Bow Lake Sailing Newsletters
By Bob Shapiro
2008 Bob Evans Regatta Race Day #7 (21 August 2008)
For the first time this year, a Bow Lake race day had sunshine, wind and no predictions of thunderstorms. What a great day of racing we had with two normal races and our first Around-the-Lake race of the year.
Rob Donle and Ben Schurmann went fishing in Infinite Slop (you can read about all the gory details here http://www.amyrootdonle.com/robsboat/News/Entries/2008/8/17_Bow_Lake_Race_7.html
Most importantly notice that Rob admits to carrying a water cannon on board, so he is fair game for anybody who wants to bombard him with their own water cannon.
Mark Iber and Peter Hellfach joined us for the first time this year, in their Hobie 16. With the strong winds they had an exciting day and there are some great pictures with crew on the wire and the cat flying through the water (and mostly in the air). Unfortunately, we were unable to process the underwater photos showing them crashing into a rock during the Around-the-Lake race.
Stephen Van Beaver returned from his back injury and was on board Tea Party with Dennis Unger. Check out the pictures but a Star is one of the prettiest boats you will see going upwind in a breeze.
Josh Gershuny jumped ship and was joined by Nathaniel Hendrickson and Ned Hinds on board Naut! This took two Lasers off the water, but resulted in some fun battles in the Lightning class.
Wayne Donle came out singlehanded in his Day Sailor Pinniped and was doing fine until he watched his son Rob have troubles in Infinite Glop. After that, Wayne filled with water and nearly capsized, before deciding to be conservative and head for shore.
The Around-the-Islands race was great fun, highlighted by Tea Party stealing wind from the calm, cool and collected As Yet Unnamed most of the way from Bennett Island to the other end of the lake. Margo and Marisol led a cheering section from shore as the boats passed by heading back upwind to the finish. She was kind enough to record Greg King shouting "I’m in First" as he sailed by; copies can be downloaded from U-Tube for 99 cents each. Michelle Kincaid wore a big hat hoping nobody would recognize her, but we know she was yelling right along with Greg. Y-Knot? swept the small-centerboard class Sunday, winning all three races and looking good doing it.
Bob has gotten used to sailing with lightweight crew, so Ryan and Kyle Gershuny hiked out their combined 79 pounds on board As Yet Unnamed, leading to excellent upwind speed and first place at all three windward marks. Then they did great jobs raising, gibing and dropping the spinnaker to take the gun in the first two races. Bob did end up jumping overboard to save As Yet Unnamed from the rocks as he undershot the shore station on the way in.
Ned, Josh and Nathaniel on Naut! did a great job of mastering the tricky winds behind Bennett Island and won the Around-the-Lake race going away.
Jim Murphy and Deb Ames on their catamaran had some wild rides and finished first in the catamaran class on Sunday.
Norb, Dave and Bob on Three Men in a Tub celebrated getting rid of Holy Boat by fighting off Infinite Glub in the first race and giving them a great fight in the next two races.
August 17 Photos from Pam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606871147490/
August 23-24 Naut!, Miss Behavin’, Ned, Bob, Guillaume and a bunch of Gershuny’s are heading to Squam Lake for their annual regatta. It should be a lot of fun and we hope that some of the sailors from Squam Lake will join us in September for our regatta.
Welcome New Sailors
Dave Darrah and family were out in their new Precision 18 http://www.gisails.com/boats/precision/18/. Nice looking boat, and we look forward to seeing it on the starting line and on the race course.
Jeff and Stacey Baker bought Holy Boat (9662) from Three Men in a Tub. Negotiations were hot and heavy, but as we understand it, the final price is one that satisfied all parties. Jeff and Stacey are busily rehabbing the 100 year old house they own, but we hope they have time to fix the holes in the boat and join us on the water next year.
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2008 Bob Evans Regatta Race Day #6 (12 August 2008)
The day looked a bit gloomy and it didn’t seem like there would be much wind, but the sun came out and the wind came up and 4 fun races were held. There were lots of new combinations on the water with Wayne and Greg on Day Sailor Pinniped, Josh and Erin in Laser, Dick Juno back on Tea Party as Stephen Van Beaver is on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list and Greg Babbin finally joined by his co-captain Olivier Koen.
