Fishing Bay Annual
August 8-9, FBYC, Deltaville VA

Somehow, 505s always seem to have some sort of conflict with the Fishing Bay Annual Regatta, reducing our turnout at this event. This year was no exception, with the serious travellers from the Chesapeake Bay Fleets having raced the East Coast Championship in Hyannis Cape Cod the previous weekend, and three of them having left their boats in Hyannis in preparation for the Hospice Regatta the weekend after Fishing Bay.

Despite all this, we had seven 505s racing (six on Saturday), with Monty and Craig Schumpert, Bob and Betsy O'Brien and Ali Meller/Steven Brown from Fleet 19 joining Henry and Doug Amthor, Ken Elliott/Allan Kilgore, and Jim Englert/Thad Melton from Hampton, and Stergios Papadakis/Hans Crosby from New Jersey; (one couple, one father-and-son, and one brothers team, are we a family class or what?)

FBYC runs the definitive Annual Regatta, three courses, lots of classes, no entry fee, and free beer. Did I mention the free - all you can drink - beer? Saturday dinner was also provided for an additional charge. It was great, but Steven and I were busy re-rigging 7573 and did not take proper advantage of either dinner or the beer.

Most of the 505 fleet carried on partying after dinner at a cottage on a quiet creek belonging to a friend of the Amthor's, and then crashed their when the beer ran out; this has to be one of the most relaxed and inexpensive weekends you can have in dinghy racing.

Despite the number of classes and three courses, it was not a long sail from the launching ramp to the 505, Front Runner, Mobjack and Flying Scot course. Steven and I made it despite leaving seriously late both mornings. Race Committee work was crisp - and friendly. I was particularly taken by how the RC tried to help competitors out. Once, when we sailed past the stern of the RC boat between races, one of the race officers caught our eye and gestured to the numeral 3 flag to ensure that we knew that this sequence would be a 6,3,go rather than the 10,5,go used previously. Thank you!

Racing

Does anyone take the racing seriously at an annual regatta? The Amthors and the Elliott/Kilore team fought it out for the lead in all four of Saturday's races, with Amthors coming out on top 3:1 in some very close finishes. Meller/Brown racing Steven's Parker, 7573, managed to finish 3rd in all four races, frequently coming from behind on the runs and holding on upwind. Team O'Brien's were more or less tied to Meller/Brown's transom, usually finishing within 2 or 3 boatlengths, with Papadakis/Crosby and Schumpert/Schumpert also very close.

Englert/Melton joined the fleet for Sunday's two races, winning one of them. The O'Brien's gybe-set on the first run in the first race, split with the fleet and pulled themselves into 2nd place for most of the race. Despite beating Meller/Brown in both Sunday's races, they could not quite overhaul them in the overall standings. Racing was again quite close, with positions changing around the course... one of the more dramatic moves being the O'Brien's losing two boats down the run of the last race, and then getting them back coming into the leeward mark as the other two jockeyed for room at the mark.

Results

- from memory.. never did see official results.. subject to revision/correction 
1.	Henry Amthor/Doug Amthor		HYC	8012
2.	Ken Elliott/Allan Kilgore		HYC	7092
3.	Ali Meller/Steven Brown			WRSC	7573
4.	Bob O'Brien/Betsy O'Brien		SSA	7776
5.	Sterg Papadakis/Hans Crosby		NJ	7199
6.	Monty Schumpert/Craig Schumpert		WRSC	8015
7.	Jim Englert/Thad Melton			HYC	8645

-Ali

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