A past winner of Newport Life Magazine\u2019s best regatta award will return this weekend after the 2020 edition was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
The Fools\u2019 Rules Regatta will set sail Saturday at the East Ferry waterfront overlooking the Newport Pell Bridge. The quirky tradition, which has a rain date of Aug. 15, tasks participants with constructing seagoing vessels using objects not intended for their seaworthiness. Sailors can work to perfect their design beforehand, but it must be re-assembled on the beach on the morning of the event. That portion of the 43rd annual regatta will begin at 9 a.m., and the races will set sail two hours later.<\/p>\n
Greg Hunter, who has been \u201cchief fool,\u201d or emcee, since 2019, is looking forward to the return.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best part for me is the excitement and the simultaneous chaos of building the boats, but also the spectator reaction,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you look out and there\u2019s hundreds of people there, and everything from the questions to the smiles to the laughter. That, to me, is so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something a bit different<\/strong>With the possibility of another COVID-19 outbreak looming, the town council approved a conditional permit for the event that is sponsored by the Jamestown Yacht Club. As of Wednesday morning, Gov. Dan McKee did not reinstate any mask mandates or crowd limits.<\/p>\n \u201cThe town approved it with the understanding that if COVID ruins it, so be it,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n Because registration is not required\u00a0before race day, Hunter will not know how many people will participate in the free event until they arrive at the beach. There are five classes in which sailors can enter their crafts, and these classes differ in capacity. Classes one through four are for boats with crews of one to four passengers, respectively, while the fifth class has unlimited capacity limits. The Jamestown Rotary Club will return to the regatta with their fried dough wagon.<\/p>\n The course is about 500 yards long, and boats in each class compete to see whether they can complete that distance ahead of the fleet \u2014 or sink and swim. All boats must be made with items other than nautical or boat parts, and must be propelled only by the wind. For those new to the event, Hunter said some of the most popular boat-building materials throughout the years include plastic barrels, sails made from tablecloths and bedsheets, parachutes and toilet seats.Aside from first-, second- and third-place prizes in each class, there also are three special awards given out annually. The worst example of naval architecture is given to the boat, as the name of the award indicates, that can\u2019t quite sail. The most ingenious design award, named after the regatta\u2019s founder, Karl Smith, is given to the entry with the best design. The Frank Newman judges\u2019 award, named after a former president of the University of Rhode Island who was a regular participant, is given to the entry with the best overall theme.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019d like to see is something a bit different, and something that we\u2019ve never seen in the past, if possible, when it comes to the creative side,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n When the regatta was canceled last year due to the pandemic, Hunter said he expected the next edition to feature crafts related to the coronavirus. While he has yet to hear of anyone designing one, he still thinks there will be a few entries with the virus as a theme.<\/p>\n \u201cI absolutely expect to see something along that line,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m sure there will be something that will come along that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Back to the drawing board<\/p>\n Among this year\u2019s participants is Philip Haun, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and A-10 pilot who has lived in Jamestown since 2009. He is the dean of academics at the Naval War College in Newport. Haun first attended the Fools\u2019 Rules as a spectator in 2011, and competed for the first time in 2013.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was a great event,\u201d he said. \u201cI typically build a boat every year if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n That year, Haun and his daughter, Sadie, built a pontoon boat that finished in the middle of the pack. His family entered another pontoon called \u201cSchadenfreude\u201d in 2014 and won first prize in class three.<\/p>\n Following a fruitless daughter-dad\u00a0doublehanded race in 2016 onboard \u201cHaun-a-luau,\u201d which was \u201can unfortunate boat\u201d according to dad, Sadie was awarded third prize in the singlehanded class for her umbrella boat called \u201cThe Tippie\u201d in 2017.