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RACINGBikini Regatta—Race Two inWomen’s Sailing Trilogy Series,July 23By Kim KaminskiThe 31st Annual Bikini Regatta was held at the BayouGrande Marina by the Navy Yacht Club in Pensacola onPensacola Bay. Nineteen boats were registered with 10Spinnaker (five with an all-female crew) and nine Non-Spinnaker (1 Non-Spinnaker and 1 Cruiser with an allfemalecrew). Skies were dark and overcast, and raindrenched the racecourse prior to the start of the regatta.After an hour delay, light winds filled the racecourse, andthe afternoon sea breeze built throughout the day for thewindward/leeward Spinnaker course of 7.5 miles and thetriangle Non-Spinnaker/Cruiser course of 5.7 miles.The Bev and Lloyd Stagg Trophy (founders of the BikiniRegatta) winners for Overall Spinnaker fleet went to TerriSwift-Schumann and mixed crew on Rodent, which beat thesecond-place team, Tryptonite, by only 12 seconds. Thirdplace was Radio Flyer, and fourth was Ice Melted. The Best AllFemale Spinnaker team was Karen Kreigel and crew onReach Around, which beat the Fast Women Regatta bestSpinnaker team, Two Pot Screamer—skippered by JenniferGrant—by one minute and 47 seconds. The Overall Non-Spinnaker fleet winner, Rachael Gillette and mixed crew onAtlantic Union, beat the Best All Female Non-Spinnakerteam winner (for two regattas in a row), Virginia Engle andcrew on At Last by 3 minutes and 46 seconds. The Best AllFemale Cruiser team winner was Donna Pollock and crewon Memories.GYA Women’s Championshipreturns to Pensacola Bay, July 29-31By Julie B. ConnerleyRace for the Roses/GYA Women’s PHRF Championship winners.From left: Sarah Hamlie, Carol Myers, Mallory Buechler, CarolineJohnson, Jennifer Wray, Lindsey Myers, Terri Swift-Schumann andTom Batty. Not pictured: LeAnne Pickering. Photo by JulieConnerley.After a three-year absence from Pensacola Bay, PensacolaBeach Yacht Club hosted the Gulf Yachting AssociationWomen’s PHRF Championship July 29-31. It was held inconjunction with the annual Race for the Roses. Three raceswere sailed over two days. Terri Swift-Schumann, ofPensacola Yacht Club won with four points.In 2001, PBYC petitioned GYA’s offshore council to createthe championship, based on the ever-growing success oftheir annual Roses regatta.One tradition that makes Roses unique is the distributionof “goodie bags” to each competitor. This year West Marinegraciously donated large canvas tote bags. Inside were productsfrom long-time Pensacola business supporters, JewelersTrade Shop and Baptist Health Care. Other sponsors includedBeach Community Bank, Cat Country 98.7, Gulf BreezeNews-Splash, Gulf Power Company, Papa John’s Pizza,Publix, Schurr Sails, U.S. Navy, Whitney Bank, and GYACommodore John Matthews of the Laurel Group, Inc.“The women always look forward to receiving goodiebags and this year was especially exciting with WestMarine’s contribution,” said Ellen Hunt, founder of theRace for the Roses.The YC has hosted the event annually with a few exceptions,including the adjacent marina’s destruction by backto-backHurricanes Ivan and Dennis, and bids by championshipwinners’ yacht clubs to host it. Having the championshiptravel encourages more participation. Yacht Clubson Mobile Bay, AL, and Lake Pontchartrain, LA, have hostedthe event.Competition, open to spinnaker boats only, includedtwo-time champion, and last year’s winner, Debby Grimm ofSouthern Yacht Club, New Orleans. Grimm and her crew ofeight raced her J-30, Hot Chocolate. Grimm’s husband, Casey,delivered the boat for the women to race. A week later thefamily, including eight-year-old Kaylor, cruised home.Ft. Walton Yacht Club fielded two boats, Two PotScreamer, a Santana 30/30 GP skippered by Jennifer Grant,and Deborah Wilusz’ Viper 640, Ice Melted with a crew offour, including the Roses regatta chair, Erica Bush. Theremaining fleet of eight represented PBYC, Pensacola YachtClub, and Navy Yacht Club Pensacola.The Genoa fleet competed in the24th annual Race for the Roses andcomprised six vessels: four fromPBYC, one from Fairhope Yacht Club,Alabama, and one with no YC affiliation.They sailed a 13.76 nm steeplechasecourse while the spinnakerssailed two windward-leeward courseraces Saturday. The two-county areawas under an extreme heat advisoryfor the weekend that factored into sailingconditions.Sunday’s final race for the championshipstarted at 11:00 a.m. in a5mph breeze. After two hours, the race committee, headedby PBYC’s fleet captain, D.J. Johnson, abandoned the race. Itwas restarted about one-half hour later with winds averaging8 mph.Going into Sunday’s race, Margo Zern, sailing herSoverel 33, Coyote, was behind Swift-Schumann in an Elliott770, Rodent, by just three points. The two boats were in atacking duel when the first of the final races was abandoned.52 September 2011 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com