Sarasota One Design Midwinters - Flying Scot

We left off on Thursday back in St. Pete with the Flying Scot Class Midwinters. Just by chance the Sarasota Sailing Squadron's annual One Design Midwinters was scheduled for March 29 and 30. We decided a while back that we would try to attend, assuming our butts weren't too sore and that we were still on speaking terms. The Davis Island warm-up, FSSA Midwinters and Sarasota Midwinters equal 8 days of racing out of 9, so we wern't too sure we would be game for Sarasota. We enjoyed Friday off, did some laundry, played with Missy and packed up our boat and gear in preparation for an early start Saturday morning.


Here is Kim and Missy in the back yard, we just adopted her in January 08 and she is way fun!

We hit the road Sat. at about 7:00 am to arrive at the club by 9 ish. On weekends when traffic is light we can get there in about an hour and 25 minutes which isn't bad at all. There was not much traffic and as we crossed the causeway leading to the barrier island we noticed not much wind either. Unlike St. Pete this is not usually much of a concern since the probability of a sea breeze is high. The cool atmosphere at the club also helps when a postponement is in order. We have visited this club many times but I continue to be amazed at the difference in the water between Sarasota and Tampa Bay. The agua green water color seems more like the carribean or bahamas. One of the links to the right is marinas.com if you want to look at some cool pictures click it and type in "Sarasota Sailing Squadron".

This regatta is a mult-class event and is the Class midwinters for the Albacore and Daysailer Classes so they start racing Friday while the rest of us start Saturday. E-Scows, SR 21's and Scots shared the second race circle. We did have a little postponement Sat. but it wasn't long before the sea breeze started to fill in so we headed out. Unfortunently for our group the RC boat was having engine trouble which delayed our start a bit and made course changes more time consuming. We did have two nice four leg races in by about 3:15 and the RC waved us back to the club, a surprise and disappointment to everyone.


The engine-less RC boat being towed to position

I have included the wind chart for the Sarasota airport which is a bit North and East of the club but seems to be pretty close to what we saw on the bay, or felt I should say.


Saturday's wind, pretty much ideal conditions

We arrived back at the club to see the customary beer wagon and soon the low country shrimp boil was ready. SWEET!! The food is always a high point for this event and several of us pigged out pretty good. It dosen't get much better than hanging out under the pavillion with a nice breeze, endless beer, shrimp and sailing buddies.

Kim and I have become good friends with Lainie and Marshall Pardey who have been generously housing us when we visit Sarasota. This is very cool and makes visiting our favorite club that much more fun.

Sunday morning we woke up to a nice easterly which held up long enough to get in three races before the 1:30 time limit. As is typical with an easterly there were big shifts along with velocity changes so it kept us all on our toes, or else...


Sunday's wind graph

In the end, we won the regatta followed by Harry and Karen Carpenter, and John and Susan Domagala. Ryan Malmgren sailed well Saturday but had to hit the road Sunday morning to get back to Wisconsin so he missed the action and likely a trophy, on Sunday. Winning was pretty good therapy for Kim (Karen) and I, after the embarrassing results from the FSSA Midwinters. The results for all classes are posted on the Sarasota Sailing Squadron website; http://www.sarasotasailingsquad.com/2008ODMResults.htm. Perhaps we picked up a few pointers from the Top Gun Classes and we sure as hell like the loose rig better. I may have a fairly new snug rig jib "For Sale" in the near future. I will try it out again but one lesson learned is never make a major change right before a regatta.

Sorry about the lack of pictures, I only took a couple and they were crap. I seem to have trouble remembering to take them, then when I try to while helming, Kim gets annoyed. What can you do!?

Flying Scot Midwinters Day 4 - The End

The wind graph pretty much tells the racing story, but actually, it shows a bit more breeze than I recall us experiencing. Maybe the sensor is high atop the Pier and there was better pressure up high, or they McLubed it, who knows.



For the second day in a row, I arrived to find Chuck Tanner (Sarasota Fleet Captain)diligently preparing lunch for Jeff Penfield (FS 5318) and himself out of the back of the truck. He seemed to carefully observe the growing mob of squirrels and birds who were eyeing the chow. Better to fight them off than the homeless population in the park!



The day officially started off with the last Top Gun Class for the week. The morning breeze was ESE and light and most locals were doubting we would be able to get races in before it fizzled. It looked like we would get a postponement but the AP flag was lowered at 9:55 and there was a bit of a scramble to get boats launched and underway. The warning signal was sounded promptly at 11:00 am with some boats struggling to arrive on time, or not.

The first race was underway and it was slow going, due to the light wind and apposing current. As some of us were getting near the weather mark the RC abandoned the race, the wind was fading out. Ten minutes or so after the abandonement and we were all pretty well becalmed. It sounds silly, but for us it was a good race, Pig Pen came back to life with the return to the loose rig. Not sure what, or why, but the feel was back and we were moving well again and up with the leaders for the first time this week. A big relief.

