MARBLEHEAD Senior Race Week NOOD - Day #1 - THURSDAY July 24, 2008

Howdy from Bob Duff July 24, 2008 2300 hours,

The first races of Marblehead Senior Race Week/2008 Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regatta at Marblehead were abandoned today because of serious weather conditions. Tomorrow we may have sixteen J/105s, fifteen ETCHELLS and twelve INTERNATIONAL ONE DESIGNS (IC-IODs) if the weather allows. Then on Saturday twelve STARs should start racing. It promises a good time for the EYC committee on the OUTSIDE LINE.

Pat and Jim Ayer are scheduled for the mark boat with Paul McCauley. I am counting on Jim for some more of his great pictures but there was rumor of illness. My schedule shows Rear Commodore Phil Smith with Jim McCully on the pin.

ETO will have PRO Susie Schneider, timer Brad Marvin, Ashley Boyle, Jennifer Tegfeldt and me on flags. Cheryl Byrne was running around this afternoon trying to steal Ashley from the signal boat onto the mark boat. I think Cheryl may be joining Paul on the mark boat with the potential absence of the Ayers. We shall see.

While we do our thing, RHODES 19s and TOWN CLASS will perform on HALFWAY ROCK LINE. TINKERS LINE will host VIPER 640s, ALERION EXP28s, SONARs and J/24s.

Managing all of this is Peter "LUIGI" Reggio. We hear about him in Charley Cook's blog about their work together at the China Olympics coming up in August.

With no racing to report, I delved back again in my archives to show you my first IOD racing in San Francisco in May 1958. This is Ernie Brown's IC #80 FLIRT headed upwind with spinnaker toward Japan after a fleet of starboard tack STARS were just starting going west on our same finish/starting line. Not very thoughtful race committee management! That will not happen here tomorrow.

Next I picture my only "gold medal" from the 1975 IOD World Championship in Edinburgh, Scotland. Thornton Clark, my former wife Debbie and I had qualified in Marblehead for a shot at the Worlds. Our regular crew, Phil Sommerby, declined to travel to Scotland. Desperate for good crew, we chose Sheila and Bill Widnall from among the dozen who wanted to go with us. Steve Wales went to Scotland and took the win. I think that we were second, but "there is no second in a boat race!"

I have some other ancient mementos for tomorrow. Meanwhile, I look forward to a great day of racing!