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Jacksonville Regatta Sorry for the delay in getting this report to you all. The days after the regatta were a very busy time for me both at work and prepairing for the Holiday. The regattat started out in near zero wind out of the NE. I got off to a great start with a bullet and a 2nd in the first two heats. It looked like I might be on my way to having a great home-field regatta, but the next four heats killed me. Dick Hedderick turned on the steady machine averaging a little better than 3rd place for 9 of his 12 heats. Reichard Kahle was a little off his usual top of the fleet performace with an average of 5th place for his first 8 heats. But, he turned on the heat in the last 4 races with 2 bullets a 2nd and his throw-out to win by just one point. In the Silver fleet, Bill Ewing got off to the early start with two bullets in the first five heats and an average of 4th place until his boat broke and he sat out a race. Meanwhile Carter Cain was sailing well and moved into the lead after 6 heats. John Rowley overcame his slow start and put together a great string of six races which included 4 bullets. That was enough to give John the overal lead and hold onto win in the tie breaker after the throw-out. John Garver was sailing well in his new Mary Kay Pink boat and looked to be headed for a 3rd place finish, but Bill Ewing was able to get his boat working again and recovered well to take third away and hand John 4th place. Back in the Gold Fleet I had my hands full trying to hold off Baron Bremer, who was the only guy who could beat me out for the Florida Championship (baring any major catastrophe that is). At the half way point, I had an up hill climb to get back in front of Baron. In the end, I managed to take third place over Baron by just one point and that was enough to win the Florida Championship. The wind did build steadily throught the day and some great sailing was enjoyed by both fleets. Lots of great racing action with plenty of lead changes. The hotel venue made for a lot of spectators as well. Lunch on Saturday was NY style pizza and salad, and Debby Brown baked some amazing cookies and brownies for everyone. The Annual Meeting of the Florida EC-12 Association was held in the bar after the days sailing. The main subject was a discussion of the points system and how it could be improved. Our newly elected Vice Chairman, Dick Hedderick took on the task of reviewing the points and a report will be coming to all of you soon. We also discussed the idea of having regattas with restricked control areas that will be helpful to some members who can't walk the shoreline as well as they did in years past. This idea was met favorably by all, but time will tell if any of the clubs do it. I hope some will. Dinner was held at the Shell Fish Grill less than a block from the hotel. They managed to fit everyone in and did a great job serving all in a timely fashion with great food. For those who weren't too exausted from the days racing, there was live music into the night. Sunday morning was very cool, but had better win and from a new direction, so we moved around the lake to the Northeast shore. John B set a very long windward/leeward course that took us a good way out into the lake and challenged our eyesight a bit, but for the most part everyone did well to get around cleanly. More great racing action was had and the final outcomes came down to the last heat. This regatta was very close all the way through the fleets. Huge thanks to John and Angie Bottensek for running this great regatta. And big thanks to Tom Germer, Baron Bremer and others who helped tote gear, place marks, chase boats, etc. And a special thanks to Mary Ellen Wubbe for helping with the scoring and again to Debby Brown for the goodies at lunch. This venue will be the site of the 2009 Nationals. We are very excited about hosting the regatta and the Hotel will be giving us the big room which opens onto the patio deck as well as helping out with tours of the Oldest City. See you all in November. Gold Fleet Results
Silver Fleet Results
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