District 2  Regatta Report

Sat Jul 12th, 2008 through Sun Jul 13th, 2008

74th J Rulon Miller Series 2008

 

You know that it’s the heart of summer when the Chesapeake Bay Star Fleet, Miller Series comes around. The weekend after July 4th is Miller time for GIYS and this year the wind gods were kind, offering up a weekend with sunny skies and perfect Chesapeake Bay 12-18 knot sea breezes.

John MaCausland with John Avis showed us how it’s done with 3 bullets on Saturday, racing in the Chesapeake just to the East of Baltimore Light. A nice, steady thermal breeze built during the day, showcasing John’s well honed speed. A fairly strong flood tide and slightly skewed mark placement encouraged the fleet to follow the Gibson Island shoreline, giving Islanders a splendid view of beautiful Star boats slashing upwind. The quality of the rest of the fleet was shown by the fact that each of the next 4 boats all took a 2nd place at some time in the regatta

An excellent dinner in the Rotunda room overlooking the Bay allowed the sailors to watch the wind on the race course continue to build, promising great sailing for the next day.

Driving along the causeway on Sunday morning, a fairly strong Southerly was already blowing and an excellent decision was made to sail the day’s races in the Magothy River. This can be a great arena for racing, especially now with greatly reduced powerboat traffic due to the price of fuel

Whitecaps on the river as the fleet sailed 2 races. Planing on the runs was possible, making for nice opportunities downwind. Upwind, there were substantial but fairly regular shifts, giving both sides of the course advantage. Up at the weather mark, close to the South shore, a geographical veer gave a last minute lift to those grateful boats, barely laying the mark. The river sailing gave great sport and had the added bonus of making it a quick sail to return to the hoists. John MaCausland showed that he was not only fast but smart as he handled the shifts perfectly, adding 2 more wins to his score. John Vanderhoff and Guunti Weissenberger each took a second place in Sunday’s 2 races.

John Vanderhoff, from the Northern Bay was second for the regatta followed by Elliott Oldak, showing great speed in his welcome return to the Miller Series. Michele Sanborn, sailing her first Star regatta (sailing Kris Wilson’s boat) won the Novice trophy and John Vanderhoff was the top (of several – nearly half the fleet!) Master. Leading Gibson Island boat was Gunti Weisenberger, sailing with Aaron Serinis. Tom Price, sailing with ace crews, daughter Saidee on Saturday and son Tommy on Sunday was the next GIYS boat, closely followed by the strong sailing pair of Murray Leigh and Anthony Kupersmith

Special thanks are due to AYC’s, Ron Ward and Jack Lynch, the “pro’s from Dover”, who came again to assist the GIYS Race Committee. Dan Smags was the Principle Race Officer under their watchful eyes and capable Tony Kupersmith organized the race management team. Commodore Murray Leigh was the Star Fleet regatta organizer and hosted a wonderful “après rigging” cookout on Friday evening. (Thanks Neva!)

This event is a great example of Gibson Island’s ability to host a memorable weekend – continuing a tradition for now nearly three quarters of a Century!

Tom Price


Star
Place Boat Skipper Crew Sail #: Fleet 1 2 3 4 5 Total
1 Erin   John Maccausland   John Avis   8195   CR   1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 4
2 8038   John Vanderhoff   Adam Doetzal   8038   NCB   4.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 2.7 [2.7, RDG] 9.7
3 Alexia   Elliott Oldak   Chris Hardin   7939   AN   3.0 3.0 2.0 4.0 4.0 12
4 Grinch   Bert Collins   Sean Quinn   8063   AN   2.0 11.0 [OCS] 5.0 3.0 3.0 13
5 8095   Gunti Weissenberger   Aaron Serinis   8095   NCB   8.0 4.0 4.0 9.0 2.0 18
6 Bop   Tom Price   Saidee/Tommy Price   7313   CB   5.0 5.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 22
7 Mary Jane   Sam Hopkins   Chris Brown   7970   AN   6.0 7.0 7.0 5.0 7.0 25
8 Neva Jo   Murray Leigh   Anthony Kupersmith   7454   CB   7.0 6.0 11.0 [DNS] 7.0 7.0 [7.0, RDG] 27
9 Bonita   Walter Risse     7688   AN   10.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 9.0 33
10 7497   Michele Sanborn   Kris Wilson   7497   AN   9.0 9.0 9.0 10.0 10.0 37

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