District 2  Regatta Report

Sat Jul 10th, 2010 through Sun Apr 11th, 2010

Competitors for the 2010 2nd District Championship.  John MacCausland maintains firm grasp on trophy.

Competitors for the 2010 2nd District Championship. John MacCausland maintains firm grasp on trophy.

76th Miller Series/2nd District Champ2010

 

76 th GIYS Miller Series and District 2 Blue Star Regatta

“The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to return soup at a Deli!” George Costanza

Well not exactly but it gives me a chance to use one of my favorite Seinfeld quotes!

Saturday saw fourteen Stars rigged and towing out to the Bay for the 76th annual Miller Series for Stars. This venerable regatta became the District 2 Blue Star event this year and fielded a strong group of competitors. It was a wet ride on the towline with an occasional hard slam and spray, mixing with intermittent rain squalls. On the East side of the shipping channel we were cast off, with crews dancing the precarious foredeck shuffle as they secured the jib halyard, pulled the luff zipper, straddled the sail and hoisted, using both hands and occasionally teeth.

A strong flood tide jammed against the gusty and variable Northerly breeze creating a short and steep chop. As the gun went for the first race the fickle damp wind decided to lay down. We slammed and pitched upwind, looking for power and the favored side. Rain added to the pleasure as boats from either side of the course seemed to gain. The middle was nowhere. On the second beat, things started to settle as the wind rose and the left side paid dividends. John MacCausland had it all figured out, winning over a fast Joe McCorkell and Bert “McCollins”.

As the rest of the fleet crossed the finish, the sultry wind made up its mind and began to blow in earnest. Just before the start of race 2, down came Joe Pro’s mast, ending his day. Andrew Parish had already retired due to a folded spreader. Pounding away from the line, the two Macs (Causland and Corkell) showed real speed upwind. Tom Price in “Bop” came in from the far right on the wrong side of a back to round 3rd, Bert Collins passing him easily downwind. The wet thrash upwind that followed was a memorable sail, the Star boat doing what it does best – blasting upwind, digging its sharp chine in. Rigs strained and the twisted, flattened sails hummed in the now driving rain. Gunti Weissenberger was fast in the breeze, rounding behind John MacCausland just ahead of Collins and Price. White on gray, the Stars now rolled down the run, planning easily on the fall line between wave tops, pausing in the troughs and sometimes outrunning them. In a strong move at the end of the run, Price found a wave to roll over Bert Collins, to steal a close 3rd.

The last race started in similar conditions except that we no longer noticed the driving rain. Joe McCorkell found his stride again (not sure what happened in race 2 because he was going very fast last time I saw him!) and challenged Johnny Mac. Joe had lots of low mast bend and was sailing fast and low in his new P Star while John MacCausland was high and nearly as fast. In a nice line up on the beat, Tom Price was sandwiched between them for a great learning experience between two extremes of sail trim, and managed to hold his lane for a while. Another run in steep waves was a blast, being able to carve turns way past dead downwind on the wave faces. Then slaloming back up before the true wind angle caught up. Gybes had to be handled with care, with several poles flailing around and crews riding the backstay lines like reining in a runaway bronco. Rooting the bow under, into a wave, filling the cockpit and hearing the rig strain kept skippers thinking about their last boat insurance payment.

John MacCausland won race 3 followed by Joe McCorkell then Gunti Weissenberger and Tom Price. Dried out and hungry, the racers had a great meal in the Gibson Island Club Rotunda, watching the Bay’s wetness out the windows.

Sunday dawned as an apology, clear, warm and with a lovely (and untrustworthy) Northeast wind on the Bay. All the rain from Saturday came back to us as a strong tidal flow that ebbed all day with the dying breeze. The RC bravely started a race and we bucked the tide for a half hour until the first beat time limit ran out. It was great to see Keith Donald’s lovely 4125 “Hope” in the lead, anticipating the big veer that persisted throughout the day. After a long wait, the day expired with 3 guns and we towed in.

John MacCausland and Brian Fatih once again are our District 2 champions, sailing fast and steady. Through consistency, Tom Price sailing with Alex Schwab from the host club took second, surprisingly ahead of 3rd place Joe McCorkell and Arthur Anosov (who had earned an excellent throwout – if there had been one!), who won the tiebreaker over Gunti Weissenberger and Chris Hardin. Only a single point behind in 5th was veteran Steve Kling and Mike Lovellette.

A special mention has to be made for our younger friends, Bobby Lippincott crewed by “Aunti” Barb Vosbury finishing a very creditable 6th and Laure Beigel crewed by her father, Read. Finishing all the races in grand style and always in the hunt, these young, (and fast!) Star sailors with their special association with the class are a wonderful addition to our racing.

Also, thanks to Terry May and the GIYS Race Committee members who spent a long day in the rain on Saturday running excellent races and a longer day on Sunday, keeping us out of bad ones.

See you next year! Tom Price, 7313 “Bop” Chesapeake Bay Star Fleet


Star
Place Boat Skipper Crew Sail #: Fleet 1 2 3 Total
1 Erin   John Maccausland   Arnis Baltins   8395   CR   1.0 1.0 1.0 3
2 Bop   Tom Price   Sarah Price   7313   CB   5.0 3.0 4.0 12
3 8000   Joe McCorkell   Arthur Anosov   8000   AN   2.0 11.0 2.0 15
4 F2   Guntram Weissenberger   Chris Hardin   8095   NCB   10.0 2.0 3.0 15.0001
5 8131   Steve Kling   Mike Lovellette   8131   AN   4.0 5.0 7.0 16
6 Bobby Lippincott   Bob Lippincott   Barbara Vosbury   7986   AN   6.0 7.0 6.0 19
7 Neva Joe   Murray Leigh   Courtenay Jenkins   7454   CB   7.0 6.0 8.0 21
8 Grinch   Bert Collins   Jake Doyle   8063   AN   3.0 4.0 15.0 [DNS] 22
9 8038   John Vanderhoff   Adam Dolezal   8038   NCB   9.0 9.0 5.0 23
10 Nice Blue     Read Beigel   7425   AN   8.0 8.0 11.0 27
11 7713   Ben Fransen   Andrew Noel   7713   AN   13.0 10.0 9.0 32
12 Hope   Keith Donald   Sean Quinn   4125   AN   12.0 12.0 10.0 34
13 8153   Joseph Pro   Nicholas Pro   8153   WJ   11.0 15.0 [DNS] 15.0 [DNS] 41
14 Black Seal   Andrew Parish   Rick Hoff   7465   ES   15.0 [DNS] 15.0 [DNS] 15.0 [DNS] 45

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