Jubilee Yacht Club Invitational – Avoid the Potholes

Beverly, MA, August 28-30, 2015. Report by Carol Cronin

22 Snipes wove their way through and around the legendary Boston potholes and made it to Jubilee Yacht Club in Beverly, MA for the 2015 Invitational/Western Hemisphere and Orient Qualifier. This turned out to be excellent practice for the three day event, since full moon tides and unpredictable breeze created some large pothole-like obstacles (as well as a wealth of opportunities) on the race course.

With three days of racing instead of the usual two, the McAdoo family stepped up the hospitality to make this event even better than it has been in the past. As Shan predicted on Thursday night, “Oysters on the half shell after racing Friday will be something to remember.” That evening might have even beaten out Saturday’s traditional haddock fish fry as the best regatta meal ever.

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Unfortunately the wind was not as friendly as the shoreside hospitality. The seabreeze filled in on Friday for the first three races, but it made a rather late appearance on Saturday… and on Sunday it showed up only as an occasional lefty puff. That made the racing challenging and the courses often one-sided, especially given the full moon tides that kept current a constant factor—though not necessarily from a constant direction. With so many wind and tide holes to fall into, no team managed to avoid them all. Coming back from a mistake was definitely the winning factor.

Winners Peter Commette and Julia Fuller found several potholes during the weekend, but they almost always managed to climb back by the finish. With only two finishes out of the top four, their consistency was impressive. Peter also won the oyster party, maintaining the balance between Serious Sailing and Serious Fun. And he is now qualified for the 2016 Western Hemisphere & Orient Championship in Brazil.

Another consistent team was Andrew Pimental and Emily Shanley-Roberts, who recovered well from several near-disasters (including having to tack up to the leeward mark after the wind died and the current swept them below it). Coincidentally or not, both Julia and Emily sail at Tufts on the nearby Mystic Lake, which has a reputation for weird wind behavior; so apart from the powerboat chop and current eddies, they probably felt right at home.

Finishing third was Carol Cronin/Kim Couranz, who won a hard-fought battle with Jim Bowers/Julia Marsh for the final podium spot.

The “Old Bird” trophy (for the highest combined team age) was won by Jennifer/Art Rousmaniere. Only two years behind were Martin/Suzette Fraser. There was no lowest combined team age trophy, but with several junior teams, the multi-generational representation was encouraging.

In spite of all the potholes on the race course (and on the drive home), it was a great event. Even those who didn’t win one of the many valuable raffle prizes went home happy. Thanks to Fleet 554, the Jubilee Yacht Club, and of course Shan McAdoo and his family for showing us how regatta hospitality should be done.

Final results after 8 races:

(Photo courtesy of Snipe Fleet 554)

1. Peter Commette/Julia Fuller

2. Andy Pimental/Emily Shanley-Roberts

3. Carol Cronin/Kim Couranz

4. Jim Bowers/Julia Marsh

5. Cam Fraser/Liz Glivinski

…full results….

JYC-Snipe-Invitational-2015-results.pdf