ROAD TO THE CUP – HOLIDAY EDITION
DECEMBER 2024
Fleet 5’s 2024 Year in Review
Well, I’m glad that’s over. I mean how many campaign ads can you watch before wanting to plunge an ice pick in your ear? Let’s be honest – there was no end to the craziness in 2024, and we really don’t need to rehash it. But while the rest of the world was going bonkers, we Fleet 5ers managed to rise above and keep our own little corner of the world neat and tidy. Well, that is, I suppose, except for the ongoing spectacle of Marblehead town governance, which is a lot like a food fight in special ed class with no adult supervision. Oh jeez, now I’ve done it. I’m not even through the first paragraph and I’ve already stepped in it. We don’t need to rehash empty classrooms either. No more politics, I swear. Politics are better left to the professionals, like our own Seamus Hourihan, who entertains himself by regularly editorializing about this stuff. As the song goes, whichever way your pleasure tends, but I digress. Anyway, Fleet 5ers had a lively 2024 so let’s dig in.
January was typically quiet, aside from all the chatter about MRA. Sailing legend, two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, multiple world champion and most impressively, Rhodes 19 national champ Jud Smith took over the EYC Race Committee and immediately ascended to the throne of MRA Chair, and that had everyone aflutter. What would he do? Who would he fire? Would he really go out and run races? The Vegas odds put that at something like 172 to 1, but the real questions were around changes to MRA. Why all those confusing new course names? How could we possibly figure out which line to go to? And what the hell is a vertical offset? Ski lifts across New England were abuzz.
February also was quiet, as many sat dumbfounded watching an unexpected candidate dominate the primaries, not to mention win a supreme court ruling barring his disqualification to run for president under the 14th Amendment. Oh shoot, I did it again – sorry. Anyway, that sent us all scurrying to the Fleet 5 winter party to see what we could do about depleting the fleet bar, with some success I might add, as you can see from the photo below.
Aside from a ship taking out a bridge in Baltimore, March was pretty quiet. As usual, we saw the complete abandonment of Marblehead for school vacation as Fleet 5ers scattered in every direction like rats off a sinking ship. As usual, a healthy contingent traveled to the Caribbean in search of decadence, the perfect Painkiller and a little sailing – in that order. The only drama involved former national champ Justin Scott, who got busted for illegal overnight anchoring in a quiet little national park on the east side of Martinique. Staring down the barrel of harsh and punitive Caribbean justice, he managed to talk his way out, and was freed on his own recognizance after making a generous donation to their hurricane relief fund.
Things started heating up in April, both figuratively and literally. April was the month we all ventured out after our winter hibernation, rubbing our eyes and marveling at the majesty of our muddy, disgusting yards. Those of us with dogs had finally to pay the piper for – well let’s say, kicking a bunch of cans down the road. It was also the month we turned our attention to making lists, the most important of which was the list of excuses we’d use for not making it out on opening day.
Fleet 5 held its all-important spring meeting where weighty matters were debated and voted on, the most impactful of which was to triple the bar budget. And yes, Marblehead sailing kicked off in April with the 25th running of the Jackson Cup Invitational team racing event, which I’m delighted to say was won by Team CYC, which you’ll note from the photo below, included a bunch of Fleet 5ers.
Things really got rolling in May, starting with the MRA Spring ‘Fiesta,’ which lent a Mexican flavor to the rum tasting. Why fiesta? MRA’s 2023’s kickoff party happened to land on May 5th, so was cleverly branded a Cinco de Mayo party. Inconveniently, this year’s event landed on May 3rd, but good for them for hanging in there with the branding, which as you can see, had everyone electrified.
We held our spring clinic a week later, where Dave Reynolds and a panel of experts attempted to decipher all the MRA changes, including the vertical offset, where the Brimbles line was and importantly, how to sail a short course. It was, of course, riveting. But the main event was opening day on Memorial Day weekend, when a few of us finally got to sail while the rest of us road-tested our excuses.
Those of us who sailed got a first taste of the new-and-improved MRA, which set up a consolidated line just outside Marblehead Rock. Though not one of the official racing circles, it was hard to miss, and beat the hell out of sailing halfway to the Flemish Cap. Worth noting was that Team Frisch / Hourihan showed up in the wrong boat, leaving everyone scratching their heads and wondering if they had taken a wrong turn at the crane. Of course, a few of us suspected the worse – that all Peter’s commodoring and Seamus’s political editorializing was starting to take its toll, if you know what I mean. There were lots of down cast eyes and hushed, concerned comments at the bar after sailing, with everyone hopeful for a speedy recovery. Of course, the other and more upbeat side of that coin was the debut of Doug Morgan sailing Hall Pass.
The final day of the month was to have been the first Twilight of the year, but we all know how that goes. And of course, the highlight was this take on Jonathan Yeo’s portrait of King Charles, created by Seamus Hourihan’s bride and artist extraordinaire Amy Colbert Hourihan.
Long may he reign.
As always, June was super busy and featured lots of racing, a bit of partying and an obnoxious stream of reminders to register for East Coasts and Race Week. We got in our first Twilight of the season – barely, as only five teams chose to brave the fog. Twilight conditions after that were pretty routine, that is of course for everyone except the perpetually concerned PRO David Graham who dies a thousand deaths with each forecast update.