With the abandonement of the first race it was time to sit a while and wait for the sea breeze. The breeze never arrived so at about 1:30 racing was abandoned for the day and the regatta was history. Marc and Marcus Eagan earned a well deserved victory in the Champiohship Division while Greg and Diane Kampf prevailed over the 29 boat Challenger Division. Congradulations and well done!



Now, that is a serious tow boat!


Even the Photoboat.com inflatable boat pitches in to help with the group tow. That is some fine service on top of taking a million awesome pictures. Go to photoboat.com to have a look.


Our own tow operation as we approach the last Scot (not pictured) to add to the port side group.

We are off to Sarasota for their one design midwinter regatta. With this one we will have 8 race days in the last 9 days. Ouch!

Flying Scot Midwinters Day 3 - On the Lighter Side

As we have done in the last few posts we will start with the wind graph



The first race was sailed in a little bit of lump and the breeze from about 55 degrees. The RC posted a course with three legs, probably to try to make sure we got three races in for the day. As it turned out the wind was tailing off by the end of the race and beginning to go left. A sea breeze was on the way and after a postponement of about an hour or so it held at about 355 so the second race was started. This was an interesting race and was discussed in detail in the afternoon's Top Gun Class. Some of the leaders went left, some right and some took the middle. Even though the race was only three legs we didn't finish until almost 3:30pm, that didn't leave time or breeze enough for another race so back to the club we went.

In our case it was another really bad performance and more more frustrating since the conditions were ideal (light air) for us. I had switched to the snug rig for the warm-up regatta and it was clear now that I did not have it right. On the way back in we decided to end the snug rig experiment and go back to the loose rig for Thursday's racing.

As I mentioned we had another Top Gun session that afternoon. like the others it was excellent. Wednesday was an off night so we headed home after class and had dinner in Dunedin with Mike and Terry from Stealth FS4305.

Flying Scot Midwinters Day 2 - Some Relief

Here is todays wind graph, during the first race it felt like more than shown here probably influenced a little due to the lumpy sea state.



We enjoyed another excellent Top Gun session beginning at 9 am this morning. It is really interesting to see how the really good guys see and adjust to the conditions. I found myself thinking "I never even consider stuff like______________" a bunch of times. I think quite a few others did too.

The 11 am starting time was postponed to noon, guessing this was due to the unseasonbly cold temperatures overnight. With some more time to warm up it turned out to be a nice day, aided by the bright sunshine. Two long 5 leg races were sailed in breeze that started brisk and gradually faded to just under 10 or so.


Race 1 shot by PHOTOBOAT.COM see their link at right, don't ask about the pole. If you click the photo it should go full screen and then some.

We all gathered at the SPYC for another Top Gun session before cocktails and dinner were served. The good folks at Coral Reef Sailing Apparel (www.coralreefsailing.net)were kind enough to sponser a keg for us to enjoy before the dinner in the Ballroom. During the evening the folks from Photoboat had a slide show going with some excellent shots. I have added a link to their website so you can see pictures of all boats which are sorted by number.

We had a little better time of it today but still struggled with the conditions in the first race, the second race was better but not much. Click Flying Scot Class website link to the right for the results.

Sleep.

Flying Scot Midwinters Day 1 - Breeze On!

True to form for the Midwinters the breeze showed up right on schedule. It was a nice day though with bright sun and temperatures in the high 60's. Racing began at about 2:30 following some Class meetings and the Top Gun School in the morning. The Top Gun was led by Greg Fisher and featured Marc Eagan, Brian Hayes, Harry Carpenter and Al Terhune. The open format was very cool and a lot of good information was offered to a very attentive audience.

Some of the local forecasts were calling for wind as high as 25, at around lunchtime, it looked like the usual exaggeration. The RC sent out a reconiscience boat to check out the conditions, they had small waves and wind of 14 to 17.
We left the dock about an hour before the start and after we cleared the Pier we had a fun reach out to the course.

I've included some pictures which are relatively small but if you click them you can get a full screen image, in most cases. There is nothing I can do about the small ones, its a feature of this site.



Looking back at the Pier and fleet


During the starting sequence, notice the riding sail hoisted on the RC boat. Even with a brisk breeze blowing, a ton of windage, the riding sail up, the RC boat still will not hang down wind of it's anchor. This was due to the swift current which is apposing the wind.


An action shot by PHOTOBOAT.COM, after I saw this photo I went outside to check the boom, its fine.


Ouch! Fortunently, no real damage to crew or boat and the Carpenters are standing ready with replacement parts.


Not so sure about this wind graph, maybe they need to McLube that thing, and maybe the Weather Channel wasn't exagerating after all.

Results would be good to add here but instead you can click the link to the Flying Scot Sailing Association in the right column. I know the Eagens got a bullet and a few others and I'd like to forget mine. Hank will be updating the results on the FSSA website daily.

