2012 EC12 NCR venue

We could not have asked for better weather for the final regatta of the season at the hotel lake by the World Golf Village in St. Augustine. The star of the regatta and the Florida season was clearly Alan Perkins who overcame every obstacle put in his way. Whether is was being called OCS, or being fouled at a mark or having his request for a hold rejected, he just kept coming back to the front. It was no surprise really, as this was something he managed to do all season long. Alan won 5 of the seven regattas on the season to win the Florida Championship with style.  He had to throw out a bullet for the final tabulation.

 

With 17  boats, the RD decided to sail one fleet with 17 boats on the line. For Saturday the course was a nice two and half lap, windward-leeward on the West side of the lake. The wind was right down the center of the course with only minor shifts to make it challenging. Getting a good start was important, as was picking the right time to tack back to the center. Choose correctly and you were out in front, choose poorly and the fleet swallowed you up.

 

Every boat was moving fast on the lake with A-rigs for most of the morning and B-rigs coming out at lunch. there were some fouls and a few tangles, but everything was handled on the water with sportsmanship and calm words. Ken Morrison was Race Judge, but he was only called upon to resolve a couple of redress issues and a few rules questions, but no protests.

 

Sunday saw a wind change that moved the course to the East side of the lake. It was A-rigs all the way with shifty conditions and winds ranging from 2 to 8 knots. Again, good starts were important, but picking the right side of the course was much more challenging. Fortunes were won or lost on a single tack.

 

These events do not happen on their own. Alan made that point at the awards presentation and I'd like to repeat it. Thank you to all the RDs and helpers of all the Florida regattas this season. If not for all of you, there simply would not be an Association and no regattas to compete in.

At the Jacksonville regatta, it was Alan Perkins followed by Baron Bremer.  And so was the Florida Cup Championship.

  

Full Report, scores and Season scores at Regattas tab,   http://www.floridaec12.com/ 

AMYA Region 4 Championship Wichita, KS

Ten skippers competed at the inaugural Seawind Sunflower Classic Regatta, which was also the AMYA Region 4 Championship Regatta this year.  The regatta was hosted by the Air Capital Model Sailing Club in Wichita, Kansas.  Throughout the weekend the winds were on the light side at around 0-5 mph on Saturday and a more lively 5-10 mph on Sunday.  Despite the light winds, a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all.

Dennis Corder of McKinney, TX took top honors (his first-ever AMYA regional championship!), with Andy Rust (of the host club) in second and Mauricio Dantas of Euless, TX in third.  A total of 21 heats were contested throughout the weekend.  The included photos were shot by Kate Crandell.  

The final results...

1.  Dennis Corder (McKinney, TX)...40 pts.
2.  Andy Rust (Wichita, KS)....43 pts.
3.  Mauricio Dantas (Euless, TX)....47 pts.
4.  Bob Piper (Lewisville, TX).....81 pts.
5.  Rob Fresh (Wichita, KS).....93 pts.
6.  John Stark (Wichita, KS).....110 pts.
7.  Vickie Clausen (Haysville, KS).....124 pts.
8.  Reidar Clausen (Haysville, KS)....142 pts.
9.  Scott Moses (Wichita, KS)....148 pts.
10.  Steve Crandell (Augusta, KS)....157 pts.

 

June 7 - 9

Canandaigua Lake, Canandaigua, NY

 

The 2012 edition of the RC Laser North American Championship was a huge success thanks to AMYA #315, the Canandaigua RC Laser Fleet. Defending champion, Jon Elmaleh, proved his mettle as he survived fluky Sunday wind conditions to hold off Oxford's consistent Don Barker and two finishing bullets from former champion, Jim Kaighin. This event was the first championship hosted by the ever active Canandaigua, NY fleet and they did everything right from the opening registration to the final prize awards.

 

An initial seeding race was held on Friday as well as two races to form a mini regatta. This gave the host club some promotion/relegation experience and relaxed the newcomers to this scoring system. Saturday and Sunday's races were the actual NA Championship. Saturday, four races (12 heats) were held and Jon Elmaleh established a six point lead over Don Barker with Philly's, Jamey Betz in third and Pocono Pines, Bob McNeil, in fourth. Jim Kaighin, experienced boat problems for two races on Saturday and fell to seventheven after recording two wins on the day. Considering the two Friday races, Elmaleh, Betz, Nick Mortgu and Barker all recorded wins. This is a testament to the balance at the top with five different individuals winning races.

 

Sunday morning looked like we would have good winds but the locals predicted a dying southerly for the late morning and they were right. We experienced very light to drifter conditions for two races and called it a day at noon when the lake went glass-like. Jim Kaighin moved from 7^th to 3^rd with two hard fought race wins, nipping Jon Elmaleh and Don Barker in the finale. Elmaleh had led this race around all buoys and Barker came back from a terrible start, but Kaighin squeaked out the race win and Barker wiggled his way to second at the line to preserve his championship second place. All 12 racers in this heat finished within seconds in this agonizing drifter. Jamey Betz experienced a tough light air day moving from 3^rd to 6^th while the UK's John Cleave and Manhattan's Hank Buchanan both improved their regatta standing on Sunday moving to fourth and fifth respectively. A nice surprise in the standings was the performance of Bob MacNeill who ended up 7^th with five top five race finishes. One throw out was recorded for the regatta and Jon Elmaleh kept it consistent over three days to retain the Bruce Kirby North American Championship trophy for the 8th time in twelve years. A deserving champion.

