Tuesday, February 25, 2020

2020 North American M-Scow Championships Announcement

2020 North American M-Scow Championship
Come North Again!
Pigeon Lake Yacht Club,
Bobcaygeon, Canada.

Friday July 24ththrough Sunday July 26th. 2020

Open to all M-Scow sailors.
Limited billeting available on first come basis.
Min. 6 boats from US to confirm before May 15, 2020

Notice of Race and registration form to be published shortly
as well as local accommodation locations.

for more information stay tuned or email:


Monday, December 2, 2019

2019 NA M-Scow Association Shirt - Cyber Monday

Looking for a gift for the holidays?
Disappointed by this year's Black Friday deals?
Maybe this will fit your fancy!

https://teespring.com/m-scows

2019 was yet another successful year for the M-Scow, but looking back we couldn't help but notice one glaring area of improvement. The 2019 North American Championships, for all of the beautiful sailing conditions it offered, did not provide any shirts!  Allow us to correct this by giving you an easy holiday gift for the (M) scow sailor in your life! This Association shirt commemorates the M-Scow Museum's humble beginnings with an impressionist scene of scows on the water.

Available in short and long-sleeves, and in plenty of soft museum-esque colors.


Front Detail
Back Detail
 
If you order now this product will ship by December 13th, giving you plenty of time to stuff it into a stocking! Use the promo code 'MSCOW19' at checkout for free shipping. 

Pricing:
Premium Tees: $23
Regular Tees: $21
Premium Long Sleeve: $28
Regular Long Sleeve: $26

https://teespring.com/m-scows






Monday, August 12, 2019

2019 North Americans Wrap-Up

    It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.  I find it so hard to start a regatta summary, so I’ve resorted to memories of my ninth grade English class.  A North American Championship regatta can be so many different things to the 20 registrants for this years’ regatta.  We had 7 races over two weekend days, expertly run by RC chairman, Ed Vienkowski at Seaside Park YC.  We had 4 different race winners of the 7 races.  Tim Faranetta beat Dave Magno by one point to win the regatta.  Carrie Slavinski and Kevin Flood also won races to take third and fourth, respectively.  Yes, the top 8 boats all sail out  of Lavallette YC.  Not the best distribution for the visiting sailors.  We had more boats visit the East Coast, thanks to people like Nick Maida, Laurie Ann Cooper, and Tim Faranetta hosting the sailors in their homes.  This makes it much easier to make the long trip out. I am certainly missing some names of volunteers who made this event possible.

Pictures for the regatta can be viewed here at the link below - thank you to Chris Higham for the coverage!
https://mscownorthamericans2019.shutterfly.com/pictures
 

Below are some impressions of the regatta by Dave Klein (BE-4) , who traveled over 1200 miles each way with his M-Scow in tow.

Sailing:
   Something we haven’t experienced: chop. Even in 5 mph there was the constant banging. We got used to it and adjusted our sails like everyone else: a light touch on the main. The lines were long and the horn system pretty easy to get used to.

Announcement   -   Horn Sequence
“Your attention"   -   Several (~10) short
3 minutes   -   Three long
2 minutes   -   Two long 
1.5 minutes    -    One long, three short
1 minute    -    One Long 
30 seconds    -    Three short
20 seconds    -    Two short
10 seconds    -    One short
5 seconds    -     One short
4 seconds    -    One short
3 seconds    -    One short
2 seconds    -     One short
1 second    -    One short
Start    -    One long
  
  You did not need a watch. (I came back and started Wednesday night on the Blue flag I was so used to starting this way after 7 races.)
    The top boats did not have a rear traveler. Getting a tour of their boats they said the jib cars are farther in than normal: 22 from the side and 22 from the mast step. (At home that was exactly what mine measured.)
    The race course was rather small, maybe a mile to weather. There was a lot of traffic back where I was in 14th place. The wind shifted quite a bit but nothing persistent. We found the boats do not do 45 degrees because of the waves. This caused a lot of Port tackers at the weather mark that resulted in one good pile up. A tip was to let out the main a little on the top of a wave and pull it in in the trough, squirting the boat ahead.

The Drive:
    Pennsylvania is very hilly (four tunnels) so it went by fast. The hardest miles are the first 100 that you have done many times in the past (we have to go 3000 more). The speed was usually 75 mph and that was the top speed seen. A lot of trucks; but everyone is very conscientious.
    We tried to avoid the Turnpike because they are as expensive as your gas especially paying double or more with the trailer. Took I39-I74 to avoid Chicago, Indiana, Ohio and most of Pennsylvania tolls and Google says it is an hour longer. It is not longer, asit was stop and go a lot going through Chicago on the way back at Noon. We took the old route in Pennsylvania twice. Through Lancaster and saw Amish and buggies on the two-way. Coming back on a different two-way we just happened to pass and stopped at the Memorial for Flight 93. They had the black box recording and the phone calls people made. It made you tear-up.

    There was road work 5% of the route. Seems high, but if you have a 20-mile stretch, that’s 5% of a 400-mile trip; but, is was two lanes in both directions.We spent $400 for gas and $100 for tolls but tolls could have been $370.

