Model Yachting News • Week Ending September 25, 2021

Posted on by Paul McBride

Written by Mark Whitehead, Tim Wright
Editing Kathleen Whitehead
Photos by Paul McBride, Mark Whitehead, B.B. Wright
Layout & Photo Captions by Paul McBride
Games by Dave Perry

Sailing on Lily Pond – Season Review

Bill Hagerup's DF95
US12s: Wright, Hagerup, McBride
Jim Opie's US12
Great Blue Heron
Bill Hagerup's Santa Barbara
Tim Wright's Santa Barbara and Skip Koehler's Soling
Jerry Leach's Marblehead
Bill Hagerup's Footy

Summer Series Ends
Each season, the Soling and US12 fleets have two eight-week series of regattas testing the skills of our skippers. The summer series ended recently, running from July 27 to September 16, and the Soling awards were presented this week to the following:

Soling Sailor Class

First Place           Steve Leker
Second Place      Paul McBride
Third Place          Joel Nelson

Soling Master Class

First Place        Tim Wright
Second Place   Don Cundy
Third Place       Dan Masessa

Sailor Class 1st Place: Steve Leker
2nd Place: Paul McBride
3rd Place: Joel Nelson
Master Class 1st Place: Tim Wright
2nd Place: Don Cundy
3rd Place: Dan Masessa

It Makes Us Dizzy
Wind coming off the shore, wind blowing in from the west, wind arriving from the south, wind gusting from the north, no wind in spots, sometimes all at once — and it changed on a regular basis. That was sailing on Back Bay September 21 for our first unofficially scored Soling regatta of the fall. It’s no wonder most of us have gray hair – or none at all!

 

Quiz and Game Fun Page – Updated 9/25/2021

Skippers Memorial

Videos and Photos

Previous Highlights

Score Sheets

US12, Soling Masters, Soling Sailors

Tim Wright and Eric Leitner

Tim Wright and Eric Leitner presented a class on “starts.” Or tried to. They were having a hard time positioning themselves properly to demonstrate the right of way for windward and leeward boats, an important rule for getting a good start. From there, the duo continued their lesson with “line stall.” In this maneuver, the skipper allows his boat to sit close to the starting line then immediately hauls in the sails and accelerates at the sound of the bell.

We are eager to learn.

Rick and Rick — Rick Gates and Rick Laird, that is — brought Marblehead Class boats to the bay so we let them to go out first with a thirty-second head start. Most of the time, we didn’t catch them, but we tried.

The Marblehead 50/800 Class is a development class with a hull length of 50 inches and a sail area of up to 800 sq. inches.
Rick Laird's Marblehead, Madcap Design
Rick Gates's Marblehead was originally Free Sailing. He converted it to Radio Control and refurbished it at the Wooden Boat School.
Karen Enos and B.B. Wright at the scoring table.

With the difficult winds and only thirteen skippers plus the two Marbleheads, we went all in and successfully – or should we say miraculously? – completed seven races. Scoring was a straight average with no weed calls, excused races, DNSs, or DNFs. If you finished, you scored. However, we did allow the usual six-race throw-out.

Unofficial Fall Scores
1- Tim Wright             1.0      7- Genie Ware         6.8
2- Denis Boisvert       3.0      8- Bruce brown       7.2
3- Mark Whitehead    3.5      9- Anthony Quinn   7.3
4- Jack Minahan       5.0     10- John Barstow    8.0
4- Ken Gerber            5.0     11- Al Stevens          8.6
5- Tom Barstow        5.2     12- Skip Koehler     10.5
6- Paul McBride        5.8

Out on the Water
We should mention right up front, there were only three skippers from the Master Class. Naturally, it was Tim Wright who led the way with an almost perfect day until he tangled with one of the Marbleheads in the last race. Denis Boisvert pulled off a win in that last race and was able to throw out his fifth-place finish, putting him in second place for the regatta. In third it was Mark Whitehead with good scores until a little tangling set him back in Race 6 and Race 7. In the overall fourth spot, out of the Sailor Class, it was a tie between Jack Minahan and Ken Gerber. Rounding out the top five was Tom Barstow just two tenths behind Jack and Ken.

The US12s head toward the first Mark.

US12 Sailing
On September 23, the US12 fleet gathered to sail in its first nonscored regatta of the season. The five sailors managed to complete twelve races. There were clouds plus a strong wind coming off the shore. We were treated to an eagle sighting, one which included landings in trees across Back Bay with short flights in between the landings. It should come as no surprise that the wind was shifting all over the place. It dropped to nothing as well.

The short legs back toward the shore were tricky all afternoon. Tim Wright led the way, finding air when others didn’t. The lack of “official” scoring didn’t dampen the competitiveness of the skippers. The middle three were separated by one half of a point. Paul McBride finished in second with John Simms and Don Cundy right behind. Bob Strodel came in last. He is up against four seasoned sailors while learning, but Bob is definitely making progress. He came in second in one race! This is a wonderful time of the year to be sailing, and we look forward to next week at Back Bay.

The five US12 skippers are lined up near the second mark.
US12s set off toward the first mark.
Bob Strodel 65 glides across the finish line.
The US12s are getting ready for the next start.
Don Cundy 70
Tim Wright 438
John Simms 101
Join the Fun!

Join the Fun
The season is still going strong despite no scoring, so folks are encouraged to stop by on Tuesday and Thursday at 1 PM to watch the action (weather permitting, of course), or Wednesday if Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate on Tuesday or Thursday. Make sure you have your camera at the ready. And don’t forget Lily Pond in Gilford Sunday mornings at 9:00, weather permitting!

Upcoming events:

  • October 30, 2021 MinuteMan Footy Regatta, Nor’easter Footy Series Race 5, Rosemary Lake, Needham MA
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