The racing was exciting and tight. The Lightnings had great battles as each of the three boats held the lead at various times. In the first race, Bob, Kyle and Ryan in As Yet Unnamed held a slim lead at the windward mark, but Ned’s team of Karen and Guillaume on Naut! executed an immediate gybe-set and took off in stronger wind on the left side. Rob Donle, Rob Peterson and Victor Rossi on board Infinite Sloop flew past Bob on the leeward leg, and all three boats hit the leeward mark in quick succession, Ned, then Rob then Bob. Ned stretched it out for the win, and Bob managed to squeeze past Rob halfway up the last leg.
Races two and three saw more exciting and close racing. Bob’s team managed to pull out a win in race two, but Ned was back on top in race three. Did you catch the miraculous recovery in race three? Ryan and Kyle managed to recover from "spinnaker-guy-all-the-way-under-the-boat" without keelhauling the spinnaker!
Kyle Gershuny skippered the fourth race on As Yet Unnamed and matched Ned inch for inch upwind and downwind including a great battle on the 2nd half of the leeward leg (check the pictures!). All 3 Lightnings rounded the leeward mark together in that race, but in the end Ned, Karen and Guillaume were off to the races, with Kyle finishing in second place.
Josh Gershuny and Nathaniel Hendrickson had 4 super close battles in Lasers with each winning two races. Check out the pictures for an excellent sequence showing Nathaniel capsizing and turning turtle.
Sorry I didn’t catch much of the Star, Echo and Day Sailor action so I can’t report on the details. It was noted that Greg King was on the hot seat in the Day Sailor – apparently the centerboard trunk is none too comfortable of a seat unless you pad it with a life jacket. Greg Babbin and Olivier Koen on the Echo deserve congratulations for finishing all four races – with no other boats in their speed range it takes pride to keep going. Let’s get some SunFish out there to give these guys a fair fight! Dennis Unger and Dick Juno on Tea Party were once again seen in a water gun battle with Naut! – it’s not clear who won the water battle but Naut! won the sailing war.
After the races was a marvelous party on the Gershuny’s porch. The usual conversation at these affairs involves telling lies about the sailing. Let’s all give Greg King a heartfelt thank you for giving us something else to talk about instead…
August 10 Photos from Pam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606667970412/
New photos from previous days:
July 11-13 Marblehead Junior Districts and Districts by Brent Larlee (Race Committee Guy): http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606670064585/
July 27 Photos Bruce Donle http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606686627047/
Lightning Junior North American Championships
The best Junior Lightning sailors in the world gathered in Newport, Rhode Island last week for the North American Championships. The top three finishers from the World Championships last month in Montreal were all on hand, as was our own team of Josh, Kyle and Ryan Gershuny, sailing Miss Behavin’. The boys were the youngest (average age 15 years), the lightest (under 100 pounds average) and the least experienced (3 previous days in a Lightning together) team on the water. The race course in Newport is at least an hour from the dock, and each race is a long one (4-5 miles). On the first day, the boys left the dock by 9:00 AM, raced three races (plus a fourth that was cancelled halfway through) and got back to the dock around 6:00 PM. That’s a long day on the water and they were tired! They grabbed a quick dinner and went to bed without even bothering to hit the Newport nightlife!
The second day dawned dark, cold, rainy and windy. Winds were 12-15 knots with gusts to 20 knots or higher. The rain was cold and pelting. Linda made a number of mercy runs to acquire more foul weather gear, and Bob valiantly made some last minute boat repairs in the pouring rain. The boys watched 3 boats decide to stay ashore but hey headed out to give it a try. After the exited the harbor (what a thrill to sail through a harbor loaded with huge motor and sailing yachts, along with 8 America’s Cup boats!) and once they got into the unprotected waters, they tried to sail upwind but found that they didn’t have enough weight to handle the boat. Congratulations to this young team for making a good decision and deciding to turn around and come back in! Note: 12 boats capsized that day. Wednesday night the weather cleared and we all (Ian, Linda, Erin, Josh, Kyle, Ryan, Margo, Marisol and Bob) hit Newport downtown for a nice walk, dinner and Awful Awfuls and Clown Sundaes at Newport Creamery.
