2021 First Annual Cape May RC Laser Regatta Report

One of the newest fleets in AMYA, the South Jersey Model YC #390, held its first regatta in historic Cape May, New Jersey. Regatta Chairman and host, Jim Forrester, organized a beautiful racing day at Corinthian YC of Cape May in the shadows of our US Coast Guard base. The backdrop of several US Coast Guard ships and the echo of marching USCG boot camp trainees on neighboring streets added to the Cape May ambience.

The fleet of 15 skippers was quite diverse as three skippers were sailing in their first RC Laser regatta while most of the fleet have never raced in Cape May before. We had fresh “B” sail NE winds to start the racing but after lunch a few “A” sails came out as the SE prevailing breeze struggled to get going. At one point in the afternoon the tide changed, the wind stopped in mid race, and the whole fleet spent quite a few minutes at the mercy of the current waiting for the new wind to arrive.

Our regatta winner, John Santoro, came out of the blocks with four firsts before the pizza break and stayed very consistent in the afternoon to win by five points over Bill Sysyn, who had a terrific line score in the afternoon with three firsts and three seconds. In third was fast improving, John Parker, who won the last race to nose out David Rothenberg by one point. David, in a borrowed boat, came down from weekly racing in New York’s Central Park where he hones his skills chasing perennial RC Laser Champion, Jon Elmaleh around the pond.

A third of the fleet won at least one race showing the talent in the RC Laser Class. We appreciate the support from skippers from other fleets including Oxford’s fleet captain, John Yates, and a few from the West Jersey and Spring Lake fleets. We’ll do this again next year.

Summary of the First Annual Cape May Regatta
Date: September 19, 2021
Location: Corinthian YC of Cape May, New Jersey
Host Club: South Jersey Model YC #390
Entries: 15
Winds 1-12 mph
Races Completed: 12
Scoring: low point with two throw-outs; All races under the I Flag
Race Committee: Regatta Chmn., Jim Forrester; PRO, Dave Branning; Scorekeepers: Elaine Hepkin & Judy Bonanno: Chase boat: Bob Herzog
Results: 12 races, two throw-outs.

RESULTS
Place	Skipper	Home Town	Points
1	John Santoro	Egg Harbor Township, NJ	22
2	Bill Sysyn	Forked River, NJ	27
3	John Parker	Ocean City, NJ	41
4	David Rothenberg	Montclair, NJ	42
5	Ray Szulczewski	Cape May, NJ	44
6	John Yates	Oxford, MD	52
7	Fred DeSantis	Ocean City, NJ	58
8	Konrad Richter	Marlton, NJ	70
9	Dom Bonanno	Shrewsbury, NJ	89
10	Jim Forrester	Cape May, NJ	95
11	Carl Behrens	Cape May, NJ	99
12	Tammy Brunker	Collingswood, NJ	117
13	Mark Sorensen	Cape May, NJ	124
14	Victor Oberg	Haddon Twp., NJ	125
15	Gidge Glenn	Ocean City, NJ	135

Here’s a link to Judy Bonanno’s regatta pictures.
Camera pictures: https://judybonanno.smugmug.com/Sailing/LASER/Laser-Regattas/Cape-May-Regatta-2021/Cape-May-Regatta-camera-pics-
Videos: https://judybonanno.smugmug.com/Sailing/LASER/Laser-Regattas/Cape-May-Regatta-2021/Cape-May-videos
iPhone pictures: https://judybonanno.smugmug.com/Sailing/LASER/Laser-Regattas/Cape-May-Regatta-2021/Cape-May-9-19-21