Shields Fleet 9 sailors and supporters: In case you missed it, I am reproducing the gist of my report delivered last week at our recent Annual Meeting. We’ve also published the 2020 Annual Meeting Minutes - 12-2-20 here, which include election of officers. Most of our 2020 group is staying on, joined by one new recruit, [...]
Happy to get the win this week, but in Shields racing in the Bay it’s never over till it’s over and we never felt comfortable until the S flag went up at Y. Conditions during the day had a moderate NW gradient dominating until the SW sea breeze took over in the harbor. On the [...]
We don't normally feature a blog from second place, but since it was from a very unexpected source (US!), I thought I would fill you in on what goes on in the head's of those typically in the back of the pack. "Well, nothing bad has happened yet...!" That became our quote of the night. We [...]
"It is great when the plan comes together. It's even better when it works to perfection" Our plan for this week started with getting to the boat on time. Although our "Reverse Vanderbilt Start" last week was exciting, we didn't think it warranted becoming part of our normal protocol. Change is not always for the better [...]
Wow! We don’t usually take flyers on 107 because in Newport it’s almost impossible to outsmart the Fleet 9's collective tactical brain, and more often than not a flyer is sheer folly. Today, however, I use that “f” word very deliberately to express our thanks to our friends on 143 for reaching down the starting line, [...]
By Holley Toppa (156) There’s no doubt that Wednesday night is an anticipated night of Shields races for all who attend, but the one race that goes unspoken is the race back into the harbor. With the course now being set north of the bridge and the loose rule set by the race committee to have [...]
Thanks to the Ida Lewis Race Committee for pulling off a race in yet another challenging evening. So, after an AP, two generals, a major wind shift, a line and course re-set, and the dreaded I Flag, we got in a good race. Congratulations to Peter Denton and the Ultimate Pressure team on 226 for the [...]
We were excited to see our biggest fleet yet on the water last night, including Q&A, Hawk and Virginia for their first outings. We had a good breeze for the first race and enough wind to get around the course for a second race. In a relatively weak flood tide, Bill O'Hanley's RC laid out a [...]
One of our newest owners, Kelsey Patnaude, contributed this blog. Thanks, Kelsey, and welcome to the fleet! Just as quarantine restrictions were beginning to ease up, Fredeau (Frederic de Mesel), who has been locked down in Europe, asked me to go check out a Shields for him in Mystic. We had looked at a few this [...]
This story by Holley Toppa (156) first appeared in Scuttlebutt Sailing News and the North Sails website. It's strange to think that the summer sailing of 2020 in Newport was kicked off with Wednesday night Shields racing. After the start on the first upwind leg, my dad, Mike Toppa is at the helm. Wednesday night Shields [...]
