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25 Years of the Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta
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##Trouble, Prudence, and Whistler fighting for the finish. Photo courtesy of Tom Wicks
By Tom Wicks
eing Covid-careful, the Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta, one of the largest regattas (up to 142 entries) on the Southern Bay and the largest of the Hospice regattas, was held off Irvington October 3 under blue skies, scattering clouds, and variable winds, but as only a one-day, pursuit-style sail race, with no social events, no awards ceremony and photos, and an online skipper’s meeting. But it still attracted 82 of the area’s finest sailors in their diverse and often handsome boats, making for a beautiful panorama of boats and sails across the breadth of the Rappahannock River. With forecasted northerly winds of 10-15 knots and 65 degrees F, boats met on the water to challenge the 10-mile course, with its pre-set “rabbit” start at 11
T o p T en F inishers L’eaudanse, Santana 35, Timothy Scheid Mad Hatter, Olson 911S, Bob Fleck Trilogy, Irwin 38, Wayland Rennie Silver Fox, Santana 20, Win Schwab Ceil, Peterson 34, Ben Ackerly Dolcefariente, Herreshoff S 27.5, Charles Schaffner Irrational Exuberance, J/30, Jesse Swartz Thistledowne, SJ 21, Bill McClure ScubaKat, SJ 21, Michael Chesser Dianthus, CS 36M, David Tabor
68 November 2020 SpinSheet.com
a.m. Boats sailed in reverse rating order with “slower” boats (based upon their race ratings) starting first followed by increasingly faster boats. The winning boat is the first across the finish line, and an exciting finish is expected as the boats often finish together—an 18-foot Typhoon may clash with a 45-foot speedster. But the winds lightened and shifted, creating large “holes” with little air, slowing groups of boats at points on the course, forcing many to adjust sails and tactics until the winds returned. As an eight- to 10-knot easterly breeze filled in the early afternoon, the final leg upwind became a tacking battle, with finishers sometimes dueling in pairs and triples, up to the finish line, crossing at acute angles. First Place went to Timothy Scheid on his Santana 35 L’eaudanse, who will have his and the boat name engraved on the Virginia Spirit Trophy and receive a free room and slip for next year’s regatta, courtesy of The Tides Inn. Bob Fleck aboard his Olson Mad Hatter challenged Scheid in a beautiful tacking duel, crossing the line a close second. Wayland Rennie, at 92, aboard Trilogy, rounded out the top three! Organizers congratulated top finishers, thanked them for their support, often for many years. Of note: last year’s overall winner—Chuck Schaffner, of the York River Yacht Club, on his classic wooden Herreshoff S, with an added winner’s handicap, still placed sixth overall and again took the top wooden boat award. New Rappahannock River Yacht Club racer Jesse Swartz, with his tactician
Steve Donofrio, drove his J/30 Irrational Exuberance to seventh and top finisher for RRYC this time. Previous Fishing Bay Yacht Club winners Bill McClure (’12) in Thistledowne (#8) and Michael Chesser (’10) in another Scuba Kat (#9) showed their competitive spirits while FBYC’s David Tabor on Dianthus tacked across the line at tenth, just ahead of three very competitive sailors: RRYC’s Arabella Denvir in Trouble, previous winner (’15) and Warren Ryan of YPRCC in Whistler, both J/24s, and Bob Montague (unaffil.) aboard Prudence, a Sailmaster 22. Not far behind was the first of the smallest yachts, the 18-foot Typhoons— Mad Cow, with RRYC’s John Congdon at the helm with Mike Kennedy’s Radio Flyer tacking in for the second RRYC Typhoon spot. The John and Carol-Jean McConnico Trophy, awarded to the yacht club or marina with the best three finishers, went this time to FBYC for some fine sailing. The Most Beautiful Boat Award went to First Light, a Hans Christian 33T owned by Charles Hall of Regent Point Yacht Club. Begun by John McConnico and Chuck Harney 30 years ago as a classic sailboat race, the Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta is now hosted annually as a fundraiser for Hospice by a combination of area groups: Rappahannock River YC, Rappahannock Yachts, and Yankee Point Racing and Cruising Club with support from many others in the greater Irvington community. #