The Villages 2017 Gator Regatta Report
Jon Luscomb won the Gator in a close one
by John Goldsworthy

This year’s EC12 Gator Regatta was another great success. Twenty-nine skippers registered and twenty-eight hit the starting line on Saturday morning. Skippers were divided into A and B fleets with normal relegation to follow. This was the second Regatta of the Florida 2016/7 EC12 Championship Series.

Saturday turned out to be a spectacular day for sailing. Winds were ENE at about 8kts, gusting to an occasional 14Kts. Sunday started with the same weather, but quickly freshened to about 12Kts with gust to 20kts. It was time for most skippers to reach for their B-rigs. Even with the shortened sail, it was challenging for the skippers.

L-R: Jon Luscomb 1st, Jack Ward 2nd, Dr. Robert Greer 3rd, Steve Pfeil 4th, Martin Raishbrook 5th.

The Regatta was directed by Alan Perkins who did an outstanding job of setting fair courses, keeping the skippers honest and making it an enjoyable weekend for all – even if you didn’t finish quite as high in the standings as you had hoped. Alan’s goal was to run quality races versus quantity and he achieved that in spades. Sixteen sets of A and B races were run to determine the Regatta winner. As Alan remarked at the awards ceremony, there was very little shouting and no swearing on the course. Most skippers behaved well and communicated their intentions well in advance thereby avoiding messy conflicts. Alan was assisted with rules violations and protests by internationally known sailing judge, Ken Morrison. Many thanks to Ken and the host of volunteers from the local fleet (TVMYS), without whom the Regatta could not have been run. We also owe our thanks to The Villages Recreation Department for supplying tents, chairs and other accoutrements needed to stage successful regatta.

On Sunday, the winds became blustery enough to blow over the tents set up to shade skippers and spectators. No injuries were reported, but a couple of boats were damaged to the point where they had to withdraw.

Thanks to all the skippers for their attendance and for making it a most successful regatta.

Summary of the 12th Annual EC12 Gator Regatta
Dates: December 3, 4
Location: Ashland Pond, The Villages, FL
Entries: 28
Winds: 8-20 kts
Races Completed: 16 sets of A and B fleet races
Scoring System: Low Point with promotion/relegation: 4 up and 4 down; 2 throw-outs
Race Committee: Alan Perkins, RD; Scoring, John and Linda Hall; Rescue, Joe Devine and Sal Serio; Rules Official, Ken Morrison; Food and Catering, Liz Perkins plus other TVMYS Members.