2016 Classic Moth Boat Mid-Winter Regatta

The weekend of the 20th/21st of February was our annual slog down I-95 to Florida for the Mid-Winter regatta at Gulfport, Florida.  I think we've been racing  out of Gulfport YC now for at least ten years.  Before that we raced a couple of times from the Davis Island YC, and during the first few years the event then billed as "the meet in St. Pete" was sailed from  the St. Pete YC's small boat sailing center.   This year's weather was warm and inviting (temps in low 70s and sunny) all three days.  Winds were a bit on the soft side at times but for an old geezer easing back into a boat after a long layoff that was probably a blessing.

My regatta started off on the wrong foot when a few yards off the beach the halyard some how jumped out of the lock at the tip of the mast.  Being lazy, and with loads of time to spare, I allowed the wind to blow me back to the shore for a proper hoist rather than flipping the boat, swimming to the mast head and faffing about with the sail and halyard while trying to keep my nose above water.

Things did get better after that.

We had a decent NE breeze of about 10 knots for the first two races in which I did OK.

Then the wind started to drop and my brain went on holiday.  Around noon the sea breeze from the Gulf started to compete with the morning breeze and at that point the wind dropped to zero.  We bobbed up and down for the better part of an hour waiting for the sea breeze to fill in.

Eventually the sea breeze dominated, the Race Committee switched the race course 180 degrees (wind was now from the SW), and racing resumed.

Woody Kapp sailing his McCutcheon-built Shelley Mk I.  I have a fondness for racing pix which feature sparkling waters and palm trees in the background.

Tom Kapp, sailing a Europe gives his twin sibling a bit of shade.  Very thoughtful.

Lewis Hay came down from Charleston with eight others from that Classic Moth fleet.  Several of the Charleston sailors where sporting new sails designed by Ethan Bixby.  Some of the new sails were loose footed while others retained the bolt rope foot.  The jury is still out as to the merits of the loose foot design for a Classic Moth.  One obvious point is that without the support of the bolt rope in the foot, one needs to use a beefy boom if one's traveler is set up for center sheeting.  The stock Europe dinghy boom seems strong enough.

Another look at Lewis' sail.  In this shot the loose foot hasn't slipped over to the leeward side of the boom.

Jack Clark came over from Melbourne Beach, Florida with a round bilge Paul Lindenberg-designed Moth which was very similar to the Europe design in both looks and performance.  The boat was built using mahogany veneers and is almost too pretty to use.  One can see that his sail uses lacing to attach it to the boom and that the boom in this case has an aft traveler bridle to spread the load along the length of the light carbon boom.  Jack is hoping that a few Moths will come to Melbourne YC's annual spring regatta in mid-April.  If so it will be the first time in perhaps forty years that we've had a Moth regatta on both Florida coasts during the same year.  Four boats will get a separate start and save Jack from having to race Portsmouth style.

One can better see the loose footed Bixby sail in this photo of Rutledge Young's boat.  Rutledge sailed a better series than I did and at the end of the regatta bumped me off the podium by one point.  This broke my heart in that the prizes this year were big bottles of rum!

Jeff Linton was back sailing Mousetrap for the first time in several years.  He took top honors in the Gen II division.  Ethan Bixby was second in Gen II using a borrowed Mousetrap design Moth.

Mark Saunders' Mistral was third in Generation II.  Mark had a Bixby sail but opted to retain the bolt rope foot.

I was just off camera at this mark rounding gaggle of Gen I boats.

Frickie Martschink from Charleston borrowed this Europe and was top dog in Gen I.

The two Moustrap-design Moths.  Jeff L. is in Nr 102; Ethan Bixby is in Nr 103.

The winnings, sigh.

Mark receives his prize from Amy Linton.

As does Ethan.

Mr. Linton gets preferential treatment from the podium girl.

Rutledge, beer in one hand is about to receive "my" bottle of rum.  Rutledge--you dirty dog!  Congratulations!

Lewis taking the 2nd place award in the Gen I fleet.

Frickie took 1st in Gen I.  I do hope the Charleston gang made it safely home with all that hooch!  They had a clean sweep in my division.

A tip of the hat to my Photographer, IoW Len.  So, that's a wrap on this year's Mid-Winters.  If you have a Moth and didn't come race then shame on you--you missed a great event.

Images from the 2012 Classic Moth Boat Mid-Winter Regatta Part 2

The photos in today's offering are courtesy of Isle of Wight Len.  I'm still single finger typing so enjoy the pix!

