May 2023 Papoose Article

Regatta, when most people hear that word, they may think of many different things. Dennis Conner spending 100 million to bring America's Cup home or maybe the Cambridge University and Oxford University boat clubs rowing on the River Thames in London, UK. Others view regattas as an exclusive activity reserved for Preppies in a New England Yacht Club, racing in their family's vintage Herreshoff yacht that Grandfather purchased from Captain Nat himself. There is more to sailboat racing than that. On any given Sunday from spring to fall, look out on Lake Mohawk or most other lakes or bays and see a few sailboats clustered together going in the same direction. What you are most likely seeing is a club race which is the heart of any yacht club.

Sailboat racing can be broken into two spaces, club racing, and regattas.

Club racing is the mainstay of most small clubs. Usually done with a one-design class. At Lake Mohawk Yacht Club, we have three active fleets Lightning, Snipe, and Laser. We also have members who race other boats sailing with the fleets most closely resembling their boat. Clubs will run two or three series throughout the season. Usually, there is a Spring Series, Summer Series, and Fall Series. Some really hardy clubs will run a series in the winter appropriately called a Frostbite Series. Oddly, they are done in smaller boats like the Laser.

The best part of small clubs is that racing is flexible. A few times, instead of racing, the Lightings, Snipes, and Lasers club members have all elected to go out in the Sunfishes. Nor are you tied down to a particular class. I am part of the Snipe fleet, and Rear Commodore John Trela sails a Laser, but we have been known to take out one of the club Lightnings to round out the Lightning fleet. There are generally three different types of courses. The first and most common is the Olympic Triangle, the windward/leeward. At Lake Mohawk, we use the Olympic Triangle windward/weather mark placed near the north end of Manatou and the Lee Mark above the south end, with the gybe mark somewhere between the club and the marina. Finally, a custom course using a combination of permanent and temporary buoys.

Regattas, now it is party time. Many clubs host a few Regattas a year; they often happen around the holidays and are followed up with a social event later in the day. An essential element of Regattas is they are open to non-club members, allowing them to bring their boat over to the club and try their hand at racing. Lake Mohawk Yacht Club has three Regattas on our schedule. The Gabor Cup is hosted by the Lighting Fleet, the Marine Base is hosted by the Snipe Fleet, and the Commodore's Cup is hosted by the Sunfish Fleet. All the Regattas are open to any Lake Mohawk Country Club member.

With many different boats at the start line, the apparent thought would be this is unfair; how can someone in a small sunfish hope to race against a Lighting? Small boat racing uses several different empirical handicapping systems to score a race. The PHRF (Performance Racing Handicap Fleet) and the Portsmouth Yardstick are two of the most common. Both offer calculations to even out a fleet, so you may find yourself the winner of the race even if your boat crossed the line in third.

Besides Club Races and Regattas, there is a third type of racing called the beer can. The name comes from the story that more experience sailors would toss their empty beers overboard, and less experienced sailors (who might not know the course) would follow the cans during the race. Beer-can racing is a casual kind of racing held during the week; this allows people to experience racing in a more relaxed environment than a regatta. We respect our lake too much to toss in beer cans at Lake Mohawk Yacht Club. Still, we have several Sail & Dine nights throughout the summer, offering a great evening of casual sailing and dining with some great people.

Besides great sailing and racing, the Lake Mohawk Yacht Club offers various social activities year-round. We encourage the Lake Mohawk Country Club members to join us for any of these activities. If you drive by the club and see people, please stop in, and say hello. We are always looking for people to crew. For anyone looking to learn to sail, we offer both adult and junior lessons.

Smooth Sailing Everyone! 

Joseph W Fleming III – LMYC Commodore