bacourier Newsletter of the United States Albacore Association August 2006 A 50 Year Old Gem In This Issue By Sylvi Duncan Mid Atlantic Review / Photos Pages 2 - 3, 12 Picture this setting: A crystal clear summer day by a lake in scenic New President’s Letter Hampshire. On the shore stands a large wooden house dating back the late 1800s, painted in a warm gold tone, tucked into the pines. Right on the Page 4 water’s edge is a matching golden boat house from the early 1900s, home to Fleet News many memories, a few lake-front critters, and a crown jewel of the Albacore Page 5 world. Sailor Profi les Page 6 Such is the setting where Peter and I met Sharon and Tom Webb on Roll Tacking Made Easy July 1st this year. The Webbs are the new owners of this delightful property on Lake Spofford near Keene, New Hampshire. Sharon and Tom knew that Page 7 - 9 they and their children, Lauren and Jordan, would enjoy this picturesque History Corner New England retreat, but they didn’t quite know what to make of the antique Page 10 wooden sailboat that came with the boathouse. Tom snooped around this Summer Regatta Review: dry-docked boat a bit, combined it with some web-surfi ng, and found his way Admiral Byrd to Peter Duncan. Peter jumped at the opportunity to look at this boat, so we Page 11 drove from Vermont to Lake Spofford for a morning visit. What we found was VA Governor’s Cup a Fairey Marine wooden Albacore #124, dating back to 1956! “Her Grace” Page 13 nd was among the fi rst 10 Albacores imported to North America, and the 2 old- Fun Daze, Kerr Lake est known to exist. She is a perfectly preserved time capsule from the 1950’s! Page 14 - 15 The excitement built as Peter discovered the original mast, complete with the North Americans Fairey Marine stamp and serial numbers on every piece of metal. Equally im- pressive was the condition of the original set of Egyptian cotton sails, stamped Page 14 with “1956, G. Lucas & Son Sailmakers, Portsmouth England”. Can’t imagine how the mice hadn’t found a comfy home in those sails! It’s unclear when “Her Grace” last touched the water, but with Peter’s help, the Webb family decided to try and launch her during our visit. The unique boathouse has a hinged fl oor launch that lowers to the water between two concrete piers. Carefully they lowered this fl oor, and ever-so-delicately fl oated “Her Grace” out to the lake’s edge. With a few quick instructions on mast-step- ping and sail-rigging, she was launched at exactly 12 noon. In all her mahogany beauty, “Her Grace” looked most regal out on the water. She’s found a perfect new home where she’ll undoubtedly get the attention and nurturing she deserves. A fi tting launch day for a 50th birthday! Sharon, Lauren, Tom, and Jordan Webb, with Peter Duncan See more photos of “Her Grace” on Page 10 Mid Atlantics June, 2006 St. Michaels, Maryland Photos by Ben Mendoza Eric Hesse, new to the Albacore Fleet. Recovering Laser Tight fleet! Engler leads into the leeward mark. addict. Doug and Kay Marsh - fierce concentration Marty and Nancy Minot Warner (Monty) Monteiro and Sonja McAuley Picture Perfect Fleet Start! Ian Duncan and Alanna Jordan Jim Englert (left) and Marty Minot Susan and Jim Graham trying to sail a turtle... oops... (right), shimmying around the mark. 2 will go to in order to avoid a hotel bill! Joanna and Karl Mid-Atlantics 2006 finished fourth overall, and Bill Cavitt/ Jasper Craig/ By Susan Graham Becky Craig were fifth. Both boats were just one point behind the Monteiros. It doesn’t get much better than this! That was a refrain I heard many times this last weekend at Miles Barney’s five bullets don’t tell the whole story, be- River. Sailing conditions were near perfect, with build- cause he had a lot of competition. James Englert and ing winds each day, and sunny skies much of the time. Brian Huntsman traded places with him several times The water was cold, but wasn’t a factor except for our in the first race, as did Monty and Sonia in the sec- intrepid teenage sailors who had the misfortune of ond. James and Brian got the only other first, in the capsizing. fourth race. Note to Barney: You must be present to win. Joanna and Karl led several times in the third and Jim and I headed for St. Michaels on Friday fourth races, ending up second in both and first over- morning with an eye to missing the traffic on the Bay all at the end of the day Saturday. They also won the Bridge, and possibly getting in a little practice sailing. “Against All Odds” title for showing the most improve- When we arrived at noon, it was blowing upwards of ment in their handicap. 