FailSafe

At long last, there is a new class approved Sailwinch for the DF95. The drum winch was designed for use in the 95 and the 65 using different drums (both drums come with the unit). Available from the boat supplier, radiosailing.net

DF Upgraded Sailwinch for DF95 & DF65 (Includes both class drums)

To call it a race would be something of a misnomer.  As such, the Enduro is a non-stop endurance contest to see who can get the most laps in 4 hours.  The only limitations on what boat you can sail is that J-boats and Wheelers are not allowed.  Other than that, it’s sail-what-you-got, or can fit in your car.

Admittedly, it can favor the largest boats but factors like battery life, electronic failures, wind conditions, getting caught on marks, doing 360’s, weeds, running aground and, oh yeah, sailing ability, all come into play.   This year we added a new variable.  After the Enduro started, a person started fishing down the bank and decided to cast out past one of our marks (it’s a public venue).  It was only a matter of time before he successfully snagged the anchor rope on our mark and then successfully caught the deep keels of Rick Gates’ and Herb Dreher’s 10R’s.  There they stayed until Herb was able to row out and rescue them.  Meanwhile, the fleet sailed on.

Enduro success is often just trying to guess which hull design might best match the predicted wind, pond hazard and other variable conditions.  In the past, Marblehead, EC12 and Canterbury J class boats have won over some of the larger classes.

This year it was all about the wind, or lack thereof….less than 4 mph.  Maybe it’s just me, but in a regular regatta there may be light wind, but if you can just drift around the course, and finish, there is some closure to the frustration; at least until the next heat starts.  In the Endure, with light wind, closure/relief is hours away.  Not only that, but big boat dominance was not guaranteed as some found their boats being passes by the much smaller, lighter classes.  I’m sure I saw smirks on some skippers with smaller boats as they drifted past the larger classes.  Admittedly, I often found my VM successfully being challenged by a Seawind (whose skipper had not sailed it before and said the boat was badly out of tune).  I guessed wrong this year, I should have brought my US1M.

When it was all said and done, Chris Hornick took home the Enduro perpetual trophy.  He and his 10R seemed to barely notice that the winds were light.  His boat seemed to be able to move when everybody else were standing still.

Because there can be such a discrepancy in boat sizes, and to encourage skippers with smaller boats to participate, this year we decided to also recognize boats were under 40”.   This year, Paul Mercer lead the under 40” classes with his IOM.  Next year I hope to see more of you Soling, DF95 and US1M skippers compete in the under 40” classes.

I can’t leave without recognizing the people who normally don’t sail with us, but came some distances to be with us for the Enduro.  They include our good friends Thom McLaughlin and Larry Mazoway who came from Maine to sail with us and our friends Fred and Mary Goebel who came from Southern Connecticut to watch and visit. 

Finally, I want to thank our scorekeepers Cheryl O’Brien and Jerry Leach.  They had to sit and watch, and listen to us whine about the wind for 4 hours.  Again, thank you.

Name	Boat	Laps
Chris Hornick	10R	21
Greg LaPlante	EC12	20
John Whalen	M	19
Rick Gates	10R	19
Herb Dreher	10R	18
Paul Mercer	IOM	18
Chris Obrien	EC12	17
Thom McLaughlin	VM	16
Rick Laird	EC12	16
Al Fearn	US12	15
Alain Jousse	10R	14
Cliff Martin	VM	14
Peter DeWolfe	Seawind	10
Did Not Finish
Larry Mazoway	EC12	11
Steve White	DF95	9
Jim Linville	Star 45	1

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If any skipper would like to sail Soling’s during the week with the group in Plymouth, please send your email address to Rick Meyer at ricmeye@gmail.com.  Their venue is at 3 Plymouth St in Plymouth.  They don’t have a set schedule, but you will be placed on their email list and be notified when they plan to race.

Brisk autumn wind from mostly North and Northwest today greeted 12 Soling skippers. We welcomed Rick Meyer and Mike Dunfee who sail with an informal group in Carver.
Pete DeWolfe found it challenging, as race director, to set a course that would remain the same for following races. The winds were so changeable that course changes were made almost every race. Close racing continued through out the day with 7 of the 12 skippers notching a victory. At the end, the low score belonged to one of our guests, Rick Meyer. Congratulations Rick. Well done.
Cliff Martin chose to not race today and kept score instead. Thanks Cliff.

