MinuteMan

Bob loved boats; he loved sailing, and he loved hanging around with the skippers at the pond showing and talking about his eclectic collection of model yachts (which included a Balmain Bug and a Chinese Junk).

As Bob grew older, he felt that the “more mature” skippers needed a competition of their own so that the slower thumbs and weaker eyes, which come with age, were not as much of a handicap compared to the other sailors.  Bob decided to buy the perpetual “Cane” trophy, then he donated it to the club and established the rules of “Old Timer” competition. 

Bobs rules are; the Old Timers Regatta is only for skippers over 65 years of age; it is sailed only with US1M’s and it does not start until 11:00am (Bob hated to get up early).  As an additional concession to the older skippers, all marks can be hit but you have to round them on the correct side.  Then, when the racing is over, the final scores are reduced by a predetermined factor that is based on age.  The older the skipper, the more the score is reduced, and the lowest score wins.

The Old Timers Regatta is very popular with our older Club members.  It’s great fun and a great tribute to a man who was never too old to play with toy boats.