2008 Knockabout Season Wrapup

by John C Powers

We had a very strong fleet of eight boats this season, and next season is already looking better with the addition of at least 3 more boats. I have aquired another boat which is in 'race ready' condition and although I don't have definite plans yet, my intention is to recruit a crew to sail it for next season. Also, very interesting, David Lee is back in the fleet after about 30 years! David goes back to the wooden knockabout era when we were sailing about 25 boats out of Megansett. His last boat was Tar Baby which was originally owned by the well known Scudder family out of Hyannis. David contacted me mid-summer about any available boats to purchase. I promptly signed him up to sail with me for the rest of the season and we quickly found him a boat to purchase. He is already working on it to be ready to race next summer.

Great to have some younger crews...many times there are boats that need extra crew
It was great to have some younger crews in the knockabouts this season, in particular Anthony Julien and his crew sailing in the Mignone boat, Obsolete. After a little more tuning up Anthony is going to be a tough competitor on the racecourse, and hopefully the boat will no longer be 'Obsolete'. Also, Brenda Halloran and Laura Crowley sailed with Shep on Late Show. It would be great to get more MYC sailors out on the knockabout course. Many times there are boats that need extra crew and any suggestions as to how we can get more yacht club involvement would be appreciated.

2008 Season Final Standings

  Skipper Boat Name Number Points
1st Andrew Gallagher Yanqui #351 14
2nd Web Collins Mae Win III #424 23.25
3rd Shep Halloran Late Show #370 25.75
4th John C. Powers Finally! #200 34
5th Bruce Eldridge Cob Web II #422 43
6th Tom Reilly Megansett Time #405 45
7th Anthony Julian Obsolete #309 50
8th Wint Frame Mooncusser #300 58


In July, Megansett hosted the annual National and SMYRA Knockabout Championships. We had nearly 20 boats from 4 different clubs, and 3 perfect days of sailing. A big thanks from the knockabout fleet goes out to the Yacht Club and the entire staff for helping to make this weekend successful!

We finished the season Labor Day weekend with two days of racing. On Saturday, we had the Frank McNulty Memorial Single-Handed Race, and on Sunday we had Season's Last Two Races instead of just one, because the conditions were so good that noone wanted to quit.

Finally, our knockabout program would not be successful without the generosity of Web Collins. Web donates the use of his powerboat Pure Bluff as a very substantial race committee boat. He also makes available the use of his launch when needed. A big thanks also goes out to Jim Powers who has been running the race committee for as long as we can remember. The Race Committee work takes up the beter part of every Sunday during the summer and the fleet is lucky to have Jim as a volunteer.