December Fleet Racing at Lake Eustis

Saturday, December 20 brought wet, thick, pea soup fog and cancelled racing to Lake Eustis. A number of Scot sailors were at the club, but ultimately we were all disappointed by the weather.

On Sunday, December 21, though, the weather was wonderful – sunny skies, temperatures in the 70s and a steady 10 MPH breeze. It was the kind of weather I once heard someone call a “$200 day” – since snowbirds will pay that much to enjoy that kind of weather in December. Of course, I heard that a long time ago. At today’s prices, Sunday was more like a $500 day.

Even so, if Sunday was a $500 day, Fleet 150 did only $1,500 worth of racing because only three Scots sailed: Ray Laguna and Dean Grimes on 5770, Randy Boekema and Joe Lobato on 5697, and Rich and Tina O’Brien with me on 5810. (This was just Rich and Tina’s second time racing and they did a great job. I can’t wait to see how well they do after a few more times on the boat!)

Those who missed Sunday missed a great day of sailing. Our starts were combined with the C Scows so we had a busy starting line. And, our three boats were fairly even in speed (at least on Sunday), so we had some great fun. Each race ended up with the same result – Ray and Dean on 5770 in first, Rich, Tina and me on 5810 in second, and Randy and Joe on 5697 in third – but each race was a bit different. In the first race, Rich and Tina and I led the whole way until Ray and Dean split with us on the final beat to the finish and won by about a boat length. Arrrgh! In the second race, Ray and Dean stretched out a pretty good lead and won comfortably, but Randy and Joe on 5697 and Rich, Tina and I on 5810 had a great time battling over second place. We on 5810 managed to stay between Randy and Joe and the finish line on the final beat and held on for second, but it was close, and a blast getting there.

Here are a couple of pictures Francois Simon took from the chase boat.

This is Randy and Joe on 5697 in the first race:


Here are Ray and Dean on 5770 and Rich, Tina and me on 5810, also in the first race (I like this one because Rich, Tina and I were in front – barely, but at least for a while):


Our next club racing will be the weekend of January 3 and 4. I hope everyone can get out and race. We don’t want to squander these $500 days!

Finally, everyone has probably seen Chuck Smith’s announcement that he is stepping down from his longstanding role as Fleet Captain for Fleet 150, and that I’ll be assuming that position (perhaps an inauspicious choice of words) on January 1. A heartfelt thanks to Chuck for the hard work he’s done over many years for Fleet 150. He has been instrumental in building both our Fleet and our Florida District.

More personally, I want to thank Chuck for providing me with such a warm welcome when I e mailed him several years ago for information about the fleet, the club and the Flying Scot. Even though I had little experience, Chuck made me feel like I could easily become a part of our group, and he made a special effort to introduce me to others in the club and in the fleet, including Ray Laguna, Randy Boekema and Don Browning. Because of Chuck’s hospitality it was obvious this was a group I wanted to be part of. Thanks, Chuck.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all! We’ll see you in January.

George

Fleet 168 Sailing and Christmas Party

Our December 20th Practice Races and Christmas Party was by most accounts a tremendous success!

We set a fleet race attendance record with 14 boats on the line Saturday, nice!! This was in part due to the generosity of numerous fleet members who loaned out their boats. Big thanks to Mike Roberts, Mark Taylor, Dave Thinel, and Mat Wey.

After a very tough Summer weather wise for our races, we had picture perfect conditions Saturday. Temps in the mid 70's 10k of breeze from the South West and only a "moderately annoying" chop.

From my perspective, Team Linton's boat was sailing above the chop, and the straight bullets they amassed would seem to support my view. All that was left was for the mortals to battle it out for position 2-14, and battle they did!

Results:
Boat R1 R2 R3 R4 Tot
Jeff and Amy Linton #4925 1 1 1 1 4
Andy and Lisa Hayward #38 4 2 3 3 12
Dave and Kim Thinel #5544 2 3 6 7 18
Paul Silvernail and Leslie Fisher #5026 5 11 4 2 22
Nate and Melissa Velardebo #2007 3 6 7 12 28
Gail and Shannon Heausler #812 12 7 2 8 29
Dave Bell and Susan Cintron #4156 6 4 11 9 30
George and Pat Haynie #2339 9 10 5 6 30
Al Thompson and Cameron Salmon # 504 7 5 9 10 31
Dean Bell and Judy Hanlon #5477 10 12 8 5 35
Ed and Penn Ruark #4321 14 9 14 4 41
Brian and Michelle Watts #4921 11 8 12 13 44
Bill Adikes and Crew #3998 8 14 13 11 46
Matt Dalton and Dawn Narramore #2262 13 13 10 14 50

We also had some new faces, welcome George and Pat Haynie and Gal and Shannon Heausler and crew! These folks weren't just out for a day sail, they both ran in the lead pack in their borrowed boats! #812 was a rocket in race #1 until her outhaul failed, ahem, Mr Thinel?