The last day of racing saw sunny skies and moderate breezes, and the boys took advantage of the conditions and their added experience from the week, to have their best two races. Congratulations to the team and to the shore team supporting them!
Junior NA’s Photos Bob http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606669461759/
Welcome New Sailors
Not be outdone by her brothers’ sailing exploits, Erin Gershuny raced for the first time on Sunday. Six-year-old Erin sailed with her brother Josh on Ned’s Laser for a couple of races. Asked after the racing, Erin indicated she loved it.
Rob Peterson dropped down to small boats from his J29 to sail with Rob Donle on Infinite Sloop, joined by the previous owner of Sloop, Victor Rossi.
Olivier Koen, co-captain of the Echo CL12 along with Greg Babbin, finally made an appearance. Welcome!
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2008 Bob Evans Regatta Race Day #5 (07 August 2008)
OK so this week I am busy soaking up the sun (and the rain) in Newport, Ri as Josh, Kyle and Ryan Gershuny are racing Miss Behavin' in the Junior North American Championships. So the following bullet points are all you get this week in terms of a writeup of the actual racing.
August 3 Photos from Pam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606550416671/
Welcome New Sailors
Three Men in a Tub became Man, Woman and Dog for a day as Gayle Murphy and Mick joined Bob Murphy on board.
Dave Darrah
was out for the first time this season, swapping onto Rob Donle's Lightning.
He's expected to be a regular crew on Infinite
Sloop.
Ben Schurman was also out on Infinite
Sloop, and is rumored to be looking at buying his own boat – Rob better
start expanding his crew list…
Jeff Baker is rumored to be thinking of buying and fixing up Lightning 9662 – Three Men in a Tub with Big Holes In It.
Nathaniel Hendrickson bought the Highlander that was for sale on Water Street – congratulations Nathaniel!
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2008
Bob Evans Regatta Race Day #4 (27 July 08)
OK I've been busy and away in the UK since we raced Sunday so I have
forgotten most of what happened. Here's the recap.
Ned beat everybody. By a lot. OK, As Yet Unnamed got close at the end of the second race, but only because the wind died and came up from behind. In both races Ned/Guillaume were untouchable. Rob was fast and spinnaker work improves every week. Bruce Donle made big wakes to try to slow us down when the wind lightened up. Jim Murphy once again paddled during a race. Dick and James in the Precision 185 are fast upwind (some of the time) but they REALLY need a spinnaker to keep up downwind. Ian Gershuny has caught the sailing bug! I bet Wayne Donle never thought he'd be racing the Lightning as much as he has been. A great call on getting off the water after two races - it's ok to be conservative. Great hospitality by the Joffrees but next time we'd like less rain. A LOT less rain.
July 27 Photos from Pam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606484648667/
Welcome
New Sailors
Dick Davis and son-in-law James Caton showed up with their new first
time in the water Precision 185 - a hot looking and very sporty racing dinghy.
Dick sailed Lightnings many years ago so he knows his way around a boat and
aroundf a race course. James was visiting from Virginia and does a lot of
sailing himself. The trick now will be to get Dick to come out and get his
wife (Jane? Pat? Sue?) to sail with him. And next after that is to get a
spinnaker for the boat.
John Bradshaw came out and sailed on Infinite Sloop - an old friend of Rob's, John decided to sail with him anyway.
:)
Rumor has it Infinite Sloop has had the name added to the hull and it looks spiffy! No name yet on the side of As Yet Unnamed or Precision.
Tuxy Jenkins came out to sail with Ned a few weeks ago, but sailing was cancelled due to the weather. This week, we saw him at the dump Sunday morning and in less than an hour he had gotten out of a Parker Mountain hike and received permission to sail on Three Men in a Tub.
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2008 Bob Evans Regatta Race Day #3 (24 July 2008)
Sunday morning it didn't look like we would be doing any sailing, as thunderstorms were predicted for later in the day, it rained overnight and drizzled in the morning, and the lake was flat as glass. But 4 Lightnings and a catamaran ventured out (ok most of them were towed out and the others paddled) and had 3 very nice races, in a relatively steady 4-6 knot breeze.
