News & Views for Southern Sailors - Southwinds Magazine

slammed the Gulf Coast just a week before the regatta,destroying several yacht clubs along the Mississippi,Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida coasts.B-WYC was devastated, but not its spirit. By January2006, the membership had coordinated efforts for temporarybuildings. And plans were again made to host theannual Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge.Nineteen other GYA teams rallied under the tents setup beside the temporary yacht club September 2-4. FromHouston, Texas, to Birmingham, Alabama, Panama City,Florida, and points in between, clubs sent teams for thefour-race series.The weather was beautiful for the series although thelandscape still bore the scars of Katrina. “If you were lookingsouth at the water and saw all the boats, it was just likethe good ol’ days. Just don’t look north at the shoreline,”said Lipton Challenge regatta chair, Judy Reeves of B-WYC.Class rules include a minimum weight of 425 pounds,and individuals can skipper only one race, crew only two.So most clubs have extra people attending the regatta, andwith the long weekend, some clubs encourage making theevent a family affair.Pensacola Yacht Club brought four of their JuniorLipton Team members along this year. Dominic Johnson,Dodge Rees, and Drew Werner skippered races. JuniorLipton Team member Douglas Bray crewed one race.“Because weight limits are a minimum of 425 pounds, havingyoungsters with experience on the Flying Scot helps theteam overall,” explained John Matthews, PYC’s LiptonTeam Captain.PYC took an 11th, 14th, 21st, and 14th, giving them atotal of 61 points for 15th place overall.However, involving junior level sailors at the adult eventwas well-intentioned, providing both a confidence builder,and strengthening the foundation for the junior sailing programin general. After all, they are the future of sailing.Defending champions, Bay-Waveland, which first wona Lipton Cup in 1963, handily won the 2006 series with twofirsts, a fifth and a second place in their last race. Their totalof 9 points was one less than second-place overall winnerBuccaneer Yacht Club, which had two firsts, a fifth and athird. Since no yacht club can host the event two years in arow, Buccaneer will host 2007’s challenge.Southern Yacht Club, which hosted the first Sir ThomasLipton Challenge, has won it a record 18 times, including itslast victory in 1994. SYC came in third overall this year with14 points.For a complete listing of results, visit Bay-Waveland’sWeb site at www.bwyc.org.The St. Augustine Summer Sizzler:Same Fun in a New Venue, Sept. 2-3By Roy LaughlinCatamaran sailors used to the Summer Sizzler as an oceancatamaran regatta were in for a surprise this year. Fleet 111,working with Jacksonville’s Rudder Club and its Labor DayRegatta, combined the two and held both in the St. JohnsRiver near the club’s facility. Hot sands gave way to pineneedles carpeting the shaded ground. But the fun was theThe Summer Sizzler. Photo by Roy Laughlin.same and the races a bit more challenging to those unfamiliarwith effects of currents on a racecourse.The race committee organized three catamaran classes:open, Hobie 16s and Formula 18s. In addition, a fleet ofFlying Scots, primarily Rudder Club members, composed afourth start. The wind was light, less than 10 knots from theSW most of the day. It rained all around the race area duringthe afternoon, but not on the racecourse on Saturdayand Sunday. The effects of current in the St. Johns Riverwere apparently a novelty for many of the cat sailors. Itaffected the intended tracks for both starts and mark roundingsuntil the teams learned from experience. Because thetide is a significant component of the current, the current’sstrength waxed, then waned during Saturday’s races.Current, along with keen competition, seemed to havethe most influence on standings of the F/18 fleet. No teamdominated the scoring. Olli and Kelli Jason scored firstplace in this class with a string of first- and second-place finishes.John McDonald and Tina Pastoor duked it out withEvan and Steve Miller for second and third places overall.In the final tally, McDonald and Pastoor prevailed with 11points for second place, and the Millers were in third with13 points.The Hobie 16 class was the largest one, as is typical ofthese summer regattas. Mike Burley earned first with astring of bullets and a total score of four. Robert Murph, oneof the regatta organizers, came in second with a score ofseven. Steve Caron came in third with 11 points. TheRudder Club has a multihull contingent that uses the club’sHobie 16s. A group of younger sailors from the club racedwith this class and made a good showing.In the open class, Chris Cordes, racing an A-class cat,won handily with four points following first-place finishesin all races. Rick and Terri Loewen followed in second placewith seven points. Robert Uschold (aka Gilligan) and JoniBerman finished third with 14 points, racing his signatureyellow Prindle 18-2, the SS Minnow.In the Flying Scots, Dave Strickland finished first witha score of four, all first-place finishes. The second- and thirdplacefinishes were won in a competitive contest amongseveral crews. When it was all over and the spray settled,Donna Mohe was in second place with nine points and JohnHirsch was third with 10 points.The Summer Sizzler was a successful regatta again thisyear. Whether the change in venue will continue remains upin the air. Jacksonville’s sponsored catamaran fleet, HobieFleet 111, had little choice this year. Hurricane Ophelia erodedthe beaches so badly last year, access to the usual site onSt. Augustine Beach remains too limited to convenientlyNews & Views for Southern Sailors SOUTHWINDS October 2006 59