Here are a couple of good ones from Jeff Kent. The first is a from the drone, and the second from the 360 GoPro mounted on the bow of the DN. There is an icon in the upper left hand corner with which you can swing the view 360 degrees.
drone: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oFT-b6luCrg&feature=youtu.be
Video and photos are starting to come in. Here’s one from Jim Turner: https://youtu.be/ILXG9Bm1K7E
If you have any good ones feel free to share!
Nina Fleming got some shots between start line duty: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gnwecrvxbmsk2gv/AAD4DylN1O7HkoYh2DCZBOIka?dl=0
The online swag shop will be active until the end of the week, after that you’re on your own. shirts, jackets, sweats, etc: https://easternlandsailing.itemorder.com/
Speaking of which, Big thanks to Gill for passing out neck gaiters!
The complete standings are as follows. Ninth and tenth place in the BloKarts is Grandfather Wayne and Grandson Aiden from Wisconsin. They are separated by just six points, and each beat the other in half the races.
Unlimited Class:
1. Bill Buchholz, Standart
2. Rich Henning, custom pipe boat
3. Milo Fleming, Mini Skeeter
4. Kent/Adkins, DN
5. Jim Turner, Mini Skeeter
6.John Stanton, Fed 5
BloKart Class:
1. Dave Lussier
2. Jim Nordhaus
3. Dan Clapp
4. BB Hredocik
5. Mike Denning
6. Daniel Hearn
7. Rich Buldoff
8. Kate Morrone
9. Wayne Schmidelin
10. Aiden Schmidelin
11. Charlie Kirstein
12. Ed Davis
13. Lars Barber
14. George Williams
15. Stephan McKeeman
16. Sandi Healy
17. James Day
18. Ed Kellar
Just this morning we have locked in the dates September 9-12 for the next regatta. Same Thursday-Sunday schedule.
Thirty landsailors travelled this past weekend to Loring Air Base in Aroostook County, Maine, for the second landyacht regatta at this amazing venue. Jim Nordhaus, from Madison, Wisconsin, is convinced this is the best landyacht sailing facility east of the Rockies. The size of the runways, quality of asphalt, and generosity of the locals make this a fabulous site. Where else can you get your boat wound up on a broad reach and go pedal to the metal for two miles, and then turn around and go back the other way and do it again?
A fleet of eighteen BloKarts and ten Unlimited class yachts had great winds Thursday for touring, tuning and scratch racing. The entire fleet did the Tour de Base twice in the brisk NW wind. The wind held nicely for racing Friday. Twelve races were run on the short course, and on Saturday three more were squeezed in with light and shifty winds. The puffs would pile in at random times and places; it was great fun to come tearing through a stalled group only to get stalled yourself and then be blown by in turn.
The results are fun. Ace A Skeeter skipper Dan Clapp had his first outing in a BloKart, and just to prove that talent counts, took home third. Grand master Jim Nordhaus, who has never been beaten by Dave Lussier in a race, took second, and his protoge Lussier won the class. NEIYA iceboater Kate Morrone and Steve Madden turned in very respectable results, each winning a race.
The Unlimited class was honored with the appearance of Jeff Kent and Chad Adkins with DN 3535. Jeff showed up last year, but wasn’t happy with his wheel arrangement. This time he was back with a vengeance. Sailing higher and faster than the rest of the boats, mast bent, the only limiting factor was the thought of that rough asphalt passing inches below the butt and how quick a DN can eject it’s captain. Thankfully there was no out of boat experience, but nonetheless, Jeff is working on an enclosed fuselage, DN rig powered, version of the French Standart. He hopes to have some ready in time for the landsailing regatta we are planning for September at Loring.
He didn’t stay for the entire regatta, which opened up opportunities for the rest of us. Milo Flemming in a Mini Skeeter earned third, Rich Henning in his custom pipe boat got second, and Bill Buchholz in a Standart won first. The racing was tight between Jim Turner’s Mini Skeeter, Flemming’s and Henning’s. Sadly Turner had to leave early. Dave Fortier converted one of his orange DN’s to wheels, but had serious steering issues. One can’t underestimate the steering geometry on these land yachts. Jim Gervolino brought his new fixed wing boat, but the winds weren’t ideal. He did learn something, though.
There were a couple of boats that suffered structural failures, but Doug Morrel at SFE Engineering had them both back on the track in no time. He runs a metal fabrication shop on the base specializing in stainless industrial kitchens. Big tip of the helmet, Doug!
The other great nod to hospitality goes to our hosts Tim and Sandy at the Bunker Inn, and Lori and Judy for getting breakfast on the table by seven each morning. Not to mention Neal Haines and Carl Flora of Loring Development Authority, the amazing guys that actually allow us to use the entire flight line. Thanks Gents!
Lastly, but mostly, our race committee did an amazing job of scoring the races, organizing the starts, and keeping track of light and heavy sub-classes within the BloKart fleet. They were seen chasing after those few errant sailors without sail numbers asking who the heck they were! Needless to say, next time sail numbers will be required. Henry Capatasto, Karen Binder, Nina Fleming and Jill Marrone: thanks SO much!
With the poor wind forecast for Sunday and long travel distance for some, the Regatta was called Saturday afternoon. The awards ceremony and banquet were held in the hangar as scattered showers and thunderheads gathered outside. The black flies came in out of the weather and joined the feast. If only they had chosen the chicken instead of us. But between the black flies and the fiddleheads our out-of-state buddies had a fine intro to Maine life. The awards were followed by a terrific grill fest mastered by BB Hredocik with contributions from many hands.
Sunday did, indeed, dawn calm. A few boats pushed around, but t’was all for naught, and most packed up and headed home.
But Richie Buldoff from Millville, NJ just knew the wind would come. He loaded up his boat and headed for the rise on the big runway:
His sail was last seen slowly disappearing over the asphalt horizon.
BB Hredocik has set up an on-line store for regatta swag. Check it out: https://easternlandsailing.itemorder.com/
There was a typo last report in the dates. The days are correct, but the dates are Thursday May 13 to Sunday May 16.
Best winds at this point are on Thursday. See you there!
With just over a week to go, the energy is ramping up. Sailors from Wisconsin, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are signed up and ready to go. Last minute projects are under way with late nights on the horizon.
The racing schedule is from Friday 5/13 until Sunday afternoon 5/15. A few will be there Thursday, 5/12, setting up. Directions are simple: drive north on I-95 until you are above the latitude of both Quebec and Prince Edward Island. At Caribou get off US Rt. 1 and take Rt. 89 towards Limestone. It’s a left. In a few miles you will pass an entrance to Loring Commerce Center on your left with a gas station on the corner. Best not to enter here, but carry on another couple of miles to the four corners with the flashing light. Cote’s Auto is on the corner. Turn left. You will enter the base around a sharp left bend in the road. A bit further on, on the left, is a derelict building. Just there on the right is your turn. It’s the first right you come to. Go up the hill, bear right at the top.
On the other hand you’ve been driving for what seems like forever and there is a sign for your destination. How heartbreaking it could be to just drive on by. You can turn left there and enter the base about a mile down on the right. Go a short ways until you come to Wienmann Rd. Hang a right and take it all the way until the end. Turn right, take that to the end, turn left. Take that to the end and turn right. You are now at the beginning of the regatta. At the end of this video you’ll see two hangars. Ours is the one on the left. Hopefully it will be open when you get there.
High Winds at Loring – YouTube
Here’s the roster so far, with those all paid up indicated. BK is BloKart, MS is Mini Skeeter and UL is everything else. If you see your name here without the $, a check, envelope and stamp will fix it. Trophies for the first three places in the BloKart and the Unlimited class will be presented based on points accumulated over the regatta.
Scroll back to previous posts for accommodation details.
Jim Turner MS/UL
Kate Morrone $ BK
BB Hdredlock $ BK
Mike Dinning $ BK
Dave Lussier $ BK
Milo Fleming $ MS/UL
John Stanton UL
JR Pepper $ UL
Jeff Kent UL
Bill Buchholz $ UL
Karen Binder pro
Henry Capotasto $ pro
James Day cash$ BK
Ed Davis cash$ BK
George Williams BK
Stephan McKeeman $ BK
Ed Keller $ BK
Rich Buldoff $ BK
Dave Midgley BK
Charlie Kirstein $ BK
Jim Nordhaus $ BK
Wayne Schmitt $ BK
Aiden Schmitt $ BK
Lars Barber $ BK
Steve Madden $ UL
Daniel Hearn BK
Dan Clapp BK
Jim Gervolino UL
Joe Gervolino UL