There were lots of almosts and maybes on Sunday. Dennis Unger almost showed, but he was becalmed in Maine in his big boat. Greg King had crew (Michelle Kincaid – coming back for more!) but didn't want to paddle out or be towed out and didn't think the wind would come up. Greg Babbin and his co-captain were prepared to come but were concerned about possible thunderstorms and stayed in. [Note: Good decision Greg – if you are ever concerned about the weather please be comfortable deciding not to sail.] Kevin Landt came out and sailed near the course in a Sunfish, while Amy Byron came out in Nathaniel's Laser just as we were finishing. They didn't race, but they did make it to Ned and Karen's in time for the homemade pizza (something I was too late for).
Jim Murphy and Deb Ames paddled out to the start from Caswell Cove, and apparently liked paddling so much that they paddled some more during the first race. Not sure if that was before or after they hit the mark – but in any case they dropped out of the first race. As the wind picked up in the next two races they were able to keep up with the Lightnings and finish ahead of one of them.
Bob Shapiro had another Gershuny day, with oldest Ian and youngest sailing Ryan on board. Note that the youngest Gershuny, Erin, is taking boating classes this week so Ryan will no longer be the youngest sailing Gershuny by the time you read this. Ian has only been on a sailboat 4 other times in his life, and never on a Lightning and never racing before. Twice on his honeymoon he was on a rented Hobie Cat, once he sailed with Greg King on Y-Knot Tip, and one other time I forget. Ian was very enthusiastic and wanted to practice the spinnaker while we sat waiting in 0 knots of wind. Bob knew better (NOT!) and said "you'll learn on the job". Well, what he learned was that you should always raise the spinnaker before the start to be certain it is rigged properly. The team got to the first mark first, but the spinnaker would only go partway up as the halyard was rigged inside the lower shroud. Yikes – Skipper Bob was the one who rigged it. By the time that was squared away, Ned, Karen and Guillaume rocketed past in Naut! and continued on for the win.
Wayne Donle and Ben Schurmann took out Infinite Sloop as Rob Donle was on vacation. They had a fierce but winning battle with Dave, Norb and Bob in Three Men in a Tub on every windward leg, and the first race was no exception. They were both breathing down Unnamed's neck, but were held off due to great spinnaker dousing by Ian and Ryan. The two men on Infinite Sloop did a great job handling the spinnaker shorthanded –Ben used his foot to hold out the boom as he trimmed the sheet and guy.
In the second race Ned rounded first but the boats all bunched together on the run. As Yet Unnamed got almost even with Naut! on the last beat to the finish, but Ned handled a powerboat wake better than Bob and trounced him over the last few hundred yards for the win.
The third race saw lots of action. First there was a blood-curdling scream from Karen, as Wilbur the pod bodied spider was spotted on Naut! Guillaume valiantly cornered Wilbur and escorted him off the boat to save the day. Then there was the blood curdling screams of Bob as he patiently informed Ned of the rules concerning buoy room at a starting mark after the starting gun. Bob sailed to a wire-to-wire victory to break Ned's streak of 5 wins to start the season. Bob got in after the races and read the rule book. After several hours of crying, Bob arrived at Ned's for the after sailing get together, and announced that he (Bob) was wrong about the rules at the start. So Ned's winning streak is alive and kicking at 6 races. Watch Out Joe Dimaggio!
July 20 Photos from Pam: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606296423417/
After
the Races
Joan, Thierry and Guillaume Joffrees are hosting the after regatta event
this coming Sunday July 27. They have seats for nine people, so bring a
couple of folding chairs please. Address: 953
Province Road. There is plenty of
parking once you get onto our driveway from the new Fire Road 36. You can also
drive into our Y shaped driveway which is right at the bad curve before the road
dips down to the level of the lake. If you take Fire Road 36, then take
the first dirt path on your right and drive past the new foundation that will be
on your left. Rain date for the
Joffrees will be Sunday August 3. If
you would like to hold a future after race get-together, let me know and I'll
include it in this newsletter.
