Chatham Yacht Club Regatta
August 7 and 8, 2004
The 2004 New England Championships were held at CYC at its annual regatta on Pleasant Bay in Chatham, Massachusetts. 140 boats in seven classes attended this year’s event. The typical hot and humid weather with consistent SW winds were substituted by beautiful sunny skies, dry air and shifty winds.
The Daysailers sailed on the same line as Marshall 18's and 420's. A 42-boat 420 fleet added some extra tactical work at times for the 12 DS boats racing. The DS fleet was tight as good sailors mixed with fluky winds made nothing certain until a tie-breaker after the final race made the Bob and Mark Lemaire team the NE champion and undefeated for the year! (Mid-Winters, Atlantic Coast, New England) Four boats from Stage Harbor YC made the cross-town trek and two veterans, Drew Carlson and Richard Batchelder treated us to their dusted off skills and tweaked out boats. They were accompanied by Lisa Patten and Jeff Calhoun who, along with their whole program, did themselves proud at this regatta.
The Chatham Yacht Club contingent was led by perennial favorite Natalie Coleman-Fuller with husband Rob, as sister Allison was recovering from her recent gymnastics routine on the subway quay. Walter Mason and Scott Winn were both sailing with their daughters and Bob Blake made his annual pilgrimage to sail with Bill Donnelly. Joining Allison Coleman on the Disabled List, Brian Bush lent his boats to Ted Baylis with wife Kim, and young CYC hotshots Clint Young and Emily Taylor.
At the last minute, Sterling Worrell, (now of Massachusetts, formerly of Tennessee) made an appearance to show us that he clearly knows what he's doing! In all, competition was keen, the weather and venue excellent. It was encouraging to see some old stalwarts back in their boats, mixed among the new faces.
The regatta highlight, however, was a surprise visit to the clubhouse and racecourse by Marblehead veteran Dan Duggan. As many of you know, Dan's been courageously battling cancer, and as always, he made the extra effort for his beloved Daysailer class—Dan's wife, Peg drove with Dan to Cape Cod to meet up with Alan McClennan, Jr. on his powerboat to visit the racers. Dan is an inspiration to us in more ways than one!
Please put the CYC on your calendar for next year: 1st weekend in August for more years than we can remember!
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Brian Bush (bbush-at-heritageprop.net)