Category: 2025 Posts

Racing 6/22/25

6-22-25 Regatta

The weather fooled us once again.  As of Saturday evening it was supposed to stop raining before 6am Sunday morning, but the forecast changed overnight.  On Sunday morning the rain was forecast to continue until around 10am.  Therefore, on Sunday morning I made the decision to cancel the Fun Sail but still hold the regatta at 12noon.

I think the rain and heat forecast were a little discouraging as not as many skippers showed up as expected.  We were also in schedule conflict with a Vintage Marblehead regatta at Redd’s Pond and I expected a couple of skippers to sail at Marblehead instead of Rosemary.

We got a late start because we didn’t have the Fun Race time to recover an errant mark. But we did get to enjoy watching Greg LaPlante row around in our little recovery pontoon boat to recover an errant mark and adjust our start line.  

At race time we had 4 skippers on the water, with their DF95’s.  Steve White and Herb Dreher were there but kept score and rooted us on from the sidelines.

The racing was fun, but marred, by the return of dreaded weeds.  We were also plagued by very light and shifty winds.  By race 6 we decided that the heat, the lack of wind and the presence of weeds had bested our normally boundless sailing spirit, and we adjourned to the clubhouse for the day.

At the end of the day Greg LaPlante had the low score.  Way to go Greg.

Thanks to all who came to sail with us.

Until next time.

Cliff Martin, Commodore

6/8/25 Regatta

We had a relatively nice day with cool gusty winds.  It was slightly cloudy but there was no rain.  9 skippers came out to sail, bringing 3 Soling 1 Meter’s and 6 DF95’s.

Due to the heavy rain, one of our regular marks managed to float to a new location that was a little further out and towards the center of the pond.  While I pondered returning the wayward mark to its original location, somebody suggested changing the starting line to run parallel to the shoreline and using the wayward mark as part of a new course.  Considering the wind was coming directly from the opposite side of the pond, it made sense.  It would be a true windward start. We knew that some skippers might have to squint a bit more to ensure a clean rounding, but the skippers decided to give it a go.

The longer distance to the windward mark made for some great tacking duels that were fun to watch.  I expected more separation between the individual boats, and certainly more separation between the fleets, but the shifty, gusty winds made for some interesting challenges during the windward tacks. Sometimes the winds seem to favor Soling’s and sometimes the DF95’s, but neither for very long.  The result was tight racing,with the leads changing often.

When it was over, John Whalen was the #1 DF95, by 1 point and Rick Gates was the #1 Soling.

For the first time this year, we were pleased to be joined by our old friends Ron Casciato and Harold Cohen.  Welcome back.

Finally, thank you to all the skippers for joining us to sail.

Until next time.

Cliff Martin, Commodore

May 18th Regatta

5-18-25 Regatta

It was good to have some sunshine and wind, and no rain, all at once.  A rare occurrence these days.  On top of that, 13 skippers showed up to sail; 4 brought their Soling’s and 9 brought their DF95’s.  It’s worth noting that we had participation of skippers from the Model Yacht Club at Pine Hills, the Greater Worcester Model Yacht Club and the Nashua Model Yacht Club.  Thank you, guys, for supporting our club.

Of course, the weather challenge for the day was that the winds were very “swirly” and gusty, and there was a decided hole-in-the-wind right in the center of the course.

The gusty winds and large fleet led to some interesting mark rounding’s and frequent changes in lead boats.  It was not unusual for boats at the back of the pack to catch a gust and surge to the front; or for boats in the front to hit the wind hole and sit helplessly while boats in the back caught up just in time for the wind to also pick up.  This would then lead to a scrum of boats at the next mark.

It would be fair to say that there was probably some frustration during the race, but few harsh words were said, and we got in 12 races before it started to rain.  Sadly, a couple of skippers had to leave early due to other commitments.  Also, John Whalen had to drop out of the last race because he was sailing with a FM crystal radio and one of the other 2.4mH radios was on his frequency and controlling his sails…..strange.

At the end, Drew Carlson was leading the DF95 fleet and Greg LaPlante led the Soling fleet.

Finally, thank you to all the skippers for joining us to sail.

Until next time.

Cliff Martin, Commodore

May 4 Regatta

Despite the two previous weather-related false starts, 11 skippers showed up to race: 6 DF95’s and 5 Soling’s.  It was good to see the response, and thanks to those who showed up.

It was slightly overcast, and the winds were light, but it wasn’t raining.  All-in-all, the mood was upbeat because it looked like a good day for sailing.

However, on the pond the winds became spottier, and sailing was a little more challenging.  The first race was somewhat slow, but it became worrisome that the wind might not hold through the morning.  Racing was also slowed due to some necessary rescues.  As we sailed on the winds continued to decline until by race 4 the fleet was drifting from “catspaw” to “catspaw”, when there was one.  At the end of race 4 the skippers unanimously felt that the glassy lake surface was beautiful, but not really good for racing, so we adjourned to the club house (Dunkin’s) to discuss why the weather didn’t like us to sail.

