Pettipaug Memories ~ 75th ANNIVERSARY 1950-2025 [cid:image001.png@01DBAADC.734461F0] The beloved Paul Risseeuw at Pettipaug Yacht Club FLYING ON THE WATER WITH I 14 fleet Written by Mary Risseeuw Pettipaug had a thriving International 14 fleet in the 1970s. The 14's were dinghies - shells with an oversized sail area-sleek, fast and agile. You needed precision skill and coordinated timing to sail them to their max - which often meant you were practically flying over the water! A long-ago memory reminded me how exhilarating it could be to race this small boat at PYC. It was the Fall of 1976 and we were racing north past Joshua's Rock on a spinnaker reach. I was on the trapeze and Paul, with a light touch on the tiller, kept us on a steady plane. A huge gust came from behind. Two boats capsized and Paul and I prepared for the inevitable. He feathered the boat while I heaved outboard on the trapeze, playing the chute. You could feel the power of the wind take us to a whole other level. We were sailing on a razor's edge about to lift off the water. One wrong twitch of tiller, tweak of the sail or shift of weight and we would be under water. Suddenly, a loud howl rose up from the hull. I had never heard anything so shocking and eerie, but it was the sound of perfect resonance. We glided through the gust and to the finish just before the bend in the river. Was it the adrenaline or speed or danger that makes this memory still so vivid to me? Or was it my youth and first thrilling experience of racing an extreme small boat where you are inches above the water, the speed seemingly three times as fast, and you feel hull touch every ripple? I don't know ,but it cemented my love of racing at Pettipaug. This unpretentious little club on the beautiful Connecticut River holds a special place in my heart. It is a gift for all who come here, and I hope the spirit of PYC never changes. Mary Risseeuw
