MYC Sunfish/Laser Regatta: I Swear the Lake Massapoag Wind has ADHD

Left Side: What the sails looked like before the regatta
Right Side: What they looked like after
(The Sunfish were hiding up top in the woods)

The wind paid its biannual visit to Massapoag just in time for the 7th Annual Sunfish/Laser regatta.  13 Sunfish and 12 Lasers faced the indecisive 15 knot winds that punctuated the 9:30am Skipper's meeting.  The wind displayed true indecisiveness, starting at 15 knots, then building to 20, then puffing to 25 in gusts.  It also couldn't settle on a direction, shifting from due North, to due East, then back to North, before settling on Northeast.  15-20 degree shifts were normal, as were reaches that became runs, and runs that became reaches.  There were also a few pockets of completely calm air in the maelstrom, where skippers could sit and watch all of the other competitors go by them. 

Among the Sunfish fleet, there were surprisingly few capsizes for such challenging conditions, although one Sunfish suffered a mechanical breakdown and had to retire. Racing was close for the most part, and sometimes huge gains or losses could be had on the downwind legs. Boats that were out of it at the windward mark were back in the thick of things at the leeward mark. The Sunfish finishers at Massapoag reversed their season's finish at Barrington.  Scott Greenbaum sailed out of Massapoag in First Place, with Bill Brangiforte in second and Andy David in third.  

Our spy snuck in and got a picture of the results

Next week is both the start of the Saturday Sunfish series and the Sunfish Regional Championships (part 1) at Barrington Yacht Club. Two skippers from MYC, Bernadette Levesque and Mark Stoughton will be representing Massapoag at the regionals.