There was a striking contrast between the Thursday and Sunday Holmes Hole Sailing Association (HHSA) races last week. Thursday was a clear but blustery evening, with wind gusts up to 25 miles per hour. Several of the 18 skippers opted to reef sail. Sunday brought a minimal, changeable, often dying whisper of wind. The Thursday race was speedy; the Sunday race was slow, even though shortened.
On Thursday, winners were not determined until the final calculations of the finish times. In the A Division, Go Time, a sonar sailed by Alex Pardo, edged out Steve Besse’s J120 Après by just one second to take first place. A J100, Phil Hale’s Tango, placed third. Two Alerion X28s won the top three spots of the B Division: Mo Flam’s Penelope was first, and Jim Dixon’s At Last was third. The venerable Magic Time, a Vixon 29 owned by Dan and Sally Culkin, made her 2016 debut and slipped neatly into second place.
On Sunday, 13 boats started in a very light northeast breeze for a race shortened to just one trip around the harbor triangle. At nun 4, a new west breeze confronted a persistent easterly push, leaving no wind at all at the mark. Some chose to head out into the sound to take advantage of a little more wind and the strong flooding tide to carry them toward can 23A at East Chop. This proved to be an effective strategy that accounted for the first four places in the B Division. The spritely Gloria, a C&C 24 belonging to Roger Becker, came in first, and Silhouette, a Nonsuch 26 skippered by Beck Colson, was second. Angelina, an Alerion X28 new to the fleet this year, and sailed by John and Lisa Stout, was third. Of the three A Division boats, Sheggia, a Brenta 38 sailed by Tim Gollin, won, followed by Escape, Tom and Laurie Welch’s J100. Tango came in third.
HHSA races are held on Thursdays and Sundays. All are welcome. Please visit holmeshole.org for further information.
