August 30, 2005 - Race 8 and 9 Newsletter

Race 10 will be this Saturday at 1:00 PM followed by the awards banquet and a short business meeting at the beach club. The forecast looks good. Grills and charcoal will be provided.

Race 8: The Carnage Race

Congratulations to all who attempted race 8 and especially to those who finished. The forecast was for 10 to 15 mph in the Bangor area. The actual was 15 to 20 with gusts in the 25 to 30 mph range at Lucerne as officially recorded by the "wet finger" windicator. Any doubters need only check the shoreline for broken and lost sailboat hardware. A three pin course with weather and jibe marks set in the lee of the shoreline to minimize capsizes made for extremely fast times.

Highlights include:

- Catamaran dominance of actual finishes lead by the totally unflappable crew of Mark and Janet in the Eggleton cat who were hounded the entire race by Scott and Bob Fraser just seconds behind the Eggletons at the finish.

- An outstanding race sailed by Mike Meagher and son considering he started several minutes behind while trying to get to the starting line from an awkward upwind position. I thought those things could sail backwards.

- An outstanding race by Neil Comins and son looking great until the last 50 yards when they got in irons and drifted all the way to the shore costing them a third place finish. Did I hear some disparaging remarks cast toward the committee boat?

- Tim Wakeland at 140 lb. soaking wet, finished without once having his "Butterfly" leave the water. Wait till Tim tries to hold down his Force 5.

- Best start of the year by Doug Kell who promptly capsized, turtled and became the new starting buoy. Doug will give a seminar at the picnic on "How to de-rig your turtled boat in 25 mph winds while underwater."

- Guest racers Hank and Bernadette showing great boat speed after equipment failures delayed their start in a Laser 2.

- Joe Guaraldo's "magic act" of single-handing his JY 14 under full sail and finishing an outstanding 5th place.

- The usual great "under any conditions" crew work of the Peddie boat earned Josh an "all you can eat" buffet at the snack bar.

- The Johnston "big red" Lightning finally in her element showing great boat speed and revealing why I sometimes do well only because of my crew when Barry Cohen joined the Mr. and Mrs. to add all his 135 lb. to the rail.

- Watching the water level rise when Warren Adair drained his Laser on shore after several failed attempts to fight the Camp Capella swimmers for right of way to the starting line.

- Watching Chuck McClead try to single-hand his Hobie was a treat. The first righting maneuver took just seconds. But, the second and the third...well, you get the picture. Get well cards may be addressed directly to Chuck. No stamp is required.

Race number 9 was a single lap affair with just 4 survivors of the first race taking part. Three cats comprised of the Eggletons, Frasers, and Meaghers, and the "I drove all the way from Orono with my boat and by golly I'm going to sail in two races" Peddie boat. Another great performance by the cats, this time without a delayed start by Mike, allowed all three cats to finish within seconds of each other with Mark and Janet finishing just ahead of the Fraser and Meagher cats and ahead of Harry P. who claimed the Portsmouth first.

A feeble attempt to enter the race by Tom Johnston was denied when his fully crewed "motor boat" showed the uncanny ability to "sail" directly into the wind. Nice try!

All who participated have some really great stories to pass on at the picnic. Those of us who "were" there will do our best to make sure they are "the whole truth and nothing but." See you all at the Beach Club Saturday after the race.

Mike C.

P.S. Bring a little extra. Warren has a healthy appetite.