Race reports 2020 - 2021

March 21st, 2021

Race report by Scott Guerin

In miniature, we sailed in an ocean worth of air Sunday. Scaled down one hundred times, there were

gentle hurricanes with becalmed eyes, there were trade winds to the left, doldrums sprinkled throughout,

and a Gulf Stream current steadily pushing us north. Mirages shimmered across the sound and the

waves were like those found in a swimming pool, albeit for polar bears at 36 degrees!

But no brave frostbiters were the 13 sailors in A and 10 in B for it was sunny spring sailing at its finest for

Day One of the Handicap regatta which endows the right for the two fleet winners to distribute funds

collected for the Phil Joseph Givers trophy, to a worthy sailing cause.

Allan Freedman and the Mighty Miss dished up windward/leewards managing the courses in a light

1-6kt shifty breeze out of the SE to SSW at an air temperature or 50 degrees or so.

B-Fleet saw podium finishes all the way down to 9th place, including two bullets for Tom Speyer but

they were not enough to offset his other more challenging endings. Larry Decker (I see he is ranked 3rd

in the B Fleet so far this season) had a bullet for the bronze. For the gold, Tim Barron’s double bullets

could not beat Peter Winder’s consistency, the result being 20 for Tim and 19 for Peter on top.

In A Fleet, the subtleties of starting and how one moved up or down the course were made well apparent

as bullets were almost always gained at the start for those with clear air and a lane wide enough to tack

in the shifts. Yet at times, the wind gods toyed with us like we were motes of dust.

In one race, Fred Treffiessen and Scott Guerin (the reporter full disclosure) were on the downwind leg

and agreed not to follow leader Paul Beaudin left, we went right and caught up but did not beat Paul in

the end. In another race, same lineup, we decided to follow Paul right as the left looked becalmed. Low

and behold, Bahar, Eva and Roy, going left, caught a private jet stream and zoomed past us all leaving

us in that dust.

Notice I wrote “follow Paul” as that was typically the rule of the day. His 3 wins out of seven put him on

top with a measly 14 points, to Fred’s 20, and Guerin’s 24. Further down the line, Bahar got a bullet and

would have been grumpy without that bling.

It was a good day to roll tack as was mentioned in the post-race discussion and speaking for A fleet, the

wins were found on the mid to left side of the course on the first leg. A pin-end start on starboard carried

you quickly to the port layline and this reporter felt fast sailing a bit overstood given the current. No one

tried a port tack start as far as I recall because the pin was too jammed up as the current made it hard to

lay the pin; I did see a few peel offs there. Downwind, the choice to go left or right around the line was

tricky, there was maybe better wind to the right but maybe better current to the left.

The fateful last leg. Rounding the leeward mark on Sunday it seemed to the reporter a 50/50 choice to

go right or left. Others may disagree but I found it took a few tacks up that leg to get to the finish line. My

thoughts are as follows: as you head to the leeward mark, you should be thinking through any wind

shifts that would favor the port or starboard tack, estimate the favored end of the finish line in light of the

tack, and try to go onto the tack that will move you toward that end (generally the longer tack and the

pin end Sunday). Try to come in at speed on starboard to cut off any port tack boats on collision

courses. I lost a boat or two near the line when I once had to duck those on starboard.

On the first windward leg I don’t think about covering too often, it’s about speed and getting to the mark,

keeping your head out of your boat, and looking for wind and boat position at crowded roundings. The

last windward leg requires thinking through who to cover, how tightly, and why. If you are behind, you

might split from the bunch ahead; this is the “can’t beat them by following them” rule. If you are happy

with your spot, you cover those behind you. If you are in the lead, by definition you have made the first

move, but you need to cover your opponents. If you are well ahead, a light blanket will do, if neck and

neck, it’s a tacking duel with the last cross usually winning. Ref KS and WSG last week.

I hope the analysis is of use, it’s my personal POV and others may differ.

The scores are provisional but the beers after racing Sunday were providential!

