2021 Fontelieu One Design Regatta

Cedar Point Yacht Club hosted the 53rd consecutive One-Design Fall Regatta with five dinghy classes on October 2-3 in Westport, CT. Thistle Fleet #99 started in Westport before the move to Bluff Point and was a fixture of the Thistle East Coast Fall Series by 1965. Today’s regatta is named after the man – Ted Fontelieu – that had such an oversized role in both building the fleet and club.

Almost a hundred dinghies participated with the largest fleet – Lasers – celebrating fifty years of the Laser. Andrew Scrivan schooled the fleet through nine races, but for a change it wasn’t a clean sweep as the youngsters were nipping at his heels the entire time.

Second largest fleet was the RS Aero, a major success story at Cedar Point. Starting with three boats just two years ago, the fleet now numbers 25. Key to that growth is dynamic fleet leadership with excellent club racing every Friday evening and Saturday.

Former Youth Laser National Champion Richie Gordon took time off from the Coast Guard and dropped in to give a few lessons, dominating in the big wind on day one. However, Madhavan Thirumalai earned a few bullets in the lighter winds on the final day to come in second. Peter Libre – benefiting from the three clinics offered by the Aeros this summer – sailed consistent races and notched third.

Meanwhile, entertaining the centerboard fleets was a pod – several dozen in size – of bunker chasing dolphins. The display off Westport’s town beach was an encouraging sign that efforts to improve Long Island Sound water quality have tangible results.

The nine-boat Lightning fleet provided deep competition with CPYC’s Ched Proctor emerging just a few points ahead of a three-way tie of Josh Goldman, David Peck, and Brian Hayes, Jr, finishing in that order. Both Cedar Point and Niantic Bay clubs have seen strong weekend club racing this summer with deep competition at both clubs.

The dozen Flying Scots made this event leg two of the CT Cup with CPYC’s John Cooke emerging in the top spot followed by Candlewood Isle’s David Irving and Sprite Island’s Tim Gordon.

Thistles – for whom this event represented another stop on the East Coast Fall Series – were dominated by Steve Gruver (with Jay Lurie and Kristen Barnard) followed by Rob Pickens in second and Jon Duffett in third.

Combined with the club’s Oktoberfest Celebration, the weather, racing, social, and shoreside made for a fantastic weekend regatta.

Details: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14811

Lasers (40 boats – 9 races) – 50th Anniversary Regatta
Scrivan, Andrew – 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 [8)
Sheppard, Ben – 6 2 2 10 3 11 2 3 3 [31)
Stevens, Harrison – 4 5 4 4 4 5 5 7 8 [38)
Craine, Duncan – 2 9 6 6 6 1 3 10 6 [39)

RS Aero (20 boats – 10 races) – Atlantic Coast Championship
Gordon, Richie – 1 22/OCS 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 5 [15]
Thirumalai, Madhavan – 2 22/OCS 2 2 4 2 1 2 1 1 [17]
Libre, Peter – 8 3 5 3 2 3 6 15 3 7 [40]

Flying Scot (12 boats – 9 races) – CT Cup
Cooke, John – 1 1 3 1 2 1 1 3 3 [13]
Irving, David – 2 2 2 2 1 2 5 1 4 [16]
Gordon, Tim – 4 4 9 3 3 7 2 2 8 [33]

Lightning (9 boats – 9 races)
Proctor, Ched – 1 4 2 2 2 1 4 2 4 [18]
Goldman, Josh – 3 1 4 1 5 4 5 4 1 [23]
Peck, David – 2 2 5 5 1 5 2 1 5 [23]
Hayes, Brian Jr. – 5 3 1 3 4 3 3 3 3 [23]

Thistles (9 boats – 9 races) – Fontelieu East Coast Fall Series
Gruver, Steve – 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 [10]
Pickens, Rob – 3 2 2 2 1 4 2 3 3 [22]
Duffett, Jon – 2 3 4 3 5 2 4 2 2 [27]

Source: Bill Adamsen