2008 North American Championship

Races 1-8

Report by Tom Londrigan Jr.

On Wednesday morning the junior sailing program hosted a pancake breakfast at the Yacht Club and we all shoveled in some bulk to front load energy for two races on Little Traverse Bay.  However, the first day of racing included no racing.  The bay was glassy and lulled the fleet to sleep until PRO John Koopman made an executive decision around noon and sent the sailors back to the harbor.  Everyone but my dad and Rick Rundle accepted a tow to the dock.

Apparently, Dad wanted to work out some kinks with the mechanicals on the boat, nobody had the heart to mention that mechanicals work pretty good when the wind is registering zero-point-zero.  Koopman witnessed dad’s shakedown cruise and quickly determined that there would be no racing on day one.  The horn was sounded and Rick Burgess unlocked the beer truck. 

This was not a good turn of events for the Londrigan/Rundle team.   Rick Rundle is known to ruffle some feathers, myself included.  And, he often tries to explain his poor behavior on the fact that he is a self-proclaimed, original “character” and, that in these modern homogenous times, we are all in need  a few original “characters. “  However, he once admitted to me that most of his run-ins occur when he is at an event and is unable to race for one reason or another.  Over the years, I have found this hypothesis to be proven true time and time again, of course, it could just be a self-fulfilling prophesy or a well-designed excuse to act like a horse’s ass.  Either way, Rundle was summarily booted from a local establishment quite early in the evening.  Maybe dad was just trying to delay the brewing storm?

As I mentioned earlier, it will be quite difficult to prevent Merriman/MacCausland/Macdonald from sweeping all the races.  This prediction was spot on, except for one race.  Only near the end of the regatta did I learn of a wager Rick Peters placed; that Lake Springfield (Gay/Hardin, Brethorst/Nichols, and Londrigan/Hall) would all earn silver chevrons.  It was quite a gutsy wager.

Race one was started after a couple false starts in 15 knots of breeze from the South.  We found a hole on Port and rounded about in eighth place with Merriman in the lead and MacCausland and Anosov close behind.  Halfway down the run Stewart, without my advice and counsel, decided to submerge the bow, on three consecutive waves.  He was repositioned behind the rudder post as we slowly drained the boat.  Stewart watch from the stern as Peter Wright and Nathan Quist snapped their rig.  But for this mistake, a three race mistake; Wright and Quist would have probably finished third overall. 

 We were unable to catch the leaders but I was able to dislodge the rake line at the leeward rounding; no wonder it was so easy to trim on the last beat.  We rounded the second weather mark in eighth only to be “rolled” by VanderMolen/Ticknor, Macdonald/Fatih, and Perce/Peters; my compliments gentlemen.  Merriman won with Anosov in second and MacCausland in third.

After the first race I deduced that the wind was oscillating and playing the middle was the way to race Little Traverse Bay.  This theory was flawed.  In retrospect, it was more like Biscayne Bay and playing the edges provided more rewards.  The one upwind leg that playing the middle was fast only reinforced my opinion, which proved in time to seriously derail the rest of my races. 

In the second race, we ran up the middle and established a nice lead, we stretched a little on the run but took a short, ill-advised jibe near the end of the leg and gave up our gains.  John MacCausland was second with Todd Gay/Chris Hardin in third.  Up the beat MacCausland/Murphy purposefully kept slightly to our left, while we continued to slowly stretch out, it was lost on the last tack.  MacCausland took a nice lift into the mark and crossed us.  They won, but Rick Peters was 2/3^rd of the way home on his wager as Gay/Hardin and my team earned its chevrons only Brethorst/Nichol needed a third over the next five races.

The third race brought a 20 degree right shift on the first beat and a 30 degree right shift on the second beat.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Stewart and I were committed to the middle, as we were committed most the regatta.  Merriman/Trinter, Perce/Peters, and MacDonald/Fatih were the winners, although I could not see them.

Most of us kept the boats in the water and On Friday morning, I jumped in the cold water and cleaned my boat as well as Rick Brethorst’s and Todd Gay’s.  I asked Todd for a port crossing in exchange, I asked Rick for something a little more discreet.  We sailed in circles for about two and half hours waiting for the wind to settle down.  All the while, the one hundred foot Migration, a spectator boat hosted by Bill Parfet, circled the fleet while barbequing ribs, taunting the sailors.  Stewart and I forgot food, so we sailed by begging for something.  Bananas were tossed and quickly consumed.  My son Will yelled and waved us over for some ribs.  I had visions of sauce flying around the boat and Stew wiping his mouth on the sails but I didn’t care.  This was the fastest we sailed all week.  We were greeted by Will, a barbeque-faced grin, empty hands, and the phrase “…in your face.........They were delicious!”  Well, little man, Stewart and I will never forget this little incident.

As an aside, thank you to Bill Parfet on behalf of my wife, Betsy, our children and everyone else he so generously hosted on his sailboat.  I didn’t get to board it myself, but I hear tales of Chef prepared meals, champagne, amazing views and Mr. Parfet making sure everyone was having a great time.  The flip side is that my family thinks I need to step it up a few notches.