March 13th, 2021

Race report by Allan Freedman

Ali v. Frazier. Mets v. Yankees, or Yankees v Red Sox. Martha v. George. (That last reference is for all you theatre goers our there.) Saturday was about two opposing forces, broadly the North v. the South. You can fill in the historical reference. Anyone who sails round these parts is familiar with the dying Northerly and afternoon fill from the Southwest. The frontal breeze loses its steam, giving way to a steady, summer onshore. The breeze dies, it backs, and then the Sound twinkles in the Sun as the force ripples across, coaxing the sea state into a gentle short chop. The Southerly is predictable, steady, with little relative variation in direction, like emerging above the clouds on your flight to some far flung destination. At race time, the sail out was in your typical harbor Northerly, you know the look, best summed up as cold, winter, the familiar “Frostbite breeze.”

Then the fun began, or more accurately the chaos ensued.

The breeze dropped, then backed, then filled from the South, which must have been dead on 210 degrees, straight from Execution Rocks. I recall, with wistful remembrance, looking right, to see if the Northerly was dead or just waiting in the wings to punch the Southerly right in the face. All seemed flat calm, placid, until it wasn’t. Let’s just say that is when the punches started flying. The shots came North and West with such variation in velocity and direction, mainly clocking back West from that brief moment of settled calm, that it put new meaning in shifting gears. And it wasn’t just about playing epic shifts. It was equally a velocity game and looking up the course to see when the next punch would land. We sailed a number W/L 2x, which for A sailors meant a lot of sailing through B, making it even harder to see up the course. You could look pretty poorly eating a port tack knock heading into the mark, only to tack on a shift so severe that suddenly you were laying and the poor suckers to windward were bruised and black eyed.

Equally, a move too far left or right into the corners could prove the coffin move. Then again, catching that right shift could put a nice smirk on your face, leaving your competitors on the mat. As the day wore on, the breeze did seem to favor the original NW plot line, with the RC shifting to no-gybe courses, as the wind piped and a few sailors swamped and swam. There were definitely a few standouts.  In addition to a win for Kevin Sailor in A, Scott Guerin put a 1-2 in races 4 and 5 to place second,  with Kara Licata one point behind in 3rd. There was less of a jumble in B, with Zach Wininger with 4 bullets in first, followed by the returning Aaron Wheeler in second.

All scores preliminary….

A special thanks in a very challenging day to Suzanne Hulme on RC and Melissa for, as they say, keeping calm and carrying on. It may have been our own version of Rumble in the Jungle (that was Foreman v. Ali), but it was a solid day of racing with 8 boats in B and 12 boats in A.

February 28th, 2021

Race report by Allan Freedman

Hey Alexa, play songs about Sailing in the Rain. I found Singin’ in the Rain on Amazon prime video would you like me to play that for you now? You know the rest. Apparently there are no good songs about sailing in the rain. I am not sure why that matters, but sometimes you just want to hum an appropriate tune to ward off the bone chill of a cold soaking.

So OK this is a bit of a head fake, cause I figured lots of folks hid under their metaphoric covers when they saw the drizzly forecast. In reality, we pretty much had an entirely rain free day of sailing, yes a bit light, a 5-8 knot easterly with 18 boats sailing in one division. I felt, thematically at least, the day was divided into two Acts. Act 1 took place on an a very short line, just think 18 car pileup on the interstate, which made it really challenging to find and hold a lane.  There were some epic general recalls. One had nearly the entire fleet OCS. The combination of pretty short windward legs, not amazing pressure, pretty much put us all in a cocktail shaker.

Act II had a lengthier – or lengthened lines – which suddenly upped the ante of available spots and put slightly more order to the chaos. (Emphasis on slightly) For my money, it was a go left sort of day, so a pin end drive and then a flip to port on the long tack, paid dividends. But there were exceptions. Driving out of traffic –wherever you could find a lane – and playing left of center also seemed to play pretty well at times. The second beat in Act 1 definitely saw a right favor, but those who hung out too far on the lay line paid the price on the approach. In an easterly, that right corner often pays, so this was one of those days to say only to a point. I also witnessed some wind ups on the left, which further defied the righty rule.

So getting back to tunes, I’d say just think electric Miles, as in you just really couldn’t tell what was coming next, and with those very crowded lanes off the start, most folks probably spent the day just gettin’ through the traffic. There were a lot jumbled finishes. John Field showed he had the stuff with 2 bullets, but mixed in with some other less savory treats. Marc Berkowitz punched impressively out of the box in Race 1, with a second to Kevin Sailor’s bullet. And on it went, with the chug-a-chug-a cocktail shaker. I had to check my eye sight on this one, but somehow your reporter eked a win for, with A division Kevin Sailor and his (count ‘em) three bullets comfortably in second ahead of Kara Licata in third.

