VSC KEELBOATS: ENSIGNS &
BLUEJACKETS 1970 — 1972
CHANGE IS IN THE AIR IN 1970
The early seventies was a period of change and
maturing for the Valcour Sailing Club. The VSC had joined the Lake Champlain
Racing Conference and was sponsoring the Valcour races. Much larger keel boats
were joining VSC boats off Valcour Island and the New York boats would have to
cross the Lake to participate in conference races sponsored by the Vermont
clubs. These activities, plus the inherent limitations of the small
Knockabouts, played an important role in how the VSC skipper was to think about
sailboat design on Lake Champlain.
Change was in the air. Most notable was the sudden
change in the racing fleet from Fall 1969 to Spring1970. One can imagine that
there was considerable effort expended in boat acquisition that winter. Harry
Walcoff led the move to organize a Pearson Ensign fleet while David McDowell
championed the Paceship built Bluejacket.
THE BOATS
Although similar in some ways, there was enough
difference between the heavy full-keel Ensign and the fin keel Bluejacket to
provide much fodder for discussion on the relative merits of these designs. The
Ensign, first been built in 1962, was produced by Pearson Yachts with William
H. Shaw's refinements as a Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC) offshore boat. Some
1700 boats were made. The Bluejacket was a Canadian boat of latter design
produced by Paceship of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. With a fin keel and moderately
light displacement, the Bluejacket, a fractional rig as was the Ensign, was
clearly a very modern racing design.
ENSIGN BLUEJACKET
Keel full length fin
Displacement 3,000 lb 2,000
lb
Sail Area 235 sq.ft. 200.63 sq. ft.
LOA 22 ft 6 in 22
ft 10 in
LWL 16 ft 9 in 17
ft 6 in
Beam 7 ft 7 ft
Draft 3 ft 3 ft 9 in
Ballast 1200 lbs 900 lbs
CCA rating 20.8 ft 21.8 ft
PHRF 258 (1986)* 237 (1986)*
*PHRF ratings for comparison purposes,
the 1970 VSC fleet used the Cruising Club of America Measurement Rule (CCA) as
did all of the LCRC.
Recalling how the skippers felt about these two
boats, Dave McDowell said that "basically the people who went into
Bluejackets just didn't like Ensigns. The Ensign was an old design, very
conventional keel, rudder, and so forth. The Bluejacket really represented a
modern boat, so to speak, and I think that is one of the reasons some of us
were more interested in the Bluejacket. The other reason was that it was
somewhat cheaper than the Ensign."
THE VSC RACING FLEET OF 1970
ENSIGNS BLUEJACKETS CRUISING CLASS
Harry Walcoff David
McDowell George Copeland Rhodes
Herman Doh Sherwood
Keyser Bill Rowe Contest 30
Bud Seawell Thomas
Brown Dick Moore Challenger
Jerome Resnick John
Grant Skip Barnett Electra
John McTernan Robert
Moore Bill Empsall M24
Derek Allan Herbert
Koerner
Adam Krakowski Alan
Walker
Commenting on the similarity of sail numbers for the
Bluejackets, David McDowell remembers that he purchased his boat, #61, in the
Fall of 1969. The sail numbers were essentially the same as the hull numbers.
The rest of the fleet of Bluejacket skippers purchased their boats in 1970
pretty much as a group. Dave recalls that his sails were made by a firm in Nova
Scotia while the others were made by Ulmer. On the Ensign side, he recalls that
the boats came from a variety of sources, mostly used, except that John
McTernan and Adam Krakowski purchased theirs new, he believes.
RESULTS OF THE SKIPPERS RACE - July 4, 1970
1st David
McDowell, Bluejacket #61
2nd Sherwood
Keyser, Bluejacket #72
3rd Harry
Walcoff, Ensign #23
4th Bud
Seawell, Ensign #504
5th Herman
Doh, Ensign #111
Although the Bluejackets and Ensigns raced as a mixed
fleet, they were handicapped, with the Bluejackets giving the Ensigns time.
