Laser New England Masters Championship,
Sep. 12-13, 2020
Wickford Yacht Club
Venue: Cold Spring Beach and West Passage of
Narragansett Bay
Regatta Report
This was the 6th time in a row that the regatta was
held at this venue, this time, however, in conjunction with the scaled-down Wickford
Regatta, postponed from June. The fleets of the Wickford Regatta (F-18, 505,
29er, I-420) and the NE Masters were separated on 2 different courses. Moose
McClintock, PRO on the Laser course, in his typical no-nonsense race management
style, had no problem getting 4 races in each day before the deadlines. The
wind, luckily, was on his side. On Saturday, it started out with NE 12 mph,
veering slowly all day and ending with E 5. Some sailors, fooled by the fresh
breeze in the morning, surely regretted later in the day to have chosen the
Radial over the Standard. On Sunday, the wind started with S 5, veering slowly
all day and ending with SW 15. No one sailed Radial that day, with surely some
regrets.
The regatta was sponsored by Team One Newport by providing
the embroidery for all 14 award towels free of charge. The company is
celebrating its 35th anniversary this year and would love to show
off its newly redecorated shop on Thames Street and its expanded lines of
merchandise at very attractive prices. Do yourself a favor and drop in.
Despite the travel restrictions due to Covid-19, 38 Masters
sailors showed up.
The top 3 Apprentices
were: Christine Shope (5th), Chris Murray (12th), Chris
Bollengier (17th);
The top 3 Masters
were: Scott Pakenham (6th), Stein Skaane (10th), William
Rothwell (14th);
The top 3 Gr.Masters
were: Peter Shope (1st), Rob Hallawell (2nd), Mark Bear
(3rd);
The top 3 Gr.Grd.Masters
were: Dave Penfield (7th), Peter Vessella (8th), Matt
Largess (29th);
The top 1 and only Legend
was: Peter Seidenberg (18th).
The Overall Champion
was Peter Shope, for the 4th time in the history of this
competition. The newly-created perpetual trophy shows 21 winners now, going
back to the year 2000. Since the regatta is older than that, going back to the
1980s, and with more room available on the trophy, it would be desirable to add
a few more names, ideally all 10 from the 1990s. So far, I have found 5.
Next year’s NE Masters will be run by the Wickford YC again,
at a date in September yet to be determined.