A weekly report on the Beetle Fleet races over the season, and a few other items of interest,
prepared by Beetle Fleet Captain Steve Glovinsky
Race Results (click)
September
3, 2023 – The Labor Day Trophy
The
annual post-season races were held this Sunday with great weather, good southeasterly
winds (until 5:00 or so), and ten boats at the start. Ted Sherman, accompanied by son Alex in the committee
boat (with Rick Wiatrowski and Abby, Lindsey and Lincoln in the crash boat) set
the “traditional’ course, sending racers to fixed marks around the pond.
Before
the start, we had an on-the-water ceremony for our late colleague Charlie
Warner. Julia Bradford, with her crew David
Morgan, scattered flowers as they sailed up the starting line, followed by some
of Charlie’s ashes. It was a fitting and
touching tribute to a truly dedicated sailor and friend to so many of us in the
fleet.
The races
began with a start at “Perry’s” in Second Pond, beating to Judge’s Rock, then a
long run through the Narrows (mark 5) to Shady Harbor’s Picnic Rock (mark 2), and a finish
upwind at the Narrows. Leads changed on
the last downwind and upwind legs, with the race eventually won by Will
Magruder and his son Sam, with Bill Adams and Riggs Coleman in second, and Nonie
Price and grandson Nathan in third. The
second race began at the Narrows with boats jockeying for position in a
downwind start, racing to Picnic Rock, back to the Narrows, and finishing at
Picnic Rock. Nonie and Nathan won that one, with Bill Adams and Riggs in second
and Will and Sam in third. The final race,
as the wind lightened, saw the sailors race from Picnic Rock back across the pond
through the Narrows to finish at Judge’s Rock.
Nonie and Nathan took the first along with, at 5 points, the winning Trophy. Bill Adams and Riggs took second and, at 6
points, second place overall. Bill Boll sailing with Henry Earle placed third in the race, followed by Will and Sam who, at 8 points,
placed third for the day.
Congratulations to the winners!
Well,
racers, that’s it for the 2023 season. Here’s
a picture at the end of day’s events, updating the group photo from last year
with a now-finished backdrop.
If I
can say one more thing about this season, it’s the way so many skippers brought
in the younger generation as their crews.
It’s a great learning experience for them as future racers, no doubt, but
also about good sportsmanship, and how friendly competition and camaraderie
makes racing so fun and rewarding no matter how well you finish.
Here’s
looking forward to having even more younger and older racers next year, and to sharpening
our skills for the 2025 Leo!
Steve
Saturday
August 19; Awards Night
Dear
readers – unfortunately my report on the last races of the 2023 season and
awards night is delayed, among other reasons, because I’ve been in Colorado summiting
Longs Peak (14,259 ft. - photos to come).
But I did see the results!
Ten boats
participated in the final three races in the August series, when the top scorers
battled it out for the series’ trophies.
Bill Boll, sailing with Eliot Earle, won the day convincingly with three
first places. Second was Will Magruder
and crew, with 3-2-3 finishes for 8 points.
And third belonged to Bill Adams and Riggs Coleman, with 2-3-4 finishes
for 9 points.
The
skipper winning the first place August trophy, with 30 points, was Bill Boll. Second, with 39 points, was Bill Adams. And third, with 66 points, was our Sailing
Director Alex Haidar.
And
the skippers winning the awards for the 2023 season are: Bill Boll with 47
points, Nonie Price, with 109 points, and Richard Chase, with 145 points. Congratulations to the winners!
That
wraps up a memorable season in our first year in the new yacht club. We now have twenty active racers in the fleet,
sailing in at least one race this summer.
That’s more racers than this
year’s Leo at Bass River (19). We can
claim to be one of the largest active Beetle fleets in the region, and probably
one of the most competitive too, as several of our newcomers came in at the higher
end of the standings. Let’s continue the
trend next year!
Sunday
August 13
Well
we did had even more boats on the starting line this week – fourteen. In addition to most of last week’s fleet, Mack
Lester skippered with his dad Greth as crew, Jason Gefaell and crew returned
for a few races, and Ryan Travis sailed with Lucas in the B007 club boat. Conditions reprised last week’s – southwest winds
at 8-10 knots on a course five run by Instructors Alec and Johnny.
Once
again the newcomers raised the bar, challenging the usual leaders. The competition was at a high level, and the route
to the windward mark was generally won by simply sailing fast. The first race was won by Bill Adams, sailing
with Riggs Coleman, with Bill Boll and Elliot Earle in second, and Alex Haidar
and Taryn in third. Jason Gefaell and
crew took the second race, with Bill Adams and Riggs in second, and Will
Magruder and crew in third. And the third
and last race Bill Adams and Riggs got their second bullet, with Will and crew
close behind, and Alex and Taryn in third.