Under the CCA rule, the Bluejackets were rated 21.8 ft. with a time allowance
of 286.26 seconds per nautical mile while the Ensigns were rated 20.8ft and
297.25 sec/nm.; the Bluejackets owed the Ensigns 11 seconds per mile.
Incidentally, Skip Barnett's Electra #177 was rated the
same as the Ensigns at 20.8 feet. Recalling the 1970 Skippers Race, Dave
McDowell did not think that the results confirmed the Bluejacket as the better
boat. He recalled that "given very light air, the Ensign could beat the
Bluejacket. Come heavy air, though, the Bluejacket really excelled; it was
absolutely a super heavy-air boat." While the Bluejacket gave the Ensign
11 seconds per nautical mile in 1970 under the CCA rule, a comparison of PHRF
ratings in 1985 shows that a Bluejacket would give an Ensign 21 sec/nm.
LABOR DAY WEEKEND 1970
"BROWN, WALCOFF CAPTURE LABOR DAY RACING TITLES
Plattsburgh - Tom Brown emerged as Bluejacket class champion and Harry Walcoff
as Ensign class champion after a three-day Labor Day weekend of racing
sponsored by the Valcour Sailing Club Each class sailed five races over Olympic
and Gold Cup courses in strong winds from the north and northeast that averaged
25 knots and never dropped below 15 knots.
To determine the class champion, the Bluejackets
counted results in all five races on a point basis of 3/4 for first, 2 for
second, 3 for third, etc. The Ensigns determined class champion by counting the
best four races by each boat.
Brown twice
brought his Bluejacket across the line first and in the other races had two seconds
and a third. Bluejacket first were also scored by Dave McDowell, Sherwood
Keyser,and John Grant. Walcoff's performance was impressive with three firsts
and a second as his best four races. Herman Doh was first in the other two
Ensign races. The full results for the Bluejackets and Ensigns in the five
races with order of finish and total points."
Bluejackets Ensigns
Tom Brown 1
2 2 1 3 Harry Walcoff 1 1 2 2 1
Sherwood Keyser 2
4 1 4 2 Herman Doh 4 2 1 1 3
Dave McDowell 3
1 3 2 4 Derek Allan 2 3 4 3 5
John Grant 4
3 4 3 1 Adam Krakowski 5 4 5 4 2
Bob Moore 5
5 5 5 5 Bud Seawell 3 3 5 4
[from a newspaper clipping pasted to a
VSC Bulletin dtd Sept.14,1970]
Harry Walcoff, then Commodore, possibly savoring his
impressive victory, could not resist giving the rest of the fleet a little
sermon on a subject many skippers have experienced at least once during their
racing careers. He wrote then that:
"The aura of the 'bad luck' number
seemed to have reached out and touched all but two yachts; or was it just despair
and lack of knowledge of the racing rules. Several skippers commented after the
race that they didn't think the race would count, or that so many yachts had to
finish to make it official, etc. Once again must I quote my favorite, Paul
Elvstrom, who said 'Knowing the racing rules and using them helps win races.'
Our rules specifically state that a minimum of three boats of a class must start to be official. Our rules also say
that the first yacht crossing the finish line must do so in three hours of elapsed
time. It only takes one yacht
crossing the finish to make it official."
Harry Walcoff and his crew participated in the 1970
Ensign Class Association National races in 1970. Sponsored by Ensign Fleet #4
in Narragansett Bay, the Bristol Yacht Club in Rhode Island saw 46 boats in
that regatta. Sailing a borrowed Ensign, Walcoff placed 33rd among many local
sailors of that area. (Ref: Ensign Class Association, Newsletter No. 3,
October, 1970)
In the LCRC, Bill Rowe placed 17th for the season
sailing Crisis, a Contest 30, and Dave McDowell placed 22nd sailing VALCOUR V,
Bluejacket #61. The Vermont clubs where dominating the LCRC in 1970 and no VSC
boat finished in the top three places that year in any of the six conference
races.
