wooden ships & iron men [Updated August 2000]

WSM     
  
     9+ till 21
   11-13 

  Tack

David Cross, VA

2000 Champion

2nd: Ron Glass, VA

3rd: Keith Hunsinger, OH

4th: Joseph Abrams, CT

5th: Benoit Groulx, QUE

6th: Tim Hitchings, DE
Event History
1991    Jim Truit      23
1992    John Boisvert      29
1993    John Boisvert      36
1994    William Rohrbeck      28
1995    Larry York      21
1996    David Cross      16
1997    David Metzger      20
1998    Michael Brannaman      20
1999    Paul Risner      8
2000    David Cross     16
AREA Ratings
 1    Tim Hitchings      1733
 2    David Cross      1694
 3    Paul Risner      1671
 4    Albert White      1559
 5    William Rohrbeck      1557
 6    John Selders      1535
 7    Stephen Shedden      1492
 8    Stuart Smart      1486
 9    Tom Kazmierczak      1473
10    Jeffrey Miller      1465

sailing, sailing ...

WSM doubled its turnout over '99, attracting both new players and returnees, despite losing its GM to a traffic accident on the way to the conference. Fortunately, AGM Tim Hitchings was available to take over despite the loss of much materials and expertise to William Rohrbeck's fender bender. A user-friendly format allowed players to drop in and out at their convenience, choosing short, single-ship actions or longer, squadron actions. Some favored a combination. Revised tournament rules were used, cleaning up the 2nd Edition and adding new flavor. Free copies are available to all participants.

Dave Cross took his second plaque, winning a single-ship action and four squadron battles. His only loss was to runner-up Ron Glass. Ron's record was 2-1 in squadron actions and one single-ship loss.

Steve Shedden delivered the most devastating broadside of all time. In a squadron battle, one of his ships fired point blank into the enemy. His roll of 6 caused a critical hit, "magazine may explode". The magazine did, in fact, explode. The explosion set three adjacent ships afire, two of Steve's, plus an additional enemy. On the enemy ship and Steve's original attacker, the fires were out of control, leading to subsequent explosions. Steve's remaining ship in the conflagration was finished off by cannon fire. Thus, one broadside blew up three ships and led a fourth to ultimate destruction. The odds of this series of die rolls were
22,394.88 to 1!

The high point of the tournament was Saturday's fleet action with metal miniatures. Two fleets were formed by players commanding one or more ships. French Admiral Dave Cross arrayed French 80-gun ships, a Spanish 130, and
a Turkish 100 in a line spanning a harbor behind a fort, in defense of merchantmen and a powder magazine. British Admiral Ron Glass led British 74's, an 80, a bomb ketch and a Russian 110 via a narrow channel just beyond the reach of the fort.

The firepower of the anchored defenders threatened to delay British deployment, forcing Joe Abrams' squadron to swing into the play of the fort's guns. Joe's ships suffered rigging damage but emerged to engage a French 74 and Spanish 130 commanded by Jay Schlaffer. Montrealer Benoit Groulx (a French royalist commanding British ships!) avoided sailing off the edge of the earth to achieve a rake on the Franco-Turkish squadron of Keith Hunsinger. Nevertheless, Keith's Turkish 100 grappled the lead ship of Brit Larry York, leading to a nasty melee between these rivals. Tim Hitchings sailed his bomb ketch to within range of the French but got off only one bombardment of the powder magazine. Frenchman Jim Miller skillfully tacked upwind and assaulted the Brits from the rear.

Time ran out before zeal; resolution of the battle was still up for grabs. It was agreed to schedule next year's fleet action to allow for more fighting. Prizes were awarded for the best tournament records as well as successful skippers in the fleet action.

 GM      William Rohrbeck  [6th Year]   17 Mill St, Goffstown, NH 03045
    beck33@juno.com   NA

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