Thirty nine boats showed up for the event - seven from Annapolis! The course was set to keep the ICs in the lee of western most point of Larchmont harbor. The course was a windward, reach, run, windward finish. The windward mark was set in the lee of the point and a reach mark was set in more open water. The run was slightly port gybe favored so that gybing was not necessary unless you reached up. The finish line was on the opposite side of the starting line. Conditions were anywhere from 2 to over 20 knots - the light air sometimes seen at the windward mark.
The fleet was divided up into three divisions for scoring purposes, but everyone raced together. Division C was kept to new IC sailors and others less experienced. First year ICer Ross Dierdorff teamed with Ian Mutnick placed first in C Division and 29th overall. Ross and Ian's weather consultant told them not to hang around for Sunday, so they split early after sailing on Saturday and still collected a big silver bowl which Jesse is temporarily using as for kitty litter. Alex "I'm a B Division Sailor" Pline teamed up with Sherry Eldridge to place 3rd in B Division and 20th overall. Matt Cottrell and Cicily Natunewicz placed 2nd in B Division and 18th overall. The best overall Annapolis finish went to Jesse Falsone and Gotham City transplant, Genie Jones. Falsone/Jones placed 7th overall and narrowly missed winning race 5. Other finishers include: Henry Filter sailing with Diana Belknap (k is silent) in 16th, Allan "I don't do boatwork" Carscaddon with fiance Eleanor "we don't need no stinkin' forestay" Bradley in 30th, Jamie and Sue Brickell in 24th (Jamie won best dressed award at party) and Rhett and Celeste Simonds in 25th.
The regatta was won by Neal Fowler and Mike Collins - winners of the 1997 IC Midwinters and IC Nationals. Winthrop sailors Jim Bowers and Myrna Fong Macrae were second and past Rolex winner Ed Adams sailing with bionic crew Carol Cronin were in third. Andy Besheer, Stanley Bell and Ben Cesare did an excellent job organising the event. The dinner on Saturday night was incredible and just about everyone won a raffle prize.
Seen and Heard:
Rhett and Celeste pumped Neal Fowler for all the go-fast IC info. See Rhett and Celeste for the scoop. Jesse and Alex are planning a new boat modification that was used on the first and third place boats - crew-controlled adjustable vang. The 1.5 minute starting sequence worked well - just don't get too far away from the line! Allan and Eleanor will continue their experiments with an unstayed IC mast later this season - see them for early results. Rhett's IC mast lost a fight with a tree while backing the trailer down on Saturday. Alex Pline drove both ways and consumed an average of 1 Diet Coke per 20 miles or 1 oz for every 1.7 miles traveled. Sherry Eldridge proved that even at 48, she's not to be messed with. Sherry jumped on top of a roof mounted IC for a picture and hopped back down faster than Alex and Jesse (see pic to come). At the awards ceremony, Stanley Bell declared that Jamie Brickell had been sailing ICs since 1942. Jamie has obvioulsy been lying about his age.
Only a few more weeks until the nationals. Come on out and sail this Sunday!
--Jesse Falsone