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Many thanks to
Elaine Huntington for her photography.

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2008 CR 914 National
Championship Report

Friday-Sunday
September 26-28, 2008 

Weather and human nature are a large part of the story for this regatta. Hurricane Kyle passed offshore during the regatta weekend; but we were surprised when what was delivered to Redd’s Pond was three days of rain and no wind. There was enough air motion to conduct the regatta but to call it wind is an exaggeration. At least it wasn’t cold. (A local rain gauge had 5 ¾ inches for the weekend.).

The competitors showed the best kind of human nature by enjoying the regatta despite the weather. Corinthian YC was perfect for the social activities; Friday and Saturday evening were fun for everyone.

THE REGATTA VENUE

Redd’s Pond has a walk along the full length of one edge of the 500-foot pond. Skippers walk the path to stay close to their boats. Races are windward/leeward with offset marks for most of the races.

Redd’s Pond had no weeds or filamentous algae to foul the boats. The water was clouded with green microscopic algae which doesn’t slow the boats. Marblehead MYC’s largest expense is having the pond treated to prevent nuisance aquatic grass.

FRIDAY, September 26

Instead of practice and boat measurement in the rain on Friday, everyone reported to Corinthian YC. Boats were measured and weighed by Kevin Hartley, a new owner from Georgia, who wished the weekend rain had fallen in Georgia.  At 5:30 suitable beverages were served followed by a hamburgers/hot dog buffet. Much socializing completed the fun evening. Class Secretary Dick Martin chaired a one hour meeting on Class business.

Dick made one comment which was grossly inaccurate and requires comment. He said that he “failed miserably” in his efforts to grow CR 914 fleets. The facts are that his efforts to that end exceeded anything done by any other class secretary ever. What he faced is the reality that genesis of a fleet requires there to be unique individuals available to create and sustain the new fleet. How to discover such people is the problem. Dick brought the horses to the water; it’s harder to get the horses to drink. We all thank Dick for what he has done for the class.

RACE FORMAT

Heat seeding for HMS was done before the regatta based on demonstrated performance and, randomly, if there was no performance data. The 26 boats were divided into 3 heats (11, 7 and 8) to limit heat size to 12 boats.  HMS quickly sorted the boats into heats having similar performance.

RACE RESULTS

Racing was as close as it gets for the top three boats. The spread was only 4 points. One more race in the difficult conditions could well have shuffled the finishing positions. Each of the three was remarkably consistent battling the shifting and almost nonexistent wind. They did it in the rain for two days. Such performance has to be admired.

There were no protest hearings though a few protest discussions were decided amicably between boats on the water. Possibly playing a part in this is that DSQ was 27 points in the 26 boat fleet.

Boat Weight had little effect on the regatta results. The champion’s boat was 4 oz. (1%) over min-weight of 100 oz. Stan Goodwin, with the heaviest boat, was heavier than the champion’s boat by only 0.8 oz.

SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER     

After drying off following a full day of standing in the rain (it was a downpour during the last race), everyone returned to CYC at 1730 for cocktails and dinner. Elaine Huntington’s excellent images from the day of racing were projected during dinner. Her talent captured the ambiance of model sail racing in the rain. Dick Huntington presented the persuading CD invitation to the 2009 Nationals in San Diego. That CD will soon be available to view at the class Website, http://www.cr914class.org/, or at the San Diego YC Website, http://www.sdyc.org/raceinfo/modelyacht/index.htm.

AWARDS

Dave Ramos donated and won the beautiful half-hull trophy for the regatta champion. Dave also was allowed to hold for a few minutes the CR 914 “Old Mug” perpetual trophy, a replica of the America’s Cup. Plaques were awarded through fifth place. Plaques were awarded to the top three 65 or older Masters finishers. Indefatigable Jean Malthaner at 80 years placed 4th in the 8 boat Master’s fleet. Jean is San Diego’s CR 914 boatyard and a top CR 914 promoter.

                2008 CR 914 Championship Regatta Results

MASTERS DIVISION

A few years ago Hank Buchanan, an elderly owner himself, proposed this fine idea and provided awards for several nationals. We missed Hank and Melanie who always enjoy a regatta.

VOLUNTEERS

No club can host a regatta without enthusiastic people willing to give their time and talent to get the job done.
Listed alphabetically, the Regatta Committee members were:
Andy Abrahamson
Jim Ayer
Cheryl Emmons
Bly Hartley
Kevin Hartley
Biff Martin
Judy Skerry
John Skerry
Sarra Tubbs
Stuart Tubbs
Eddie Wolfe
Paul Zimmerman

MMYC club member Mike McCloskey’s yard adjacent to Redd’s was used to store boats not sailing. A tent with chairs was erected in Mike’s yard to offer some rain protection. The gate to Mike’s yard was convenient to the Start/Finish line.

SUMMARY
The regatta committee thanks all of you who came to Redd’s to enjoy the nationals. Post-regatta comments were generous. Everyone seemed to have a good time, which is all we can ask for.

Chuck Winder for the Regatta Committee