1970 - FINAL SERIES RESULTS
BLUEJACKETS
1 McDowell, D
2 Grant, J
3 Keyser, S
4 Brown, T
5 Walker, A
6 Moore, R
7 Koerner, H
ENSIGNS
1 Doh, H
2 Walcoff, H
3 Allan, D
4 Krakowski,
A
5 Seawell, B
6 McTernan, J
7 Resnick, J
CRUISING
CLASS
1 Barnett, S.
2 McDowell, D
3 Walcoff, H
4 Grant, J
5 Moore, D;
6 Doh, H;
7 Keyser, S;
8 Brown, T
9 Allan, D,
10 Krakowski,
A;
11 Seawell, B;
12 Kidd,
Capt.
13 (tie) McTernan,
J; 13 (tie) Rowe, W
15 Resnick, J
16 Walker, A
17 Moore, R
18 (tie) Copeland,
G; 18 (tie) Koerner, Dr.
1971 - THE HEYDAY OF THE VSC ONE-DESIGN FLEET RACING
The records of the Valcour Sailing Club for this year
reflects what was the most intensive period of one-design racing ever to occur
in the Club until the turn of the centrury when the Soling fleet became active.
Certainly in terms of numbers of identical boats, seven Ensigns and six
Bluejackets, no other period of the VSC saw such scratch fleets. Added to these
boats was Skip Barnett's Electra #177 which was rated identically to the Ensign
at 20.8 feet under the CCA measurement rule.
But even this did not seem to satisfy the fleet of
those years as an effort was made to include other boats in a single fleet.
This seems to be a precursor of the Performance Handicap Racing Fleet rule
which would follow in another seven years. From the minutes of the Executive
committee on July 7, 1971, this:
"Moved
by John Grant and seconded by Harry Walcoff that Bluejackets, Ensigns, and
Electra race boat for boat with a rating of 20.0, to be effective starting with
series races on July 11. Carried.
"Moved
and seconded and carried that (in accordance with CCA Measurement Rule Booklet)
Rowe's Cal 2-30 be handicapped so that when a course has more than 1/3 its
length to windward, there will be an additional percentage of the handicap
added (Barnett to calculate what the handicap shall be for the several courses
and their length).
Copeland (Rhodes): gives Ensigns, Bluejackets,
Electra 15 seconds/mile
Dick Moore (Challenger): gives Ensigns, B'jackets,
Electra 13 sec./mile
The Club records of that year give no clues that any
of the skippers of the non-standard boats paid any attention to this "most
gracious" invitation to race with the Ensign and Bluejacket fleets; in
fact, even the Ensigns and Bluejackets continued to race as separate fleets.
The third fleet of that year included Bill Rowe (Cal 2-30), Skip Barnett
(Electra), Dick Moore (Challenger), and Peter Hornby (Cal 21); John Felty
joined them once in a Laser. Harry Walcoff had organized Ensign Fleet #13 and
the July 7, 1971 minutes included this:
"Most
of the Ensign owners having been polled, the Ensign fleet has decided to begin
racing as a fleet on July 11. That is, official records will be kept from July
11 forward so that a series ranking for Ensigns will permit awarding small
trophies to the best performances by the Ensigns during the VSC series race. It
is supposed that this arrangement will in no way detract from Ensigns
participating in the VSC series races. Which is to say: Ensign sailors will
continue to race for the VSC standings and trophies; the Ensign records, which
shall from July 11 forward be official, are simply an added feature for the
Ensign owners."
ONE-DESIGN SERIES
RESULTS 1971
"Results of Class
racing. Totals are of best four races. (DNS & DNF get number of boats in
the race plus one.) * => DNS, ! => DNF
ENSIGNS
Walcoff 1/2/2/1/1 (5)
Allan 2/1/5/2/5 (10)
Doh 3/3/1/3/6 (10)
Krakowski 4/4/3/7/2 (13)
Sutherland */5/4/4/* (20)
Klein 5/7/*/5/3 (20)
Seawill 6/6/!/6/4 (22)
BLUEJACKETS
Brown 1/1/2/2/1 (5)
McDowell 3/2/1/1/2 (6)
Walker 4/4/3/3/3 (13)
Grant 2/3/*/*/* (16)
Koerner 5/!/4/4/4 (17)
Moore */*/*/5/5 (20)
RUM PUNCH PARTIES AT DAY POINT
A tradition in the Valcour Sailing Club started in
1971 - the parties, originally a "Rum Punch Party", at
"McDowell's Point" after the Saturday Valcour I LCRC race. On June
15, Steve Griswold of the Lake Champlain Racing Conference thanked the McDowell's
in a letter saying "it certainly was a great weekend and the hospitality
of you, your wife, and all the others of the Valcour Sailing Club cannot be
surpassed. I think you have established a fine sailing weekend tradition, and
know it will continue for many years. We all had a wonderful time."
