2017 North Americans Regatta Report - by Drew Buttner and Craig Thompson

The 2017 505 North American Championship was contested over four June days on the beautiful Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts. The event was hosted by the Community Boating Center in New Bedford, and all the competitors left with big smiles on their faces as the venue, the race management, the social schedule, and the bay delivered.

Historic Fort Taber

 25 teams made historic Fort Taber their home base for the long weekend, which meant a short 15 minute sail to the starting line. Situated on the lee side of a point at the base of the sea breeze, Fort Taber offered an ideal location to launch from. The New Bedford Whaling Museum hosted everyone Thursday night and gave everyone a look back into the 1900's whaling community. Racing during the event was spectacular with four very different days.

Fleet on the second reach leg of a Worlds Course, Day 1

Day 1 was champagne sailing with 12-15 knots and sunny skies.  A mixture of 505 worlds courses (W/L, Triangle, W/L) and double W/L courses were sailed throughout the regatta. Races were generally 50-70 minutes long allowing for sufficient time to pass and to be passed; many races were decided on the last downwind leg which provided adequate passing lanes. 3 races were held with Howie Hamlin and Andy Zinn asserting their early dominace on the fleet. Craig Thompson and Mike Curtin put together a solid first day to hold 2nd place going into day 2.

Hamlin and Zinn finish close in front of Thompson and Curtin in Race 3

Day 2 brought 20-25 knots and enormous waves launching many 505s into the air exposing both blades as they skipped over the waves upwind. Two races were held with the wind opposing the tide, until the breeze freshend further turing the sail back to the fort into a true test of seamanship. The volunteers and the CBC staff did a fantastic job on the water ensuring all boats, including those that had equipment damage, made it safely back to shore. Howie and Andy and Ted Conrads and Jeff Nelson both set themselves apart from the fleet in the big breeze, with finishes of 2-1 and a 1-3 respectively.

Conrads and Nelson proved fast and proficient in big breeze and big waves

Kivney and Russell getting some air time around the top mark

Barry and Barrowes had great speed on day 2

Hamlin and Zinn approaching the finish at speed

Day 3 was a light 5-7 knots, with two races held after a postponement on shore. Chris Behn and Jesse Falsone put together a solid day with two third place finishes putting them in striking distance of the top three going into the final day.

Day 3 was a much different condition, testing the sailor's all-around skills

Behm and Falsone proved to be quick in the light air

Day 4 saw 10-15 knots with heavy fog. two races were held in a tricky condition with large disparity between the puffs and the lulls. Limited visibiity also made for some interesting strategy in deciding which side of the course to favor. 505 newcomer Chris Segerblom and Eric Anderson won the day with finishes of 3-1 securing their 8th place overall and the "top young team" award of a brand new jib donated by North Sails. While the winners of the event had already been determined, the fight for second place came down to the last run of the regatta. Thompson and Curtin rounded the last top mark in 3rd place, but opted for a standard set onto starboard. Behm and Falsone gybe-set onto what proved to be the heavily favored side of the course downwind and had a great run to finish 4th in the race and secure 2nd place overall. Conrads and Nelson finished out 1 point back in third overall.

From left to right: Andy Herlihy (regatta chair), Andy Zinn, Howie Hamlin, Sam Vineyard (PRO)

Top young team Eric Anderson and Chris Segerblom

Third place team of Ted Conrads and Jeff Nelson

Second place team of Jesse Falsone and Chris Behm

The race management lead by Sam Vineyard handled the changing conditions perfectly. In the end, the team of Howie and Andy proved to be faster, smarter, and more consistent than the balance of the fleet and were crowned the 2017 505 North American Champions. Howie and Andy have won 3 of the last 4 North Americans and are certainly looking like strong contenders going into the Annapolis Worlds in September.

All photos courtesy of C A Hill Photo. Full gallery of photos can be found here.

