Our Mission
Yes, it’s about having fun, building boats, and sailing them competitively. More than that, however, we are constantly educating and sharing. How do the boats work? What makes them go? What do you actually control? These are just some of the questions asked. Age doesn’t matter — those who pass our regattas delight in watching the competition as well as trying the boats.
The nuances of sailing involve hand and eye coordination, aerodynamics, mathematics, physics, meteorology, and adherence to the rules. It’s challenging but fun during the learning process.
The US12’s
Usually we look forward to wind, but during the last couple of weeks, the US12 sailors had more than they needed. On August 24, for example, a strong wind pushed well above 25 mph. That velocity is hard on the boats and very intimidating for the skippers. Only five US12’s launched, and scores were not kept.
The Solings
The Soling regatta on August 28 had winds at about 8 to 10 mph – just about perfect. Despite the continued triple-H weather, seventeen boats were able to complete twelve races. There always are a few glitches, and Tuesday was no exception. Al Stevens decided to run his boat into the dock and break his mast, which took six races to fix. Paul Wallace had electrical issues that required jet-ski rescue.
Not to be outdone, Mac MacDonald dropped his mast, which involved three Solings and the dinghy to retrieve.
A huge thank-you goes out to Anthony Quinn for taking the lead on repair of our vandalized dock handrail — with the help of Paul Wallace, who, incidentally, replaced the damaged dock post a while ago.
Out on the Water
A pattern continued in the Sailor Class with the Ricky-Ricky duo. Rick Gates took first, Rick Parent second, and Jerry Leach a strong third.
Things were normal in the Master Class, with Tim Wright leading the way, and Rick Lalley’s fast-boat grabbing second. Mark Whitehead’s 2112 miraculously pulled off a third!
Join the Fun
Weather permitting, the Soling fleet sails on Tuesdays starting at 1PM, and the US12’s compete on Thursdays, also at 1PM. Just head for the municipal parking lot at the end of Glendon Street and you’ll find us along the Bridge-Falls Path. In addition, the Laconia club sails at Lily Pond near the airport in Gilford on Sundays starting at 9AM.
Race Results
08-28 Soling Sailor Class Regatta
|
Name |
Class |
Score |
Season Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gates, Rick | Sailor |
1 |
1.29 |
| Parent, Rick | Sailor |
2 |
2.67 |
| Leach, Jerry | Sailor |
3 |
3.11 |
| Koehler, Skip | Sailor |
4 |
4.33 |
| Quinn, Anthony | Sailor |
5 |
4.44 |
| MacDonald, Wayne | Sailor |
6 |
4.62 |
| Stevens, Al | Sailor |
7 |
7.00 |
| Wallace, Paul | Sailor |
9 |
5.78 |
| Taylor, Dave | Sailor |
8 |
9.00 |
08-28 Soling Master Class Regatta
|
Name |
Class |
Score |
Season Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wright, Tim | Master |
1 |
1.30 |
| Lalley, Rick | Master |
2 |
2.11 |
| Whitehead, Mark | Master |
3 |
4.80 |
| Masessa, Dan | Master |
4 |
3.75 |
| Russell, John | Master |
5 |
7.50 |
| Brand, Tim | Master |
6 |
5.71 |
| Opie, Jim | Master |
7 |
7.20 |
| McBride, Paul | Master |
8 |
7.30 |
Sometimes on Back Bay we experience feel-good moments that affect us deeply. A couple of weeks ago, a gal who is blind stopped near the dock and expressed great interest in our sport. Since touch is the only way she can “see,” skipper Paul Wallace took the time to go over his boat and describe what she touched.
Just below the surface of Back Bay’s water lurk the infamous boat-stoppers. We’ve been doing our best to sweep for weeds before starting regattas, but inevitably the boats catch a few. Let’s hope the effort to eradicate the milfoil increases then continues. Very little has been done so far.
Last week, Jerry Leach couldn’t make the picture for spring awards. This is Jerry, who placed second in the Sailor Class Spring Series. Congratulations, Jerry!
The August 9 US12 regatta brought out seven of the 46-inch boats for a nine-race regatta. Not unusual, it was Tim Wright leading the way with strong showings by Bill Hagerup in second and John Simms in third.
Tuesday, August 14, had fifteen one-meter Solings. Looking out windows in the morning, it appeared doubtful that a regatta could be completed, let alone started! But out came the sun to chase away our problems. Well, ONE of the problems at least! The winds were another thing altogether — light to nonexistent. And there were eight weed calls in the six-race regatta, others probably not called. The rule is that if you are stopped by weeds, you can’t finish the race and you receive the average of your other scores.
Back Bay Skippers 