Maryland Model Yacht Club - Racing Results

September Results HERE

Overall Results through September HERE

September Race Day Recap by Dave Bermingham

A lively and competitive band of sailors arrived at the Bowie pond for a mild temperature, sunny day of sailing. We had light to moderate winds from the E-NE predicted and those winds lasted most of the day until fading and growing a bit more finicky in the afternoon for the ODOMs. It stayed consistent enough that we sailed a long-ish course with a windward offset at the eastern end of the pond and leeward gate to the west all day. We also continue to be blessed with a weed-free pond, all of which combined for a great day of sailing.

The length of the course and decreasing wind strength meant that the Vics were the only class that got a single two lap race, with the rest of the day being one lap races. There was a lot of close racing, particularly in the Vics and DF65s with multiple races where the fleets stayed very close together. As the wind settled over the course of the afternoon, it put a premium on skippers who could follow the shifts and find areas with more pressure. Finding clear air seemed to provide more benefit than any tactical battles, so we had very few incidents or protests. It also highlighted John Ebell’s strategy of starting at the pin with clear air, as that helped him get to the front of the pack or within striking distance in most races.

Turnout was good for a day where many of our stalwart sailors had conflicts. We had 7 Victorias, 9 DF-65s, and 7 ODOMs turn up for the day.

Sangeet Khalsa came out for the first time in a while and put in a dominating performance with his Victoria. He won the first two races, took second in four others and had one third. Recent new member Seamus Curtin also had some Victoria success with two fourths, a third and a second to John Ebell in Race 5. New member Ed Whitley brought doughnut holes to share with everyone and took a third in Race 2. Thanks, Ed!

Will Wagoner dominated the DF-65 fleet with three wins and four seconds. John Ebell had a strong showing in the DF with three wins, two seconds, a third and a fourth. John Houfek redeemed what was at times a frustrating day with a win in Race 7.

Unfortunately for Will Wagoner (fortunately for the rest of the ODOMs based on his DF results) his ODOM was not cooperating, and he had to retire for the day during the first race. Steve Andre and John Ebell took three races apiece, with Sangeet Khalsa taking the honors in Race 6. Steve and John tied for the day with identical results; each having two seconds, a third, and a fourth to go with their wins! Dick White had a good showing on the day with two seconds, and two thirds.

Many thanks to John Ebell who had the course set before I got to the pond, helped me keep things on track throughout the day, and helped me put everything away properly for next month. Congratulations to everyone who sailed. I hope you all enjoyed the day as much as I did.

July Results HERE

Overall Results through July HERE

June Race Day Write Up

By June's RD Dave Rakena

Sailing Conditions & Wind

June provided a tale of two halves on the water. Early on, the wind was good and relatively consistent, allowing for a clean course and excellent racing -especially for the Victoria class. Both the DF65 and ODOM sessions started well but some volatility soon followed.

As the afternoon progressed, the wind began swirling unpredictably, leading to dramatic shifts. Skippers had to contend with reversed-course sailing with wind completely flipped versus the starting direction, and several races saw the wind change multiple times mid-race. Starting in opposite directions race to race due to shifts always causes stress but the skippers handled it well. Along with the direction changes came heavy velocity surges. The ODOMs faired a little better in the heavy air, but the DF65 fleet took the brunt of it with sudden gusts causing submarining with multiple skippers needing to bring their boats ashore to drain them out.

Victoria Class

Taking full advantage of the steady early breezes, the Victoria class enjoyed the most consistent racing of the day. John Ebell and Tom Walsh went toe-to-toe at the front of the pack, with Ebell ultimately taking the top spot with 69 points, closely followed by Walsh at 65 points.
Victor convincingly won race #3, with John H and Alan also scoring wins.