Flying Scot Midwinter Warm-up Day 2

After the drenching we had Saturday the much improved forecast for Sunday was a welcome change. When we woke up Sunday and peered out the window of the Ericksen 30 sailboat we stayed on it didn't really seem that nice. I slid open the companionway and noticed some mist falling, not really what I had in mind. Kim informed me that it wasn't mist but was, in fact, rain. We discussed this a little while getting ready for the days racing. We all left the dock in a very light northerly and at times I did notice a little rain, but it was a very light rain but enough to put the spinnaker below deck in an effort to keep it dry.

It wasn't too long before some breeze filled in and the first race was underway. The top five from Saturday were busy again claiming the top five spots after a fairly long race with a fading breeze near the end.

The RC attempted a second race after a postponement of an hour or so. With some of the fleet about 2/3 of the way up the first leg the race was abandoned. It was a slow sail back to the club for those who didn't grab a tow.

Awards were given to the top three finishers with first to Allen Terhune 5 points, Leslie Fisher 7 and Jeff Linton 8. Full results are posted on the FSSA home page.

Alan and Katie Terhune receiving their First Place Award with Andy looming above

The new District Champion is Jim Egan who nosed past Fred Strammer by just one point and Ron Pletsch by five points. Congradulations Jim!!

Jim Egan receiving the Champions perpetual trophy


"The Freds" recieving their second place trophy


Ron Pletsch receiving the third place trophy

Sorry about the glare, we did not take the setting sun into account for picture taking.

Flying Scot Midwinter Warm-up Day 1

Not a lot of warming going on today, except maybe for Al Terhune who scored two bullets to take the lead. Conditions for the first race were overcast with light to medium breeze and fairly comfortable. Far more comfortable than in the second race which featured steady rain and a good amount of misery. Between the two races we brushed up on our starting skills by having several general recalls and one RC postponement. The Z flag served to straighten out the fleet in short order.

Here is a graph of todays wind



A summary of the first day results follows;

1-Terhune 2
2-Fisher 5
3-Linton 7
4-Malmgren 11
5-Strammer 11
6-Merlin 13
7-Thinel 15
8-Hayward 19
9-Pletsch 20
10-Miller 23
11-Egan 28
12-Bell 28
13-Penfield 29
14-Carpenter 29
15-Thompson 29
16-Bell 31
17-Domagala 32
18-Pardey 32
19-Clauss 35
20-Sykes 38
21-Williams 40
22-Lee 41
23-Douglas 42
24-Vance 45
25-Fletcher 50
26-Smith 51
27-Mohr 52
28-Watts 56
29-dArcy 57
30-Cocotos 61
31-Johnson 61

The forecast tomorrow is much better, there should be a lot less shivering, or so we hope.

The Flying Scot Midwinters are Coming!

The Flying Scot Midwinter Championship is just around the corner. Entries are coming in at a brisk pace; we may see a new high since the event was moved to the St. Petersburg Yacht Club a few years ago. No doubt the addition of the Top Gun School is helping to drive participation.

If you have seen a Florida weather report lately you probably noticed the breeze has been up a bit the last 4 or 5 days. The graph below shows the wind Wednesday 3/19;




Fortunately for us, it is supposed to lay down Thursday and hold at more normal levels for a while. The Warm-up regatta at DIYC Saturday and Sunday should see high 70’s and wind around "10-ish". Perfect conditions for some Yachting. I call it the Warm-up but it is also the final event for the Florida District Championship. The Championship is up for grabs, Jim Egan has the advantage but Ron Pletsch and Fred Strammer are close behind and within striking distance. Current standings/results are posted on the District site, the link is in the column to the right.

We will try to provide daily updates here as the Warm-up and Midwinters progress. Scores should be posted daily (without commentary) on the St. Pete YC site for the Midwinters. The link is www.spyc.org .

Its not too late to attend, so hop in the car and drive South!

Flying Scot Tales from Sarasota

Todays entry comes from the one and only ChuckBob, you gotta love this;

The Domagala machine went Olympic Finn on a dozen Scots this weekend, hanging too tough. Overall, moderate conditions on a beautiful sailing day still made for challenging racing, with pressure changes and shifts out of the ESE. Races two and three made for fleet position ups and downs for each of the boats. Each time it appeared that Ron and Barry were gaining that victorious margin, but in race two it ended with half the fleet avoiding his personal pressure drop and spinnaker reaching over the top, to the line. God evens things out though - in race three he tossed a pressurized brick at the leader, that capsized a port tack 30' catamaran that was taking Ronzo's stern at the time. While the cat crew was hanging on, three stories in the air, Ron got extracted from his pilot duties. Olympic Swimming was featured as Ron got back aboard. This would have been YouTube's hit for the week, at least. Ron/Barry went front to back, and then very nearly won the race anyway, very strong. In those races the Twinems, Don and Stuart, Bob and Sara, Dan and Ted, team Paul Cocotos, and many other teams all took turns leading the pack. It was good to see Rhonda and Dave again too, winners the last six or seven years in a row of N. America's prettiest Flying Scot. If folks are interested in this Sunday for Scots, give a shout. The next weekend has scheduled the Saturday Pot o'Gold as well as the regular Sunday gettogether. All the best, Chuck Bob 3917

Too bad their were no pictures...