There is a special ambiance at these post-race
parties; old friendships are renewed, information about families exchanged, and
no small amount of second-guessing the recent race can be heard in the animated
conversations of skippers and crews. To many, it is these occasions that give
special added meaning to the sport of yacht racing.
Mimi and Dave would continue this tradition for many
years and it became one of the social highlights of the sailing season, both in
the Valcour Sailing Club and the Lake Champlain Racing Conference. Also part of
this tradition has been the many post race parties at the home of Bill and
Bunny Rowe on Lake Champlain just south of the Valcour Lodge.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF 1971
The records of 1971 are rich in details of the
activities of the Valcour sailing club. The yearbook was beautifully done in
typeset and printed on fine paper; the cover had blue tone pictures of
Bluejacket #61 (McDowell) and Ensign #23 (Walcoff) under sail. The rear cover
was a tricolor chart of the Valcour area of Lake Champlain with the twelve
courses drawn on the interior. Notable was a reference to "Saturday Series
Race Clinics" that explains, in part, the effort at total fleet
handicapping:
The Saturday Series is more informal than the Sunday Series
with a learning (clinic) atmosphere being stressed. All Valcour Sailing Club
yachts rating from 20.0-22.0 (CCA) will race on a boat-for-boat basis (no
handicapping). Starting time is 10 A.M. and courses will be short versions from
the numbered course sequence 1-5. In the absence of a committeee boat the
starting line will be between two racing buoys. Starting signals will in this
situation be indicated by the sounding of a horn from the boat of one of the
Race committeee members. Ten minute warning, five minute preparatory, and
starting signals will be sounded. Finishing will be on a boat-for-boat basis
honor system."
News Note, VSC BULLETIN Aug
15,1971 Skip Barnett went over to Vermont for the
Mallett's Bay Race Week and won all three Class B races. In the course of
winning the Class B trophy he also beat the Class A boats.
Minutes, Ex. Com., Aug
8,1971 Plans were begun for a "Teacup"
Regatta on Saturday, August 28, for boats 14' and under. Peru Dock at 1 p.m.
for skippers. Barnett will supervise the operation. Publicity will be out, but
every member of the Club should talk it up and participate in whatever way he
can. Bill Rowe is donating prizes.
VSC Bulletin, Sept.7,1971 The "Teacup" Regatta was a rousing success. Bill Rowe
made the casual observation that two boats did better than the others. Hale
Walcoff won both the singles and doubles in a Laser. Bill Levy was second in
both races in a Laser. Results to ten places will be in Wednesday's Press-Republican.
Minutes, Ex. Com., Sept.1,1971 Discussion of purchase of Lake shore property. The
question seems now to be in the hands of individuals who may wish to get together
to invest in the property. [RdF note - made reference to a special meeting
notice which announced that: "There will be a very special meeting of the
Valcour Sailing Club this Wednesday, August 11th, at Tom Brown's home, 90
Beekman Street - time 8:30pm. Subject for discussion will be the possibilities
of acquiring Lake Frontage in Valcour Bay that has been brought to the
attention of the Executive committeee. Whatever your views or interest, please
make an effort to come as we are interested in growth in our Club. Skip
Barnett, Race committeee"]
THE CLUB HOUSE AT JANCO'S
Judging from the records of
1972, there was a flurry of spring activity in preparation for the sailing
season. A new motor for the committeee boat was approved and at least one work
session to refurbish the boat was held at the clubhouse at Janco's. Several
references are made to the Clubhouse that spring. Since the matter of a VSC
shore facility has been a matter of frequent discussion and effort over the
years, it seems particularly interesting and instructive to recall the problems
and activities surrounding the club house in 1972.
