2006 CBMRA INVITATIONAL

 

 

The weekend of November 11 –12 brought the first Chesapeake Bay Model Racing Association (CBMRA) Invitational Regatta. This is the first of what we hope to become an annual late fall event. The club has had so much fun hosting the Nationals at Sandy Point State Park and got such positive feedback from participants about the venue that we thought we should sail there annually.

 

We started the weekend out Friday Night with a gathering at the Chesapeake Performance Model’s shop. Here many took advantage of the skills of Dave Ramos in getting their boats checked over and dialed in for a weekend of racing. Graham Mattonen was also on hand to lend assistance to skippers. Graham has been working with Dave as of late and learning the tricks of the trade. It was great to see some new faces and catch up with old friends as we munched on some Red Hot and Blue barbeque. The evening ended early as everyone headed out to rest up for what was going to be almost a perfect day of sailing on Saturday.

 

Saturday’s forecast was for sun and seventy degrees with winds 5-10. The weather certainly didn’t disappoint as we had winds of 5-10 with gusts of 12-13. It went a little light in the afternoon but we managed to get in nineteen races for the day. The original idea was to sail an HMS system but with 15 boats we decided to place everyone on the line at once and sail as one fleet for the entire weekend. We set a windward leeward course and went twice around. This course proved to be just about perfect as it offered multiple passing lanes. With the wind coming out of the southeast it made it a little challenging to set a windward set of marks that were easy to see, it became even more of a challenge as the sun started to set and shined brightly in the competitors eyes. The sun along with a line of leaves that were being blown right down the center of the course made for some challenging and frustrating moments for the skippers. It didn’t take long for Geoff Becker to get off to a strong start. It was only the second race before Geoff won the first of what would be thirteen of nineteen races sailed on Saturday. In fact Geoff ended the day with seven straight bullets. Geoff was not the only person to win a race Dave Ramos started off the regatta with a win and would amass five bullets before the end of the day. Bob Bradford of Chester, MD managed to steel a win from Geoff and Dave’s stronghold in the ninth race.  Newcomer Raymond Wright who had never sailed his boat until Saturday showed continuous improvement throughout the day with an eighth place finish in the second to last race of the day. At the end of the day Geoff lead with nineteen points with three throw outs, Dave was in second with thirty-four points and Brett Davis was in third with fifty-nine points. Brett was doing well and his experience was growing rapidly has he just recently returned from his first big 914 regatta the 2006 Nationals.

 

Saturday night many of us met up at Yellow Fins restaurant to rehash the events of a great day of sailing and to grow some new friendships.

 

Sunday met with a less then a little inviting weather. The forecast called for temperatures in the mid to low fifties with a sixty percent chance of rain that may accumulate up to an inch. For the most part the rain behaved and held off till the last race of the day. However it didn’t ever make it into the fifties making for a very chilly day for the nine skippers who choose to brave the weather for a day of sailing. Unfortunately Clay Bartel had prior commitments for Sunday and was not able to return to try and improve on his fourth place position after Saturday’s sailing. I believe the weather convinced a few skippers to stay home and we lost a few to malfunctioning boats.

 

With winds from the north, northwest at 8-12 with gusts 16-17 offered a wind direction that was just about perfect for this venue allowing us to set a windward leeward course that offered great visibility of all the marks. Graham Mattonen got off to a hot start with a pair of bullets in the first two races and he ended the day with a bullet as well. Becker would win five of the days eleven races with Dave winning three races. Despite the weather it was a great day of racing with competitors having their fair share of wipeouts.

 

It was great to see “Team Cagwin” at the event. Team Cagwin consisted of Dad and his two sons who came to sail from Baltimore Maryland, Syracuse New York and Fayetteville New York. RC sailing is a great way for families to spend time together and it appears that the Cagwin’s were having a great time together on the racecourse.

 

We ended up completing thirty races over the two days. Geoff Becker won the event with a mere thirty-two points with five throw outs. Geoff’s worse throw out was a fifth. Second place went to Dave Ramos with fifty-one points. Brett Davis seems to be learning the 914 fairly quickly finishing third with ninety-three points. Thanks to everyone who came out and sailed in this event, we are looking forward to next year’s event!