Skippers,Minuteman Model Yacht Club has a scheduled regatta coming up this Sunday, 4-27-25.  

There will be “fun sailing” from 10:00am until Noon.  During this time you can bring/sail/tune any class boat you want.  Starting at NoonDF95 and Soling1Meter racing will begin and last until 2:30pm, or until 12 heats are completed, whichever comes first.  These two classes will race together but will be scored separately.
Please let me know by Saturday noon if you will be able to join us on Sunday, and please include what class boat you will be racing.  If there is not enough interest or if the weather won’t cooperate I will cancel the fun sailing and regatta.  

If you read my report from our last rained-out regatta, I didn’t do a very good job of interpreting the weather forecasts.  I will try and do a better job this time. 
Also, in order to add an element of security, I will be sending these emails to club members by blind copy.  The club member names will no longer be displayed in the recipients box.  When I send out notice that we will be sailing, I will let you know how many will be coming and what they will be sailing.
Thanks, in advance, for your participation.
Cliff Martin, Commodore

Sunday-Apr 6, 2025

This was the first scheduled race after the Icebreaker and skippers seemed ready to start the season.  

The evening before, the weather predicted a short, light rain shower stopping at 6 am on race morning.  I notified everybody that we were racing.  Fun sailing was at 10:00am and the race started at 12 noon.  I went to bed.  

The next morning, the prediction was that there would be an additional 30% chance of a short, light shower around 11 am,stopping before noon.  Not ideal, but I had told everybody we were racing, it was low risk, and we could still race at noon……. Silly Me!

The light rain that wasn’t supposed to be, started as I left my house just after 9:00a.  When I got to the pond just before 10am, people were already there, sitting in their cars trying to keep dry.  The rain was light, so we got out and chatted and looked at the darkening sky. 

A couple of still-hopeful skippers had boats they wanted to tune before racing started so they put them in the water between raindrops.  It would have worked except there was also no wind.

The highlights of the day were a couple of spectator cars that drove up to watch us standing in the rain, looking at boats that were floating becalmed on the pond.

As the clock approached the hour when the rain was supposed to stop, the clouds got darker, and the rain got heavier.

At that point we unsuccessfully tried to huddle under the one umbrella that Greg LaPlante brought and decided that even hardy men of the sea, such as us, could not fight mother nature and we should adjourn to the club house (Dunkin’ Donuts) to get dry and warm.  I waited until noon in case someone else showed up and then joined the other skippers at Dunkin’s. 

Cliff Martin, Commodore

The Ice Breaker – 2025

Minuteman Model Yacht Clubs opening regatta of the 2025 season was held on Sunday, March 30, under overcast skies.  Did I mention that it was also 38 degrees and windy.  I don’t know what the wind chill was, but I had on a shirt, a vest, a sweatshirt and a coat, and I was not as warm as I would have liked.

For those who don’t know, the Ice Breaker regatta is open so any boat can sail, but the Ice Bucket trophy is awarded only to the DF95 fleet winner or the Soling 1 Meter fleet winner, onalternating years.  This year it was the DF95 fleet.

Nine skippers braved the cold to sail in this annual event.  Seven skippers brought DF95’s, one skipper brought a Soling 1 Meter, and one skipper brought a US 1 Meter.  It was evident from the first heat that some skippers came ready to race and had lost little competitive edge over the winter.  Greg LaPlante anddefending champion Paul Mercer took first place in 4 of the 7 races with their DF95’s, while John Lamport got 2 wins with his US 1 Meter.  I managed to sneak around everyone in the last race for a first place.  

As often happens early in the season, two skippers had problems and ended up not finishing.

After heat 7, the cold was weighing on almost everyone, so the skippers voted to stop racing.

In the awards ceremony, defending champ Paul Mercer presented the Ice Bucket trophy to this year’s winner, Greg LaPlante.

It was good to see everyone after the winter hiatus.  I wish the weather could have been warmer, but hey, this is New England. 

I want to thank everyone who came out to sail with us and I especially want to thank my wife, Sue, who sat in the cold, under many blankets, for keeping score for us. 

Cliff Martin
Commodore

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 pm.  13 Club members were present.

– Officer elections were held.  Cliff Martin was elected Commodore and Greg LaPlante was elected Vice Commodore.  The position of Secretary/Treasurer was not filled but will be temporarily staffed by John Lamport.

– The Commodore then appointed Herb Dreher as Harbor Master.  The position of Web Master was not filled but will be temporarily staffed by Paul Mercer.

– The Open Regatta schedule will be:

Ice Breaker – Mar 30; RD-Cliff Martin; DF95 is the trophy fleet

Scott Spacey Footy – July 12; RD-Rick Gates

Old Timers – July 13; RD-Chris O-Brien; US1M is the trophy fleet

Jim and Sue Linville Memorial – Aug 10; RD-Steve White; Soling is the trophy fleet

Enduro – Alain Jousse – Nov 2.

– The Scott Spacey Footy regatta is the only open regatta without a “keeper” trophy so it was decided that Cliff Martin would make a Footy keeper trophy.

– It was decided that Cliff Martin would make certificates for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place winners in the open regattas.

– It was decided that the Club dues for 2025 would be $20.00.

– It was decided that marks would be put in at Rosemary Lake on Thursday March 27, 2025, at 10:00 am.  Greg, Rick, Cliff and Herb will be present.

– It was decided that other classes could be scheduled/sailed on open days.  The interested skippers will contact each other to set up saiing.  

– It was decided that there would be another Club Zoom meeting on April 27 at 7:00pm to review the success of the new schedule.

Skippers and Friends,

Sadly, this morning I received from Sam Morgan the following notice of Al Fearn’s passing.

From Sam:

I have sad news for all of us.  Yesterday, Al Fearn, our wonderful friend and founder of the Greater Worcester Model Yacht Club and the Regatta Point Sailing Program on Lake Quinsigamond passed away.  I visited him at the Hospital on Saturday and he was scheduled for a heart operation yesterday (Tuesday) but he passed before the operation.

Al was not only a great friend to all of us, but tirelessly committed to promoting sailing both large and small boats to people of all ages his entire life.  As soon as I learn anything about services, I will pass it along to all of you via email.

Best,

Sam

From Me:

Al was a Minuteman Model Yacht Club member when I joined, and I quickly learned that he was the person to go to for all things sailing.  He was an accomplished sailor, a great teacher/mentor, and he was always our best resource when it came to the interpretation of sailing rules.  More importantly, he was always a wonderful friend to the Club, even more so after starting his own Club, the Greater Worcester Model Yacht Club.

His kind and supportive demeanor will be missed by all who knew him.  

I will forward any further information as it comes to me.

Sadly,

Cliff Martin, Commodore
Minuteman Model Yacht Club

Skippers,

Minuteman Model Yacht Club has its first 2025 Indoor Meeting coming up next weekend, that’s Sunday 1/19/2025.  An invitation will be sent out later this week.

We will postpone officer elections until meeting #2 in order to give the Club a chance to discuss past challenges we have faced and possible future challenges.  Among these challenges have been:

• Poor weather everywhere
• Weeds at Rosemary
• Closures at other sailing sites due to unforeseen circumstances
• How do we move forward

I am also asking for members to think about stepping up and assuming some of the leadership/support positions within the club.  Web Master, Fleet Captain, Harbor Master, etc.  A very small number of individuals have been supporting these activities for years and new volunteers are needed.

Please make time on your calendars to attend, so we can discuss these issues.  We need your input.

Cliff Martin, Commodore