Doc Fellows Regatta In The Books!

df 1

The Doc Fellows Regatta is in the books- Thanks to Bill Bucholz for scouting Damariscotta Lake and pronouncing it sail-able!

Saturday was the day- almost 20 boats showed up in spite of the relatively short notice including people from Kingston, Montreal, RI, CT, and elsewhere-

Wind? Shifty and a little gusty. Ice? Rough with some shell in places. Courses? A little crooked at times. Conditions overall? Not perfect by any stretch.

Did we have a good regatta? HELL YES!

Seven races completed, lots of close racing, plenty of lead changes, some crowded mark roundings, and a few moments in each race that were sure to get the adrenaline going. For start positions we drew numbers out of a hat for every race rather than the usual method of having your finish position determine your next starting position. It’s easier than trying to make sense of the score sheet in the cold and wind and I like that it introduces some randomness into the mix. Lots of grins and laughs in the launch area at the end of the day! And as if this wasn’t enough we saw a bald eagle during the day and there was a live mink running around the launch area. Gotta love the little things…

Scoring and RC duties were handled by whoever won the previous race and/or whoever needed a break. Thanks to all who picked up the pencil and waved the flags! Thanks to Karen Binder for tabulating the results- any and all complaints and/or future bribes can be directed to her.

In the unpredictable conditions consistency was key- that and setting the boat up to sail well in the different wind speeds encountered during a race. Steering aggressively for the smooth areas was important also as the rough ice patches really took a bite out of the boat speed…. Also it seemed that sharp 90 degree runners seemed to dig into the rough ice while 95 or 100 degree runners were able to stay on top of it and let the boat maintain speed. Of course, you have to be wary of spinning out if the breeze comes up and you are using the flatter runners! All part of the decision making process…. Full sails were the order of the day as they provide more grunt out of maneuvers and keep the flow attached in the rough ice. They also allow the flow to stay attached more easily in the abrupt changes in wind direction and velocity.

Jay Whitehair took tenth, Jack Goritski took ninth (in his first day in a DN all winter!), Neal Fowler got more dialed in as the day went on to take 8th, Peter Van Rossem had some good races to take 7th, Nick Mabboux was able to keep his boat in one piece long enough to take 6th, Robin Lagravier (5th) and Karen Binder (4th) are two relative newcomers who have done a good job getting on the pace and well done to both of them, Oliver Moore came out of a starting-a-business and becoming-a-father induced hiatus to take third, T Thieler was able to stop talking long enough to take second and Chad Atkins was the big winner of the day with ten points in seven races. Not bad at all! Full results will be posted soon.

Thanks to all who participated and helped run the event. Great to see the whole group pitching in to make it happen!

Stay tuned, there is talk of the Canadian Champs or possibly Eastern Champs this weekend….

T Thieler
Commodore Emeritus, Regatta Chair, Doctor of Movie Quotations