The Jeff Penfield Memorial Regatta had a very promising weather forecast, lots of sun and highs near 80. We arrived Friday night to find our Tampa friends enjoying dinner at the Squadron. Most of the gang was camping on site in either an RV or tent. We took the primo spot out on the point (water on three sides) and parked the RV for the weekend.
Saturday am was nice but calm so we had a leisurely morning and slightly delayed start. Once the breeze filled in, we had perfect conditions which allowed for three nice W/L races. The Lintons ended the day with a 1 point advantage over the Morgans. The rest of us were grouped in a fairly small pack for places 3 through 7.
A nice dinner was followed by some good socializing under another really nice 3/4 moon.
Later in the evening the fog rolled in which became thick enough to get the trees raining on the tents and RVs.
Sunday morning was calm and with fog burning off we were waiting ashore for the sea breeze to arrive. Eventually it did, kind of, but never really became solid. We got one race in that was a frustrating slow affair. The RC was kind enough to call off the 5th race and we headed back to the club. The Morgans won the last race while the Lintons were 2nd which produced a tie. Congrats to the Morgans who took the tiebreaker! Awards were given to the top five; 2- Lintons, 3- Taylors, 4- Strammers and 5- Silvernail/Fisher.
We had the honor of awarding the Jeff Penfield Leadership award to Ron Pletsch. The award was presented by the Penfield family last year and is awarded to the person best promoting the district, new sailors, fleet growth and actively sailing in the District Championship. Ron has been leading the way for many years and was truly deserving of the award.
Results are posted on fssa.com. The next race is in Jacksonville, Dec. 1 and 2.
