Published on February 9, 2001  Mystic River Press by Derek Olsen
    MYSTIC - The Mystic River Mudheads Sailing Association took three of the top four spots at a recent international sailing competition. At the Yachting Magazine-sponsored Key West Race Week, which ran from Jan. 15-20, Mudhead sailors beat out the competition, earning first, second and fourth place overall in the highly competitive J-29 class.     "It ís the Super Bowl of sailing," said Brandon Flack, skipper and co-owner of Samson, the winning vessel. "There werenít any hackers there." Samson ended the week in a virtual tie for first place with another Mudhead-run boat, Tomahawk, skippered by Don "Donzo" Wilkinson. In the end, Samson had one more first place finish, which broke the tie.
Bijan Rasadi and his J-29 sailboat, Showdown, earned enough points to finish fourth. "What a blast it was. All through the week, three of the top contenders were from Mystic," said Rasadi, adding any one of those four or five top boats could have won the regatta. "Brandon and his crew raced absolutely flawlessly," he said. "They were fantastic." Flack, who shares ownership of Samson with his wife, Cindy, has been sailing since he was five. This was Samsonís first appearance at Key West, and Flackís fourth. "Two years ago, we were finishing last," he said. "This year, we got the boat put together well enough for it to stay together. The focus has been on crew teamwork ó getting everybody comfortable working together." Once the crew had a solid work relationship, it was a matter of basic execution. "We just went down there and sailed really fast," Flack said. "We put new sails on her, and went to the regatta with a full quiver." A fourth Mystic boat, Charles Wrightís Edge of Disaster, also competed in the week of racing. Rasadi credits the Mudheads for his increasing competitive prowess.
    "There are lots of yacht clubs, but I donít know of any that promote racing and camaraderie as much as the Mudheads," he said. "The Wednesday night racing we do in the summer really helped us a lot." Rasadi said he spent the summer competing against Flack and Wilkinson, and it helped him to become a better sailor. "It pushed up our performance level," he said.
    The Mystic River Mudhead Sailing Association was formed in 1974, when a group of sailors without a yacht club desired to enter racing events. "In those days," Flack said, "you couldnít race unless you were a member of a yacht club. So they started their own. Itís a really cool group of people."