The Southern Maryland Sailing Association's Solomons Island Regatta September 20-21 drew 8 Windmills to a light-air event...blown out by high winds only 2 years ago. In the light and shifty airs, ability to find the puffs and play the shifts was the key to success. Class President Dave Neilsen and Politcal Advisor Sarah Strohl were not always the fastest, but were clearly the best as they took advantage of many bits of wind that eluded the others to take first place with
1-2-3 results on Saturday; this was good for the overall victory when failure of any wind to arrive led to cancellation of the Sunday races.
Past President Bill Blanton (4953) brought his super-crew daughter Chesa up from Florida and recorded 3-3-1 to trail by only one point.
The Blantons scored a decisive victory in what proved to be the final race by playing the left side of the course on both the opening and finishing windward legs. Lon Ethington and Meg Gimmi (3886) made excellent starts and were at the top in all races. Unfortunately they recorded 2-5-2 when they found themselves caught on the wrong side of the run to the 4th mark in the second race and ran into more trouble on the beat home.
George Kuney and Susan Bloomgarden brought 4525 back into action (for those with long memories, the John and Judy Kinney boat of the early
1980s) as new class members. With new sails, restoration by Marvin Spencer and Lon Ethington and excellent sailing, they made the transition from 2 hulls to 1 hull and wound up with a steady 4-4-4 after exploring other positions during the racing! Much fine sailing was done by the others, especially including the second race win by Allen Chauvenet and Lisa Hayes (5586) who otherwise suffered from some poor decisions by the skipper, including overlooking the course change on the last leg of the 3rd race.
We had hoped for 10 boats but had one cancellation and one failure to find the Sailing Club (not easy to locate!)...however, we do look for 10 or more boats next year. Virtually the entire fleet was treated the the extremely generous hospitality of Bill Blanton in proving both shelter and breakfast, which allowed some good time for Windmill discussions and future planning.
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