In B Division, Larry Decker won it convincingly, managing to beat some A listers. He was followed in 2nd by John Schneider and Shig Odani in 3rd.

Thanks to Bill Zobrist for doing RC and the ongoing kudos to race runner Melissa Bontemps, whose calm admonitions on the general recalls could give the soothing tones of Amazon Alexa a run for her money.

Have a wonderful week. Sailing Saturday and Sunday through the rest of the season.

February 14 - 15, 2021 - Founder's Regatta

Race report by Bahar Gidwani

Two days of lighter breeze gave our action-starved sailors a chance to get out on the water.  Sunday was light and shifty from the northeast.  Monday was a little stronger but still patchy and shifty and from the southeast.  Both directions are unusual for us and so created a nice test of our sailors' adaptability.

RC Piotr B set first a triangle and then a windward leeward on Sunday.  Our ~18 sailors raced in one fleet.  Piotr and Melissa changed windward marks and moved things around.  But there was still chaos at the line at each start as different camps of sailors had different views on where to go.

Puffs were coming in from the edges, so when the wind was left it helped to go left.  When the wind was right, there was pressure and shifts to play on the right.  "Visitor" Eric Letellier showed how this worked by popping out of the pack to the right, digging into the right corner and then screaming around the mark.  (Then his centerboard bolt fell out and he had to retire.  An odd fate for someone who had just crossed and recrossed the Atlantic without incident!)

Your author doesn't have the scores, but it was clear that Kevin Sailor was faster than everyone else.  He took almost all the bullets.  Bahar and Eva struggled to keep up.  Keith Bell emerged as a contender (until the last bit of the last leg) and various other sailors had moments of glory.  The results will likely show a bunch in the middle of people who had good scores, bad scores, and middle scores.

On Monday, another 15 sailors showed up including Juan in his “new” boat (he bought Dakers “Honey Badger”).  The weather was foreboding--at the end, the wind picked up and we started to see a storm coming across the Sound.  But most of the day was 3-8 mph with annoying holes, odd shifts, and hard-to-read variations.  Roy Israel stepped in to lead RC, with Melissa again driving the boat (and keeping everything orderly).  Somehow, Roy and Melissa managed to set a course that didn't change.  A windward leeward with looooong legs.

The boat end seemed a bit favored but the pin end promised a faster path to the shore (where there is normally better wind on this type of course).  It seemed at each start that a different set of people were interested in a different strategy.  Within a few minutes, there were boats spread all over the course.

Kevin Sailor was dominant again.  In one race, he rounded fifth at the leeward mark and finished first.  He snatched a certain bullet from Piotr, Dan Marques, and John Tremblay.  The Fleet scrambled each time on the first leg, so everyone got a nice chance on the long downwind leg to say hi and chat with each other.  There were many very close finishes as sailors tried the right (maybe a bit more wind), the left (maybe a bit more wind), and the middle (maybe some shifts?) on the last leg.

On both days, it was important to have good speed when the wind lightened.  It was also crucial to look ahead for puffs and to tack efficiently on shifts.  15-18 boats is a large fleet.  You can't count on getting a good start every race.  You needed to look for opportunities to split with boats, pass boats, and put bad air onto the people behind you (upwind) or ahead of you (downwind).

We had four MFA members in crashboats on Sunday: Allan, Dino, Roy, and Alex.  We had Alex and Tim helping us on Monday.  Dino has apparently done enough rehab on his various aching body parts that he can sail—he joined us on the water on Monday.  Thanks from all of us to those who stepped in this weekend.  You gave us two much-needed days of competition. 

November 29, 2020

Race report by Scott Guerin

Shimmering sun, and light southwesterly airs greeted the 30 or so socially distanced and masked racers, RC, and crash boat crews. A full-moon high tide lifted the docks skyward but we knew that many of those billions of gallons they floated on would rush out of Mamaroneck Harbor over the day, and cut across the course, influencing, a bit, the layline calls on the windward legs.

The safety circle foreshadowed cold doom to one racer as his arm was raised when Tim Baron asked who was not in a dry suit. And as a new procedure, we were encouraged to remove the gravel ballast bits from the Beach Point driveway, which we did so willingly…

RC Melissa Bontemps and Alexe Taylor held court over 24 racers, evenly split ‘tween heaven and hell fleets (I’ll leave the reader to decide which fleet was which) and reeled off a bunch of triangles in varying conditions. This reporter’s personal hell, A-Fleet, included several general recalls saving him from the “over early” ignominy he frequently suffers.

