2002 RACING RESULTS (Top 7 Finishers):

Cherry Blossom 2002 April 27th The 2002 Cherry Blossom Regatta was especially meaningful this year as it was the debut of the Ellie Ayres Memorial Trophy. Even more appropriate, the winner of the regatta, who will have her name engraved in the #1 spot on the trophy was Jacie (Ayres) Swenson, Jim & Ellie's daughter. Jacie, after some years lapse from toro sailing, showed she hadn't lost her touch. The winds on the Tidal Basin were very challenging this year. Puffs and lulls - first one side of the course had wind, then the other - seemingly in an entirely unpredictable pattern, but Jacie was always in the right place at the right time! We had two visitors from California (Don Hebard and Charles Keiser), but some of our regulars had conflicts and couldn't make it, for example Tom Jones had his 50th high school reunion. During one puff in the first race, Bill Schneider was caught tacking and filled his boat entirely up with water, but didn't capsize somehow - but it took a lot of bailing to even get the water below the centerboard well. Results: 1. Jacie Swenson, 2. Geoff Schneider, 3. Don Hebard, 4. Brian Taliaferro, 5.Charles Keiser, 6. Bill Schneider, and 7. Val Taliaferro.

Tuckahoe Spring Regatta, June 1st The Tuckahoe short-course regatta was on a fine sunny day, with lots of wind -- occasionally. The general wind speeds were usually less than 10, but every so often, a big puff would come boiling in (and usually from a new direction) so you'd suddenly have to hop up on the rail and hike. Val was the only one that actually succumbed to one. It was on the starting line where he found himself with a boat full of water. It looked at first as if he might stay upright and bail, but the puff didn't oblige and over he went. He missed that race in order to bail out in the marsh behind the starting line. However, it was a fine marsh for a bit of eco-touring. But you weren't quite sure what might be nibbling on your feet. The course was very interesting, with the wing mark being a low marshy island. Brian Taliaferro found a way to cut inside an underwater grass clump at the end of the island, allowing a course at least 2 feet shorter. He wasn't very far out of first place, but that was really due to his outstanding boat speed, not necessarily his navigation. The top seven overall were: 1. Geoff Schneider, 2. Bill Schneider, 3. Brian Taliaferro, 4. Hank Muma, 5. Chisolm McAvoy, 6. Tom Jones, and 7. Val Taliaferro.

Tred Avon Regatta, June 22nd Despite our concerns that Saturday morning traffic would be very slow at the Bay Bridge, there was no backup at all around 7 to 8am. (However, later that morning, a substantial backup developed) Not only that, the police were not on duty at the radar trap site under the reduced speed limit sign in Oxford (it cost Tom $70 last year) and there were no white caps breaking on the club docks. In fact, there was some concern there would not be enough wind, but the Optimist and El toro race course chairman got us on the water anyway and, just as he predicted, a southerly filled in to give a good racing for the rest of the day. It was zero to very light at times, but soon filled in again. The occasional Queen Mary sized powerboat wakes added a bit of challenge. At one point, some of us tacked to avoid one and found ourselves facing an even bigger one! A powerboat hooked the wing mark in the first race and dragged it a considerable distance upriver - a course boat brought it back eventually, although it ended up that the fleet rounded it when it was in different positions, but the committee decided to keep the race anyway. The Optimist fleets added even more interest because we often caught up to them for the mark roundings. Just like old days for Geoff and Brian. At the last turning mark of the last race, Bill Schneider was caught by a puff from abeam while surrounded by Optimists and filled his boat up with water for the second time this year! But it was nice and cool on a hot day. Four races were held with the following results (trophies were awarded to the top two finishers) - Bill & Tom were tied in the total points with a tie-breaker decision going to Bill: Results: 1. Geoff Schneider, 2. Hank Muma, 3. Val Taliaferro, 4. Bill Schneider, 5. Tom Jones, 6. Carol Jones, 7. Brian Taliaferro.

