2010 Nationals

Tred Avon Yacht Club, Oxford MD

August 4-7

(all photos courtesy of Kelly Dean)

To answer the questions posed after last year’s Nationals:

1) There were many who stepped up to bolster attendance---including 7 first timers!

2) Marion Zaugg sipped  The Green. Don’t know who else did.

3) The crab cakes at TAYC are the best in the world!

4) Dirk did not return—but Gary and Cathy Mentesana did, in a big way.

5) The streak continues.

In 2009 the Jet Class was told Tred Avon Yacht Club in Oxford, MD was one of the best sailboat racing clubs in the country, and after experiencing it at the recent 2010 Nationals, everyone knew why. Great facilities. Great water. Great people. We had it all! (Even wind.) It was not the first time the Jet Nationals were held here; in 1960 TAYC hosted the event as well. Several retired Jetters were seen checking out the races: Ed Barbehenn (still races Ideal 18s), Ren and Barb Kotlarek (from HSC, boat #711), and Royce Peabody (from Lake Hopatcong, boat #352).

Early attendance numbers looked bleak, but a large contingent of first time attendees  as well as local TAYC sailors stepped up to make it a  37 boat regatta, including Women’s and Juniors. Jay Weaver (PRO) and his experienced RC team got off 20 races in 4 days, and showed all how to be a great race committee.

Juniors/Womens

Juniors and Women’s each had 5-boat fleets, and sailed 5 races on Wednesday afternoon in a perfect southwesterly breeze of  7 to 14 knots. The team of RJ Bay and Max Reshetiloff pulled off 5 bullets in the Junior fleet, while the team of Bridget Ireland and Carol Zaugg did the same in the Women’s fleet. Kudos to TAYC for getting 3 teams out to support these regattas.

Another Perfect Day

Thursday’s racing began in a 10 to 15 knot westerly, which abated slightly throughout the day.  Up to 20 degree shifts were prevelant, and staying on the favored tack to the mark upwind was key. Generally the left side of the course paid, but occasional gains were available on the right.   Race 4 saw Team 1134 (Nate Ireland and Bryn Bachman) sail a great race to take the win, closely followed by Team 1143 (James and Peter McKenna) and Team Putnam in 1141. The 1151(Jen Varnum), 1135(Bryan and Tiffany Parker), 1144(Gary and Cathy Mentesana) and 1134 teams established themselves as the early leaders, and it was clear there were boats as fast or faster than the leader.

Pole Diving

Most of know what “pole dancing” is, but “pole diving”?  Marion Zaugg showed us, and unfortunately for Team Zaugg, it was during Race 3 when they were leading. Apparently this is one way to retrieve one’s spinnaker pole after having it go overboard. Word has it that the swan dive Marion performed off the aft end was a perfect 10!

Popping Wheelies with Max

After racing, one of the strongest thunderstorms we’ve seen rolled thru the area. Wind gusts were reported close to 70 mph! The water was white with spray, and the rain horizontal. It was a powerful display by Mother Nature. One boat blew off its trailer (no damage), several trailers were running away, and  several which were facing into the wind, as Max Reshetiloff said, “popped wheelies” with the front end lifted up. But the storm brought wanted relief from the hot temps.

Another Day with More Wind

Friday greeted the racers with another 10 to 15 knots, but slightly right   (NNW) from the previous day. Forecasts had the wind continuing to shift clockwise through the day.

Team Parker started the day off with a nice win, and almost won the 3^rd race of the day as they ground down Team 1151 on the final beat. A major turnaround took place  with Team 217 (Dave and Sue Michos), as they apparently needed some practice after spending the prior month traveling through Europe. With mostly 10s as finishes for Day 1, they pulled off a 3-2-3-5, 2^nd best for the day!  The fleet was getting aggressive while starting , prompting the RC to go with more colorful flags for some starting sequences. It worked nicely, and the Llama boat (1134) was the only one to get nailed. Race 8 (last race of the day) also showed that some sailors do listen to the forecast. Team 94 (Paul and Barb Joudrey) stayed right on the first and 2^nd beats, and got the right shift which finally came in hard. They sailed a nice race to grab 2^nd, as did Team 1129 (Charlie Engler and Sue Mallows) to get 4^th.

