Chesapeake 20 Newsletter

July 13, 2009

Nelson Parks Regatta:  Earlier today, I sent out the Notice of Race for the Nelson Parks Regatta, this coming Sunday, July 19, 2009 and posted it on our website as well.  It is a one day regatta to honor Nelson Parks who built the first fiberglass 20s in the late 1980s as a way to revitalize the class.  The skipper’s meeting is at 10AM with the start at 11AM.  We hope to get in five races.  The Nelson Parks Perpetual Trophy is on display at the Annapolis Maritime Museum chronicling the evolution of the class into the fiberglass era.

Sunday Summer Series, July 12, 2009:  We had nine C-20s on Sunday for some very lively racing in the cove with winds of 6 – 14 knots out of the Northwest.  There were a few strong gusts including one in which Gracie practiced her “man-overboard drill” at the weather mark.  Generally, going left paid off most of the time with stronger winds, but headers and lifts made the center-left side of the course the favored.  It was challenging navigating through the fleets of A-Cats, Albacores and Flying Scots on a tight course.

We welcomed Mermaid with her replacement centerboard (a la Volunteer) and five-person crew back to racing.  She was certainly low to the water both in design and weight.  Clay Taylor is still trying to figure her out and thinks heeling would improve performance since she is so flat on the bottom.  We welcomed Rick Parks in Nova and Dan Lawrence in Enterprise, though the latter had a breakdown and lowered her main after the first start.  We were also glad to see Derick Lynch in Osprey which certainly was performing well.  Bob Gallagher’s J105 team raced Picardy, and Bob Angle skippered America.   The two week break gave Robin Hartge sufficient time to install a replacement aluminum mast on Spirit after nearly dismasting on the Annapolis to West River race. Several skippers welcomed novice crew members including my niece, Serena Washington and her boyfriend.  My usual crew of Alex de Tessieres and Doug Logan performed flawlessly which accounts for the good finishes for Stormy.  We want to thank the race committee that put out a great course with the longest weather leg possible in the cove, without being in the main channel.

Results:

Updated Website:  The Chesapeake 20 website (www.Chesapeake20.org) has been reorganized, updated and expanded to include: introduction, list of officers, NORs, archives organized by decades (30s, 40s, etc), class measurement rules as well as new headings of boats for sale and a crew listing.  If you would like to be listed as an available crew (or skipper for that matter), please let me know so I can post your name.  We have so many C-20 fans on our e-mail list, not being able to find a crew should no longer be a problem.  We will soon be posting the e-yacht builder’s new Chesapeake 20s in the for sale section.  We understand that they will be making a mold in order to build either cold molded and/or fiberglass 20s.  Their goal is to have the first 20 racing in the Dick Hartge Regatta, on September 27^th and on display at the Annapolis Sailboat Show this October.   It is the most exciting news for our class in many years.

Annapolis Maritime Museum:  Pam Taylor has been making corrections at our exhibit at the Annapolis Maritime Museum.  With all of the C-20 knowledgeable folks going through, we have a long list of corrections in spelling, labels, names, etc.  We got a letter from Jane Hartge in which she told us that Lady Avon, an early chine 20, was not built by her husband, Cap’n Dick Hartge but by a builder in Oxford (we are making the correction).   We also want to offer our congratulations to Heather Erst who is taking a new job as vice president for a non-profit historic trust for several buildings in Annapolis.  It is a great promotion, but we will miss her guiding hand at the museum.  She says that she is not leaving Annapolis and will be around the museum a lot (and hopefully racing with us).