Finances
Your contributions fund trophies and other expenses, and the One Day Lightning regatta in September. Suggested donation is $20 for Open Class sailors and $40 for Lightnings, but we would be happy to accept more (or less). You can bring cash to Bob, or checks made payable to Bow Lake Sailing. It takes about $2000 per season to pull all this off. We get about $500 in registration fees from the Lightning Regatta in September, and many of you donate food and boat gas to the tune of about another $500. That leaves about $1000 to come from your donations. At the end of last season we had $760 in the bank.
Links
July 20 Photos Pam http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606296423417/
July 11 District Jrs Photos Ian http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606294407480/
July 8 Photos Pam http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606091641871/
July 8 Photos Amy Donle http://www.amyrootdonle.com/robsboat/Photos/Pages/Bob_Evans_Race_2.html
July 11 District Junior Champs http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606159260494/
Ned's Bow Lake Web Cam at http://65.175.241.165/
Ned's Weather Station 1 http://www.clubnedusa.com/clubnedconsulting/weather/index.htm
Ned's Weather Station 2 http://www.clubnedusa.com/clubnedconsulting/weather/wx.htm
Bow Lake Sailing http://www.wessexusa.com/bls_main1.html
Racing Rules http://www.sailing.org/rrs2005
Racing Rules in Brief http://www.ussailing.org/rules/rulesinbrief.htm
New England Lightning District http://www.lightningclass.org/ne
Lightning Class http://www.lightningclass.org/index.asp
Bob Shapiro: finallybk@gmail.com Lake on weekends: 603-664-6904 Cell: 978-761-3289
See you on the water!
2008 Bob Evans Regatta Race Day #1 (14 July 2008)
Everyone was excited to get the first races of the year underway as the previous week (June 29) the weather didn't cooperate and we had to cancel. It looked like it would be a day of light and fluky winds but we ended up with nice breezes in the range of 4-8 knots on July 5. We had three Lightnings and six Open Class boats for a good opening day attendance. Three races were completed in under two hours, after which it was time for guacamole.
It's long ago (over a week) and I'm old enough (but not as old as Ned) that the memories are fading, but here are a few highlights from July 5.
Josh, Kyle and Ryan Gershuny raced in Lightning 15239 As Yet Unnamed and did very well upwind. In the third race they even beat Ned Hinds to the windward mark. Downwind was another story. See the Sailing Quiz questions below, but ask the kids sometime what is the best way to clean the bottom of the boat during a race, and which sail you should use to do the scrubbing.
Rob Donle, Bruce Donle and Ben Schurmann sailed Infinite Sloop (yeah Rob's a techie geek) and had good enough spinnaker work to make their way past the Gershuny boys downwind. First time racing the boat and three second places in the Lightning class – congratulations.
Ned Hinds had Karen Hinds and Mike Aversa on board Naut!. You'd think that such an experienced crew would handle the spinnaker flawlessly. But was that Naut! with the spinnaker halyard down 10 feet a third of the way down the leeward leg in the second race? Ned did manage to pull out three bullets, but Rob and team were nipping on his heels for two of them.
Three Men in a Tub sat on its mooring as apparently it takes more than three men to determine that July 5, 2008 is a Saturday and not a Sunday. Three Men are still looking for a home on the lake for their older Lightning, which needs a bit of hull repair.
Jim Murphy and Deb Ames not only won the catamaran class, but they also took line honors in the second race. This pair gets the award for most hours on the lake – look out there on almost any day and you'll see their multi-colored sail.
Dennis Unger and Dick Juno had Tea Party cranking. After the start of race two, they overtook Bob Shapiro who was sailing in Ned's Laser Beat Up. Bob headed Dennis up and there was contact as Beat Up's tiller extension touched Tea Party's hull. The resulting backwind from the huge Star mainsail tipped Beat Up to weather and knocked Bob into the water. Vaulting back into the boat Bob suffered the first injury of the season as he smashed his head on the cockpit railing.
Bob and Nathaniel duked it out in the Lasers with some tight racing. Nathaniel is one to watch out for as he got better every race.
