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2005 Duck Island YC JY15 Regatta
is a hit!
By Birgit Gillman
Duck
Island Yacht Club hosted 23 boats for the annual JY15 regatta held
on Saturday July 30th. It was the highest attendance at
any JY15 regatta so far this year. Most boats were from the
Connecticut area, but Kevin Lofftus and his family traveled to
Westbrook from the Rochester Canoe Club. We had partly sunny skies,
warm temperatures, and a slight southerly breeze at 3-5 knots. PRO
Tom Carse threw all the spare change he had into Long Island Sound,
hoping that Mother Nature would turn up the breeze just a little-
which she did at the very end of the regatta.
Competitors found other things to do while
drifting around waiting for wind- swimming, catching up with old
friends, and swapping kids among the boats. There was a fun
party-like atmosphere on the water; all sailors were clearly having
a blast.
After a 45 minute postponement waiting for
wind, race one was started in about 3 knots of breeze. Ben
Weinstein and his father Brian won the first race. Ben was one of
the many “croutons” sprinkled on the race course. This term was
coined by John Potter at the Midwinters, referring to the small kids
that make such great crew on those light air days. Kevin and Birgit
Gillman won race two- a very trying race for this non-crouton crew.
The last windward-leeward race of the day was again won by the
Weinsteins- who not only beat the closest competition by several
boat lengths, but had picked up a second crouton in the boat,
Isabella Siewart, between races.
The Weinstein family took home the first place
trophy, with 8 points overall. Second place went to Bill Gladstone
and his son Peter, with a total of 12 points. There was a three-way
tie for third place with 16 points among the Gillmans, Mark
Kondracky and his crew Henry Nunes, and Chris Vann and his crew
Kelly Galleger. The Gillmans won the tie-breaker for third place.
Racing was followed by a party at the
clubhouse with prizes for all the competitors, generously donated by
the many sponsors we had. We hope that next year will have an even
bigger turn-out and just a little more wind. Thank you to all the
sailors, race committee, and support crew that made this regatta
such a successful event.
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