"These things seem small." (Shakespeare)
October 1997 Issue Contents Return to the Frosty Home page.


Larry Christian on the dock.
Il Maestro: Larry Christian, 1997 North American
Champion. Ansel Cahoon photo.



The '97 NAs:
Christian Science
Prevails Once More

Seventeen determined Frosties hit the line for the thirteenth annual Cape Cod Frosty North American Championship sailed at the Hyannis Yacht Club on May 3 and 4, 1997. On Saturday they needed all the determination they could muster. The wind was a strong southeasterly, gusting over twenty-five knots and steaming in from a direction that left the race course unsheltered by any lee. As a result a steep chop built up that kept the fleet bailing frantically on the downwind legs. It was a day for light-weights--the top four finishers were the four smallest competitors, suggesting that maneuverability in the boat pays off when Frosties are sailing on the edge of survival.

As has become their custom, Fleet #9 (Mostly Maine) [but really from New Hampshire] stole the show, with horizon-job leads by 1994 NA champ Larry Christian and a dazzling display of self-rescue in mid-race by Leon MacCorkle.

Sunday provided very different conditions--smooth water with an offshore westerly varying from zilch to twenty plus knots, huge shifts, and plenty of holes. Nonetheless, crash-boat driver Larry Chandler was kept busy with a number of non-self-rescuing capsizes. The change in conditions shuffled the deck to some extent, but nothing kept Larry Christian back as he ran up another string of aces.

Throughout it all Race Committee chairman Truman Henson turned in his customary superb performance. Results, with one drop, were as follows:


Place	Competitor				Points
1.	Larry Christian, Deerfield, NH		10.00
2.	Tim O'Keeffe, Centerville, MA		38.00
3.	Peter Eastman, Barnstable, MA		50.00
4.	John Field, New York, NY		56.0
5.	Paul Hull, Salisbury, MD		63.00
6.	Chuck Rudiasky, Newburyport, MA		69.00
7.	Tracey Taylor, Barnstable, MA		78.00
8.	Leon MacCorkle, Hampton, NH		81.00
9.	Steve Bailey, Hampton, NH		82.00
10.	Tom Philbrick, Centerville, MA		90.00
11.	Deke Sheller, Salisbury, MD		106.00
12.	Tom Leach, Harwich, MA			108.00
13.	Ross Weene, Ashland, MA			113.00
14.	Jen Kano, Cataumet, MA			124.00
15.	Ken Simpson, Brewster, MA		169.00
16.	M. and N. Philbrick, Centerville, MA	172.00
17.	Susan Nagy, Stratham, NH		172.00

Group photo, '97 NAs.
They're all winners: Competitors and Race Chairman Henson at the '97 NAs.
Ansel Cahoon photo.

1997 Annual Meeting

Secretary/Treasurer Jen Kano opened the 1996 annual meeting with the treasurer's report. At last year's annual meeting a dues increase from $8 to $12 was voted. This was prompted by a two year loss of about $995. That dues increase worked out well. This year income was about $433 greater than expenditures. Individual dues bills inserted in both newsletter mailings were well responded to, and saved the association approximately $70 per billing over doing separate mailings.

Membership numbers are the same as last year. There were no new fleets formed, but two members of the dormant Long Island Fleet have shown some interest in getting something going again down there. Inquiries to the class association via mail, phone, and e-mail continue to trickle in steadily year-round. Sailing magazine is doing a feature article on building your own boat and requested information on the Frosty from us. The Cape Cod Children's Discovery Museum in Dennisport now has a Frosty on permanent display. It is a "hand-on" exhibit.

Tom Leach reported that the sale of plans and hull numbers was very slow compared to other years--only 10 or 15 new numbers issued.

Cape Cod Fleet Captain Tim O'Keeffe reported that participation was about the same as the previous year at about 7-8 per week. Speaking for Fleet #9 from New Hampshire, Steve Bailey said that participation dropped some after they instituted a mandatory dry suit rule last year. They have quite a number of college students interested in racing, but do not have boats for them to use. The Maryland fleet volunteered to donate a couple of boats to New Hampshire for the purpose. The Maryland fleet has just two people left who sail every week, down from a high of six at one time. Two-time Class champion Craig Tovell of Ohio was not able to attend the meeting of the championship this year but called with greetings and a promise to be back next year. [See accompanying article for Craig's lame excuse for his absence.]