So, in case you ever thought about trying to tow another boat using the outhaul shackle attached to the towee's side shroud, hmmm not so good. Oh did I mention the boats were traveling in opposite directions. Worse yet, the boat owner may then suffer the Fleet Captain's ridicule!


Post repair, Piggy never looked so good as with three ladies abord! Woo Hoo!

Huge thanks to Rod Koch for running the races all by his lonesome!, awesome dude! The breeze was bouncing around and Rod must have weighed anchor on the Mako a half dozen time or more! Also thanks to Ed and Penny Ruark for the us of their Mako!


Here we have the fleet stalking the RC boat, Rod (at the bow) is resetting the anchor, again (solo) and probably cursing, A LOT!


Fleet Captain; Andy (Lisa, wisely is hiding her face from view) after the third race where he obliterated us (port tack) at the weather mark. I think I detect a little smirk...


The post race party was the bomb, the "Heavy Hors' D'oeuvres" were a meal. And the homemade desserts, man, I'm thinking that my blood sugar got close to 500. Thanks to Cameron Salmon and Kim Thinel for the "dessert guidance". Amy Linton's slide show kept everyone's attention, and Lisa Hayward's gift exchange was a riot, keep a close eye on Cameron's lips, he's got lip serum!


Al and Cameron, pre lip serum, of course


Masthead Sailing Gear donated some great and highly sought after bags, (Yea! I got one) for the exchange. If you haven't been to Masthead, you are missing out on the best sailing shop in Florida, perhaps the World.
www.Mastheadsailinggear.com


Returning to the club under colorful spinnakers. OK I thought the sun hitting only the third boat was kinda cool.

Lastly I would like to thank our Fleet Secretary, Leslie Fisher for all her hard work she does for Fleet 168.


Leslie and Paul thinking "We had Jeff in that race....and then...oh shit"

Leslie made all the arrangements with DIYC, mailed the invites, and handle most of the RSVP's and the
paperwork/data collection at the party, Leslie, you rock!

Ok, we don't have much down time, put your relationship to the test this Saturday, @ 1400, DIYC,
for the Winter Couples Race. We are sure to have a bunch of Scots. www.diyc.org

And January 17th we are going to have a Scot class at DIYC's Keelboat/One Design regatta, one day, $30.
trophy's and beer! Heaven! www.diyc.org


This one has nothing to do with sailing, just some fun with the Missy dog trying to be cute and score a food scrap from the table

Flying Scot Friends

As we approach the holidays, our thoughts are drawn to reviewing what we are thankful for. Under the topic of why we are thankful to be in the Scot Class, some regatta stories paint the picture.

Saturday am, David Bell and Susan Cintron departed from Tampa and Ron Pletsch and crew, Barry, hit the road from Sarasota. They both were headed toward Jacksonville on highway 16 and David and Susan had stopped for breakfast. As they exited the parking lot they spotted the tell tale red truck and boat that was Ron and his Sidewalk Express. Dave followed Ron, but missed a light and lost sight. Down the road apiece, David and Susan noted the same red truck and boat on the side of the road. It was just before 8 am, and stores were just opening. David had the forethought to equip himself with his tool box complete with crescent wrench. He stopped; the diagnosis was a broken serpentine belt. They were able to purchase a replacement belt, and with their collective DIY-ness, both vehicles and Scots were back on the road. They made it in time to rig for the regatta.

The will to race was also evident in those from "up north" who attended the J-ville regatta. After trudging through (and dragging their Scots –and dog- out of) the snow and across many miles, friends from WI, MD, VA, and NC descended upon the Rudder Club. Others have conflicts with work, considerations with family, and the general business of this time of year, but the camaraderie of an event is special. It's amazing what folks will do to attend. On the subject of family, I was impressed by something Mark Taylor said. He is fortunate enough to be able to sail with his father (Tom) at some events and, at others, his children. He loves it either way!! We are so thankful for family support, and while at a regatta, there is a sense of "Scot Family" too. We observed that family support at the Sarasota Regatta. The Taylors arrived with extra crew, Ron came up with an extra boat, extra sails and sail tape (to subtly alter the sail number), and some expert riggers were provided. The scurrying Scot family resulted in another boat on the line! Mark sailed with son #1, and Tom got some quality time with Drew and Lilly on the put-together boat! (more on that in a future Scots - n –Water.)

On the way home from J-ville, we were following Cathy and Fred Strammer. As we approached Ocala, it grew darker and we noted their trailer lights began to flicker. Soon after, they were out more often that on and needed attention. A handy rest stop, another toolbox and a quick fix had everyone back on the road safely.

