2009 Knockabout Season Wrapup

by John C Powers

The Megansett Yacht Club finished the 2009 knockabout season with the annual Single Handed Race on Saturday, September 5, and the Final Series Race on Sunday.  At the afternoon awards ceremony on Sunday the Megansett Knockabout Fleet dedicated a new perpetual trophy for the Club Championship to the memory of Jim Tomlin.  Jim died in April of 2008 after a long illness.

The Tomlins arrived in Megansett  nearly 40 years ago and Jim’s knockabout, Yanqui, was soon a formidable challenger on the race course!  Yanqui was always at the top of the fleet in club sailing and at the annual regattas.  Jim had won the Knockabout

National & SMYRA Championships, the Megansett Yacht Club Championship, and
We dedicated the Knockabout championship to Jim Tomlin
the Powers Cup Long Distance race more times than can be listed in this space!  As fierce a competitor as he was on the racecourse, Jim was equally helpful to anyone in the Knockabout Class who needed advice. Jim perfected the art of fine tuning a Cape Cod Knockabout and gladly passed on his techniques to anyone in the fleet.  By way of this new Championship trophy Jim will forever be remembered by present and future knockabout sailors.  Jim’s boat Yanqui is now sailed by Megansett’s Andrew Gallagher. For the past few years Andrew and his crew Mike Sullivan have been more than adequately keeping Yanqui’s reputation intact.  In a fitting tribute to Jim, Andrew has sailed Yanqui to the 2009 season championship at Megansett and will be the first name engraved on the new trophy.

Single Handed Race

 The Megansett singlehanded knockabout race was sailed on Saturday, Sept. 5 in nearly non existent winds.  Jim Powers and his able assistants Sandy Powers & Cindy Kasabian had the frustrating duty of chasing the windshifts as they tried to set the starting line.  The wind went from northeast to west before finally settling in at “about” northwest.  After a delay of about an hour the Race Committee sent the eight boat fleet on its way.  The boats slowly crept over the starting line searching for what little breeze was being offered.  There were huge holes in the wind all over the course and boats who found them slipped deep into the pack with little chance of recovery.  Exhibiting extremely adept seamanship, most of the skippers flew their spinnakers on the downwind runs (making for some interesting take-down maneuvers and second sets!!)

Tom Reilly had Megansett Time in the lead from the start to the finish!  Although Tom’s lead was challenged several times by Mae Win III, Yanqui, and Finally! he kept Megansett Time out front to win the race by 32 seconds over Andrew Gallagher’s Yanqui!

Final Series Race

 The flukey northerly wind of Saturday came back with a vengeance for Sunday’s final knockabout season race.  It was blowing an estimated 20+ knots out of the northeast at 8:00 AM and there were more than a few calls from skippers wondering about a cancellation!  Web Collins assessed the conditions and reported, NO PROBLEM, the breeze would moderate by the afternoon.  By the 12:30 race time the breeze did just as Web had predicted (almost)!  The wind did moderate and was considerably less than the previous 20 knots, however, as is typical with the northerly, the gusts were strong and unforgiving.  As the fleet blasted it’s way to the starting line the race committee made the decision to fly the “no spinnaker” flag much to the relief of more than one of the crews!

Jim Powers set a windward mark deep into Bluefish Cove and put Pure Bluff on station at a starting line near  Nyes Neck.  Jim was assisted onboard the committee boat by Christina Powers, John Gannon, and mascot “Rosie the dog”.  The eight boat fleet charged over the starting line without incident blasting across the Bay towards the weather mark.  The wind was shifty and favored sides of the course could not be predicted.  In one moment heavy gusts could force a boat to round up and in the next the skipper would be sailing off course into a header.  Web Collins almost immediately put Mae Win III into the lead.  Web would not be fooled by the holes in the course and did nothing but increase his lead as he kept his transom facing the rest of the fleet.

Andrew Gallagher followed Mae Win down the center of the course waiting for his opportunity to strike at Web’s lead.  Tom Reilly, John Powers, and Bruce Eldridge had some success by sailing to the extreme left side of the course, tacking only as the Scraggy Neck sandbars threatened to ruin their day.  David Lee, sailing Black Swan, chose the usually unconventional extreme right side of the course as he planned his approach to weather.

Mae Win rounded the weather mark all alone as the rest of the fleet found themselves in a traffic jam attempting to get onto the leeward leg.  David Lee brought Black Swan right into the middle of the action as he charged across the entire course on one tack to the upwind mark.  Yanqui, Cob Web II, Black Swan, Finally! and Megansett Time were all within seconds of each other as they blasted towards the leeward mark.  The second weather leg was equally challenging and boats exchanged places as they played the shifts, all except the first place Mae Win III as Web Collins had found his groove and was making no mistakes.

The second leeward leg was uneventful but things got hot as the fleet set out on the final weather leg of the 2009 season!  The battle was on for second place in this race as Web Collins all but locked up the number one spot.   Finally! had slipped astern of Yanqui at the mark rounding, John & Ted Powers went hunting for some way to overtake the Gallagher-Sullivan crew.  The boats were still rounding up in the gusts and adjustments had to be made to power through them.

Finally! split tacks with Yanqui and the Powers crew flattened the boat out for maximum speed.  As they made a move back across the course, Finally! got lifted almost to the finish line, well above the course that Yanqui was making!  Powers was feeling pretty comfortable in the second place spot!   In a matter of moments, however, the tables started to turn.  Finally! was losing ground on the finish line in a huge header, as Yanqui got lifted and now threatened to slide ahead, again.  To complicate strategy even further, Bruce Eldridge and Tom Reilly were charging into the finish from the right side of the course.  Powers was able to hold off Gallagher and kept a tight cover as they tacked towards the finish line.  A last second tack for the finish allowed Finally! to keep second place with Yanqui only 7 seconds astern!  Bruce Eldridge kept Cob Web II in close contention only 6 seconds behind Yanqui, and Tom Reilly’s Megansett Time was only 22 seconds astern of Bruce!!

2009 Season Final Standings

  Skipper Boat Name Number Points
1st Andrew Gallagher Yanqui #351 15.75
2nd Web Collins Mae Win III #424 32
3rd John & Ted Powers Finally! #200 39.75
4th Tom Reilly Megansett Time #405 46.75
5th Bruce Eldridge Cob Web II #422 57
6th Anthony Julian Obsolete #309 66
7th Shep Halloran Late Show #370 68
8th Rick Mignone 200 Blue #--- 91
9th David Lee Black Swan #--- 91
10th Wint Frame Mooncusser #300 94