Sailor Spotlight: Zach Higham

     Last week Colie Sails began running a column  highlighting young sailors in the area. Their first interviewee was fellow fleet member Zach Higham, who gave some insight into his impressive burgeoning sailing career, as well as a nice shout-out to the M-Scow! His interview has been reproduced below (with permission!) but we encourage you to check out the ongoing series by subscribing to their mailing list at the top left of the page here: https://bit.ly/2G6mfSX

Till next time.
- Jeremy Welsch

SAILOR SPOTLIGHT:

ZACH HIGHAM

     Zach Higham is a 16 year sailor from Pine Beach, NJ.  Zach is a perfect example of someone we want sailing on the bay; he grew up sailing Optis at Pine Beach Yacht Club (the same club where his mom grew up), he loves sailing in high school and recruiting new teammates, he just bought an M-Scow to race in our BBYRA summer series, and he coaches the next group of sailors at the Island Heights YC.  When most 16 year olds get their Learner's Permit, they want to spend the day driving a car.  Not Zach.  He couldn't wait to get home and tune up his M-Scow.  Zach's love of the sport is exactly what makes him a life-time sailor.

Name:  Zach Higham
Age:  16
School: Toms River HS South
Yacht Club:  Pine Beach


1) Zach, give me a brief synopsis of your sailing career so far.  Where did you go to junior sailing program?  What boats have you sailed?

     I started junior sailing program at age 5 at the Pine Beach Yacht Club.  When I began racing Opti more competitively I joined the Toms River Yacht Club Opti racing team and CERT.  This helped me advance my racing knowledge and tactics tremendously.  I had a pretty good Opti career placing 3rd overall in NJ Opti States in the Silver Division and winning the BBYRA Midget Championship. At the Mid-Atlantic Midget Finals I placed 2nd.  My High School Sailing career started in the fall of 2015 at Toms River HS South. Sailing in high school is a lot of fun and I enjoy competing with other local high school teams.  This past summer I began instructing at the Island Heights Yacht Club.  Some of my fellow instructors were sailing M Scows, and I started crewing.  At the end of the summer, on my 16th birthday, I bought my first M-Scow.  One month later I placed 3rd in the Eastern Championship. Sailing has become a very important part of my life, and I don’t know what I would do without it.

2) What is sailing at Pine Beach Yacht Club like?  You are one of the better sailors to come out of that club in a while, and I know your family is involved at the club.  Tell me about the culture and what makes Pine Beach YC so great.

     The Pine Beach Yacht Club is a wonderful club which has given me so many wonderful experiences.  My mom grew up sailing and later instructed at PBYC so it's been a part of our family.  The club has evolved in many ways, and I have witnessed many of the changes.  My father has been on the Executive board in many positions from the Treasurer to the Commodore during the 100th Anniversary, and he now serves as the Past Commodore.  Over the summer, I am continuously around the yacht club participating in many of these historic events.  Most summer mornings, I head down to the yacht club to hop on my whaler for my commute to work. Friday nights, I join in on a casual, yet competitive, Sunfish series.  On Sundays my family gets together, and we all sail on my dad’s Capri 25 in the PHRF series. Pine Beach Yacht Club is great because of its amazing environment where the members get involved and are invested in the junior sailors.  I have gained knowledge and experience through either sailing with them or just having a casual conversation at one of the social events.  Pine Beach is a family club where all the members know your name.  I am very proud to be part of such an amazing yacht club and cannot wait to hopefully bring home another Bay Flag as well as see the development of the future junior sailors.

3) You are one of the top sailors on the Toms River South sailing team (Go Indians!).  What's your high school sailing experience been like?  Pretend I'm an incoming freshman considering joining the South sailing team.  Give me your pitch!