At the end, Greg LaPlante was leading the DF95 fleet and Alain Jousse was leading the Soling fleet.  I have to say, I was impressed at how well the two fleets sailed against each other.

Until next time.

Cliff Martin, Commodore

April 27th

Sunday 4/27/25

There’s no way I was going to try and second guess this Sunday’s weather like the last Sunday we tried to sail (4/6/25).  I checked 3 weather apps on Friday, Saturday, and then one last time early Sunday morning.  No rain was forecast after midnight Saturday.  Nothing!  I then sent out an email to tell everyone we had good weather in which to sail.  It was going to be windy, but it wouldn’t rain.

Halfway to the pond the rain began.  Not hard but steady.  When I got to the pond, one person was already there, sitting in his car, out of the rain.  Withing minutes more skippers showed up and it was like Déjà vu all over again, to quote the great Yogi Berra.  We all wondered how long the rain that wasn’t supposed to be,would last.

Fortunately, it did stop about ½ hour before official race time, and we were able to get in a regatta.  The winds started out very light but then lived up to the forecast of gusty to 30 mph.  

Luckily, both DF95’s and Soling’s can handle heavy winds, but some more than others.  Our day ended with a run-a-way Soling requiring a massive recovery effort in the heavy winds.  When it was all over, we decided to adjourn to the club house (Dunkin’s) and muse about the day.

Greg LaPlante’s Soling took first overall and was first in Soling Class.  Cliff Martin’s DF95 was Second overall and took first in the DF95 Class.  I was pleased that the two classes sailed well and were competitive against each other.  We will learn more as we sail more regattas.

Cliff Martin, Commodore

Racing on April 27

Skippers,Minuteman Model Yacht Club has a scheduled regatta coming up this Sunday, 4-27-25.  

There will be “fun sailing” from 10:00am until Noon.  During this time you can bring/sail/tune any class boat you want.  Starting at NoonDF95 and Soling1Meter racing will begin and last until 2:30pm, or until 12 heats are completed, whichever comes first.  These two classes will race together but will be scored separately.
Please let me know by Saturday noon if you will be able to join us on Sunday, and please include what class boat you will be racing.  If there is not enough interest or if the weather won’t cooperate I will cancel the fun sailing and regatta.  

If you read my report from our last rained-out regatta, I didn’t do a very good job of interpreting the weather forecasts.  I will try and do a better job this time. 
Also, in order to add an element of security, I will be sending these emails to club members by blind copy.  The club member names will no longer be displayed in the recipients box.  When I send out notice that we will be sailing, I will let you know how many will be coming and what they will be sailing.
Thanks, in advance, for your participation.
Cliff Martin, Commodore

April 6 Sailing

Sunday-Apr 6, 2025

This was the first scheduled race after the Icebreaker and skippers seemed ready to start the season.  

The evening before, the weather predicted a short, light rain shower stopping at 6 am on race morning.  I notified everybody that we were racing.  Fun sailing was at 10:00am and the race started at 12 noon.  I went to bed.  

The next morning, the prediction was that there would be an additional 30% chance of a short, light shower around 11 am,stopping before noon.  Not ideal, but I had told everybody we were racing, it was low risk, and we could still race at noon……. Silly Me!

The light rain that wasn’t supposed to be, started as I left my house just after 9:00a.  When I got to the pond just before 10am, people were already there, sitting in their cars trying to keep dry.  The rain was light, so we got out and chatted and looked at the darkening sky. 

A couple of still-hopeful skippers had boats they wanted to tune before racing started so they put them in the water between raindrops.  It would have worked except there was also no wind.

The highlights of the day were a couple of spectator cars that drove up to watch us standing in the rain, looking at boats that were floating becalmed on the pond.

As the clock approached the hour when the rain was supposed to stop, the clouds got darker, and the rain got heavier.

At that point we unsuccessfully tried to huddle under the one umbrella that Greg LaPlante brought and decided that even hardy men of the sea, such as us, could not fight mother nature and we should adjourn to the club house (Dunkin’ Donuts) to get dry and warm.  I waited until noon in case someone else showed up and then joined the other skippers at Dunkin’s. 

Cliff Martin, Commodore

2025 Ice Breaker

The Ice Breaker – 2025

Minuteman Model Yacht Clubs opening regatta of the 2025 season was held on Sunday, March 30, under overcast skies.  Did I mention that it was also 38 degrees and windy.  I don’t know what the wind chill was, but I had on a shirt, a vest, a sweatshirt and a coat, and I was not as warm as I would have liked.