This distraction of the ribs clearly caused us to start early in the fourth race; our number was posted at the weather mark as OCS.  It is rather frustrating to sail around another 90 minutes waiting for the next race with thoughts of smoked ribs dancing in our heads; still more frustrating is that we learned nothing from sailing the middle.  Although we had a head start (according to the RC…. And the other competitors) we sailed the middle to another lead only to see five boats Anosov/Dolan, Brethorst/Nichol, and Burgess/? And others come steaming in from the right at the end of the leg.  This was good time to take note and reconfigure our strategy; instead we thought od ribs, glorious ribs.  Brethorst/Nichol were in third at the mark and were closing in on winning Rick Peters bet, but in the end he couldn’t hold on.  Sorry Rick Peters, still more races to come.

We watched as Merriman/Trinter went jibe for jibe with the oncoming MacCausland/Murphy team towards a downwind finish.  Merriman/Trinter were beyond reproach tactically upwind but MacCausland/Murphy owned the downwind legs.  Anosov/Dolan slid in at third.  The last race went well, we played the middle again and ducked the sterns of Merriman/MacCausland halfway up with the boats on te edges looking week, again this was not the case.  A left shift peeled the leaders and the left side completely off our hip despite only being two boat lengths to weather.  We rounded in twelfth and slipped six more boats as I forgot to close the bailers on the run when the wind died.  Brilliant.  Merriman/Trinter won with MaCausland/Murphy in second and Perce/Peters in third.

We arrived at the harbor at six in the evening.  Junior sailors hopped on my boat, Rick Burgess’ boat, and Jon VanderMolen’s boat for some sailing in the bay.  It should be noted that the venue was as one competitor noted, “without any minuses.”  This was true.  In fact, Dave Irish (owner of Irish Boat Works) raced with Mark Strube and noted that he became quite intimate with his boat and Kevin Farrell, one of the regatta organizers noted that the event was very well received by Harbor Springs and hopes that the Class considers Harbor Springs for future events.

The last day left Merriman/Trinter with a four point lead over MacCaulsand/Murphy, two races were scheduled and r despite winning four of the five races could not afford a bad race since he was also carrying a 14^th place.  The wind was back up from the east, and shifty usually with one major shift per weather leg.  The first race, the right side paid off and MacCausland won the race with Merriman in fourth, MacDonald/Fatih were second and Bill Babel and Trevor Davis of Gull Lake worked the right side well to earn chevrons in boat 7105; nice work boys.

Going into the last race, Merriman need to beat MaCausland and MacCausland needed to beat Merriman or give him a bad race.  MacCausland pushed mErriman back in the pack.  However, Merriman was posted as OCS anyway and the regatta was over.  But not the subplot; it only thickened.  Rick Brethorst was in third behind Anosov/Dolan and Wright/Quist.  Arthur broke the Merriman and MacCausland lock on first place and Brethorst was ready to win Rick Peters was years worth of salary if he held on to third.

Up the last beat, Rick was slapping the side of his hull like a jockey on the home stretch, come on baby! Come On!

On the left side of the course it was Greg Smith and TC Belco, also looking for their first silver honors, and sailing on the right it was Andy MacDonald and Brian Fatih steaming in with plenty of silver honors already but with loads of talent and pride. 

The rain started to pour, it now was muddy track.  Rick flopped to the left eyeballin’ Smith/Belco, …come on baby, …then flopped back to the right, protecting from that “son’bitch MacDondald ,” …come on baby, COME ON… bring it home. 

Fatih still refused to straight-leg hike?

Rick Peters was screaming a few places behind, promising Brethorst  50% of the bet, an incentive, a little taste of the action.  No one knew Rick Peters was suppressing a bad case of the jimmy-legs and a bad haircut.  Mike Nichol’s mouth tasted like sand and he couldn’t keep his mind off that Danielle Steele novel he trying to finish all week.  What was going to happen to Cassandra?.... the headstrong governess of a billionaire’s son… she loved them both but something had to give….  The pressure was mounting.

Come on damn it! COME ON! 

On the Smith/Belco boat, it was quiet, too quiet.  Just the wind and the waves broke the sound of raindrops dropping on TC’s tongue; head thrown back and mouth open, TC was coolly rehydrating for their line plunge. 

At the finish, MacDonald was on Starboard, Brethorst was on Port and,

Brethorst leebows MacDonald at the pin,

Damn the rules- come on you “motherscratcher,”… one time, one time ! 

Greg Smith and Belco were making a line plunge…

Come on Lord, I’ll vote Obama, whatever you want, ONE TIME. 

He did it… Brethorst beat MacDonald…

but Smith and Belco slid in under the wire.

Nobody knew that Smith and Belco love the rain, they love the slop, they eat it up.  Greg Smith is a mudder, TC’s mother was a mudder. 

Rick Peters whimpered, and I could see a tear slide down his cheek on the sail in to the harbor while muttering, ”you broke my heart, Brethorst… you broke my heart.”

