Cedar Point YC Hangover Bowl - Westport, Connecticut, USA, Jan 1st 2024

Thanks to Flip Myerson for his excellent summary;
January 1st 2024 arrived with great weather for sailors, no wind. The 41st Hangover Bowl’s noon harbor start let the winds fill in to a brisk 2 knots. 7 RS Aero 9s and 15 Lasers slowly daddled out to the race course where PRO Halsey Bullen was anxiously waiting.

Race 1 was W return but stern first finish, aka make your boat go backwards across the line. Oliver West won the start and never looked back. Putting his long arms to use while twerking and backing that stern up. On the Darien dancefloors they call him Khaki Attaki.

Race 2 might have had the most wind of the day, 5 knots…maybe, so time for a reaching triangle course but with a 360 on each leg, 4 in total. Very strategic when to spin. Adding to the spice was that this race included 15 speedbumps to avoid, Lasers, as we all started together. Willy Clark was heard asking if these 4 circles gave him immunity for fouls committed in the race. We all felt bad for him, so said yes, knowing that in an average race he usually averages 6 spins. Willy started the day strong with two third places but whatever was in his waterbottle got the better of him as the day went on. Ryan Hoffman duelled it out with others all race, spin for spin, ooch for ooch, mistake for mistake downwind and was within 3 boat lengths of 1st place the entire race. In the end, his early spin on the last leg was the difference, fighting off a 360 spin lee-bow to win the race, feeling like a plastic bag drifting through the wind.

Another tradition of the Hangover Bowl is a lil pick me up beverage on the water for the race winners. The first 2 winners were under 21, showing the future of sailing and were forced to drink Diet Mountain Dew from 2008 on the water. This might have been their downfall. Hangover Bowl veteran Boris Mezhibovskiy planned his 2024 strategy around not winning races and not having to drink in between races. Brilliantly executed by the “family man” who apparently shut down the party at his home at 5am and set his watch to start in 423minutes. Steve Schwartz enjoyed the non hiking conditions, still slightly jet lagged after flying direct from Hobart to CPYC. He was in Australia teaching LawConnect about S-curves downwind and those results speak for themselves!

Race 3, the wind had moderated to 2 knots again. Enough for Francisco Rulli who called it early to spend the afternoon programming and teaching ChatGPT the feeling of too much red wine inside of a drysuit. PRO Halsey wasn’t too excited either and started a race with a blind eye to rule 42. For those of you unfamiliar with the dark arts, that means kinetics allowed, swimming, paddling, foiling, all legal. Claiming he had never tried rocking before and it must have been beginners luck, Philip Myerson put on a 58 straight jibe downwind clinic while never even having his sail full, a sight to behold, like a pod of dolphins in the moonlight.

Winds and morales were low heading into Race 4 so the annual W/L x2 come to chug race was summoned. First time downwind, you must grab a full drink from the RC boat, second time downwind, you must return an empty drink to the RC. Capsizing while grabbing the drink is slow, as Ted Turner in ‘81, Robert Scheidt in ‘02 and others this year learned. Philip Myerson, approaching .08 limits, took that race and the victory for the day as the 2023 Hangover Bowl Champion defended his title for 2024.

Back on land, cold soggy pizza, Dave Foster’s award winning blackout chilli, warm drinks and amazing prizes were shared inside. No talking about what worked or today’s strategy, just smiles and laughs. CPYC Frostbiting returns March 10th. Thanks to the RC for a great day on the water.

42nd Annual New Years Day Hangover Bowl in on January 1st, 2025, mark your calendars now!

RESULTS