A very close and exciting series ended with the
top three boats separated by only 1.7 points...
REGATTA REPORT --Highlights From
Annapolis: 1982 North Americans
by Norm Windus
The previous Trapeze included a group photo, but none of the details about
the 1982 FD North Americans held at Severn Sailing Association in Annapolis
last October 5 -8. Twenty boats sailed a predominantly light to medium air
series. Most of the fleet had sailed the Oyster Bowl regatta just prior to
the NA's but some boats straggled in on Monday's practice day. A very slow-moving
weather system influenced the entire series and left the practice day a no-air,
no-practice drifter. This allowed many of us a little more time for tuning
and tweaking our boats. Tuesday's flat and foggy weather forced a postponement
for the start of the first race. The only one to benefit from this was Terry
McLaughlin, who was waiting for his crew, Everett Bastet, to fly in any minute.
Seconds before the original harbor start time, Everett arrived by cab from
the airport. Doing his best imitation of Superman, he hopped out of the cab
in full sailing gear, sans trapeze harness, as if he did this all the time.
Racing finally was able to begin, but only one race on Tuesday and Wednesday
could be completed. After two days, the Burtons were leading, followed by
Young and McKee. On Thursday, Sam Merrick and his race committee were forced
to make up for lost time. Young and Knapp had the best average finishes of
the day. McLaughlin was also sailing well except in the last race when his
lower shroud blew out just before the start. Burton had a slow day and an
even slower last race due to a premature start. Mike Loeb got cranked up
to win the last race of the day.
Friday's fresh southerly produced some very close racing. Loeb won this second
consecutive race putting him only a couple of points behind Young. McLaughlin
was able to repair his shroud overnight with a lot of help from Bill Bernard.
He was able to finish second; however, the shroud repair blew out again just
before the finish and ended his bid to repeat as North American Champion.
Knapp tightened the series even further with a third place finish. The final
race was won by Burton followed by Knapp and McKee. A sixth place throwout
by Young gave him the victory over Knapp by 4/10th of a point. A very close
and exciting series ended with the top three boats separated by only 1.7
points and the top five separated by 8.1 points. Had third place finisher
Mike Loeb beaten one additional boat in any race, he would have won the series.
Close racing seemed to be normal for this regatta. The fleet was split into
two divisions, similar to the Proctor/Carling 40% split used at the Nationals.
First place in B division (9th overall) went to Norm Windus and the Orange
Boat. Locals Bob Daniel and Guido Bertocci tied, but Bob was awarded second
on a tie-breaker. The top five boats in this fleet were also separated by
8 points and the top three by only 2 points.
The onshore activites provided by the SSA crowd were great. On Tuesday, a
lively meeting was led by North American Commodore, Don Ver Ploeg, where
the proposal by the International FD committee to ban the use of honeycomb
coring was hotly debated. This has since been resolved and will not be banned
for now. Wednesday's racing was videotaped by Marmaduke's Pub photo boat.
Tapes were shown following dinner at Marmaduke's and provided plenty of entertainment.
The "A" (or "Olympic" fleet) demonstrated the keys to good mark roundings,
roll tacks, spinnaker sets, and occasional screw-ups in the light air. The
"B" (or "Special Olympic" fleet) provided us all with some good laughs as
well. Thursday night's highlight was a crab and beer fest. Crabs are a delicacy
in Maryland, but most of us had to be shown how to delicately peel back the
shell and then crack it in half to get at the small amount of meat. Not nearly
as much fun as a good New England lobster... Ron Cheney, being a rather large
FD crew, had some trouble getting enough to eat. The process of peeling off
the shell was real slow until a new method was developed. The improved procedure
entailed using a fist to smash the crab into submission and the meat could
be picked out. Using this technique, a large number of crabs could be eaten
with one hand and large quantities of beer guzzled with the other.
REGATTA NOTES:
The new "in" sail to use in light air is the Musto Code I Genoa. It can be
flown in winds up to 14 knots apparently, and is a very full sail to help
power through chop. North's equivalent is the L3.
All the top boats are using lower shrouds to very effectively control mast
bend. A word of caution: the attachment point must be well reinforced as
very high loads occur. Some older boats are not sufficiently reinforced at
the shroud boxes to permit the use of lowers. Either beef up these areas
or consider not adding lowers. Repairs to this area can be very expensive.
The first Mark Lindsay FD hull arrived on practice day and everyone got a
chance to inspect and thump it. Cosmetically, it wasn't as pretty as some
of Mark's 5-0-5's, but it was only the first hull. From its performance at
the Australian Worlds, it is FAST. Hey, Kelson, how about some photos for
the Trapeze?
"Miss Manners" Cracks Crabs
Instead of publishing dated regatta standings from the 1982 North Americans,
this space is occupied by vital directions to make your next visit to Annapolis
even more pleasant. Bon appetit, you brutes!
HOW TO EAT A STEAMED CRAB