     I have been sailing in high school since my freshman year and have recently been named one of the two captains of our team at Toms River High School South. The transition in my freshman year from sailing a single handed boat like the Opti to a larger double handed boat like the 420 was a little difficult.  I started as a crew which was something I was not used to, but I am thankful to have such great coaches who helped me with the transition.  Towards the end of the fall of freshman year I began spending some time in the back of the boat.  Ever since joining the team back in the fall of 2015 we have qualified for our Silver Fleet Championship every season as well as one trip to the Gold Fleet Championship. I hope that in these coming years as a captain and our A fleet skipper I can help lead the team to another trip to the Gold Fleet Championship. Overall high school sailing has been extremely rewarding for me. I have met new friends from my school as well as others, and I have grown so much as a sailor because of this choice. I recently recruited two new freshman to join our team for this spring season, and so far they both really enjoy sailing. Sailing is unlike many other sports because it is a lifelong sport. At the end of the day high school sailing is very rewarding, and if you have the chance you should give it a try even if you know nothing about sailing.

4) This weekend was the first HS sailing regatta of the season, the Icebreaker Regatta at TRYC.  You sailed really well in very challenging conditions.  What was your strategy and how did you approach the regatta?

     Going into the Icebreaker Regatta this past weekend my main focus was to get back to the basics of the fast-paced high school sailing races. With 15 boats on a large line and heavy wind, I focused on getting clean starts each race and keeping my boat as flat as possible. I also focused on sailing my own race the whole day and paying attention to my own boat instead of the other teams. On my very first race this spring season I put everything I have learned so far in high school racing together and was able to win the race. As the day continued the wind was building and the conditions worsened. Managing conditions with heavy wind and waves is difficult especially when sailing with a crew, but I am very proud of how well my crew, Paige Zelenak, and I worked together.  Paige helped me tremendously throughout the regatta.  As co captains we have realized the importance of teamwork.  I look forward to future regattas such as the Spring Fleet Championship, SUNY Maritime Invitational, and the NJ State Championship as well as the conditions that they bring.

5) Recently you bought an M Scow to sail on Barnegat Bay.  M Scows are very cool boats with a strong presence on the bay.  What made you decide to buy a boat like that and how do you like it so far?

     Over this past summer, I was introduced to the M-Scow while crewing with a coworker at the Lavalette Sunday Series.  After crewing on multiple M-Scows I just knew that this was the boat for me. The overall shape and feel of the boat intrigued me. So my dad and I began to look around for my own boat. After talking to many sailors in the M-Scow community and meeting new people through the Lavalette Sunday Series I found out that Tom Welsch was interested in selling one of his three boats. One night after a long day of coaching at Duck Boat Worlds, my Dad and I met Mr. Welsch to look at the boat. The boat was in wonderful racing condition-- white with two sleek blue stripes down each side and the name Jammin’ on the stern. That night I bought my first M scow.  The next morning was my 16th birthday, and I went for my drivers permit.  After that, I spent the rest of the day sailing my M-Scow. I didn't even want to go drive in a car; all I wanted to do was sail my M-Scow.  Late in the summer I entered two weeks of BBYRA racing and then the M-Scow Eastern Championship in September. I had a great time racing that day and ended up finishing 3rd in the Eastern Championship. The M-Scow is a great double-handed racing boat on the Barnegat Bay which I truly love. I can’t wait to compete in my M-Scow next summer and for many years to come.

Crazy Talk

Every once in a while, I play the lottery.  You know, your basic $2 Powerball ticket for $292,000,000.00.  I know I’m throwing my money away - 380,000,000 to 1 odds, but I always come up with the same dream.  I would order 40 aluminum masts made for the M-Scow to the original One Design specs.  I would also have 40 aluminum booms made to the old One Design drawings, which we still have access to.  Buying some cnc machines so I could make top and bottom mast fittings out of billet aluminum would also be ideal, as well as buying a swaging machine for all of the rigging.  Where would I put all of this stuff?

I would then buy a building for an M-Scow Museum where we could house new and used boats for sale as well as many M-Scow artifacts.  If someone were in need of replacement sleeves for the main halyard, or broke their gooseneck, we would have these in stock for purchase.

This is crazy talk, right?  Bottom line, winning the lottery to fund these crazy ideas is unlikely, but I think if we put all of our creative sailing minds together, we can come up with some new ideas to keep this wonderful class going.

I still remember John Harkrader asking what can we do to get more young sailors in the boat at the 2016 North Americans.  As your Commodore, I will work to get more young sailors into the M-Scow.  We need to have a new boat that can be available to sell this Summer.  Far too many parents of junior sailors think the M-Scow is dead because they think we don’t have a builder.  We do have a builder - Windward Boatworks.

Windward Boatworks took way too long to supply a boat for Ned Thompson.  The hull was made pretty quickly.  The problem was he had a lot of issues sourcing the parts that are no longer available.  The first boat was ordered some time around 2007 and was delivered in late 2016.  Not our best effort.  And it was missing parts that John Applegate and I have in inventory.  It is a stiff boat with a good shape.  When Ned has sailed the boat, he definitely was faster than us.

Part of my game plan is to identify the parts of the boat that are no longer available.  Ronstan no longer makes the gooseneck on the M.  We don’t have a supplier for the cast aluminum fittings for the mast and boom.  I have an inventory of many of those parts.  I am working with a local machinist who will make these parts with his CNC machines out of billet aluminum. He also has a game plan to solve the galvanic corrosion problem between the aluminum boom fitting and the Stainless Steel gooseneck post.

As of now, we are fortunate to have three benefactors who can pay for Windward Boatworks to make us a hull with splashboard, rudders, bilge-boards, jib Cunningham, and new bailers.  Once completed, we can bring it to New Jersey to rig it, sail it, and sell it.  This is a successful business model that John Applegate has done with used boats for years.  The goal is to sail it and sell it this Summer.  If you know somebody who would like to buy a new boat, please send me an email.

Thank you,

Tom Welsch
North American M-Scow Association Commodore

The 2017 Eastern M-Scow Championship Regatta

2017 M-Scow EasternsSeaside Park Yacht ClubSeptember 16, 2017

      The 2017 Eastern M-Scow District Championship was held at Seaside Park YC on September 16th.  It started out with very light winds coming out of the South, and would eventually build in speed, clocking over to the East.  Race 1 started with a one lap windward leeward, with the finish to leeward.  The wind favored the boats going right, building a lead in more wind that died as we approached the windward mark.  As we rounded the windward mark, the wind shifted East for a long reach into the finish.  Kate Faranetta sailed a great race in very tough light conditions to take first, followed by Bill Warner Sr., Janet Davis, and John Dietz, respectively.

      Race 2 featured building breezes, as in building from 2 miles per hour to 6 miles per hour.  Another one lap windward leeward.  Zach Higham quickly took control of the race, getting to the windward mark ahead of Kate Faranetta, and Peter Bentey.  Kate Faranetta may have received some help from her crew, multiple North American Champion Tim Faranetta, as they passed Zach Higham downwind for the win.  So race 2 finished in the order of Kate Faranetta, Zach Higham, Peter Bentey, and Janet Davis.

      Race 3 has to be about junior sailors Zachary Higham and his crew Edward Harrison.  Zach purchased an M-Scow this Summer in August and got 3 races in with the BBYRA Summer Series.  So this was his sixth race in an M-Scow.  They won the race, wire to wire, with Bill Warner, Sr. coming in second and Kate Faranetta in third.   We then sailed into the yacht club for lunch.  The clubhouse completely cut off any wind at the pier.  LA-10 was the only boat with the inertia make it to the pier without bailing out.  That might be the only advantage of sailing an M with 470 lbs. combined crew weight.  The Seaside Park Race Organizers did a wonderful job with lunch.  It was delicious!

      Race 4 was another windward leeward, but with enough wind for 2 laps.  The first windward mark looked like the first five boats were overlapped!  Very close racing.  Bill Warner, Sr won the race, followed by John Dietz in second, and Zach Higham in third.  Frank Ciufa had his best race with a fourth place finish.  

     The fifth and final race again featured Kate & Tim Faranetta sailing fast after a disappointing fourth race.  Zachary Higham was fast all day, taking second.  But the most consistent sailor of the regatta was Bill Warner, Sr in third.  They borrowed Barron Cohen’s red boat.  The racing was followed by a great cookout, and then the trophy presentation.  Peter Bentey then recruited a few sailors to turn his boat over on its deck for the winter.  It was refreshing to see new junior sailors doing so well.  The father-daughter teams took the top two spots.  

