6th Annual Skipper's Choice Regatta

May 18, 2003 Regatta Report & Results:

Well, despite the apprehensive worries about the late winter, the Nor'easter on Saturday, and the lack of boats on the docks on Thursday, the last Sunday's Skippers Choice became a true season opener for the fleet. We ended up with 7 boats on the line, one boat hailing from Rockport, which, as John Cleese said in Clockwise, makes this "a historic moment." Before Jim Kubik brought Mason Browne to sail against other Star novices the regatta was fueled only by Boston Harbor boats and skippers.

Now, figure this, how can 12 fresh Honeydew donuts survive 7 boats and support staff? Amazing, you say? Well, it is, 1.5 donuts were discarded as unnecessary by the time the boats left the docks.

NOAA announced recently that their new five day forecasts have the same probability as the old three day were. The forecast on Thursday was for 5-10 knots of wind from the East on Sunday, and, the "NOAA is never right," turned out to be correct this time – an absolutely perfect day with temps hovering in the 70's, wind from the East to SE from 3 to 9 knots - perfect sailing conditions. The new rule of owners driving from the docks worked well and will be maintained.

The RC ran three excellent races for us, the tide and Deer Island made things difficult and allowed the fleet to play good tactical game on a tight highway to the marks. We did it the fun way, with no weight limits and with people standing on the runs if they wished to do so. Simple upwind/downwind-to-finish courses allowed the drivers to test their speed skills in a couple of drag races we had along Deer Island shore. The small boat sailors excelled as usual, although this year there was no dominant boat. We had a pattern developing by Race 3 but would need another two races to make any conclusions. The drivers got comfortable enough with the boats that by Race 3, when the pin was heavily favored, two boats lined up for a port pin start and actually made across the rest of the fleet, heading off to the weather mark on port tack with slight chop on the nose. The first boat to cross the starting line lead most of the race until they split to the left of the fleet closer to the finish, hit the tide on the nose, and paid the price in 3rd place. The hunt for the positions was tight but not aggressive and one simple mistake was highlighted by immediate loss of points.

The top three drivers received a Quantum Star t-shirt trophy and the winning boat owner won the owner's prize, a 12 pack of Heineken. Pete held the coveted trophy tightly while Steve was kicking his driver when no one was watching.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for this excellent day of racing. The fleet came through with the usual generosity and made this another successful regatta. Our goal for next year is still the same – ten boats, wind and sunshine.

The Final Results:

Place	Helm	Crew	Sail No.	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Ross Weene	Peter Costa	7621	1	2	3	6
2	Josh Matteson	Steve Braverman	8052	3	3	1	7
3	Eric Larsen	John Fox	6767	2	1	6	9
4	Mason Browne	Jim Kubik	7386	4	5	2	11
5	Serge Leonidov	John Carney	7732	5	4	5	14
6	Apostolous Koutoulas	Ted Lavery	7101	6	6	4	16
7	Kevin Brown	Dennis Unger	6432	7	7	7	21

Rules: