#544 SOUTHERN BAY RACING NEWS YOU CAN USE
on Tuesday June 7, 2011 11:15AM
AFTERTHOUGHT, J109, from Raleigh, North
Carolina, owed and skippered by Craig Wright, won THE BLACK SEAL CUP, for best
overall performance at SOUTHERN BAY RACE WEEK 2011. In the
largest of the handicap and one-design fleets, PHRF A2 (12 boats),
Afterthought had only one blemish, a 2nd which was a throw-out,
in her string of finishes for SBRW (1-[2]-1-1-1-1). The regatta, which
is sailed in Hampton Roads, drew 98 keel boats from the mid-Atlantic and as
far away as Maine. Tom Hall, from Scarborough, Maine,
brought his Elliott 770 to Hampton and dominated the SBRW PHRF B1
fleet. On Friday, the first day of racing, the fleet raced in the
Harbor, after a long-range recon race committee launch reported rolling waves as
high as skyscrapers in the Bay itself. Chessie was in a snit. Racing
breezes and smooth surfaces made for three opening day races in the same waters
where the Civil War Battle of the Ironclads took place in 1862. Saturday
morning the seas in the Bay off Norfolk's Ocean View had abated and the fleet
got in three races in conditions that rewarded, in addition to other skills,
attention to wind shifts and Bay currents. On Sunday morning, Mother
Nature threw a curve. While the racers eat breakfast, downpours as thick as
their pancake syrup hit the area. Racing was postponed ashore and not much
later warnings of expected severe thunderstorms kept officials from sending the
fleet out. Rather the party tent was activated and by noon the Gosling's
Black Seal Rum was offsetting the dampness. Awards were presented, boats
traveling by trailer were readied, and delivery crews studied the green glob on
the weather channel. SBRW 2011 is in the books and a rousing success.
SBRW RESULTS: PHRF A1: 1.Wairere,
Pete Hunter, Kill Devil Hills, NC; 2.Meridian 2,
Sledd Shelhorse, Virginia Beach; 3. Voodoo 2,
Leroi Lissenden and Scott Birch, Richmond. PHRF J35
One-Design: 1.Maggie, Peter Scheidt, Highland, MD;
2.T-Bone, Bruce Artman, Tracy's Landing, MD;
3.Bump in the Night, Maury Niebur, West River,
MD. PHRF A2: 1.Afterthought, Craig Wright, Raleigh, NC -
also, winner of the Black Seal Cup; 2.Sea Star, Dave
Eberwine, Suffolk; 3.The Riddler, Clarke
McKinney, Solomons, MD. PHRF B1: 1.Seven,
Tom Hall, Scarborough, ME; 2.Gremlin,
Greg Cutter and Carie Curry, Norfolk; 3.Rumble,
Ben Weeks and Michele Cochran, Yorktown. PHRF B2:
1.(tiebreaker)USA 90, Dave
McConaughy, Newport News; 2.(tiebreaker)
Stingray, Don DeLoatch, Virginia Beach;
3.Easy Button, David and Jacki Meiser, Solomons, Md. J105
One-Design: 1.Veloce, Marty Hublitz and Eddie
Hornick, Roanoke; 2.Inevitable, Mike
Karn, Richmond; 3.Loose Cannon, Strother Scott,
Maidens. J24 One-Design: 1.Quicky, Mike
Veraldi, Virginia Beach; 2.USA 840, Neil Ford
and Elisabeth Biondi, Hampton; 3.Chop Chop,
Rodney Paice, Portsmouth. PHRF C1:
1.Horizon, Bob Fleck, Hardyville;
2.Swamp Rat, Mike Klopf, Hampton; 3.Spray,
Bumps Eberwine, Suffolk. PHRF C2: 1.Not So
Blue, Pete Wallio, Hampton; 2.Prophet,
Noel Clinard, Richmond; 3.Sub-Surface, Brendan
Drinkwater, Virginia Beach. PHRF Non-Spin: 1.Virginia
H, Andy Armstrong, Hampton; 2.Midnight Mistress,
Jake and Pat Brodersen, Gloucester; 3.Black
Widow, Leo Wardrup, Virginia Beach. Cruising
A: 1.Whisper, Larry Bryant, Portsmouth;
2.Faith, Jerry Lotz, Suffolk; 3.Black Dog,
Jim Beaudry, Newport News. Cruising B: 1.Restless
VIII, Sonny Smith, Norfolk; 2.Mortar Offer,
Kent Utley, Suffolk; 3.Bay Dreamer II, John
and Mary Bergman, Norfolk.
