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!