MmMYC Represented at the USVMYG Nationals

The US Vintage Model Yacht Group held this year’s national regatta in Honey Brook, PA.  Over 32 skippers, with over 66Skipjack’s, Schooner’s, Vintage Marblehead’s (VM) and Vintage 36’s (V36) showed up to compete.  

Cliff Martin, Herb Dreher, Rick Gates and Rick Laird attended, competing in the VM and V36 classes.  Jim Linville attendedbut had mechanical issues in his Schooner and V36 that prevented him from sailing those classes.  He ultimately withdrew from the VM class because the course was very spread out and too much for him to see the marks or walk the course.  I also competed in the Schooner Class with a new boat, but the oversized jib I copied just didn’t work, at all, in the 3-mph wind.  Now, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.

The V36 class had 19 competitors and was sailed over two ½-days, with a day in between.  I must say what a difference a day makes.  Herb and I were sailing Comet-36’s, Rick G. was sailinghis newer find, a Peterson Double Ender and Rick L. was sailing a Starlett.  

The first day was calm with 3 gusting to 4 mph winds and everybody was challenged to keep their boats moving in the lighter breezes.  Herbs and my Comet’s sailed well on ½ day oneand we looked forward to ½ day two.

However, ½ day two was blustery with 10 mph winds and everyone was challenged to keep control of their boats in the gusts.  As it turned out, the tuning on my Comet was notadequate for the winds and I struggled with control to windward(tuning during the race was not possible).  Herb’s Comet, on the other hand, seemed quite at home in the wind and at the end of the day Herb got 1^st, I got 4^th (missed 3^rd by one point), Rick G.was 13^th and Rick L. was 17^th.

The VM class had over 22 boats and included Traditional, High Flyer and Classic designs.  This class was also sailed over two ½-days and the wind was healthy at 8-10 mph on both days.  These bigger boats were very happy.  Herb was sailing his High Flyer-Sun Wind and I was sailing my High Flyer-Magic Dragon I.  Rick G. was sailing another new find, his great looking but unknown Traditional design and Rick L. was sailing his Traditional Madcap.

The High Flyer and Classic fleets tend to be a little faster on some points of sail, so on ½ day one they started 1-minute ahead of the Traditional fleet.  On ½ day two the fleets all started together.  Fast or not, sailing in and through fleets of this size is always a challenge.  As you can imagine, staying on the wind and out of trouble can be difficult at the starts and around marks.

In the end, I got 1^st place and Herb got 2^nd in the High Flyer division.  Rick L. got 4^nd and Rick G. got 11^th place in the Traditional division.

I know Jim would rather have sailed, but he had fun watching, critiquing, and visiting with his many friends.  I have to admit, on the blustery day, with my V36 struggling, I wanted to be him.

It was an intense few days’, but fun and I think our club represented well.

Cliff Martin

Author Note:  There may have been more action with Rick Gates and Rick Laird, but I just couldn’t watch them very much and sail.

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Questionable conditions at the start of our day at Rosemary Lake. Seven skippers stared at a dead calm lake wondering if we would be able to race. Jim Linville and Cliff Martin practiced with their hand built schooners. (see photo). Eventually, the light winds arrived and racing began at the scheduled time of 12:30PM. Cliff Martin, as Race Director, struggled to find an honest course with an upwind leg. Mostly, the winds came from directly across the lake. Twelve close races were logged, with 4 of the 7 skippers notching a victory. At the end, Paul Mercer had the low score. But…….he switched boats with Cliff (just for fun). Paul was quick to acknowledge that anyone can win with Cliff’s boat.

Eleven Soling 1M skippers and a good breeze from NE made for some really good racing. Pete DeWolfe, once again, came out on top.

Nine DF95 skippers arrived to compete. But, the wind never arrived! A very slow first race was followed by worsening conditions……which led to an abandonment of racing. ?

In a big breeze and in a big fleet of 11 US 1 Meters, our Commodore Cliff Martin completely dominated today’s racing by winning all 9 races. Herb Dreher was the Race Director and set an upwind course of south to solid Orange taken to port, down to Green taken to port, and then back to solid Orange taken to starboard, and return to finish line. Halfway through the racing Herb added the Orange with stripes after Green.
Second place was won by Rick Gates who was consistently in the mix to win each race. There was a points tie for third place with Herb winning that position over Rick Laird through the tie breaker of having 4 second place finishes.
The big breeze made for challenging conditions all throughout the day. Congrats to all the skippers for surviving.
Next weekend we race on Saturday and Sunday.