FINAL STANDINGS

PLACE	SKIPPER	CREW	YACHT CLUB	FINISHES	POINTS
1	Bill Warner Sr.	Gwen Warner	Toms River	2-4-2-1-3	12
2	Kate Faranetta	Tim Faranetta	Lavallette	1-1-3-7-1	13
3	Zach Higham	Edward Harrison	Pine Beach	6-2-1-3-2	14
4	John Dietz	Liz Hart	Manasquan River	4-5-4-2-5	20
5	Peter Bentey	Kaitlynne Wilhelm	Seaside Park	5-3-6-6-4	24
6	Janet Davis	Bill Rogers	Manasquan River	3-4-5-DNS-DNS	30
7	Frank Ciufa	John Bubnowski	Seaside Park	8-6-7-4-6	31
8	Tom Welsch	Chris Conklin	Lavallette	7-7-8-5-7	34

2017 Wrap-up & Future Resolutions

2017 was a great year for M-Scows.  At least it started out that way.  So far, I have sailed in 47 M-Scow races.  I got in 9 out 10 races for the MRYC Spring Series.  We started out with 8 boats on April 30 under some tough conditions.  We’re usually lucky to have 8 boats in great weather in the Spring!  The next day we sailed had 13 boats!  A record for the Spring Series.

I have sailed in some BBYRA races in the past, but I never qualified for the BBYRA series until this Summer.  It was a lot of fun, with one race including 16 boats on the race course!  We also had 3 new Junior sailors, with Barron Cohen BH-9 qualifying the series!  In total, 20 boats races with 14 of those boats qualifying.  That’s 5 more qualifiers than 2016!

One of the best things about sailing the M-Scow is sailing in the Lavallette Yacht Club Sunday Series!  We had a total of 14 boats with 11 boats sailing in one race.  John Applegate won the Series, but it was much more competitive.  We had 6 different race winners!  I found out this Summer,  on 2 race dates, all of the M-Scows from all of the other Yacht clubs can sail with us on those Sundays. But it hardly ever happens.  Very few people make it.

We won the Callahan Regatta this Summer.  We won the first race, and Susan Rogers won races 2 and 3.  It’s a Friday Regatta, which is great for boat traffic, and if you happen to be a retired sailor.  So it looked like every Sandpiper and B Cat was there, and we had six boats.  We always have a very good BBYRA race on Saturday, and the prospect of sailing three days in a row is very hard to pull off from a family perspective.    I think we should notify them, and tell them the M-Scow will not sail the Callahan Regatta in 2018.  Most of the younger sailors just can’t make this regatta.

The highlight of the year was the North American Championship Regatta at Pigeon Lake Yacht Club!  It was a very competitive regatta with 5 different race winners in this 8 race regatta. I even won a race!   Bobcageon Ontario was such a wonderful place to visit!  Mike Burton Davies bought Ken Ingles’ beautiful Pegel M-Scow!  But their fleet numbers are down.  They are having trouble finding younger sailors in the third best community to retire in Canada.   We changed the timing of the regatta into mid August which lost us three boats from the East.  Tried something different; didn’t work.  There were several people that I believe could have done a better job as Commodore.  They were offered the job and didn’t take it.  I was voted in as Commodore of the North American M-Scow Association so quickly it was scary! I was told by Susan Rogers that it’s a two year term. 

By the time the Easterns came, I had already sailed in 42 races, and most of my crew choices had dwindled.   We had a good regatta at Seaside Park YC with only 8 boats.  It has long been believed that the optimal total crew weight on an M is around 270 lbs.  This year, we had the opportunity to test sailing an M-Scow with a combined crew weight 200 lbs higher (470 lbs).  We didn't win any races, and although John Applegate helped us tune the boat, the boat felt sluggish.  The boat appeared to be floating below her lines.  My crew was 6'3" and 250 lbs so the cockpit looked smaller, even though he is pretty athletic.  His whisker pole work was very good.  When the wind died, and the boat would come to a stop, the boat felt like it was sinking.  We finished the Regatta in last. 