 Thank you Dave Irish, Kevin Farrell, Eric lInd and the rest of the organizing team especially Jon VanderMolen and Don Parfet for pulling off another wonderful regatta.

Practice Race Report

Report by Tom Londrigan Jr.

Harbor Springs, Michigan graciously offered to host the 2008 North American Championship.  I always refer to Gull Lake, Michigan as Pleasantville, USA.  However, Harbor Springs may be More Pleasantville, USA.  Nestled in a small bay on Lake Michigan, Harbor Springs is more reminiscent of a quaint East coast village than the Midwest.  The water is deep, 200 feet and the skies are blue.  It is cool at night, in the 40’s and 68 degrees during the day. 

We arrived on Saturday and from the bluffs we quickly noticed two Stars training on the bay with no other boat in sight.  It’s like a day you leave work at 5 and someone is working later ……you know you worked until  7 the night before………. but the next guy is …..What is he up to?   Andy MacDonald/Brian Fatih and John MacCausland/Kevin Murphy arrived early and were tuning up for the week.  About 35 boats will be sailing and the MacDonald, MacCausland, and Rick Merriman/Phil Trinter teams appeared to be the early favorites.  “M & M & M”       I would not be surprised if one of them won every race.

I am sailing with Stewart Hall, recent graduate of the University of Vermont.  We practiced on Sunday and Monday, and Tuesday was a scheduled practice race.  The Principal Race Officer (PRO) is John Koopman , having freshly officiated at the 2008 Olympics.  He offered some amusing stories over wine and cheese and crackers but our questions about how the judges might interpreted rocking and pumping were less than clear.  Apparently judges are like snowflakes, all unique and all special. 

The harbor facilities are run by Irish Boat shop.  They have multiple buildings, slips, and exceptional personnel including a sail loft on site.  Measurement was seamless and painless.  However, the support staff did not seem to understand why we wanted to wash our boats.  After a couple days in the water, I understood.  There was nothing to clean; the water is crystal clear and the boat was spotless after keeping it in the water two nights in a row.

On Tuesday, the practice race was scheduled for three in the afternoon.  This is complicated by the beer truck scheduled to be opened at 4:30 pm.  With some teams, the beer truck won the scheduling conflict.  Andy and Brian did not race; discuss amongst yourselves

About 25 of the teams hit the practice race starting line.  The line was set for about 15 boats.  After one false start, we were off and Stewart and I won the pin end (please note that Jack Rickard and Chris Wallner really won the pin but those in the 4^th District know this is just an article of faith, and by the way I trained Wallner so let’s not make a big deal out of this).  This turned out to be a consolation prize when the velocity came from the right with its best friend, a 15 degree wind shift. 

Winning the practice race is bad luck, and we joked about it on the dock.  But, I was quick to point out that losing the practice race is probably not a good omen either and if in last then retiring might be prudent.  My words were still ringing in my ears as the whole fleet was punching me in the belly.  Out of the corner of my eye I could make the faint outline of the beer truck.  Maybe I should retire, nobody will know we were last, and there is no shame in quitting, nobody would pour beer on me for heading in early.  The other boats around us tacked to starboard and they were absolutely slaughtered.  Well, we decided not to quit and patiently waited for the wind to turn back, it did.

As we were steaming back to the first mark on the port lay line, I noticed my partner-in-life- Rick Brethorst/Mike Nichol on the Starboard lay line he was near first and probably thought we would miss his glorious mark rounding, not so.  We reached into the windward mark in third right behind Rick and Mike.  Merriman/Trinter were in first and MacCausland/Murphy were in fourth.  Downwind, John MacCausland and Kevin Murphy took off and took the lead. 

Despite the earlier briefing from Mr. Koopman, as we sailed downwind during the practice race, we were greeted with shouts and hollering.  I thought they we all happy for me and Stewart were and rooting Stew and I on.  But, in retrospect, some of the yelling seemed hostile and directed towards Stewart’s body movement on the deck of the boat.  I think Stew is graceful and joy to watch but some of the others didn’t appreciate his creative interpretation of the “Dance of the Star Crew”.  It seems that some of the competitors are like snowflakes too, unique and very special.

At the next mark, MacCausland/Murphy retired, Rick and Mike were second and they retired, then Merriman and Trinter retired leaving us in first.  In respect of the tradition of superstition, we headed for the beer truck too.   After putting the boat away, I poured a beer and sat down.  Within minutes of slipping into this repose, I was startled to find my Father pouring a beer down the back of my shirt. I jumped up turned to him and said, “Why would you do something like that”!  He claimed it was an accident.  But, he seemed to enjoy the laughing and glee he elicited from the crowd.  That’s just love ….Londrigan style; it usually involves beer, wet pants, and laughing at someone else’s expense.

Is a beer shower bad luck?  I don’t know.   This summer, my daughter Cookie insisted on painting my toenails and Stewart’s toenails before racing and we sailed well.  Since then, every time she paints them, we do well and every time we refuse, we sail poorly.  We don’t argue anymore.  Tonight, Cookie is painting Silver nail polish on our toes for good luck.  If we do well, I hope Dad doesn’t insist on pouring beer on me every night.