December 3rd, Race Three - Take No Prisoners...

The three race Sinnhoffer Hot Rum Series concluded on December 3rd under clear blue skies and what promised to be a Chamber of Commerce day. Winds at 12 noon were 8 to 12 across the whole course. For the first twenty or thirty minutes, the little boats got off to a fast reach at the start. But an hour and a quarter later as the last boat was starting, the wind had let up.

Most of the little boats were headed west from mark 4 at the bottom of the Road's course while the last of the big boats were sucking up the breeze and getting around Mark 2 (by buoy 3).

On the final leg from Zuniga Jetty to the finish at Shelter Island, the lead boats were lucky enough to get through the developing hole at Ballast Point (7 of the first 10 boats to finish were from Class 5 and the first Class 1 boat was 13th finisher - see Race 3 finish times). The rest of the players were lucky enough to have an incoming tide which helped them finish in maybe 2 knots of wind. 125 boats checked in and 109 finished. The kelp took out more than one boat, and commercial traffic had to dodge at least one competitor which resulted in his disqualification.

Note to competitors - if you find yourself in the way of a large freighter - turn on your engine and MOVE. If you gain no advantage from the maneuver and continue sailing, you could ask for a hearing from the protest committee to arbitrate your decision and maybe give you your finish position. Or you might just be tossed for not anticipating the traffic. It is not like an inbound freighter is a surprise obstruction. Either way, you are alive and well and able to sail another day.

Thanks to Commodore Sherman for assisting with the awards and to Jim Person and his mark setting, whistle blowing, time taking Race Committee crew.  Awards were given to the top three finishers in each of the six classes and to the winner overall.

December 3rd, Race Three - Take No Prisoners...

The three race Sinnhoffer Hot Rum Series concluded on December 3rd under clear blue skies and what promised to be a Chamber of Commerce day. Winds at 12 noon were 8 to 12 across the whole course. For the first twenty or thirty minutes, the little boats got off to a fast reach at the start. But an hour and a quarter later as the last boat was starting, the wind had let up.

Most of the little boats were headed west from mark 4 at the bottom of the Road's course while the last of the big boats were sucking up the breeze and getting around Mark 2 (by buoy 3).

On the final leg from Zuniga Jetty to the finish at Shelter Island, the lead boats were lucky enough to get through the developing hole at Ballast Point (7 of the first 10 boats to finish were from Class 5 and the first Class 1 boat was 13th finisher - see Race 3 finish times). The rest of the players were lucky enough to have an incoming tide which helped them finish in maybe 2 knots of wind. 125 boats checked in and 109 finished. The kelp took out more than one boat, and commercial traffic had to dodge at least one competitor which resulted in his disqualification.

Note to competitors - if you find yourself in the way of a large freighter - turn on your engine and MOVE. If you gain no advantage from the maneuver and continue sailing, you could ask for a hearing from the protest committee to arbitrate your decision and maybe give you your finish position. Or you might just be tossed for not anticipating the traffic. It is not like an inbound freighter is a surprise obstruction. Either way, you are alive and well and able to sail another day.

Thanks to Commodore Sherman for assisting with the awards and to Jim Person and his mark setting, whistle blowing, time taking Race Committee crew.  Awards were given to the top three finishers in each of the six classes and to the winner overall.

Our SDYC team was solid with Sam Treadwell calling tactics, Shala Lawrence, Katie Love (the youngest sailor in the event), and Karen Butler trimming, Kirsten Stahl in pit, Michelle Morgan at mast, Chris Shannon as our secret weapon (at 6’ tall she has great arms for pulling in the kite), and Julie Mitchell on bow keeping our mark roundings smooth and fast.

We practiced in San Diego Bay on Thursday before the event with Warren Gross’s Silhouette and it paid off. Because his boat was bigger and more difficult to do maneuvers, when we went to LB everything felt easier for the crew.

Saturday the breeze started out gentle, which gave everyone a chance to get organized. We won the first 2 races and then I boned the 3rd start by being too close too the line and slowing down so as not to be over early. We managed a 3rd place and went on to win the next one. The RC decided that with the building breeze we should do another race in case Sunday was too light to sail. It was about 15 knots in the last 2 races. The courses were mostly course 3’s and 4’s, which meant three and four times around. With 5-7 mark roundings per race some teams were exhausted, but not ours. Our girls were strong and wanted to keep up the pace. Our mark roundings were awesome and every time we went into the top mark or gate we knew we had an edge. That night there was dinner for all teams and as is custom for this regatta, they had a raffle with great prizes.