US1M #3 started out with clouds and rain. Twelve skippers openly wondered if the day would improve enough to race. Well….it did and the fleet managed 12 races in a solidly southerly breeze. Cliff Martin decided to forego racing in order to RD the day. Thanks Cliff! All races were out to solid Orange taken to port (a few early races included White taken to port), down to Green taken to port, back to solid Orange taken to starboard, and then to the finish line. Racing was very competitive with 5 different winning skippers. At the end, Herb Dreher prevailed with the low score, closely followed by Paul Mercer, then John Martin. Full scorecard is below and on Racing Results.

The day was expected to be in the low 80’s with winds in the 5-10 mph range.  It turns out that the forecasts were pretty much on the money.  As it turns out, the exception was that the wind seemed to gust up to 5 mph as it was changing direction, which was usually in the middle of our starting countdown.  Fun times!

Even so, eleven skippers showed up to compete in the Sue Linville Regatta.  Everyone looking to snag one of the prized “Ducky Trophies” that Jim Linville prepares every year for this unique event.

The racing was challenging because of the crazy winds.  It was hard to even get a windward start because the wind direction would not hold steady for even one minute.  The good news is the skippers took it all into stride and sailed the best races they could under the circumstances.

However, towards the end of the regatta it was easy to tell that the constant course changes, to try and accommodate the winds, were increasing frustration levels.  After the starts, the racing itself could be rather leisurely because of the light breezes.  One skipper commented that it was almost “Zen-Like”; at least until all of the slow-moving cluster of boats had to round another mark.

But hey!  That’s racing at Rosemary.

At the end of the day, Peter DeWolfe won for his second time in a row.  Second Place was awarded to John Martin; Third Place was awarded to Paul Mercer and Fourth Place was awarded to Herb Dreher.  Congratulations, everyone!

Many thanks for all the skippers who came to honor Jim Linville’s late wife.  Also, many thanks to Sue Martin who came out to keep score.  All-in-all, it was a good day.

This year our regular score keeper is not available so 2 volunteers are needed to keep score at this year’s 4-Hour Enduro, taking place on November 7.  No prior experience is needed; pond-side training provided.  

Volunteers must be able to:1. See sail numbers 2. Read numbers and write numbers. 3. Sit for long periods of time

If you meet these qualifications, or know someone who does,please contact Cliff Martin, Jim Linville or John Lamport.

What a crazy year it’s been so far, we have had 5 race cancellation because of the weather, probably a record. Cliff and I have gone through the schedule to fit the cancelled races into the reminder of the year. All cancelled race have been reschedule. Per the format we had agreed upon earlier in the year we first used the available Sundays, then we started in on Saturdays. 
Attached is the schedule we have decided upon, please review and make sure you know the dates of the regattas you wish to sail in. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Thanks,
John

Rosemary presented its usual challenges of light and shifty winds.  There was a lot of mumbling, “I hope I can drift around this mark without fouling someone or being fouled.

A beautiful summer’s day attracted 12 skippers for racing today. Twelve races were sailed with 6 different skippers claiming a victory.
The breeze was better than our most recent sail dates, and that made for some close sailing.
Final calculations showed the low score belonged to Paul Mercer. Final results are posted below and on the MmMYC website.

Soling day at Rosemary never happened. Eight skippers waited patiently for a breeze to develop; but, it never did. Next week we will try again with DF95’s. This event has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 21, 2021

US 1 Meters at Rosemary Lake today. Twelve skippers came to compete with Herb Dreher as Race Director. Weather was spectacular. Breeze was fickle in places (as always at Rosemary Lake) but mostly steady from the South. Herb sent the fleet to solid orange, back to green, with port roundings and then to finish line. A good breeze made it easy to add a second upwind leg, back to orange with starboard rounding and then finish. Racing was close throughout and there were 4 different winners. Final score showed Commodore Cliff Martin as the overall winner. Results below

Nine very patient DF95 skippers waited out the downpours and then began the scheduled racing. Bob Pacini brought his pop up tent and that kept most everyone dry until the rain subsided. Thanks Bob!
Herb Dreher was the RD and he set the course to the southerly orange, back to green and then to the finish with all roundings to port. In a pretty brisk breeze the course was sailed quickly, so Herb added another upwind leg back to orange with a starboard rounding and a downwind finish.
The racing was close throughout and there were 5 different winners of the total 12 races. At the end, Paul Mercer was the low point winner. All results are listed below.

