The lovely evening of Thursday, June 23, brought the first official Holmes Hole Sailing Association (HHSA) race of the season, with scores earned according to finish position. A perfect 10- to 12-knot southwest breeze attracted 17 boats to the starting line. A short windward leg before a triangular course to East Chop (the dreaded can 23A), over to West Chop and back to Nun 6 in the harbor was tidily completed in under an hour. As it has in past seasons, the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club generously opened the kitchen for a post race supper and the reading of the results.
In Division A, Troubadour of the yacht club, an Express 37, was first with a corrected time of 45:36. In second place was Scheggia, a Brenta 38 sporting distinctive black sails and skippered by Tim Gollin. Scheggia was 20 seconds behind Troubadour on corrected time, but first across the finish in 38:08 elapsed time. Tom and Laurie Welch sailed Escape, a J100, into the third spot.
Bow van Riper’s Tyche, a Vineyard 15, won the B Division. Second was At Last, an Alerion X28 sailed by Jim Dixon; and Roger Becker’s Gloria, a C&C 24, took third.
If, on a cold, dreary and dark February afternoon, one were to conjure a perfect summer day for consolation, it would probably look a lot like last Sunday, June 26: the clearest of skies, dancing bright blue water and a temperature in the mid-70s. For sailors, not much wind until the moment it was needed for the start of the morning race. Those unable to be close to the line when the starting signal sounded found themselves at a disadvantage.
As the only competitor in Division A for the 10:15 start, Phil Hale’s Tango, a J100, took first, second, third, and last. In the B Division, Stormalong, a Pearson 31 skippered by Jerry Goodale, finished first on both elapsed and corrected time. Tamu, an Alerion X28 new to HHSA, sailed by Tom Wescott, took the second spot, and Gloria took third as she did on Thursday. On corrected time, Tamu was just 55 seconds behind Stormalong, and Gloria was only 35 seconds behind Tamu.
In the afternoon there were five Division A boats and 10 in the B Division. Once again the wind had died, but filled in to about 10 knots just as the starting line was set. As in the morning race, the course was two trips around a triangle in the harbor, this time on a flooding tide. A Hanse 335 sailed by Frank Sutula, Soma Holiday, came in first. Twenty-three seconds later on corrected time, but first across the line, was the Welches’ Escape. Third place was taken by a J70 sailed by Charlie Felder.
For the B Division, Tyche once more sailed to victory, with Jim Dixon’s At Last finishing second. Julia Lee, a 21-foot catboat owned by Woody Bowman, was third.
Holmes Hole Sailing Association races are held on Thursdays and Sundays. All are welcome. Please consult holmeshole.org for details.
