Interesting photo of racing last Thursday. The red buoy is the upwind mark and was to be left to starboard. Which boat had rights, and how did this turn out? Thanks to Connie Sampson for the photo!!
Racing and buoy rounding
Category: News
Soling Racing, Sunny Skies, Light Wind
Let me start with an apology: On Thursday I omitted to mention that Judy David and Connie Sampson looked after the starting and scoring. Thank you both very much.
Judy was here again today and looked after the starting and scoring once again. Many thanks, Judy.
Another chilly start to the day but it was sunny and there was a light breeze. Six members ventured down to the cove. The tide was high and coming in, peaking at around ten minutes before noon. The breeze came and went but that didn’t stop Bill David who won six of the seven races and came second in the one he lost to Paul.
Paul finished second twice as did Kim and Danny. Overall, Bill D was the winner with Paul second, Danny, third, and Kim fourth. Of the other participants, Bill Raposa had a problem in the first race and was out from the second race onward. I had the distinction of finishing last in every race until my boat was overwhelmed by water while waiting for the fifth race to start.
Congratulations to Bill David for an outstanding performance in difficult wind conditions.
Well done all. Lots of fun….and frustration.
It was good to see Jim Kelly at the cove, boatless on this occasion but good soccer and boating chat.
The full results may be found on our website, mhbmyc.org
As I have a visit from my middle son and his family from England, I won’t be around for the next Soling event which will be in a week’s time, Tuesday, May 30th when the tide will be coming in from a low at 10.22
DF95s race again next Thursday with the promise of 12mph winds and a rising tide with a high at 1.19 pm.
Smooth sailing and happy times,
Derek
DF95s get off to a…..floating start
A chilly start to the morning and light winds resulted in just 6 boats in the water at the start. We attempted four races today, but decided to declare a “Non-Race Day”
It was a morning of fun and frustration. We waited about 30 minutes before there was enough wind to start the first race but we lost the wind and ended with 3 finishers and 3 DNFs. the finishers were, in order, Paul Mercer, Bill David, and Nick Bailey. Kim’s boat caught its keel rounding one of our marks. It was rescued by Paul. This incident highlighted the fact that we need less line and more chain on our marks as the line floats when the tide is low as it was today.
In the second race, all the boats finished but Kim lost a clear lead when his boat again got caught on a mark. The top three were Nick, Bill, and David Vigeant followed by Al Sampson, Paul, and Kim.
In the third race, Nick had an unexpected battery failure in his transmitter and he had to row out and rescue his boat. Kim, Bill, and Paul finished in that order in a very, very close finish. The fourth race was memorable in that the winner, Paul, was the only finisher as the wind died and everybody else floated home as best they could. At that point, we called it a day!
The next DF95 race day is next Thursday, May 25thwhen the tide will be coming in to a high at 1.19 pm.
Solings race again, next Tuesday
In the meantime, have a great weekend,
Derek
Start of the racing season
A sunny morning and a strengthening breeze enticed 6 members to the cove for the start of the Soling season. A small group met early to get the marks in the water. Kim had secured the bricks and buckets to the remaining marks, Bill R added the weights and Paul did the rowing. What a team. Thank you all.
The course is familiar, but the colors have changed from last year. The start/finish line has a red/blue mark and a pin. Looking south there are two marks, a red/green mark and a green mark closer to shore. At the north end of the course there is a blue mark and the central mark, not used today, is brown (or, maybe dirty orange).
The course today was all the marks, except brown, taken anti-clockwise to port. We ran seven races with the final race being twice around.
Disaster struck before the start as Bill Raposa had a problem resulting, he believes, from an over-oiled switch. I had a problem in the water as the failsafe started working, but Paul managed to nudge my boat back to shore. Thanks, Paul. There are two large cracks in the hull!
So there were only 4 boats racing today, but there were only two winners: Paul won 5 and Bill David won two. Paul was today’s champion with Bill as runner-up The other racers were Danny McHugh and Kim Hanna. There was some close racing today and we all had fun. We have to thank Judy David for keeping score once again. Thank you, Judy. It was also good to see Bill and Shelley Northup who took a break from their big boat to come down to the cove.
The full results may be found on our website mhbmyc.org
Thursday brings the start of the DF95 racing season. The tide will be going out with a low at 12.47.
Solings race again on Tuesday, May 23 when high tide will be at 11.42
Have fun,
Derek
GETTING READY FOR MODEL BOAT RACING
Racing starts next Tuesday for Solings at 11:00AM. Preparation for the season will take place this Thursday (Tomorrow). Bill Raposa, Kim Hanna, and I are meeting at the cove at 0900. Bill is arranging delivery of the dinghy and we’ll be repairing or making marks and getting them into the water. If any local members would like to join us you will be welcomed.
