April Results HERE

Overall Results through April HERE

MMYC RACE DAY #2 MARCH 2026


John Ebell Drone Videos from April Race Day


CAM 20260418144936 0022 W - YouTube ODOM


CAM 20260418124106 0012 W DF 65


CAM 20260418102114 0006 W Victoria


MMYC RACE DAY #2 by Tom Walsh



John Ebell and I were discussing the lack of write ups by the class winners of each MMYC race day.  As you may have seen, John did a very thorough and interesting write up of our March race day. He was RD for March and he and I agreed that, since the RD has the time between starts to note down wind conditions and skipper performances, it would be easier for the RD to write an overall report for the day.  Since I was RD for April, I will take a stab at it.  All RDs for the remainder of the year are requested to follow suit.  Thank you.

John Ebell was the first one to arrive at Melford pond, where he found the wind to not be ESE as predicted but rather it was more ENE.  This did give not us anywhere on the main pond to set a fair course and be able to avoid the heavy weed growth.  The small pond across the road by the Dunkin Donuts would give us a fair course with the wind generally blowing down the axis of the pond.  As a bonus there were only a few weeds near shore and there was a culvert with deep water for launch and retrieval.  So after discussion between John, Richard and myself the decision was made that we would race on the small pond. Parking was close, Dunkin was there. What more could we ask for!  Bit of a slope to get down to the pond but it was almost flat at the edge of the pond.


Richard set a very nice course with his six newly acquired GPS remote buoys.  No need for the dinghy, though it was there if we needed it.  We did, but more on that later.  It turned out to be a high participation day, with 14 Victorias, 14 DF65s and 10 ODOM/One Metres. For the Vics, Walter took the day with four bullets, two seconds and a fourth.  Mari came second, with Richard and Craig third and fourth, respectfully.  Skippers with bullets were; Walter, Mari, Craig and Bob Kehoe.


In the DF65s, Craig came first with five bullets, one third and one eighth. Hard to beat them swing rigs! Walter came second, With Mike Rickels and Richard third and fourth, raespectfully.  Craig and Walter were the only skippers with bullets.  Tough crowd.  New skipper Nick Schwarz completed all seven races. 


Ten skippers signed in for the ODOM/One Metre class.   Eight boats were ODOMs with one DF95 sailed by Bob Kehoe and one IOM sailed by Steve Andre.  Mike Rickels won the day, followed by Richard, only three points behind.  Skippers with bullets included; Mike Rickels, Richard, David Rakena, Devin Rickels and Steve Andre.  Only four boats managed to finish all seven races.

The wind was not totally cooperative.  For several races the wind flipped around from E to W and sometimes changed back in the middle of the race.  There were several races where I saw wind from the E at the weather mark and from the W at the leeward gate.  For the most part, however, the wind blew from an E’ly direction.  Richard had to realign the leeward gate and lengthen the line for the ODOMs as well as moving the windward marks further upwind.  So much easier and quicker to make these changes with a radio standing on dry land rather than using the dinghy.


Ah yes, the dinghy. Steve Andre recorded a DNF for race six of the ODOMs.  Something happened to his boat and he apparently lost control, with the boat drifting way down to the  other end of the pond, where there was, as John Ebell put it, a “Sargasso Sea”.  Steve had to leave due to a prior obligation and asked if anyone could retrieve his boat for him.  His boat was unreachable with our rescue pole and was so heavily mired in the weeds as to be immobile.  John Ebell had brought the club’s new dinghy.  Unfortunately, it was packed in his car, with all his other boats on top.  He had to completely unpack his car, pull the dinghy out and pump it up.  He put the club’s trolling motor on it and headed down to the end of the pond.  The motor’s prop clogged up with weeds.  Rowing was also problematic so he had to resort to using one oar to pole himself out of the “Sea”.  Steve’s boat was recovered, John repacked the dinghy, all his boats and found just enough room the put Steve’s Boat and rig on top of everything. John was ably aided in this rescue effort by; Dave Birmingham, Mike Rickels, David Rakena and Tracy Orrison.


John Ebell took several interesting Videos with his drone.  You can find links to several of them on the MMYC front page.  There will be more to come shortly, so be sure to check back.