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2015 Thunder Mug Regatta Sep 19th and 20th

PostPosted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:15 pm
by Chuck Luscomb
Hi All,

The 2015 Thundermug regatta is just around the bend. Venuits Pond in Killingworth CT is one of our better late Summer/fall venues. A very large pond with stadium type sloped hills surround the pond and offer multiple sailing options. There is a perimeter road that encircles the pond and provides direct access at any point.

This year, with the budding J fleet, we hope to sail these graceful boats once more before putting them on the hard for the long winter. So after the EC12 sailing has concluded on Saturday, we will launch a fleet of Js. At present count, we have 4 and hope to have one or two more for this casual get together.

Hope you can join us. NOR is posted on the schedule and we will see you there!

Tentative Skippers list as of this writing...

Bruce Walton
Tim Stone
Keven MacLellan
Jack Baldwin
Al Dion
Brian Jobson
Chuck Luscomb
Brian Kerrigan
Jon Pelley
Ron Rhault
John Martin
Mike Flynn
Dave Dellenbaugh
Bill Dempsy

Are we missing anyone?

Re: 2015 Thunder Mug Regatta Sep 19th and 20th

PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:17 pm
by Chuck Luscomb
We are now on the final days before the 2015 Thundermug...

We currently have 13 boats registered and the weather is looking pretty good for two great days of sailing. There is still time to join us!

We also have 4 J boats sailing Saturday afternoon after we complete our regular EC12 segment. We are going to try our Pond on to see how the Js fair in this location.

Brian Kerrigan
Ron Rhault
Brian Jobson
Bruce Walton
Chuck Luscomb
John Martin
Mike Campbell
Skip Hall
Jon Pelley
Al Dion
Jack Baldwin
Kevin MacLellan
Bob Shluger

Re: 2015 Thunder Mug Regatta Sep 19th and 20th

PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 6:03 pm
by Capt. Flak
Congratulations to Chuck Luscomb on his win. And hats off to Bruce Walton and Al Dion for the Place and Show.

Look forward to reading the report soon.

Re: 2015 Thunder Mug Regatta Sep 19th and 20th

PostPosted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 12:07 pm
by Chuck Luscomb
Sorry for the wait on this guys!

2015 Thundermug Regatta
Regatta Report

The final stop in the New England Cup Series is now complete and the “Thundermug” Trophy has been awarded for 2015. 12 Skippers turned out for the Thundermug Regatta held in Killingworth CT on Sept 19th and 20th. The forecast for Saturday was for SSE breezes in the 8-10kt range with sunny skies and temps in the 80’s. Sunday would see the wind do a complete 180 degree shift to the NNW with a bit more pressure up in the mid teens with some pretty hefty gusts into the low 20s. That was the forecast and for some strange reason, that’s exactly what happened.
Saturday
We arrived at the pond and nearly exactly at 9am the wind came up out of the SSW as advertised. The skippers were ready for sailing and our Skippers meeting was held on time and we were sailing by 10am. The breeze was offering a series of slow 60 degree shifts which offered a number of passing lanes both up wind and down. The leeward gate was often the place where trailing boats made their moves to gain position and there were a number of lead changes as the racing progressed. Ron Rhault came out swinging with a bullet in the first race. His older Reynolds boat still has what it takes to sail well. Another older Reynolds boat was back with us after a long break. Bruce Walton returned for our fall event and even though he has not sailed in the last few years, it did not seem so. He was as competitive as ever and was a force to be reckoned with. After only 6 races, the leaders began to emerge. Luscomb, Walton and Dion were pushing hard for the win on every turn at every mark. Brian Kerrigan, Brian Jobson and Ron Rhault were also in the hunt posting respectable finishes. The breeze held up most of the day with a few big swings but the racing continued to be excellent with few conflicts.
By days end were able to complete 12 races and the mid point standings with no throw outs looked like this…
1-Chuck Luscomb 23pts
2-Bruce Walton 33pts
3-Al Dion 43pts
4-Brian Jobson 56pts
5-Ron Rhault 66pts
6-Brian Kerrigan 75pts
7-Jack Baldwin 83pts
8-Jon Pelley 89pts
9-John Martin 100.3pts
10-Bob Shluger 106pts
11-Mike Campbell 113pts
12-Kevin MacLellan 156pts (did not sail on Sat)

At the conclusion of sailing, we launched a couple of J boats to try out the venue for future events. We had expected 5 boats but we only had two. Ranger and Yankee. Both sailed well in the fading conditions and it was not as difficult to launch these mammoth boats as we thought it might. A possible future location for some J Racing!

Saturday Night
The gang gathered at the Red House Restaurant in Deep River and enjoyed a mix of BBQ specials as well as Dark and Stormy’s and a few beers. Good fun!

Sunday
Sunday saw the wind swing around to NNW at 8-10 when we arrived with promises of building pressure into the afternoon. Most simply put on their B rigs without much fuss and stayed with them throughout the day even though it did not seem to be out of the A rig range but for a few gusts per race. We found that some boats on the course sailed better with B Rigs than A rigs even in the lighter stuff. Brian Kerrigan started things off with his first bullet for the regatta and as things progressed, Brian continued to improve. The same thing happened with Jon Pelley who reported at the start of Sunday that his B rig was his achillies heel. We spent a bit of time with him and went through tuning and sail control in these conditions and the results proved favorable. Jon sailed well all day even though the results may not accurately represent it.
The battle for the top spots continued between Luscomb, Walton and Dion with a few others throwing their hats in for good measure. Kevin MacLellan joined us till about noon and the races he did sail, he was right in the mix.
After completing 24 races in two days with four throw outs, the final results looked like this.
1-Chuck Luscomb 32ptss
2-Bruce Walton 50pts
3-Al Dion 51pts
4-Brian Kerrigan 98pts
5-Brian Jobson 105pts
6-Ron Rhault 112pts
7-Jon Pelley 117pts
8-Bob Shluger 147pts
9-Jack Baldwin 160pts (withdrew at race 22)
10-Jon Martin 173.2 (Retired at race 20)
11-Mike Campbell 176pts
12-Kevin MacLellan 220pts (only sailed 6 races)
Overall an excellent regatta with great weather both days. Thank you to Bill Dempsey for being our RD and keeping score. We would also like to thank all those that joined us for the final stop of the New England Cup Series!
The trophy for this series is awarded at the conclusion of this event and this year was a bit unique. Our winner, in addition to winning this event, won the NorEaster, Stowe and Mystic as well. Congratulations to Chuck Luscomb, the winner of the 2015 New England Cup Series!

See you all next year!!!