CRANNE

The first regatta of the season was a very memorable one. Three
sailors from the CRANNE fleet made the journey down to Madison CT to
participate in the first JM Memorial Regatta. This regatta was put
on by the kids of the sailing club that Joe founded. It was a very
special and unique regatta. The entire town of Madision CT got
behind the kids with all kinds of sponsorship and donations. We were
welcomed Saturday by a great continental breakfast, free t-shirts,
and a free dinner tickets to the registering sailing teams.
The racing got on in a timely fashion Saturday under bright blue
sunny skies and a blustery northern breeze. To say we all were a
little rusty was a bit of an understatement as the tight F18 fleet
was about 30 seconds late for the first start!
Flat water and a solid breeze made for a great first day. Seeing 80%
of the cats out racing made up of teenagers was Way Cool. Racing was
cut a little early Saturday afternoon as the winds changed to a more
westerly flow with higher velocity so all the teams decided to hit
the shore to warm up. The teenagers challenged the old guys to a
game of wiffel ball and then proceeded to whoop our bums.
The complementary catered dinner Saturday night was on the waters
edge and included a live band!
Sunday brought Champaign Sailing conditions with winds out of the
South West at a steady 8 to 12 knots and again under sunny blue
skies. The racing got intense with the F18 fleet providing the Race
Committee with some perfect starts with all 5 cats roaring off the
line in unison.
Three good races were completed Sunday and then the teams packed it
up. A great slide show was displayed on the big screen before the
award ceremony with a few moving tributes to the late Joe M.

The kids, town, and fleet hope to have this regatta again next year,
same time same place. I highly recommend you mark you calendars for
this one as it is a great event run by some great sailing kids,
incredible facilities on shore, and great racing…

Congrats to Jim and Nora for taking the top spot at the first F18
regatta of the Northeast season…

Get those Cats ready to go, before you know it we will be shoveling
snow……….

Next up is the learn to sail event.

Thanks for coming down to Madison!! We all had a blast and there was some great sailing!! Let's keep the F18 events Cat events going!!