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Labrador Race Report
January 31, 2004

The Fourth Annual Peter Courtwright Memorial Race

Joao Fernandes sat on the crosstrees of the foretopmast doing the morning watch for the larboard watch crew. He had signed on as a landsman when the English fishing boat was in port back at his home in the Azores. He knew nothing of sailing, nothing of fishing, and knew no English. He did know he could not stay home any longer. Ah Maria. He had been a simple worker, a lavrador, in his hometown when he had fallen in love with the wrong women. It was a very foggy morning and the air was lifeless, unlike his lovely Maria. The boat rocked gently and the sails hung empty of air. They were somewhere in the north Atlantic off the coast of the new world. They had been working their way up the coast since rounding Hispanola. The fishing had been good. Through the haze he spotted a dark outline. He squinted as if that would make the fog lift. Yes it was land, no doubt about it. He looked down on deck for his particular friend, the only other man onboard who spoke Portuguese. Gervasio also spoke English so he served as Joao's translator. He called down to Gervasio and pointed in the direction of his sighting. Gervasio nodded and headed to the captain's quarters. The captain and his master were busy working on their charts when Gervasio was called in. "What is it Gervasio?" the Captain inquired not looking up from his charts. "Joao, the lavrador, has sighted land, two points to larboard". Gervasio added the two points to cover for his Portuguese friend's total ignorance of anything nautical. "Let us have a look" the Captain said to his Master. As they prepared to leave the Master made a notation on the chart. He wrote quickly but in perfect script, The Lavrador's, next to the spit of land on the chart near what was only known before as Vinland.

The Lavrador would later be anglicized into Labrador and would continue to be a popular spot for fisherman and eventually a special breed of a stocky retriever. And that is the "true" story of how we got the name Labrador. What we don't know is how a small knoll in Truxton New York became named Labrador Mountain and became a premier ski center. What we do know is that is where the Fourth Annual Peter Courtwright Memorial Race was held on Saturday, January 31 st . Even though Cazenovia fielded an even smaller than normal team they still made their presence on the medals podium.

All by herself in the highly competitive Female J5 division Alex Verbeck turned in one of her strongest races of the season. Coach Lapham commented, "She just keeps getting stronger, faster, and more race savvy each time she comes out of the gates." Kaitlyn "the Tiny Tiger of Perryville" Button pulled out of the race at the last minute to attend to important family matters. We look forward to her return at the Cazenovia Dual Slalom next week.

Over in the Males J5 group Barclay, "Bode Miller", Talbot flew into sixth place keeping his string of top ten finishes in tact for the third week in a row. As is his inimitable style, Barclay shunned the throngs of press seeking an interview. Close on Barclay's heels was Sam "I am" Concilla, a mere 7 seconds out of the top ten. Sam said simply, "I just let 'em run today, skied relaxed, had fun, and just did better. I'm not going to let the pressure get to me." Unfortunately brother Bennie "Hana" DNF'd (did not finish) his first run due to the technically demanding course. Ben said, "I'll be back".

Remember next Sunday February 8th is the Cazenovia Dual Slalom. This is the most looked forward to and exciting race in the Central New York racing cycle. The dual slalom format is unique to Cazenovia and the only time you will be able to see these talented young racers go side by side. Please be sure to show up on Sunday and take an active part in making this race a success and show off your club to hundreds of other Central New York skiers.