What fun to have a Sunfish sailboat race on the pond again!  I think lots of people were thrilled to see all those boats out there - we counted either 17 or 18 - pretty darn good when you consider it's been about 14 years since the last race and lots of folks sold their boats (we did!) eventually.  I will have names of the official winner and runners up from Susan Bouchard who organized the event by tomorrow, but in the meantime, I have heard Billy Hamilton took first place and his sister, Pam Johnson may have taken second place.  We'll post more when we know for certain.

This came tonight from an enthusiastic observer:

HI SUE AND JANE,

    WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY WE HAVE HAD.   AFTER CHURCH WE CHECKED ON THE JOE'S POND WEATHER.

    THEN WE CALLED BUTTURA'S AND WENT TO THEIR HOME.     WATCHED THE BEAUTIFUL COLORFUL SAILBOATS.     WENT FOR A PONTOON BOAT RIDE.   NEXT CAME A LATE LUNCH AT BUTTURA'S.    ANOTHER PONTOON BOATRIDE.     THEN DESERT AND WE NOW HAVE ARRIVED IN BARRE AT 8:30.      CHARLIE AND LINDA LIVENDALE WERE WITH US ALSO.

    WE SURELY SAW LOTS OF FRIENDS TODAY !   JUST A WONDERFUL DAY !

    THANKS TO SUE BOUCHARD FOR GETTING ALL THESE SUNFISH BOATS IN THE RACE.   AND THANKS TO THOSE THAT RACED ALSO.

                                        HOMER AND MARGARET [FITTS]

Frank Dolan sent some great photos: 

Left, the start.

Right, downwind. . .

The committee.

 

The finish!

And more pictures, these taken by Fred Bown:

(Click on the photos to make them larger.)

 

Yep, we were stopped by Auxiliary Trooper Abigail Serra for a boat inspection, (which we passed with no trouble), but it did delay us so we missed the finish of the race.  Trooper Serra asked if we were race officials, saying she would delay the inspection until after the race, but we told her let's do it now.  She was very pleasant - probably loves her job, being out on the water in the summertime - and she had lots of boats to inspect today.  There were lots of observers on pontoon boats, and that's Doug and Billy Hamilton's woody shown above - great way to be on the water!!  It was a fun day all around, and we hope there is enough enthusiasm so the races may continue in the future.  More on that later.