Butch Miller organized this year's CCBA's signature event and pulled it off in spite of the changes in the Providence Yacht Club environment. There were only two slips and the T-pier heads available for boats sailing in which included Mystic Wind, Sarah K, Wanderer, and Gull. A steady south west wind made the passage to Whitehall Bay easy.
The Sanderlings Anna and Bubbly arrived by trailer and did not require overnight dock space. Richard Rogers new Arey’s Pond Lynx 16 Paws made its first appearance and she is a beauty! The hazy, hot and humid afternoon made the pool and the shower much appreciated.
Sunday was race day starting with coffee and donuts. The wind continued from the south and continued building to 10-14 kts, necessitating the start line to be placed in an awkward location near the mouth of Whitehall Creek adjacent to shallows. The course was triangular, twice around followed by a windward/leeward leg. In every pass the boats had to cross the start line.
As the skippers have become more experienced the start line has become more congested but the starting sequence worked well. Two races were sailed and the results combined to determine the overall standings.
1st Place David & Kim Morrow
The 1st place winner received the Capt. William Hoover Memorial Perpetual Trophy. The 2nd and 3rd received Jefferson Cups, a tradition started by Bill when he created the event. Bill Hoover also started the “block head” award for the most obvious screw-up during the event but that award has since been retired.
To replace it, Butch Miller created the “Clew-Less” award out of the clew of an historic old skipjack sail. This year the recipient of the perpetual trophy was David Park who managed to graze the outboard on the back of the committee boat during the start of the first race.
David Park gets the “Clew-Less” Award
The traditional pot luck dinner followed the awards and raffle and featured more food than even hungry Catboaters can eat. Steve Flesner provided material for a raffle thereby transferring the excess memorabilia of the 50th CBA celebration in Mystic into someone else's memorabilia. Steve drafted Maggie Mohler, granddaughter of Richard Rogers to draw the tickets. Maggie and her mom, Jessica also sailed on Paws which had 3 generations aboard during the race.
That evening a few hearty mariners spent the night on-board with every intention of leaving early to avoid the predicted severe weather. The severe weather arrived overnight with rain and an enthusiastic excess of lightning. By the next morning the Bay was calm. The remaining Catboats motored home without incident.
Place Boat Skipper
1 Anna M-18 David Morrow
2 Bubbly M-18 Paul Cammaroto
3 Paws AP-16 Richard Rogers, Jessica & Maggie
4 Wanderer W-25 Marc Cruder & Steve Flesner
5 Gull M-20 Bleil & Ohlmacher
6 Mystic Wind M-20 Craig Ligibel
7 Sarah K. HA-18 David Park
by David Bleil
