Write-Up

Cedar Point YC Hangover Bowl - Westport, Connecticut, USA, 1st Jan 2025

Thanks to Flip Myerson for his excellent summary;
January 1st 2025 was Cedar Point Yacht Club’s 42nd Hangover Bowl, the second oldest Laser regatta in America. The RS Aero fleet has been showing up uninvited for a few years now. The weather when we arrived was a beautiful sunny day with 8 knots. However, the forecast was to build all day, be puffy, up to 25. The sky was supposed to turn more than fifty shades of grey. We knew our day was just going to get worse and worse. 1st RS Aero sailor to arrive at the club was Boris, coming straight from the Brooklyn after after pre party and not wasting any time going home before sailing. Ready to tackle the new year in his 9rig he was rigged ready to go and come launching time, realized that he did not bring any of his sailing clothes. After helping the fleet with the dollies and launch, he still made it back to Brooklyn in time for his party.

On the water, PRO extraordinaire Halsey Bullen started us off with an easy Race 1, upwind and back down to finish line but your hull needed to finish stern first. All the RS Aeros arrived back down to the line, not knowing what to do and not wanting to hold the boom out in a puff. Francesco was the best at backing that RS Aero up. How do you back that RS Aero up? Just sit in irons and back that RS Aero up.

The most experienced / traumatized by Hangover Bowl was Flip. Because of the windy forecasts, we were sailing “inside”, closer to land in a small cove. The exact waters where he learned to sail Optimists decades ago and has sailed around since. He was able to put all his local knowledge to use in Race 2. The course was a triangle but required a 360 degree turn on each leg, so 4 total. Doing a 360 in a puff can take a second but in a lull can take a full cigarette break. Flip spun his boat quickly four times, saying his 10 hours of dry January really helped him focus on his sailing.

Race 3 was the dreaded simple Windward Leeward course or you could do it in reverse. The ENTIRE RS Aero fleet decided to pull a fast one and try it in reverse. Meaning, in all the chaos of avoiding boats starting upwind, when you are trying to start full speed down wind, we had put ourselves into a 5 wide pinwheel at the mark. Textbook procedures such as dropping the tiller, swearing while trimming mainsheet with your teeth and being outside the 3 boat length circle while rounding the mark were all used to success by the fleet. Nathalie, in her 5rig, was in the mix in the pinwheel and was able to keep up with the 7rigs well as she usually does. This was her 1^st (and possibly last) Hangover Bowl. Before we went sailing, I saw her eyes triple in size when explained how insane the courses were and for the first time ever, I saw Nathalie speechless! Jamie won Race 3, sailing like a thoroughbred down the stretch and our third different race winner, his new foiling batten looks fast. He said it was his first time sailing an RS Aero in 6 months and his 2025 resolution was to sail at least 3 times!

By Race 4, spirits were low and the puffs were up. It was now or never for the great grandfather of all Hangover Bowl races, Come Within Chug, a W/L 2 where you retrieve a drink from the RC boat and return it empty another time around empty. Some practice by sailing an RS Aero with one hand hours a week, others by closing down a bar 4 nights a week but often overlooked is the essential empty toss back into the RC boat. There were more untrained victims this year, sailing after their empty drink cans away from the next mark. According to race winner Flip, the top secret key is smashing up the beer can, to make it easier to throw. The best technique, called “The Don” involves continually bashing the can against your head to flatten it. Remember, in RS Aero sailing, flat = fast.

Things were not looking good by Race 5, we had gone through more than 40% of our 2025 beer budget and half the fleet had gone in. One last race to prolong us going back to shore, a regular, no tricks, Harry Anderson, just manage the gusts. Drunk, tired and crying everyone managed to sail/swim around the course and make it back home. Attached picture is the evidence.

Back on land, we licked our wounds, told stories and enjoyed hanging out with the fleets. The hot pizza arriving was the high point of the day for our empty stomachs and because hot pizza is the main heating source for CPYC in the winter. Smiles all around, see everyone January 1^st, 2026!
Thank you to all the RC members, volunteers and Laser fleet for not kicking us out yet.

Results