Top 3 Results:
1. John Ebell (69 pts)
2. Tom Walsh (65 pts)
3. Victor Gorokhov (55 pts)

DF65 Class

As the wind turned wild and boats started submarining, Team Rickels completely dominated the ranks. Mike and Devon put on a masterclass in heavy, shifting air, turning the regatta into a family duel. Mike was nearly untouchable, racking up 5 bullets out of 7 races to finish with 95 points. Devon kept the pressure on to take 2nd overall with 88 points, completing a Team Rickels 1-2 for the class. It was fantastic to welcome our newest members, the Schwarzes (Andrew, Will, and Nick), to their first-ever MMYC race experience. Nick Schwarz led the trio with 8th-place overall under tricky conditions.

Top 3 Results:
1. Mike Rickels (95 pts)
2. Devon Rickels (88 pts)
3. John Ebell (74 pts)

ODOM Class

The ODOM fleet handled the velocity surges, but the swirling, multi-direction wind changes threw the leaderboard into flux for everyone except Mike. In another dominant display, Mike and Devon Rickels locked down the top two spots on the podium yet again. Mike traded blows early with Devon but pulled away in the final three races with consecutive bullets, finishing first with 46 points. Devon secured 2nd with 40 points. Across both the DF65 and ODOM classes, Mike's ability to read the shifts allowed him to win an incredible 9 out of 14 total races, never finishing lower than 3rd.

Top 3 Results:
1. Mike Rickels (46 pts)
2. Devon Rickels (40 pts)
3. John Ebell (35 pts)

RD Notes

Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy the racing, the beautiful sunshine, and the challenging, shifting conditions. Due to the high number of close-quarters incidents brought on by sudden wind reversals and gusts, remember to give each other a bit more room out there, ensure you're always in control of your boat, and complete your penalty circles when required!

May Results HERE

And May's Race Write Up by the Race Director HERE

Overall Results through May HERE

May Race Day Recap by Mari Spina (Race Director)

And some action photos below!!

Racing was fantastic on Saturday May 16th. The Melford -back of Dunkin Donuts- pond was clear as could be; virtually no worry about catching a weed! I think John Ebell had his Weed Rake (try that 3 times fast) out during setup.

The weather was relatively cooperative with mostly sun and fair winds the whole day yielding great racing from the RD's vantage point! The Victoria class started promptly at 10 am with 5-10mph winds that were somewhat shifty and gusty testing the patience of the greyest of beards. The wind settled a bit to about 8 mph, steady, for the DF65s which kicked off on time at noon a resulted in some great head to head racing that gave nicely distributing wins across the fleet; see results. By 2 pm, when the ODOMs hit the water, the winds were back at shifty and gusting from 6 to 11 and sometimes dying all together testing the skills of the oldest of hands and revealing the true virtues of the father and son team, the "Nicholses" as Tom Walsh would say, who pretty much owned the podium for the ODOM class.

We welcomed two new sailors and three soon to sail for the day: Jacob, Seamus, and Dillon. Welcome aboard boys!! Seamus had a great day demonstrating seasoned sailor reflexes winning one DF65 race and showing up his mentor/sponsor, John Ebell, quite a few times throughout DF65 class racing.

While we did not deploy the robobouys, we did have an opportunity to sport Tom Walsh's hand made sail "direction arrow" and "lap count" signs. As Race Director, after starting the clock, I held the arrow and lap count signs in the air to help skippers gather their bearings and get to the line; felt a little like being the Ring Girl at a boxing match. I think the signs worked great! They even helped me keep track of lap count as I would set the lap count sign against the scoring podium flipping it in synch with racing so skippers could easily identify the lap they were on.

See you on the water next month!

ODOMs charge the line!

John Houfek hits the boat end of the line!

John wins the boat end AGAIN!

April Results HERE

Overall Results through April HERE

MMYC RACE DAY #2 MARCH 2026

John Ebell Drone Videos from April Race Day

CAM 20260418144936 0022 W - YouTube ODOM

CAM 20260418124106 0012 W DF 65

CAM 20260418102114 0006 W Victoria

MMYC RACE DAY #2 by Tom Walsh

John Ebell and I were discussing the lack of write ups by the class winners of each MMYC race day. As you may have seen, John did a very thorough and interesting write up of our March race day. He was RD for March and he and I agreed that, since the RD has the time between starts to note down wind conditions and skipper performances, it would be easier for the RD to write an overall report for the day. Since I was RD for April, I will take a stab at it. All RDs for the remainder of the year are requested to follow suit. Thank you.

John Ebell was the first one to arrive at Melford pond, where he found the wind to not be ESE as predicted but rather it was more ENE. This did give not us anywhere on the main pond to set a fair course and be able to avoid the heavy weed growth. The small pond across the road by the Dunkin Donuts would give us a fair course with the wind generally blowing down the axis of the pond. As a bonus there were only a few weeds near shore and there was a culvert with deep water for launch and retrieval. So after discussion between John, Richard and myself the decision was made that we would race on the small pond. Parking was close, Dunkin was there. What more could we ask for! Bit of a slope to get down to the pond but it was almost flat at the edge of the pond.

Richard set a very nice course with his six newly acquired GPS remote buoys. No need for the dinghy, though it was there if we needed it. We did, but more on that later. It turned out to be a high participation day, with 14 Victorias, 14 DF65s and 10 ODOM/One Metres. For the Vics, Walter took the day with four bullets, two seconds and a fourth. Mari came second, with Richard and Craig third and fourth, respectfully. Skippers with bullets were; Walter, Mari, Craig and Bob Kehoe.

In the DF65s, Craig came first with five bullets, one third and one eighth. Hard to beat them swing rigs! Walter came second, With Mike Rickels and Richard third and fourth, raespectfully. Craig and Walter were the only skippers with bullets. Tough crowd. New skipper Nick Schwarz completed all seven races.

Ten skippers signed in for the ODOM/One Metre class. Eight boats were ODOMs with one DF95 sailed by Bob Kehoe and one IOM sailed by Steve Andre. Mike Rickels won the day, followed by Richard, only three points behind. Skippers with bullets included; Mike Rickels, Richard, David Rakena, Devin Rickels and Steve Andre. Only four boats managed to finish all seven races.

The wind was not totally cooperative. For several races the wind flipped around from E to W and sometimes changed back in the middle of the race. There were several races where I saw wind from the E at the weather mark and from the W at the leeward gate. For the most part, however, the wind blew from an E’ly direction. Richard had to realign the leeward gate and lengthen the line for the ODOMs as well as moving the windward marks further upwind. So much easier and quicker to make these changes with a radio standing on dry land rather than using the dinghy.

Ah yes, the dinghy. Steve Andre recorded a DNF for race six of the ODOMs. Something happened to his boat and he apparently lost control, with the boat drifting way down to the other end of the pond, where there was, as John Ebell put it, a “Sargasso Sea”. Steve had to leave due to a prior obligation and asked if anyone could retrieve his boat for him. His boat was unreachable with our rescue pole and was so heavily mired in the weeds as to be immobile. John Ebell had brought the club’s new dinghy. Unfortunately, it was packed in his car, with all his other boats on top. He had to completely unpack his car, pull the dinghy out and pump it up. He put the club’s trolling motor on it and headed down to the end of the pond. The motor’s prop clogged up with weeds. Rowing was also problematic so he had to resort to using one oar to pole himself out of the “Sea”. Steve’s boat was recovered, John repacked the dinghy, all his boats and found just enough room the put Steve’s Boat and rig on top of everything. John was ably aided in this rescue effort by; Dave Birmingham, Mike Rickels, David Rakena and Tracy Orrison.

John Ebell took several interesting Videos with his drone. You can find links to several of them on the MMYC front page. There will be more to come shortly, so be sure to check back.

March Results HERE

MMYC RACE DAY #1 MARCH 2026 by John Ebell

What a great time of year! I love spring and the startup of sailing! Its always so exciting, and racing this month was just as exciting. The wind was forecast to be North/Northeast around 8 MPH. With that information we tried to set the course down at the end near the singletree. We hoped this would provide the most consistent windward leward course. John Houfek set the marks well and we were ready to race. The wind would flipflop a couple times during the day as the seabreeze fought the gradient Northly. Either way, it still remained a windward leward course.! Good Job John Houfek!