"Derek
Allan moved to accept Janco's offer of the old dive shop for use as a Club
House on a three year renewable lease at $1.00 per year. Tom Brown has the
terms of the lease." Minutes of Meeting 3/16/72
"There
was further discussion of the proposed Club House. Janco will provide docks to
go out at least 100 feet from shore and to connect to the marina dock. The Club
will have to provide drums or pipes to support these docks. It is still
questionable if the present insurance policy will provide coverage for the the
building. Tom Brown is to investigate this problem." Minutes of Meeting
4/13/72
"IMPORTANT:
There will be a work party Saturday, May 13, at the new Club house, starting at
9 a.m. We need everybody there to fix and clean the house and grounds. If you
have any questions call the man in charge, Bob Sutherland." VSC Bulletin May
8, 1972
"Peter
Covert will allow the committeee Boat to be moored in front of the Club House
to the north of the Club docks. There will be no charge for this privilege,
however the Club will have to provide the mooring and a nominal amount ($10.00
to $20.00) should be given to the boat-boys at Jancos. In return they will
watch the boat and periodically check the mooring lines. Minutes of Meeting
5/15/72
"At
the present time our insurance covers the use of the Club House as an office
only. This means that meetings can take place at the Club House but there can
not be any social events held there. Don Ireland is investigating the cost of
additional insurance which cover the use of this building during picnics,
parties or other Club events. In view of the insurance problems only the following people will have keys to the Club House -
Skip Barnett, Dick Sowers, Hal Klein, Pete Covert and the boat tender.
"There
will be another work party on Saturday, May 27 to install the floating docks at
the Club House. Don Ireland will try to find the 30-55 gal. drums required for
these docks. Anyone having access to one or more of this size of drum please
contact Don. John Grant is to check on the banding which will be used to secure
the drums to the docks. If economically feasible to install electricity in the
Club House, Peter Hornby will make the necessary connections. John Grant is to
look for a fuse box and Bob Sutherland is to investigate the cost of two small
flood lights for the outside of the building."
VSC CLUB NEWS (1972) "WELL DONE Many contributed a lot of effort and chilled
bodies to the paint job, grounds clean-up and dock installation at the new club
house. Thanks to Pete Covert for donating the dock sections. The workers were
Skip and Lucy Barnett, Peter and Claudia Hornby, Bob Sutherland, Don Ireland,
Hal Klein, Dick Sowers, David McDowell, Tom Brown, John Grant, Derek Allan,
Lawry Pollack, Wayne Twining, Dave Ford, Ric and Carol Schneider. THANK
YOU!"
Noteworthy of that record
is the amount of coordination and personal effort required to maintain a shore
facility in the Club. Also interesting is the problem of liability insurance
for off-water activities not covered in the VSC's United States Yacht Racing
Union (USYRU) liability insurance for on water activities. Certainly those
members of the Club could attest to the importance of volunteerism as a key
mechanism to maintaining a club house if dues were to remain a nominal amount,
thirty dollars for boat owners and twenty for "non-boat owners" in
1972.
1972 - END OF THE ONE-DESIGN KEELBOAT ERA IN THE VSC
The year also marked the decline of one-design fleet
racing that had been so popular in 1971. In April it was planned that the
"Ensigns, Bluejackets, and Cal 21s will have the same start, however the
Cal 21s will race within their own group." Added as a class that year were
board boats and a VSC News bulletin observed that "the addition of one-man
center boards should provide athletic, highly competitive and less expensive
racing. Some members of this group seem to prefer to race at a different time
so that they may crew on the keel boats." Essentially, that year saw three
racing classes: Cruising, Ensign-Bluejacket, and Board Boats.