Greg King stuffed his boat full of crew with Amy Byron's mother and Brandt Prince. The extra weight kept him from getting to the starting line on time for the first race, but in the next two races Greg King was looking good and came in ahead of Greg Babbin in his sporty Echo. [Editor's Note: There now being 3 Greg's associated with Bow Lake Sailing, any future Greg's must provide an alternate first name.]
Greg Babbin was singlehanding on the Echo and had a bit of trouble getting to the line on time, but he did arrive for the second race. By the end of the third race Greg was getting the hang of going upwind and had vastly improved. Look for great competition the rest of the year between Greg #2 and Greg #3. (Of course, Greg Shapiro is Greg #1!)
At the guacamole affair, Dennis Unger invited us all to a party at the Red Barn that night thrown by Dennis' brother. Margo and Bob handed Marisol off to Adriana who was visiting, and headed off to the party, and into a time machine. The 80's band (I forget the name) was loud and good (or was it good and loud?). The attendees were loud and wild (and mostly smashed) and dressed for an 80's rave. What a rockin' party!
July 8 Photos from Pam Daigneault
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606091641871/
July 8 Photos from Amy Donle http://www.amyrootdonle.com/robsboat/Photos/Pages/Bob_Evans_Race_2.html
Sunday July 20 is the next Bow Lake race day. Start is at Noon in the middle of the lake. Get together after sailing is at Ned and Karen's house Fire Road 8 after the races.
Welcome Sailors
Dick Juno has been seen out practicing on the Star with Dennis Unger, and last week he raced with Dennis, and got a (somewhat wet) introduction to Bow Lake Sailing. It seems as though Ned was using Dennis and Dick as target practice with his new water cannon. Dick lives across the street from Stephen Van Beaver and is apparently trying to wrestle him for the crew spot on Tea Party.
Nathaniel Hendrickson has been in the junior program on Bow Lake for several years and is often out on the lake in his Laser. Last week Nathaniel came out and raced and did very well. It's always great when we get new young sailors to join us.
Greg Babbin and his co-captain Olivier Koen have purchased an Echo CL 12 sailboat. Congratulations to Greg who purchased the boat a week before acquiring his first mate, Chelsea. Chelsea has been out in the Echo, but may be more likely seen in a kayak.
Greg King wanted to be sure that he could keep his boat flat on Saturday, so he sailed with two crew! Brandt Prince from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada was visiting the Gershuny's and had never sailed before. And after sailing with Greg, perhaps he may never sail again! Just kidding – word is he had a great time. Greg's other crew was Amy Byron's mother. (Sorry Mom I can't remember your name.)
Welcome back to Bruce Donle – Bruce and brother Wayne used to sail a Lightning many years ago. Last week, Bruce sailed with nephew Rob Donle and apparently did very well.
Welcome to Ben Schurmann. Ben has limited sailing experience but has hopped onto Rob Donle's boat and is picking things up fast. Rumor has it that with Rob on vacation July 20 that Ben may race his boat. Good luck Ben!
The Gershuny Report
The Gershuny boys have been sailing for several years, but this year they are breaking out in a big way.
Josh Gershuny has been training at the UNH Sailing Center and recently competed in Lasers in Kennebunkport in an elimination regatta. He finished well enough in the high winds and high seas that he is competing this week for the E. Jared Bliss trophy at Wild harbor Yacht Club in Falmouth, MA. If he does well enough, he will qualify to race in Chicago at the end of July for the US Sailing Chubb US Junior Singlehanded Championship.
Josh, Kyle and Ryan sailed in the Lightning Junior District Championships last Friday on the ocean in Marblehead. The team got better every race and ended up with a third place finish (but due to an engraving error – first place trophies). Starting at the same time as the Masters Championship competitors, they beat one of the Masters boats in two of the races. They were great upwind, reaching the windward mark ahead of 2-3 Masters a couple of times. Photos from the racing on Friday are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606159260494/
Saturday and Sunday was the Lightning District Championships also in Marblehead, and for that regatta Josh and Kyle sailed with Bob Shapiro in Miss Behavin'. Saturday the winds were light and after being in 4th place at every mark, the team finished the first race in 5th place out of 25 boats. The second race on Saturday was cancelled halfway thru when the wind died completely. Saturday night saw a cookout by the swimming pool at Corinthian Yacht Club, raffle and auction of some really cool sailing gear, and after the team went home, a number of people were thrown or jumped into the pool. A fantastic band was playing, the sun was setting across the harbor and all was beautiful.