Derek
2023 Sailing Season
The club will race two fleets, Solings on Tuesdays and DF95s on Thursdays. All racing will start promptly at 11.00. There will be no racing on July 4th.
There will be one main Championship for each fleet to be scored as follows: If 10 days are raced the best 6 days will count. For 11-12 days, the best 7 days to count. For 13-14 days, the best 8 days to count, and for 15 or more days, the best 9 days to count.
There will be no specific dates for fleet Regattas. These days will be determined by the Fleet Captains in consultation with the fleet members with the objective of getting a good turnout.
“Make Ready” will take place during the week May 8th to May 12th and racing will start on Tuesday, May 16th.
The official season will end with racing on September 14th, but racing for fun will continue until the weather deters us.
Weather delays and postponements will be announced by 0900.
The pot-luck Awards Banquet will be held in the Village Clubhouse on Sunday, September 17th at 6.00pm.
NEW ENGLAND DF95 TRAVELER TROPHY SERIES
Good morning all,
I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and are looking forward to DF95 gifts under the Christmas tree!
Attached you will find an outline for a 2023 DF95 New England Traveler Trophy series that Rob Hill and I have been working on over the last several weeks. The ‘regatta light’ series is loosely structured after the Texas and Florida models. Our hope is that we can encourage the region’s sailors to travel to a series of one day events to increase regional participation and earn points towards national ranking. This approach avoids the costs associated with a two day regatta requiring hotel and meal expenditures.
Rob and I felt it was important to get this notice out now, prior to the new year as many clubs have winter meetings to set their upcoming schedules.
Once you have reviewed the outline I would ask you to do several things:
Provide feedback to Rob and I on the plan. Use ‘reply all’ so that we can have a regional discussion about going forward.
Distribute the plan to your club membership for their review and feedback
At you winter club/organization meeting, discuss dates the club is willing to host an event
The DF95 is a great boat and there is a lot of club racing here in New England. I’ve sailed with three clubs outside of my normal sailing venue here in Newport and I have to say that there are a lot of good sailors out there. Let’s try to give those sailors broader experience by sailing in different venues.
More to come! Looking forward to hearing from you!
Henry DiPietro
Director, DF95 Region 1
Email: df95.reg01@gmail.com
2023 Patriot Travelers Trophy
The Traveler Series
• Five, one day events spread across eastern New England running from
May to September or October
• There would be one regatta per month.
• Each regatta is a one day event, Saturday the primary with Sunday as
the rain date.
• Each regatta would have a first warning at 11 am with no race starts after
3 pm.
• The entire series would count as a single regional scoring event towards
national points ranking and would require a minimum of ten(10) boats per
event to qualify.
• The events are open to all registered DF95 skippers
• A skipper can use 4 of the five (or six) events toward national points
• Structure the series to provide a wide range of sailing experiences: fresh
& salt water, heavy and light wind venues, rural and urban settings
Organizing Authority Responsibilities
• Develop schedule based on club inputs • Develop and post NORs
• Manage event registration
• Provide prizes for podium finishes
• Manage national points standing
Host group responsibilities
• Have the club schedule and commit to a TT event • Provide location and course
• Provide a race director (optional)
• Provide a scorekeeper
• If possible, provide a chase boat
Competitors
$10 entry fee to cover cost of prizes Food & beverage – BYO
B Rigs for 2023
DF95 skippers please consider purchasing a B rig for next season. We lost a few days this year due to high winds. We could have raced those days with B rigs. Maybe a Christmas gift to yourself? 🥴
End of 2022 Season
Last day at the cove this year. Cool and a brisk SW breeze. Six boats (4 DF95s and 2 Solings) raced informally for 5 races. With the winds steadily increasing the skippers called it a season. Then, the work of hauling buoys began. Kim and Wilkie used an 18’ RIB to grab the buoys and dragged them to the shore. A team on the beach hacked off the lines and moved the buoys that were heavily loaded with sea life up to the utility box. All lines were discarded. Goodbye 2022. See you all in May 2023!
October 5th Fun Sailing
A sunny day with a nice breeze from the North, made for a fun day of sailing for 7 skippers. Wilkie sailed his Columbia 42, Paul sailed his Canterbury J, Bill David sailed his CR914, Jim Kelly sailed a Vac-U-Soling, and 3 others sailed their DF95s. Multiple races were sailed on a triangular course set by Bill David. A light breeze seemed to favor the CR914. Everyone enjoyed the conditions and the informal racing.
After the winds died down, the skippers pulled their boats. Paul quizzed everyone about their preferences for the remaining weeks of sailing. Consensus was…..to sail on Thursdays.