B-Fleet has a raft of talent and a good day was had by newcomers and old hands. But the Cousteau Club was joined by Peter Winder, who, not to be too harsh, was dressed for the weather in khakis and a light top, and he raced well and looked spectacular, until the 5th race, when the boom knocked his glasses off at the gybe mark. As he lunged for them, he tripped up and capsized. Luckily it was in the 5th of 6 races but if it had been earlier in the day and colder...well, wear a dry-suit people!

In B-Fleet over 6 races, a bullet found Larry Decker down in 5th, they skipped Sam Lawrence,  but in 3rd, with 2 bullets but a 8th in the 3rd race was Zach Wininger losing by a point to John (sometimes a racer) Tremblay who came back from his Rumspringa and took second place with 21 points, leaving Shig (“I did OK”) Odani very cooly pleased to be on top with just 14 points comprised of  2,4,1,4,1,2, placements. John and Shig move up to A-Fleet and I predict Shig wins the yoyo this year!

I apologize for a light recap of B, we need reporters there!

In A Fleet, I won’t bury the lead: Sunday was very competitive (not to imply B Fleet wasn’t) with splits left and right from the start, tricky layline calls, reaches that went from by-the-lee to fat beats, close encounters and yelling of the Dyer kind, and a last leg that either paid off, or cut off, ones hope of a good finish. There must be a statistical way to analyse this but my intuition is that the more bullets are spread out amongst the racers, the more the day was competitive. On the other hand, it can indicate a crap-shoot of a day with light shifty winds, but Sunday’s 7 A-Fleet races were held in a reliable, slightly oscillating breeze which, late in the day, shifted from SSW to SW and freshened from fluky to fun.

Let’s go to the videotape: Jed Kwartler had an unusually off day but started strong with a deuce and an ace but totalled 44 pts; Bahar, with his Cheshire Cat smile, resorted in the first race to protesting yours truly on the finish line in a port-starboard situation I should have avoided thus costing me a 2nd but I kept him in check with my “no mercy for Bahar” rule the rest of the day. Next up was Eva Burpee who had her bullet in a nice wire-to-wire race. Allan Freedman, who I hear has re-named his boat “Couch” (inside joke) had two hollowpoints, but fell two shy of the podium. 666 managed to stay behind the line and mostly out of trouble, started weak but finished with a 1,2,2 in that freshening breeze more to his liking, with 28 points. Kara (check her weights) Licata found the day very much to her liking and included a win amongst her 25 points in a steady performance for the Silver. Lasty, Kevin (professor longhair) Sailor seemed to always figure a way back from adversity and ended up in his usual spot with a 3,6,3,4,2,4,1 series totalling 23 points. He is beatable but consistency wins out, kudos.

Some observations. The tide was ebbing and the wind blew in from the SW across the water’s top which often generates a significant chop on the right side. But Sunday’s chop was minimal so depending on the start and clear air, my tracks tended to head left toward Hen Island, then to tack over mid-course to cover people who started out to the right. Fewer tacks is always better so no more than 2-3 should be needed to get to the mark. I approached on both lay lines but in a tight fleet, when coming in on the starboard line, especially if you are on it, you risk a port tacker crossing just ahead, tacking to windward thus fouling your air, and likely lessening your chance to make the mark. My sail trim was fairly loose to keep me from pinching and provided power whereas Kevin experimented with a clew tie-down.

The last leg is where I lose races and places, anyone else have that problem? Frankly, I choke. I pinch, get out of phase, don’t cover well, and move around in the boat too much. In one race, within the last few feet to the line, pinched up to cross and with Kara and Kevin suddenly close on my hip, it was so tortuous that I called out “c’mon Alexe, call it!”, she replied “not my call.”  Well, at least I won that one!

November 22, 2020

Race report by Scott Guerin

Sullen skies and a strong, almost too strong, easterly with choppy rollers greeted 20 racers on their arrival Sunday morning. The skippers stood in the safety briefing circle as Tim Baron introduced the crash boat operators and we all huddled against the gusts. But as we set off under small sails, the breeze lightened a bit, we all got our adrenaline going and warmed up.

