29th BYC Moth Boat Regatta. Part 2

 

Joe asked Ingrid to take shots of him planing.  She took a boat load, but this is the money shot.

A couple of shots of Greg Duncan's Vintage division "Connecticut" Moth.

Skip Etchells designed this Moth in the late 1940s and it was a winner right from the start.  The Etchells Moth is still highly competitive within the Vintage fleet.

Things got a bit sloppy out on the bay during the early going.

John Z. working his Mistral to weather.

Bob Patterson and I were close most races but he had my number.  I only managed to beat him once during this regatta.

Erik also crossed in front of Bob once.  Bob bested us during the other five races.

Hurf Sheldon came down from Ithaca, NY with this Connecticut Moth.

Hurf's boat was probably the last one built at the Old Greenwich Boat Works.

Another view of John sailing Y2K2.

Erik in our glass Euro.

Me in our woodie.

Bill Boyle sailing his Abbott Moth.  Fran Abbott was a well known boat builder in Ocean City, NJ.

Love the swoopy transom on the Mistral design.

How did Greg get in front of all these Mistrals?!

A rare view of me crossing in front of Bob.

At the start of one of the heats.

A father/son shot.  Bill Boyle in Nr 1603.  Shane Boyle in Nr 43.

This was the first time in several years that Shane could race with us.  Glad to have him back.

Racing in the Vintage fleet was evenly matched.

A nice shot of my new sail from the Evolution loft.

We got in seven short races.  This was taken during the seventh.  Greg looks over his shoulder just as Bill gets tangled in his main sheet and is a few seconds away from a big swim.  Bill had a bit of luck in that he flipped in what is probably the deepest part of the bay and so he didn't auger in and get muck all over the top of his sail.  But yes, the boat turtled and yes, Bill is in the early running for the Turtle Trophy, awarded at the end of the season during the Nats for the most memorable capsize.

 

Here are the results:  In Vintage, Greg was first, followed by Bill and Hurf.  Bob won Generation I while I was second and Erik third.  Joe took top honors in Gen II ahead of John Z. and Mike P.  Hopefully we'll see a good turn out for the 30th running of this regatta next June.

29th BYC Moth Boat Regatta. Part 1

Covid canceled the Classic Moth regatta in 2020. 2021 should have been the event's 30th running--but it wasn't. If fact restrictions were barely lifted in time for this year. The Classic Moth Boat event is traditionally held on the Saturday before Father's Day so to not conflict with the club's other events. But I suppose a cancelation once every 30 years isn't too shabby a record. This year's regatta attacted 10 boats with three Vintage Moths, four in Gen I and three Gen II boats. Conditions were a bit blowy at first but we got in seven short races and were eating lunch by 2-ish. As per usual, my daughter Ingrid helped out on the RC boat and took the photographs which follow.

The day started off cloudy and blustery with wind  predictions in the 15 to 20 knot range.  By race time the winds were 15 out of the SE and softened slightly as the day wore on.

Joe Bousquet was first to launch.  Here he finishes adjustments to Try-Umph before heading out.  Joe was using his new Evolution sail for the first time.  He used the number "11" for this regatta.  He wants to do a bit of sail testing before he decides which of his boats will have the new sail.  Once decided, he will apply the correct number.

Erik was second to test the water.

Most skippers followed Joe B's lead and rolled their boat down the small ramp that leads to the floating dock rather than use the launch ramp seen by the bulkhead.  When the wind is out of the SE or SW, it is difficult to launch from the ramp while it is much more relaxed to launch from the leeward side of the float.  Fortunately, Moths are light and narrow enough to roll down the small ramp to the float!  In this photo we see Greg Duncan's vintage division Connecticut and Mike Parsons' Gen II Mistral on the float.

Joe B. wanted Ingrid to snap some shots of him planing.  We'll see how she did as I go through the pix.

Here's Mike P. on a slight plane.

Even the Europes want to play.

Your old diarist staying sunny side up.

John Z's Mistral.  John was impressed enough with Joe B.'s new Evolution sail that he ordered one at the end of the regatta.  Blogger is giving me problems so I will end this post now and continue with Part 2 in a little minute or so.