CHESAPEAKE 20
NEWSLETTER
June 1, 2009
NEXT RACE: Our next race
is Sunday June 14 as part of our regular summer series in the West River cove. Since it is also Flag Day, bring a stars and stripes
to fly.
HERITAGE RACE: Yesterday WRSC held the Heritage River Race
for us and several other classes. It’s always a blast and was no exception this
year. Everyone loved it and many of us have the aches and pains to prove it.
In the early morning, there was a thunderstorm, then no
wind. But, a gentle, cold front brought
in an unusual westerly breeze that had plenty of gusts and shifts.
At 1 PM there were seven 20s on the line. Once again the
family boat was Endeavor with Clay,
Pam, “talking Thomas” and Jamie Leclerc as trapeze artist. This time Clay used
his jib. In Stormy, Gerhard Klose, 17 year old, Jesi West and I all worked as a
team. Jesi and I alternated at the helm. She’s learning to skipper but when it really blew
she moved to the trapeze. She had one of
the best starts. Look out because she is
learning fast. We welcomed Mischief, towed over from Cambridge and raced by Bill West (Jesi’s
dad), and his friend, Skip Messick. They
have a nifty way of raising their mast using a hinged approach. You have to see
it. In Gracie, Bob raced with his usual crew of Jim and Donna Reuter. Robin Hartge
and Ron Tate raced together in Spirit again and in Contrary, Andrew Resnick raced with a crew whose name I did not get
since they went day sailing after the race, and I had left the dock early for
some Jesi prep time. I convinced Maury
Neibur that his services were more important in racing Picardy than being race committee chair since it was basically a start
and finish off the dock. He called up his
racing companion Pete Firey and they joined us. Their only mishap was the failure
of the whisker pole (which I had just repaired, or not) and they had to go downwind
with a little four foot pole.
We had a downwind start with the boats pretty bunched up,
then the contest really began while getting around Cheston Pt. at the entrance
to Rhode River. If you cut the point,
there was a wind shadow but some helpful lifts.
Bob Blomquist, Clay Taylor and I sailed the point wide, and took the
lead. Clay and I dueled the entire race,
trading second place at least three times.
Going up Rhode River, several of us lucked out and did
not need to tack at all. Bob decided to
take some extra tacks by going around Flat Island clockwise. I went counter clockwise and did some
catching up, but he had a better angle to the green flasher on the way back. Clay surged from behind and caught me at the
mouth of Rhode River as I tried to find some wind by going high (big mistake).
Gracie, Endeavor, Stormy and Spirit were all pretty close at the Parrish Creek green flasher
where Spirit had suddenly made up lots
of ground. Endeavor and Spirit short
tacked along the shore, while Gracie and
Stormy pretty much stayed out in the
river getting around Cedar Pt.
Gracie led the entire way, but Stormy and Endeavor got
close to her towards the end when Gracie
hit a hole in West River as we approached the green mark off Maury’s home and
across from Hartge’s.
At this point in the race I was leading Endeavor again, but at the finish I rounded
the red flasher behind Gracie and was
gassed, meanwhile Endeavor was able
to point higher in the lifts and get to the finish in second place.
The order of finish was Gracie, Endeavor, Stormy, Spirit, Picardy, Mischief and Contrary. I hope I got Mischief and Contrary
right, and will make a correction if I am wrong. Somebody let me know.
JUNE’S SPINSHEET ARTICLE ON
CHESAPEAKE 20s: We want to thank Heather Erst of Annapolis
Maritime Museum for her wonderful back page article entitled “Chesapeake
Classic: Beauties from the West: the Chesapeake 20s.” She superbly describes our unique history and
previews our exhibit at the museum opening June 19th.
We also enjoyed the spotlight on Molly Winans – we know
her as a Andrew Resnick’s crew and editor of Spinsheet, and now we know even more
about her many other interests and accomplishments. Next time, ask her: Parlez vous Français?
CHESAPEAKE 20 EXHIBIT: Pam and Clay Taylor are still working so arduously
on the exhibit. We are going to owe them a gold crown and diamond tiara or
something major for all their efforts. They
have located display cases at Woodlawn near Mount Vernon which we will pick up tomorrow.
Plans are moving ahead very rapidly for
the exhibit and, of course, we are on a major deadline so if Pam or Clay ask
for your help, please volunteer. This
coming weekend, we will certainly need your help in getting Serenade cocked and through the double doors
leading into the museum. Call us if you
can help. (703-276-2751/301- 367-7528). Clay has already built a cradle on
wheels so Serenade can be moved
during wedding receptions at the museum. Brilliant!
NOR FOR THEWORLDS: I
have drafted the Notice of Race and cleared it with the Chesapeake 20 officers,
but want to wait until Bill Adams of Eastport Y.C., our PRO looks it over
before I send it out. We will race to
Annapolis on Friday afternoon June 19th, and hold the regatta, that weekend of
the 20th and 21st, in a similar location as last year. Given that we are timing the Worlds with the
opening of our exhibit, I hope that you make an extra effort to join us. Remember, you will be racing for a country,
so pick one out and make sure you can fly its flag. Judy’s very creative at flag making and I
have a good selection of actual country flags from my travels if you do not
have one.
Ted Weihe