SYC Mizzen

Race Season Opens with Ynglings and an Alden

The SYC racing season got underway on Saturday with three of the fleet making the starting sequence at 2:00.  John Ingalls and Torey Pellegrini each won a race in the same Yngling, while Teal was runner-up in both races.  JAVA picked up where she left off last season, winning the season opener in a sailover.

Aldens Finish Season in Light Air, Big Swells

JAVA captured the August Series with a pair of wins on a day notable for its near complete lack of wind, and swells courtesy of Danny (who caused the postponement of the last Saturday race day to Sunday.)  Cutty Wow finished second in the last race to bring home third place for August behind Bachelor Button.

Awards for Aldens as well as Ynglings, Sunfish and Herreshoff 12 1/2's will be presented at the season ending cocktail party this coming Saturday, Sept. 5, at 5:30 on the SYC dock.

August Series Results (worst score thrown out):

	8/1		8/8		8/15		8/24		8/30		Aug
Race	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	Pts.	Plc.
Java	1	1	DNS	DNS	3	2	1	1	1	1	18	1
Bachelor B	4	6	1	2	2	1	3	4	4	5	26	2
Cutty Wow	2	4	3	1	1	4	DNS	DNS	6	2	29	3
Old Bull	5	3	DNF	6	4	3	2	3	2	4	32	4
Elisha	6	5	5	5	DNS	DNS	4	2	3	3	40	5
Chiquita	3	2	4	3	6	6	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	42	6
Augusta	7	7	2	4	5	5	5	5	5	DNS	44	7
Sept. Song	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	61	8

JAVA Back on Top in Alden Fleet

Only the Aldens showed up to race on Sunday, rescheduled from the previous day due to Yngling North Americans being held at SYC over the weekend.  The expected bad weather from Hurricane Bill never materialized, allowing 5 Aldens to head for the line for their penultimate day of racing for the 2009 season.  In two races JAVA returned to her winning ways, and to the top of the Alden standings, winning both races comfortably.  Old Bull, despite keeping her spinnaker turtled, had the second-best showing with a second and a third.  Elisha, skippered by RaCom Chair Mara Shore, notched a second and fourth to earn "show" status for the day.

Alden August series results to date (since there have been more than 5 races held in the August series, the worst finish will be "thrown out" in the final point tally -- the point totals on the chart below do not reflect any throw outs):

		1-Aug		8-Aug		15-Aug		23-Aug
		1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2
	Aldens									Pts.
1	Bachelor Button	4	6	1	2	2	1	3	4	23
1	Java	1	1	DNS	DNS	3	2	1	1	23
3	Cutty Wow	2	4	3	1	1	4	DNS	DNS	27
4	Old Bull	5	3	DNF	6	4	3	2	3	32
5	Chiquita	3	2	4	3	6	6	DNS	DNS	36
6	Augusta	7	7	2	4	5	5	5	5	40
7	Elisha	6	5	5	5	DNS	DNS	4	2	41
8	September Song	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	56

Seven Ynglings Complete NA Tune-Up at Saturday Racing

The local Yngling fleet came out in force last Saturday for their final race tune-up prior to the beginning of the Yngling North American Championship here at SYC beginning Thursday.  Ruth Hough continued to impress, winning the day with a pair of bullets and a second; Junior Sailing Race Coach Torey Pellegrini impressed with the other win for the day and a pair of seconds.

The outnumbered Alden fleet completed a pair of races for their penultimate Saturday race day, with Bachelor Button missing a pair of victories by a split second (losing to Cutty Wow by a nose in the first race.)

A pair each of Herreshoffs and Sunfish completed a race, with Truslow's Pooh II taking the H 12 1/2 race, and the crew of Luke Ingalls and George Littlefield leading the Sunfish. 

		Aug15
		Race 1	2	3
	Ynglings
	Orion	5	3	3
	Teal	4	4	6
	Olympic Boat (Ruth Hough)	2	1	1
	Olympic Boat (Mike/Torey)	1	2	2
	Gael Force (MacDonald)	6	7	7
	Loki (Richmond)	3	6	5
	Pat Clancy and Flash	DNF	5	4
	Aldens				August Points
1	Bachelor Button	2	1		6
2	Cutty Wow	1	4		9
3	Augusta	5	5		16
4	Chiquita	6	6		19
4	Java	3	2		19
4	Old Bull	4	3		19
7	Elisha	DNS	DNS		24
8	September Song	DNS	DNS		28
	Sunfish
	Will and Kevin Gallagher	DNF
	Seamus Power / Joe Gallagher	2
	Luke Ingalls / George Littlefield	1
	Herreshoff 12 1/2
	Pooh II	1
	Sea Trout II	2