The
day was won by Bill Adams and Riggs with 4 points, second place went to Alex
Haidar and Taryn with10 points, followed by Will Magruder and crew with 11
points.
As
the season draws to a close, Bill Boll leads the pack with 27 points, three
points ahead of Bill Adams 30 points.
Third and fourth places are also three points apart, with Alex ahead of
Nonie 52 to 55.
Sunday
August 6
Today’s
races saw another perfect day, with 8-10 knot winds out of the south-west, and we raced a course five set by instructors Alec and Finn.
We had 13 boats again, including two new August racers – Susan Kelly taking
over from Carol Carmody and newcomer Will Magruder with his children and wife
alternating as crew – making an impressive total of 15 racers in the Beetle fleet.
Races
were all tightly contested, with the advantaged side shifting from pond-side to
shore-side as the wind became more southerly.
Our newcomers finished strongly, foretelling a more competitive series
going forward. Race 1 was won by
Will and crew, and races 3 and 4 were won by Alex Haidar sailing with Taryn on the W20
club boat. Bill Boll, sailing with John
Goddard took the first in race 2.
Other top finishers were Richard Chase and Anne Earle, and Nonie Price
and Mack taking second and third in race 1; Bill Adams sailing with Riggs Coleman and Will Magruder and crew taking second and third in race 2; Richard and Anne and Bill Boll and John taking second and third in race 3; and Bill Adams and Riggs and
Bill Boll and John taking second and third in race 4.
Bill
Boll and John won the day with 11 points, followed by Alex and Taryn in second
and Richard and Anne in third, breaking a 3-way tie of 16 points (with Bill
Adams and Riggs) based on higher-place finishes.
On to Race 3 next
Sunday, and hopefully even more boats on the starting line!
Sunday
July 30
The August
series opened with the second on-shore racing clinic run by Ted Sherman. 11 sailors turned up, including many
newcomers, for another informative session.
The level of interest is evidence of a growing Beetle fleet. Perhaps August will see more boats showing up
for Ted’s Wednesday’s practice races, which focuses on the skills needed to go
fast.
Continuing the trend, we had a record 13 boats on the
starting line for the first races of the August series – most of the July fleet
plus Bill and Liz Adams and Alex Haidar with crew Taryn. Conditions were excellent but the wind blew
out of the north-west, a very unusual direction for the Pond that necessitated shorter legs for the windward-leeward-windward course five. Four races were sailed, run by Alec assisted
by Finn.
The first race proved quite tricky, with light shifty winds
interspersed with brief stronger puffs as racers attempted to reach the first
mark. The rest of the afternoon proved
to be a steady, comfortable 8-10 knots.
Racers who stayed right generally got to the mark first.
Bill Boll sailing with Elliot Earle easily won the day once
more, winning races 1, 2 and 4 (which they horizoned), and placing second in
race 3 behind Bill and Liz Adams. Bill
and Liz also took second in race 1 and third in race 2. Nonie Price, sailing with Nathan, took the third
in race 1, second in race 2, and third in race 4. Rounding out the winners were Chuck Delameter
and Canon Rosen with a third in race 3 and a second in race 4.
For the day, Bill and
Elliot earned 5 points for first, Bill and Liz came in second with 10 points,
and Nonie and Nathan came in third with 18 points in a tiebreaker with Chuck
and Canon, with one second and one third against Nonie’s one second and two
thirds.
Sunday
July 23
The final
races of the July series saw 11 boats on a South-Westerly breeze, enjoying the
best conditions of the season. Sailing
Instructor Alec set the course, a short windward/leeward/windward starting and
finishing in the middle of the upwind leg, enabling us to finish four races and
be back in good time for the awards ceremony at 5:30. Several new skippers and new crew joined – Sarah
Kelly used mom’s Susan’s boat, Cabot Earle took his daughter Caroline, Geri
Abdoo swapped out a new crew for each race, and Greth Lester, sailing with his
son Macklin, borrowed C92 from the Gefaells.
Special mention goes to Bill Boll, who crewed the last three races for
Henry Earle.
The short
course made for several crowded roundings.
After the first race pile-up at the leeward mark the fleet settled into
a more disciplined routine with less drama.
Finishes saw some surprises in the third place slot. First race: Bill and Henry first, Chuck Delamater
and Canon Rosen second, and Julia Bradford and David Morgan third. Second race: Nonie Price with grandson Mack first, Chuck and Canon second, and Henry skippering with Bill crewing taking third. Third race: Nonie and Mack winning again,
Henry and Bill moving up to second, and Carol Carmody with Susan Kelly taking
third. Final race: Henry, with Bill,
earned his first Beetle bullet, Nonie and Mack came in second, and Steve
Glovinsky with Amy Wiatrowski took third.
