Marblehead Laser frostbite: VanValkenburgh wins race with slack vang, takes first ever Corinthian Daily First

The s-e grin I can take, but winning with that slack vang puts us all to shame...

From the Marblehead Frostbite Fleet:

Thanks to Susie and Jim for 8 tight races and the pics!

All 14 boats completed all eight races in our deepest turnout yet. The top 5 boats finished the day within 5 points of each other – and four of those positions changed hands in the final race, as Bill Graves and Chris Hofstadter slipped by Sam Altreuter, and Kay VanValkenburgh's, bullet in that final race sealed his claim on the first-ever Corinthian Daily First.

On a brighter note, three junior sailors also sailed within 5 points of each other before Thornton Uhl bested… 811 (sorry, didn’t get your name….please come back next week, you owe us $1 registration). Just think, in thirty or forty years those juniors will look like us, and may learn to appreciate that old frostbite maxim – ‘what happens out there, stays out there’…. It came in handy at the weather mark in race 4 as a gaggle of starboard tackers, hanging by their fingernails in a late header, confronted an opposing gaggle from the left, who suddenly thought they could ‘make it’, but didn’t. 36 car pileup. Then the main event: the ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ this can’t be happening arse-over-elbows light-air flip: once while tacking, and then again downwind while doing something other than concentrating – both in the front group and both moves by the same guy… Finally, all that was topped by the joyless beer cooler, visible but locked in the pool room because somebody forgot the keys… we can laugh now thanks to fast-thinking and generous Jim and Gaele who scrounged alternate beer, wine, cookies and cokes for the post-race party. Running the races was nice, but salvaging the party was really sweet.

Just two more weeks – join us!

Prizes

Daily first

·         Corinthian Daily first: low-point score among those who’ve not previously won the day
·         Season top 5, top Junior, Ironman: starting 100% of races in the season

Amenities

·         Hot showers, cold beer

Schedule

·            6 Saturdays - thru 20 November

·            People who make the first start arrive: 1200

·            Skippers Meeting: 1215

·            Harbor Start: 1230

·            First Signal: 1300

·            Last Signal: 1500

·            Presentation of Prizes: 1600

·            Spring: 6 Saturdays to weekend before Memorial Day

·            Other details: just show up

·            Eastern Yacht Club  47 Foster Street  Marblehead