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undation
Stephen Long, middle, enjoying the calm water in the harbor after an
extremely cold and windy day on Lake Michigan.
to exhaustion. Every competitor was asking themselves, “When is
this going to end?” The NOR said no races would begin past 1500
hours and all kept checking their watches. A total of eighteen races
completed, 3 p.m. finally arrived, but relieve was not as close as
thought. The gentle 20 knots suddenly became more like 30 with
gusts approaching 40. The Chicago Yacht Club launch ramp was
less than a mile away, but it was straight head to wind. It took every
remaining ounce of energy to get the boats back to the dock. The
Northwestern Sailing team was there to assist, but sailors couldn’t
get boats out of the water and the sails down quickly enough. The
gale force winds were flipping the boats on both the launch ramp
and docks. It looked like a train wreck, with boats literally piled
atop one another.
The rain did not stop, but the chaos eventually did. Boats were
put away and sailors were able to get inside, out of the cold wind
and rain, and into dry clothes. Hot chocolate in hand, the feeling
began to return to their hands and faces and they could reflect
on their valiant efforts. From a scoring perspective it was a very
close regatta; after 16 races there were only a few points separating
the fleet. Stephen posted two of his better finishes in race 17 and
race 18 securing eighth place overall. For all competitors it was an
experience of a lifetime. The Southern California sailors returned
to sunny and warmer weather having learned a great deal from that
one Halloween weekend in Chicago, Illinois. —John Long
Luff-In Regatta
The 29er Luff-In Regatta and clinic took place over the weekend
of October 15–16. Saturday’s regatta was held at the San Diego
Yacht Club. The course was inside the harbor so it was small and
the wind was very unreliable and shifty. Santa Barbara had a good
turn out with three boats. Our teams included Quinn and Dane
Wilson (third place), Cuyler Zimmerman and his out of town
crew Andy Reiter (seventh place), and Jonathan Beardon and
myself (ninth place). Willie McBride coached us throughout the
day and ran the clinic the second day. The clinic on the second
day took place at Coronado Yacht Club. There was a
good amount of breeze and—thanks to Willie—we all
learned a lot about smooth movements through the boat
and transitions in puffs and lulls, just to name a few.
The clinic included most of the people who attended
the regatta including all of the Santa Barbara sailors at
the regatta. Overall, the weekend was a great learning
experience and a fun couple of days on the water. —
Soren Wilde
Goblin Regatta 2011
The Goblin Regatta for the 29er class was held over
Halloween weekend, October 28–29, at Santa Barbara
Yacht Club. Day one started with almost no wind as we
made the sail out to the course, resulting in the first race
getting started about an hour after the scheduled start
time. The first race was held in light to medium breeze with the
normal Santa Barbara persistent right that comes from the point
just a couple hundred yards south of SBYC. This became the theme
strategy-wise, as the goal in every race that weekend was to get to
the right first and call a perfect lay line to the top mark. After the
first race, the wind built up to the max of the day about 10 knots.
Racing was close as different teams all had moments of success
being the first into the right corner. Some opportunity was available
for those late to the corner depending on how well everyone called
lay line, making the first beats interesting. After the first day,
Patrick Snow and Storm Brown were in third place; Zack Downing
and Andrew Cates took second; and Dane and Quinn Wilson, first.
With eight knots at the start of the second day, everyone knew
the right place to be. The race committee had favored the pin end
of the line so it was a gamble: do you start at the pin and hope you
can get over the bows of those teams who started at the boat, or do
you start at the boat and get to the right first? Both strategies paid
off in the end but a good start and getting to the right was key to
being at the front in preparation for the downwind legs. The breeze
was consistent all day at about eight knots. The trick downwind
was gauging how high to sail with speed versus getting low and
sailing a shorter distance. The final results remained as on day one
with Patrick Snow and Storm Brown in third, Zack Downing and
Andrew Cates in second, and Dane and Quinn Wilson in first.
The regatta was tracked by Kattack GPS trackers which was
great for those interested in catching the racing from home, but
especially for the sailors as each night we could review the day’s races
and recount each moment. No excuses, as it was all captured online.
At the end of each day, Howard Hamlin held a debrief of the
day and a talk on how to prepare for major regattas, which was
really helpful for all the sailors. Thanks to all the folks that put
on the event, it was an excellent turnout and the regatta was a like
combining a clinic with a regatta, which made it a good experience
all around. —Craig Wilson