A noble effort today from 7 Soling skippers. Racing abandoned after 3 races. No wind!!

Today was the Old Timers Regatta won, once again, by Herb Dreher. Eleven skippers vied for the coveted cane! Afterwards, most of the sailors attended a post racing party at the Mosgrove home. Your hospitality was greatly appreciated.

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The Scott Spacie Memorial Footy Regatta was held at Rosemary Lake, Needham MA, hosted by Minuteman Model Yacht Club. This is the third Regatta in this year’s Nor’easter Footy Regatta Series. The Sheila Ryan Memorial Footy Regatta, the fourth Regatta in the series, is scheduled for August 14 at Lily Pond, Gilford NH.

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Open sailing at Rosemary Lake today. About 10 skippers came to sail boats of many different sizes and shapes. Drone photos are from Pete DeWolfe.

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Skippers,
In the past we have had an open sailing day on the 4th of July in conjunction with the Town of Needham Independence Day activities. The Club made up its schedule thinking that the activities would be on the 4th. Unfortunately, this year the Town has decided to move its Independence Day activities to Monday, the 5th of July.
After due consideration, and some discussions, I’ve decided that we should keep to the Clubs published schedule and have our open sailing day on the 4th. People have made their personal plans based on our published schedule and it wouldn’t be fair to change at the last minute.
Some skippers have talked about bringing their 10-Rater’s if they have them, but bring whatever you have and we will sail them for a couple of hours, and have fun.
The sailing starts at Noon.
See you there!
Cliff Martin
Commodore

A very warm partly sunny day greeted 11 US1M skippers at Rosemary Lake. Winds were brisk mostly from the South, but in places it swirled, as always. Cliff Martin chose to act as RD instead of racing and selected a course that stayed the same through 10 races, that being left to right upwind to Red, over to solid Orange, down to Green, back to solid Orange, then to the finish line. The last two races were shortened by the last leg……meaning the finish came after Green.
Colin Mosgrove arrived to compete, which meant the rest of us would challenge for second place. Colin won 11 of the 12 races. Way to go Colin! The brisk breeze caused some boats to drop out. Seven boats survived to sail all 12 races.

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Near perfect sailing conditions for DF95 Series today. Thirteen skippers came to compete. Trying to find the best upwind legs, RD Pete DeWolfe made many course changes during the day. He also tried different starting lines. All races were counter clockwise courses in a breeze that came and went….but averaged 6 kts. Five skippers had winning races, and in the end the low scorer and winner of the day was Cliff Martin.

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11 Solings arrived at Rosemary Lake today on a very warm day. There was a pre-race incident between Soling #606 and Soling #4070 and it resulted in #4070 being “holed” and she sunk immediately. Greg LaPlant (Soling #514) was on his way to retrieve his boat in the kayak, and he graciously diverted his course, was given a boat hook, and shortly thereafter he managed to snag #4070. (See below photos) That eliminated one boat from the field. Jim Linville decided to skip racing and Steve White had to leave early; consequently, there were 8 boats left to race.

Winds were Westerly and Soutwesterly and were particularly challenging along the shore. Cliff picked courses that we rarely sail in an attempt to find upwind legs. Racing was close throughout the day with 6 different skippers notching wins. At the end, Pete DeWolfe prevailed again.

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TODAYS REGATTA CANCELLED

Skippers, due to a ≥90% chance of rain, the US1M Series Regatta scheduled for today (Sunday, May 30, 2021) will be cancelled and rescheduled for Sunday, Sept 5, 2021. Please change your calendars accordingly.

A warm mostly sunny day for our DF95 series. Winds, as is typical for Rosemary Lake, swirled in every direction making the course selection difficult for our Race Director, Pete DeWolfe.
Twelve skippers tried their hands at multiple courses and at the end, once again, Pete DeWolfe prevailed with the low score.

A special “thanks” goes to Rick Gates for performing multiple boat rescues in the kayak!!

