We went, we sailed, we’ll be going back... Steve Yelland and I decided to avoid beltway and Annapolis traffic by heading out to The Byrd Regatta in Cambridge, MD Friday evening. This was an excellent idea as it took us just about 2 hours to get from the marina to the aged town. The Cambridge Yacht club sits on a charming area of the Choptank river, so we set up camp under a moonless sky, under the trees and near the restrooms. Saturday morning was sunny, hazy, and breezeless, but registration was moving smoothly and the albacores, hamptons, snipes, optis, el torros, lasers, and penguins rigged with fervor at the club. We decided the floating ramp that hung off of a 4ft breakwall wasn’t the ideal place to launch and headed 1/4 mile south to Water something Park where the Catamarans were rigging and had set up camp near a small beach, complete with a stone breakwall that made a nice cove to launch in. Here Steve saw a few familiar faces and we ran into Alex LeFleur, who was sailing on of those other boats. We rigged, launched from the beach, and went out to the inside course. This was the area of water closest to the club; most likely because the Optis and Penguins were being driven by the youngest racers I’ve ever seen. The 3 trophy winners for the Optis had to be no older than 12! The 20, or so, of that class shared water with the Lasers. Lucky for the kids there were only 7 lasers out there and we got our own windward mark, set a bit further from the leeward mark then theirs, putting us bigger boats on a course that went damn near into their marina. The wind was touch and go up there. We had 2 races before lunch. During each, the wind built from 4 kts to about 8. The big boats were farther out on the river and had bag-lunch delivered to them by the race committee, while the Lasers and the kids purchased burgers and fries back at the club. By the time we started the 3rd race, the wind had built to 10. We did three races in 12-15 kts breeze and the bright sun, finishing the day with enough races to score us competitively without needing Sunday’s races. Saturday night we had a drink at the club and moved our camp to the park where the Cats were having a delicious cookout for a meager donation of no more than $5. Our gracious host (Laddy) brought sweet sausages, chicken, burgers, and London Broil marinated to perfection. We ate and cleaned up as the rain started becoming a nuisance. Good thing we got in enough races Saturday, because Sunday was literally a wash. After dinner, thunder and lightning kept us awake and the wind blew my tent down like the little pig that built his house out of straw. Luckily, there was room in a dry tent and we survived to wake up to a drizzle Sunday, and the news that the day’s racing was cancelled. At the awards ceremony, our very own Lars took home a plate for second place and the unofficial [most time in the water[ award. How you can do both, only a few from PRSA can tell you. It’s having other people from our area there that gave the regatta a little sense of home. We know each other’s names, making it easier to hail them, and we learn a lot from each other; not to mention having someone else to travel with when your trailer starts coming apart. Makes for a lot less stress. Cambridge was a great regatta. We were recognized by folks heading home on Rt 50 when we were scratching our heads about how we were going to reorganize our haul. The first sailor had exactly the right nut and bolt to put the trailer back together, and the second sailor that pulled over helped lift a boat to the roof rack on the car. This pretty much summed up the hospitality we received at this sailing event and look forward to the adventure with more familiar faces next year. |
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