Attendance was very encouraging as we had 14 Vics, 15, DF 65s and 10 One Meters. As Mike Rickels said, “Lots of Boats”. The Vic class was very interesting. Tom Walsh started the day off with two bullets but couldn’t keep the pressure on.” Mr Victoria”, Craig Huzway ,wouldn’t be denied, as he had a very consistant day posting 3 bullets and 2 second places, taking the class for the day. second year sailor, Kevin Brennan, had a very good day with I believe, his first ever, 1st place in the Vics and several second places. He nailed down 2nd place for the day. The Pride of Heritage Harbor, Alan Krusinger, also had a bullet and a second place allowing him to take 3rd for the day. It was fun watching the close racing and with short keels, racing very near shore.

The DF 65 class is enjoying a surge. This race day we had three new people join our club and buy DF 65s. They practice sailed earlier in the day and decided they wanted to join the fun. This is a sailing family as Will Shwartz, his son Nick and Will’s brother Andy are originally big boat sailors. They will be popping on the water this next month. Be sure to introduce yourself to them when you see them.

The DF 65s had 15 boats on the line, AWESOME! Lots of boats and lots of race points to be had. Mike Rickels decided he wanted all he could get, as he dominated the day, winning six out of seven races. obviously taking first place for the day. Tom Walsh played the spoiler in Mike’s streak. Winning one race and taking second in two other races claiming second place for the day. Dave Birmingham netted a couple seconds and thirds to lock in third place for the day.

There were 10 one meters on the line today and son Devon Rickels jumped out in front winning four races and taking a second to win the day. Steve Andre was close on his heels, winning one race and netting a couple seconds to take second for the day. David Rakena netted two bullets to lock down third place for the day!

I wanted to give everyone some real positive feedback. As being RD for the day I was able to observe everyone sail during the day. I really believe I saw a big difference in mark rounding compared to last year. I totally believe the DRYSAIL seminar helped. Very proud how well everyone sailed this first day back. Its going to be a good year! Looking forward to next month. Keep an eye out for possible practice day!

New member Will Schwarz trying out a DF65 for the first time. NOTE THE TELLTALE smile on his face!!

DF 65s to Windward

Vics at Start

November and 2025 Year End Write Up by John Ebell

November Racing is always a very exciting time. This is the culmination of the sailing year, and the final standings for most everyone, are never settled until the end of this day. Like always, this November would be no different. This last chance to sail day, also usually brings out everyone to enjoy this unique and important day. As anticipated, attendance was up as a few missing members made their way back to the starting line. Ricardo Yepe, Jervis Dorton, and Jazz Earle were finally able to join the fun. In addition to the regulars, Julian Richards and James Poindexter came out again, and we also had a Brand New member, Kurt Zimmerman, sail with us. Kurt had sailed with us a couple times, years ago, but now has decided to join our club. Kurt just purchased DF 65 #719 from the club, and besides having a Vic, he also has a US One Meter. So he will be ready to join the fun in all three classes come spring. Kurt also now has the distinction of being the first MMYC member to be paid in full for the 2026 season!

Besides Kurt racing, I was also delighted to see David Rakena’s wife, Tracy, on the water. She had tried sailing with us before and I guess she liked it, because she was back this time with her OWN, new (to her) Vic# 13. Welcome to you both and I hope you have lots of fun. Don’t be intimidated, as we are all here for fun, and, if you have any questions, never hesitate to ask.

I was sad to miss regulars Eric Theising, Bob Adams, Chris Taylor, Kurt Boren, Dick White, Mari Spina, and Ed Riehl, as well as all you other truants, (you know who you are, and we would love to see you out more). Hope you guys can make the off season get togethers and can join us again this coming spring.

This racing day winds would be like many days at Columbia. The wind would be coming from the East-Southeast. This always presents problems as it brings into play the local geographics, ie. Buildings, hills etc, to cause mayhem on the water. This also presents a huge strategy decision, usually making it important to start near the committee boat end, and be on the right hand side of the course upwind. This usually limits the amount of tacking one must do to make the windward mark. Of course everyone usually recognizes this, and as a result, every start turns into a Walmart Black Friday Door Opening event at that end of the line! This results in either one boat getting a super start and the rest of the fleet chasing them the rest of the race, or everyone getting bogged down together in a cluster, or the brave one who slid on down the line with boat speed and timing getting away from the fleet. What I witnessed this day was a lot of all the above. The one key rule to follow however was, “Don’t get far from the starting line”. The wind was up and down and if you didn’t stay close you risked the chance of getting left behind at the gun until the wind came to you. And for many, (present company included) it could be an eternity, and a race killer.

