A Wet Day Out at the Annapolis Sailboat Show

Saturday was the better day to go to the show but we had other commitments and so Sunday it was even though the forecast called for chilly, wet weather.  For us the boat show isn't so much about gawking at big tubs that we can't afford as it is about bumping into friends, looking at the small boats, revisiting what have become favorite vendors and finally, getting our annual roast beast sandwich--swimming with raw onions and horseradish at the Fleet Reserve Club.  So we piled into the trusty wagon and headed east on Route 50 for Rowe Boulevard and the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.

Wet, wet, wet.  We usually park at the stadium and take the shuttle buses downtown to the show.  Parking in downtown Annapolis during the boat show weeks is next to impossible.

The banners on the fencing leading to the ticket booth brightened the dull day.

The first stop for Diaristwoman was the somewhat bedraggled  Helly Hansen tent.

While she was over at HH, my attention was directed towards this nice Stuart Knockabout.

When I looked back, she was practically swooning over this new foul weather jacket.

Both she and the sales agent agreed that money had been satisfactorily spent.

After that we moved on to the small boats.  Chesapeake Light Craft had this pram on display.

Moving on the Mega Byte display we bumped into Tweezerman from the Earwigoagin blogspot.

Placid Boatworks had a pair of sleek looking composite canoes

Interesting kevlar-carbon fiber herringbone weave cloth capped the 'whales.  The interiors of each canoe featured kevlar cloth as well.  The stem cap is a piece of  laminated birch.

Several one-design classes had boats on display with knowledgeable class members on hand to answer inquiries.  The Comet class is celebrating its 80th year.

Like many of the older small one-design classes, the Comet class has recently voted to permit upgrades to the sail plan.  Cloth other than Dacron can now be used.  Main sails are now permitted to have loose foots and the jib shape has acquired a fat head as can be seen here.

The boat hanging up is an old woodie.  The class member whom I spoke with indicated that the older boats are still competitive against the new composite ones if upgraded to take advantage of the improved rigs.  I asked him how much it cost to have a spot at the boat show and he said $1500 for the space rent and roughly $800 for the display materials.  This is a fairly big commitment for a small association.  It's a shame the boat show organizers couldn't find a way to make things a bit more affordable for the small dinghy classes.  The displays from dozens of one-design classes would surely draw increased attendance from people like myself who will never buy the hugely expensive yachts which are the norm at typical boat shows.

Does a Benteau really make sense?  Not for this sailor.

And you'd need a Sugar Daddy to buy this cat.  Sugar Daddy makes a small dinghy like a Comet seem reasonable...

Further along, these models caught my eye.

Very nicely done.

The Hendrick's Gin barge was back again this year.  It's becoming one of our fav stops!

Woodwind II was at her usual dock.

Witchcraft dates to 1903.

What is old is new again.  This Hood 32 is new construction but features classic lines.

Zooming in on the Eastport side of the harbor, Severn Sailing Association's Thistle fleet was wrapping up their two day "Oyster Roast Invitational" regatta.

Further along the docks we spotted this interesting catamaran with what appears to be a dual sliding seat for the crew.

Back on land we looked at the Norse Boat offerings.

Old meets new:  a blending of traditional wood jaws on the gaff and a carbon fiber mast.

There was a crowd at the Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating display.

The reason was the appearance of Matt Rutherford, the Annapolis sailor who single-handedly circumnavigated the Americas earlier this year.  We shook hands.  It was pleasant to meet him again.  He's raising money to go back to the Arctic, this time with a group of scientists to study global warming effects.  His original boat, the St. Brendan was on display complete with all the grunge from the voyage intact.  I told him that he ought to have her buffed up a bit!  After that it was high time for our annual date with a roast beast sandwich.  And so that's a wrap on another enjoyable Annapolis boat show.

A Chance Encounter

Cycling in America is a minority activity. Most people in the general population look at bicycles as toys for kids to ride until they're old enough to drive.  And while most are courteous when they encounter adult cyclists on narrow roads, there are those individuals, generally behind the wheel of a full sized pick-up or SUV, who are of the opinion "if one more spandexed geeky guy on a bicycle slows down my trip to the high school football game/liquor store/lottery ticket place I'm gonna run him straight off into the nearest thorn bush".  Bottom line as long as gasoline remains cheap:  "Merica ain't Denmark and ain't never gonna be no Denmark".  So much for Cycle-Chic.

I haven't begun to touch on the many sub-species of adult cyclists: roadies, mountain bikers, long haul cyclo-tourists, couriers, work-a-day commuters, fixie riding urban hipsters, Tweed-ride fashionistas--apologies in advance to any cycling sub-specie not mentioned.