First up is a nice off-wind bow shot featuring Greg Duncan in his Europe design Moth.  Note how Greg has lengthened the mast in order to get a bit more room to duck under the Europe's boom.

Jeff Linton's Mousetrap.  Jeff continued his dominance of recent regattas with yet another overall win.

John Zseleczky works hard to keep Y2K BUG flat on her lines as he drives to weather.

Mike Parsons seems pleased with life.  This bow shot of the Mistral design shows how little of the boat is actually in the water when correctly sailed flat. Great technique Mike!

Patrick!  Hike that boat flat!  Due to their narrow waterlines Mistrals are challenging boats to sail.

Part of the mark boat crew: two Amys, one Elisabeth.  IoW Len is also an important member, but someone has to hold the camera!

The view from the now empty launching beach.  Looks idyllic doesn't it?

Images from the 2012 Classic Moth Boat Mid-Winter Regatta Part 1

I've managed to break my right arm, (interested peeps can read about that here), so typed comments will be limted for the next few posts.  Meanwhile here are some images from the regatta.  Photo credits: Diaristwoman

30 seconds after one of Saturday's starts.  My boat is sail Nr 69.

The racing venue at Gulfport YC is Boca Ciega Bay.  The dome of Tropicana Field can be seen in the background.

Mark Saunders debuted an experimental sail shape during the opening race.  It performed well during the brief outing but will require an up or down vote at this year's AGM.

Part of the fun of a development class is the ability to tinker with various aspects of boat design.  This photo compares differences in boom height on two otherwise identical boats.

Earlier in this race I flipped and had my work cut out in an to attempt to reconnect with the rest of the fleet!  The water temp was "refreshing".

At times there was a bit of chop.

Port/Starboard situation.  John Z is on starboard tack and has the right of way over your Diarist. My choices as the burdened vessel are to either tack away instead of crossing, or duck his transom.  Sometimes it's a better call to put the bow down and go astern.

Another Port/Starboard confrontation.  Greg (sail Nr 80) on port tack, is hoping to thread the needle in that wall of starboard tackers charging across the starting line.  With absolutely no rights, his options are to immediately tack onto starboard and thus eat a lot of "dirty" (i.e. turbulent) air from the boats directly in front of him, (slow) or duck all of the boats and continue on port tack with clean air and keep his options open (better).

The long ride home.

As per usual Team Albaugh was the very last trailer load of boats to leave Gulfport YC.  These green parrots squawked and mocked us as I slowly got packed up.

We spent Sunday night at our motel and celebrated Bob Patterson's birthday a day early.  Bob got a little carried away and wound up wearing his wine, but that's another story!  The next day we got on the road at the crack of 9 and headed north.

We were curious about this tower visible from I-275 so we snapped a pix and looked it up.  It turns out that this was once the Sulphur Spriings Water Tower and is now part of a park.  You can read a potted history about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulphur_Springs_Water_Tower 

The Tampa skyline is in my opinion more attractive from the opposite direction but sadly we didn't think to snap a pix on the way to the club.

We spent Monday night with friends in the Savannah area.  Tuesday morning we got on the road at 7 and steeled ourselves for the day long slog up I-95.  It can get a trifle boring but luckily our friend "Pedro" keeps us amused (ok,ok, we're easily amused).

Very easily amused...

Anyone who's made this run has seen these signs advertising a tacky rest stop right at the North/South Carolina border called "South of the Border".  Dig out your atlas and find Dillon, SC.  Pedro is waiting for you...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_of_the_Border_%28attraction%29I

Indeed.

Kinda reminds me of the old Barbasol signs but without the rhymes.

We forgot to look for this.

This sign was animated (haha, you can laugh now...)

If you have shekels Pedro wants 'em.

Getting closer!  This one is a personal favorite!  Another one I like says something to the effect of "Keep whining kids, they'll stop" but sadly we either missed that one or it's only a south bound sign.

Those signs are everywhere.

Finally we crest the hill and arrive at Mecca.

No doubt about it, Pedro is way over the top.  Say--that could become a sign...

Oh yes, we stopped.  Elisabeth had promised a workmate at her Episcopal day school something extra tacky from South of the Border.

Zeroing in on ground zero.

We barely scratched the surface in Pedro-land.

Hey kids--how many of those Moth Boats thingies can u find in this picture?  Money was satisfactorily spent and a tacky gift was obtained.  Well pleased with ourselves we relaunched the mighty Volvo back onto to I-95 North.  We made it home before dark.