MRA racing featured our first short-course day, which got the universal thumbs up, including this from Elise Nash, “LOVED it!” June also featured our first blowout of the season when a honking westerly kept the smart people on shore. Take a look.
Of course, that didn’t stop the RC from leading the rest of us (not-so-smart people) halfway to Stellwagon, presumably to find out if it’s true that Rhodes self-destruct in 25 knots and 6-7 foot seas. Only a handful of teams braved it, predictably those who also sail Lasers, which frankly confirms everything you always suspected about Laser sailors. One of those plucky souls was Anne Marije Veenland, who sailed with a reefed main, which as far as I know, is a Fleet 5 first.
June also featured the debut of Greg Hefler, who instead of racing his own boat, decided to stick his toe in the water by sailing with Timmy D. And of course, June included our East Coasts Championships, which was won handily by Team Taylor. And while the victory was yet another feather in the Taylor cap, the big story of ECs was the triumphant homecoming of Team Pendleton / Raisides. Despite not setting foot on a Rhodes for 5-6 years, they came out and spanked everyone except the Taylors. My brother Jim!
July is always busy and generally the pinnacle of our season, and this one had no shortage activity. The month kicked off with fireworks, but not the ones we were hoping for. Apparently, fireworks barges are flammable, which was a shocker to me. Honestly, does that make any sense at all? But the real story here was your fleet captain making it onto the nightly news with keen, insightful and profound observations like, “at first I thought it was just a boat” and “Oh, now I know what that is.” There’s a deep thinker for you.
July also was to have featured Joe Fava’s meticulously planned summer clinic, but that got washed out due to fog and no air. Imagine that – fog and no air in Marblehead in July. Who would have thought?
Lots of folks made an appearance at the CYC Commodore’s ball, at which the feature entertainment was a tap dance by the commodore himself.
And of course, July featured the Big Kahuna – Race Week, which regrettably ended up being more like a small-to-medium-sized Kahuna because we sailed only two of four days and a grand total of four races. That was a bummer for everyone except Adam Roberts & Alden Reid, who as you can see, were perfectly content to call it there.
Of course, Big Kahuna week comes the Big Kahuna party, generously hosted (as always) by Jennifer & Steve Uhl. And contrary to what you may have heard, everyone was well-behaved and stayed fully clothed. There was no late-night skinny dipping this year.
Finaly, no account of 2024 Race Week would be complete without reminding you about this cute little guy, who decided to drop in for a visit on Team Fava/Nash’s. boat
If a picture is worth a thousand words, let me just say this.
Moving on.
After the Big Kahuna, August can sometimes be a bit of a letdown, and our first MRA Saturday was no exception. After the first two fleets started, the southwesterly turned into a northeasterly, which apparently triggered a temporary bout of insanity on the RC boat. Either that or they simply didn’t like the cut of our trousers, because they sent us home, ending our day, and then ran more races for everyone else. Was it something we said? This guy would have been able to relate.
But there was a lot of good stuff too. August featured the welcome homecoming of Team McNamara, who ditched the J70 and came out for a day with us. Of course Frank came out on that first day, so only got to sail out and back, but whatever.
Several of us also sailed the acclaimed ‘Around Misery Island’ race, at which your fleet captain put on an impromptu clinic on how to extricate a Rhodes 19 from a pile of rocks. August also saw the debut of Alex Israel Houldin, who after years of counseling somehow managed to push past her previous R19 experience as a third with Team P. and purchased her very own boat.
But the big news of August was Nationals in Hingham Bay. 37 boats made the scene, including 14 from Fleet 5. And the one that most mattered was Team Uhl/Lane, who came out of there smelling like a rose.
After the regatta, Rich & Rosie Denton made the interesting decision to sail home in a light breeze, which probably seemed reasonable until the breeze shut off, which, by the way, is not completely unexpected in August – just ask any twilight sailor. They were reportedly somewhere off Nahant as darkness fell, and were eventually picked up by Team Roberts/Reid who were making the same voyage more reasonably on a boat with an engine, running lights and a cooler.
September started with the last two days of MRA, which Joe Fava rebranded the Labor Day Regatta, after which we once again attempted to deplete the fleet bar at the home of Rebecca & Larry Ehrhardt. We got in two of the three days of Fall Series, and with that our 2024 season began winding down, allowing everyone to turn their attention back to the old grind, town football and ignoring political ads.
Politics dominated October. Like itching powder in our collective shorts, we scratched and scratched but couldn’t seem to get at the itch. In any event, I promised not to talk about it, other than to say that there was an important election in October. Steve Uhl was elected to the lofty position of Rear Commodore of the CYC. Quite a year for him. Steve serves at the side of the other Fleet 5 CYC flag officer, Commodore Karl Renny. These Fleet 5ers clean up pretty good, don’t you think?
And of course, in November, politics was front and center. There were, in fact, two important and highly contested elections. The first was the election of fleet officers, in which I and my team of loyalists ran unopposed. We got a whopping 49% of the vote, with 46% opposed and 5% abstentions. It was a squeaker, but of course, I consider it a mandate so will now do whatever the hell I want.
The other was an even more highly contested election. At the awards banquet, Team Fava/Nash and Team P. went toe-to-toe for the privilege of not hoisting the 2024 Hacker Award. It was bats versus rocks. 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.
So there you have it. All-in-all, 2024 was quite a year. Who knows what 2025 will bring, but first gun is in five months.
Happy holidays. -kp