The '97 NAs:
It's Christian Again!

Fourteen boats turned out for the 1998 Frosty North Americans sailed at Hyannis Yacht Club on May 2 and 3. A variety of wind conditions provided a severe and exciting test for the small but highly competitive fleet of sailors in this, the fourteenth Frosty class championship regatta.

A powerful southeasterly dominated the first day's seven races, developing a chop that pushed these most diminutive of racing dinghies to their limit. After waiting out the passage of a thunderstorm on the second day, the fleet sailed the remaining eight races in a slowly building southwester that put a premium on tactics rather than heroics.

Throughout it all two-time past Frosty class champion Larry Christian once again led the pack. After capsizing in the opening race of the first day, Christian went on to score six firsts. On the second day he was more closely pressed but still managed to rack up a convincing victory. Former North American champion Craig Tovell had some fine races but was plagued by capsizes and equipment problems.

The most striking performance of all was that of Paul Hull, whose upward march through the Frosty ranks over the past few years has been a wonder to behold. This year Hull put it all together and sailed a brilliant regatta, being at or close to the front of the fleet in fair weather and foul. Curiously, Christian was about the smallest of the competitors and Hull the largest, and this in a 6 foot, 35 lb. boat.

On the technical side, this year's most significant development was the perfection of the self-rescuing Frosty. Some of the designs, like Martin Keen's, were so effective that they enabled skippers to recover from a capsize quickly enough to stay in the hunt.

Thanks for a fine job are due to father of all Frosties Tom Leach and Marianne Philbrick (grandmother of all Frosties?), who pinch-hit for the ailing Truman Henson as race committee. Results, with one drop, were as follows:

Place	Competitor				Points
1.	Larry Christian, Deerfield, NH		14
2.	Paul Hull, Salisbury, MD		42
3.	Peter Eastman, Barnstable, MA		56
4.	Martin Keen, Jamestown, RI		60
5.	Steve Bailey, Hampton, NH		75
6.	Ross Weene, Providence, RI		79
7.	Tom Philbrick, Centerville, MA		108
8.	Tracey Taylor, Barnstable, MA		131
9.	Deke Sheller, Salisbury, MD		138
10.	Craig Tovell, Columbus OH		150
11.	Jen Kano, Cataumet, MA			150
12.	David Landsberg, Canada			162
13.	Jim Lodico, Columbus, OH		174
14.	Ken Simpson, Brewster, MA		185

When the going gets tough: Martin Keen demonstrates the technique for righting a self-rescuing Frosty. Ansel Cahoon photo.

Dockside at the 1998 NAs. Anne Stucke photo.

Full Results


    Pts.  Name 		 #        Individual Race Results (16 races)
 1.  19  Larry Christian 666     14   1   1   1   1   1   1   1   1   4   1   1   2   1   1   1
 2.  42  Paul Hull       651      3   2   4   3   2   2   2   2   6   3   2   3   8   2   3   3
 3.  56  Peter Eastman   17       2   4   5   2   7   6   8   5   3   7   3   4   1   3   2   2    
 4.  60  Martin Keen     901      1   3   3   4   4   5   4   3   2   1   7   5  10   6   4   8       
 5.  75  Steve Bailey    811      4   9   7   5   6   7   3  11   5   5   5   2   3   5   5   4    
 6.  79  Ross Weene      752      6   7   6 DNF   3   4   6   4   9   2   4   7   5   4   6   6   
 7. 108  Tom Philbrick   75       8  13  10   8   8   8   9   8   4   6   6   6   6   8   8   5
 8. 131  Tracy Taylor    268     10  14   9  11  11   9  10   7   7   8   8   8   4   9   9  11     
 9. 138  Deke Sheller    654      9   8 DNF   6   9  10   7  10  10  10  12  11   7  10  10   9   
10. 150  Craig Tovell    177      5   5   2 DNF   5   3   5   6 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS
10. 150  Jen Kano        4        7   6   8   9 DNS DNS DNS DNS   8  13   9  12   9   7   7  10     
12. 162  David Landsberg 814     11  12  11  10  10  12  11   9  12  12  11  10  13 DNF  11   7    
13. 172  Jim Lodico      737     13  10 DNF   7  12  11  12  12  13   9  13  13  12  11  12  12  
14. 185  Ken Simpson     19      12  11  12 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS  11  11  10   9  11  12  13  13
  
(Scoring based on 1 throw-out.)

1998 Annual Meeting

Secretary/Treasurer Jen Kano opened the 1998 annual meeting with the treasurer's report. Unfortunately the news was pretty bad. In spite of a dues increase last year and a good return for fiscal 1996, the response to the 1998 dues billing (at the end of fiscal 97) was quite poor. Income is down $668 over the previous year. This left the treasury without enough cash to meet expected expenses for the coming year. Jen Kano and Tom Leach were forced to make an executive decision not to pay our regatta liability insurance bill--our largest single annual expense--in order to keep the association afloat this year. In the light of this situation the meeting voted unanimously, and with little discussion, to raise the dues to $20 for regular membership and $30 for sponsoring membership. The meeting also voted that anyone competing at a major regatta be required to be current on their dues and that the fleets be encouraged to require all fleet members to pay dues.

