Ahoy Paupack Sailing Club,
It has been an exciting week, and we have a lot more excitement in store before the month is
out! Sunday’s race was action packed with great winds and the weather holding out for us. Although this past week has been a wash out with rainy weather, we are looking forward to Saturday’s Bob Schmidt regatta! Wally Lake Fest is also quickly approaching so please let Kristen know if you plan to attend.
This past Sunday July 22 nd , race five was held. We saw ten boats compete with winds at the start being recorded out of the south at 7 knots, climbing to almost 12 knots by the second lap and averaging 9 knots. Given the conditions our race committee chose course one, a long oval with the start / finish line in the center. The requirement is for all vessels to sail through the start finish line each lap, and round the marks to starboard. The first mark was set toward Kipp island into the wind. Since the forecast was so good, race committee radioed the fleet to inform us there would be three laps. The B fleet started first without delay at 12:00pm seeing Ecstacy across the line first. The race boats of A fleet got started next and would catch the cruisers before the second lap. With the winds as squirrely as they were this caused havoc among several boats, myself included. Our Genoa sheet got tangled around a cup holder hanging from the lifeline as we were tacking through the finish line on our second lap which caused me to hold the bow into the irons while the line was freed before we could fall off and jibe around to finally get through the line. I also heard reports that Fiddler’s Green experienced a similar problem, and Bad Influence practiced sailing backwards to get around the leeward mark. The vessel 100% was unfortunate enough to get caught at the start / finish line on her second lap as the winds died and shifted unfavorably for a moment causing them to be forced around the wrong side of the committee boat having to sail back through the line from the wrong side before heading back upwind 180 degrees to cross in the proper direction and get back underway losing precious time. I feel their pain as I’ve found myself in the same predicament before! By the third lap Vanquish was out front followed closely by Flip Turn crossing the line just behind them. Next to cross would be Odyssey, with Anthem trailing behind them. Enduring Freedom would make her move to pass Ecstasy before the last mark and hold her off on the downwind leg to the finish, crossing first for B fleet. The rest of the fleet was spread out across the course with several minutes between them as Ecstasy was followed by the African Queen, Fiddler’s Green, Bad Influence, and 100%.
By Monday Steff had calculated the scoring adjusting for the boat’s handicaps. The final results
show Flip Turn taking first place, Odyssey in second, and Vanquish just twenty-four seconds behind them in third! Congratulations to the crews for a great job racing! The B fleet would not make the top three, but saw Enduring Freedom in first, Ecstasy in Second, and African Queen with a third place finish. Overall standings for the season by this point have Anthem, Flip Turn, and Odyssey tied for first place! We’re just halfway through the season and as close as the standings are anything can happen! This Saturday we have the Bob Schmidt regatta scheduled. This event is an opportunity for those who have not regularly taken the helm to have a chance to take control of the boat. If you are a new member, or know of someone that just joined, let them know this is a good opportunity to take the helm and get a FREE sailing lesson! This event is in memory of Kristen’s Dad one of our founding members responsible for building our club into what it is today. Most of the stories heard told throughout the club include him, and his personality of always going out of his way for everyone, a spirit which lives on in our club! Please let Kristen know if you plan to attend and who will be skippering your boat. I am looking forward to the good weather in the forecast after this week’s constant rain!
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