Another unusual wind event surfaced this day, and I was impressed that so many skippers picked up on it. There developed a wind lane just on the other side of the far end of the starting line, and it actually ran the length of the course. It was amazing to witness that just 5 ft outside of this, you were noticeably slower. This lane grew more important as the day wore on. Not only downwind but in the final beat to the finish. There were many instances where one had to stay way left and and then reach in on port to finish. This anomaly also presented itself at the first mark several times. I saw David Rakena a couple times successfully purposefully start further down the starting line to head left into this wind line. This gave him better speed than the boats who elected to stay right to try and take advantage of the right coming wind. This is always a tough decision to make, and is interesting to measure how each strategy paid off, once everyone got to the top mark. Of course, this threw the old maxim of staying in the center of the course when the wind is shifty, out the proverbial window! Such is racing at Columbia.

Due to the Vic overall scoring for the season, this last day for me came down to, not screwing up! Before racing this day, Tom Walsh gave me some sage advice. He said, “Just don’t screw up!” I respect the hell out of Tom, so I took his advice. I tried to sail conservatively and not take any risky moves. Richard Herbert, who has had a stellar Sophomore year, was only 17 points behind me going into the final day. Back a ways though, there was the group! Tom Walsh, John Houfek, David Rakena, Alan Krusinger and rookie Kevin Brennan, and all were within striking distance of each other to seize 3rd place. I knew that competition would be very interesting. Again, this day I sailed with the intention of making sure I stayed in front of Richard, because I knew drops were going into play, and that could be crucial.

Race after race went down, and after two races, I was behind Richard by a point for the day. Well I put on my Danny Thomas face and fortunately won the next three races. Unfazed though, Richard ended up finishing the day with a 2nd and a FIRST to close out the Vic Season. Good Job Richard! When the scores were totaled for the day, I had bested Richard by 6 points for the day. The total for the year however was closer than one might think. I was 17 points ahead of him going into the day, adding in 6 more points for the day. So one might think I would finish well in front. Well after drops for the entire year, I was fortunate to emerge just 10 points in front of him for the Season Championship! So if I hadn’t beaten Richard for the day, or given up just a few points, he might have passed me. Well done Richard!!

What was also very exciting for the day, was the finish and scoring of “the group”. I was very impressed by their performance. Unfortunately, “Super Web Master” John Houfek had a commitment and wasn’t able to compete in this slug fest, and dropped several places as a result. The other guys in this group scrapped it out until the end of the day and their scores reflect how tight their competition was. The next four boats scored for the day were, Dave Bermingham, 79, Alan Krusinger, 78, Kevin Brennan, 77 and “Mr Vic” Craig Huzway 76. Now that’s some tough, tight racing. However, (after drops again) taking 3rd for the year was David Rakena, only 11 points ahead of 4th place Tom Walsh.

This was a tough but very exciting season for the Vics at MMYC. Besides having a very competitive Region 3 Vic Regatta, won by our own Dick White, this year the scoresheet shows we actually had 28 competing Vic skippers! That number is incredible! I think this is also due to our own “Mr Victoria” Craig Huzway. If you need a hot regatta winning boat, be sure to contact him! Now I hope this next year if you were in the 28, you make an effort to come out and enjoy the fun more often. Look forward to seeing everyone during the off-season events!

For the DF 65 class Season, I was ahead of Mike Rickels by a pretty good amount going into this last day. I had hoped that because Mike would have to use most of his drops to cover missed race days, it would help me hold him off. However, Mike being the incredibly tough competitor and great sailor he is, was still almost able pass me for the season. I again sailed conservatively and tried to stay with or ahead of Mike as we made our way around the race course. Mike had a great day winning the day and besting me this day by 6 points. Mike should have a separate write up covering his winning this last race day. Be sure to read it, as I am sure he will have some helpful tidbits on how he sailed so well. I know I look forward to reading it! Fortunately my lead for the year held up, and I was able to hang on for the Championship by 12 points with Mike taking second. Of interesting note, of the 9 race days held, we competed against each other six times. He beat me 3 days and I beat him 3 days! Wow next year is going to be fun!!

For Third place, Sophomore, Club Commodore, Richard Herbert was slugging it out against the wiley Tom Walsh. Tom had missed two sailing days to Richard’s one, and I think that was telling. Tom sailed a good day and covered Richard by 10 points. However, that proved not quite enough as Richard took third place by 5, yes only 5 points. To demonstrate how important drops are, in daily head to head racing, Tom beat Richard 5 times to Richard beating him once. I always say attendance is everything. Great racing guys!

Just like the Victorias, this year in the DF65s we scored 28 different skippers. A pretty incredible number! This class continues to grow as people realize how easy/inexpensive it is to get into. Remember, besides built boats, our club also has brand new, in the box boats ready for immediate delivery. And for MMYC members, at an unheard of price. So, if you know anyone who you think might want to jump into this hobby, we can get them started in heartbeat!

In the One Meter Class for November, I was in the dubious position of being just in front of Mike Rickels for points for the year. With him being such a good competitor, I knew I couldn’t let my guard down, and I again made it my mantra to race steady and “Don’t Screw Up”. The conditions were the same as most of the day, except the wind lane just beyond the width of the starting line, had, at times, increased. This made the decision where to go on the course and starting line, even more difficult. I think David Rakena had the best starts this series, as several times he started down the line and headed towards the better wind on the left. I think him winning 3 races this day proved that. All day long my goal was to stay in front of, or close to Mike Rickels, as he was the only one I thought could over take me. Towards the end of the day the wind was madding, as several times it went extremely light, and boats bobbed waiting for it to fill in. While this drives me crazy, it often times is a good thing for me, as I think I can shift gears and re-accelerate well. That often times is where huge gains can be made. Definitely a worthwhile skill to practice! As it turned out, ultimately, I think this day it did pay to stay to the center, as I didn’t have any really terrible races and still won 2 races for the day. Fighting hard against Mike was tough, and he fought to the end by winning the last race of the day/year for the One Meters. Unfortunately by the end of the day I had picked up 4 more points. Unlike the Vics where Richard had closed on me with his drops, Mike missed two months of sailing and had to use his drops there. That really hurt him regarding total points earned, as he only could take 7 drops for the year. After drops were figured in, I managed when using my drops, pull ahead of him, 405 points to 382.

There was just one other place to be settled, and that was 3rd place. Just like the Vics there was an another extremely tight competition going on for the following One Meter boats. After the dust cleared, David Rakena took 3rd for the day with 66 points. Hot on his heels with 65 points was Dave Bermingham, Richard Herbert with 62 and Tom Walsh with 61 points. Very tight competitive racing for the day! The good performance for the day provided Tom Walsh with enough over all points to best Richard Herbert 351 to 322. While each missed one day of sailing, I believe Richard’s boat breakdown in May had some effect.

Regardless, how the points ended up, the goal why we do this is to have fun. Speaking to everyone at The Green Turtle afterwards, I think we were all winners in that effort.

Trying to keep the fun rolling, keep an eye out for lots of news shortly about this coming year. Commodore Richard will be sending out some worthwhile info, so keep your eyes open for notices etc, especially the Annual Meeting to be held in January.

One piece of info I can pass along is about Tom Walsh. Some people soup up their boats during the off season, well be warned, Tom Walsh is actually souping up his body! Backwork, knee work, and a hip replacement are all on his off season agenda. So look out for our own Bionic Man come spring! Be sure to give him a word of encouragement if you see him.

Look forward to seeing everyone at the Annual Meeting. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

John Ebell

Race day score sheets to use for each class

Victoria DF65 One meter

2025 ODOM Region2 Championship Regatta