New Year ’s Day arrived as a whisper.

The still waters of the Providence River reflected gray clouds. The Fields Point giant wind turbines stood tall, their blades frozen. The Edgewood Yacht Club docks were silent. A couple of gulls perched on railings facing the water. They were quiet. The only interruption was a jet on its final approach to Green Airport. Yet out near the channel were the triangular sails of 14 Sunfish. Several boats were clustered near the pontoon boat that serves as the platform for the EYC race committee.  A few boats were moving, others looked to be fixed, painted on a canvas.

A New Year’s Day race of the Frozen Few is an EYC tradition. It’s an open invitation to those looking to greet the year with whatever Mother Nature hands out. It could be snow, gusty winds (as long as it’s not blowing more than 20 knots) , temperatures in the 20s and even days like Monday when the sun broke out and it was even comfortable.

Mark Makuch was a first timer. He’s a sailor, but other than a pickup race on the Cape with his son, he’s never raced a Sunfish. If the lack of wind irritated him it didn’t show as Jim Cavanagh and Ray Parker, towed Mark to the dock. They operated the crash boat to pull sailors from the waters if they can’t right their capsized craft and to set course marks.

Mark just enjoys being on the water. He made an analogy of sailboat racing to fly-fishing, saying the experience is the reward and catching a fish or winning a race involves investing a lot of time. Not all sailors are so philosophical. Many of the Frozen Few brave sub-freezing temperatures and the occasional dunking to test their skills and win the bragging rite of crossing the line first.

The test Monday was one of being in the right place at the right time to catch the hint of wind even if it didn’t even dimple the water. It was more than that, too. It was knowing where to position one’s weight and ever so lightly trimming the sail and handling the tiller. It takes strategy.

Stuart Malone and assistant Peggy Edwards ran the show from the pontoon boat, instructing Jim and Ray to position course markers in hopes of giving racers at least an upwind start and a downwind finish. Stuart uses an app based on the wind direction to give Jim and Ray a real time location on their cell phones where to position the inflatable tetrahedron orange and yellow markers.

Malone got off two short races that took forever. The first five or six boats were closely matched. The rest of the fleet lagged behind.  The boats were carried by the tide and without sufficient motion for steerage, frozen on the course.

“Oh, this is so painful,” said Stuart.

 After what had to be a 15 minute wait for three boats that couldn’t finish the last 100 feet of the course, Stuart called the race over.

Sailors wondered if Stuart might run another race.

“I’m trying to pull some races out of this mess,” he said loud enough to be heard over the glassy waters.

He turned to Faye Flam, who like the rest of the fleet was patiently waiting for wind.

“It’s beautiful out here,” she said looking up from under the sail. Stuart and Peggy agreed. They gave it some more time. On the chance of northerly whisper Jim and Ray, who with Peggy are adult sailing instructors at EYC, set the windward mark.

Stuart scanned the horizon. Nothing was moving, not even the Providence to Bristol ferry that since the closure of the west branch of the Washington Bridge has make runs every half hour.

Stuart called it a day and the fleet drifted back to the club. Mark gratefully accepted a tow.

TRIANGLES ON THE HORIZON: A fleet  of 14 Sunfish wait for the wind near the Providence River channel off Edgewood Yacht Club Monday morning.

READY TO HELP: With Ray Potter in the bow,  Jim Cavanagh maneuvers the crash boat.

GETTING WHAT THEY CAN: Sunfish sailors seek to position themselves to take advantage of whatever wisp of wind might come their way.

LINES UP BUT BARELY MOVING: The fleet waits a puff, that rarely came on New Year’s Day. 

IT WAS CALM ENOUGH TO STAND UP: Conditions were such that sailors could stand up and stretch.

HE WAS WHISTLING BUT NOT THE WIND: Stuart Malone uses his whistle to signal when boats have crossing the finish line.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY ON THE WATER: Sailor Faye Flam was willing to wait for wind. After all it was a beautiful day.  She finished second and fourth in the two races held.

WORTH IT NOT MATTER WHAT: Mark Makuch didn’t regret his first Sunfish  races even though both were drifters.