If you happened to be sailing on Manhasset Bay last Saturday, Oct. 4, and thought you saw pirates, ruffians, and persons of "ill-repute," you were not hallucinating. While you might have thought Halloween had come a bit early to our area this year, it was only the fun-loving people of the Cannonball Regatta doing their annual thing.

Fifteen boats, all in length from 17 feet to 51 feet, competed in strong winds ranging from 15-20 knots, on a course that started the competitors east of Plum Point, took them out to the head of the bay, Hewlett Point, across to Barkers Point and back home. Along the way, each team had a few "duties" to perform. In order to qualify for the prizes (and these were seriously nice prizes), each team was obliged to have at least two crew in costume, participate in a ring toss, complete a second verse of the Cannonball Regatta theme song (and sing it to the Race Committee on shore), and stop by Louie's for a drink. The ring toss merits a few more words, because of the challenges it presented. An almost life- sized portrait of Guy La Motta was positioned on a rubber raft somewhere out in the vicinity of the race course, and each team was expected to sail by and "ring" a parrot sitting on his shoulder or aim for an extended arm. Since Guy La Motta, of La Motta's restaurant and the Manhasset Bay Marina, is the sponsor of the event, it is only fitting that he was honored in such a fashion. To give readers a perspective on how difficult the ring toss maneuver was, one boat collided with the ring toss dinghy, fouling the ground tackle. These miscreants, in order to make restitution and qualify for prizes, were ordered to walk the plank and take a swim in Manhasset Bay. Whether or not they did is still being debated at this moment.

Bernie Shore and his team of six crew members, sailing on Shore's boat Déjà Vu, a 41-foot Newport, came in first in his division. What is special about this team is they are all members of the Port Washington Fire Medics, also known as EMS. It's nice to know that the people who volunteer to keep all of us safe day in and day out, have a chance to spend some fun time on the water. Bernie's crew included Andrew Walsh, Glen Ettlinger, Sonya Sanchez, Scott Sanchez, Steve Fornatelli and Hannah Pritty. The team plans to compete in future events, the next one being the Volvo Leukemia Cup over at Port Washington YC. Another team, who did not place high on the leader board, was on Dybbuk, the Knickerbocker One Design boat skippered by Roy Israel, with Keith Dorman, Larry Scheyer and Paul Douglass on board. According to Keith Dorman, they had an eight-minute lead at the first mark, but "in the spirit of the Cannonball Regatta, we chose to confuse the rest of the fleet by adding an extra leg by way of Gangway." While they couldn't get it together to lead on the water, the team did manage to make it to the front of the food line back on shore. Thanks to the RC who was out there all day, not only setting marks, but organizing the antics. This year's RC members: Rob Ward, Judy Vetter, Widge James, Lisa Drees, Stephan Fromme, Janine Kriz, Valerie Ward, Mike Kurnides, and Kelly Cummins. And the committee who planned it all were: Jon Pickow, Katy Schall, Karen Neider, Ron Dean, Widge James, Kelly Cummins, Michael Kurnides, and Rob Ward. Results of this year's regatta: Division I: 1. Déjà Vu, Bernie Shore, 2. Six Pact, Nelson Schlaefer, and 3. Legasea, Casey Ryan. Division II: 1. Daydream, Ralph Miller, 2. Dry Martini, Guy La Motta, and 3. Bobalew, Bob Austin/Lew Petta. Division III: 1. Jaws, Ron Dean, 2. Nordmark, Pat Miller, and 3. Yellow Jacket, Alan Parker/Jon Pickow/Katy Schall. And dead last (which is normally not reported in this column) goes to Uncle Dave on Martelle.

Several of our local sailors were out and about in Ireland this past spring. John Browning and Stephanie Bass and Chip and Lynn Whipple were part of a 13-member team from the Storm Trysail Club who participated in the International Team Race Challenge in a suburb of Dublin called Dun Laogherie (pronounced Dun Leary), and placed second overall. The event was hosted by the Royal St. George YC, the Royal Irish YC and the National YC, along with the Sigma 33 East Coast Association. In addition to the Storm Trysail Club, the United States was represented by New York YC and the Ida Lewis YC. There were five other teams hailing from Scotland, the Sigma 33 Off Shore Class Association, Hamble River Sailing Club (England), the Combined Waterfront Clubs (Ireland) and the Sigma 33 East Coast Association (Ireland). Sailing was held in a bay that was open to the Irish Sea to the east, with Dublin harbor to the west. Conditions were just about perfect, with 18-20 knots of breeze, with smooth seas, which are typical of that part of the world - enough to make the Long Island sailors green with envy. The Storm Trysail Club had a good shot at winning the event, but on Sunday, the team they had to beat, Hamble River, got a favorable wind shift 90 seconds before the start, allowing them to gain a favorable position off the starting line, giving them the first place honors. Rounding out the team were Dan Whitney and Peter Rugg (who sailed as a junior on our bay), Tony Parker, Peter Driscoll, Bill Jorch, Whitey Russell, Thomas Callahan and Mike Posey.

Scores from the Sonar season have become available. They are as follows: Championship Series (32 days of racing) and for the Saturday Series (17 racing days): 1. #375. Housemartin, Greg and Beth Danilek, 2. #451, Ping, Sue Miller/John Browning, and 3. #682, Puff, Ralf Steitz. The Sunday Series (15 racing days): 1. Housemartin, 2. Puff, and 3. Ping. The Tune-up Series (5 racing days): 1. #421, Weekend Warrior, Dan Simon/Bill Simon, 2. #387, Serendipity, Allyn Salomon, and 3. #573, Selhun, Bahar Gidwani. The Holiday Series (3 racing days): 1. Housemartin, 2. #396, Delight, Bob Kirtland, and 3. Ping. The Handicap Series (6 racing days): 1. Weekend Warrior, 2. #368, Tzuris, Stanley Rosenburg, and 3. #356, Laurie B, Robert Baskind/Steven Phillipson. Each year, the Sonar Fleet holds several crew races, where one of the crew skippers the boat. This year the Memorial Day Crew Race was cancelled, but there were two races for the crew on Labor Day. The results of Race One: 1. #421, Weekend Warrior, Yalcin Tarhan, 2. #396, Delight, Alan Thompson, and 3. #573, Selhun, Marcelo Oliver. Race Two results: 1. Delight, 2. #678, Whimsey, Cleas Larsson, and 3. Weekend Warrior. There were also two races for the Single-handed Race on Labor Day. Results of Race One: 1. #421, Weekend Warrior, Bill Simon, 2. #573, Selhun, Bahar Gidwani, and 3. #682, Puff, Paul Stroch. Single-Handed Race Two: 1. Puff, 2. Selhun, and 3. Weekend Warrior. The Long Distance Race was held on October 4, and the leaders were: 1. Ping, 2. Weekend Warrior, and 3. #442, Dreadlox, Neil Bercow.

Don't forget the Sixth Annual Volvo Leukemia Cup Regatta this Saturday, Oct. 11 at the Port Washington YC. Racing begins at 11:50 a.m. All are invited to join in this national fund-raising campaign to raise money to fight leukemia, lymphoma and related cancers. Funds raised will help provide vital scientific research - almost 80 cents out of every dollar goes directly to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. All funds raised on Saturday will support the patient aid and research programs here on Long Island. So come out and enjoy the day, and help raise money for a very worthy cause. For more information, call the club at 767-1614.