Here’s Jim Turner on his attempt at the top speed award last week. The footage gives a good sense of the space: the first beat up the back runway, the blast reach at the crossover, and the fast run down the big runway.

Mini Skeeter Speed Run Loring Landsailing VI youtu.be

I’m not sure, but I think he came third in that event. Nicely done Jim!

Very competitive racing this time around. Check out the results above. Many thanks to Nina and Millie Fleming for running our races and tabulating the results so quickly.

We were back in the hanger again. Sail in-sail out.

We lowered the door during the thunderstorm, just enough to watch the action unfold outside.

After the storm, Steve Madden going for the pot of gold, which he found in winning both his class and the BloKarts overall.

No, this is not a BloKart showroom, but it sure did feel that way. We had a great turnout in both classes.

Unlimited class getting ready for the start. The top mark is way down at the end of the runways.

Tight tacking on the first upwind leg.

BloKarts ducking and weaving at the start.

In addition to the regatta racing, there was a Poker Run and Speed Trials. The Poker Run consists of five checkpoints scattered around the flight line, each with a bag containing playing cards sealed in an envelope. The idea is to find the points, collect all five and return them to the race officials. The five cards determine your hand. They were all in but one. Jim Turner failed to find one of the checkpoints, but was strongly encouraged to go back out and try again, now in a dying breeze. Returning a half hour later, drenched in sweat from pushing (that particular target was at the top of the hill), he submitted the final card, his hand was formed, and he won the pot! Way to go, Jim.
For next time we are considering changing this event to more of an orienteering style competition. We will double the checkpoints, make them a bit more challenging to find, hand out maps and time the run.

The Speed Run had its own little drama, in addition the downed rigs, torn sails and flat tires. Dan Clapp and Jeff Roseberry tied for first with 61.5mph. Jeff being Jeff went back out into the 15-25knt. wind and pushed hard for a couple of runs and came in with 61.6. Discretion being the better part of valor, Dan let it stand.

After a great week of sailing and socializing, it’s time to patch sails, fix flats and get ready for September. Tentative dates are September 19-24.
There are so many people to thank. Just go down the list on the results: every name there made a contribution to the success of the event.

Here’s a link to an interesting, and maybe troubling, article on Loring’s potential future:

https://thecounty.me/link/ai-company-to-bring-quantum-research-center-to-aroostook

Or, is there a chance we could get the techies sailing?

The big tent at Northern Maine Brewing was blown down this winter in a gale and then buried in snow. The snow has just melted and the tent sits there in a heap. Large party seating inside the restaurant is limited to 16 people, so that’s what we have for a reservation. We’ll try to keep some nearby tables open for latecomers; maybe we can get creative. At least we’ll be warm this time and won’t need to reconfigure the hot air heating ducts again. When the waitress walked in and saw us at work she was a bit shocked, but Dan Clapp stood up and said that it’s ok, "we know what we’re doing: we’re engineers!"

One week to go. In addition to all the fun stuff below, there will be another Top Speed Competition. This time, instead of Jim Turner’s radar gun we will be using our personal GPS’s to record Top Speed. There will be one trophy for BloKarts and one for Unlimited. Based on the wind, we will alot a specific time window in which to record your speed. You will be able to go anywhere you choose to find the best puff.

Tuesday May 9 through Sunday May 14.

Tuesday is free sailing, touring and scratch racing.
Wednesday Poker Run, scratch racing, group dinner at Northern Maine Brewing, Caribou
Thursday, start of regatta racing. First race flag drops at 10:00. Unlimited starts first, followed by BloKarts two minutes later. Friday, racing.
Saturday, racing, no start later than 2:00. Super cookout dinner, awards after.
Sunday, reserve racing day if needed. No race start after 12:00. Leftovers lunch.

For those staying at the Bunker Inn, breakfast will be served Thursday, Friday, Saturday. We will be paying Lori and Judy directly this time. $15.00 per breakfast or fifty bucks for all three days.

Registration still a bargain:

$100.oo

to:
Bill Buchholz
31 Gosses Hill Rd.
Camden, ME 04843

BloKart registrants please indicate your weight and sail number. There will be “Light” and “Heavy” classes for BloKarts, “Unlimited” for everything else.