Morning Star Racing

Despite the scorching hot conditions throughout the day, the forecast for wind on the North East River was 10 knots out of the North, so I simply ignored the temperature sign reading 101˚ on Route 40 and hoped everyone else would do the same. I was also short on crew, but didn’t have the heart to call on Commodore Russ for another trip on the Solaris sweat lodge, and kept my fingers crossed that there would be a few others I could snag to go sailing once I got to the club. Fortunately, Mary, Eden and Robbie Shand were game, so things were looking up.

The wind was building out of the North as predicted, and a good crowd showed up for racing. Since it was very low tide, Rick and Kyle Hanson decided NOT to take Rosalita out and plow weeds, and joined a big group of Junior sailors on Lasers, with a couple others on Optis. So we had a great breeze, a big group of small boats out sailing, and 8 big boats hitting the start line right on time at 6:45pm.

Unfortunately, some ominous thunderheads started forming to the South, and virtually sucked the wind right of the bay, leaving us to creep along about 20 minutes after the start. So, we had some mighty slow going, and had to shorten our course significantly. The Hergan family once again took an early lead and held it throughout the race.

After the first few finishes and a couple retirements, the wind came back with a vengeance, giving Whimsey, Sugaree and Indigo an exciting finish within seconds of each other and at very high speed. Unfortunately, the rest of us missed it, settling for a nice dinner inside the cool confines of the Burgee Lounge. So the wind dances we did on July 3rd didn’t quite deliver and will need a little work before next week.

IMAG0301, a photo by hergan family on Flickr.

Thursday Night report from Michael Wagner:

From what I understand – there was great wind for sailing at 6:15pm when 10 skippers and crews hit the water for the second Thursday night in our Summer Series. I was returning from Rock Hall Yacht Club with our Junior sailors, and couldn’t make it back in time.

When I did roll into the parking lot about 7:00, even though the boats were way off in the distance at our “G” mark, I could see that Mark Hergan on Morning Star was way out in front AGAIN, and he was able to hold that position despite Rick Hanson and his crew doing their best to close the gap as the sun started to drop to the horizon and the wind pooped out. In a fortunate turn of events, the Roeckers weren’t out sailing Swan, and instead took the Race Committee out on their pontoon boat, enabling a shortened course when what little wind was present all but evaporated.

Only 4 boats finished unfortunately. When Morphos signaled they were retiring, that started the rest of the towel throwing, including Dobbs and Suzanne Fryberger on Whimsey (which was a big surprise, because I’ve never seen them retire – it can be blowing like stink or you can see butterflies passing you and the Frybergers keep going).

Despite the unfortunate lack of wind at the end, as usual, it was a delightful evening on the North East River. We’ll be doing a few wind dances on July 3rd so that next Thursday, July 5th will work out a little better

from Michael Wagner included below

Today was the longest day of 2012. It was also the HOTTEST day of 2012. However, 6 hearty groups of sailors took to the water for the first night of our Thursday series, and made the best of it. Regardless of the heat and light wind, its always great to get out on the water.

The Hergan family christened Morning Star’s new sails in proper fashion by quickly gettin out in front of the fleet and staying there. Joanne Veater went along as crew with them, and commented afterwards that she liked the view of Solaris’ bow better than the stern view she is used to from Therapy.

John and Shirley Margen were out with Jim Brown on Il Mio Sogno, Chris Russoniello sailed with the Ronalds on La Perla Azul, and Commodore Russ Zehnacker was with us on Solaris, so we had quite the mix of NERYC folks playing “musical chairs” outside their typical routine which is what makes Thursday night sailing a lot of fun. Bob and Matt Gamble showed up without their 45′ catamaran, and took to the race course with the Club’s O’Day Daysailer. Rounding out the group was Dobbs and Suzanne Fryberger from Hance Point Yacht Club aboard Whimsey.

Hopefully next week will treat us a little more kindly with moderate temperatures and a bit more wind. Come join us. There’s nothing better than doing a little sailing, and then sitting on the patio watching the sunset with friends and burgers on a Thursday night