VSC
NEWS .(1972) "The Blue Jackets
and Ensigns, who in the past preferred to race One-Design, will be given a
separate start signalled by the letters 'OD' below the course code on the
committeee boat. Some members of the Blue Jacket fleet would prefer to race in
the Cruising Class. The act of starting with the Cruising Class fleet will
establish the intent to race in that class for the season. Advise the Officer
of the Day your desire to race in the Cruising Class. A separate start for the
Cruising Class will be indicated by the letters 'CC' below the course code on
the committeee boat."
FINAL RACE RESULTS
1972
SUMMER SERIES FALL SERIES
Cruising Class
1 Brown-Grant 1 Brown-Grant
2 Barnett 2 McDowell
3 Hornby 3 Covert
4 McDowell 4 Walcoff
5 Covert 5 Hornby
6 Rowe 6 McCracken
7 McCracken 7 Barnett
7 Schneider 8 Schneider
7 Hohman 9 Hohman
8 Walcoff 10 Pollack
9 Clark 11 Rowe
9 Warren 11 Laramie
10 Twining 12 Clark
11 Mahart 13 Twining
12 Moore 14 Miller
13 Hostetter 15 Hostetter
Ensign-Bluejacket Class
1 Doh
(Ensign 111) 1 Allan
2 Sowers
(Sail#1124) 2 Sowers
3 Allan
(Ensign 1172) 3 Doh
4 Seawell
(Ensign 504) 4 Koerner
5 Pilcher 5 Barnett
6 Sutherland(Ensign329) 6 Pilcher
7 Klein
(Ensign 23) 7 Sutherland
8 Koerner
(B'Jckt 76) 8 Seawell
Board Boat Class
1 Giltz 1 Barnett
2 Golz 2 Golz
3 Felty 3 Seawell
4 Heyman 3 Felty
5 L.
Barnett 4 Giltz
6 Brown 4 Levy
7 H.
Walcoff 5 Heyman
8 N.
Seawell
9 R.
McDowell
LAKE CHAMPLAIN RACING CONFERENCE - 1972 FINAL RESULTS
Valcour Sailing Club boats were starting to move up
in the LCRC standings. In 1972, Harry Walcoff, sailing CELERITY, a Pearson 26,
took fourth place in the Royal Savage and the Valcour, and a fifth place in the
Lake Champlain race to place fourth overall in the conference. Bill Rowe in
CRISIS took eight place overall, Pete Covert in TURTLE II placed thirteenth,
Pete Hornby in NIMUE' was fifteenth, Dave McDowell in VALCOUR IV placed
eighteenth, and Skip Barnett in FOLLY II placed twenty-first out of forty boats
in the competition that year.
PARTING SHOTS ON THE ONE-DESIGN FLEETS
With the end of the "keel boat" period, we
see the passing of any significant unanimity on boat selection. Not until late
in the century would the Valcour Sailing Club see a one-design racing fleet
with large numbers of identical boats in the Club. With the use of the Cruising
Club of America measurement rule, and later the Performance Handicap Racing
Fleet, members were free to pursue their individual tastes and preferences in
boat design and still race in a mixed fleet with some confidence that the race
was as fair as any rating system could make it. But diversity of boat design
has its price. Gone is that special camaraderie between competitors of a single
design. Gone is boat for boat racing on even terms and the simplicity of the
fact that the first boat over the finish line wins the race.
In many ways competition could evolve as a function
of who had the latest technology in the design of hulls and sails; there could
be more discussion of the fairness of a given boat's rating vis-a-vis the rest
of the fleet. There clearly was emerging an additional dimension in sailboat
racing in the Valcour Sailing Club. The early failure, in 1971, to bring the
Ensigns, Bluejackets, one Electra, and other boats into a single racing fleet
is an eloquent testimony to the innate satisfaction of one-design racing.
If the days of the Knockabout fleet had ended in a
fierce Lake Champlain wind that convinced many on the limitations of the
centerboard, the days of the Ensign and Bluejacket fleets ended in the quest
for larger more comfortable cruiser-racers ostensibly equalized by rating
rules.
René du Fort
(VSC Historian) 6/2001