In closing, keep in mind those who may be traveling near you, with you, or at the same time as you. Let's exchange as many cell phone numbers as possible, and keep looking out for each other.

Dave and I are truly thankful for each one of you.

Happy Holidays.

Gator Bowl-Flying Scots-Jacksonville FL

We will post some reports from sunny jacksonville, actually we have had drizzle Friday night but are hoping for sun.

The La Quinta is quite a deal. We booked a room for $39 through Orbitz, normally $39 would raise the red flag, or at least mean some yellow crime scene tape will be involved. Having stayed here last year we knew the place wasn't bad at twice the price. Anyway the room has free wifi, microwave, fridge, coffeemaker, an iron and board (who uses those?) and is clean. I couldn't locate the coin slots on the mattress though so....

If we could just get all the jovial, 3am parking lot hangouts to stop telling jokes and get some sleep it would be ideal.

Saturdays forecast is for clearing and breeze around 8 to 10 so that should work pretty well. Later.

SATURDAY EVENING UPDATE.

In my next life I want to come back as a weather forecaster.

The 11:00 am skippers meeting was held behind the club overlooking the glass smooth St. Johns River. The sky was overcast but last night's rain was gone so that was a step in the right direction. After about an hour shoreside postponement the flag is dropped and we leave the dock in wind averaging about 1 knot. The trip out to the course was slow but the current was helping so we were fairly sure we would actually get there.


Proof that there were actually some puffs...

When the breeze kicked up to 2 knots with gusts to 4 the sequence was underway. The pin was favored to start with and the wind sghifted left during the race so that was the place to be. Ryan Malmgren edged John Damagala followed by us, Jim Egan and Harry Carpenter.


and plenty of glass, Note; Rons new RED paint job.

Shortly after the race concluded the southeasterly shut down, leaving the 19 Scots to drift and socialize. On the bright side the sun was out and the day was shaping up nicely, aside from the breeze. We loitered until about 3:30 when the RC abandoned racing for the day. The current had reversed so it was helping us on the trip back to the club. A westerly appreared long enough to get the fleet back to the club and it shut down.

As always the Rudder Club more than satisfied the racers with an abundence of homemade entrees and deserts. The Florida Gators did their part to entertain the group by defeating top ranked Alabama in the SEC Championship.

We will see what happens tomorrow, 10 am start with a 12:30 limit for the last race. Anybody's game.

SUNDAY UPDATE

Sunday morning was cool and brisk, we were happy to see some breeze at the hotel at 7 am. The sky was clear so it appeared that we were in for a nice day.

The breeze was NNE around 10 but shifty and gusty. The current was flowing to the north against the breeze. For the day I think there were 3 general recalls and quite a few individual recalls as well. We ended up getting in 3 races for the day so we had a lot of starting practice.


The Winners! Ryan and Carrie

Ryan Malmgren with Carrie Carpenter crewing won the regatta with very consistent results and 9 points. Close behind was John and Susan Damagala 11 pts, Jim Egan and Richard (reigning FL District Champs.) were 3 rd with 14 pts, we were forth with 18 and Judy Hanlon was fifth with 30 pts.

Full results will be posted soon along with updated FL District Standings.

P.S. Wally Gator returns to Florida!

Flying Scot Thanksgiving Regatta - Tampa

10 boats registered and 7 sailed in this year's Thanksgiving Regatta. Turnout is a bit lower than last year's,
blame the economy, the forecast, the Fleet Captain, looks like more work to do!
Saturday dawned breezy with temps in the 60's, not bad, and it would warm as the day progressed. The breeze was in the 15k range from the South and Southwest with a "Scot unfriendly" chop. Most of the crews
where in healthy de power mode, but if your boat had someone with the last name of Thompson on board you definitely had a advantage!

The first race saw Paul Silvernail and Leslie Fisher win the start at the boat and jump out to the lead for the first two legs, until.. Here's the lecture, if your boat's forestay extender or forestay are over two years old,
replace them, kids, don't argue, replace them. If, on the other hand your extender is brown with rust like someone's was, replace them.
The demise of #5026 briefly gave the lead to the Hayward's until Dave Clement and Corey Thompson #4925
got inside them on a jibe set. This would be the first of four bullets for Dave and Corey in what would prove to be a very impressive day for them. No Scots raced on Sunday as the wind was in the 20k range and the Southerly built chop was much worse.

Dave and Corey coupled solid tactics with a tic better speed upwind to dominate the regatta with 7 points. Following #4925 in the standings was the crafty and charming duo of Al Thompson and Cameron Salmon, #504 with 14 points. One point behind Al and Cameron was the Hayward's #38.
Full results @ www.diyc.org

Big thanks to George Haynie and his team for five great races!