Did Work

Those were the words out of Josh's mouth after finishing the last race of the nationals, "we did work". And we did. Going into the final race, whoever won that race between us, Annie and Tommy, Ross and Eli and Steve and Murph, won the regatta. We had a horrible start which seemed to be the trend of the week for us, which is all my fault. We cleared our air and let the boatspeed do the talking, really. We rounded the first windward in third, the second windward in second and the last leeward in first, which we held till the finish.

I can't speak for Josh but I was more excited finishing that race, after the comeback, then I was winning nationals in Newport. Especially considering we were sailing against two-time winners Annie and Tom and last year's champs Steve and Murph. You have to give a big golf clap to Ross and Eli, though, for their charge to the top during the regatta.

Of course the Hull Yacht Club took great care of us. The RC did a fantastic job, especially the use of the harbor postponement. The whole event was, mostly, seamless.

One more reminder that the program would not exist without Josh Hill who owns the boat, works endlessly on the boat, and is a fantastic crew who puts up with me and my, sometimes, bi-polar reactions to what's happening on the race course. Thanks buddy and great job! We did work!

Cross Training

Well, the fleet series has been a bit of a bust. We have also missed a couple of regattas hosted by the Hull Yacht Club which is a shame because we always love going up there. It would seem this is the summer of conflicts including different regattas, weddings and who knows what else. The good news is that Fleet 54 is still out sailing. Here's a glimpse of what has been going on.

Josh and Oakley have found themselves in the Club Swan 42 class. Oakley still sails with Paul Zabetakis who has swapped his Farr 40 for a 42, both named Impetuous. Josh has been sailing with Tiburon. The NYYC Annual Regatta put a damper on early fleet nights where both sailed while my son and I drove the tender for the Cookson 50 Privateer. I hope that Cameron will later appreciate the spectacle of the 100' Speedboat which we tailed around the course for a while, just a couple of boatlengths away.



Bermuda Race was another obstacle. I went in the open division on Privateer and the race turned into a 600+ mile beat. The conditions were to our liking, being one of the small boats in our class and we won our division beating out Speedboat and the new Puma VOR70.

NYYC Race Week was another big event. I did the classic portion on the 12 meter Freedom. It was a fun weekend which celebrated Olin Stephen's 100th birthday. Unfortunately, in between races, the chainplate failed and the mast came tumbling down. There are three very lucky people on that boat, two who had been standing between the mast and shrouds and another who was within a fot of the mast down below when it broke. I am pretty happy I was not in my position in the port trimmer's pit when it happened. Somehow we still finished third in the regatta so I guess there's that.



The second half of Race Week was one-design and handicap racing. Again, Oakley was on Impetuous, which got fifth and Josh was on Tiburon who won their class. We did not fair so well in the mostly light air and a one-number rating system but had some fantastic rides on the first day when the wind was up to 25-30 knots in between lightning storms. The last day we went around the island while the one-design classes sailed windward-leeward's offshore. We hit the dock just as a violent storm came through. The Swans and Melges has a different experience.



Jeff Adam has been honing his skills in team racing for the NYYC. I do not have any info on how he/they have done but this is a discipline which can only be good for Jeff's skills. He will be tough on the start line come Nationals.

So, that's the wrap-up. Mainly it was time to put something new on the site. We are slowly but surely getting ready for Hull in a few weeks. See you all up there.