Jen Kano further reported that there were no new fleets this year and just a few new members. The Long Island group now has a fleet captain after several years of having none. Paid members are way down in numbers. Over the past year we received about one to three inquiries per month about the Frosty and the association--mostly via email. The class Web site got 1284 hits on the home page, up from 894 hits the previous year.

Tom Leach expressed the feeling that the Website is the key factor in keeping the association and the Frosty going. Others felt that the newsletter was the most important piece of the pie. All agreed that we should make a concerted effort to use both to make a plea for dues payments and as a tool for getting new members.

Announcing the
Twelfth Annual Scallop Cup Regatta

The 1998 Annual Scallop Cup regatta will be held on Nantucket Island on Saturday, October 24th. The ferry leaves from Hyannis at 9:15 on Saturday morning, and the regatta begins soon after it arrives on Nantucket at 11:30 AM. After the racing, there is the famous post-Scallop Cup party.

For those who need to get back to the mainland, the racing will be finished before the 5:30 PM ferry returns to Hyannis, but sailors should note that racing will take place on Sunday morning if weather conditions force a cancellation on Saturday. Participants and friends are encouraged to come early (ferries leave Hyannis on Friday at 2:15 and 8:15 PM) and spend the entire weekend on the island. The Steamship authority at Hyannis treats your Frosty as if it were a sailboard or bicycle and stores it on the freight deck. The regatta site at the Nantucket Yacht Club is a one minute walk from the ferry terminal.

This year limited private housing is available, but for those seeking hotel accommodations, there are the Jared Coffin House (508) 228-2400, the Harbor House 228-1500, and a host of other inns and guest houses. Some competitors have found good values at the Nantucket Inn 228-6900, which is not in town but has van service. For more information, contact regatta chairman Nat Philbrick--(508) 228-5216 (h) or (508) 228-2505 (w).

P.S. As was true last year, Lasers will also be participating in the event.

Return to the Table of contents.

Frosty Flashes: News Items from Far and Near

Several old Frosty sailors, among them Tyler Moore and Mike Zani, are competing in the 505 Worlds at the Hyannis Yacht Club as we go to press.

The Frosty Class Association Web site will be listed along with a photograph in the soon to be published book, "Boating Online: the Internet Yellow Pages for Boaters" by Tom Lichty. (International Marine -- McGraw-Hill)

Frosty sailors from all over are invited to join Fleet #1 for the annual Hangover Bowl Regatta to be held on Friday, January 1, 1999, starting at noon at the Hyannis Yacht Club. For information, call Tom Leach at (508) 432-0268.

Our correspondent in Jamaica reports that long lost Slocum Cahoon, author of The Cruising Frosty, was sighted recently at a waterfront bar in Kingston. If the report is accurate, Cahoon is apparently still on the first leg of the globe-circling voyage on which he embarked five years ago.

It's time to heed Jen Kano's plea for dues payments. Even the Cahoons of Fleet #0 are coming through, and there's no one cheaper than that bunch.

Determination in Toronto: The News from Fleet #11

by Bob Stiff

1997-98 has been a year of transition for our fleet. In October of last year, we found conditions at the Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club to be unsuitable, and we accepted the invitation of the Bronte Yacht Club, near Oakville, Ontario, to host our race days. There we had discovered a sheltered harbour adjacent to Lake Ontario where we could enjoy good winds without the attendant chop. Unfortunately, getting to the this harbour from the club requires navigation of Bronte Creek, which proved to be time consuming and difficult in our little boats. We raced at Bronte on several Sundays in October, November, and early December last year, but interest in sailing in the spring was limited and no starts were recorded.

In July we held a Cape Cod Frosty demonstration day, which generated a lot of interest, in conjunction with the annual club regatta at the Outer Harbour Centreboard Club (OHCC). Several of our Frosty sailors, myself included, are members of Toronto's OHCC and sail Albacores from there during the regular season. There is a protected stretch of water in front of OHCC, and we have been granted permission to use their facilities for our racing this fall. We plan to race on Sunday afternoons beginning on October 18th until early December. Everyone is welcome. Hopefully, our numbers will grow, and we'll also have an opportunity to host our Ice Bucket benefit regatta and renew interest in the Canadian Championships.

| Home | Class Association | Class Championship | Getting a Frosty | Newsletters | Photos |

Editor: Tom Philbrick
Art Director: Jen Kano

Published biannually by the Cape Cod Frosty Class Association for the edification and amusement of its members, their families, and friends. Subscriptions to the paper edition are available through membership in the Class Association.

Paul Hull receives his second-place award from race chairman Tom Leach. Ansel Cahoon photo.

The '97 NAs: It's Christian Again!