The next day the wind filled in slowly and going in to the first race we knew all we had to do was beat CalYC. It was a very short (.5 mile legs) course 2 so there wouldn’t be many chances to get ahead if we didn’t start that way. We had a good start on the right but LSFYC was sailing higher below us and we were forced to tack away. CalYC kept going on starbord tack below them and at the top mark we were right behind CalYC. Shala and I worked the whole leg to stay just to leeward of them and gained just enough to keep them from jibing until layline. When we jibed, the game was over. We had great teamwork and managed to put enough space between us so another boat snuck in between us and we finished 2 points ahead of Liz and CYC. The last race we finished it up nicely in a course 4 with a horizon job.

I can’t say enough how proud we were to represent our club and for me personally, it was just a wonderful experience altogether. The women from our yacht club are amazing sailors, and it gets easier and easier each year to find a good crew to go to this event. It says a lot about how far we’ve come in our membership as well as our experience in handling boats on our own. To all the girls who have sailed with me/us in the past, you were with us in spirit.

SAN DIEGO--- With silver medals already in their pockets from Athens in 2004, John Lovell of New Orleans and crew Charlie Ogletree of Kemah, Tex. aren't complacent about their bright prospects for representing the U.S. in their fourth Olympic Games at Qingdao, China in 2008. Their goal is higher than that.

"Definitely," Lovell said after the 39-year-old veterans posted third and first places on the final day of the Tornado catamaran competition in the US Sailing Pre-Trials Sunday. "We came back for this campaign to win a gold medal."

The three-day event hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club was the first of three weekends of Pre-Trial events for 8 of the 11 Olympic classes in Southern California, collectively grouped as US Olympic Trials West.

Lovell and Ogletree's tuning partners, Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez of Puerto Rico, finished second overall in the 12-boat fleet, five points behind the winners and three ahead of the next best American team of Robbie Daniel and Hunter Stunzi of Florida.

Winds were a light 6 knots for Sunday's first race but built to 12 for the second, giving Lovell and Ogletree a boost in their preferred conditions.

"We were able to double trapeze downwind," Ogletree said. "That was fun, and we won by about one-and-a-half minutes."

Next month their campaign moves to Argentina for the South American Tornado championships, a tune-up for the Worlds in Buenos Aires starting Nov. 18. Another major step will come in Portugal next year in their first opportunity to qualify the U.S. for the Olympics in the Tornado class. Each country must demonstrate a high level of performance in a class before any of its individual competitors are allowed to compete.

"After the Worlds we'll take a littler time to rest, then start to focus again," Ogletree said.

Next weekend (Oct. 20-22) the 49ers will be at Southwestern YC in San Diego, the Finns at Newport Harbor YC and the Stars at California YC in Marina del Rey. The spectacle will finish Oct. 26-29 with four days of racing for the men's and women's 470s at the US Sailing Center in Long Beach and the men's and women's RS:X---the new Olympic sailboard---just down the street at Alamitos Bay YC.

A year from now the same venues in San Diego, Newport Beach, Long Beach and Marina del Rey will host the formal Olympic Trials to select the one boat in eight of the 11 classes that will represent the United States in the 2008 Olympic sailing at Qingdao, China in 2008.

Pre-Trials for the other three Olympic classes---Laser, Laser Radial and Yngling, plus 2.4mR, Sonar and SKUD-18 for disabled sailors---were sailed at Newport, R.I. this weekend.

Early entry and other information is available at www.ussailing.org/olympics/pretrials/default.aspx

Final Tornado leaders (12 boats; 7 races, including one discard):

1. John Lovell, New Orleans/Charlie Ogletree, Kemah, Tex., 2-1-1-1-1-(3)-1, 7 points.
2. Enrique Figueroa/Jorge Hernandez, Puerto Rico, 1-(3)-2-2-3-1-3, 12.
3. Robbie Daniel/Hunter Stunzi, Florida, 3-2-(13)-4-2-2-2, 15.

Photos and more information

MEDIA CONTACT
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526

SAN DIEGO--- Neither heavy rain nor lack of wind, not to mention steep chop with a four-foot swell and "tons of kelp," failed to deter the leaders from their appointed rounds on Day 2 of Tornado catamaran competition in the US Sailing Pre-Trials Saturday.

John Lovell of New Orleans and crew Charlie Ogletree of Kemah, Tex. won both races in 6-knot zephyrs, while their longtime tuning partners, Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez of Puerto Rico, remained in second place in the 12-boat fleet, now four points behind after a second and a third, with two races remaining Sunday.

It's the first of three weekends of Pre-Trial events for 8 of the 11 Olympic classes in Southern California, collectively grouped as US Olympic Trials West. The Tornados are being hosted by San Diego Yacht Club and are racing three times around a 1.8-mile windward-leeward race course on the open ocean three miles south of the city, where conditions have been compared to Qingdao, the 2008 Olympic venue.

"Steering is really important," Lovell said, "and sail trim is key, especially when you can make 10 lengths on somebody on one wave. Teamwork really pays off."

Ogletree had the added responsibility of keeping the rudders and dagger boards clear of kelp.

"There were tons of kelp," Lovell said. "We have our boards painted white so we can see it, and Charlie made a constant circle around the boat keeping everything clear."

Figueroa and Hernandez have been practicing with Lovell and Ogletree since 2000, when both went to the Sydney Olympics and later to Athens in 2004.

"They're sailing really well," Figueroa said. "We both still have to qualify our countries [for 2000], but it would be a dream if we wind up competing for medals at Qingdao."

Lovell and Ogletree scored silver at Athens in their third Olympics, as Figueroa and Hernandez placed seventh.

Although they have a new boat, the Puerto Ricans are slightly handicapped this weekend by sailing with an old aluminum mast and used sails.

Meanwhile, dealing with kelp, light wind and waves isn't the only challenge the competitors face. Drew Wierda of Chicago reported on a rival's encounter with local sea life: "When it comes to war stories, none of us can match Mark Herendreen and Pat Giles, another U.S. entry. Their boat was holed when it was rammed by a seal, and later in the day a dolphin jumped out of the water and broke their spinnaker pole."

Herendreen and Giles were unable to race Saturday. Racing winds up Sunday starting at noon, conditions permitting.

Next weekend (Oct. 20-22) the 49ers will be at Southwestern YC in San Diego, the Finns at Newport Harbor YC and the Stars at California YC in Marina del Rey. The spectacle will finish Oct. 26-29 with four days of racing for the men's and women's 470s at the US Sailing Center in Long Beach and the men's and women's RS:X---the new Olympic sailboard---just down the street at Alamitos Bay YC.

A year from now the same venues in San Diego, Newport Beach, Long Beach and Marina del Rey will host the formal Olympic Trials to select the one boat in eight of the 11 classes that will represent the United States in the 2008 Olympic sailing at Qingdao, China in 2008.

Pre-Trials for the other three Olympic classes---Laser, Laser Radial and Yngling, plus 2.4mR, Sonar and SKUD-18 for disabled sailors---are under way at Newport, R.I. this weekend.

Early entry and other information is available at www.ussailing.org/olympics/pretrials/default.aspx

Tornado leaders (12 boats; after 5 of 7 races, including one discard):

1. John Lovell, New Orleans/Charlie Ogletree, Kemah, Tex., (2)-1-1-1-1, 4 points.
2. Enrique Figueroa/Jorge Hernandez, Puerto Rico, 1-(3)-2-2-3, 8.
3. Robbie Daniel/Hunter Stunzi, Florida, 3-2-(13)-4-2, 11.

SAN DIEGO--- Olympic hopefuls Robbie Daniel and crew Hunter Stunzi of Florida suffered a setback Friday on the first day of Tornado catamaran competition in US Olympic Trials West as the favorites, 2004 Athens silver medalists John Lovell, New Orleans, and Charlie Ogletree, Kemah, Tex., led the way with two first places and a second in three races.

Daniel and Stunzi had posted a second and a third and were running well on the second upwind leg in Race 3 when their jib halyard snapped, forcing them to drop out. Barring further bad luck, they'll be able to discard the last-place result as their allotted throwout after five of seven races. Meantime, Enrique Figueroa and Jorge Hernandez of Puerto Rico, who won the U.S. Nationals earlier this week, were in second place with a 1-3-2 score line.

The day, featuring a light morning rain prior to sailing, launched the first of three weekends of US Sailing Olympic Pre-Trial events for 8 of the 11 Olympic classes in Southern California. The Tornados are being hosted by San Diego Yacht Club.

The Tornados raced three times around a 1.8-mile windward-leeward race course on the open ocean three miles south of the city. Figueroa and Hernandez won the first race in a gentle 6 knots of breeze, but as the wind built to 12 through the afternoon Lovell and Ogletree took command.

"I like 15 knots," Ogletree said, "but I don't think we're going to see that here."

Racing continues Saturday and Sunday, starting at noon each day, conditions permitting.

Next weekend (Oct. 20-22) the 49ers will be at Southwestern YC in San Diego, the Finns at Newport Harbor YC and the Stars at California YC in Marina del Rey. The spectacle will finish Oct. 26-29 with four days of racing for the men's and women's 470s at the US Sailing Center in Long Beach and the men's and women's RS:X---the new Olympic sailboard---just down the street at Alamitos Bay YC.

A year from now the same venues in San Diego, Newport Beach, Long Beach and Marina del Rey will host the formal Olympic Trials to select the one boat in eight of the 11 classes that will represent the United States in the 2008 Olympic sailing at Qingdao, China in 2008.

Pre-Trials for the other three Olympic classes---Laser, Laser Radial and Yngling, plus 2.4mR, Sonar and SKUD-18 for disabled sailors---are under way at Newport, R.I. this weekend.

Early entry and other information is available at www.ussailing.org/olympics/pretrials/default.aspx

Tornado Leaders (12 boats; after 3 of 7 races; discard after 5):

1. John Lovell, New Orleans/Charlie Ogletree, Kemah, Tex., 2-1-2-1, 4 points.
2. Enrique Figueroa/Jorge Hernandez, Puerto Rico, 1-3-2, 6.
3. Bruno Di Bernardi/Andre Chang, Brazil, 4-4-3, 11.

Photos and more information:

MEDIA CONTACT
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526

The Rockin' Ricans -

Day 3 of the Tornado National Championships got off to a slow start. The RC had to postpone for lack of breeze for almost half an hour. By 12:30 the wind was filled in from the southwest at a steady 6 to 8 knots. Race 6 started with regatta leaders Lovell and Figueroa at the pin. Figueroa pinched it up just a little too early and was over. After spinning around and ducking the fleet, Figueroa worked the right side. Inside the twenty minute time limit for the first leg by six minutes, Figueroa was first to the weather mark just five seconds ahead of Lovell, and kept the lead around the three lap course. Robbie Daniel worked the shifts on the final windward leg and moved into a second place finish about 30 seconds ahead of third place Lovell.

For race 7, the breeze shifted right a bit and held at 6 to 9. It was Lovell's turn to jump the gun at the start. It took him a bit longer to return and never managed to close the 45 second gap on Figueroa all the way around the course.

Race 8 saw the wind move back left and build to about 10+ knots. The top three boats - Figueroa, Lovell and Daniel raced around the course in that order to the finish. They were followed by Thinschmidt who broke Brazilian skipper Di Bernardi's string of fourth place finishes.

So for the podium, first place goes to Enrique Figueroa and crew Jorge Hernandez from Puerto Rico. Second place and title of US National Champion goes to John Lovell and crew Charlie Ogletree. If you are counting, that's eight times, one behind Randy Smyth. And third place goes to Robbie Daniel and crew Hunter Stunzi. Click here for complete results and pictures.

Competitors will take a day off to dry out, fine tune their rigs and make final preparations for the Tornado Olympic Pre-Trials which start Friday, October 13. The seven race series will continue through Sunday, October 15.

DAY 2 RECAP

What a difference a day makes. Trite but true. After a one and a half hour delay on Day 1 due to a weak Catalina eddy that brought light southerly and easterly winds, weather today returned to a more familiar pattern. The clouds had burned off by 10:30 and the RC rolled into sequence promptly at 12:00 for Race 3 of the three day, 8 race series with winds at 10 kts. from 245. Race 2 saw a shift to 260 and the breeze kicked up to 12+ knots. The heavier crews were off the leeward hull and the lighter crews were out on the wire. For Race 3, the breeze was still a solid 12 kts. with gusts of two or three more knots.

With all due respect, the front of the fleet is dominated by the usual suspects - John Lovell, Enrique Figueroa and Robbie Daniel all trading ones, twos and threes. Brazilian Bruno Di Bernardi has a solid string of fourth places at the front of the middle fleet followed by a pretty good battle for fifth through ninth place. And, still respecting, the back of the fleet has a pretty good battle going as well.

PRO Bruce Greene is betting that the final day of the Nationals on Wednesday will be more of the same "Chamber of Commerce" weather. Competitors will probably sail three races to complete the eight race series. A throw out will be allowed after six races are completed.

Following the Nationals, the Tornado Olympic Pre-Trials will hold Registration and Opening Ceremonies on Thursday, October 12 with a seven race series scheduled for Friday, October 13 through Sunday October 15.

Jeff Johnson
Regatta Manager
San Diego Yacht Club

Race Committee PRO John Folting: After trying to set up for two weeks the two courses needed for the weekend, one being the PC Nationals and the other being a One Design Weekend, we were able to finally get the crews together to manage multiple regattas. Saturday morning it was necessary to tow the Etchell’s out for their race and return to the PC course and get them started. I had a great Mark set in our own Race Committee Chairman, Bruce Greene and company and a pin-end boat for starts and finishes in the form of Jim Person and Becky Rios.

A little intimidation never hurt a sole. I had with me Ann Folting, and Carol and Larry Rhyne. The wind started out rather fresh at 1000 at about 8 kts, and by the time we started at 1200 it was up to 11 kts; great winds for the PC’s, so off they went. The first race ended up in the first of many bullets for Andy La Dow on Salsa. By the second race the winds were 12 to 13 kts and very steady. An R/C PRO’s dream day except for one thing; these boats, on their 75th anniversary are a little tender and need a lot of TLC, from the owners and the R/C. Time to be on one's toes here and watch the winds and wave action. Sure enough the wind got up to 16 kts during the third race. A little bit heavy for these boats, but as they say, we are there.

The boats all finished by 1500 and into the bay they went accompanied by the aircraft carrier Nimitz, CVN 68. She is a little intimidating but after she passed I was herding the PC’s back to the barn and sure enough the wind got up to 19 kts. They all made it back to the club with no problem, which if I was 75 years old, probably would not have happened. As a matter of fact one of the racers was of course Jack Sutphen who is now around 88 years young.

They next day Bruce rode along with me, and Gary Adler and company did mark set. The day started the same way as Saturday, except for a deep fog all the way out to the course, radar and all. Two big ore carriers were anchored out there the first day and we of course did not want to do bumper boats on the way out.

We dropped of the Etchell’s right by the ships and went down to our course where there was absolutely no wind. Then the fog lifted just like a gigantic hand just reached down and pulled it away. It was feast or famine, and it was famine for at least ½ hour past the start time, as far as wind was concerned. We moved the course further out and found some wind and got the fourth race in. Now things were getting a little bit strange out there and the wind started to die just after we started the fifth and final race which was five one-mile long legs. Obviously that was not going to work so after a short time it was apparent that the course needed to be shorted on the third leg, or the Trophy presentation was going to be on Monday.

Well, all is well that ends well and everyone barely got back to the club for a 1700 presentation. Congratulations to National Champion Andy La Dow (Salsa) finishing with 4 bullets and a second place to run away with the title. Next in line were Bennet Greenwald (Minx) and Jack Sutphen (Menace). The Race Committee was very much appreciated and they gave us a very nice half model. A great weekend that ended great and most importantly, we all had fun.

Remember that next year, because I have been asked and accepted the R/C Chairman’s job for 2007. We are already working on next year's schedule and refining our days available. As we get near December I will be starting communications with the entire R/C for updates and thoughts on next year. Until then keep up the good work that you have been doing.

PC Nationals Results

John Folting
2007 Race Committee Chairman
San Diego Yacht Club

Day 3: U.S. Sailing Team Racing Championship
for the George Hinman Trophy

Downtown San Diego waterfront was the stage for the Team Racing Championship.

Fifteen teams traveled from across the country and continued to battle in the downtown venue. In the final day, the top eight teams competed in a bracket elimination to determine the champions. The knockout format consisted of teams matched by their seeding position in a best of three races for the quarter finals. The semi and finals format was best of five races. Throughout the day, the breeze was 5 -8 knots from the Southwest.

With a brief wind delay in the morning, all teams were re-weighed to confirm weight minimum required by sailing instructions. The breeze filled in about 1130 and so began the eight team quarter finals. In the semi finals arch rivals Silver Panda battled it out with arch rivals Cape Code WHishbone. Silver Panda dominated with three consecutive victories. The second semi-final matched Team Newport Storm against Larchmont Yacht Club. Larchmont won their semi’s with a record of three wins and two losses to Newport Storm, with a close final race to determine the winner.

The finals saw classic downtown San Diego conditions, sunshine, 10 knots from West and flat water! Silver Panda won three straight victories over Larchmont Yacht Club. Racing was completed 3:30 in the afternoon and then all competitors pitched in to tow back to San Diego Yacht Club and break the boats down for delivery back to Vanguard Sailboats.

For more information on this event, see the US SAILING website, and the daily photo gallery.

Day 2: U.S. Sailing Team Racing Championship
for the George Hinman Trophy

Saturday racing saw stronger winds throughout the day, with a relatively consistent 6-12 knots from the Southwest.

The initial format was posted with seeded groups of eight and seven teams. The round robins of eight and seven teams (49 races) were completed by 4pm.

Top seeded Cape Cod WHishbone and Somerville Silver Panda were undefeated in their rounds with 6-0 record. Larchmont Y.C. was next with a record of 5-1, followed by Sun’s Down Guns Out and Newport Storm with records of 4-3. Next, the fifteen teams were divided in to groups of five based on their win loss ratio.

The three rounds of five were completed at 6:30pm. In the top five teams, there was a three way tie with 3-1 between Silver Panda, WHishbone, and Larchmont.

In the next group of five teams, there was a five way tie with 2 wins and 2 losses! Finally, New York Y.C. dominated the third group of five with 4 wins.

Day 1: U.S. Sailing Team Racing Championship
for the George Hinman Trophy

Downtown San Diego waterfront was the stage for the Team Racing Championship. Fifteen teams traveled from across the country to compete in eight sets of three, matched Vanguard 15 dinghy sailboats with colored sails. Throughout the day, the breeze was 5 -8 knots from the Southwest.

The initial format was posted with seeded groups of eight and seven teams. The round robins of eight and seven teams (49 races) were completed by 4pm.

Top seeded Cape Cod WHishbone and Somerville Silver Panda were undefeated in their rounds with 6-0 record. Larchmont Y.C. was next with a record of 5-1, followed by Sun’s Down Guns Out and Newport Storm with records of 4-3. Next, the fifteen teams were divided in to groups of five based on their win loss ratio.

The three rounds of five were completed at 6:30 in the evening. In the top five teams, there was a three way tie with 3-1 between Silver Panda, WHishbone, and Larchmont.
In the next group of five teams, there was a five way tie with 2 wins and 2 losses! Finally, New York Y.C. dominated the third group of five with 4 wins.

Day Two will commence with a continuation of the groups of five teams jockeying for position and opportunity to qualify for the gold and silver fleets. More breeze is expected downtown San Diego on Saturday.

For more information on this event, see the US SAILING website, and the daily photo gallery.

The US SAILING Area G/H/J Team Race Qualifier was held the weekend of June 10-11, from SDYC. This was a big deal as it was a qualifier for the US SAILING National Championship to be hosted by SDYC here in San Diego Bay September 8 – 10. It was also a practice run for the Race Committee to sharpen its Team Race skills and logistics management. Our event this past June was sailed in Flying Juniors with a crew of two and the course was set up in San Diego Bay literally just a few boat lengths offshore from the Maritime Museum.

The Team Race format centers around a match that pits two three-boat teams against each other. The goal is to get the best finish with a 1-2-3 being the best. The course is called a ‘digital N’ course as that’s what it looks like from a bird’s eye view. It takes only seven or eight minutes for the boats to sail the whole course. Nine teams registered to sail in the qualifier and a total of sixty-two races were run over the two-day regatta to crown the winner from Newport Beach – team “Those Guys” lead by Calib Silsby. SDYC had two teams that placed 2nd (SDYC, Team Captain Tyler Pruett) and 3rd (Blame It On Us – Team Captain Andrew Campbell).

More so than any other type of event, Team Racing has many facets that require the resources and attention of a real cast of people. A paramount thank you goes to Driscolls Inc. and Bill Campbell for their help in setting up and supplying floating docks that facilitated the boat rotation out on San Diego Bay. Thank you also goes to Eric Leslie of San Diego Mooring Company for letting us tie the floating docks alongside their pier each evening. A huge thank you goes to members Pete Jung and Lance Morton for generously volunteering their time and vessels to accommodate all the Team Race teams on the water between rotations. Thanks also to SDYC member Marilyn Foster and Chief Umpire Glenn Oliver for managing ‘bunks on boats’ and the general well being of the ten umpires that gave their time to ‘officiate’ at the event. And finally thanks to Junior Flag Danielle Richards and PRO Bruce Greene and Race Manager Jen Lancaster from Newport Harbor for all their assistance, input and energy. They truly made the event happen.

Sailing Office out.

SDYC hosted the Snipe District 6 Championship. Regatta Chair/SDYC member Aimee Graham has been increasingly active with this fleet and promoting it here at SDYC. Seven of the fourteen boats entered were skippered by SDYC members, including winner George Szabo and crew Julie Mitchell. The six race, one throwout series was run out in the Coronado Roads, close in to the Zuniga Jetty and Coronado Beach.

It may have been a small fleet, but all five entries were A-Fleet regatta winning teams vying to win the 93rd running of the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup Regatta. Sailed for the fifth year in J-105s, defender San Diego Yacht Club conducted the event in the Coronado Roads located 2.5 nm southeast of Point Loma in the Pacific Ocean. Skies were dark and stormy with a brisk 12 – 15 kt southerly breeze from 180 to 220. SDYC utilized club member Dennis and Sharon Case’s J-105 “Wings” for this defense with skipper Bill Hardesty at the helm. Hardesty won the first race, but followed with a fifth in the race two after a collision on the start line with Coronado’s entry Streaker, skippered by Scott Harris. CYC did their penalty turn and headed off to the opposite side of the course looking for a flyer. SDYC tried to dial back in to the race with the others on the right. But as the saying goes, “Its better to be lucky…” and so Coronado, last off the line after their penalty, won big on the left and was first to the weather mark and lead all the way to the finish. After two races, Balboa Yacht Club was winning the event with a pair of second places. Balboa sailed a chartered boat “Chili Pepper” with Jack Franco at the helm and Dave Ullman calling tactics. Also of note in the second race, Southwestern Yacht Club, represented by 2003 Lipton Cup skipper Geoff Longenecker in “Straight Edge”, filed for redress due to excessive wakes from the spectator fleet. They were granted a one point deduction from their third place finish for a second place in race two. By the end of Saturday, the breeze had died some, and shifted right. This was to Santa Barbara’s liking as they piled on two first place finishes in the last two races. Larry Harteck sailed Repeat Offender for SBYC. So at the end of day one with five races on the score board - SBYC and SDYC were tied at 14 pts each (SBYC ahead on the tiebreaker with a win in the last race), CYC and BYC tied at 15 points and SWYC in fifth with 16 points. It was still anyone’s race.

Sunday dawned clear and bright. It is so much nicer to sail with a clear blue sky and bright sunshine. The breeze didn’t disappoint either as it filled from the west southwest at 10 – 14 kts. SDYC again came out strong in the first race (race 6) with a win, but copied their trend from the day before with a fourth in the next race. With two races left to sail, Balboa was looking strong with a two/one for the day and a two point lead over SDYC and SBYC between them in second. Never fear, and as Bill Hardesty reminded me, “It’s never over til’ it’s over!” SDYC came back in race 8 with a win to BYC’s fourth and SBYC’s third. For the ninth and final race of the series, SDYC needed only to cover BYC. They would win any tie breaker that might result with SBYC or CYC. Sure enough, SBYC lead around the course and SDYC held BYC’s hand at the back of the fleet. You can bet the crew on Wings were double checking the tie-breaking rules. But just for good measure, SWYC’s bad luck played out once more as they blew their kite on the last leg. SDYC just got past them at the finish for a third place, (one point advantage on SBYC) and BYC remained in fifth. After nine races, only two points separated the top three boats. That’s fun racing.

Congratulations to San Diego Yacht Club for its successful defense and to skipper Bill Hardesty and crew Commodore Betty Sherman, Stacey Szabo, Kel McKeown, Chad Hough, Kyle Clark, Eric Shampain. Many thanks also go out to Principal Race Officer Bruce Greene and his Race Committee team, and to all the volunteers and their boats for their assistance with stake boats, wing boats, press boats, patrol boats, spectator boats (did I forget anyone?). Thank you also to four other clubs, their skippers, crew and race fans for making the trek to San Diego for what is arguably the premiere challenge fleet race event on the West Coast. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year for the 94th running in the 104th year of the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup Challenge.

Consistency was the key to success as the Yachting Cup brought a wide range of conditions this year. 127 boats were assembled into 6 PHRF divisions and 8 one design fleets spread over three ocean courses for the 33rd annual Yachting Cup.

The Far Roads course set 4.5 nm south of Zuniga Jetty hosted PH Division’s 3 and 4, J-109s, Schock 35s and Beneteau 36.7s. The Near Roads course was set 2.5 nm south of Zuniga Jetty and hosted PH Divisions 5 and 6 along with the J-80s and the largest fleet – J-105. For the second year in a row, the third course for Yachting Cup was set west of Point Loma about 1.75 nm west of SD #5. This course hosted the PH Divisions 1 and 2 plus the Beneteau 40.7s, J-120s and new to the one design regatta scene – Reynolds 33 catamarans.

Day one was mostly overcast with patches of sunshine now and then. That was better than the forecast for thundershowers. The pressure system rolled through with no rain and ten to thirteen knots of breeze. All the courses got three races in for the day as the breeze gradually diminished.

Day two began overcast but by 1300 the skies were clearing and sunshine covered all the courses. For better or worse, depending on what boat you were on, the breeze was light most of the day ranging from 4 to 8 knots. Shifting gears, dodging kelp and keeping your air clear was the order of the day. That would keep you in the top part of the fleet anyway.

Going into Sunday, many fleets had boats with three bullets at the top, but just two of those six competitors (J-80 Avet/Curt Johnson/CalYC and DK46 (Div 2) Zephyra/Robert Youngjohns/StFYC) managed to keep posting wins through the final day. Three classes (Div 6 – J-92 Turn Key/Dr. Schlessinger, Div 1 – RP 68 Taxi Dancer/Paul & Laura Sharp and Reynolds 33 Cat – Cat Attack/Randy Reynolds) each posted four bullets but got tripped up one way or another in the last race. They still each won their class.

Winning Yachting Cup’s top honors as overall winner and winner of the J-120 class with 10 entries was Steve Harris on TamaJama.
Steve Harris also donated his boat along with Rudolph Hasl and his J-120 Hasl Free for the Ninth Annual Leukemia Cup as a platform for Junior sailors raising $1000 or more. Hasl Free raised over $9000 to benefit the Leukemia Society and won Overall Honors along with Dale Frye, who raised over $18,000. All together, the Leukemia Cup Regatta raised over $80,000 for LLS.

Thanks to Race Chairwoman Nancy Delosky, PROs Mike Foster, Bruce Greene, and Susi Graff, and all the RC volunteers for putting on an extremely successful event. We received many compliments throughout the weekend.

March 17 - 19. the San Diego Yacht Club hosted the 3-day Lands' End NOOD Regatta, an annual event which set a record for entries this year. Over 160 boats in 17 classes sailed on 3 courses from the far ocean off of Point Loma to the San Diego Bay near Coronado.

San Diego Yacht Club played host to its portion of the 71st SCYA Midwinter’s Regatta on February 18-19. In North San Diego Bay, the Snipe Fleet ran six races in a WSW breeze that varied from 5 to 12+. Saturday was solid sunshine, regardless of what you might have thought at 8 AM amidst the clouds and rain. In the Coronado Roads, SDYC hosted the J-120, Beneteau 40.7 and Columbia 30 fleets. Five races were run in similar conditions (WSW breeze 6-10 kts).