Hopefully this will give everybody an idea about just how many opportunities we have to race an M-Scow.  Maybe by late August or early September, the majority of M-Scow Sailors have had enough and kind of need a rest.  For 2018, we need to schedule accordingly.  But we need your input.   For the Easterns, we have had a long history of sailing it as a one day regatta in the Fall.  It started out in 1984 as a Fall regatta on the 3rd Saturday of September.  Probably 10 years ago, we moved to the second weekend of September, mostly because it is the only weekend in September that doesn’t have an E-Scow regatta.  There are a lot of M-Scow sailors that also sail E-Scows, but many are making the decision to not sail in the regatta.  The second weekend also is the A Cat Worlds.  This is one good reason to move the regatta back to the third weekend of September.

So three things:
1.  We are looking at opting out of the Callahan Regatta
2.  We should move the North Americans back to the last weekend in July of 2018 in the Midwest.
3.  I would like to move the Easterns which we are working on running out of LYC back to the third weekend in September, 2018.

Your feedback is appreciated.

Thank you,

Tom Welsch
LA-10
856-261-2604

Easterns NOR

Hey everyone, here's the NOR for the Easterns this year. I would usually use this space to reiterate some details, but I'll let the flyer speak for itself this time. Hope to see you there!

- Jeremy

Fall Events

Hello again!

With the summer wrapping up I thought I'd remind everyone about some events happening around the Barnegat Bay are in the near future.

Easterns at Seaside Park Yacht Club - Sat Sept 16

Fall Series at Manasquan River Yacht Club - starts Sun Sept 10 at 10:45 AM, runs weekly.

NJ States at Manasquan River Yacht Club - will be raced on Sun Sept 22 at 9:30 AM.

More updates and NORs for these events are on the way.  Looking forward to seeing everyone on the water!

North American Championships Wrap-up

      As easy as it can be to get drawn in to today’s current events, this past weekend my dad and I found ourselves traveling in the opposite direction. On Friday we disembarked from home at 5:00am, and with boat in tow made the 10 hour journey up to Bobcaygeon, Ontario for the 2017 M-Scow North American Championships. Pigeon Lake Yacht Club hosted a wonderful and very competitive event featuring nine boats; two of whom hailed from Barnegat Bay in New Jersey, and two from the Midwest from Lake Harriet and White Bear Lake respectively. Upon arrival we were greeted warmly by noted hosts Mike Burton Davies and Fritz Mattern whose shared banter and wit puts most buddy cop movies to shame. Club volunteers organized a delicious dinner at the clubhouse overlooking Pigeon Lake, and after rigging our boats, Fritz and his wife Stephanie gave us a tour of their lovely home, which happened to be our berthing for the weekend. An important detail worth noting: I enjoyed my first legal beer on Friday (but if anyone asks it was my first ever beer also. Kind of bitter! Who knew).

      Saturday we arrived back the club for a refreshingly business-casual skippers meeting, then got ready for the 10am start. Early weather reports showed a chance of storms in the afternoon, so a motion to fit three races in before lunch was made and quickly passed. PI 818 had issues with their jib halyard, and opted out of first race to right the issue. We started off with a fairly short course, so short in fact that the 2 windward-leeward legs were completed by everyone in about 15 minutes. Dave Klein (BE-4) came out on top in the scramble, followed very closely by Joe Schroeder (LH-11), then Tom Welsch (LA-10). Early on the course saw winds of 12-18 kph. The conversion to imperial units remains a closely guarded secret, but for a 420lb crew weight, neither of us sat on the high side very much.

      Race 2 had the house stacked against us. Not only was the locally popular olympic course heading set (the bane of heavy crews), the pin had drifted a fair bit below the committee boat, making a port start impossible. A few people started over the line, but more arrived late trying to maneuver the ensuing mess. Fun fact: In misinterpreting the course set, a few boats (us included) sailed two triangles instead of an olympic – just to be safe. Once again, Dave Klein (BE-4) nabbed first, with Susan Kerr (BH-11) taking second, and Joe Schroeder (LH-11) taking third.

