News & Views for Southern Sailors - Southwinds Magazine

Sailing in the Sarasota Sailing Squadron’s One-Design Midwintersin March. Almost 200 sailors participated in the annual event.Photo by Dave Hillmyeryear. For Yates and the Indigo crew, who are trying to buildlocal S2 7.9 interest, the hope is to see 20 boats on the line atnext year’s One-Design Midwinters and to have theSarasota Sailing Squadron named the venue for the 2013Class Championship Regatta.A new sport boat, the VX One, also participated in theregatta with members of the design team present, includingdesigner/builder Brian Bennett.Charlotte Harbor Yacht Club HostsUniversity of Akron Sailing Team,Port Charlotte, FL, March 17The Charlotte Harbor Yacht Club was host to the Universityof Akron’s sailing team in March. Members of the teamcame to the first Spring Break Collegiate Regatta onCharlotte Harbor. The event was scheduled through thecooperation of the club’s sailing group and was provided toallow a wholesome, quality experience for college studentsinterested in sailing.Local club members hosted members of the team intheir homes throughout the week as host families, and allassisted in making the experience an educational and funweek for the students.Organizer Jack MacDonald said, “We are looking tomake this an annual event, and hopefully will add otheruniversity groups to join us in future years.”The CHYC sailing group offered support, instructionand hospitality to the students, and is looking forward tonext year’s event. www.charlotteharboryachtclub.com.2012 Leukemia Cup Regatta, PuntaGorda, FL, March 17 & March 24-25By Mike Savino, Racing ChairmanThis regatta was hosted by the Isles Yacht Club of PuntaGorda. Racing was on the Pease River with the small boatOne-Design fleet of Optimist Prams, Lasers, Sunfish andPrecision 15s. A nice steady easterly breeze of 8-10 knotswas just right for these small boats. Most of the skipperswere youngsters, some as young as 8 years old on up tohigh school age.After four races, John Light took first in the Optimistfleet; Conner Harding took the Laser fleet with some outstandingboat handling, and Tyler Waters was awarded firstplace in the Sunfish fleet as a result of a tiebreaker under theRules of Sailing formula. The Precision 15s were sailed byadult members of the Isles Yacht club. The fleet was aced bythe husband and wife team of Jeff and Anne Petier takingfirst in all four races.After racing, awards were presented at the Isles YachtClub where the youngsters were treated to swimming and ahot dog cookout.PHRF fleet racing was held on Charlotte Harbor the followingweekend. The wind was from the south at 10-15knots on Saturday for the two windward/leeward races. OnSunday, the wind shifted to the west at 15-20 with gusts upto 25 knots on an 8.5-mile reverse-start racecourse. Someskippers anticipated the higher winds and compensated byadding additional crew.The overall winner of the PHRF Regatta was JerryPoquette and crew of Fancy Free, a Soverel 39 that sailed inthe Non-Spinnaker fleet. The Spinnaker fleet was won byBob Knowles, on a S2 7.9-meter boat, which also took secondoverall for the regatta. Weather Girl, with a crew ofeight, plus skipper Skip Peerless took the True Cruisingfleet. The Multihull fleet was won by Rick Lapenotiere on aCorsair 28.Complete results are available at www.islesyc.com.Upcoming Regattas3rd Annual Race to Fort Myers,Tampa Bay, May 3-5This second annual regatta is from Tampa Bay to Fort MyersBeach, approximately 100 miles. All PHRF classes are welcome.After race-party will be at Bonita Bill’s in Fort MyersBeach. Haul-outs are available for dry-sailed boats. DavisIsland Yacht Club is the hosting club. For more information,go to www.diyc.org, or contact Jamie Myers atjmyers@mcraemetcalf.com, or (813) 601-5023.Sarasota Youth Sailing ProgramSailfest Regatta, Sarasota SailingSquadron, May 5-6One-design classes will be spread out over Saturday andSunday. One-design fleets usually include Laser 4.7, LaserRadial, Laser Standard, Optimist RWB, Optimist Green,Sunfish, Club 420, and Flying Scot. Any other fleet with fiveor more competitors is welcome with prior notice.All money raised benefits the Sarasota Youth SailingProgram. For information, go to www.sarasotaysp.com, orcontact David Livingston, sailing director at (941) 504-4236or e-mail sarasotayouthsailing@gmail.com.Sarasota Bay Cup, Bird Key YachtClub, Sarasota, FL, May 11-12Bird Key Yacht Club is hosting the annual premier sailingevent of the Sarasota Bay season, the Sarasota Bay Cup. Theevent is listed as a BOTY contest for the Sarasota BayYachting Association and includes five divisions: Spinnaker,News & Views for Southern Sailors SOUTHWINDS May 2012 53