(Montego Bay, Jamaica)- Mike Morse and his merry team of professional
cyclists and instructors managed to pip the rest of the fleet to be the
Champion boat in the first Robert Mallasch Memorial J/22 series.
Mallasch’s widow, Norma, not one for sailing, graced us with her
presence for the prize giving; it was great to see her.It was a very fitting win for AYAHSO, as not only had Mike organized the race, the prizes (donated by John McConnell before his recent passing- - rest his soul), but also he did it on Bob Mallasch’s old boat that he had steadfastly crewed on up until Bob’s death this time last year. A fitting tribute Mike, well done from all of us!
The
racing was held over two weekends with three races per day (because Bob
didn’t like to have more than that)! The series was well supported,
with two teams from Kingston driving the 120 miles each way to make the
fleet up to a respectful 7 boats.The racing was just how Bob would have liked, quiet on the first weekend and blowing dogs off chains on the second. In fact, the winds were powerful enough on the second day to allow moments of upwind brilliance for some teams to be outstripped by “shrimping”, “diving”, “anchoring” and throwing the race all in one move. Well done J/22 TSUNAMI, the only instance this writer is aware of when having put the mast in the water and lost some crew overboard, one of the said crew was then run over by the sideways moving hull and popped up between the keel and the rudder with a vaguely anxious look!
Bob is missed for his enthusiasm and for the creating the glue that FORCED all of the skippers to come and sail an event, even if they thought they might have an excuse. He would always call every Thursday
before
a weekend and remind everyone of a pending event and have a quick chat
about any hilarious exploit that came to mind. He was a true sportsman,
always loving, generous and rule abiding. If only there were more like
him!A huge “Thank you” to the Race Committee Bryan and Lyn Langford for their rules, their interpretation of the rules and, most importantly, for Bob's Beer and the many fond memories. And, a tremendous “thanks” to all the competitors- Zipper (Peter Harper), Nina (Stephen Dear), Tsunami (Scott Clarke), Awesome (Steven Cooke), Defender (Nigel Knows- our Commodore), Ayahso (Michael Morse) and Renegade (Richard Hamilton)!! Thanks as well for this contribution from Richard, skipper of the raucous Renegade team! For more Robert Mallasch Memorial J/22 Series information
|
