2019 BYC Moth Boat Regatta

The 28th edition of the Brigantine YC's Classic Moth Boat Regatta featured SW winds in the 15-20 knots range with gusts higher.  This is about the limit for your old diarist!  Diaristdaughter took the following photos from the end of the floating dock.  We had 9 boats, of which 8 raced (Mike P. wasn't feeling well and watched from the club).

Plenty of bow waves going downwind.  Erik (Nr 69) side by side with John Z (Nr 111) while Bob (Nr 217) works to close the gap.

Your old diarist is the jam in the sandwich between the lead boats and the following group.

Joe B. sailed yet another boat.  This time a Magnum II which he modified to Classic rig specs by removing the wings and adding a low aspect rig.

Joe spent a large part of his regatta combining swimming with his Moth Boating.

One of the starts.  With the wind being on the "sporty" side, the RC wisely limited the course to a single lap triangle.   No one argued!

Bob and Erik going hammer and tongs upwind.

Erik was sailing Meg Gaillard's Athens Games boat.

Your old diarist was sailing the wood veneer Galetti.

Ed Salva (Nr 10) running down wind with Victor Stango.

Bob Patterson in his Shelley.

More photos of Joe Bousquet  in the Magnum II.

Joe spent a lot of time like this.

If anyone can tame the Magnum II in Classic form it will be Joe B.  I tip my cap to a very brave experiment.

Ed and I push as close as we dare (on a falling tide) to the marsh island.  The starboard lay line to the weather mark could just be laid if one got close enough on this tack.  The danger, of course, was the risk of "smelling bottom" with your blades if you cut it too close.

Bob shadowing John Z. downwind.

Victor Stango going downwind in his Paul Lindenberg designed Moth.

Although a few jet skiers came out to play, the wind kept most on the  dock.

Joe learned a lot about what he wants to change during this regatta.  The dark area under the flair is filler, added to meet the CMBA's string test rule.

Bill Boyle sailed his son's boat.

Joe B. wasn't the only one who capsized.  Here we see Bob P. taking a refreshing dip.

After five quick races, John Z. dominated the Gen II division.  Erik repeated as the BYC Gen I champ.  Bob P. was second in Gen I and your old diarist was third a point behind.  An enjoyable if exhausting regatta!

A little mystery: An old photo of an Elizabeth City Moth Race, some time in the late 1940s

Greg Duncan came up for the Patterson
Regatta, which was held this past Saturday in Chestertown, Maryland, and gave me the photograph seen above.  Here we see an undated photo taken in Elizabeth City, North Carolina at some point in the late 1940s.  This photo is of a fairly important regatta.  I know this because the boat closest to the camera is Nr 898, which was Charlie Shelton's Moth Cindy.  Charlie was one of the kids who hung out at Harry Cates' boat shop in Miami, Florida.  Charlie and Harry were, at this time point, both sailing Harry's interpretation of Dorr Willey's Moth design.  Unlike Dorr's boats, Harry's were much lighter.  Some dismissively claimed that Cates built his boats out of orange crate wood.  I prefer to think he used thin plywood.  But never mind all that.  If Charlie is here, all the way from FLA, no doubt Harry is also somewhere in the photo, sailing Hornet, Nr 899.  I doubt if they would have traveled all the way to E. City for a minor event.  Another clue is the boat windward of Charlie Shelton.  This boat, Foam, Nr 1021 is down from the Rocky Point Moth Club which was located in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.  Nr 1021 is an Etchells, "Connecticut" design Moth and was registered to Wm Ross of Old Greenwich in 1949.  The final sail number which I can make out is Nr 806, a Dorr Willey Moth registered to Peggy Bonned from Elizabeth City in 1948. Now, the Pasquotank River YC hosted the Nationals in '48 and the Internationals in '49.  So I think I can be confident that this photo is from one or the other of those two events.  Can anyone narrow it down?