43rd American Cancer Society Regatta - Race Committee Re-Cap

[John Baker]

The 43rd American Cancer Society Regatta is in the books. Congratulations to all participants. This year’s regatta was one of the more exciting races we have had in quite a few years. All week long, the RC, ACS Regatta Committee, and racers had been watching the weather, wind and tides. The possibility of postponing the race until Sunday was on the mind of many. The wind prediction websites such as Sail Flow and Windy were updating their predictions every few hours, but one thing remained steady; the winds would be out of the North East and range from 13 to 18 knots.

A decision about postponing a race like the ACS Regatta is never taken lightly. The regatta party must be held on Saturday, but it is always better when the results are posted, racing crews are engaged in lively discussion, and the awards are presented.

This year we had a new racing ‘Navigator’s Class’. This pursuit race format sailed a 5.7 Mile Course, separate from the general spinnaker and non-spinnaker classes. The course: (F)YAGF gave the navigators an a combination of upwind and broad reaching legs. While the rough conditions caused a few boats to reconsider sailing in the race, the two boats that started had some very close sailing. After two hours on the course, the result was close, with Grand Prix and Gray Sea finishing within 2 minutes of each other.

The spinnaker and non-spinnaker classes sailed a longer, 7.8 nMile course of (F)TCTF. This standard windward/leeward course was completed by all the finishing boats in just about 2 hours. Again, racing was close and many boats finished very close to one another.

A few remarkable things happened in this year’s race, the first which thankfully went unnoticed by the race competitors was the breakdown of the RC boat. On our way out to our intended location at Mark “E”, the engine shut down. We restarted it, but it would only run for a moment and then die again. With the winds and seas being high, we were quickly drifting towards the beach. When we realized that the engine would not re-start, and we risked being blown onto the beach at Belle Terre, we quickly dropped the anchor. The anchor held and the boat stopped so now we had time to think, try to restart engine and if possible move to “E” to start the race. The engine would not restart, we presumed it to be a fuel issue, tried the second tank, but to no avail. Looking around at our position, it turns out we were anchored in close proximity to Mark “F”. The start/finish line was not ideal, but it was certainly usable. So, we announced our location on the VHF and set the course board. Ed Dowd, the PJYC director for launches, was on-board. He called SeaTow and arranged for a scheduled tow back the PJYC after the race. So, within 10 minutes of the last finisher, we were being towed back safely to Port Jefferson. It was a remarkable bit of providence, drifting into position, being able to conduct the race and plus getting back to the dock without a major delay.

Another remarkable thing was for the first time that anyone can remember, the MSSA did NOT win the Mather Cup. The Mather Cup goes to the club with the best three finishers. The Mather Cup which is now in its’ 31st year of presentation, has names of past winners on plates affixed to the base of the trophy. Reading the names was like a walk back in time, remembrances of MSSA members past and present. BUT each plate had one thing in common. The winning club was the MSSA. This year, when the cup is returned to Mather Hospital, it will bear PJYC as the club with the top three finishers. Congratulations to the Port Jefferson Yacht Club. And thank you for providing strong competition to the ACS Regatta. John Baker