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!