For those who don’t know, the Ice Breaker regatta is open so any boat can sail, but the Ice Bucket trophy is awarded only to the DF95 fleet winner or the Soling 1 Meter fleet winner, onalternating years.  This year it was the DF95 fleet.

Nine skippers braved the cold to sail in this annual event.  Seven skippers brought DF95’s, one skipper brought a Soling 1 Meter, and one skipper brought a US 1 Meter.  It was evident from the first heat that some skippers came ready to race and had lost little competitive edge over the winter.  Greg LaPlante anddefending champion Paul Mercer took first place in 4 of the 7 races with their DF95’s, while John Lamport got 2 wins with his US 1 Meter.  I managed to sneak around everyone in the last race for a first place.  

As often happens early in the season, two skippers had problems and ended up not finishing.

After heat 7, the cold was weighing on almost everyone, so the skippers voted to stop racing.

In the awards ceremony, defending champ Paul Mercer presented the Ice Bucket trophy to this year’s winner, Greg LaPlante.

It was good to see everyone after the winter hiatus.  I wish the weather could have been warmer, but hey, this is New England. 

I want to thank everyone who came out to sail with us and I especially want to thank my wife, Sue, who sat in the cold, under many blankets, for keeping score for us. 

Cliff Martin
Commodore

March 23 Zoom Meeting

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 pm.  13 Club members were present.

– Officer elections were held.  Cliff Martin was elected Commodore and Greg LaPlante was elected Vice Commodore.  The position of Secretary/Treasurer was not filled but will be temporarily staffed by John Lamport.

– The Commodore then appointed Herb Dreher as Harbor Master.  The position of Web Master was not filled but will be temporarily staffed by Paul Mercer.

– The Open Regatta schedule will be:

Ice Breaker – Mar 30; RD-Cliff Martin; DF95 is the trophy fleet

Scott Spacey Footy – July 12; RD-Rick Gates

Old Timers – July 13; RD-Chris O-Brien; US1M is the trophy fleet

Jim and Sue Linville Memorial – Aug 10; RD-Steve White; Soling is the trophy fleet

Enduro – Alain Jousse – Nov 2.

– The Scott Spacey Footy regatta is the only open regatta without a “keeper” trophy so it was decided that Cliff Martin would make a Footy keeper trophy.

– It was decided that Cliff Martin would make certificates for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in the open regattas.

– It was decided that the Club dues for 2025 would be $20.00.

– It was decided that marks would be put in at Rosemary Lake on Thursday March 27, 2025, at 10:00 am.  Greg, Rick, Cliff and Herb will be present.

– It was decided that other classes could be scheduled/sailed on open days.  The interested skippers will contact each other to set up saiing.  

– It was decided that there would be another Club Zoom meeting on April 27 at 7:00pm to review the success of the new schedule.

Al Fearn

Skippers and Friends,

Sadly, this morning I received from Sam Morgan the following notice of Al Fearn’s passing.

From Sam:

I have sad news for all of us.  Yesterday, Al Fearn, our wonderful friend and founder of the Greater Worcester Model Yacht Club and the Regatta Point Sailing Program on Lake Quinsigamond passed away.  I visited him at the Hospital on Saturday and he was scheduled for a heart operation yesterday (Tuesday) but he passed before the operation.

Al was not only a great friend to all of us, but tirelessly committed to promoting sailing both large and small boats to people of all ages his entire life.  As soon as I learn anything about services, I will pass it along to all of you via email.

Best,

Sam

From Me:

Al was a Minuteman Model Yacht Club member when I joined, and I quickly learned that he was the person to go to for all things sailing.  He was an accomplished sailor, a great teacher/mentor, and he was always our best resource when it came to the interpretation of sailing rules.  More importantly, he was always a wonderful friend to the Club, even more so after starting his own Club, the Greater Worcester Model Yacht Club.

His kind and supportive demeanor will be missed by all who knew him.  

I will forward any further information as it comes to me.

Sadly,

Cliff Martin, Commodore
Minuteman Model Yacht Club

Winter Meeting 1/19

Skippers,

Minuteman Model Yacht Club has its first 2025 Indoor Meeting coming up next weekend, that’s Sunday 1/19/2025.  An invitation will be sent out later this week.

We will postpone officer elections until meeting #2 in order to give the Club a chance to discuss past challenges we have faced and possible future challenges.  Among these challenges have been:

  • Poor weather everywhere
  • Weeds at Rosemary
  • Closures at other sailing sites due to unforeseen circumstances
  • How do we move forward

I am also asking for members to think about stepping up and assuming some of the leadership/support positions within the club.  Web Master, Fleet Captain, Harbor Master, etc.  A very small number of individuals have been supporting these activities for years and new volunteers are needed.

Please make time on your calendars to attend, so we can discuss these issues.  We need your input.

Cliff Martin, Commodore