2010 Stone Horse Builder's Cup

2010 Stone Horse Builder's Cup & Rendezvous
08-15-2010 Padanaram, MA Sunny skies and a brisk 12-14 knot Southeast wind made for spectacular sailing at the 2010 Stone Horse Builder's Cup . The Race Committee did a fine job, setting the line, communicating with competitors and choosing the course. The four leg course was a three mile triangle with the first leg repeated for a windward finish. WINDFALL, skippered by Tom Kenney of South Dartmouth, was first over the line followed by YOUNG AMERICA, BUTTERFLY, BLUE JAY and FOOT LOOSE . WINDFALL tacked away from the fleet after being quickly overtaken by Bob Sachetti's YOUNG AMERICA, the 2009 Builder's Cup winner, and BUTTERFLY sailed by Ship Orr and Vern Tisdale of Mattapoisett. On the first windward leg, YOUNG AMERICA built a substantial lead, and Bill Hulsman, on FOOT LOOSE, recovered from a poor start and moved into 2nd place. Bill Hulsman, somewhat of a legend in the Stone Horse community, has sailed FOOT LOOSE out of Falmouth for 27 years and has won several Builder's Cups. Vern Tisdale sailed a solid race, steadily increasing BUTTERFLY's lead over WINDFALL and BLUE JAY but unable to gain on FOOT LOOSE and YOUNG AMERICA. YOUNG AMERICA maintained considerable separation for the first three legs with FOOT LOOSE slowly closing the gap. As the final leg began, YOUNG AMERICA was still in command but FOOT LOOSE was close enough to make it a Horse race. Windward sailing is Bill Hulsman's forté and, after a series of long tacks, FOOT LOOSE was able to slip by YOUNG AMERICA to win by seconds. Bill attributes his success to knowing his boat, patience and a willingness to sacrifice direction for boat speed when going to windward.