Evenly Matched Fleets Mark Record Saturday Outing

Five Ynglings, six Aldens, five Sunfish and a pair of Herreshoffs sparred Saturday, and in 8 races only 1 boat notched more than one first place.  Loki, with Bill and Cooper Richmond, and Cobb Ingalls, bested the Yngling fleet in the first two of their races, but fell all the way to fourth in the third with Ruth Hough taking the win.  In the Alden fleet, Bachelor Button and Cutty Wow split the fleet's pair of races (JAVA's usual staff was asea in the Bermuda Triangle).  As a result of the very even racing in both fleets, the winner of August honors is still very much in doubt after half the month has passed.

A pair of Herreshoffs and 5 sunfish rounded out a very busy afternoon last Saturday, with Pooh II losing a nail-biter to Sea Trout II, and Rex Littlefield and Holly Taylor splitting the wins in the pair of Sunfish races sailed.

August results so far:

		8/1	8/1	8/1	8/8	8/8	8/8
	Race #	1	2	3	1	2	3
Ynglings
	Orion	3	2	3	4	2	3
	Teal	5	4	2	2	4	2
	Olympic Boat (Ruth Hough)	1	1	1	3	3	1
	Ouroboros (Flash Power)	6	6	5
	Gael Force (W/A MacDonald)	2	5	DNS
	Gael Force (Jenny H./Flash)				5	5	DNS
	Loki	4	3	4	1	1	4
Aldens									Pts.
1	Cutty Wow	2	4		3	1			10
2	Chiquita	3	2		4	3			12
3	Bachelor Button	4	6		1	2			13
4	Java	1	1		DNS	DNS			16
5	Augusta	7	7		2	4			20
5	Old Bull	5	3		DNF	6			20
7	Elisha	6	5		5	5			21
8	September Song	DNS	DNS		DNS	DNS			30
	Cutty Wow	7	7		2	4		20
	Chiquita	4	6		1	2		13
	Bachelor Button	3	2		4	3		12
	Java	2	4		3	1		10
	Augusta	6	5		5	5		21
	Old Bull	1	1		7	7		16
	Elisha	5	3		6	6		20
	September Song	8	8		7	7		30
Sunfish
	Scott Humphrey	2
	Jim of Barrington YC	1
	Rex Littlefield				1	3
	Nate Taylor				2	2
	Margot Littlefield				3	4
	Holly Taylor				4	1
	Sophie DenUyl				5	5
Herreshoff 12 1/2
	Pooh II	1			2
	Sea Trout II	2			1

Racing Boats Set Record in August Opener

Seven Aldens and nearly as many Ynglings, plus a pair each of Sunfish and Herreshoff 12 1/2s showed up on Saturday to start the August session of Sakonnet's Saturday racing.  Ruth Hough led the 6-boat Yngling fleet winning all three races.  Bill Richmond had Loki in the water for his first racing this season, as did Whit and Asher MacDonald, in Gael Force. 

The Woodhouse's piloted JAVA to a pair of firsts in the fierce Alden competition, where photo finishes prevailed.  The Truslow's took the Herreshoff season opener, and Scott Humphrey finally failed to win a Sunfish race this year, following his friend Jim from Barrington over the finish line.

A huge percentage of the floating personnel on Saturday were SYC junior sailors; a baker's dozen teenagers made the noon wake-up call to crew and skipper the Sakonnet fleet.  What reader remembers more sailing competition, or more kids participating, on a Saturday in Sakonnet?

Results from Saturday, August 1:

	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Points
Ynglings
Ruth Hough	1	1	1	3
Orion	3	2	3	8
Teal	5	4	2	11
Loki	4	3	4	11
Gael Force	2	5	DNS	13
Flash Power	6	6	5	17
Aldens
Java	1	1		2
Chiquita	3	2		5
Cutty Wow	2	4		6
Old Bull	5	3		8
Bachelor Button	4	6		10
Elisha	6	5		11
Augusta	7	7		14
September Song	DNS	DNS		16
Herreshoffs
Pooh II	1			1
Sea Trout II	2			2
Sunfish
Jim of Barrington	1
Scott Humphrey	2

Aldens Close Out July in Photo Finish

Seven Aldens showed up on a foggy Saturday afternoon this weekend to close out the July racing season.  When the smoke cleared, Tom Woodhouse's JAVA had captured the top spot with seven bullets; Hoyt and Littlefield's Bachelor Button held on for second, barely nipping the Thomases' Old Bull and the Taylors' Cutty Wow in third and fourth.  Chiquita finished strong to follow in fifth for the month; Elisha competed in every race in July to finish sixth, while "newcomers" Augusta and September Song rounded out the fleet.