Full Results:

Place, Skipper, Crew City, State, Country, Results, Total Points

1. Howard Hamlin, Andy Zinn , Long Beach, CA, USA, 1 -1 -2 -2 -1 -1 -4 -1 -[5] ; 13
2. Chris Behm, Jesse Falsone , Edgewater, MD, USA, 3 -5 -11 -5 -[14] -3 -3 -4 -4 ; 38
3. Ted Conrads, Jeff Nelson , Mill Valley, CA, USA, 5 -4 -12 -1 -3 -4 -1 -9 -[13] ; 39
4. Craig Thompson, Mike Curtin , Rye, NH, USA, 4 -2 -3 -6 -7 -2 -[10] -8 -8 ; 40
5. Tyler Moore , Rob Woelfel, Hampton, VA, USA, [26] -11 -4 -3 -8 -6 -2 -2 -6 ; 42
6. Michael Quirk, Curtis Hartmann , Kensington, MD, USA, [10] -3 -8 -4 -2 -5 -8 -7 -10 ; 47
7. Mark Zagol, Drew Buttner , Westwood, MA, USA, 7 -7 -1 -[16] -12 -8 -15 -5 -3 ; 58
8. Chris Segerblom, Eric Anderson , Mountain View, CA, USA, 9 -10 -[13] -11 -4 -9 -13 -3 -1 ; 60
9. Henry Amthor, Reeve Dunne , Hampton, VA, USA, [16] -13 -10 -8 -9 -7 -7 -6 -2 ; 62
10. Matthew Barry, Thomas Barrows , New York, NY, USA, 2 -6 -6 -10 -6 -10 -6 -17 -[18] ; 63
11. Macy Nelson, Russell Miller , Baltimore, MD, USA, 6 -9 -5 -15 -[26] -16 -5 -10 -9 ; 75
12. Thomas Kivney, Gordon Russell , .Williamstown, MA, USA, 8 -8 -9 -9 -5 -19 -[22] -12 -11 ; 81
13. Michael Komar, John Ingalls , Newport, RI, USA, 11 -17 -15 -7 -[26] -15 -9 -11 -12 ; 97
14. Lin Robson, Unknown , St. Petersburg Beach, FL, USA, 17 -12 -7 -17 -11 -18 -14 -[20] -19 ; 115
15. Barney Harris, Unknown , arlington, va, USA, 19 -14 -[20] -12 -10 -20 -16 -15 -17 ; 123
16. Duane Delfosse, Stuart Park , Windham, NH, USA, 12 -19 -14 -[26] -26 -12 -17 -14 -14 ; 128
17. Dan Herlihy, Jay Smith , Richmond, VA, USA, 13 -16 -[26] -26 -26 -13 -12 -16 -15 ; 137
18. Peter Scannell, Tom Hurwitch , Saratoga Springs, NY, USA, [26] -26 -26 -13 -13 -22 -19 -13 -7 ; 139
19. Catherine Guiader, Chris Brady , Annapolis, MD, USA, 18 -20 -18 -[26] -26 -11 -11 -18 -20 ; 142
20. Marek Balinski, Unknown , Toronto, Ont, CAN, 21 -21 -16 -14 -[26] -14 -21 -21 -21 ; 149
21. Doug Watson, Gabe Watson , Baltimore, MD, USA, 14 -18 -21 -[26] -26 -21 -20 -19 -16 ; 155
22. Marie Gendron, Unknown , St-Zotique, Quebec, CAN, 20 -22 -19 -[26] -26 -17 -18 -22 -26 ; 170
23. Michael Breton, Unknown , Charlestown, RI, USA, 15 -15 -17 -[26] -26 -26 -26 -26 -26 ; 177
24. Bill Platt, Unknown , Madison, CT, USA, [26] -26 -26 -26 -26 -26 -26 -26 -26 ; 208
25. Mike Martin, Adam Lowry , Mill Valley, CA, USA, [26] -26 -26 -26 -26 -26 -26 -26 -26 ; 208

2016 505 Canadian Championship Report - Evan Jennings

Have you ever wondered how much wind was enough? Yesterday at the Canadians, many if not all of the 11 boats present found out.

As this article in the Squamish Chief tries to convey to a non-sailing audience, there was a ton of breeze. The reliable thermal showed up hard.