A fleet-building brainstorming session spawned the following ideas:

  1. Have a late spring or early fall event.
  2. Run an instructional clinic.
  3. Make loaner boats available and get the word out to the summer sailing community about it.
  4. Don't beat the pants off new people.
NA sailing photo.

The meeting voted honorary (no dues) status for Jen Kano for her many years of service to the Class. There was no new business.



Big chop, small boat:
Jen Kano on Day 1 of the NAs.
Ansel Cahoon photo.


Announcing the
Eleventh Annual Scallop Cup Regatta

The 1997 Annual Scallop Cup regatta will be held on Nantucket Island on Saturday, October 25th. The ferry leaves from Hyannis at 9:15 on Saturday morning, and the regatta begins soon after it arrives on Nantucket at 11:30 AM. After the racing, there is the famous post-Scallop Cup party.

For those who need to get back to the mainland, the racing will be finished before the 5:30 PM ferry returns to Hyannis. Participants and friends are encouraged to come early (ferries leave Hyannis on Friday at 2:15 and 8:15 PM) and spend the entire weekend on the island. The Steamship authority at Hyannis treats your Frosty as if it were a sailboard or bicycle and stores it on the freight deck. The regatta site at the Nantucket Yacht Club is a one minute walk from the ferry terminal. For those seeking rooms in town, there is the Jared Coffin House (508) 228-2400, the Harbor House 228-1500, and a host of other inns and guest houses. Some competitors have found good values at the Nantucket Inn 228-6900, which is not in town but has van service. For more information, contact regatta chairman Nat Philbrick--(508) 228-5216 (h) or (508) 228-2505 (o).

P.S. As was true last year, Lasers will also be participating in the event.


Return to the Table of contents.

Frosty Flashes: News Items from Far and Near

David Lutwin of Long Beach, NY, sends the good news that Long Island Fleet #5 is alive and well once more. Over the summer months, the fleet had a couple of shake-down cruises where several members brought their Frosties out of mothballs, reconditioned them, and began to sail on their home waters off the South Shore of Long Island. Anyone interested in joining the fun should get in touch with David at (516) 889-9351 or e-mail (Wildcat68@aol.com).

Fleet #9 (Mostly Maine but really from New Hampshire) shows the way in Frosty safety with their self-rescuing boats and their new dry suit requirement. Other cold water sailors should take notice.

Fleet Captain Marek Parnell of Montreal #7 reports that in addition to their regular Sunday racing his fleet continued the tradition of joining with the Montreal fleet in two annual regattas, one at each city.

Fleet #0 (Cahoon Family Fleet) is in disarray after last spring's series was swept by fourteen-year-old wonder Tiger Cahoon. The old guard, led by Slocum Cahoon, have threatened to boycott future fleet activities unless the 75 lb. whippersnapper is required to carry eight gallons of water. Tiger's big brother Moose is crying foul. Look for further developments in our next issue.


Cape Fleet Spring Series Results

Disastrous weather limited Fleet #1 to just three race days, all in April. Benefiting from the light schedule and a good supply of vitamin supplements, ancient mariner Tom Philbrick managed to break into the winner's column. With no throw-outs, results were as follows:


Place	Competitor			Points
1.	Tom Philbrick			3.50
2.	Jen Kano			9.00
3.	Tom Leach			12.00
4.	Gary Prahm			16.00
5.	Tim O'Keeffe			17.00
6.	Marianne Philbrick		19.00
7.	John Field			22.75
8.	Ken Simpson			25.00
9.	Ed Ormston			27.00
10.	Don Stucke			28.00

Eight Years After, or
Why I Missed the NAs This Year

by Craig Tovell

The CCFA North Americans of 1996 were, as usual, a blast. We got to visit our friends in New England and took Collin and Carly, ages four and one-and-a-half years old, respectively, on vacation. Our agenda was to visit, race, and purchase Peter Keen's Snipe. The week went well and was enjoyable. But things came unglued after the regatta, turning our normal 16-hour drive home into a 21-hour nightmare.

At the end of the Nationals, as tradition dictates, we stopped at Steamers for lunch with our friends to say "goodbye." Before driving off into the sunset, any conscientious sailor knows to check trailer lights as we did before leaving the restaurant. Naturally, Murphy's Law would have to encroach on a wonderful vacation, and an additional two hours would have to be spent getting at least one trailer light to work while the family stewed in a cramped Jeep. A bit of advice--never take an off-road vehicle for a family vacation. It can be categorized as macho or just plain stupid. That's why min-vans exist.

