The second EC-12 regatta went well with 6 boats attending. Weather was nice, mostly cloudy with fairly constant winds which swept through about 40° right across the pond. Chris’ boat decided to lose binding on the first leg of the first race necessitating Rick G taking a paddle in the rescue boat. Other than that, no major incidents. It became rather evident who was dominating fairly quickly as Herb led most of the races with Cliff trailing closely. Cliff, Rick L and Chris also took 1 first each as well.

The first EC-12 race is in the books after being postponed 3 weeks ago. Four skippers competed under quite good conditions. Fair, mostly steady breezes provided for some wet gunnels but almost no knockdowns throughout and some tight finishes. Interestingly, all boats finished all races for a big plus! Pond is still quite high making for the dock to be pretty much not available through the day. Sam from the Greater Worcester Model Yacht Club joined in the festivities.

Hope to see you there!

VM Regatta 4/20 Cancelled due to 70% Chance of Showers

First regatta of the season held with varying conditions including overcast, showers and mostly sunny ( New England right?). Winds were swirly, gusty and rather strong throughout the day although at times you couldn’t buy a breeze. When finished, Cliff came out on top with Herb in second, Rick ( and Alain ) in third. Alain’s boat sank after a few knockdowns but fortunately he had installed some flotation so rescue was made handily. Not to be outdone, Rick Gates tried to sink his boat but, after the radio became disabled due to water in the hull, it just kept doing 360°’s until rescue. Rick Laird also retired although in a much less exciting manner.

Final regatta of the season, VM, was attempted. With a forecast of 6-10 knot winds, 6 boats began only to find more like 3 knots which tapered off as the day progressed. After 3 races, a lunch break was called hoping for bettering conditions. After a reasonable time, a poll was conducted. The result was suspension (cancellation) of the regatta, making these results unofficial. We were however afforded amusement in the form of watching Rick Gates retrieving some of the marks in the new dinghy.

The weather just won’t give us a break! At least 70% chance of heavy rain and high winds force us to cancel.

Quick note reminding all that the final V36 regatta is scheduled on October 7th @ noon and not this weekend. Note that the date is incorrect on Minuteman’s calendar ( which is the reason for this post ). Carry on!

Cliff wins Footy Regatta coming from behind Herb to take the lead in the last race. We only completed 9 races because of light showers beginning 2 hours before the weathermen predicted. [ Perhaps they should be called whether( or not) men?] Wind was actually better than predicted with normal Sandy Pond dead spots and swirls keeping everything interesting. We were a little disappointed with the turnout but an iffy forecast might have been the cause.

Due to Hurricane Lee, Saturday’s Schooner/ Bring What You Brought Regatta has been cancelled. Some forecasts are calling for rain/thundershowers but ALL are calling for WIND- From 20knots sustained and up with gusts over 40 knots. This would affect both sailing as well as transportation to/from the pond. Since discretion is the better part of valor, we felt that cancellation was in order.