|
SOLING 1 M FLORIDA VICTOR CUP 2015
The All Florida Victor Cup is unique in that it is an organization of 14 Florida clubs which each send two Soling 1m skippers to its annual regatta to compete for individual trophies and a team championship. This is a one day regatta held annually in mid-March. For the past two years, this regatta has been hosted by Tanglewood Model Yacht club in Sebring FL due to its central location which minimizes travel time.
The sailing pond is fairly large with an accessible island in the center which allows courses to be set up with minimum wind disruption, a great venue. This year we 22 skippers from 11 clubs participated. The day began with check-in, skippers meeting and an odd-even scoring format. It was a beautiful FL day with light to moderate winds from the south, switching to southwest in the afternoon.
A total of 18 heats (nine races) were completed with few fouls and no protests.
The team from Suncoast in Punta Gorda, John Steacy and Paul Newfield, proved to be difficult to beat with John finishing 1st and Paul 2nd individually. This gave Suncoast a well-earned 1st place in the team category.
Thanks to many volunteers, particularly Art Hawes, the Soling National Champion, who served as RD and Gib Loesel, his assistant, it was a great day of well-organized racing.
Should your FL club like to send Soling skippers to the annual All Florida Victor Cup, we would love to meet and race. Contact Roger Wilkins at thecanopyguy@aol.com.
Summary of the 2015 Soling 1m All Florida Victor Cup
Class: Soling
Date: March 14, 2015
Location: Sun and Lake, Sebring FL
Host Club: Tanglewood Model Yacht Club
Entries: 22
Winds: Light to moderate
Races Completed: Nine with 18 heats
Scoring System: Odd-Even, low points
Regatta Committee: John Mckinney and Jim Child, Regatta chairpersons. Art Hawes, RD; Gib Loesel Assistant RD. Tom Ebbert, Sandy Cheney, Barb Cheney, Marty Child, Richard Whatley, Cliff Westover, John Quarles, Don Gibson, Rick Elix, Bonny Gould, Paul Graham, Clyde Fisher, Bob Fritze, Horst Wolff, Bernie Petkus, Rich Mieling, Larry Schleis, Deb Elix, Laural Petkus and Joanne McKinney provided help with the race course, scoring, food service and golf cart transportation.
| Club Place | Skipper | Points | Ind Finish | Club | | 1 | John Steacy | 21 | 1 | Suncoast |
| Paul Newfield | 27 | 2 | Suncoast | | 2 | Bruce Griffin | 37 | 4 | St Lucie
|
| Ron Lange | 38 | 5 | St Lucie | | 3 | Ray Eaton | 31 | 3 | South Florida |
| Chris Pliske | 61 | 16 | South Florida | | 4 | Bill Croft | 43 | 7 | Maple Leaf |
| Dean Lardie | 54 | 10 | Maple Leaf | | 5 | Bill Henry | 42 | 6 | Tanglewood |
| Merritt Wiley | 58 | 13 | Tanglewood | | 6 | George Balaschai | 55 | 11 | Palm Beach Gard. |
| Bill Koch | 58 | 14 | Palm Beach Gard. | | 7 | Don Burwell | 56 | 12 | Kings Point |
| Edward Gelina | 60 | 15 | Kings Point | | 8 | Brian Engle | 46 | 9 | The Villages |
| Pete Rochelle | 72 | 19 | The Villages | | 9 | Jim Lavelle | 45.75 | 8 | Edison |
| Frank Vella | 78 | 21 | Edison | | 10 | Howard Means | 62 | 17 | Englewood |
| John McKinney | 70 | 18 | Englewood | | 11 | Darrell Krasoski | 76 | 20 | Central Florida |
| Pat Harmno | DNS | DNS | Central Florida |
Round the Rocks Regatta - 2015
Mike Biggs
First we managed to conflict with another regatta, BOMs or WOMs, or something, that siphoned off the top skippers. Then we had to postpone a week because of a dismal weather forecast, one only the top skippers would have shown up for, and they weren't coming. But the postponement not only brought good weather, it brought in Chris Macaluso, often Vic champion and current Victoria Class Secretary; it also brought el Bosso Jefe Presidente Ray Seta! We had 24 entries!
For this one day regatta, we had decided to start at 11 AM and run to 5 PM, so that most driving from Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio would not have to get up incredibly early. That also gave the wind a chance to develop some before we started.