<\/p>\n Haun and his daughter brought separate entries to the 2018 race, and Sadie won the singlehanded race while capturing the Smith award for her boat \u201cRelease the Quackin,\u201d a canoe built out of PVC pipe with two inflatable rubber ducks as outriggers. Phil and his friend, Adrian Schuettke, finished third in the two-person boat for their outrigger design called \u201cSnail Boat.\u201d In 2019, Phil\u2019s \u201cDragon\u201d entry, which had a vertical butterfly-style design, collapsed before it reached the starting line, but he did win the Smith award, which means the Haun family has built the most ingenious design in the past two editions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe wind was horrible that year,\u201d he said about the 2019 race. \u201cIt was blowing out from the due west, so there was absolutely no tailwind. Only the one boat that could sail on a reach actually did well.\u201d<\/p>\n Haun said he is inspired by other entries from the previous years for his boats, and his pontoon and outrigger designs were created after he saw the success of similar crafts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look to see what is there, and think about it,\u201d he said. \u201cAlso, you get inspired by whatever failure you had the year before. I\u2019m not going to have the same thing happen twice.\u201d<\/p>\n During the pandemic, Haun has been designing his entry for this year\u2019s regatta. He and Sadie will compete together in a pontoon catamaran built from wood, foam insulation, and black polyurethane in the doublehanded class. In response to their performance in 2019, this year\u2019s design will have a daggerboard tarp sail Haun hopes will fare better if there is another crosswind.<\/p>\n \u201cThis boat was done last summer and it\u2019s just been sitting in my basement ready to go,\u201d he said. \u201cI took it out a couple weeks ago to put some fine touches on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Haun said he is most looking forward to this year\u2019s regatta because his daughter will be traveling from Washington, D.C., for the event. Schuettke also will be at the beach to help them stabilize their craft.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just fun,\u201d he said. \u201cI look forward to the crowds and people coming up with their kids, asking questions and thinking about how they\u2019re going to do theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Fools Rules was a great success. There were plenty of spectators and 16 “boats” entered in the Fools Rules. Although there was rain, and then no wind, the race continued. Here are the official results:<\/p>\n Class One Class Two Class Three Class Four Most Ingenious Design – Pokey Blues Fian and Noah Roach<\/p>\n Worst Example of Naval Architecture – Not for Sail- Andrew Avery & Steve Dos Antos<\/p>\n Judges Award – Jinxed – Phil and Sadie Hadie<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”1593,1592,1591,1590,1589,1588,1587,1586,1585,1584,1583,1582,1581,1580″ posts_number=”14″ show_title_and_caption=”off” _builder_version=”4.11.3″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ border_radii_image=”on|2px|2px|2px|2px” border_width_all_image=”1px” border_color_all_image=”#000000″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_gallery][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Foolish regatta returns Saturday By\u00a0ohtadmin\u00a0|\u00a0on\u00a0August 12, 2021 From the Jamestown Press BY RYAN GIBBS \u00a0 A past winner of Newport Life Magazine\u2019s best regatta award will return this weekend after the 2020 edition was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Fools\u2019 Rules Regatta will set sail Saturday at the East Ferry waterfront overlooking the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":90,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
1st place – The Starfish – Sterling Dintersmith of Jamestown
2nd place – Sea you later – Alligator – Louis Conmoni – Holliston MA
3rd place- Love Wins – Wendy Mackie – Jamestown<\/p>\n
1st place – Jinxed – Phil & Sadie Haun – Jamestown
2nd place- Captain Lobster – Grant & Sean Doyle- Jamestown
3rd place – Not for Sail – Andrew Avery & Steve Dos Antos – Providence<\/p>\n
1st Place – Pokey Blues – Fin & Noah Roach – Jamestown
2nd place – SS Speeb- Wyatt Burditch – Narragansett
3rd place – Recycle & Sale – Tate Munro – Wakefield RI<\/p>\n
1st place – Aqula Gorilla – Lauren Buckley & Ellen Hastings – Jamestown
2nd place – SS Optimist Prime – Meghan Sendrowski – Worcester MA
3rd place – What do you call a 2 legged horse? – Ryan Hirsch – Bethlehem PA<\/p>\nFoolish regatta returns Saturday<\/h1>