Saturday August 16th, 2015August Saturday 3

On the Afternoon before the QYC Ball

by Ted Burt

Everyone knows that in order to stay on the dance floor at the Quissett Yacht Club Annual Ball, you must have sailed that day (or week?), or at least been in a boat, so a strong fleet showed up for the Saturday Series race, sailed by enthusiastic aspiring dancers. Conditions were ideal, for the race committee of Ted Burt, Sarah Meigs, Wendy Martyna and Michael Garfield Sr., southwest 10-15 knots of wind and blue skies.

The four S-Class boats checked out the starting line and noticed a slight opportunity to cross on port tack. Josh Bernstein in Olive took the bait but arrived too late to cross ahead of the competitors who had chosen the starboard tack and right-of-way. It was basically an even start for a beat up to Stoney Beach, a couple short legs around Penzance and up to the Woods Hole entrance Buoy, a couple long spinnaker reaches out into the bay and in to Racing Beach, followed by a final beat to the finish. Commodore Alan Haigh in Teaticket took command at the start and led the way to the first mark, followed by Kathy Cooper in Radiant and then Eric Karplus in Shalom. The final beat is often a challenge for the leader, but this day belonged to Teaticket. Radiant couldn’t get past her close cover and had to settle for second. Likewise, Shalom held off a strong challenge by Olive and was not to be denied third place. All these large crews will be allowed to stay on the dance floor in the elimination dance.

The H-12 Class was very competitive throughout. Their course took them to Penzance, out to mark “D” in the bay, in to Racing Beach and then to the finish line. Tom First in Olivia looked to be in control rounding the last mark, but these days kids have the last laugh. Olivia First in Allie Rose was able to ease past her stunned father, cover his futile attempts to regain the lead, and take the finish signal over 30 seconds ahead of the boat that was named after her. Stand aside, old folks, and admire the changing of the guard.

S-Class:

                     Boat        Crew                                                                                        Time

  1. Teaticket    Alan Haigh, Doug Jones, Peter Franklin                                      1:18:51
  2. Radiant       Kathy Cooper, Doug Cooper, George Hunnewell                                   1:20:58
  3. Shalom       Eric, Si & Christos Karplus, Peter Ventola                                   1:24:08
  4. Olive          Josh & Emily Bernstein, George Walters, Nick Hunnewell                        1:24:37

 

Herreshoff H-Class:

  1. Allie Rose                     Olivia & Chuck First, Nick Steinert                     1:11:00
  2. Olivia                            Tom & Kristan First                                          1:11:35
  3. Pani Baba                      Weatherly Dorris, Sally Reid                                1:12:21
  4. Found It                       Mort Saunders, Anna Olsen                               1:12:35
  5. Phoenix                                    Mike & Emma Garfield                                     1:12:39
  6. Will o’ The Wisp            Bob Suitor, Ben Garfield                                                1:14:02
  7. Due Diligence               Alec Clowes, Jolynn Khamky                             1:14:58
  8. Sea Breeze                     Steve Chalmers, Sean Tynan, Ethan Burt             1:15:19
  9. Tigger                           Craig Hattabaugh, Max Steinert, Luke First          DNF