Not everyone was able to sail all three days, and many boats missed some races. At least one boat never made it out to the race course (after several capsizes in the river Saturday morning, they wisely decided to call it a day).
All races used gate starts. There were seven races over three days (2,3,2). The first race Friday started in a planing upwind breeze that quickly died below marginal trapezing and stayed light for the second race. Nelson/Alarie's 2,1 put them slightly ahead of Meller/Johnson's 1,3 after Friday. A storm/squall that hit as the leader's finished the second race caused quite some excitement, and some torn sails. Everyone enjoyed (NOT!) sailing around under jib only in 35-40+ knots, with driving rain. Getting the main down wasn't difficult, but rolling it up so it wouldn't be creased under foot - while sailing the boat - was fun. Several teams decided to leave the main up and fight it out. It is amazing what you can do in very heavy air with max rake and bend! Once the wind abated most boats sailed in, though some were towed (hence the ruined jibs). Barry Kuehl's decision to have Rondar 8311 rigged with a jib furler made him look like a genius. No-one was hurt, and apart from sails, minimal damage was done.
Saturday started with 20 plus knots - down to 18 by the first race - from the Northeast, which died in the course of the day. Meller/Johnson had a noticeable speed advantage in the puffs (and even managed to pick a few shifts that others did not), and came out of the day with a 1,1,2 versus Nelson/Alarie's 5,3,1, to lead overall. The chop made sailing upwind tough, and worked crews and boats hard. Several teams capsized including both "classic division" entries. Unfortunately both these very old boats had leaky tanks, and both teams had to be rescued as their boats could not be sailed in, though Wieser/Kelly in Stu's beautifully restored vintage Parker, 3885, finished Saturday's second race, wisely decided one race was enough, but ran into problems on the way in. This reminded everyone of the need to seal leaky tanks. None of us expect to spend much time capsized, but it could happen to any of us. Check the "fixing up older 505s" article on the WWW home page for suggestions on finding and fixing leaks in tanks.
On Sunday, in lighter breezes, Nelson/Alarie returned to their top form, working their way up to win the first race, pulling them into a tie with Meller/Johnson, and then sailing to second in the last race, while Meller/Johnson were deep. This gave the 1995 East Coast Championship to '93 and '94 North American champions Macy Nelson/Peter Alarie, the first ECC win for either of them.
We were sharing the water with trolling sport fishermen. Down the run in the first race Sunday trying to get back into contact with the leaders, we bore off very low to try to avoid fishing lines astern of a trolling power boat. We thought we were clear, luffed back up to our preferred dowwind angle and focused on getting to the mark as fast as possible. A little while later, some faint tearing sounds distracted me, and then I noticed what looked like a thread streaming tight off the leach of the spinnaker. MONOFILAMENT!!! A few moments later a lure and weight went flying by, fortunately without staying hooked on us. Given our performance in the race, being hooked and reeled in seemed appropriate. While several stitches in the spinnaker were broken, the fabric was not torn.
Trotman/Mills won the last race and took 3rd overall. Jeff Boyd sailing with John Fry were 4th, while Fowler/Dyson were 5th.
Most considered it a successful event. The ribs and chicken, Sam Adams draft beer, and additional prizes for the furthest distance driven (Texas), driver of the gate boat (Louise Van Voorhis brought her own rigid bottom inflatable and was recruited as gate launch), "winners" of classic division, and the two newest boat owners (both in fleet 19) were appreciated. Thanks to Railrider for the vests and the bag; they are wonderful prizes.
Team sail R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 After Drop 1. Nelson/Alarie 8191 2 1 5 3 1 1 2 9.25 2. Meller/Johnson 8263 1 3 1 1 2 5 11 12.25 3. Trotman/Mills 7318 5 2 2 6 3 2 1 14.75 4. Boyd/Fry 8264 3 5 3 4 4 4 5 23 5. Fowler/Dyson 8083 7 4 4 2 5 3 6 24 6. Amthor/Amthor 8012 4 8 9 7 6 9 4 38 7. Englert/Melton 7346 9 6 6 9 7 7 12 44 8. Moore/???? 7876 8 DNF 11 5 11 6 7 48 9. Gleason/VanVoorhis 7199 6 15 7 10 9 8 9 49 10. Kivney/Russell 8194 11 7 8 11 8 10 8 52 11. Dohan/Beardslee 8439 12 DNF 10 8 10 11 14 65 12. Kuehl/Saunders 8311 17 16 12 12 12 17 18 86 13. Treadwell/MacKay 7606 16 13 15 13 13 16 16 86 14. Leir/Hughes 6910 15 12 13 DNS DNS 15 10 90 15. Schumpert/Schumpert 8015 18 DNF 14 14 14 18 17 95 16. O'Brien??/O'Brien 7776 14 9 DNS DNS DNS 14 15 102 17. Mignerey/Crane 7148 DNS 11 DNS DNS DNS 12 13 111 18. Cox/Smit 808? DNS DNS DNF DNS DNS 13 3 116 19. Jacob/???? 8018 10 10 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 120 20. Harris/Hill 7772 13 14 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 127 21. Wieser/Kelly 3885 DNS DNS DNS 15 DNS DNS DNS 140 22. Renn/Platt 2664 DNS DNS DNS DNF DNS DNS DNS 150 23. Mangan/???? 7087 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 150 Classic Division 1. Wieser/Kelly 3885 1 2. Renn/Platt 2664 DNF