The annual post-regatta lunch was planned to allow us to miss rush hour in Providence and New York City, then gun it home at night with the Peterbuilts, reaching our home around 7 AM before Monday rush hour. But now that was blown, and we'd have to hump it along I-95 with the rest of the tourists heading west.

One neat thing about hauling a boat with a Jeep is that you don't even know it's back there. The problem is that after a while you don't even know it's back there. Which leads us to losing a tire at rush hour in the fourth passing lane at 65 miles per hour. After a bunch of crazy New England drivers passed us honking incessantly, I noticed that the trailer was listing, and assumed that the left tire was flat. Without properly-working trailer lights, I gunned the Jeep across three lanes cutting off the other drivers like a crazy Ohio tourist. Then, I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw sparks shooting from the trailer.

I got the rig to the berm, hopped out of the Jeep to inspect the carnage and realized that there was no tire or wheel. Period. I unknowingly dragged 800 pounds over 65 miles per hour for a mile without a tire on raw axle. The possibility that someone on the other side of the median was probably killed from a trailer tire projectile also occurred to me at that moment.

In my many years of regatta roadtrips, I've been stranded just about everywhere east of the Mississippi, and I'm cool under pressure. Or, at least that's what I told Cindy. Plus, I didn't tell her that the family was lucky to be alive. We had a spare trailer tire, which is rare, which made me appreciate the Keens even more. After getting the trailer jacked up, it dawned on me that there were no lug nuts. So what. I figured on borrowing two of the four lugs from the right tire to get us to a service station. Unfortunately, it also later became apparent that Jeep lug wrenches don't match trailer lugs.

So, what. I'm a AAA member and have a cell phone. This would have made a perfect commercial, except for the fact they don't tell you that cellular telephone service doesn't work sometimes in the inner city. I'd expect the, "I'm sorry ... you are out of the service area," message in the Badlands, not Providence. As serendipity would have it, we were disabled one hundred yards from an exit ramp so I could jog to a pay phone to call AAA. After attempting to use the second broken pay phone, I found one that worked. My first quarter went to our friends who lived ten minutes away, only to get an answering machine. My second and last quarter reached AAA.

However, AAA told me they couldn't find our account in "the system." My lengthy, frantic plea that ensued garnered results. The kind customer service representative dispatched a wrecker--guaranteed in thirty minutes. Another bit of advice--don't wear spanking white Docksiders and a yellow slicker in the hood. Plus, out-of-state vanity license plates like IBSALN can be misconstrued as "I Be Sellin." This is more dangerous than cute. Especially when your family is back on the berm eating Oreos and thinking that everything is in control.

Anyway, after our third hour on the berm, and after being passed by the second AAA wrecker, a carload of America's youth stopped in front of the Jeep to check us out. At first I was relieved and na‹ve enough to think they were stopping to help. A towering kid wearing a University Michigan basketball jersey got out of the back seat and glared at us. Then I recollected Michigan and Ohio have a rivalry and that momentary comfort dissipated. Before we wet our pants, a Rhode Island highway patrol officer appeared and pulled over behind us in time to scare off the juvenile predators. Lucky for that Michigan goon he didn't get dissed by a J.Crew poster child.

The officer was polite, professional and understood the gravity of our situation--that we were scared out of our wits, frustrated, and carrying a motherlode of dirty diapers. He patiently waited with us and then flagged down the first wrecker that showed itself. The wrecker driver, who had already passed us earlier said, "We don't normally stop in these parts." I didn't know whether to kiss him or knee him in the groin. I kind of understand where the wrecker driver was coming from. He easily broke two lugs from the right wheel and tightened the left wheel with them as earlier planned.

We thanked the two guys and got back on the road. Cindy and I determined at this point, we'd drive straight through for another 14 hours because we couldn't take it any more and weren't going to stop until we got home.

Since that experience, we're going to take a breather in 1997, get a minivan, and a list to triple check for 1998. This conservatism is a stark contrast over past eight years of sailing Frosties. From driving a primer gray VW Microbus where making sure we had enough ice was a top priority to stocking the diaper bag with binkies, things have changed. Now, these roadtrips aren't as free-wheeling as they used to be.


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Cape Cod Frosty News
Copyright Cape Cod Frosty Class Association 1998 all rights reserved.

Editor: Tom Philbrick
Art Director: Jen Kano

Published biannually by the Cape Cod Frosty Class Association for the edification and amusement of its members, their families, and friends. Subscriptions to the paper edition are available through membership in the Class Association.