MARION, MA AUGUST 5-7, 2011: The 2011 Buzzards Bay Regatta drew 14 boats to the New Bedford Yacht Club to compete in the 39th running of the three-day, multi-class event. Welcome to Todd Zilinski, who brought his new Falcon F-16 to race along with the F-18s.
The SI’s called for a 10:30 warning gun on the red circle which was a long sail in light breeze from the harbor. The sequence for our first race was started with only the team of Sandra and Nate in the starting area. This start was abandon but a race was subsequently started with only three boats in the starting area. Brooks and Jeff persevered in the light air to take the first race. There was a long postponement while waiting for breeze which offered a great chance to swim and dive for sharks. When the sea-breeze finally did develop, the Race Committee was quick to get off a second and third race for the day with double-trap sailing as a reward for the patient sailors. Mike and Tripp and Bob and Jonathan swapped firsts and seconds. Getting my son, Eric, out on the wire for the long spinnaker reach back to the harbor was the highlight of the day for our team. ‘Gansett and a right-of-way rules seminar wrapped up the day for most the cat sailors while the rest of the regatta participants partied under the tent.
Saturday dawned with the more typical Buzzards Bay conditions. There was enough breeze for wiring downwind and a sizable chop on top of a ocean swell. In the first race, Tripp proved that while super-human abilities to swing around the head stay are great for show, spider-sticky feet might be a more useful super-power for top results. Meanwhile, Sandra stayed focused harnessing Nate’s super-powers to drive her Infusion to a 1-2-2-3 (just 2 point behind team Ronstan for the day)!! Bob, sailing on Saturday with his brother Collin, round out the top three on their C2.
On our C2, the mojo was evidently not working so well…we were run over by an F-27 trimaran while eating lunch between races. It was a terrifying experience and the port hull is destroyed, but most fortunately, there were no injuries.
Sunday greeted us with wild wind and rain. The start was postponed for a hour. After 3 boats ventured out to test their skills in the wicked conditions, the racing was eventually abandoned. The final results (below) are copied from the New Bedford Yacht Club’s website.
Fair Winds,
Eric Witte
RESULTS
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