Sunday saw winds for the first race at 10-12 knots, with wind and seas building gradually until the 4th race of the day, when winds were around 20 knots and seas were 4-6 feet. The boys were awesome crew, not a single spinnaker hourglass, tangle, twist or anything else bad. Jibes all worked and the spinnaker was usually full every time all the way thru the jibe. Josh was working the spinnaker hard as we went up and down catching waves to surf, and passed a number of boats due to those efforts. Kyle did a great job keeping his footing while dancing around the deck with the spinnaker pole as the boat rolled pretty violently during a few jibes. Finishes in the teens on Sunday put us in 16th position overall. We finished ahead of two previous winners of the District Championship!
In another week, Josh and Kyle will be racing Lasers in Marblehead Junior Race Week for three days. And the first week of August Josh, Kyle and Ryan will be racing in the Lightning Junior North American Championships in Newport, Rhode Island.
Rumor has it father Ian wanted to crew in the Masters Championships on Friday, but he had to get the car fixed. Can Linda and Erin be far behind in adding to the Gershuny sailing tradition?
A salute to Linda, Ian and Erin for disrupting their lives to support the sailing habits of Josh, Kyle and Ryan. This is like a traveling soccer team on steroids! And a special thank you to Linda for helping watch Marisol Sunday afternoon at the club.
Bow Lake Weather Information
Not sure what the weather is at the lake? Trying to decide if you should wear foul weather gear? Check out Ned's Bow Lake Web Cam at http://65.175.241.165/
And
check out these links to the data from Ned's Weather Station for more weather
info.
http://www.clubnedusa.com/clubnedconsulting/weather/index.htm
and
http://www.clubnedusa.com/clubnedconsulting/weather/wx.htm
After the Races
Please join us at Ned and Karen's after the races this Sunday July 20. They're in the yellow house at the end of Fire Road 8 – come by water or come by land. By water, they are on the same shore as Bob and Margo, but several hundred yards closer to the dam. While you're there, if you didn't get a Bow Lake Sailing frisbee last year, be sure to ask for one. If you would like to hold an after race get-together on a future race day, let me know and I'll include it in this newsletter.
Finances
Your contributions fund trophies and other expenses, and the One Day Lightning regatta in September. Suggested donation is $20 for Open Class sailors and $40 for Lightnings, but we would be happy to accept more (or less). You can bring cash to Bob, or checks made payable to Bow Lake Sailing. It takes about $2000 per season to pull all this off. We get about $500 in registration fees from the Lightning Regatta in September, and many of you donate food and boat gas to the tune of about another $500. That leaves about $1000 to come from your donations. At the end of last season we had $760 in the bank. Thank you to Riverside Engineering of West Newbury, Massachusetts (Dennis Unger) for sponsoring the races.
Links
July 8 Photos Pam http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606091641871/
July 8 Photos Amy Donle http://www.amyrootdonle.com/robsboat/Photos/Pages/Bob_Evans_Race_2.html
July 11 District Junior Champs http://www.flickr.com/photos/bob_and_margo/sets/72157606159260494/
Ned's Bow Lake Web Cam at http://65.175.241.165/
Ned's
Weather Station 1 http://www.clubnedusa.com/clubnedconsulting/weather/index.htm
Ned's Weather Station 2 http://www.clubnedusa.com/clubnedconsulting/weather/wx.htm
Bow Lake Sailing http://www.wessexusa.com/bls_main1.html
Racing Rules http://www.sailing.org/rrs2005
Racing Rules in Brief http://www.ussailing.org/rules/rulesinbrief.htm
New England Lightning District http://www.lightningclass.org/ne
Lightning Class http://www.lightningclass.org/index.asp
Bob Shapiro: finallybk@gmail.com Lake on weekends: 603-664-6904 Cell: 978-761-3289
See you on the water!
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Thursday 10 June 2008