      We rounded off the morning with 2 laps worth of windward-leeward. As the fleet caught on that the right side of the course was favored, boats started tacking off the start earlier and earlier. Even with races twice as long, they went by blazing fast, and the close packed boats stayed competitive through lunch time. This time around Joe Schroeder (LH-11), a consistent top finisher took his first first place finish. Fritz Mattern (15) took second, and Tom Welsch (LA-10) found third.

      Once docked, everyone enjoyed a light lunch catered by Subway. The possibility of storms had lessened by that point, so everybody resolved to fit 3 more races in the afternoon. Tom and I used the break to make some necessary improvements to our rigging, and got back out there for round 2.

      The story of the afternoon was undoubtedly Richard Wilms (PI-58) who broke out of mid-fleet to take the fourth race in convincing fashion. A great start gave him the lead, and he held onto it in spite of the boats at his stern. Tom Welsch (LA-10) nipped at his heels the whole race, but settled for second. Joe Schroeder (LH-11) fell in line at third.

      After he was congratulated on his breakout summer success, it seems Rich decided he wasn’t finished. The board had approved a sequel, and this time he’d be telling an underdog story. Race five began with Rich starting a below a good chunk of the fleet, but as the olympic continues, he managed to erase the deficit, and sneak back into first as soon as the first mark rounding. With that, we had another contender to take the regatta on the scoreboard. Joe Schroeder (LH-11) followed behind in second, with Tom Welsch (LA-10) not far off in third.

      Over the course of the afternoon, everyone’s heeling gave way to hiking. Dark clouds loomed over the lake, but with the exception of some drizzle here and there, none broke. Race six was definitely one for the heavier crews, and this fact was taken advantage of by Tom Welsch (LA-10), who had been hovering around the top of the fleet all day. A photo finish on opposite tacks and left Susan Kerr (BH-11) in second, as Joe Schroeder (LH-11) ducked to take third. Good times were had over pulled pork and chicken sandwiches once the boats were back on trailers.

      Sunday contrasted starkly from the conditions prior. Wind was hard to find out on the lake, to the point where no olympic courses were set, for going that far left would be leaving any form of propulsion. A trend observed on Saturday that strangers to the lake had to learn, was that the wind liked to switch often, but more often than not switched back. Reacting to a shift early was frequently detrimental in the long run, and even more care had to be taken when scavenging for the breeze on Sunday. In retrospect it shouldn’t have been surprisingto see native sailors flourishing in these conditions, but perhaps less expected was the fact that this modest fleet would see yet another race winner. Mike Burton Davies (PI-44), broke his mid-fleet curse by masterfully navigating the shortened windward leeward to take first in the seventh race. Just behind him was fellow Pigeon Lake resident Fritz Mattern (15). Third place was clinched by Joe Schroeder, who managed to beat a boat (us) on the last leg, from both below and behind.

      Guess what. The last race was taken by Mike again. He ended up the third competitor to take two races, and the fifth race winner overall. In similar fashion, Mike came out in front early, and never lost his groove. All the others could only give chase, and chase they did. Supplemented by a one lap race, the final gauntlet was the most competitive and exciting, with everyone finishing within a minute of one another. Tom Welsch (LA-10) finished second, and Fritz Mattern (15) third. Mercifully, the wind filled in for the sail back to the dock.

      Once the final scores were tallied, and the necessary drops were made, there was a tie for 1^st. Joe Schroeder and Tom Welsch both ended up with 14 points, and overall results were identical all the way up to the seventh race. Joe Schroeder, having placed one point higher than Tom on the first drop, won the 2017 North Americans M-Scow Championships. Coming in at 3rd was Fritz Mattern, who made the podium despite being a part of the fleet minority that had not won a race! Like an onion, our competition has layers.

    Bobcaygeon is a place so pleasant and charming not even the bugs get on your nerves. Everybody we met was hospitable and friendly, the food was fantastic, and the locale was and continues to be nothing short of idyllic. On top of all that, a competitive, well run regatta was held - with no race-abandoning storms! We look back on this weekend fondly, and look forward to next year’s regatta, tentatively planned for Lake Harriet, Minneapolis. Congrats again to Joe Schroeder, and thank you to all who helped make this event possible. Long live the M-Scow!