Here's what past J/24 World Champion and current Sail Newport Managing Director- Brad Read- had to say about his first evening of sailing/ racing his DF-95 model sailboat #88 (in Boston Bruins livery/ colors) off the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court pier:
"Very fun tonight! Thanks to Jim Boyd, Lynn Lynch and Beth Duggan of NYYC for allowing this to happen and setting the course at Harbour Court! We are trying to get clearance from Rhode Island's Department of Environmental Management for Tuesday next week at Sail Newport. I look forward to more sailing at NYYC Harbour Court, Newport Shipyard, and Sail Newport. Great fleet, truly a cast of characters."
In response, fellow DF-95 sailor Amory Ross (the famous photographer in Newport) had this tongue-in-cheek perspective:
"For those not in attendance... Brad went 1-1-1-1. Glad he took a break from wet sanding his hull to appropriately thank the enablers! Lots of fun indeed, echo the appreciation! Can see the potential. We may need some bigger 'bumpas', but then again, rubbin’ is racin! Looking forward to the next somebody-please-sink-88-now gathering, soon!" Editor's note- #88 is Brad's boat, LOL!
Here is the humorous, full-on, report from the self-appointed Newport DF-95 Fleet Scribe- "Mahky Mahconi" (in theory, a famous Boston-based descendent of Radio Pioneer Guglielmo Marconi- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi).
"The Newport Radio Control DF-95 Fleet’s first eva evening race series was held at the friendly confines of Harbour Court on Thursday July 17th and it looked wicked fun!
This reporter was quite impressed with the impressive handiwork in boatbuilding by our intrepid sailors. For those who still are either in process of rigging or paralyzed with fear even looking at the unopened box with their yacht inside, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that is the dyslexia-inducing fun of ripping around Newport Harbor with some really fun folks!
Mahky’s Musings- Night 1:
Body English works! Clay looks like he is ballroom dancing in all his maneuvers. Seems fast! Wait till you see those hips in action. He did say T-boning the orange balls was slow...something about "I can't see" or missing his bi-focals.
Art has commissioned an artist to paint “Temptation” on the side of his beloved craft. Fleet Scribe thinks that is a great idea because maybe then he will have the “temptation” to actually start with all the other yachts.
Paul had a full-on cheering / coaching section! Alisa, Justin and Mitchell provided ample advice and council. They brought in Super Coach 'Lior' in for tuning and strategic advice. Some of the quotable coaching: “Turn Left!! No Dad, your other left!”
Dan Hughes got his thousand steps in for the day on his health app by feverishly pacing up and down the pier.
Brad started the evening off by pouring a bit of beer on the bow as a sort of christening of his boat. Then he complained that his jib wasn’t easing out properly. Should have used a better beer maybe?
Maxi’s #93 and Amo’s #11 were out early training and definitely had the best tuning early which many people copied over the course of the night. Amo was overheard saying he was going to bring his yacht to Nantucket to race Amo Sr. in his Cat boat. Standby for more details and the Vegas line on that match race.
Nick Bailey, the only pre-existing DF-95 owner brought his boat down from Marble Dead. They survived the Lynn Way and the Revere Pahkway and also showed great speed through the evening.
Mike Toppa and Tom Kirk are still rigging up their boats, but came down to heckle (observe). TK brings a Cape Cawd in the summah perspective to the fleet and maybe could host an away event in Wild Hahba.
Stu J came down early, helped set up the course, sailed around for a bit, but had to leave prior to the racing..."bidnez reasons" he claims. The question remains is why… What is he hiding? Could it be that he is adding a “J/Sprit” and furling Code Zero? Your intrepid reporter will be inquiring.
The only casualty of the afternoon was Henry’s boat that had a servo malfunction. After much investigation, sabotage was ruled out. (Seriously, if anyone can help Henry determine his cause of his servo issue, please call him).
Oh, and there was racing! After an extended warm up, the fleet got together for 4 races. Conditions mirrored the famed Chahles Rivah in Boston and that seemed to help Paul (Harvard) and Brad (Boston U.) who subscribe to the Hunter S. Thompson theory that "when the going gets weird, the weird “turn pro”.
Windy, Dead Calm, Shifty and Fun according to all sailors (and a significant number of spectators). Everyone had their ups and downs in the results and crawled up the steep learning curve of RC Racing.
When asked about his good results for the night, #88 skipper Brad was quoted: “This RC Sailing seems to play well to my specific combination of OCD, ADD and Dyslexia. Plus, it's kinda like sailing in the Charles, it is far better to be lucky than good."
Fleet trash-talking continued after racing with the “Sink 88” mantra that was started by Amo. That has led Brad to go to the hobby shop and integrate a BB gun with a special servo trigger to fire salt pellets at Amo. This may just be that war of attrition that we were all hoping for as spectators….
Thanks to Janet Garnier - she was our attentive score keeper and is compiling the results for the fleet.
Thanks to Lynn/Beth and Jim Boyd at NYYC for allowing this rabble to be on the pier at Harbour Court for the first night of racing!
Thanks to Bob J, Stu J and Kendra for organizing the purchase of the boats and the first night of Racing!
Thanks to Clay for teaching the sailors the DF-95 Jitterbug. It is a sight to behold!
Sincerely, Mahky Mahconi… Fleet Scribe."