Dear Friend of CHARIAD:
CHARIAD and her valiant crew competed in the Hospice Regatta on Sunday sponsored by the Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead. We got two guns and won Class B of the Regatta.
The trophy was a framed picture of the boat taken during the race and a bottle of rum. You can see the focus of our crew.
These boats race under a handicap rating system which is supposed to account for the different inherent speed of the boats competing. All of the boats we have raced against so far are faster than CHARIAD and owe us time on the handicapping system. If the boats are racing roughly according to their handicaps, they will finish before us – and get the gun for the first boat to finish. If we are sailing really fast and smart, we could “correct over them” to finish ahead of them on corrected time and win the race. So far, we have competed in six races and gotten four First to Finish guns. That is a tribute to the crew that has put the time into training and getting the boat going early in the season.
Here is the downside of “getting the gun.”
We had two windward/leeward races on Sunday. The 1st race was in 13 – 16 knots. The 2nd race started in that wind but the last spin leg was in 21 knot winds and we saw boat speeds of 9.5 knots. Quite a ride. Remember that the last time we sailed was in 30 knot winds. 21 knots is pretty light duty compared to 30 knots.
These pictures do not convey the dynamism, speed, rock & roll and noise on the boat when the wind is in the teens and low 20s.
Hard to get settled enough to take any pictures. These were taken by Kathy G on the last spin leg.
We will not always be “getting the gun” but our success so far is completely attributable to the team working together to prepare for the race and discover what roles each of us needs to play that day for us to have the best chance to succeed as a team.
Friends of CHARIAD Update
Jonathan Green is competing as this is written in the Newport to Bermuda race. Jonathan was part of the CHARIAD that did a very successful Marblehead to Halifax race several years ago.
Jonathan is on the right and Sandy Campbell is on the left.
Jonathan is defending his double handed title on his boat Jeroboam. You can see the progress of the Bermuda race and find Jonathan’s boat. The race started in very light wind and some boats started and then dropped out. You will see that from the scatter of boats that did not leave the coast.
Maureen McKinnon is a huge fan of CHARIAD and comes to many of our social gatherings. Maureen won the gold medal in the last para sailing Olympics. As you are reading this, she is competing in the Reo Olympics with her eyes again on the gold. Three cheers for Maureen!
Jack McMullen was traveling recently in India. He sent me a couple of pictures from the trip. Here is one.
Jack is in front of the Taj Mahal. If you look carefully, you will notice that he is wearing his CHARIAD hat.
Friends of CHARIAD Group on Facebook
If you have not done so, join the Friends of CHARIAD group on Facebook. That is where you will get these update much faster than waiting for me to get the story out.
Hope you are enjoying the start of summer.
My best,
Rick
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