This past weekend we sent two teams of Saplings on Melges 24s to the Duck Island Spring Regatta. The Saplings got up at 4AM Saturday morning to trailer the boats to the Duck Island Yacht Club in Westbrook Connecticut. Considering only Sapling Chris Kennedy had ever rigged or sailed a Melges 24 before, the regatta was a beneficial learning experience. On Saturday there was heavy cloud cover, and 15 knots of wind that dropped off throughout the day. Solomon, Chris, and Louisa sailing on boat one were well short of the Melges 24 weight limit of 793 lbs which worked well for Saturday in the dying breeze, resulting in scores of 3, 2, 1, 1. Unfortunately, on Sunday the sailors were met with a fifteen knot breeze that built to 18-20. In these conditions, the three handed team had trouble keeping pace upwind, but had blistering speed downhill.

Boat 2 was skippered by Jonathan Hammond with Brendan, supporter Cristina and friend Noble from the SUNY Maritime Sailing team. Saturday, the team struggled getting up to speed as they learned the nuances of the Melges 24. Lesson learned: if your spinnaker isn't labeled, and looks a little funky when you are flying it, make sure the tack and clew are hooked up to the correct lines! By Sunday they had worked out the kinks and successfully finished 1,1, 2,2.


Duck Island Melges 24 fleet captain Todd McKenenzie deserves a giant thank you! He not only helped with logistics at the yacht club, but also housed and fed five tired and hungry Saplings. Overall, the regatta was a great learning experience for all involved. The teams look forward to their next event. The Melges teams look forward to sailing with more supporters and showing up in full force in the future.

After the successful Round Block Island Race, the team here had to strip everything off of the Ker 50 and 11.3. This was so they could be measured under the rating rule of the Bermuda Race, ORR.  It was the first time many of the Saplings had experienced the 'tip test' and our measures, Whit Bachelor and Doug Carey were great to work with.

The very next day we had to load everything back on, especially all of the safety equipment to be able to pass safety inspection. 

Last night the 50 arrived in Newport for final cosmetic touches on the prod installation. To give you an idea of how far we've come, the photo above was taken less than 2 weeks ago!

 Temptation/Oakcliff the Ker 50 will be racing the NYYC Annual Regatta and if you'd like to stop by and see her in person she'll be docked at Brown and Howard Wharf from Thursday through Sunday.  Brown and Howard is about 4 blocks down Thames Street.

We received this from the Atlantic Cup Organizers:

Thanks you all very much for your help filming the Atlantic Cup. We could not have produced the content or told the story of the event without your efforts! Having onboard media people with a fleet this size is something new for us and even with the limited resources  it turned out very well and contributed to the overall success of the event. We learnt a lot and I hope it was a worthwhile experience for all of you!
Best Regards,

Hugh Piggin.

We love our volunteers and give great sandwich :-).  We can use:

Mark Boat Operators this Saturday and Sunday June 9-10.

Mark Boat Operators and Umpires for the Grade 5, June 16, from 12-5

We can always use housing for our visiting sailors, this time for the Summer Clinegatta June 28 to July 1

So once again we invite you to come out to Oakcliff and enjoy the plethora of activities happening.  I'll see you here, and in Newport on Thursday, and in Northport on Saturday where I'll be addressing the Tartan Owners Association before popping back for the Classic's Awards Party. Busy Busy and Fun Fun Fun.

 

You may have missed the early entry discount but you are still able to charter a Melges and put together a team for Atlantic City Race Week, July 20-22.

 

It really looks like it is going to be a fun event.

Click here to register:
Click here for charter information.