 Canadian 5O5 fleet 1 thanks Phil Cragg, an early and constant supporter of the event, who provided his personal motor yacht to the race committee and drove it up from Vancouver to ensure that the regatta would be feasible. Without his drive and encouragement, this regatta wouldn’t have happened.

The race committee did a great job in very deep water and tons of breeze. RO Rob Woodbury, a Olympian in the Finn, and his team Bev Parslow of West Van YC, Mike Unger, Martin Peircy, Andy Hunt and Simeon Faehndrich were very professional and effective.

Fred Grimm took on the thankless task of running shore operations with grace and a smile and kept everyone fed.

Cynthia Des Brisay did the results and Charles Hansen and Brian Trainor did things too numerous to mention with thoughtfulness and generosity.

Kits Yacht Club hosted the event with support from WVYC and SYC.

There would not have been a Canadians if it weren't for the support of the American fleet, who came out in numbers on the Canada Day holiday. (I hope you guys are having a great Fourth!)

Phil Cragg and Reto Corfu leapt to a convincing lead and widened it during the first day, though Mats Elf and Brent Campbell got a foreshadowing bullet when the breeze continued to build at the end of the afternoon. Mats and Brent kept them coming and managed to just edge the Canadians out by the narrowest of margins after two races in 30 knots on Sunday. As Phil aptly put it, the trophy for top Canadian was bittersweet. Paul Von Grey and Miles Johannessen put in a consistently solid performance for 3rd.

What the results don't show, except perhaps by the number of DNS, RET and and DNFs, was that there were times when Squamish harbour looked like a giant nautical yard sale, with capsized boats scattered all over the bay. That said, there were tons of grins on peoples' faces when they got ashore. The speeds were unbelievable. And there were some stand out performances by all. A tip of the hat to Jon and Mike, who had moments of brilliance upwind going low and fast. Also Pierre and Tom - travelling the furthest and putting in a solid performance until an unfortunate strain injury took them out. Hope you come back next time. Tell the other Californians what they missed. Katherine and Josh had a super solid last race, placing 3rd in the strongest winds of the day.

The final rankings:

Sail	Nat	Names	1	2	3	4	5	6	T	N	R
8823	USA	Elf / Campbell	(3)	2	2	1	1	1	10	7	1
8192	CAN	Cragg / Corfu	1	1	1	3	2	(6)	14	8	2
80	USA	Johannessen / Von Grey	2	(4)	3	2	4	2	17	13	3
9116	USA	Long / Dyck	6	(7)	5	6	6	3	33	26	4
8755	CAN	Trainor / Jennings	7	(8)	4	5	7	5	36	28	5
8263	USA	Kowalski / Ginther	5	9	6	(12 DNS)	5	4	41	29	6
8866	CAN	Des Brisay / Hansen	8	3	9	(12 DNS)	3	12 RET	47	35	7
6991	USA	Starks / Flanagan	9	6	7	4	(12 DNS)	12 DNS	50	38	8
8631	USA	Jeangirard / Crawford	4	5	8	(12 DNS)	12 DNS	12 DNS	53	41	9
8017	USA	Seestrom / Poulos	11	(12 DNF)	10	12 RET	12 RET	12 DNS	69	57	10
7206	USA	Fitzpatrick / Pittack	10	(12 RET)	12 DNS	12 DNS	12 DNS	12 DNS	70	58	11

Photos: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByL2DIuIzu5obGZWNFEzQ0dpd2s

2016 SSA Spring Series Report - Ian Connors

(Late posting, this event took place May 14-15, 2016

With the forecast saying everything from 0 to 30 for the weekend, no one quite knew what to expect until they showed up. Saturday saw 10 boats hit the water for two races in a pleasant 8-10kt southerly. A couple of puffs tempted teams to try wire running, but no one took the bait. An impending front began sucking wind out of the race area on the last leg and the fleet elected to wait it out and see if conditions improved. After 20 minutes a westerly filled in to get off the last scheduled race before building enough to provide sun, 12-15kts & the best sail in of the season. Timing was perfect as the front started dumping rain just as the last covers were being tied on.