Bill and Henry won the day with 7 points, Nonie and Mack were second
with 9, and Chuck and Canon were third with 16.
The
July series ended in the same order: Bill Boll/Henry Earle in first (17 points),
Nonie and Mack in second (33), and Chuck and Canon in third (40). Congratulations to the winners!
That’s
it for July – On to August! Let’s hope we
have more race day conditions like the last one.
Sunday, July 16
After
long deliberation and radar-watching on whether the threatening thunderstorms
would hold off, we reluctantly decided to cancel the races. The eventual downpour proved the decision to
be prescient.
On to next Sunday –
the final races in the July series!
Sunday, July 9
The day began with a Racing Clinic run by Ted Sherman, covering the finer points of rigging, sail set, weight placement, tactics and rules when boats meet. Nine skippers, crew and prospective racers turned out for a very informative session, with most of Ted’s points either new to or changing the thinking of most of the participants.
The
second race of the July series was run by Instructors Cece and Finn in Third
Pond on a course 5. Ten boats started,
but Geri Abdoo and Margaret Phillips missed the first race with a broken traveler
block (fixed with help from Rick Wiatrowski), Sean and Rachel Robertson retired
after the first race, and Brooke Horgan and Piper went home after race
two.
The unusual
south-easterly moderate breeze meant for a short cross-pond course, and we
managed four quick races. The racers that
started near the committee boat and played the middle and shore-side of the
course came out better this time. The
first race saw Bill Boll sailing with Eliot Earle take first, followed by Richard
Chase with Henry Earle in second, and Brooke Horgan with Piper, sailing well, in
third. The second race saw Bill and Eliot
way out in front for another first, ahead of Brooke and Piper in second and
Richard and Henry in third. The third
race was won by Nonie Price sailing with her other grandson Nathan, followed by
Bill and Eliot in second and Chuck Delamater with Canon Rosen in third. Richard and Henry won the final race, Chuck and
Canon came in second, and Bill and Eliot came in third. Bill and Eliot won the
day with 7 points, followed by Richard and Henry in second with 10 points, and
Chuck and Canon in third with 14 points.
Series standings (see
the racing results page) have Bill Boll ahead with 10 points, Richard Chase,
second with 13 points, and Nonie Price, third with 24 points.
Sunday, July 2nd: Fourth of July Trophy Races
The day started off looking threatening with rain and wind, but gradually got clearer and calmer, and we managed to get four races in. Nine boats entered the competition, run by a team of instructors led by Brooke Barry on the standard course 5 in a steady southerly breeze.
While the wind appeared stronger on the beach side of the course, the racers going to the pond side caught the shore lift and generally ended up ahead. Bill Boll, sailing with Henry Earle, was the most consistent, winning all four races. In the first race he beat Jason Gefaell and crew in second place, and Richard Chase sailing with Anne Earle in third. In the second race he narrowly beat out Richard and Anne in second; Cabot Earle racing with Elliot Earle took third. In race three Bill and Henry bested Nonie Price sailing with Mack in second, and Cabot and Elliot taking third. The final race saw Cabot and Elliot taking second, and Nonie and Mack in third. (Lots of Earles in the winning circle – looks like another dynasty brewing!)
Trophies were awarded (to be collected on Awards Night) to Bill and Henry, first with 4 points; Cabot and Elliot, second with 14 points, winning a tiebreaker with Richard and Anne, also with 14 points, taking third with fewer third place finishes. Congratulations to the winners!
Sunday,
June 25th
The
first races of the July series kicked off today, with four boats and very little
wind.
The races
were preceded by the season’s skippers meeting, where we paused for a moment of
silence for the late Charlie Warner, a Club stalwart and enthusiastic racer –
and former Beetle Fleet captain (who volunteered me for the job). He will be missed. We then introduced Alex Haidar, our new
Director of Sailing, and discussed the efforts of WYC’s Sailing Committee to
raise member interest in adult sailing and racing. Racers were encouraged to participate – and
bring their boats – to the “Sip and Sail” open house events (dates to be
announced).
Now the races – The long off-season ended with that long-anticipated first 3-minute starting signal. Alex ran two races (course 5 – windward-leeward-windward) on Second Pond, which were basically westerly drifters in between bouts of fog. As usual, the races were relatively close in spite of the boats taking different routes to the windward mark. The first race saw Richard Chase, sailing with Henry Earle get the win in a close match with Bill Boll and Ginger Crawford, with Nonie Price sailing with grandson Mack in third and myself with Amy Wiatrowski in fourth. The second race was won by Bill and Ginger, with Richard and Henry in second, myself and Amy third, and Nonie and Mack fourth.
For the racers attending it was a gentle warm-up to kick off the season.