Florida District Championship Update

One more race to go at Davis Island YC and we will have our District Champion. Jim Egan leads the way and only John Domagala has a chance to catch him. Awards are given to the top four and second, third and fourth are up for grabs. Charlie Clifton took some nice photos of the action in Sarasota, here are a couple good ones;


Jim and Richard showing winning form in Sarasota


John and Susan going fast as well


Here we have the speedy Jeff Penfield giving Jim a run for his money

The Florida District site has been updated with current standings, the link is on the right sidebar. Make plans now to be at DIYC for the finale, April 18 and 19, 2009, the NOR is up on the DIYC homepage.

Thanks for the photos Charlie.

Midwinter Warm-up, Day 2

We arrived at the club to find a 15 to 18 knot easterly whistling through the rigging. It was forecasted to build somewhat so a few sailers decided not to get beat up, since the Midwinters will include 4 more race days this week.

Sunday's action would see three more races and three new winners. Mike Miller, Jordan Smith and Adam Prethman won races 4, 5 amd 6 respectively. There were two local boats that would get a tow back to the club. A broken headstay brought down Don Perry's mast while a capsize and swamping finished off Chuck Koch. Chris Morgan had a nice regatta going until a broken boom derailed their last race.

We had 16 boats from out of State joining the 16 from the Florida District. The attendance from the Florida group was well off the usual 25, or so we normally see in Sarasota. Not sure why that is, but it would have been cool to see 40 Scots at this regatta. This was a multi-class regatta so we had about 50 boats using the ramps/hoist while the smaller boats beach launched. The process went smoothly despite the brisk easterly breeze which can make things a little tricky.

Jim Egan earned another well deserved victory with 18 points (1 throw-out). 2- Mike Miller 20, 3- Jordan Smith 20, 4-Hans Noordanus 25, 5- Jeff Penfield 29. Congradulations to the trophy winners !!

Here is a a link to the full results

Monday is an off day for sailing while we take care of registration, Board meetings and a little welcoming party in the evening.

Sarasota Midwinter Warm-up, Day 1

Ok, the "daily reports" are off to a slow start. Saturday was a beautiful day and 32 Scot Teams were there to take advantage of the conditions. The breeze was from the east which is almost always shifty and puffy. Today was no exception, the first race was sailed in about 15 knots which tapered off for the second and third races.
Jim Egan jumped out to an early lead by winning the first race on his home turf. Hans Noordanus came on strong in the second race and won it by a comfortable margin. Chris Morgan sailing a borrowed boat from Tampa won the third race.

At days end the top five are; 1-Jim Egan 9 points, 2-Hans Noordanus 15, 3-Mike Miller 21, 4-John Damagala 23, 5- Cindy Stieffel 23.

Tomorrows forecast is for more breeze that should hold all afternoon.

Midwinter Warm-up Daily Reports

The Midwinter Warm-up in Sarasota is almost upon us, this regatta is also the fifth in the six-race Florida District Championship. Following this warm-up we will be off to St Pete for the FSSA Midwinter Championship. We will try for daily updates so check back here for news/results or whatever.

Racing is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with six races total and no throw outs. Sarasota Bay is a sea-breeze venue that often provides 10 to 12 knots, filling in around lunch time and fizzling before sunset. The Bay is about 10 miles long from North to South and about 4 to 5 miles wide. The racing area averages about 8 to 10 feet deep with the worst chop when the wind blows down from the North.

The weekend forecast looks fairly good, temps in the high seventies a lot of sunshine and breeze in the 12 to 20 range from the NE.

Some of our buds from "up North" should be in route as we speak and it was a good day to travel; Wisconsin 40's and sun, NY 50, Maryland high 40's, VA high 50's and partly cloudy.

See you tomorrow...

A good thing at Lake Eustis

A good thing, then too much of a good thing, last weekend at Lake Eustis.

We had excellent racing on Saturday, with a steady southwesterly breeze that gave us two terrific races. But as the cold front which drove Saturday’s breeze came through it brought blustery winds which prevented racing on Sunday.

Eight Scots sailed on Saturday – including a visitor from the frozen north of Minnesota, Larry Klick, who sailed in Chuck Smith’s boat, 5125, with Tony Tussing. And – Lake Eustis hospitality! – Larry and Tony won both races. Are we great hosts or what?

In point of fact, Larry is obviously a talented and experienced sailor. And a nice guy. We hope he’ll come back and join us again, preferably on a permanent basis.

The other boats racing included Jack Bazner with Joe Lobato on 3387, Don Browning with Jessica on 5690, Pete Smith and crew on 715, Chris Erichsen, sailing with Team Erichsen (Becky, Samantha and Megan) on 5339, Randy Boekema with Ronnie and John on 5697, Brian Meyer and crew on 5239 and Todd Hunter sailing with me on 5810. (I failed to get Jessica’s or John’s last names, or the names of Pete’s and Brian’s crews. Sorry.)

The strong, consistent breeze in both races meant there was no light air randomness. As a result, our abilities were on stark display and the cream rose to the top – sadly, for some of us. Larry and Tony took the lead early in each race and kept it. Behind them, the fleet compressed and swapped positions on each downwind leg, but, in spite of some close sailing, sorted out the same way on each upwind leg – and at each finish. Larry and Tony on 5125 finished first in both races, followed by Jack and Joe on 3387, then by Don and Jessica on 5690. Full results are below and will be posted on our Fleet 150 website (http://fs.tmcentral.net/).

All in all, a great racing day! Here’s hoping for more of the same throughout the spring.

Club racing continues this coming weekend, March 7 and 8 (the final weekend of our Norton series).

Remember to check the Florida District Blog frequently for news from around the district. http://www.sailrace.blogspot.com/

George


Thanks George for this and previous reports. It is nice to see 8 boats participate in the fleet racing 1 week after the District Regatta. One of the reasons the District Championship is a multi-event format is for fleet building. It has been thought that giving each fleet the oppurtunity to host a District race once a year would help fleet building. In this case we had 29 boats registered in the regatta last weekend. Does this help to spark some interest and/or enthusiasm within the fleet? I think so and definently hope so. Charlie Fowler who previously served as District Governor was a big believer in this concept and helped build the District Championship to what it is today.

Sail fast!