Food:
    We took our lunches out in the boats on Saturday as they wanted us done by 3 for the Yacht Club Poker Run. One boat stopped on the big judge’s boat to use the bathroom and so they decided it was so rough we should go the shore for a very short break. The course was right outside the yacht club breakwater. Fruit and a bagel for breakfast. You pre-pay for a cash-card for drinks which worked out nice.
    No planned dinners (and no tee shirts). We eat at Crabby Richard’s Shack on Friday. On Saturday night, the Bayside yacht club was doing a lobster boil for members; so,we went up to the Lavallette Yacht Club (where the top boats came from) for dinner and the yearly meeting. Good seafood, nice club house and a good view of the sunset. Maybe 200 daysailors on the hard. My wife Jodey had her second Painkiller.

Lodging:
 • Steve Alford’s Motel in Indiana
 • A mom-and-pop motel that was spectacularly remodeled to your home’s standards.
 • Lala’s (our sailing buddy) just remodeled her upstairs apartment for the two nights.
 • A Days Inn with a nice pool.
 • A friend’s cabin on Grand Lake, Ohio. A 5 by 15-mile man-made lake all of 8 feet deep.

People:
    We got to meet our old friends from Canada, especially Fritz and Stefanie (easy to talk with). Lala Cooper, Tom Welsch and the tie-dye perfect match couple (Carrie & Dave Slavinski) which is where I got my hints from. Third regatta with these people.

    We saw the lifestyle of New Jersey: the beaches, McMansions, lots of lots the size of trailers, everyone driving very friendly., two amusement parks and stories of the ten other yacht clubs around the bay.

Thursday, May 30, 2019

2019 M-16 Scow North Americans Announcement

The website for registration is up on: https://bit.ly/2XnJ8K5

The 2019 M-Scow North American Championship
Seaside Park Yacht Club
209 S Bayview Ave.
Seaside Park, NJ 08752

Open to all "M-16" Scows. Regatta fee: $100 per boat, provided you register online.
Some kind folks have been generous enough to offer housing for sailors coming in from out of town.  If you’re looking for accommodations, or if you’re willing to host, contact Tom Welsch for further info.

 -Schedule-
Friday 7-26:
   - On-site registration, check-in 15:00-17:30

Saturday 7-27:
   - Registration, check-in 08:00-09:30
          Continental breakfast for Competitors.
   - Skippers meeting 09:30
   - Harbor Gun 10:00
   - Race #1 starting sequence 10:30
          Subsequent Races will start as soon as practical after the finish after the previous
          race. Lunch will be on the water, at an appropriate break in the racing.
   - No starts take place after 15:30 on Saturday
   - The regatta dinner will be offsite at extra expense.

Sunday 7-28:
  - Continental breakfast for Competitors 08:00
  - Harbor Gun 09:00
  - Initiation of first Starting sequence on Sunday 09:30
           Lunch on the water, at an appropriate break in the racing additional races will be held
           after lunch as necessary.
  - No warning signal will be held after 14:00 on Sunday

Questions? Contact:  Tom Welsch 856-261-2604

Friday, November 9, 2018

Colie Sails' Sailor Spotlight - Jamie Wasco Wright

Earlier this year our friends at Colie Sails featured another M-Scow sailor in their Sailor Spotlight: Jamie Wright! She gives a great interview and runs down some of her accomplishments on the water, including (but not limited to) an Easterns 1st Place finish! Check out the article by following this link here

Thursday, August 16, 2018

2018 M-Scow Easterns Announcement & NOR

Hi All -

Below is the NOR for the 50th Annual Easterns Championship at Lavallette YC on Saturday, Sept 22nd and Sunday Sept 23rd. Please save the date!

We hope that you can attend this special event. If you are unable but are willing to lend your boat so that others can sail please let me know. We would like to bring back some previous M scow alumni to sail - this would be a great way to celebrate this milestone!

Email me with questions or call/text 609-273-5555.

Hope to see you at Easterns! The NOR can be found here.

Thanks!

- Tim Faranetta


Friday, August 10, 2018

2018 M-Scow North Americans Wrap-Up

    I’ve seen some regatta trophies from the ILYA that would list that there was “no wind” for say 1958 as the regatta winner.  I remember once playing a lot of whiffle ball at Lake Chatawqua for an E-Scow regatta a little over 20 years ago. But have not run into anything like this since.  

    This year, I brought my son, Tim, to crew for me, and maybe get some some really good food traveling through Chicago.  He’s going to the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, NY in the fall, so I had to make sure we would get some good food into the trip.  We had two problems. Towing an M-Scow , parking would be an issue, and we’re not deep dish pizza fans. So the goal became getting through Chicago very late on a Thursday night.  Tim came up with a list of places to go, and it appeared that Minneapolis could keep up with the restaurants in Chicago, and be a better value!

