The rain threatened, but never succeeded on canceling the festive Portmouth Folly Regatta hosted by the Balboa Yacht Club on Saturday, December 18th.

The Regatta consisted of two classes: Keelboat Fleet (which included the Harbor 20’s) and the Centerboard Fleet.  A total of 9 Harbor 20’s participated along with a Thistle and a Santana 20.

The race committee selected an exciting (roughly) windward / leeward course taking the fleet outside the harbor to the J mark and back to finish. With winds at about 10-12 knots, blustering and threatening weather, and swells that occasionally broke over the and into the boats, the Harbor 20’s proudly and confidently tacked up the channel, out of the harbor, around J Mark, and back down the channel to the finish. Each race lasted about 40 minutes.

The Harbor 20’s held their own against the Santana and Thistle (finishing 7th and 8th overall). The Harbor 20’s were assigned a PHRF rating of 92, the Santana a 90.1 and the Thistle an 83.

Tucker Cheadle skippering #168 with Tom Schock as crew took 1st place, Karl Pomeroy (#262) with crew Cole Pomeroy took second, and John Whitney (#130) sailing single-handled finished 3td place. Full results are available here.

Nik Froehlich (#109) sailing with Mindy and her parents and uncle, was awarded the “Most Festive in Keelboat” award.

Before the awards ceremonies, the kids lead all the sailors with a unique rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas.

HARBOR 20 CHALLENGE – BLUE vs GREY

Hilton Head, South Carolina

November 20 & 21, 2010

In 2009, several of the South Carolina Yacht Club Harbor 20 sailors participated in the Manhattan Sailing Club’s Dennis Conner International Yacht Club Challenge. In exchange, the South Carolina sailors invited the Manhattan sailors to Hilton Head for a weekend of sailing the Harbor 20s. The challenge was billed as a Blue vs Grey (i.e., North vs.South) Challenge and took place November 20 & 21.

The six sailors who represented the Manhattan Sailing Club were skippers Klaus Brinkbaeumer, Danielle Gallo & Randy Lewis; and crew Noah Bessoff, Mary Gardiner & Claire Morda. South Carolina Yacht Club Harbor 20 Fleet 3 was represented by skippers Burt Keenan, Gary Gleason, Marvin Carlson, and Mark Frey. In order to involve more people and get to four boats per team, SCYC offered John Rumsey as skipper of the Blue team’s fourth boat. They also filled in crew as needed.

Winds were extremely light and shifty; and there was a strong current running – not an unusual set of circumstances for the sailors from New York. After six races, each team ended the series with a total of 112 points, with the Southerners awarded the victory based on the tie breaker – the most first place wins. 

As always, the regatta featured fantastic southern hospitality, good food, and a great opportunity to make new friends. A re-match is already in the works.