Happy 80th Birthday, Hank! Cambridge Annual Regatta, July 13-14th HANK SHOWS US HOW IT'S DONE! The Cambridge Annual Regatta was held at, guess where! The Cambridge Yacht Club in Cambridge, Maryland. The weather was hot and sunny on Saturday. We figured out early to stay to the sides of the river because the tidal current was going out faster in the center. As always, Hank Muma had great speed in the light air for the 4 races sailed on Saturday. Sunday dawned very wet with pouring rain. Carol & Tom, perhaps with memories of whitecaps pounding the bulkhead and spraying across the lawn at previous regattas at the club, elected to stay dry ashore. Fortunately, the winds settled in around 5 to 10 knots and the rains slackened by the first start. Hank kept command of the regatta (despite his 80th birthday party the previous night), occasionally passing Bytes and Laser Radials from previous classes, and held on to win. Despite encouragement by the toro fleet, he didn't kiss the Yacht Club Queen at the awards ceremony - we think he knew we were filming it. The top seven overall were: 1. Hank Muma, 2. Geoff Schneider, 3. Bill Schneider, 4. Brian Taliaferro, 5. Val Taliaferro, 6. Alex Rogers, and 7. Carol Jones.

Plantation Regatta, August 10th The Plantation Regatta was held at Bill Fry's summer home on St Inigoes Creek off the St Marys River close to where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay. As always, Bill proved to be a superb host, the swimming pool was really refreshing after the regatta. Not to mention the barbecue and drinks. We really had two different regattas that day. The first set of races were sailed in a steady 5 to 7 knot breeze from the mouth of the creek on a flood tide. It paid off to go all the way right to avoid some of the current. However the wind died after the first 3 races, so we went in for lunch. The last set of races were held in a gusty 0 - 12 knot "breeze" that was shifting 60 degrees at unpredictable intervals. This part was especially challenging and it seemed that everyone spent some time in a hole - usually while trying to round the weather mark. But it was fun. Ted Koppel motored out in his Boston Whaler from his home across the creek to watch - maybe we can interest him in sailing a toro next year. The Fry "syndicate" boat was sailed by a couple of his daughters and Alex Rogers missed a couple of races when his rudder broke. The regatta was won by Geoff Schneider, followed closely by his dad. Reed Rogers did very well in a borrowed boat - she edged out Brian Taliaferro for third. Many of the fleet spent some time in the lead, particularly Brian and his dad, Reed, Hank, and Bill Fry - the competition was close. Special thanks go to the race committee: Bill Rogers and Chris Rogers. Roger that, good buddy (we also had 3 Rogers on the water from two unrelated Rogers families). The top seven overall were: 1. Geoff Schneider, 2. Bill Schneider, 3. Reed Rogers , 4. Brian Taliaferro, 5. Val Taliaferro, 6. Hank Muma, and 7. Bill Fry.

Leukemia Cup Regatta, September 7th The 2002 Leukemia Cup was held by the Potomac River Sailing Association September 7th at the Washington Sailing Marina next to National Airport. This is always a challenging venue with large jets landing over your head and clumps of hydrilla popping up around you in unexpected places, but this is just part of what makes it fun to sail here. This year, the hydrilla was so thick in the basin, the races for Penguins and El toros were held just south on the Potomac where a ebbing current and a light shifty breeze added to the challenges. The race committee did a fine job of compensating, although we had to settle for no weather legs in the last two races. I remember one particularly frustrating race where Hank & I were leading everyone, halfway down the 1st reaching leg at the time everyone else was just rounding the weather mark. However, we found ourselves headed off to the right side of the course when we had a 180 deg wind shift with the wind continuing to go right. Then our wind died and and we were left in an extreme vaccum off to the side watching everyone else pick up a stiff breeze and pass us close hauled directly to the mark. Just another challenge! Finishing places: 1. Geoff Schneider, 2. Angela Garcia 3. Hank Muma, 4. Val Taliaferro, 5. Bill Schneider, 6. Tom Jones, 7. Carol Jones, 8. Chisolm McAvoy

OVERALL: Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association HIGH POINT for 2002 (calculated for those who got enough races in): 1. Geoff Schneider, 2. Hank Muma, 3. Bill Schneider, 4. Brian Taliaferro, 5. Val Taliaferro, 6. Tom Jones, and 7. Carol Jones.