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It was a fabulous weekend for cat racing this past weekend
at the Miles
River
yacht Club. Our host and PRO Ernie Becker managed to outfox the wind shifts
on Saturday. Personally, I never noticed because I was quite happy to
attribute absolutely everything that was slow to my unfamiliarity with my
new Flyer A Class. Although we had a chilly 6 to 12 knots for all four 4
races, most sailors thought we were racing on a mountain lake with puffs and
shifts rolling down the course. Somehow Ernie managed to keep the 3-mile
course square for 2-lap windward-leeward races. George Kuney on the worst
looking Hobie 18 ever seen, aka Frankenboat (but with fresh new sails
following this year’s nationals), dominated the racing. Sunday’s breeze was
again in the 6 to 12 range and building throughout the day with the
approaching front. George with Susan Bloomgarden continued to dominate with
three more bullets leaving a tight contest for second between Chris Bolton
and James Timberlake on a Hobie 20 and Jim Glanden with Jenna Rodriguez on a
Hobie 16 . After seven races they were tied; Chris and James broke the tie
with their only win over George on Saturday. Jim and Jenna needed to save a
mere 30 seconds on their tacks and jibes
on the last race to correct out on George and Susan for their own bullet and
an identical record to Chris. Jenna, age 11, was very pleased with her new
technique for getting out on the wire and with a bit more practice, she will
be a pro!
Our hosts, the Miles River Yacht Club, were extremely hospitable. Camping is
free in the large grassy storage yard (critical for keeping costs down) and
we have access to the heated bathhouse with individual showers. Friday
night’s dinner was extra but included a Filet and Bananas Foster for
dessert. The regatta included a really tasty roast beef and barbeque
sandwich on the water followed by a keg
of Sam Adams Oktoberfest and sandwiches and cookies in the Tiki Bar.
Young Ryan Flanigan was last seen with a hat full of extra cookies in
preparation for a long evening. The regatta had its casualties
though… Keith Strasser’s wife headed into St Michaels for some shopping and
poor Keith’s regatta budget was busted by a couple of grand. (oops!). We
managed to take over the bar’s poker table for an evening of
Texas hold ‘em (the kids
seem much better at this game than the adults). After racing on Sunday, CRAC
brewed up a pot of
Maryland crab soup just as the chill from the approaching front
settled in. The club’s neighbor, Judge North, hosted a private antique
sports car show using his 20 cars to
start the show and as his friends drove in with classics from the 30s to
the 50s we took votes on which car we thought would look best hitched to one
of the cats on the way home. Everyone had a different favorite! Vice
Commodore Suellen Gargalli welcomed and thanked us for coming at the awards
ceremony and trophies were awarded to Jim and Jenna on the Hobie 16 in
third, Chris and James on the Hobie 20 in second, and to Division 11 Hobie
18 and Hobie 20, high point and division champion and now the Area C
champions, George Kuney and Susan Bloomgarden.
Mark Schneider
RESULTS |
and
Chesapeake Bay Championship
