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2018 US VMYG V36/VM National Championship
October 18, 2018 - October 21, 2018
The Marblehead Model Yacht Club (MMYC), AMYA Club #41, is honored to host the 2018 US VMYG’s Vintage 36 (V36) and Vintage Marblehead (VM) National Championship Regatta as part of its “Marblehead Mini-Race Week” October 18-21 in Marblehead, MA.
Race Week will include MMYC’s 12th annual Bill Bithell Memorial Cup VM Regatta on October 20 and annual Chowder Race Regatta (dates from 1930s) October 21 that is open to all AMYA classes and V36/VM models. This is the first time a race week style event has been staged at the historic venue of Redd’s Pond since the 1920s. The pond has been the site of organized model sailing activities since 1892.
Race Week Activities
It is fitting that a Mini-Race Week concept is being used again at Redd’s Pond, the birthplace of the M Class, whose waters nurtured their share of design innovations these past eight decades. M50-800 design has stood the test-of-time from free-sail through R/C racing eras along with the notable achievements of Bill Bithell as a pioneer member of AMYA’s Hall of Fame.
Please consider joining us for our October 18-21 activities below while helping to celebrate the M50-800 and Bill Bithell for their collaborative contributions to our sport:
Thursday, October 18 ― V36 Nationals
9:00 ― V36 Skippers’ meeting
9:15 to Noon ― V36 racing
Noon to 1:00 ― Lunch
1:00 to 3:45 ― V36 racing
4:00 ― Awards Ceremony
Friday, October 18 ― VM Nationals
9:00 ― VM Skippers’ meeting
9:15 to Noon ― VM racing
Noon to 1:00 ― Lunch
1:00 to 3:45 ― VM racing
4:00 ― Awards Ceremony
Saturday, October 20 ― Bithell VM Cup
9:00 ― Bithell VM Skippers’ meeting
9:15 to Noon ― VM racing
Noon to 1:00 ― Lunch
1:00 to 3:45 ― VM racing
4:00 ― VM Awards Ceremony & Club “Bithell” Cup
6:15 to 8:30 ― Informal Dining
Sunday, October 21 ― Chowder Cup
9:15 ― Chowder Race Skippers’ meeting
9:30 – 11:30 ― AMYA 40” Over/Under Designs withV36s/VMs
11:30 – 12:15 ―Traditional Chowder/Beans & Franks Lunch
12:30 to 3:00 ―Continue Racing
3:15 ―Awards Ceremony & Club “Messenger” Cup
For additional club and racing details, check-out MMYC website at www.mmyc.us
The NOR is available ―Click Here.
Race Week Contacts
- Biff Martin, Commodore: 978-828-9765 & biffmartin6@gmail.com
- Craig Speck, Secretary-Treasurer: 617-650-2342 & speckjc@verizon.net
- John Snow, VM Fleet Captain: 978-594-8521 & jsnowj@comcast.net
Venue & Club Historical Link to M50-800 Model
The M50-800 model was launched at Redd’s Pond in 1930. Its design origins were developed through an MMYC and club member Roy Clough’s collaborative vision for a new model more ideally suited for free-sail racing and transport. Its design features were crafted to emulate the classic racing yachts of that period. One well-known example was the successful “Live Yankee” double-ended, curved mast-tip racing yacht designed by Marblehead native and MMYC member L. Frances Herreshoff. Mr. Clough scaled, built and raced a hybrid version of this design as his M-1. For over sixty years, M50-800 was the most popular class globally and within the AMYA and its earlier US organization. It has also acted as a staple design element in MMYC’s fleet of designs. This can be attributed to limited design specs Mr. Clough then adopted that allowed designers, builders and skippers freedom to liberally “tinker” with M50-800’s basic design parameters to enhance performance as a highly successful developmental model racing class.