Event Chairman - Jack Pope; Event PRO and East
Course- John McCarthy; Race Officer West Course - Brian
Deibler; Race Officer Cruising Course - John Ritter;
Official Scorer - Dariene DeRyder; Signal Boat Captains -
Eric Matherne, Brian Deibler, Cindy Flowe; Mark Boat Captains -
Bill Gibbings, Dave Hamilton, Tom Fowler, Jerry Olson, Rick Klein;
Support Boat Captain - Marshall Findley.
Save the date for SBRW
2012 - Opening Night / Skippers Meeting Thursday, May 31
with Racing, Parties and Awards, Friday, June 1 thru Sunday, June 3.
Y'all come racing!
Get the boat in order - here comes the HARBORFEST
HOMETOWNE REGATTA, THIS Saturday, June 11. Sponsored by
Portsmouth Boat Club and open to all PHRF classes (PHRF Non-Spin allows 2
headsails) as well as a cruising fleet (allowed one headsail only).
The race starts in the Elizabeth River and finishes where it starts. This
is a good tune-up for racers who are eyeing The Cock Island Race the following
weekend (June 17-18). There is a 4pm time limit on this race to assure
that everyone has time to get to the post-race party at PBC (5-7pm) at
the PBC Clubhouse. Hurry and get your entry in TODAY, June 6. For
info and entry, please contact Larry Bryant at 757-472-5969 or Dave
Bennett at 757-676-1047.
COCK ISLAND RACE - June 17-18.
Word is that all entries were due no later than June 3rd (last
Friday). HOWEVER, if you are the cow's tail (last part over the fence),
you may want to try your excuse out on Rene Spratley at Portsmouth Parks and
Rec (757) 393-8481 or talk to the Principal Race Officer, Larry Bryant
(757) 472-5969. Excuses should be designed to elicit mercy, not
[necessarily] guffaws!
Saturday morning, around 0730, Donnybrook, the
beautiful 72 footer that just last week was in Hampton, having won line
honors in the Down the Bay Race, had an unplanned encounter with the Baltimore
Channel Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel island rocks. She
was headed out the Bay in the Annapolis - Newport Race. The sailors
aboard Donnybrook aboard are ok, although word is one crewman suffered
a broken arm, and the boat is now back in Annapolis.
On this coming weekend:
Fishing Bay YC - Moonlight Regatta (Saturday) - www.fbyc.net
Rappahannock River YC - Inaugural Cape Dory Typhoon Nationals
(Saturday and Sunday)
Yankee Point YC - Singlehanded Regatta (Saturday)
At SBRW this past weekend there was discussion of the official
event organizing and race committee shirts - they were pink. It was
reported that some of the men were a bit uncomfortable when they were faced with
wearing a pink shirt. The day was saved by racer
Brad Miller, Schiehallion, who explained
that the ladies were wearing pink, but the gentlemen were
obviously wearing salmon. Perception really is everything!
VIMS Benefit Event - a Poker Run for
paddle boats, dinghies, jet skis and other motor craft.
Saturday, June 18 - 0900 through 1500 - at Salt Ponds Marina
(Hampton). If you want to play and help the Virginia Institute of
Marine Science, contact Bill Walsh at 800-55404581 or
757-880-8820.
MURPHY'S LAW: Some people
see the Harborfest Hometowne Regatta as a warm-up for the Cock Island
Race. Both races are run essentially in the Elizabeth River,
although the HHR is likely to go out into Hampton Roads Harbor, around Craney
Island's edges and beyond. Yrs Truly, the Racing Beagle, sees the
true warm-up to be the HHR post-race party at PBC on Elm
Street. Remember, Cock Island is known as two
great parties interrupted by a race !
/S/ Murphy the Racing
Beagle, the sailing spirit in us all.