The second week of the Holmes Hole sailing season started with an ideal evening sail on Thursday: no clouds, a nice 10- to 15-knot breeze, and a perfect temperature. Eight showed up for the 3.2-mile course around the harbor, the only drawback being that there was little windward work in the speedy rounding of the marks. Steve Besse was first across the line on Apres, but Alan Wilson sailed his Stuart Knockabout Altius into the winning spot on corrected time, just 11 seconds ahead of Gloria, Roger Becker’s C&C24. Tamu, an Alerion 28 skippered by Tom Wescott, came in third. Afterward, the racers gathered for a delectable supper on the VHYC porch. This season the Yacht Club has been extremely fortunate to have Regina Stanley, owner of Art Cliff, in charge of the kitchen while construction work is being done on her diner, and everyone is just delighted by the results.
The 26th was a perfect June day by any standards except those of serious sailors. Roger Becker reports that Sunday’s race was an epic battle that seemed to take days to resolve: “Six boats started in a light, unforecasted NE wind. A search along West Chop yielded nothing, nor did a search along East Chop. The destination of the Course 2 race demanded entering the Sound with little hope of enough wind to get as far as the buoy at Hedge Fence.” Things did not improve with the addition of a strong westerly current. Finally, it seems that each boat chose a different tactic, and when the southwest wind finally spread across the course, those three in the best positions battled for first as they headed home. Gloria came in third, 12 seconds behind Beck Colson sailing Silhouette, an Alerion 33. First place was snapped up by Penelope, Mo Flam’s Alerion 28, which was also first across the line. Another coffee cup for Mo and Pam. They can serve quite a crowd by now!
Five Hereshoffs came out on Sunday as well. Providence won that race, Whirlwind was second, and Patch of Green was third. Such an aesthetic treat to see them.