Jesse convincingly won the first race with yet another "first time back in years" driver, while Henry & Russell made deadly use of motorcycle seating downwind to sail through the fleet on races 2 & 3. (Henry claims it's only so he can use his hoop as a backrest). Macy & Eric captured a bullet as well.

Teams woke up to 59° water, lower air temps, and a full-on westerly blow on Sunday. After a fleet safety discussion, 4 teams agreed to race under the condition that if one team went in our needed assistance racing would be over for the day. Drinks in hand, the rest of the fleet helped launch Henry & Russell, Ian & Eric, Sterge, and Macy & Eric into a steady low to mid 20's with some "forget laylines, I guess we aren't gybing for awhile" puffs. In a race of attrition, Sterge missed the start, Ian had a breakdown after one leg, and Macy missed the finish line- devastatingly dropping from first to second overall though he would have won the race & series. No one is immune from forgetting to check the course!

It was great to see so many new faces out on the water this weekend- especially Gretchen & Lauren making their first appearance in a new to them boat, and Paul with a new crew to the class & significantly more sorted out boat.

2016 Elvstrom Zellerbach Report - Parker Shinn

(Late Posting, this event took place on April 30 through May 1, 2016)

Last weekend St. Francis Yacht Club hosted the biggest Elvstrom/Zellerbach regatta since it’s conception and did so in spite of the fact that only five 5o5’s made it to the start line.  Apparently people thought France was the cool place to be…  Regardless, San Francisco certainly did not fail to deliver once again.  Both days saw great breeze ranging from 12 to 20 knots as well as plenty of devious currents to deal with.

In the first race the ebb was still in full affect making for short upwinds and long downwinds with Jeff Miller stringing together a series of puffs on the last downwind leg to pass Mike Martin and take the bullet.  From there on out though things got a bit trickier with the current.

The flood started to come in on shore with a distinct current line running just to port of the starting line.  If you ventured across it all of a sudden you were sitting in almost 2 knots of current.  While it was fairly clear what to do upwind, the downwind legs got complicated as you tried to weigh sailing toward shore to get into the flood vs. jibe setting into the pressure.  It didn’t seem to matter much for Mike Martin and Adam Lowry though.  They had a different gear from the rest of us once the breeze came up and finished the day with 2 bullets.

Day 2 started with a long postponement on shore and had some of us wondering if the breeze would fill in at all.  The wind was oscillating between North and East and the westerly wasn’t forecasted to fill in until 2pm.  Luckily though… the breeze filled in early and by the time we got on the water there was 15 knots on the course.

With the later start the current was already flooding hard on shore so most people wanted to start on port and get right as quickly as possible.  I thought we finally got lucky in the first race when a third of the way up the last beat Mike and Adam broke the primary line on their boom vang.  We pinched to get above them as they fiddled in the boat and didn’t think we’d see them again for the rest of the race.  We should’ve known better.  In the last 200 yards of the beat they hooked into a nice righty and made up a ton of distance.  Then on the downwind it was their turn to get a lucky break when our spinnaker pole popped off the mast twice.

In the last race it was Bob Tennant and Steve Bourdow who were able to get the boat ripping and challenge Mike’s speed.  They beat him to the top on both laps and only got passed on the downwinds… hey doesn’t that sound backwards?  Mike held him off at the finish, but not without exposing his mortality.

In the end it was a great regatta with plenty of breeze along with big shifts and current to navigate.  Despite the less than stellar turnout it seems like the rest of the fleet have had enough stinky cheese so Santa Cruz next weekend is going to be awesome.  Make sure you don’t miss it!

2016 Santa Cruz Spring 505 Regatta - Mike Holt

(Late Posting, this regatta was held on May 14-15, 2016)

Eleven boats turned up in Santa Cruz for the late Spring regatta, with many excuses made for non attendance…. For the eleven that did race, wow. Santa Cruz is one of those venues that when it is good, it is great, although it is not always that way. For me, Santa Cruz memories are made up of big rolling waves, cold water and strong breezes, conditions that in my mind John Westell designed the perfect weapon for. It would be hard to imagine sailing in those conditions in many other boats!

