Mass Appeal

By Laurie Fullerton
photos courtesy Eastern Yacht Club

Marblehead, Mass - For the 114th year, Marblehead Race Week gave the region's best sailing talent a chance to prove that the smart sailors prevail, even when conditions for racing eliminate any hometown advantage. This year's strong, shifty southwesterly winds were not typical for Marblehead, Mass. eliminating "local knowledge" on the racecourse but not local talent on the scoreboard.

"Marblehead can sometimes be called Marble "dead" in summer because of the lack of wind. But, we were flying," said Viper sailor Bill Graves. The four-day regatta offered shifty breeze from the southwest building to 18 to 20 knots with gusts up to 30 knots on the final day.

Sailing World's National Offshore One Design regatta (NOODS) has been running this traditional event, which ran from July 24 to July 27 for the past 10 years but the time-honored event began over a century ago.

The Etchell-22 class was among the most competitive fleet this year as local sailors prepare for the Etchell's Worlds this September in Connecticut. Tufts All-American sailor Bill Lynn squeezed past well-known sail maker Robbie Doyle to win the class by one point. Lynn, Doyle, Jud Smith and Dave Curtis are all local, champion sailors who will compete in the worlds. Russell Coutts and Dennis Conner are familiar faces in the Etchell's fleet and will also be racing this fall.

For Bill Lynn and his teammates Tom Erskine and Doug Sabin, the racecourse was a difficult one but they took advantage of the "workman like wind," on the last day Lynn said. "In other words, we got the job done. We were fast enough, and we were smart enough and there were huge wind shifts. We did the best we could with the conditions but we never had the stuff entirely figured out."

Lynn added that, "we are going to have to do a little better if we have a chance of winning at the worlds." Jud (Smith) and Dave (Curtis) were not racing the full four days and joined the fleet at the weekend.

"Those two are hugely talented and they sail a lot," Lynn said. "I think this regatta would have been a far less foregone conclusion if Jud and Dave were there all week."

Defending champion Stu Neff of the Sonar fleet had an outstanding performance and took home first place.

Neff said the secret to his success was great crew work and getting off the starting line with momentum. "The air was up and down and it was a gear-shifting day. The local knowledge did not help us much today. We went to extremes on each leg of the race and went as fast as we could from one side to the other to stay in phase."

J-24 veteran sailor Mark Toso not only won his fleet but was also awarded the Leonard M. Fowle trophy for an outstanding performance at Race Week. The Fowle trophy is named after a yachting journalist from Boston who became a beloved figure around Marblehead.

"And, it is an honor to win the Fowle trophy as I am just a normal club racer but I have been very active in trying to do everything I can to promote the sport of sailing, particularly the J-24 fleet."

Kimon Pandapas of Marblehead, who sailed with his wife, Christina topped the Rhodes-19 and took home the coveted Norman Cressy award, given to honor a top performance at Race Week.

"We went out this week and things were just chugging on all cylinders. We were going fast, we were turning when we should be turning. It just all worked."

Marblehead Race Week would not be as important to the region if it were not for the sailing legends who race here each year, including Norm Cressy, who has been a sail maker in Marblehead for 45 years, and was racing in his 55th Marblehead Race Week.

For the first time ever, he raced with his two grown sons, Jonathan and Eric, in the J-24 fleet. During the last race, the talented Cressy's were early for the start and had to turn back and cross over the line again, but still made it to the top of the windward mark first. They finished in third place overall.

"The fact that my father is still out there racing after 55 years is amazing," said Jonathan Cressy of Marblehead. "This is still a really great regatta."

"For me to look around at the hundreds of boats is what it is all about," said Norm Cressy, who will retire this year after 45 years making sails. "This is my sport, and this is what makes me happy. And, let's face it; Marblehead is a great place to sail. Within minutes, you are out in a bay in 300 feet of water. Yes, there is a little tide to deal with but basically you have an open playing field and fantastic race committee work."

Second place finisher in the Sonar fleet and champion women's sailor Dru Slattery raced with her young son, Gram, who had wrapped up Junior Race Week on Wednesday. "The older sailors know a lot more than we do," young Gram, 11, said. "I think my Mom really knows a lot." Gram Slattery took home a trophy from both Junior and Senior Race week.

With a record attendance of 251 boats and 14 fleets participating, the Rhodes-19 class had the top numbers with 45 boats while the Sonars had 43 boats. With the combined Junior Race Week and Senior Race Week, a total of 522 boats raced off Marblehead this week, including 30 Star boats.

"We had so much to work with this week weather-wise," commented Martha Altreuter, rear commodore of the Eastern Yacht Club and the first women officer in the club's history. "This is a great sport and you don't have to be super strong to do well. It is the one sport where men and women can compete on a level playing field."

And, the sport appears to show no ageism, either, as 77-year old Ken Drewry of the International One Design fleet won his very first Marblehead Race Week this year.

"I started sailing on lakes in Wisconsin in 1937 or 1938 and in all the 45 years I have raced in Marblehead, I never won race week," Drewry said. "It all came together for us this week. The crew has gotten so good and I can just sit and focus on steering the boat."

Other fleets participating in the race include the Town Class, won by Arthur O'Neil of Swampscott, the T-Bird Class won by Wendy Loat, the Colgate 28s won by Jack Cochrane of Boston, the J105s won by Robert Hooper; the Viper 60s won by Kelly Braun of Marblehead among others.