Model Yachting News • October 8, 2019

Posted on October 9, 2019October 12, 2019 by Paul McBride

US12s
Tim Wright reports, the first day of un-scored racing on October 3rd was just what it should have been, fun and loose with seven US12s and one Marblehead. The Marblehead was one of many built by Ned Lakeman. Ned made so many boats he gave them away, this one to Tim Wright. It was sailed by Paul McBride. The boat needs a good wind to reach it’s potential, but we didn’t have the wind to really get it moving. However, beautiful fall colors and no ski jump made for great sailing as well as splendid photos and lots of fun amongst the competitors. In all, a wonderful day and a nice gathering of sailors.

Photo Albums

Previous Highlights

Score Sheets

You Have to Love Autumn
The sun was out, there was a bounty of color, and the temperature was in the mid-sixties. A bald eagle even flew by to celebrate the day.
When we arrived for the October 8 regatta, there was concern about the wind being too light, but overall it wasn’t a bad day. There were occasional dead spots, but we managed to complete ten races. Fourteen skippers launched Solings, Tom Greig sailed his US12 and performed a waterline test on his J Boat while Tim Wright sailed his Chinese junk.

Tim Wright’s Chinese Junk — look, he’s in the lead

Promotions
In past years, who sailed in which fleet was determined by a 50-50 split in scores. When we split the fleet in 2018 (Sailors and Masters) it didn’t work as well as it should have. In a recent vote it was determined that the top four Sailors would be promoted to the Master Class and the bottom four Masters would become members of the Sailor Class for 2020. The hope is that this will keep the fleets balanced in numbers and abilities.

Congratulations to the 2020 Promoted Skippers!
New Master Class Skippers

- - - - Don McBride
        Paul McBride
        Denis Boisvert
        John Russell

Al Stevens Makes Progress
Over the summer, Al Stevens made great progress, filling leaks and painting the Johnboat he’s donating to Back Bay Skippers. He’s almost there, and we’ll be transporting the boat to Rollins Upholstery for a cover as soon as the dinghy comes out of the water.

Out on the Water
Howard Germon enjoyed an exciting adventure to Alaska the last three weeks. Prior to that, it was a deluge of friends and relatives, all contributing to his lack of sailing time on Back Bay. Back in action this week, he started the regatta with decisive wins in races one and four. Following that, he scored one second and two thirds.

Race two was a miracle when always-sixth-place Commodore Mark Whitehead led from start to finish with a win. After that, it was a second in race four and a couple of fourths.

Tim Wright had three wins and three thirds. Not to be outdone, Rick Lalley had three wins and three seconds. Paul McBride joined the list of winners in race eight. Don Cundy didn’t get a win, but had three seconds in races two, six, and nine, and Tim Brand sailed to second place in race ten.

Almost Your Last Chance
We never know how many regattas are left. When the dock is gone, so are we. It all depends on the weather — when it gets cold, we tend to lose enthusiasm, so come on down and watch the fun while it lasts at 1 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. The sailing season will end soon.