George Shuster had great expectations for Sunday, the first day of frostbite racing at Edgewood Yacht Club. The weather forecast was unbelievable for this time of year. The temperature could hit 75 degrees. Rather than “A Frozen Few,” as the sailors have named the group, Shuster anticipated more than a dozen Sunfish, a single handed boat with a lateen sail, on the starting line. And in place of the customary attire of wet and dry suits, caps and gloves he thought sailors would be wearing short sleeve shirts, shorts and maybe even bathing suits.

The temperature lived up to Shuster’s expectation, but the wind transformed the “toasty few” into a cavalcade of capsizes. Not all of the nine racers were dumped into the choppy bay, but there were enough to keep Dennis Demers and Ray Parker in the chase boat busy. Righting a capsized Sunfish can be relatively easy if the boat hasn’t turned turtle and is faced into the wind. That wasn’t always the case Sunday. Dennis and Ray turned boats into the wind and stood by as soaked skippers applied their weight to the center board that looked like a giant shark’s fin. The added weight to the center board often flips the boat upright.

Race committee chair, Stuart Malone, set the courses, gave the count down to the start with successive bursts of his mouth whistle and recorded the results. He said gusts hit 23 knots. After a couple of races, a soaked Wayne Kazarian figured it was time to play safe and returned to the dock. He wasn’t alone, two other boats retired early. Another sailor, Demers reported, had partially unzipped their wet suit to offset the heat.  The problem, when dumped in the water the suit filled and it was difficult to maneuver.

By the end of the morning of six races, Demers and Parker had retrieved all the marker buoys. Malone had secured the committee pontoon boat. Skippers were breaking down their rigs and stowing their craft on dock racks.

Malone interrupted the activity with two words: “race results.” Skippers, dripping wet looked up from their activity. Malone started from the top. Bill Shaw, a first time racer with the Frozen Few, finished first, Shuster was second.

Work resumed on putting all the gear away for another Sunday race. Time wasn’t wasted. The Patriots game would be on and while the skippers were wet, they weren’t frozen and that was a good thing.

Malone confessed frostbite sailing in 70 degree weather, “does feel a little bit like cheating.”  But he wasn’t complaining.