The Sun City pond on Berry Creek is notorious for fickle winds, and it lived up to its reputation. The wind was from across the pond, making for fairly short upwind-downwind races, but there was plenty of excitement. For most of us non-champions, half the time we tacked into a big windshift the wind wasn't there when we arrived, and we went into irons. Gusts that buried the bow and swapped ends on the boat were followed by lulls when everyone you'd managed to pass caught up with you. And that was for we who are familiar with the pond!
As usual Chris Macaluso was unstoppable. Of course, to curry favor with our new AMYA president, Jefe Ray Seta, we all agreed to do our best to assist him and his little buddy JK Kuc to high finishes. We're expecting Ray to feel some gratitude towards us! Ten or so of the skippers were relatively new to the hobby, many of them sailing in their first regatta.
Summary of Round the Rocks Regatta - 2015
Class: Victoria
Date: March 28, 2015
Location: Sun City Pond on Berry Creek, Georgetown, TX
Host Club: Austin Model Yacht Club and Sun City RC Club
#Entries: 24
Winds: 0 - 16 mostly S, varying wildly
Races Completed: 18
Scoring System: Low point, 2 throw-outs
Race Committee: Mitch Martin, Bob Sobotik, Joe Lawrence, Dave Parker, Lyle Bishop
Regatta Results
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 |
Chris Macaluso
Ray Seta
JK Kuc
Mauricio Dantas
Bob Piper
Chuck Porth
Carl Rackley
Paul Thompson
Mitch Martin
Mike Biggs
| 24
35
54
64
74
93
114
120
127
130 |
2015 Dallas IOM Blowout
Sometimes the tax man comes to your door. Such was the case with the 2015 Dallas Blowout when the wind gods made us pay for five prior years of awesome wind. What did we get? Light air from the kryptonite direction. But, we had a regatta! And we had a fun regatta!
Sixteen entries spanning both coasts arrived to try their hand at White Rock Lake for the 15th annual Blowout regatta. As has become tradition, the day before the regatta was reserved for Chuck LeMahieu's incredible guac, pork chops and potato packets cook out at the club. The man can cook.
Saturday dawned with rain hanging heavy in the air and light wind. Our RD, Ray Seta, 2015 AMYA president, ably assisted by his fellow San Antonian Eric Gregory, gave us the low down on the course and what to expect. Wind had a lot of east in it, which is the worst direction for our club. We dodged a few raindrops as the day progressed, took a few holds to change the course, and generally had a, by normal Blowout standards, relaxed day of racing. That didn't mean blood pressures couldn't get elevated! The race-by-race scores will reflect that everyone had a stinky race or several, such were the holes and shifts. It was easy to go from a top placing to the end of the fleet in one beat if the wrong side was chosen or the streak of wind helping the guy two feet from you didn't reach you. The day ended with Gary Boell ahead of Mark Golison and Brig North.
We adjourned to hit the bar-b-que joint, 1050 BBQ, and it was pretty spectacular, or at least my sliced beef and sausage plate was! Alas, the ribs must not have been up to par as Bobby Flack wound up praying to the porcelain god that night believing it was due to the ribs. Bobby did survive, however, a bit more pale, but otherwise unscathed!
Sunday morning's wind had a bit more north in it, and maybe a touch more velocity. Still, there were big holes and big shifts, so it was a challenge to say the least. Everyone's least favorite general, General Recall, made several appearances as the shifts took their toll in the final seconds of several sequences. Ray Seta took some good natured ribbing about some of the recalls -- those who shot out front were not too pleased, and those in the back, thanked him profusely!
As the day wore on Gary Boell seemed to have the day well in hand. Mark Golison was scoring well, as was Craig Mackey, but Gary's scores, which slipped several notches compared to Saturday, were keeping him up front. At the beginning of the last race, race no. 27, Gary's boat experienced issues, causing him to be late for the start. Mark won the race, while Gary recovered to 7th.
For the second year in a row, we had a nail biter for the top spot. Last year Craig Mackey won the event with redress in the last heat. This year Gary and Mark were tied at the end of 27 races with Mark prevailing on count back. Craig, new hip and all, sailed his way to third, Brig dropped back to fourth, and Mark Cooper of Houston made a big run on the day to finish fifth. Also of note was Florida's Baron Bremer who moved from 11th at the end of day 1 to 6th overall when he slaughtered the field on Sunday with a slew of consistent top finishes.
Thanks so much to our volunteers without whom we would have had no regatta -- Bob Piper, scoring; Mauricio Dantas -- rescue boat; Ray Seta -- RD; and Eric Gregory -- Assistant RD. We all really appreciated your help!
