By Finn Hadlock
(District One contains Fleet 23 in Malletts Bay/Lake Champlain, Vermont, Fleet 28 in Marblehead/Beverly/Salem, Massachusetts, Fleet 43 in Falmouth, Maine, and Fleet 139 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.)
2018 was another great year for District One, and it was certainly fun to see 48 boats at Portland Yacht Club in Falmouth, Maine for the US Nationals. They hosted a great event – thank you to all the competitors and volunteers!
Malletts Bay, Vermont is hosting US Nationals in 2020, so we welcome everyone to come up to the Northeast Regional/ District One Championship at Malletts Bay this September 14-15, 2019 to get tuned up. For anyone who hasn’t sailed on Lake Champlain in September, it is a stunning venue with great shifty breeze, and Burlington is an excellent town for some fun at night.
Vermont’s Fleet 23 isn’t just planning regattas; they are also racing some boats! Fourteen different boats made it to the starting line this summer with 10 boats racing constantly during the week for the title of Fleet 23 Champion. John Reynolds on Roxy was consistent all summer (with mostly bullets) and came away with the title. Most of Fleet 23 has swapped their sails for skis except for Mike Quaid and his boat Ice Cube which is down in Florida racing this winter. Fleet Captain Paul Hansen also reports that several boats race weekly on the other side of Lake Champlain, in Port Henry, NY. Great to see the Class growing up at Lake Champlain!
Over in Maine, Fleet 43 has an influx of younger J/24 owners joining the fleet. Newcomers Spencer Howe and Charlotte Kinkade bought their boat Rabble Rouser and had a great first year including sailing in the US Nationals. Their boat is undergoing a major renovation which can be seen on Charlotte’s Instagram (@charlottesmiles). There are also cute dog pictures. Katie Drake also joined the fleet this past year on her boat Angry Squirrel and shot up the overall standings by finishing in the top five every race from August through September. Finn Hadlock’s Boreas (That’s me!) is joining the fleet for 2019 with potentially a couple other young owners to add them to 13 current boats. Fleet 43 also has a new Fleet Captain in Sarah Helming. Sarah has been a part of Fleet 43 for about ten years, and we are very excited to have her at the helm. Despite all the youth trying to take down the old guard, Carter and Molly White’s Vagabond won the overall series for the State of Maine Championship.
Heading down route 1 to Portsmouth, the Fleet 139 “Knuckleheads” did a great job of hosting the local District 1 Championship this past year where Carter and Molly White again took home the hardware, and Erica Beck-Spencer’s Sea Bags grabbed the World’s berth. Great breeze all summer allowed the fleet to get off 31 races over 17 nights. Twelve different boats raced this summer with a consistent 8-10. Lenny Cushing’s Logjammin won the overall series with a staggering 14 bullets. Andy Keturakis reports that the local Portsmouth HS sailing team has had some members racing with them, and that fleet members are working on getting a couple more local boats to come race in 2019.
Further south, Fleet 28 in Massachusetts are still racing in local PHRF events and traveling to some J/24 regattas. This winter, the Snowflake Regatta at Attitash Mountain is helping raise money for Sail Salem. They even bought an Opti and named it Snowflake. This event is a ski race for sailors, and you know that because they have a rum sponsor. For more information, head to http://snowflakeregatta.com.
Traveling/District One on the road: it was another great year with multiple boats coming in the top 10 at Midwinters, North Americans, ECCs and US Nationals. District One continues to battle with the Texas Circuit for the most miles driven to regattas, and we wish them better luck in 2019.
If you have any questions, feel free to email our Fleet Captains or me. We look forward to seeing everyone on the water.
Finn Hadlock, District One Governor, WFinnHadlock@gmail.com
Paul Hansen, Fleet 23 Captain, j24fleet23@gmail.com
John Denman, Fleet 28 Captain, imaeast@yahoo.com
Sarah Helming, Fleet 43 Captain, helmingsarah8@gmail.com
Andrius Keturakis, Fleet 139 Captain, aketurakis@comcast.net
(Photo credit: Susan Follansbee at www.susanfollansbeephoto.com)