By: Dave Brawner
Twenty-five skippers made it to the race course for the Green Mountain Regatta at the Commodores Inn last weekend. The rest of you missed a really good time. Enough thank you’s can’t be said for all the hard work of the race committee and our hosts and staff of the Commodores Inn. There are so many people that I don’t want to risk missing one. To all, thank you!!
The bulk of the fleet had spent the previous day racing the big lumbering J’s on the Commodores Inn pond. Once the EC12’s were broken out, they just looked so tiny and even seemed to respond “quickly”. Perspective is an odd thing.
We had a beautiful day of sunshine followed by a day of Noah collecting animals in pairs. We sailed two fleet Promotion/Relegation on Saturday. With a good portion of the fleet deciding not to sail in the rain, we were able to sail as one large fleet on Sunday.
Dave Ramos won the regatta with a steady effort throughout. Though Chuck Luscomb and I were just behind Dave in the final order, we never worried him in the rain on Sunday. Dave Branning continues his back surgery rehab tour with a strong fourth place overall finish. See what happens when there isn’t a silver fleet. J Local boy, George Townsend grabbed a bullet in race 10 and took fifth place overall with a big smile.
Newcomer Chuck Millican was the class of the field on Saturday. It was just an honor and a privilege to be on the same pond with him. He quietly ended the day with three straight 2nds to take a 4 point lead at the end of the day. There was a lot of rain on Sunday. But, it only took one drop of water in the wrong place to wipe out Chuck’s transmitter and the hope of an overall finish fitting of his performance a day earlier.
The draw to Stowe is almost magical. On paper, there is really no reason to come here. It’s a small pond hundreds of miles from the nearest fleet and to say the least, the wind is a bit fluky. Yet, the fleet comes from all over the country…Rick West from California, a group from the corner of Canada, a group from the Chicago area and the rest of us from parts as far south as South Carolina. There is a reason that we all come to this regatta. You have to come to understand it.
Is registration for the 2017 Green Mountain open yet?
Summary of the Green Mountain Regatta:
Class: EC12
Date: June 4 & 5, 2016
Location: Commodores Inn, Stowe, VT
Host Club: Stowe Yacht Club (#159)
Entries: 25
Winds: Light & Very Variable
Races completed: 12 (24 Heats)
Scoring System: EORS Promotion/Relegation; 2 Heats
Thanks to Race Committee: Charlie Berry, George Dean, Rosemarie
Fitzhugh, Suzan Letwenski, Louise Townsend, Barbara Wright
Green Mountain Regatta Results:
Place |
L Name |
F Name |
Points |
1 |
Ramos |
Dave |
25 |
2 |
Brawner |
Dave |
30 |
3 |
Luscomb |
Chuck |
44 |
4 |
Branning |
Dave |
61 |
5 |
Townsend |
George |
66 |
6 |
Dion |
Al |
71 |
7 |
Shluger |
Bob |
72.4 |
8 |
Ouimette |
Don |
78 |
9 |
Pelley |
Jonathan |
89 |
10 |
Nourjian |
Bruce |
91 |
11 |
Jobson |
Brian |
95 |
12 |
Millican |
Chuck |
104 |
13 |
West |
Rick |
133 |
14 |
Mueller |
Gary |
148 |
15 |
Kerrigan |
Brian |
159 |
Remaining Finishers: Harry Mote, Boots Boutilier, Jim Goddard, Mark Fleckenstein, Phil Tonks, Paul Switzer, Jeff Gros, Al Thorsen, Gary Bugden, Kevin MacLellan.