Thanks to all of the folks who attended this year. We know you have choices on where to spend your sailing dollar, and we hope to have a full field next year. I think we are square with the wind gods, so we hope to be back to B and C rigs in 2016!
2015 Inaugural Coastal Bend Kickoff
The 2015 Inaugural Coastal Bend Kickoff was rained out, but not exactly.
If it is possible to have a regatta in which you did everything but sail then we did. We were not able to sail because the one road we have from the gate to the dock was (contrary to our rain resistant road expectations) not usable. We sent in a posi-traction pick-up to test the road. We barely got the truck back.
So what did the intrepid Region 5 Vic skippers and their families do? Suprisingly, everything else.
We went back to our Regatta hotel, where our awesome Best Western of Portland, gave us the use of their lobby and their dining area. Wow!
We did what skippers and guests do in the Vic fleet. We brought just about every boat we had into the lobby for show and tell, took picture of each other and the boats, ate doughnuts, drank coffee, traded building tips, and did lots of, handshakes, hugs and "What have you been doing since I last saw you?"
Then we had our catered lunch delivered to the dining room instead of the lake. The stuff from BBQ Shack was, as advertised, great. We enjoyed that then returned to the lobby.
Our raffle was a lively, with lots of banter, teasing, and applause when Chris Macaluso won a Vic kozey. 2 sets of sails make by Jim Smith and Al Ross went in the next 2 picks, and John Kelsey won a hand tooled leather cell phone holder by Creative leather.
NEXT: Yes there was more! We got lots of good news about AMYA membership increases and new incentives through Facebook, Victoria class strength and continuing parts availability, and some warm words about the AMYA. All this from a combination of: Ray Seta, President of the AMYA, Vice President Ron Stephanz, and Victoria class Secretary, Chris Macaluso.
But wait, there's more: After a double dose of praise for our ability to combine fun with dedication to sailing from Chris Macaluso, we went out in the rain and had a club ribbon cutting ceremony that looked to me like a 3 balloon release by Region 5 Representative Hew Hamilton.
But that's not all! Just over half of our expected Saturday night dinner guest stayed for in town for rowdy and serene conversation, drinks, and some fine Mexican food at our sponsoring restaurant. Thanks again to Fajitaville and manager Rebecca Poore for the 20% "Pirate" discount.
What we did not have was a single word of criticism or disappointment about our inability to make the sailing happen in the pouring rain. Not even one.
This is why I sail a Vic. It is so much more the joy of sailing. It's my chance to spend time with the skippers and their families. It the fact that Vic people are almost a different species, so different in so many wonderful ways.
Fair Winds,
Captain Chaos
2015 Victoria R3 Championship Tax Refund Regatta
Class: Victoria Date: April 11th & 12th 2014
Location: Lake Crabtree County Park Host Club: Triangle MYC
# Entries: 6 Winds: 5-15 mph NNW to W; E
Races: 24 Scoring: Low point
Organizer: Tom Rummage Race Director: Gerry Cobley
The annual Tax Refund Regatta was designated the Region 3 Victoria Championship Regatta in 2015, and despite a small fleet 2 days of challenging and enjoyable racing was held.
Saturday began at our alternate location where the NNW winds were unobstructed and a good windward-leeward course could be set. After a couple of delays due to boat failures of various descriptions, we settled into good racing with bullets being shared by four skippers in the first 6 races. Winds built until downwind maneuvering became very challenging, and the more experienced skippers seemed to take control. Tom Rummage and Walter House each had streaks of bullets and seconds, and then the wind shifted, making the alternate course a reaching match, and we relocated to our normal location. At the end of Saturday, Tom had a 6 point lead over Walter with 2 throwouts.
Sunday saw strong E winds in the 10 to 15mph range, and as we got close to the first race time, we considered the possibility of calling the regatta to avoid damage to boats and/or putting skippers at risk rowing the rescue boat across the lake. We elected to attempt a race, and defer judgment on the weather, and fortunately the wind abated a little to the point where sailing was fast, exciting, but safe. Walter House dealt with a failed servo, and ensuing water damage in his radio, but put on a masterful performance once back in the water, with 7 bullets in 8 races, and went on to become the Region 3 Victoria Champion for 2015.
Thanks to all who attended, and particularly to Chase Thomas and Carmen Rioux for help with lunches and scoring.
Place Skipper Score Sail#
1 Walter House 32 02
2 Tom Rummage 38 54
3 Carl Olbrich 60 15
4 Michael Roberson 67 154
5 Rick Ferguson 70 91
6 Jacques Rioux 109 254
| 