Last Chance to Move Up

The last day. Lighter breeze, more clockwise shift. It was more “lake sailing” than “bay sailing”, with big shifts and some large holes. The RC had it figured out, as the windward mark was at the average wind direction, and 2 full length races were completed with no need to move marks. Team 1146 ( Eric Johnson and Cathy Cotell), although known to like heavier breeze, sailed a great first race to take 2^nd. Team Joudrey was gaining momentum, and won  the last race. Team McKenna did “move up” thanks to getting a 2^nd in the final race. 2^nd and 3^rd places overall were decided in the last foot of the last race, with the Mentesannas coming back to barely beat the Parkers in the race, and the series.

It was a mentally  draining day for everyone, where no matter how hard one tried to cover another boat, or preventing getting into a hole, bad things happened! 

The final results show another win for Team 1151, with 1144 2^nd, and 1135 3^rd. Team Michos had another good day, and ended up 4^th, after a slow start. Team Zaugg consistently sailed to a 5^th place, Team McKenna pulled out a 6^th, the Ireland/Bachman team was 7^th, Team 1149 (Ted and Claudia Reshetiloff ) 8^th, Sean and Kerrie DeFusco (#1105) were 9^th, and Bridget Ireland and Garth Boyd sailing 1147 consistently were 10^th.

The President’s Fleet ended up with Thistler Nick Moreau and Elaine Lamb (#1081) 1^st, Dave and Matt Japikse (#664) in 2^nd, Chris and Paula Hennon (#483) 3^rd, TAYC members Alan and Leigh Campbell (#1091) 4^th, and Paul Hull and Andreas Adam (#436) in 5^th.

 The Persistence Award went to Dan and Sean Lehane in #1045. (Watch out, I think these guys may be faster next year!)

The Improvement Award was won by Dave Japikse, who really moved up compared with his last Nationals in 2008.

The Novice Award went to Nick Moreau, and we hope he continues his interest in Jets.

The Youngest Sailor Award went to Griffin Jiron, sailing with his dad Darren in #1048.

And if there was a Hard Luck Award, it would go to Dean and Chris Whalen, who broke their rudder on the 1st day.

Thank You

--To the first time participants. We hope you enjoyed the week.

--To Michael Parramore, for continually supporting the Class, and for organizing and running the very successful auction, which saw 4 “out of action” boats go to active racers. We hope you can join us next year at Lake H.

--To Sean and Kerrie DeFusco, for holding the Class secretary and treasurer positions over the past several years, and doing a fantastic job.

--To Bryan and Tiffany Parker, for volunteering to replace Sean and Kerrie.

--To Scott Williamson and Doug Brown, 2 “injured” racers who would have been sailing except for injury, and who were at the regatta supporting everyone else. Scott was mainly responsible for getting all the others from TAYC to sail.

--To the anonymous donor from TAYC who donated the trophies.

--To everyone at TAYC, for letting us share your great club, for your great hospitality (10 teams were provided housing by TAYC members!), and for your efforts to make our event so enjoyable.

So with next year’s Nationals site established to be at Lake Hopatcong, NJ (largest lake in NJ, 1969 Nationals were held there), there are  MORE QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

-    Who from the NJ fleets (that’s you Pines Lake, Packanack and Hunterdon) will attend? (Lake Hopatcong is less than an hour’s drive from each club.)

-     Will The Green be seen?

-     Will Dirk return? Will Gary and Cathy drive that far?

-      Want to see another great club?

-       Will the streak end?

B. Barbehenn, Jet #1151

Pictures (Womens, Juniors, Day 1)

Pictures (Part II)

 Chevron Fleet

Presidents Fleet

Womens Nationals

Junior Nationals

Results Posted 9/3/2010

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