The Mansfield Sailing Club held its eighteenth annual Bare Bones Regatta at the Clearfork Reservoir this weekend. The club is also celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Their regattas are open to Lightning class sailboats, and participants came from the Cowan Lake Sailing Association near Wilmington, OH; Indian Lake Yacht Club at Russells Point, OH; Cleveland Yacht Club; of course, the Mansfield Sailing Club, a crew from Michigan, and the Erie Yacht Club of PA.
Three races were conducted on Saturday, with nine boats competing; and two races took place Sunday with seven competing boats. As the boats navigated the course, a number of participants watched from the shore and pavilion. And when the weekend was over, there was a clear first place finish. The Cowan Lake team, crewed by James Taylor, Carl Taylor, and George Auer finished first in each of the five races.
The event is named the Bare Bones Regatta because the club is “bare bones.” There isn’t a club house, just a pavilion and club members don’t mind. They enjoy sailing and the friendly competition.
Maureen Kuiper, Mansfield, was one of the spectators. She had no trouble explaining sailing techniques because she was a crew member for many years. She explained that the person in forward is the jibber, there’s a middle person that manages the weight/balance, and in back is the skipper, the boat’s captain.
“It’s very, very sportsman-like competition,” she said, “And you want to win. You just do the best you can out there to beat everybody, and then you come in and talk about the race.”
As a boat prepared to round a course marker Kuiper noted, “See, the spinnaker is up because they’re going with the wind, but they’re getting ready to put the jib up and they’ll take the spinnaker down as they change tack position.” A jib is a triangular staysail positioned ahead of the mast and is used when navigating into the wind, whereas the spinnaker catches the wind and propels the sailboat forward.
Kuiper was first introduced to sailing when she was seven years old and her father, the late Tom McDermott, a Mansfield attorney, took up sailing. He went out one day with a friend and that was it. He bought a boat and started sailing in 1957.
“He came in last for years,” stated Kuiper, “but he read books and took notes. My dad was the skipper, mom was the jibber and my brother was in the middle. One year Father Alphonse, he was the priest who married them, blessed the boat; and they won their first race. Then everyone was saying they were going to have a priest or their rabbi bless their boats.”
McDermott continued to improve and win. He also went on to write books about sailing, including the Manual of Sailboat Racing, first published in 1964, and served on race committees that took him to Peru and Argentina. “The attorney in him knew the rules,” explained Kuiper. He continued sailing into his 80s.
As Kuiper watched the last race she pointed out that her family was in the race.
“My brother-in-law started sailing and I crewed with him. My nephews sail out here; I crewed with them. I sailed out here. It’s an awesome place. It’s a family kind of a thing.”
By 12:30 p.m., the last race of the regatta finished and boats and crews turned toward land. The boats were out of the water and on trailers in a surprisingly short time, and the crews enjoyed a lunch break before the awards.
Marion Zaugg of the Mohican Sailing Club served as the race committee chair. “I set the course,” he said, explaining his role. He was the judge. He further explained that races are set for approximately 35-45 minutes, based on the winds. He bases the course on the size of the lake and the strength of the wind. The race is a one-design race (all Lightnings) he explained, so it is not necessary to time the races, only to score the finishing positions.
Each crew was scored for each race by their finishing position, and then the race finishes were added together for a final score. In first place, as noted above, was the Cowan Lake crew including skipper James Taylor, his son Carl Taylor, and George Auer. They finished with five points: a first place finish in all five races.
In second place with 18 points, was the Mansfield crew of skipper Tom Varley, Jon Varley, and Matt “Bucky” Buchanan. Mansfield Club Vice Commodore Chris Clarke told the gathering that Tom Varley was in an accident earlier in the year and was just back on the water last week.
“There’s one person to whom we owe a lot for many reasons,” stated Clarke, “When Tom joined the club, he established these Bare Bones Regattas, so we owe him a tremendous amount of gratitude.”
The third place finishers were another Cowan Lake crew, skippered by Mike Brock. His crew members were Nate Ireland, and Bridget Ireland. And in fourth place was the Indian Lake crew of skipper Kurt Andrews, Andy Creamer, and Becky Young.
“There’s one person to whom we owe a lot for many reasons,” stated Vice Commodore Chris Clarke, “When Tom joined the club, he established these Bare Bones Regattas, so we owe him a tremendous amount of gratitude.”
