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The 3rd Saturday of each month. Mar-Nov.
November and Year End Write Up by John Ebell
November Racing is always a very exciting time. This is the culmination of the sailing year, and the final standings for most everyone, are never settled until the end of this day. Like always, this November would be no different. This last chance to sail day, also usually brings out everyone to enjoy this unique and important day. As anticipated, attendance was up as a few missing members made their way back to the starting line. Ricardo Yepe, Jervis Dorton, and Jazz Earle were finally able to join the fun. In addition to the regulars, Julian Richards and James Poindexter came out again, and we also had a Brand New member, Kurt Zimmerman, sail with us. Kurt had sailed with us a couple times, years ago, but now has decided to join our club. Kurt just purchased DF 65 #719 from the club, and besides having a Vic, he also has a US One Meter. So he will be ready to join the fun in all three classes come spring. Kurt also now has the distinction of being the first MMYC member to be paid in full for the 2026 season!
Besides Kurt racing, I was also delighted to see David Rakena’s wife, Tracy, on the water. She had tried sailing with us before and I guess she liked it, because she was back this time with her OWN, new (to her) Vic# 13. Welcome to you both and I hope you have lots of fun. Don’t be intimidated, as we are all here for fun, and, if you have any questions, never hesitate to ask.
I was sad to miss regulars Eric Theising, Bob Adams, Chris Taylor, Kurt Boren, Dick White, Mari Spina, and Ed Riehl, as well as all you other truants, (you know who you are, and we would love to see you out more). Hope you guys can make the off season get togethers and can join us again this coming spring.
This racing day winds would be like many days at Columbia. The wind would be coming from the East-Southeast. This always presents problems as it brings into play the local geographics, ie. Buildings, hills etc, to cause mayhem on the water. This also presents a huge strategy decision, usually making it important to start near the committee boat end, and be on the right hand side of the course upwind. This usually limits the amount of tacking one must do to make the windward mark. Of course everyone usually recognizes this, and as a result, every start turns into a Walmart Black Friday Door Opening event at that end of the line! This results in either one boat getting a super start and the rest of the fleet chasing them the rest of the race, or everyone getting bogged down together in a cluster, or the brave one who slid on down the line with boat speed and timing getting away from the fleet. What I witnessed this day was a lot of all the above. The one key rule to follow however was, “Don’t get far from the starting line”. The wind was up and down and if you didn’t stay close you risked the chance of getting left behind at the gun until the wind came to you. And for many, (present company included) it could be an eternity, and a race killer.
Another unusual wind event surfaced this day, and I was impressed that so many skippers picked up on it. There developed a wind lane just on the other side of the far end of the starting line, and it actually ran the length of the course. It was amazing to witness that just 5 ft outside of this, you were noticeably slower. This lane grew more important as the day wore on. Not only downwind but in the final beat to the finish. There were many instances where one had to stay way left and and then reach in on port to finish. This anomaly also presented itself at the first mark several times. I saw David Rakena a couple times successfully purposefully start further down the starting line to head left into this wind line. This gave him better speed than the boats who elected to stay right to try and take advantage of the right coming wind. This is always a tough decision to make, and is interesting to measure how each strategy paid off, once everyone got to the top mark. Of course, this threw the old maxim of staying in the center of the course when the wind is shifty, out the proverbial window! Such is racing at Columbia.
Due to the Vic overall scoring for the season, this last day for me came down to, not screwing up! Before racing this day, Tom Walsh gave me some sage advice. He said, “Just don’t screw up!” I respect the hell out of Tom, so I took his advice. I tried to sail conservatively and not take any risky moves. Richard Herbert, who has had a stellar Sophomore year, was only 17 points behind me going into the final day. Back a ways though, there was the group! Tom Walsh, John Houfek, David Rakena, Alan Krusinger and rookie Kevin Brennan, and all were within striking distance of each other to seize 3rd place. I knew that competition would be very interesting. Again, this day I sailed with the intention of making sure I stayed in front of Richard, because I knew drops were going into play, and that could be crucial.
Race after race went down, and after two races, I was behind Richard by a point for the day. Well I put on my Danny Thomas face and fortunately won the next three races. Unfazed though, Richard ended up finishing the day with a 2nd and a FIRST to close out the Vic Season. Good Job Richard! When the scores were totaled for the day, I had bested Richard by 6 points for the day. The total for the year however was closer than one might think. I was 17 points ahead of him going into the day, adding in 6 more points for the day. So one might think I would finish well in front. Well after drops for the entire year, I was fortunate to emerge just 10 points in front of him for the Season Championship! So if I hadn’t beaten Richard for the day, or given up just a few points, he might have passed me. Well done Richard!!
What was also very exciting for the day, was the finish and scoring of “the group”. I was very impressed by their performance. Unfortunately, “Super Web Master” John Houfek had a commitment and wasn’t able to compete in this slug fest, and dropped several places as a result. The other guys in this group scrapped it out until the end of the day and their scores reflect how tight their competition was. The next four boats scored for the day were, Dave Bermingham, 79, Alan Krusinger, 78, Kevin Brennan, 77 and “Mr Vic” Craig Huzway 76. Now that’s some tough, tight racing. However, (after drops again) taking 3rd for the year was David Rakena, only 11 points ahead of 4th place Tom Walsh.
This was a tough but very exciting season for the Vics at MMYC. Besides having a very competitive Region 3 Vic Regatta, won by our own Dick White, this year the scoresheet shows we actually had 28 competing Vic skippers! That number is incredible! I think this is also due to our own “Mr Victoria” Craig Huzway. If you need a hot regatta winning boat, be sure to contact him! Now I hope this next year if you were in the 28, you make an effort to come out and enjoy the fun more often. Look forward to seeing everyone during the off-season events!
For the DF 65 class Season, I was ahead of Mike Rickels by a pretty good amount going into this last day. I had hoped that because Mike would have to use most of his drops to cover missed race days, it would help me hold him off. However, Mike being the incredibly tough competitor and great sailor he is, was still almost able pass me for the season. I again sailed conservatively and tried to stay with or ahead of Mike as we made our way around the race course. Mike had a great day winning the day and besting me this day by 6 points. Mike should have a separate write up covering his winning this last race day. Be sure to read it, as I am sure he will have some helpful tidbits on how he sailed so well. I know I look forward to reading it! Fortunately my lead for the year held up, and I was able to hang on for the Championship by 12 points with Mike taking second. Of interesting note, of the 9 race days held, we competed against each other six times. He beat me 3 days and I beat him 3 days! Wow next year is going to be fun!!
For Third place, Sophomore, Club Commodore, Richard Herbert was slugging it out against the wiley Tom Walsh. Tom had missed two sailing days to Richard’s one, and I think that was telling. Tom sailed a good day and covered Richard by 10 points. However, that proved not quite enough as Richard took third place by 5, yes only 5 points. To demonstrate how important drops are, in daily head to head racing, Tom beat Richard 5 times to Richard beating him once. I always say attendance is everything. Great racing guys!
Just like the Victorias, this year in the DF65s we scored 28 different skippers. A pretty incredible number! This class continues to grow as people realize how easy/inexpensive it is to get into. Remember, besides built boats, our club also has brand new, in the box boats ready for immediate delivery. And for MMYC members, at an unheard of price. So, if you know anyone who you think might want to jump into this hobby, we can get them started in heartbeat!
In the One Meter Class for November, I was in the dubious position of being just in front of Mike Rickels for points for the year. With him being such a good competitor, I knew I couldn’t let my guard down, and I again made it my mantra to race steady and “Don’t Screw Up”. The conditions were the same as most of the day, except the wind lane just beyond the width of the starting line, had, at times, increased. This made the decision where to go on the course and starting line, even more difficult. I think David Rakena had the best starts this series, as several times he started down the line and headed towards the better wind on the left. I think him winning 3 races this day proved that. All day long my goal was to stay in front of, or close to Mike Rickels, as he was the only one I thought could over take me. Towards the end of the day the wind was madding, as several times it went extremely light, and boats bobbed waiting for it to fill in. While this drives me crazy, it often times is a good thing for me, as I think I can shift gears and re-accelerate well. That often times is where huge gains can be made. Definitely a worthwhile skill to practice! As it turned out, ultimately, I think this day it did pay to stay to the center, as I didn’t have any really terrible races and still won 2 races for the day. Fighting hard against Mike was tough, and he fought to the end by winning the last race of the day/year for the One Meters. Unfortunately by the end of the day I had picked up 4 more points. Unlike the Vics where Richard had closed on me with his drops, Mike missed two months of sailing and had to use his drops there. That really hurt him regarding total points earned, as he only could take 7 drops for the year. After drops were figured in, I managed when using my drops, pull ahead of him, 405 points to 382.
There was just one other place to be settled, and that was 3rd place. Just like the Vics there was an another extremely tight competition going on for the following One Meter boats. After the dust cleared, David Rakena took 3rd for the day with 66 points. Hot on his heels with 65 points was Dave Bermingham, Richard Herbert with 62 and Tom Walsh with 61 points. Very tight competitive racing for the day! The good performance for the day provided Tom Walsh with enough over all points to best Richard Herbert 351 to 322. While each missed one day of sailing, I believe Richard’s boat breakdown in May had some effect.
Regardless, how the points ended up, the goal why we do this is to have fun. Speaking to everyone at The Green Turtle afterwards, I think we were all winners in that effort.
Trying to keep the fun rolling, keep an eye out for lots of news shortly about this coming year. Commodore Richard will be sending out some worthwhile info, so keep your eyes open for notices etc, especially the Annual Meeting to be held in January.
One piece of info I can pass along is about Tom Walsh. Some people soup up their boats during the off season, well be warned, Tom Walsh is actually souping up his body! Backwork, knee work, and a hip replacement are all on his off season agenda. So look out for our own Bionic Man come spring! Be sure to give him a word of encouragement if you see him.
Look forward to seeing everyone at the Annual Meeting. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
John Ebell
2025 ODOM Region2 Championship Regatta
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