Place	Race:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts.
1	Java	1	1	1	2	1	1	3	1	1	12
2	Bachelor Button	2	2	3	1	4	2	DSQ	3	6	31
3	Old Bull	DNS	DNS	2	5	2	4	1	6	2	32
4	Cutty Wow	3	4	6	3	3	3	4	2	5	33
5	Chiquita	DNS	DNS	5	6	6	5	2	4	3	41
6	Elisha	4	3	7	4	5	6	6	7	7	49
7	Augusta	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	5	5	4	53
8	September Song	DNS	DNS	4	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	59

Bringing "Bachelor Button" Back -- Part I

I've been captivated by the lovely Aldens since Bar, the kids and I started visiting Sakonnet in earnest about 5 years ago.  After a few seasons renting a house in Pequaw-Honk (which is more Acoaxet and Elephant Rock than Sakonnet) a lucky circumstance brought us to Warren's Point so we could jump in to the activities at Sakonnet.  As part of that immersion, of course, came exposure to the boats and people -- and the history -- that are the Alden fleet.  A kind of love affair began -- mostly platonic and essentially unrequited (we even missed the Aldens' birthday party last year) -- until the end of the recent season.  The match was made at the end-of-junior-sailing cookout the last week of August, when, after a few beers Karl and I were seduced into tying the knot (sight unseen) with the jilted "Bachelor Button" then living a dowager in Mara's barn.

Karl and I had our first look at the baby blue Alden (we're told that's the color of the bachelor button flower) soon after we decided to take her on, and agreed that, with some work, she could be brought back to join her sisters on the mooring and on the race course at Sakonnet Point.  Just last Thursday we hornswaggled Erik to (help the two of us) move Bachelor Button from Mara's barn to Jim Titus's workshop in Newport.  Jim Titus, the boat restorer who agreed to take on the challenge of bringing Bachelor Button back to floating pretty (sailing and racing a further goal), came with all sorts of moving tackle, including rollers, planks, jacks and come-alongs to extract the boat on its cradle from the barn, and slide it onto the flatbed car trailer generously lent by Erik.  The transfer from barn to trailer and then from trailer to workshop floor were the most complicated and time consuming parts of the move -- made to look easy by Jim and Erik.  The drive from Little Compton to Newport, over the notoriously pitted roads on Aquidneck, was uneventful.

Jim will be able to begin work on Bachelor Button in about a month, and expects he can have her floatable by next spring.  The goal is to have Bachelor Button on the starting line and ready to race against her 5 active sisters when the first whistle is blown in early July, 2007.  We'll be monitoring progress (and maybe blogging it) as it evolves.  Next up is ordering up a suit of racing sails from the fleet's supplier.

Aldens: A History

By Mara Shore, as originally published in the Mainsheet in June 2005.

In the late 1930’s, the renowned boat designer John Alden, who summered in Little Compton, created a daysailer specifically for our waters.  Called the Sakonnet Sloop, the 18 ½ foot keelboat has graceful lines, excellent stability due to a 700 pound lead keel, a deep cockpit surrounded by high combings, and a relatively high, dry freeboard:  a perfect balance of attributes for daysailing in and around Sakonnet.  The sloop evolved from a 1917 design called the Biddeford Pool One-Design.  The Herreshoff Yards in Bristol produced several of the boats, which were destroyed by the devastating hurricane of 1938.  Alden then modified his design slightly, and in 1939, ten more were built by the Casey Boatbuilding Company in Fairhaven, Massachusetts.  This design so pleased John Alden that he kept one for himself, sailing and racing it regularly.  Others were purchased by Little Compton families who eagerly sailed and raced them at the then newly-formed Sakonnet Yacht Club.  These are the boats that we know as “Aldens.”  They are safe, dry, and comfortable, making them perfect for multigenerational daysailing and racing.

In 1954, Hurricane Carol, which leveled whatever was left or had been rebuilt on our coastline after the 1938 hurricane, destroyed all but two of the boats, Tautog and Cormorant.  Legend has it that Elizabeth Dawson, an avid competitor who was devoted to her boat, Tautog, scuttled it in the harbor before the hurricane to keep it safe. When the hurricane had passed, the boat was raised; but it was never the same after its trip to the bottom.  The rest of the fleet had to be replaced, and were ready to sail in the summer of 1955.  All but one of the “Aldens” now in and around our harbor date from that year.

