Hey Folks-
The weather is breaking and spring will be upon us all too soon but don’t forget we have sailing to do and races to run! When we finally get the thaw and re-freeze we need we will do our damnedest to get our regattas in the books! Doc Fellows, New England’s, and Eastern Champs among others- Plus rumors of the Central Region champs being called on for this weekend if you are a DN sailor- And our neighbors to the north are keen to get the Canadian Champs in before spring….
Speaking of Canada the Nova Scotia gang had a regatta that I’m sorry I missed- Bob Crinion won the Canadian Maritimes Champs- I think his worst finish was a second- Congrats Bob and send us a write up on what you used and how you did it- Congrats also to whoever was the only person to take a race off Bob!
The ice is THICK up north so this could be one of those years where we do quite a bit of sailing in April- I say we make the most of it! Stay tuned for more info and if you have ice, let us know…. Get those slush runners tuned up.
And a quick reminder that we are planning another spring clinic/get together at Jeff Kent’s shop in Hingham, MA. Haven’t nailed the date down yet as we don’t want to conflict with any spring sailing but the last one we did was well attended and a good time was had by all so we hope to go bigger and better this year! Check this site for updates-
Lastly the European Champs are done, sort of…. We were able to get five races in despite deteriorating ice and warm weather. It was pretty rad- the first four were on the first day in breeze, soft ice and rain- I was glad to be in a bright yellow boat, let’s just say that.
Warm rain that night totaled that course so we moved down the lake to a different area and were able to get one more race in as the breeze was fading (weather now alternating between snow showers and bright sunshine). Bit of controversy in this one as a few boats skipped the Darling mark and rounded a similar looking flag that was marking a hazard between the Darling mark and the weather mark. Easy mistake to make and it did shave a little distance of the course for the boats that cut the corner. Did it affect the results of the race? I don’t know, I didn’t actually see the incident. Complicating matters is the possible fact that some of the offending boats may have been DSQ’d before the race even started for sailing on the course while the “C” (Bronze) fleet was racing…. The plot is thick indeed!
I do know that the race is currently disallowed as it is under protest- the issue has been kicked upstairs to the powers-that-be and eventually we will get a verdict on whether it will count or not. If it’s reinstated that’s good for yours truly, I get to count a 4th and throw out an 18th and move up a place or two overall- but the chips will fall where they fall- I had a blast either way.
Kind of a drag that the event has this little cloud over it but on the sunny side the whole trip was a thrill once again- Joerg Bohn does an UNBELIEVABLE job of making this event happen and running the whole show over there and on top of that is the most gracious and generous host you can imagine. Thanks to him and Torsten Siems who also opened his home and shop to us. It was great to meet and hang out with all the DN enthusiasts from all around Europe.
Joerg says he wants at least 15 US sailors over there for the GC/EC next year!!! Put it on the calendar, start planning NOW! Contact me with any questions about how to pull this off- Trust me, you won’t regret it. Great times, nice people, great racing at all levels (three fleets deep) and if the dollar is still strong against the Euro you won’t have to borrow against the house to do it.
That’s all for now- Think ICE!!
Commodore T.
James “T” Thieler
12 Channing St.
Newport, RI 02840
401 258 6230
t_thieler
New England Ice Yacht Association 