Road To The Cup – Week 3
6/8/25
Congrats to the World Champions!
Before we get to our usual programming, I’d like to give a well-deserved shoutout to Team CYC, who travelled to Newport for the 2025 Team Race World Championship last weekend and got it done. This was a big deal! Twelve teams from multiple continents qualified for the right to compete in this 2v2 event, and compete they did for four days in big pressure conditions that give ‘sporty’ a whole new meaning. Team CYC prevailed, finishing with 20 total points to take the event, three points ahead of Kiwi Racing, the 2nd place team.
CYC’s team included skippers Will Bailey and Tim Wadlow, both profoundly talented and, by the way, fresh off serving as panelists for our recent clinic. The rest of the championship team included Allison Ferrais, Langdon Mitchell and Doug Sabin sailing with Will, and Forbes Barber, Peter Flemming and Christina Pandapas sailing with Tim. A reverential and wholly impressed tip of the cap to all.
What You Need To Know
- Last call for registration. Links are below.
- Register for Race Week here.
- Twilight 1-3 will be Thursday evening.
- The final day of MRA Series 1 will be this Saturday on the North Line.
- East Coasts will be hosted by Cottage Park YC on June 21-22. Details here.
- For anyone not going to ECs, the first EYC pursuit race will be Friday evening 6/20.
Last Week’s Racing
Four boats made it out for the second Twilight of this young season. Here is a quick race wrap from Steve Uhl.
“Sweltering Thursday with no wind all day, but go figure, a southwesterly filled in at 6pm. Four twilighters made it out including Jay Wager and Team Martini’s first appearance on the year. The course was long reach out to children’s island then back to the Fort Sewall nun. All was uneventful until the wind died on the way back for 5-10 minutes, then filled in from a few different head-scratching directions, but enough to get us back in an actually, very pleasant evening race. Clark Uhl with dad as crew took 1st, followed by Anne-Marije sailing solo. Jay Wager rounded out the top three.”
Thanks Steve. For what it’s worth, I happened by just as the wind died and caught the “action” for posterity.
So for the record, taking 1st was Team Uhl, 2nd Anne Marije Veenland and 3rd Jay Wager. Honorable mention to Martha & David Martini for 4th in their season debut. Congratulations to all.
Out on the MRA line, the picture below tells you all you need to know.
MRA pulled the plug on South line at about 11:30, and after a couple of calls with your fleet captain, Jud Smith and Fran Charles pulled the plug on the clinic a few minutes later. We’re hopeful we can reschedule and will keep you posted.
So, in Cup competition, last week’s scores are altered only by Thursday’s Twilight, with Team Uhl legging out a little on the strength of his Twilight bullet.
Week 4 racing will include Twilight 1-3 on Thursday evening 6/12, and the 2-3 races of MRA Series 1 Day 5 on Saturday 6/14.
Other News, Notices & Miscellaneous Scuttlebutt
In Appreciation –Weather aside, Saturday was a big day for Fleet 5, including the clinic and the party, both of which took a ton of organization and contribution. Starting with the clinic, huge thanks to Joe Fava for organizing it, to coaches Fran Charles and Justin Ahern for putting together a drills plan and being prepared to donate their day to us, and to PRO Jud Smith and the rest of the EYC RC for their time and planning. Thank you. And for the party, huge thanks to our hosts Rebecca & Larry Ehrhardt for opening their home to us (again). Thanks also to fleet social co-chairs Rich & Rosy Denton, who stocked and delivered the bar (including a delicious Planters Punch that Rosy concocted for the occasion), as well as provided all the food. And while we’re at it, a shout-out to Fleet Secretary Timmy Dittrich, who does the thankless job of sending out the party invites. A grateful tip of the cap to all.
Twilight Amendment to the SIs – Several folks wrote in with some confusion about Twilight SIs language regarding the number of boats needed to constitute a race. The RC has issued an amendment to clarify, as follows. “#6 Schedule is changed so that the second sentence reads as follows: “Three boats constitute a race for all classes.” The amended SIs are attached.
Time To Register – If you haven’t registered yet, shame …
Nationals Measuring – Fleet measurer Stefan Thibodeaux reminds us that all boats competing in Nationals will require a completed measurement certificate. If you don’t have a certificate, or if your certificate is out of date because you made alterations to the boat since the last time you were measured, please email Stefan at sjthibodeaux@gmail.com to schedule a measurement.
If You Spin, Send It In – No circles yet. A reminder that if you spin, please send an email after racing to kpandapas@comcast.net with the subject line ‘Spins’ and let me know how many fouls you committed for which you exonerated yourself.
Boat Needed for Race Week – Clark Uhl plans to sail Race Week against his dad. If you have or know of a boat he could use, please contact him at clarkuhl555@gmail.com.
Center Consoles Needed for Nationals – The EYC RC needs a couple of center consoles to use for Nationals. If you’re willing to help, contact Cindy Smith at race.committee@easternyc.org.
Need Mast – Robert Davis wrote in looking for a mast. “Do you happen to know of a used R19 mast for sale? One of Provincetown fleet lost its mast a few days ago.” If you have an old mast taking up room in your garage, you can reach Robert at robert_davis@jaegerrealty.com, or call 646-286-3039.
Mail Bag
A couple of folks wrote in about the depowering advice in last week’s edition. The first was from Elise Nash, who wrote, “Thanks for sharing the depowering tips. Always interesting to hear how different boats approach these things – and love the bullet point format – concise and to the point.”
The other was from Walter Colsman. “Interesting commentary on use of the vang upwind. Makes sense, but I have been reluctant to do that for fear the boom will break when you hit a wave and have eased the mainsheet (which I did at Chicago Nationals). Uhl says vang on tight and you say a little vang.”
Well, as to the vang, who you going to believe, the reigning national champ or some schlub that writes a newsletter? But to quote the (in)famous poet & philosopher Charles Pendleton in noting the subtle differences between these boats, “you have to learn to play your own fiddle.”
Complaints Department
Got Gripes? Don’t be shy. Unload at kpandapas@comcast.net. The buck stops here. -kp