But back to that minority of adults who are passionate about road racing; within that group opinions are also divisive.  Particularly if the subject is Lance Armstrong.  At this point in time most peeps who follow cycle racing either love (7 time TdF winner, cancer survivor and advocate, passed 500 drug tests, being unfairly striped of his titles) or hate the guy ("Doper--ah jist KNOW it").  Be that as it may, the single "fact" swirling around Lance is that he is, without a doubt, the most universally recognized product of American road cycling.  Diaristfamily had a boat show to attend this past Sunday but barring that I would have gone to the site of the Howard County Triathlon and been part of the crowd lining the roads to watch LA as he rode by.  Fortunately, a co-worker lives on one of the roads that were part of the course and his wife was able to snap a couple pix as Lance stormed by during the cycling part of the event.  Note that the organizers had to give up their official sanctioning since LA is currently banned from all sports competitions for life.

Now I don't plan on getting into a long-winded discussion pro/con Lance Armstrong so all you argumentative types just cool yer jets.  I'm just reporting a bit of local news.  Love him or despise him, Lance is still a phenom that draws a crowd wherever he goes.  Photo credits: Madeline Mirecki.

A young fan reaches out to touch Lance Armstrong.  Lance seems to be enjoying the effort.

My co-worker indicates that LA was quite fast both up and down the slope of the small hill which runs by their house.

2012 Carl Patterson Regatta

The Carl Patterson Regatta is a tribute to Bob Patterson's Dad and is held each year at the Chester River Yacht & CC in Chestertown, Maryland during the last Saturday before Columbus weekend.  Carl Patterson was instrumental in establishing Moth Boat racing at the Sea Isle City YC in the late 1950s.  Carl both built boats for and coached many of Sea Isle's talented juniors in that era.  This year's CPR was the eleventh edition of the event.  Both diaristwoman and diaristdaughter are key members of the Race Committee for this event and being out on the committee boat were well positioned to take some good pix.  Let's have a look.

CRY&CC Commodore Hanson Robbins kindly offered his trawler as the committee boat.  Photo credit: Bart Stolp.

The day started off chilly and overcast with a light breeze from the NW.  When the sun was out from behind the clouds it was warm but there was a definite fall nip in the air.  Seven Moths, two in Generation II and five in Generation I competed.  Your diarist sailed his Europe design Gen I Moth.  Photo credit Bart Stolp.  All other photos courtesy of diaristwoman and diaristdaughter.

This is what we raced for!  A nice groaning board of prizes.  The big bottle of 100 proof rum goes to the overall winner.  These are my kind of trophies!

During the start of Race 1 your diarist had a bit of "Forest Gump"  luck and got a better than expected start from the pin end of the line.  I was able to lead from pole to pole.  The course was a simple windward-leeward with windward finish.  Diaristwoman caught me during the leeward leg of the race working hard to hold off my pursuers and eke out a rare win.

However, after that first race Mike Parsons woke up, reestablished the pecking order and took 1st place in all of the remaining races, generally by comfortable margins as seen here.

Bill Boyle sailed the old Fletcher-Cates which he's restored and blogged about.  I think he's planning on selling the boat.  Those interested can leave comments on his blog spot.

Here's a bow shot of Bill's Cates.

Bob Patterson and I swapped seconds and thirds for the bulk of the day.  Here he's seen pipping me at the finish line by a boat length.

Just to keep us honest, Victor Stango (sail nr 109) beat both Bob and me in his Paul Lindenberg-designed Moth.  I love his name---he could have been a character in a Humphrey Bogart movie!

Here's another look at Victor's boat.

Try as I might, this is about as close as I got to seeing Mike's bow for the rest of the day.

One of the advantages of having relatives on the committee boat is that I get a lot of pix of sail shapes to study after the regatta.  With the traveler car centered I didn't have any twist in the leech.  This seemed fast for the conditions that day but would have just a bit of twist been faster?

Ed Salva had his Europe moving well.

Bill's son Shane sailed their modified Shelley, Memory Lane.

Another look at Memory Lane.

Relaxing after the finish of one of the races.

Mike going to weather.  A study in concentration.

Bill got a great start during one of the afternoon races.  He's seen here ducking Bob's transom.

Later, during that race I'm seen trying hard to steal Bob's wind as we pass the committee boat on the down wind leg.

A nice shot showing all seven boats a few seconds after a start.

When's lunch?

A study in transoms: Europe vs Lindenberg.

After six races we came in for those awards.  Ed Salva was 3rd in the Gen I division.

Victor Stango was 2nd in Gen I.

Your diarist took 1st in Gen I(!)

Mike helps out and awards Bob 2nd place in Gen II.

Bob and Mike take a little "medicine" on account of Bob's cold before awarding the final prize.

Mike, yet again, takes home the big bottle and gets his name on the perpetual trophy which returns to the clubhouse bar until next year.  So, that's a wrap on this year's Patterson Regatta.  Our next (and last) day of racing action for 2012 will be at Mike's home club up at Cooper River, New Jersey in mid-November.