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Rich(ard) and (Michele) Parish finish with flourish
to win 2013 Old Brown Dog Regatta A pair of solid firsts
in lovely, sunny Sunday 10-15 knot breezes led our hosts, Richard
Johnson and Michele Parish to a decisive victory in our second annual Old
Brown Dog Regatta held Nov. 2-3 at Charlotte's Catawba YC in North
Carolina. After scoring 1-4-1 in three Saturday races which saw
patchier winds of 5-15 knots, the Johnsons were in a points tie with
Jim Heffernan and wife, Linda, of the Lake Townsend YC near Greensboro,
NC. The Heffernans got their 6 points from 3-1-2 placings in our
seven-boat fleet.
Apart from a near capsize in some race 2 wind shear, Richard and Michele sailed what appeared to be a flawless series in both strategy and boat speed. As did Jim and Linda but the Johnsons looked just that little bit faster. Congratulations on a super series to Richard and Michele who were also Most Improved, winning overall after being seeded 3rd. Series 3rd went to Uncle Al (Oakville, ON) who sailed W300 which he was delivering to Ted Tewksbury of NC who had intended to buy the classic old woodie. W300 turned out to be a challenge to sail due to assorted gear malfunctions - no major, unfixable problems but things that would take more time to straighten out than Ted had available to him. In the event, Al got to tow the boat back to Toronto, a prime example of the maxim: "No good deed goes unpunished!" Saturday, Ted crewed for Al on W300 and they teamed up for respectable 2-3-3 finishes despite a pole ramp that kept losing its grip on the pole up/downhaul and made Ted spi learning experience just that little bit more exciting!! Sunday, Ted got the other half of the Wayfarer experience helming W10945, the Hartley Mk IV which Chip Cunningham had single-handed to sometimes spectacular 6-2-5 finishes the previous day. Meanwhile, it was Al's turn to sail solo and bemoan (or words to that effect!) the hard-to-use jib sheet cleats. Not willing to be outdone by Chip who had regularly flown his kite on the Saturday, Al also spinnakered - eschewing the pole and its non-functional ramp - with pretty good success until he sailed over a spi sheet while downing the spi at the end of the last run. Just letting the halyard run had turned out not to be a recommendable approach. To make a long story short, Al scored 3-4 to give himself and Ted the series-third doggie bowls. In his W helming debut, Ted Tewksbury got the kinks out with a 5th in the opener and then looked pretty fine as he and Chip placed a close 3rd in the finale and placed series 4th. Looking more competitive each time out, a pair of Lake Townsend teams ended up within one point of each other in 5th and 6th overall while frequently being found in the top half of the fleet. In the end, it was AnnMarie Covington and local pick-up crew, Ali Kishbaugh, who took 5th ahead of Ken Butler and his daughter, Kelly Smith. A very pleasant surprise was the fact that we were joined Saturday by new NC Wayfarer, Don Silsbe and his wife, Terri, in W1392 Ol' Yeller who were making the racing debut. It was a wisely cautious start since Don is still just recovered from shoulder surgery. Major thanks from all of us Wayfarers to our hosts. Look forward to next year already!! (copied from CYC Regatta report) The party was a big success. Jeremy Kishbaugh kept a great bonfire going on the beach and it was enough to knock the chill off the porch where participants enjoyed the music of 2 For The Road, Italian cuisine, and great company. Some thank-yous are in order:
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