 

The regatta also recorded a first with five very capable women skippers competing effectively. First woman was Canandaigua's Terry Schmidt, who spent a few races in the Blue Fleet proving her skill in a variety of conditions. Some skippers used all four sail choices as we enjoyed the beautiful clear lake waters and some frisky conditions as the western front moved across the lake over the first two days.

The Results:

1. Jon Elmaleh        Brooklyn, NY                      17
2. Don Barker         Chestertown, MD            23
3. Jim Kaighin          Bahamas                              25
4. John Cleave        Isle of Wight, UK              35
5. Hank BuchananNew York, NY                    39
6. Jamey Betz         Doylestown, PA                                39
7. Bob MacNeill     Pocono Pines, PA             44
8. Nick Mortgu       Riverton, NJ                       53
9. Jonathan Gorbold            Canandaigua, NY              55

Madison OH
June 9 -10, 2012

23 Soling 1 Meter Sailors convened in Madison, OH for the Region 4 S1M Regional Championship Regatta on June 9 - 10.  The talent pool was deep, with top sailors from the East, Canada, and the Midwest coming to race in the second consecutive RCR hosted by the Western Reserve Model Yacht Club, of Northeast OH.  Racing was at Boy Scouts of America Camp Stigwandish, on a 9-acre lake located on a hill- usually making for good winds.

Saturday morning, with no surprises in Measurement,  we were ready for racing. Conditions were light to medium air, most of the time around 6 -10, then 4 on Sunday; temps comfortable Saturday, and hot on Sunday.

 At the end of Day 1, several competitors had been knocked out of one or more races by occasional gusty winds in the mid-teens.  In Gold Fleet, Marc Smith, of Vienna VA, and Walter House, also of Vienna, were tied with with 75 points as of the end of racing Saturday.  Bob Bottenhorn from Cincinnati was third with 81.

Leader of the Silver Fleet after Day 1 was Dave Tacosik of Cincinnati ( 43 points), then Dave Karpuszka (Concord, OH) at 69 and Sam Santora (Cleveland) at 72.

Rob Meakins and Shawn Berrington sailed very well in the 9 additional races on Sunday on Day 2, passing Walter House, and staying within sight of Smith.

After 54 races (4- Seeding, +  4 HMS 2007, +23 fleet races), and the allowed 5 discards, it was Marc Smith of Virginia winning the Gold Fleet , and being named 2012 Region 4 Regional Champion. In second was Shawn Berrington of Ontario, Canada, followed by Rob Meakins also of Ontario, Canada.

Doug Wyatt AND John Richmond also made good comebacks in Silver Fleet, on Day 2.

Dave Tacosik of Cincinnati won First in Silver Fleet, followed by John Richmond of Chagrin Falls, OH, tied with Doug Wyatt (Lyndhurst, OH) each with 49 points after discards; the tiebreaker (most Firsts) settled the issue.

A good time was had by all.  Thanks to the regatta Staff for all the work, and to the competitors for coming.

Results:  Gold/ Regional Championship Fleet

1        Mark Smith, Vienna, VA                             54
2        Shawn Berrington, Burlington, ON, Canada        66
3        Rob Meakins, Kenilworth, ON Canada        76
4        Walter House, Vienna, VA                88 tiebreaker
5        Bob Bottenhorn, Cincinnati, OH                88

Results:  Silver Fleet

1        Dave Tacosik, West Chester, OH                46
2        John Richmond, Chagrin Falls, OH        59 tiebreaker
3        Doug Wyatt, Lyndhurst OH                59
4        Dave Karpuszka, Concord, OH                71
5        Sam Santora, Garfield Heights, OH        74

The Chicago RC Model Yacht Club hosted the EC 12 Region IV Regatta on the weekend of June 23/24 at its championship venue in Vernon Hills. Located 20 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, Vernon Hills offers a spectacular collection of interconnected lakes providing near shore weed free venues for any wind direction.

 

The Chicago club embarked on an EC 12 building program several years ago, and this regatta provided the club fleet an opportunity to compete on home turf. Twelve skippers, including nine locals, completed 28 races over two days in primarily light breezes using a single fleet format.

 

Saturday's near drifter conditions favored light air guru Dave Brawner with 14 aces out of 16 starts. Chicago's Gerhard Kelter and Bret Biwer battled for 2^nd and 3^rd with three skippers in close contention behind them, Detroit's Frank Vella and Jim Hale and Chicago's Rob Hill.

 

Sunday provided moderate breezes and closer competition. First place finishes were spread across the fleet with Gerhard achieving 4 and Frank and Bret two each. In the end, Dave Brawner dominated with a two day point total of 37. Gerhard Kelter had 69 for second place. Bret Biwer took third with 98. Frank Vella was 4^th with 107 and Rob Hill 5^th with 127.

 

 

 

1 Dave Brawner             37

2 Gerhard Kelter             69

3 Bret Biwer                   98

 

Full list of scores at  http://ec12.org/Regattas/2012.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have two regattas scheduled this summer.  Both will take place in Southport Harbor in Southport, Connecticut.  The first is our Tide Mill Regatta held at the upper Northeast end of the harbor on Saturday, July 7^th at 1:30 PM with a rain date of Sunday the 8^th.  The second is our National Championship, the H. O. Perry, Jr. Regatta on Saturday, August 18^th at 11:00 AM with a rain date of the 19^th.  This regatta is held in the middle section of the harbor from a broad lawn just off Harbor Road which runs alongside the harbor.

 

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