   When we got there on Friday, Defending Champ, Joe Schroeder, was there to greet us.  He helped out with Jen O’Brien with Regatta Chair duties AND grilling up the bratwursts for the Friday night picnic held at Beards Plaisance (about a half mile away from Lake Harriet YC).  We sat down Dave Klein and his wife for dinner but left a little early to get some appetizers and a gazpacho at Harriet Brasserie. The food was wonderful and the restaurant was busy. The crazy part was that food arrived so quickly that I was thinking about calling it fast food.  Best service I received since my first visit to Donkeys Place in Camden, NJ.

   In all, we had fifteen boats registered.  Seven boats from Lake Harriet YC, three boats from Pigeon Lake YC, two from Lavallette YC, and then one boat each from Bald Eagle YC, Manasquan YC, and Wayzata YC.  We were told that the forecast was for 5-10 mph of wind, but that may have been wishful thinking. If we saw 5 mph of wind, it was a miracle. Saturday morning, Tim and I decided to miss the very good breakfast spread at the Club, and went into Patisserie 46 (on 46th Street).  We had coffee and shared a blueberry muffin, and chocolate croissant, and a blueberry, cheesecake, almond croissant. The third qualifies as the best pastry I’ve had of any kind. Jennifer O’Brien told us that the place across the street serves the best burgers in town.

   Race # 1 featured a pin favored start with Ted Jewett building a huge lead over the fleet.  There were substantial holes all over the coarse. We gained at least 6 boats on the first downwind leg by sailing further right.  I’m pretty sure we lost about 6 boats sailing into a hole on the second upwind leg. One boat that avoided all of the holes, was Bill Collburn.  He kept his boat moving, sailed through the 180 degree windshifts, and was pretty aggressive with hitting the corners. By the end of the race, he passed Ted Jewett for the win.  Defending Champ, Joe Schroeder was right behind them to take third. Half way through the last Windward leg, I was right behind Joe Schroeder in fourth. That was until we sailed into a hole with about 150 yards to go.  I watched Mike Burton-Davies sail around me for fourth, and then Dave Klein sail around me from the other side for fifth! Tough Conditions!

   Race # 2 featured another pin favored start, except the pin was literally upwind of the committee boat!  You would think that whoever started at the pin would dominate. Not necessarily, because the committee boat end of the line had more wind up the course. Curt Morton had a great start, and increased his lead, with Bill Colburn in pursuit.  There would be more holes, and more 180 degree windshifts, but everybody was getting used to this flukey light breeze. The race committee even moved the leeward mark pretty substantially, but the big windshifts kept coming. It looked like Curt Morton was going to win the race when it was abandoned.  The breeze was dying throughout the day. We went in for a lunch of three different kinds of Chipotle burritos.

   The afternoon brought more challenging conditions with no wind on a half to two thirds of the lake, gusts to 2 mph and 30 to 180 degree shifts.  Pretty tough to set a course. No races in the afternoon. We pulled the boats out and headed over to the Seymour’s house for the Saturday night catered by Divine Swine.  The barbecue was as good as it gets. We had our class meeting. We discussed our plans to have next year’s regatta out East, and heard from the Canadiens that they might bring four boats!  I’m impressed! I was pleased to hear that fleets are moving forward, with a one boat at a time game plan. Ted Jewett was pretty thrilled with their performance. I told him that I would be talking about that race for a long time, and he agreed.

   Sailing on Sunday Morning featured even less wind.  The race course was set, but the problem was that both the Windward and leeward marks had wind coming from its respective shore.  Sailing from mark to mark was a reach. We could keep the boats ghosting along, but a fair course could not be set. I stood in my boat, with the back of my leg steering to save my back.  So the regatta would be decided on one race.

   Defending Champ, Joe Schroeder sailed very consistently to take third.  Ted Jewett earned second place and Bill Collburn won the first race and the regatta.  Herb Garcia had recently parted from an ‘86 Johnson that had severe hull damage from a storm.  I was able to pick up a very nice boom and some rudders. Curt Morton picked up a dead straight Johnson mast, and LaurieAnne Cooper bought a freshwater Melges M which she brought home.  So even the people who had to travel the furthest got something out of this Regatta.

   We packed up our boats and headed out to lunch.  Tim had heard that there was a pizzeria that is ranked 18th in the world about a mile and a half down the road.  I’ve been to Frank Pepe’s (perennially ranked #1) in Connecticut, and have always thought that Papa’s Tomato Pies  in Robbinsville, NJ was better. We went into Pizzeria Lola on Xerxes Street in Minneapolis. Tim ordered a Korean BBQ pizza and I ordered a pizza with sausage and pepperoni.  They were smaller, but right on the same level in taste as Papa’s!

   We then drove to Ohio to visit with my brother.  The pizza sucks in Ohio, but that’s another story.  My brother heard of all of these culinary delights that we had enjoyed and asked  Tim what he liked the most in Minnesota. Tim said, “That’s easy, the chocolate cake at the barbecue Saturday night.  It was so good I had three pieces!”

There are another 2-300 photos on the Lake Harriet YC website. Check back for a better link soon!

Tom Welsch