Well, this past weekend delivered the stuff of dreams! Saturday, sunny, fresh breeze and great rolling waves. Breeze was agreed to be around 18 knots for the most part and oddly for Santa Cruz the wind was strongest closest to the shore. With a tight and crowded line and a very competitive fleet, starting was not the easiest of maneuvers to complete, but as usual as soon as you did you were looking for your first opportunity to get onto port and head for the right hand corner. Race 1 for me was a bit of a blur and for the first time in a while, Rob and I managed to put the boat in a board up position right at the first leeward mark, giving the following boats a more difficult challenge to round it! We were off the pace Saturday and Andy and Howie were racing with Adam and Mike at the front with the rest of us engaged in a tight battle behind. Gybe set was the order of the day and any time you thought otherwise you were punished. Adam and Mike ended with three straight firsts, nice work!

Saturday was good, Sunday if you liked “epic” conditions was about as good as it gets. We were racing in wind and sea conditions that were getting pretty close to the top end, wind steady in the 20’s with gusts close to 30, seas that downwind had our boat equal part airplane and submarine. The course was set up well offshore, which certainly reduced the right hand component of the course, but all of us being pre conditioned to go right we saved a few tacks and apart from Steve and guest star Nick pulling off a successful visit to the “other” corner we all hit the right corner. Downwind though the right was the path of choice, more breeze offshore this time and less maneuvering made this the way we went. Over the course of the day’s three races almost everyone had at least one swim and boat handling was thoroughly examined. Race one of the day was won by Steve and Nick and as Rob said in our boat, “If I was them I would head in now and call it good!” Handily taking down some of the best heavy weather 5O5 sailors in the World, in their backyard. The rest of the day was a blur of spray and fun and Rob and I came out best with a 2,1,2 scoreline to close the point gap on the first two boats but not enough to change the standings overall.

• Adam Lowry assisted by Mike Martin. Consistently fastest upwind, slower down 
• Andy Zinn supported by Howie Hamlin. Fast up and down, need to keep the mast side up more
• Rob Woelfel dragging Mike Holt around. Off the pace Saturday, better Sunday
• Steve Bourdow, needed two drivers to get through the weekend, Mark Christensen Saturday, Nick Adamson Sunday. Either combo sailing fast and challenging the front hard.
• Reeve Dunne managed by Parker Shinn. Steady day Saturday, followed by disappointing gear failure on Sunday. Warranty work for Mike?
• Pat Diola assisted by Jeff Miller. Didn’t seem to have their usual wheels and “protected” the ship for the NA’s on Sunday
• Rich Mundel handled by Bruce Edwards. Despite only sailing Sunday and Rich driving a minivan, they were right in the mix all day Sunday in the big breeze.
• Rob Waterman Aaron Ross. Competitive upwind, need to work on downwind, another “protecting” the boat for bigger events, or was it bodies?
• Matt Merchant supported by Tim Murphy. Maybe the 10k wasn’t a good idea after all Tim? Sailed well on Saturday, struggling on Sunday.
• Segah Meer assisted by Steve Andreas. Another one day show, this time Saturday but getting around well.
• Bobby Noyes supported by Terry Neff. A “new” boat on the water after a refit by Larry, looking very fast. Not the easiest weekend to start over but acquitted well and survived the conditions.

Results:

http://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=12004

2016 Hampton Trapeze Reports - Drew Buttner

Day 1:

The opening event of the spring Region 2 schedule got underway in Hampton on Sat. This report will not do justice for level of awesomeness displayed by the fleet as the forecasted big breeze arrived as predicted. Saturday was planned as a training day with drills and advice from a few past North American Champions. However, the 25 knots (gusts up over 30) forced an adjustment to the plan.  After getting the mast up, the group huddled around the Hampton YC bar and created a new plan ... SURVIVAL!

Although there was some fear and a lot of jitters, every single boat launched. The goal was to sail out of the harbor, try to bomb around for a bit, and then come in when necessary.

The launch was timed in between gales, trying to find a tame window to get going. Inside the harbor was actually manageable. Gave everyone some confidence. With everyone ready we started the parade out of the harbor with coaches Amthor and Darrow keeping a close eye from the support boat.

Let's just say that SailFlow had the forecast correct.  As soon as the fleet pass the lee of the shore ... BAM!!  A good ride, a tack, another good ride, a few boats upside down, both sails ragging just trying to keep the boat going forward to keep steering. Everyone kept things together and got back to the safety of the harbor in one piece. A bunch of ROCK STARS!

Sunday is race day. The fleet is ready!

Day 2:

What a difference a day makes!  Perfect conditions for Day 2 with a 9-12 knot northerly greating competitors upon arrival. A staggered starting sequence based off of Saturday's performances was used. In short, everyone was seeded into a position and then lined up bow to stern and rounded the leeward mark.  The race started as soon as you rounded. Windward, leeward, finish by rounding the leeward mark and completing a tack.

8 races were completed with everyone feeling like a hero ... and a zero.  A tight course made for lots of action testing team's boat handling and rewarding teams with starboard advantage.

Back on shore, everyone endulged in a tasty sandwich at the Hampton YC bar. Mmm, mmm, good!

Many thanks to the Moore family for hosting everyone for pizza Saturday night, to Tyler for running the event, to Amthor and Darrow for coaching on Saturday, and to all the competitors that attended and enjoyed typical Hampton hospitality!

Next up is the West River spring event, followed by an event at SSA.  Only 17 months until the first race at worlds in Annapolis. RAMP IT UP!! 

2016 St. Francis YC Spring Dinghy Reports - Eric Coburn and Jeff Miller

For the 2016 Spring Dinghy, we have dual reports: one from the back half and one from the winners. Of course, both had much more fun than those who didn't make it.

All photos copyright and courtesy of Chris Ray (http://www.crayivp.com/)

Eric Coburn Report:

It was a GREAT TIME!  My first Spring Dinghy and I hadn't sailed at St. Francis since college too many years ago.  Aaron Ross needed a crew because his regular guy Rob Waterman had some foot surgery to deal with.  Since my weight loss program hasn't been working so well lately, weighing in at 180 just barely qualified me for the Crew's Union for the weekend.  I have crewed for Aaron once before but he reminded me it was 14 years ago at the NAs in Long Beach.  It was great sailing with Aaron.  We both bought 505s right out of college and it was fun sharing some wild rides and good laughs this weekend.

Saturday was mostly sunny and warm and a westerly filled in ranging from 12-16 knots.  But there was a fairly raging 3 knot ebb.  The game was to get out to the right away from the club to get better wind and positive current.  Everybody played the starting line well enough to not get swept over early.  Downwind most chose to wire out and the trick was to find the balance between better wind but not bucking too much current, though many seemed to go pretty far out.

First race was a one lapper and then two two lappers.  Lasagna and beer at the club went down well.

Sunday had varying forecasts, but most put the wind at SSW.  So the start line was down by Alcatraz really close to the leeward mark.  The variability in the forecast was in the strength.  As it turns out, we spent a fair amount of time sailing downwind in light to moderate and shifty winds just to stay up current of the start line.  RC started an F18 race but held everyone else.

Finally it filled in stronger than the day before and out of the SW.  Fronts came through bringing some nice gusts maybe around 20.  With our 330# on board we were raked to -6 at times, but still just could not hang with the bigger teams (also they were just better teams as well!)  The fleet really spread out on this day due to the conditions and the long windward leg.  The RC has to set the mark out of the shipping channel and so it was pretty far away up by the club.

There were definitely some rivers to ride and I'm sure the top guys were playing that and the wind a bit, but we were mostly hanging on, trying to keep the boat flat as possible and minimize mistakes, which we did a good job of.  No capsizes for us the whole weekend and we sailed away from every gybe.  Plenty of people pitched it though over the weekend and we had some crazy near misses, and abandoned one attempt to get boat speed up before trying again.

There was a little bit of commercial traffic to deal with but not too bad.  We did actually have to douse the chute once and sail astern of a huge container ship that we just did not want to mess with.  Probably a good call.

The downwind rides on day two were AWESOME!!!  To get to the mark you had to sail through this crazy cabbage patch of churning water with some big waves.  For us, at that point in the race on the second lap we were safely ahead of the guys behind us and the guys ahead of us were long gone so we just played it very conservatively.  Also probably a good call because one boat got tangled in the leeward mark and dragged it upwind, down current.  Getting around that mark was tricky.  We actually pulled a 5 and a 7 on Sunday, the windier day.

Only two races Sunday due to the postponements but everyone was totally worked by then.

Jeff Miller with his 40+ years of 505 experience got 3 bullets the first day and sailed well enough the second day to win.  He even sailed to the wrong weather mark the first race Sunday (it was a little bit confusing) and still did well enough to win.  I can't tell you what else was happening in the front because honestly, we weren't close enough to see.  PVG and Parker did pretty well pulling a 5th overall.

All in all, the competition was top notch but the racing was great throughout the fleet.  After some beers and Mexican food at the club a number of us headed back to the airport for the trip home.  I ran into Katherine Long, Mike Powell, and Josh Dyck at the airport for some celebratory libations and food before we boarded our respective flights.  I had a blast crewing and have about fifty bruises to show for my flailing around the boat.  It might not have been the prettiest crew work but - hey - we didn't pitch it.

Even though I was crewing and I normally drive, I feel like I gained some good experience.  Even though the best teams were so far ahead of us I still feel there is some benefit to sailing against the toughest teams you can.  Bottom line though is it was FUN!

Jeff Miller Report:

StFYC delivered another fine event, with weather fronts complicating the normal sea breeze pattern and strong currents throwing another layer of complexity into the mix.  Saturday started off with a postponement while we wondered if the wind would fill.  But this is the City Front and the sea breeze would not be denied.  We got going in a comfy 10 knots on a race course set fairly close to shore, with a strong ebb dictating we head out to the middle of the bay.  Pat and I were doing fine upwind until I messed up the layline and had to jibe around behind the pack at the weather mark.  But look!

The whole fleet jibe set out to the middle to catch more breeze, while we stayed inshore for the current relief.  Well, heading outside despite the current was the winning tactic in last year’s Fall Regatta, but not today.  We sneaked down the shore and in front at the bottom mark, just ahead of Brian Haines/Evan Diola (Pat’s brother) and JB/Skip, and with a short beat to the finish we tucked away our first bullet in a long time.

With the breeze building we set off on a two lap course with everybody heading out to catch the ebb. We managed a decent top mark rounding and headed for current relief inshore.  While others were still looking for the breeze outside, we played a nice zone between the shore relief and the wind outside to get to the bottom mark in front with Howie/Reeve and Harrison/Jackson behind.  We held those guys off for another lap and ended up with another bullet.  The strategy for the day seemed to be all on downwind moves; upwind was nothing more than a drag race out to the ebb.

The third race looked to be a replay of the first two, but this time we started poorly and got pinned heading to the shore, while Howie/Reeve started on port below the pack, hit the ebb first and were launched.  We rounded the top mark deep, followed the pack down the shore, and then rounded the bottom mark outside a pair of boats.  We tried footing out to the ebb, which did not pay, but at the top mark we noticed something; a fog line under the bridge.  Parker/PVG noticed it first and jibe-set.  We followed, as did JB/Skip, and sure enough there was good pressure.  Parker/PVG went a little too far, and as JB/Skip tried to roll us, we jibed to stay in the pressure.  The pack in front on the shore looked slow, so we worked the middle and--- I’ll be damned--- we rounded the bottom mark in front, with JB/Skip and Parker/PVG behind.  Three bullets in one day; a rare feat for team Jeff/Pat!

The weather front moved in on Sunday, with a southerly breeze competing with the westerly.  The RC set up the course ready for the southerly, with the starting line way out past Alcatraz.  But then the westerly took over.  The catamarans started in front of us in the westerly, but our start was quickly postponed as strong southerly puffs disrupted the plans.  When things got going again, we didn’t realize a new weather mark had been set, and four boats set off with us heading for the old weather mark that the cats were still using.  The rest of the fleet laid the new weather mark on starboard (due to strong ebb), and by the time we realized what was going on we were half a mile behind.  Due to the wild 20+ knot puffs there was some carnage in front of us and so we managed a sixth.  I have no idea what happened in front of us, but the results show JB/Skip winning with the newly reunited Ted/Brian next.

The fifth and final race got underway in a strong southerly, 15-25+ knots.  We were caught on the outside of the first shift off the line, and never really recovered.  The southerly at StFYC means lots of tricky shifts near the top mark, causing lots of place changes.  Ted/Brian showed their world-class form by taking the final gun, with JB/Skip almost stealing the event with a second.  We managed a fifth place which was good enough to tie JB/Skip on points but win on the tie-breaker.

It was an exciting event beginning to end, with StFYC handling things well despite the challenging conditions on Sunday.  For several visitors from the Northwest, it was their first taste of the City Front, but given the 505-worthy conditions, I think it won’t be their last.  Overall, I think everybody agreed that the event was an extremely fair test of sailing skill and ability. ;-)

Results: http://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=12160&show_crew=1

Photos: http://www.crayivp.com/StFYC-Regattas-2016/SpringDinghy16/

2016 Florida Midwinters Report - Craig Thompson

Mark Zagol (Left) and Drew Buttner (right); 2016 Midwinter Champions. Dave Ellis (center) was the PRO.

The 2016 Midwinters were hosted by Clearwater Community Sailing Center; who most recently hosted the combined World Championships for the 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17. This was a new venue to the 505 Class, and it did not disappoint. The facility, launch, sailing conditions, and the organization were all first rate. Ethan Bixby did a great job organizing and PRO Dave Ellis along with the Sailing Center Staff and volunteers all did an awesome job running races.

The only negative I have to report is the lackluster turnout. 12 boats was a very disappointing considering we had close to 30 boats back in 2008-2009 era at Fort De Soto State Park. However, the racing was close and competitive (for positions 2-12). We need to try to get more boats to make the trip down in 2017. The great venue and the fact that we will be hosting an East Coast Worlds should be good reasons for a solid turnout next year.

Mark and Drew had a dangerous combination of boat speed, smarts, and ability to stay in phase on the shifts. Ethan/Ted and Augie/Scott were the only other teams to win a race in the series. Henry/Dustin and Tyler/Jesse also had many appearances inside the top 3, but neither team could stay ahead of Mark and Drew. Conditions on Friday/Saturday were 10-14 knots with primarily wire running downwind. Sunday the breeze was 5 knots and dying as we barely completed the 10th race of the series before the breeze shut off completely.

Full Results:

Pos	Sail	Skipper/Crew	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total
1	8830	Mark Zagol/Drew Buttner	[4]	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	11
2	8715	Ethan Bixby/Ted Huebner	3	[5]	1	3	5	2	2	2	3	3	24
3	8808	Augie Diaz/Scott Ewing	1	2	4	6	2	3	5	3	7	[8]	33
4	9138	Tyler Moore/Jesse Falsone	2	6	5	2	4	5	3	4	4	[10]	35
5	9041	Henry Amthor/Dustin Romey	7	4	2	5	[8]	6	7	6	2	2	41
6	9095	Macy Nelson/Eric Anderson	6	3	8	8	3	4	6	5	[11]	9	52
7	8854	Craig Thompson/Mike Curtin	5	11	6	4	7	8	[13/DNF]	13/DNS	5	5	64
8	8814	Lin Robson/Unknown	[10]	8	7	9	9	7	4	7	10	4	65
9	8722	Kelsey Avril/Brendan Heussler	9	7	[10]	10	6	9	8	9	8	6	72
10	7346	Zachary Marks/Carl Smit	8	[10]	9	7	10	10	10	8	6	7	75
11	8829	Krysia Pohl/Bryan Richardson	11	9	11	[13/DNS]	11	11	9	10	9	12	93
12	8593	Nathaniel Plant/Unknown	12	[13/DNS]	13/DNS	13/DNS	12	12	11	13/DNF	12	11	109