Community Boating Tiller Club Racing

05/31/2026

Summer Series 1 was, in a word, perfection. The temperature was that bliss found between spring and summer. There was enough sun for our vitamin D starved skin, but enough cloud cover to keep it from being too harsh. The breeze - despite the occasional lull - had, most of the time, just enough spice to keep it delicious. 11 boats jostled at the starting line for 4 races on this green-to-yellow day. It was a good thing we had one of our best RCs setting the course, because - and I know this is frequently said here - it was a VERY shifty day. But as pointed out, there are 30* shifty days, and there are 90* shifty days. Today was a relentless barrage of not only those, but several 180s! Put another way, our boat (Mark & Stacy) both tacked and gybed without any tiller involvement, in the span of about 2 minutes. We complain about wildly shifty days, but do we even mean it? Isn't the challenge that this presents what keeps us on our toes, and coming back for more?

There was a brief spell when the wind really kicked up for a moment, and of course right then a windsurfer appeared in the course, right behind the dude on the (hoverboard? What even is that)? We joked that we were missing the usual array of kayakers congregating at the windward mark, and that this could only be because they could not discern it from the leeward (fair, because neither could any of us in these shifts). Southwesterlies became Northeasterlies and back again, rinse, repeat. There was a boat sailing backwards, two minor collisions, at least one formal protest, at least 2 instances of penalty turns, two or more boats that got caught on a buoy or mark (including ours which drove straight between a doubled), & another inquiry (protest maybe?) debated back on the dock. And speaking of the dock, once back, I observed joyously as two lasers capsized. Good times had by all!

Congrats to our top 3 finishers:

1st place: K & Marsh , 9 pts
2nd place: Harrington & OG, tied for 2nd/3rd with 11 points, winning the point tiebreaker by having more better-place finishes
3rd place: & Fabio 11 points

And above all, a million thanks to Duncan, who RCd alone on a not-so-forgiving day, and somehow managed to do a fantastic job anyway (as judged by the rather tough to please Harrington) :heart: Thanks for coming out, everybody!

Next Week: The Single Handed Too!

05/22/2026

No racing this holiday weekend! Summer Series starts the following Sunday, May 31.

A couple of favorite regattas coming up:

June 7 Single-handed Too! Single-handing in Mercuries on a standard course.

June 28 Women's Regatta! Women skippers only, anyone can crew.

05/17/2026

A 10-boat turnout graced the Mel Carlson regatta on this humid 87* day. We raced 3 races, went in for a boat rotation, & headed back out. What had started as some rather delightful and manageable breeze built gradually into something a bit vicious at times. Another 3 races were had before RC called for another rotation, managing to fit in 2 more races thereafter. Having more than 6 races means each boat gets to toss out its worst score. The lyingest yellow flag ever observed flew high above the chaos. As is the norm on wilder days, there were a few collisions, multiple protests and penalty turns, and 4 capsizes - one of which went on to win first place anyway! 2 boats went in early because it was getting too wild out there. The wind was coming from ... well ... pretty much everywhere. The downwind mark was the upwind by the time we got there on our first race, & I can't recall the rest, because survival!

A wealth of gratitude to our RCs Niko & Robin, who killed it today! And congrats to our top 3 finishers:

Harry Mattison & Mina Cezairli, 12 pts
Alex Mattern and Morgane Treaton, 13pts (note the 1pt difference!)
Erik Wile & Carolyn Marsh, 23 pts

We're off next Sunday for Memorial Day weekend, but expect you there May 31st for Summer Series 1, with Terry as our RC, who can set up a pretty dope course.

Also - if you don't already know - there's a fantastic Women's Racing & Social Sailing group! Reach out for details.

05/17/2026

Looking great for the Mel Carlson Regatta today! Don’t forget to bring your water bottle. It’ll be very hot and humid, and we’re gonna get a workout. I recommend Terry’s trick of using a carabiner to secure it in the boat.

05/13/2026

This week is the Mel Carlson regatta! Regatta day schedule, so there will be a boat rotation around 12:15 ish, and no race starts after 2:30.

Mel Carlson was a dock master at CBI (then called Community Sailing Club), who passed away at age 49 in 1945. The regatta was named in his honor that summer. He lived on Mountfort St in the Back Bay. Born in 1896 in North Dakota, he spent a year in a German POW camp after being captured in France during the War. His obituary and photo are attached here. The Globe page makes for fun reading too: see the article in the lower left corner under "Quincy, Town River, Stage Regatta Tomorrow Morning" for a description of what racing was like back then!

05/13/2026

The results of the Warren Ruck Spring Series are in! See previous post for scores. This trophy is named in honor of Warren Ruck, a sailor who is familiar to several of us who have raced in recent years at CBI. Warren started at Community Sailing, as it was known then, in 1971, and learned to sail at that time; he quickly began racing, and knew that this was the best way to improve his sailing skills. As a competitor, he was honest and direct, polite and considerate. He won the Tiller Club’s Sportsmanship Award several times in his racing career. He served as Vice President of the Mercury Class Association for many years, and in my recollection was on the Tiller Club Executive Committee in all the years I can remember, from at least 2004. He earned tremendous loyalty from those who crewed for him, and there were several long-time teammates who would attest to his sense of fair play and competitiveness. Personally, I enjoyed our long conversations in the Mass Eye and Ear parking lot after every Tiller Club Committee meeting, and those moments at the start of every Sunday marking the fleet for the day’s racing. We all miss his great sense of humor, his wry assessments of the absurd, and his tremendous loyalty to his friends at CBI. -Mark Harrington

05/12/2026

Final Standings for the Warren Ruck Spring Series:
1st place: Niko K
2nd place: Giancarlo D.
3rd place (by a mere 0.06 pt split!) Terry D.

05/11/2026

It feels like spring has finally arrived on the Charles for Spring Series V! Temps were in the high 60s to low 70s with 4-6 knots of wind out of the S-SW to start the day and built in the last race to about 10-12 knots with gusts into the teens. The teams that consistently stayed in phase with the more gradual wind shifts and kept their boat moving through the lulls (often by bearing off a little more and easing sails) were able to make huge gains. With a wind direction like today, keep an eye out for those sneaky lefties dropping in over the esplanade too.

Congrats to our top 3 finishers to round out the Spring Series!

1st Place (winning the tie breaker!): Erik W and Carolyn M
2nd Place: Terry D and Cole C
3rd Place: Giancarlo D and Stefano G

Thanks to Josh and Nchinda for RC and RC support!

Looking forward to the Mel Carlson regatta next Sunday⛵

05/06/2026

05/05/2026

Updated Standings: