A Laid Back October Fleet Race

There were no crashes,
No thunderstorms,
No capsizing,
No yelling,
and, not many boats…

I’ll let Andy fill you all in;


Our fleet race this past Saturday was "lightly" attended by five boats, I know of two boats we lost to the USF
game, is that a good excuse?
It was nice to see John and Sue Domagala and their young daughter up from Sarasota in #5577. We also had Dave and Kim Thinel #812, Bill and Michelle Watts #4921, Paul and Leslie Fisher #5026 and Andy and Lisa Hayward, #38.
The weather could not have been nicer, a shifty Northeasterly breeze of 4-10k. Craig and Tina did a excellent job with the races, Thank You!! The oscillating breeze made the course fairly square, (most of the time.)
Race #1 started in enough left shift that it was tough to cross the start line on starboard. Andy and Lisa flopped on to port near the pin and led throughout, followed by John and Sue .Race #2 was in a similar wind phase, Paul and Leslie pulled off a port tack start at the pin, yet Dave and Kim worked the right side of the course hard to a nice lead at the first mark. The second beat had the wind fade with enough holes to tighten up the fleet considerably. The run to the finish was quite a nail biter with Paul and Leslie and the Hayward's squeaking past the Thinel's. Race #3 was the breeziest of the day and had Paul and Leslie leading early,
but Andy and Lisa worked past them on the second beat. The last race was between just #812 and #38 as
the rest of the competitors had the attend to commitments. The single Windward/ Leeward race had the boats overlapped at the windward mark, Dave and Kim slightly ahead. The Thinel's had a flawless bear away and the Hayward's struggled with a jibe set, score a bullet for Dave and Kim.
Boat's away, wife's showered, the Thinel's and Hayward's kept the fleet race party animal tradition alive at 220 East. Mike Douglas joined the "animals" for some stories and to watch LSU lose!! Yea!!

Results:
R1 R2 R3 R4 = Tot
Andy and Lisa Hayward #38 1 2 1 2 = 6
Paul and Leslie Fisher #5026 4 1 2 dns3 = 10
Dave and Kim Thinel #812 3 3 3 1 = 10
John and Sue Domagala #5577 2 4 4 dns3 = 13
Bill and Michelle Watts #4921 5 5 dns5 dns3 = 18

Miami District coming this weekend, Sarasota District on November 10 & 11th, DIYC Thanksgiving Regatta November 24 & 25th and Lake Hollingsworth Invitational December 15th. Make you plans now!!


I’m back, all in all it was a very nice day. Kim and I were feeling a little lethargic on the boat. An afternoon nap crossed my mind and I’m not much of a “napper”, Kim would have gone for it.

One downer was, the club was holding a memorial service for a member that recently passed away. As we were hauling out there were a lot of folks filing in for the service. We thought it would be poor form to be getting drunk in or around the pool, given the circumstances, so off to the restaurant we went.

This coming weekend marks the beginning of another Florida District Championship. The Coconut Grove YC is hosting the first race held on the world famous Biscayne Bay, should be a great event and season. I’ll have something to report so stay tuned.

Forgot the camera again...

P.S. There was better pressure out to the right in race 2, but not for long.