15, with waves and whitecaps, so we had a picnic at the club and decided to do the next best thing, play Meanwhile, competition was stiff in the rest of the tourist. We drove down to the end of the peninsula, fleet. One of the new sailors commented to me that observed the really windy, choppy Bay, and even there generally wasn’t much distance between the first looked at a few vacation properties just for fun. Then and last place finishers. Mid-fleet, Erich Hesse/Gillian we did a little window-shopping in St. Michaels, and Decker proved that Laser sailing is pretty good prac- had a fantastic crab-cake dinner in Easton at Legal tice for the Albacore. They left nine points between Spirits. For the knitters in the fleet (and there were at themselves and the next mid-fleet finishers. Martin least three of us at Mid-Atlantics), there’s a great knit- Minot, sailing with his wife Nancy (who knits) and son ting store in Easton, with lots of lovely, locally hand- Jordan squeezed by Peter Duncan, sailing with newly- dyed yarn. minted teen Terry, by just one point. Peter and Terry had some bad luck at the finish of the last race, and Saturday morning at the sign-in table one of the also suffered from a late arrival for the first race on local helpers commented that we had a really diverse Sunday. Doug and Kay Marsh (another knitter) duked fleet, what with people of all ages, and lots of men and it out with Daphne Byron and Saskia Mooney, advan- women. Indeed, we had helms and crews from young tage Marshes, to round out the mid-fleeters. teens to mid-sixties. Twelve out of thirty-two competi- tors were women, three of them helms. Also, seven of When the front of the fleet put a bit of distance the fifteen boats were helmed and crewed by mem- between themselves and the last five boats, competi- bers of the same family, and two others had helms or tion was fierce between Dan Miller/ Jill Williamson, crews with family members on other boats. Rory/James Martin, Scott Snyder/ Steve Yelland, and Jim/Susan Graham. The Grahams led that foursome Nine of the fifteen boats were from the greater DC by a hair at the end of the regatta. Ian Duncan and area, two from Ottawa, one from Newport News and Alanna Jordan traded the helm for their first major Ocean City, one from Lynchburg, one from Florida, regatta together. Both ninth graders, they finished two and one from Pennsylvania. It was great to see old races and showed excellent boat righting technique. friends, and also some newcomers. Bill Cavitt, a We’ll be looking out for them in the future! Naval Academy classmate of Jasper and Becky Craig sailed with Becky on Saturday. Martin Minot, another Miles River Yacht Club provided excellent race Craig classmate, and his wife Nancy and son Jordan management both days. They served heavy hors joined us from Lynchburg, and James Englert and Bri- d’oeuvres and good beer and peanuts after the racing an Huntsman, former 505 sailors from Newport News on Saturday. Most of us ate more than enough to call and Ocean City, won second place in their first ever Al- it dinner, but a group that included the four Canadians, bacore regatta. Warner Monteiro and his wife Sonia Joanna, Daphne, and Karl decided to try Legal Spirits drove from Ottawa to show us how to achieve a third in Easton for dinner. They pronounced the crab cakes place finish. Barney Harris and Doug Foord finished as excellent as advertised, and the waitress really spe- first, with five bullets, and also an award for doing the cial. At the end of the evening, she slipped Rory her most driving between race days. After finishing three phone number! Ah, the allure of the Albacore sailor. out of four races on Saturday, Barney and Doug drove (Note to all regarding future regattas at Miles River: to New Jersey to celebrate Gene Spillane‘s wedding. The Econo Lodge may be the cheapest sleep in town, Then they pulled an all-nighter and drove back to win two more races on Sunday. The lengths some people continued on page 12 3 President’s Letter 2006 Executive Committee President – ts mid August and I never thought Florida would be Joanna Beaver 12765 Yacht Club Circle Icooler than the rest of the USA! I hope the rest of Fort Meyers, FL 33919 you are staying close to your boats and on the water 239.481.9753 to stay out of the heat.