| 2015
Old Brown Dog Regatta Catawba YC * Nov. 7-8 report by Uncle Al updated: 28 Nov 2015 ... |
|
Old
Brown Dog #4 Thoroughly Enjoyed by 16 Boats
Some
precipitation but no snow this year as the fourth
annual Old Brown Dog Regatta was enjoyed by eight
Wayfarer teams and eight MC Scows. A Friday afternoon
of practice races (below) provided the best
weather of the weekend: sunshine and moderate breezes.
  Saturday morning: Postponement  Heading out to Saturday's races Three Saturday races were sailed in very light winds and occasional sprinkles of rain. In Wayfarers, Uncle Al who was sailing solo after his intended crew had to cancel out, became the first North American Wayfarer to win a regatta race while sailing single-handed. And he did it twice after very narrowly losing to Richard Johnson and Michele in the opener.  Our fine RC of Phil Keenan and Sheree Enfenger (above) showed a fine degree of prescience, sending us in after three races. The wind died completely as soon as we reached shore. Thus, when Saturday night with its fine food, drinks and music rolled around, Al and Richard were sitting atop the Wayfarer leader board with 4 and 5 points respectively, a commendable consistent performance in the very fickle winds. By contrast, the top three MC's, while closely bunched at the end of the day, had leader Fred Herr sitting with 8 points from 1-6-1 finishes while Montreal's Will Hendershot (5-2-2) and local MC, Jon Few (2-1-6) were in a 2nd-place tie one point back. Meanwhile, back in Wayfarers, the previous weekend's winners of the HOT Regatta on Lake Townsend, Jim and Linda Heffernan ended Saturday with 3-4-3 for 10 points and 3rd overall. Another solo sailor, Tom Erickson from Massachusetts who more usually cruises, was sitting a fine 4th with 14 points after placing 4-3-7.  (l to r) Kelly Smith, Matt Stalnaker, Ron Wright, Jim Higgins  Al's note: While searching the archives for a GBP pic, I came across this report and these pics from 2003 and the Wayfarers' first visit to this fabulous locale, and I can't resist sharing it with you. Brings tears to the eyes - in the best way :)  A very convivial evening followed, highlighted by a lovely jam session starring Ron Wright, Jim Higgins, Matt Stalnaker and Kelly Smith who were happy to have us sing along in a variety of keys (above).  Phil and Cathy Leonard sail into a gust at the windward mark and ease the main just in time! The forecast for Sunday was mixed: more wind but also more rain with less warmth. The gusty winds (above) were a welcome change from Saturday but also much more of a test for those of us sailing our Wayfarers solo.  Jim and Linda (blue chute) have
the early lead over Phil and Cathy (864) and Richard
and Michele (10873). Ken Butler and Kelly (449), Ali
Kishbaugh with Jim Cook (7372) and AnnMarie
Covington with Matt Stalnaker (276) are typically
close together. Al has an excuse: what Roger
Shepherd used to call a "brain fart" - Al goosed it
across the line too soon and sailed several hundred
yards before returning to re-start. No one to yell
at. Tom Erickson, also solo, was not faring much
better.
   ... make solo sailing simpler. In a few unseasonably warm Oakville days after getting home, Al made an auto-launch spi pole system (pole athwartships above) as well as ...  ... an alternative jib sheet
lead track that will, Al expects, facilitate his
solo roll tacks by running the continuous jib
sheet across the boat aft of the mainsheet. An
early mad thought of running the mainsheet down
from the boom where the vang meets it was quickly
discarded as fairly unworkable.
   Richard and Michele (10873 Black Skimmer) wasted little time establishing who was top dog as they virtually clinched the series title with a pair of very decisive wins while Al twice placed 3rd behind Jim and Linda Heffernan in this no-drop series. In the day's third and final race however, things ended up very close. Al led more or less from start to finish with the Johnsons running 2rd until the final beat's shifts and dead spots that enabled the Heffernans and Ali Kishbaugh with Jim Cook to edge out Richard and Michele at the last minute in a lovely, exciting finish that saw four of us finish within seconds of each other. A piece of bad luck for the Johnsons, and in my opinion, the tie-breaker went the right way.  No such excitement in the MC's where Will Hendershot (being congratulated above by Ron Wright on the right) won all three races to pull away for the MCs' series win.  Wayfarer newcomers to the family, Phil and Cathy Leonard (above) (series 5th) and Jim Cook with Ali Kishbaugh (below) were welcomed with a unique Hans Gottschling Wayfarer bag. The 8th-seeded Ali and crew, Jim Cook, took an excellent 4th overall and were the OBD's Most Improved team.   Jim and Linda Heffernan, the previous weekend's run-away winners at HOT could do no better than 3rd this time around but were happy just to be here as can be seen above.  Uncle Al (left) took series 2nd after losing the tie-breaker to Richard and Michele (r) whom he thanked for all the hard work they once again had put in to make the Dog a first-class event. Here is last year's list of thank-you's which looks very similar to who I saw helping this year. If any were not on hand this time, you got a freebie and thanks for your help in 2014. Thanks are due all around and here they are: A big thank-you to anyone we may have left out of the list below.
And a giant "Amen!" from Uncle Al on behalf of all of us who enjoyed the fruits of the volunteers' unstinting labour!! |