Frozen Few has lots of followers

John Howell
Posted 12/18/14

Stuart Malone is comfortable being on the water, even when it’s windy and cold. But never as chair of the Edgewood Yacht Club frostbite racing committee was he faced with conditions like they were …

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Frozen Few has lots of followers

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Stuart Malone is comfortable being on the water, even when it’s windy and cold. But never as chair of the Edgewood Yacht Club frostbite racing committee was he faced with conditions like they were two weeks ago Sunday.

Whitecaps filled the upper bay, and he estimates the wind was blowing a steady 15 knots out of the northeast. That would have been manageable for most of the fleet of Sunfish, which are single-man boats akin to a surfboard with a triangular or latten sail. They’re a well-seasoned group of sailors and know how to manage even such small boats in strong winds. The killer was the gusts that kicked the winds up to 30 and maybe 40 knots. At one point, four of the 16 boats had capsized, another two had lost their masts, and the spars on another were bent like a pretzel.

Malone and Dennis Demers were in the crash boat, fishing sailors from the water, while the remaining skippers carried on toward the finish line. Malone had seen enough. The risks were too great, and while there were those diehards who would have stuck it out, Malone called it a day.

“It was the squirreliest day of racing I’ve ever experienced,” he said.

The following Sunday was hardly any better. The wind was just as strong. The races were called off before skippers showed up to rig their boats.

And then came this past Sunday. It was perfect for Sunfish and for frostbiting.

Yes, it was frosty, but not freezing. The winds out of the north blew about 10 knots. The air was fresh and the sun sparkling.

Malone and Demers were relaxing in the crash boat at the start of the first race shortly after 11. Their mascot, Flotsam, wearing a lifejacket with a handle to easily retrieve him from the water if necessary, welcomed additional crew with a sniff and a wag of his posterior. The dog was found swimming in the bay sometime ago and efforts to find his owners proved futile. Now he’s attached to Malone and his wife, Catherine White.

The frostbite program at Edgewood hasn’t been as robust for years. On Sunday, there were 14 boats. Malone attributes the interest to Darryl Turner’s enthusiasm. Turner ran a summer Sunfish race series that drew in people who hadn’t thought of racing. It also brought in young sailors and spectators who came to watch the action from the dock. So when the frostbiting season started, there was a pool of interested sailors. In addition, sailors needn’t be club members to race.

The frostbiting season is divided into a fall, winter and spring series. Sunday racing starts at 11 a.m. and is over by 1:30 p.m. Five or six races are held each Sunday. Skippers come prepared, dressed in wet or dry suits, waterproof gloves and hats.

Post races, skippers gather for something hot to drink and, of course, talk about that day’s series. Malone plans to video tape some of the races and have the Roger Williams University sailing coach critique performances one of these Sundays.

With so many turning out to frostbite, it would appear the group may soon its reputation as the “frozen few.”

That doesn’t trouble Malone – the larger the fleet, the better.

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