Finding the wind: Menantic Yacht Club on West Neck Harbor

Extremely light winds had been predicted, but surprisingly, the wind picked up to maybe 4 or 5 knots, proving once again that Shelter Island winds like Shelter Islanders, tend to go their own way. 

The wind was squirrely. Boats not far from each other had different wind direction and intensity — if 3 to 5 knots with some dead spots can be considered intense. There were no accidental flips, but some sailors were seen dunking to cool off. Unfortunately, two sailors, Lee Montes and John Modica, who travel long distances from off-Island, believing that the wind would stay light to non-existent, decided to forgo sailing on Sunday. Could it be that Charlie Modica Sr., influenced his brother John’s decision to stay away, thus allowing Charlie Sr. to improve his overall score in their rivalry? The 20 sailors who did participate all had fun.

Paul Zinger and Charlie Modica Jr. split four first place finishes and Steve Shepstone took the fifth. Paul and Charlie, Jr. were in a close duel all day, with either sailor placing first, second or third. It was a tossup until the very end, with Paul crossing the finish line first in the last race closely followed by Charlie Jr. in second.

Both sailors wound up with nine points, but Paul’s first place finish in the first race put him in first overall. Having missed the first two weekends of racing and being at least a little tired from racing in Saturday’s World’s Longest Sunfish Race Around Shelter Island didn’t seem to slow Paul down at all. Following Paul and Charlie Jr. was Caitlin Cummings, who seemed to like third place last weekend. 

Denise Fenchel, Linda Gibbs and our youngest sailor, 14-year-old Timothy Mitchell, are all showing great improvement this year. Denise finished in fourth, Timothy in seventh and Linda in ninth.

After racing, at the rigging area on North Silver Beach town landing, Paul and Caitlin held an impromptu clinic answering questions posed by several sailors. Sailors helping sailors to improve. That’s who we are as a club.

Matt Fox captained the mark boat along with Rich Masse; they were kept busy moving marks, but the light winds made for a relatively quiet afternoon. Betty Bishop was out of town, and in her absence, Jonathan Modica, Charlie Sr.’s son, captained the chase boat. His crew consisted of his five-year-old son, Theo, and Lucy Browne. Theo was a great assistant, even offering water to a passing kayaker.

After racing, Charlie Jr. took Theo, his nephew, out for a sail on his Sunfish. Hopefully Theo enjoys sailing as much as the rest of the Modica clan. Many thanks to all.

Betsy Colby, our PRO, did her usual superb job on the Committee Boat, ably assisted by Amy Cococcia and Kerry Mitchell. Because of the light wind, the course was shortened to start with and they ran shorter races. Thank you, all.

There will be an after-race party hosted by Jonathan and Anita Brush on Sunday, July 19. You know what to bring.  On Thursday, July 23, or Friday, July 24, Charlie Sr. plans to host an afternoon cruise aboard Charm. For those of you new to the MYC, Charm is Charlie’s 70-foot sailboat and the cruise is always fun.

Eight MYC members participated in last Saturday’s 55th running of the annual World’s Longest Sunfish Race Around Shelter Island, which is hosted by the Southold Yacht Club. Caitlin placed third overall and was the first woman to finish; Peter Beardsley placed fifth; and finishing the race were John Colby, Rachel Beardsley, Alicia Rojas, Lee Montes, Joan Butler and Paul. It is a grueling race of endurance as well as skill.

Congratulations to all who participated. Caitlin, Peter, John, Paul and Joan may have been tired, but they did not let that stop them from sailing with the MYC on Sunday.

We are a congenial, family-friendly club, open to all. We may not have a clubhouse, but the sailing is great, the camaraderie is superb, and we just have tremendous fun. All sailors, novice to expert, are welcome. Just show up in West Neck Harbor at 2 p.m. on any Sunday through Labor Day, check in with the Race Committee, giving them your full name and sail number, and be sure to bring your life jacket. Non-sailors are also welcome to assist with the Race Committee boat and the stake boat. You can get more information about the MYC on Facebook at Menantic Yacht Club, or from Bob Harris at [email protected] or 505-235-5844. Remember that you are out there to have fun.

See you on the water.

Results:                      Pts    Place

Paul Zinger                        9                1

Charlie Modica Jr.          9                2

Caitlin Cummings          33             3

Denise Fenchel                34             4

Steve Shepstone             35             5

Tim Mitchell                    36             6

Charlie Modica               36             7

Kate Bogart                     41             8

Linda Gibbs                     44             9

Joan Butler                       49             10

Bob Harris                         52             11

Will Lehr                           62            12

Jonathan Brush               63             13

Ellen Leonforte                64             14

Tom McMahon                72             15

Peter Beardsley               73             16

John Colby                      81             17

Jodi Sisley                       86             18

Helen Roussel                  88             19

Mary Vetri                        89             20