Force 5 Class Association

What an awesome regatta in Indiana! 11 Force 5s and I think 7 of us were travelers and 4 local boats. Thanks to the folks at Bloomington Yacht Club. This is a great little club. Only 40 members and just a few acres of land but wow do these guys put on a regatta like the big boys. Everyone I met was just great. The food was awesome as we had smoked birds (turkey, duck and game hen) with different sauces for each. We also had some great home made side dishes and dined on the porch family style at long tables. Sunday morning we had a wonderful pancake breakfast. Lots of beer, wine and a few Caesars (some funny drink from Canada) too. Being a cozy club, camping and boat storage is all right next to the clubhouse. You never have to walk far. The club is right behind the "Port Hole Inn" which has an excellent selection of fried fish and plenty of cold beverages. But enough about all the fun we had, I should talk about the racing too.

“The sea was angry that day my friend…” is a good description of how we ended the regatta at the Thames Yacht Club in New London, CT. But before we dig to far into how we finished, lets talk about how we got here. The F5 NAs have been going on since 1974, the year Gary Jobson won. The NAs first visit to New London was in 1994 and on the podium were Bob Cullen, Luke Buxton and Court Young. It was Bob’s fifth NA victory. Between those three skippers, they would go on to win 12 NAs between them. We would return to Thames YC in 2004 and 2007. And here we are back again for the 2011 chapter of the F5 NAs.

Sailing out of Thames YC is a really neat opportunity. It is very much an urban club. The parking is on the streets around the club, no parking lot at the club. So, unloading your boat happens quickly while the local traffic waits patiently. Awesome 2 story clubhouse and beautiful sandy beach at the club make for a fantastic venue for sailing Force 5s. Most everyone had arrived and setup by Thursday night. There were discussions of a practice sail but light wind and cold beer make for a battle that will always be won ashore.

The excitement of sailing a high-performance dinghy has always been the test of the sailor’s response to wind and wave conditions. The enjoyment and lasting interest that Force 5 sailors specifically have in common, is the “all-inclusiveness” of the Class. Age, weight, size, gender and strength may all have some bearing on the amount of effort required to be a top contender, but the design of the boat and the attitude of the sailors is what makes Force 5 Regattas so alluring and enduring.

The 2011 Border Run Sprint was attended this year by two Force 5ers. They showed the strength of the Force 5 and the guys who sail them. They came out with a first and third.



Results of the Dinghy division of the 2011 Border Run, a 14nm ocean race from Newport Beach to Dana Point. Force 5s would have gone 1-2 except for the fact that the Laser who corrected out second sailed a crazy (and shorter) course which was not prohibited in the SIs. It also gave him a hotter angle to the downwind finish and he was able to cross about 30 sec ahead of me even though I led for almost the entire race. I elected to pass all the rocks to port, a MUCH safer route. Brad Cameron was the other Force 5; his corrected time was very close to 2nd place Laser. Brad also elected to sail outside the rocks.

If you go to Google Earth you can see a view of what he did. Passed a rock to starboard at 33.460306 deg N, 11.716678 deg W and then turned basically south leaving another rock to strbd at 33.459003 deg N, 117.716058 deg W. He then was able to broad reach to the finish while I had a longer leg almost directly downwind. BTW, Google Earth uses a different format for positions:

- 33deg 27'37.10"N, 117deg 43'00.04"W for first ref point
- 33deg 27'32.41"N, 117deg 42'57.81"W for second ref point

Anyway was a fun event and kinda cool to basically beat all the Lasers boat-for-boat.

John B.