it wasn’t in random spots, and the marathon sail in was fun (thank the sailing gods that the westerly filled in in time). Overall it was a great first day out for us so there was nothing to complain about.”

Jim went on to comment on a couple of incidents that probably should have made the Spin Tracker. “We were fouled twice on the course, once on a clear port/starboard that was at least 5 ft short of a cross, and once at a tight finish where a really close jibe onto port made us (on stbd) have to come up hard to avoid hitting the other boom. Neither was the crime of the century, we didn’t say a word in either case, neither incident likely affected our finish places. My point is not to whine, but just to remind people that the rules are there for a reason, that risk management is important, and so is acknowledging mistakes. Back in two weeks.” My view on this is that by allowing it to happen, it will continue to happen. But I get it. Just yesterday I ducked a port tack boat on a crossing after having hailed ‘starboard,’ and I didn’t protest them either. So I’m guilty too.

Jay Wager wrote in looking for a trailer. “I don’t know the protocol for communicating to the Fleet, but I am seeking a trailer for my Rhodes 19. My existing one was likely built by the Vikings when they discovered America. It’s originally from Rob Ferro and traveled from San Francisco, but needs to be retired. I wish to have a replacement by September.” Thanks Jay. If anyone has a trailer for sale, you can reach Jay at 781-576-9360 or Jtwager@live.com.

Finally, John Casler sent in this report on old friend Rob Hallawell. “With 227 competitors on the starting line, athletes were eager to prove themselves against a large and talented fleet. In the ILCA 7, Robert Hallawell (Jensen Beach, Fla.) triumphed with 36 points, earning the top medal including the U.S. Singlehanded Men’s Championship for the George O’Day Trophy, while Benn Smith (Bermuda) was awarded second, followed by Humberto Porrata (North Palm Beach, Fla.) in third.” Thanks John. If you want to read more, go to www.sail-world.com/news/238772/Top-sailors-crowned-at-2021-ILCA-Nationals.

John added this color, “Kim, in the early 80s we had Townie sailors as houseguests for Race Week. I lined up Rob as a babysitter for them one night at the end of the week, which was six days back then . When we returned for the evening Rob was reading a sailing magazine, and the Townie sailing father of the sittee thought that was cute. Then I mentioned that Rob had just won Race Week in the Rhodes. You should be able to check the year on the spittoon.” You don’t have to convince me. I’ve sailed with the guy. He’s amazing.

–kp (kpandapas@comcast.net)