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Attention Skippers- New Sailing Schedule Beginning Sunday, May 23, 2021

Based on the newest guidance from the CDC, and the governor’s intention to remove capacity restrictions in a few days, we have decided to go back to our Sunday sailing schedule that was in effect prior to the Pandemic.

The new Sunday schedule will have open, fun sailing in the morning, starting at 10:00am and going until Noon.  There will be a lunch break from Noon until 12:30pm.  The formal, scheduled series racing, listed on our schedule, will then start and go until 2:30pm.

Open, fun sailing means that people can bring and sail any model yacht they have.  There may be informal races (a starting timer will be present) but no scorekeeper will be provided andscores will not be counted towards a formal series regatta.  

Masks and social distancing will no longer be required for vaccinated individuals, but are optional if it makes you feel more comfortable.  Unvaccinated individuals should still wear masks and social distance until they are fully vaccinated.

See you at the pond!

Nine skippers for Soling series #2. Nice warm day with wind that came and went in every direction made for challenging conditions. Once again, Cliff Martin proved to be the best overall.
Thanks to Jerry and Jim for scoring the close racing and the start/finish line! ?

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Tricky winds all over the course, especially at the Red mark and the Green mark, made for a challenging day of racing. The clear winner again was Chris Hornick. John Whalen returned to compete with #18 and was near the top in every race.

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Skippers, the reality of sailing model yachts is that at some time or another they will not be able to make it back to shore without help.  Essentially, you can’t have a sailboat regatta without a rescue boat.

MmMYC has been fortunate in that Jim Linville has kept the Club Kayak at his house and has brought it whenever MmMYC has a sailing event, AND he has been doing it for many, many years.  It has been a burden that Jim has happily carried, but he can’t do it anymore.

The Club needs a volunteer (or volunteers) with a truck or van to take over this responsibility.  It’s not hard, but it is a commitment.  The Club will ensure you have a car rack if needed.

The Club is also working on some alternative rescue methods that may not require a Kayak, but until they become a reality, we will still need the Kayak.  If we can’t find someone to help, we may have to curtail some of our sailing.

Please contact me or Jim Linville or John Lamport if you are willing to help, or if you have questions.

Thanks!

Cliff Martin,

Commodore, MmMYC

Big Soling fleet (13 boats) competed today at Rosemary Lake. Breeze was a bit swirling, but the frequent course changes made for a fun day and close competition. Two new faces joined us, so we welcomed Sam and Greg. Cliff Martin graciously gave up his chance to race in order to give us a well run day as Race Director. Thanks again Cliff.
At the end, Chris Hornick prevailed with the low score. He also was finally awarded the club’s new Enduro Trophy for his victory last November.

Minutes MmMYC Ad Hoc Zoom Meeting

April 11, 2021

MmMYC ad hoc Zoom started at 7:00pm with 15 members in attendance.  

The first order of business was to define what conditions would cause a regatta to be cancelled.  After discussion, it was decided by consensus that a forecast showing 60% or greater chance of rain, during the hours we would sail, would be sufficient cause to cancel a regatta.

The next order of business was to decide when a regatta would be cancelled and how it would be rescheduled.  After much discussion, it was decided by consensus that a regatta would not be cancelled until the morning of the regatta, using the above criteria.  It was further decided that the cancelled regatta would be rescheduled on the next available Sunday.  Note: Three available Sundays were identified on the MmMYC schedule.  If no Sundays were available on the MmMYC schedule, then a cancelled regatta would be scheduled on the next available Saturday on the MmMYC.  No consideration would be given to conflicts with other club regattas.  

The final order of business was about the hours of sailing for a regatta.  During the Winter Zoom meetings, it was decided that 11:00am to 1:30pm, with a ½ hour lunch, would be the inclusive hours for a regatta.  However, the first two regattas were not able to be completed in that time frame, so the 1:30pm cut off may be too short.  It was decided by consensus that the inclusive time for regattas be changed to 11:00am to 2:00pm with a ½ hour lunch.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:45pm.

Nine skippers competed in very chilly windy conditions today. By the end, only 4 boats were able to keep racing. Our Commodore, Cliff Martin, prevailed with the low score. The day seemed more like the Icebreaker. Sure was frigid.

Formation of the International DF Class Association

Weather on Sunday 3/28 forces the postponement of the Icebreaker until Saturday 4/3.