Manchester resident Ben Chigier of Escape Velocity. (Courtesy photo)
Eleven racing sailboats from around Massachusetts Bay competed in the Manchester Yacht Club’s Fall Series Regatta on Sunday September 18. The series consisted of two races held in the waters off Manchester.
The weather conditions made for good racing, with “sporty” southwesterly winds of 12 to 15 and clear skies for most of the afternoon. The race committee, under the auspices of Tony Leggett, set up a challenging windward-leeward course. The fleet was divided into five classes, three of which (Classes A, B and C) used spinnakers and two (Classes F and G; there were no boats in classes D or E) that did not.
Escape Velocity, sailed by Ben Chigier and Stan Schreyer out of the Jubilee Yacht Club in Beverly, was the only boat in Class A, and therefore won the class. Similarly, Class B had only one competitor, Mischief from Gloucester with Wilfred Shrigley at the helm. Class C had two contestants, Crazy Uncle skippered by Gordon Baird from Gloucester and Incentive sailed by Carl Doane and David Gray from Manchester. Crazy Uncle finished ahead of Incentive in both races to take home the silverware for Class C.
Class F had the stiffest competition in the fleet with six highly competitive boats, resulting in several very close finishes. Finezza Veloce, out of Gloucester with Fred deNapoli at the helm, placed first and second in the two races to capture first place in the class for the series. Manchester’s Larus, sailed by George Putnam, finished fourth and first in the two races to grab the second spot in the class, just ahead of Peter Engel’s Goldeneye, out of Marblehead.
Ania, from Manchester with Brian Owen at the helm, was the only contestant in Class G, but she proved very competitive with several of the larger boats in Class F. Ania also overcame particular challenges: Owen commented that there was so much spray coming over the bow during the last race and on the return to the harbor that they had to stop twice to bail the water out with a bucket.
After the racing was over, the sailors repaired to the Manchester Yacht Club deck where they enjoyed sumptuous hors d’oeuvres and chili prepared by Jean Ducott and Paula Filias before the awarding of the prizes.