Staffing Lucky, RC Mighty Miss Bontemps and Dino (your kids like that beard?) Ness set up a narrow no gybe course with a nice long line. On the course, the wind oscillated +- 15° and got you up on the rail then back in the boat fast; a long line meant you could gain leverage right, left or middle depending on the phase.

B-Fleet held their own in tricky conditions and 5 races. Ed Claflin tested the chilly waters in the last race but his dry suit held and he seemed pretty happy on the dock. Tom Speyer reeled in a third with 17 points including a bullet, newcomer Carey James had a bullet and 14 points, but it was Piotr Broszkowski, who wrapped up his day with three consecutive wins, taking the gold with 12 points.

A-Fleet: 6 races. This reporter quipped that if the finish line had been the last leeward mark, even the second windward mark, I’d have nearly won the day but the decisions about what phase of wind I was in (which had you head toward shore or stay out,) which shifts to ignore or tack on, and how to attach an anchor to Kevin Sailor’s boat eluded me! Those errors left me in fourth place with a steady 2,3,4,3,4,2 in a narrowly fought series as finish-line callouts were like machine gun fire for most races. So to recap: Guerin 18 points, Fred Treffeisen with 17 and a third, Rob Simonfy with 16, and Kevin, with particularly good downwind speed on the last leg, had a stellar 1,1,3,2,3,1, and 11 points, but I happen to know he was under pressure at least some of the time!

I want to conclude by saying you can really learn a lot by watching our top racers: their subtle kinetics (sometimes not so subtle) the sail trim, mast position, their focus, the way they keep their heads out of the boat looking at competitor’s positions and next puff, how they handle congested roundings, and their ease with this silly little tub of a boat means it is learnable. Ideally do this by racing against them but another way to get close up is to volunteer as a crash boat operator, and bring a camera!

Cheers, Happy Thanksgiving, and if anyone else wants to write race reports, chime on in!!!

November 7, 2020

Race report by Scott Guerin

I have the distinct honor of inaugurating Mamaroneck Frostbite Association’s 63rd season with this report . WE SURVIVED. And in the face of COVID headwinds it would seem we are as strong as ever judging from the new blood joining the club and ongoing vigour from everyone else especially those who painstakingly planned our return to water.

And what a day it was: sunny with an oscillating southerly of 3-6kt.  Given the previous weekend was cancelled, many boats were already on the dock and they trickled in during the day including Fred Treffeisen’s boat on its decomposing trailer. RC John Field and Melissa Bontemps called the shots from a crash boat and a shout out is needed for the crash boat crews who attended to numerous breakdowns, one capsize, and a wallow.

17 boats started the day in a combined AB fleet and using last season’s Division Assignment there were 5 in A and 12 in B across 8 windward-leeward races. Sadly, a charter boat steered by newcomer Joel Chovet suffered an unusual breakdown just before racing started: his boom snapped in half and he couldn’t race. Hang in there Joel, hope to see you again soon.

Starting with B-Fleet, we are all thrilled to have Captain “Go Sammy Go” Lawrence back on the water and she, in her Sea-green speedster, got a podium position with 63 points. Zach (sail #70) beat Sam by a point to take first place. MFA veteran Shig Odani rounded out the podium with a solid 3rd place finish with 70 points.

In A fleet, steady performance paid off as usual. Jed Kwartler, with two bullets counter-balanced by two toe-stubbers grabbed third with 32 points (3,2,3,1,9,5,1,8). Scott Guerin started off the season off with an over early call then reeled off two of his three bullets before “aggression” got the better of him and was over early again - leaving him in second place with 23 points (6,1,1,2,6,4,2,1). And so it was Bahar Gidwani’s day to be on top with 19 points (2,4,2,3,1,2,3,2).

Scores and placings above are unofficial BTW.

A reminder from the measurer - we’ll start checking weights this coming weekend (assuming we race) and the rule is as follows: WEIGHT: Sailor will be required to meet a minimum weight requirement of 190 pounds. This weight requirement will include the sailor’s body weight, all normal clothing and safety gear, and any optional equipment actually used by the sailor such as his/her boat’s paddle, bailer, tiller extender, filled drink bottle, and bow dodger. Notwithstanding this requirement, no sailor will be required to add more than 30 pounds of weight to her/his boat. Of this amount, no more than 20 pounds may be non-floating weight unless sailor also adds at least 10 pounds of positive floatation.