The 1955 fleet was built by Harry Towne, who bought the Herreshoff yard after his Tiverton boatyard had been destroyed in the 1954 hurricane. (Robert W. Carrick and Richard Henderson, John G. Alden and his Yacht Designs, International Marine Publishing Company, 1984, pp. 300-302.  Anyone who wishes to read further about the history of the Sakonnet Aldens will find this book most useful.) Ten boats were built to Alden’s design number 694, bringing the total to twelve.  Alden bought one of these boats and named her Java , for the acronym of his name and that of his wife, Virginia.  He sailed and raced Java actively for several years.  She was his last boat.  Other members of the 1955 Sakonnet fleet included  Howard Huntoon  (Honey Bee), Howard Merriman (Blossom), the Hawes family (Blue Angel, now Cutty Wow), the Bullocks (Whistler), Noel Field, Jr. (Lady Slipper and Bachelor Button), Al Fordyce (Cormorant, now—arguably—September Song), Leonard Colt (Old Bull), the Kelley family (Augusta/Sou’wester), Walter Cluett (Tempest II, now Chiquita), Brad Wiley (Calypso, now Elisha),  Elizabeth Brayton Dawson (Tautog), and Dennis Taylor(?).

In 2005, many of these boats remain in active use.  Alden’s Java is being overhauled by the Woodhouse clan for action in 2006.  Old Bull, magnificently rebuilt by Erik Thomas in 1998, took the season honors in 2004.  Chiquita continues to be formidably raced by Roswell Perkins and David Goodrich.  Whistler is still owned by the Marvel family, and, despite the untimely loss of her champion, P.T., has continued to be sailed and raced.  Bachelor Button is once again owned by Noel Field, Jr., who is embarking on her restoration.   Blue Angel is now Cutty Wow, which has been expertly sailed by generations of the Taylor family.  Calypso was restored by Peter Lozier and Robert von der Lippe as Elisha in the late 1970’s and has been the fleet champion often in recent years.  In addition, September Song, owned and sailed by the Whitmash family, continues to spark debate as to whether or not she is actually the ancient Cormorant, modified in the 1970’s with a cuddy and a few other minor changes.  A few other Sakonnet Aldens exist, in museums and meadows, waiting to have their souls rekindled and their hulls retimbered.  If history is any guide, these Aldens, too, will once again have their days in the sun on the sparkling waters of the Sakonnet.

Alden sailors have taken great care not only in maintaining these beautiful pieces of living history, but also in bringing along new generations of Alden sailors, who will take the tillers into the future. One-design rules keep the boats well matched, ensuring both stirring racing competition and the long term survival of the fleet.  The basic one-design rule is that the boat is to be presented and raced as in the drawings prepared for the construction of the boats by the firm of John Alden. Materials are to be as indicated, sizes for spars and layouts as drawn. We are indeed fortunate that the Sakonnet sloops in our fleet are well matched, as we enjoy close racing all season. Seconds usually separate the finishers, and this is truly as it was intended when the boats were designed.  To recognize what a privilege it is to sail and race these boats, visit the Hereshoff Museum in Bristol.  It is a fascinating museum full of artifacts of interest to anyone who likes boats.  As you walk amongst the graceful hull shapes, you can’t help imagining what is was like to sail on them.  It is truly awe-inspiring to leave that museum, return to Sakonnet, and step aboard an Alden, bringing your museum musings to vivid, splashing, pounding life. 

In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Alden Sakonnet Sloop, and in honor of the generations of local sailors who have remained loyal to this beautiful, classic little boat, the Board of Governors invites you to join them for an afternoon of sailing and an evening of tall tales and tributes.  On Saturday, July 16^th (which will be a perfectly sunny day with a steady southwesterly breeze), there will be an open regatta at 2:00 p.m..  Anyone wishing to sail in an Alden may sign up to do so.  There will also be a spectator fleet for those who want to experience the grace of these stately ladies from a more refined distance.  Afterward, at 6:00 p.m., there will be a cocktail party full of Alden stories and memorabilia, as well as some spectacular items to be raffled.  We welcome you to join our celebration of these boats which are so much a part of the sailing heritage of our club. 

In addition, we would like to reunite former Alden sailors with the fleet, and to give them a chance to meet and talk with current and future Alden sailors.  If you know of anyone who should be contacted, please let us know.  We are also actively soliciting Alden memorabilia, drawings and photographs for an exhibit to be mounted at the celebration.  For more information, to help out, or to share Alden memorabilia or stories, please contact Mara Lozier Shore at 635-8002 (mjlshore@aol.com) or Erik Thomas at 635-4381 (NC77229@aol.com).