SOUTHERN RACINGcontinued from page 57northeast, the waves almost non-existent and the competitionkeen in all the classes.Sunday’s slate was divided in half, fleet handicap racingin the morning where each class of the seven classes presentand accounted for got a start. In the afternoon, after a breakfor lunch, the fleet did a pursuit race, wherein the boats werestarted individually according to handicap.With 68 boats competing in this regatta, a record for anevent that has been operating for 15 years, Charlotte Harborwas full of sailboats for most of Sunday. The classes broke outinto one spinnaker class, three non-spinnaker classes, twocruising classes and a large multihull class of nine boats.In a fleet that large, there were some errors in judgment,some errors in tactics. One boat managed to not sail theproper course in Sunday’s first race, have a crew member—who stayed aboard—get hit in the head by the boom duringan accidental jibe and poke a hole through a brand newcompetition jib.The race committee work, under the pressure of havingto go to Plan B and make it work, was faultless.Results (predicated on how a given boat did in both races on Sunday):Black fleet (spinnaker) (5): 1. Big Sky, Melges 24, Jim Gunderson,Naples; 2. Midnight Rider, Tartan 4100, Forrest Banks, Fort Myers; 3.Macushla, Beneteau 10 FC, Joel Andrews, Fort Myers. Yellow fleet(non-spinnaker) (17): 1. Rooster Tail, S2 7.9, David Flechsig, PortCharlotte; 2. Bama Slammer, S2 7.9, Bob Knowles, Punta Gorda; 3.Crime Scene, S2 7.9, Pete New, Punta Gorda. Orange fleet (non-spinnaker)(12): 1. Morgan, Morgan 24, Bill Curtis, Port Charlotte; 2. Recess,S2 6.7, Skip Schmidt, Port Charlotte; 3. Whimsy, Morgan 30, TomScott, Punta Gorda. Pink fleet (cruising class) (15): 1. Sabre Yachts.com,Sabre 426, Gregg Knighton, Bradenton; 2. Jabu, Sabre 402, Rex Good,Naples; 3. Windy City, Catalina 36, Diane Fowler, Cape Coral. Whitefleet (cruising class) (10): 1. Island Time, Catalina 320, Joe Barrett,Naples; 2. Ariel, Pearson 33, Gordon Coffman, Cape Coral; 3. Vakalele,Morgan 28, Richard Lancaster, Estero. Multihulls (9): 1. Aguilla, CorsairF24, Paul Perisho, Cape Coral; 2. Consensus, Corsair F24, Bob Neff, nohome town given; 3. Tri Power, Corsair F24, Ed Dixon, Marco Island.First Sunfish Worlds QualifierConcludes, Pensacola, March 8-10By Julie B. ConnerleyTom Whitehurst, the top ranked Sunfish Master in theWorld, bested 32 other International Sunfish Class sailorsduring the first qualifier for the 2009 Sunfish Worlds.Pensacola Yacht Club hosted the three-day nine race seriesMarch 8-10. His win assures him a slot in next year’s event.Representing Pensacola Beach Yacht Club, Whitehurstwas the only local sailor among the elite field that includedcompetitors from throughout the eastern United States.With one throw-out race, Whitehurst placed first inseven races and third in another for a low point total of ten.His nearest competitor scored 19 points.Whitehurst, as well as some of the other sailors at theInternational Sunfish Masters, has already qualified for the2008 Sunfish Worlds, which is being held at the BuffaloCanoe Club in Ontario, Canada, in August.■ REGIONAL RACING CALENDARSRegattas and Club Racing—Open to Everyone Wanting toRaceFor the races listed here, no individual club membership isrequired, although a regional PHRF rating, or membershipin US SAILING or other sailing association is oftenrequired. (If individual club membership is required, pleasecontact us and we will not list their races in the future.)For publishing of your event, questions and information,send us your race schedule by the 5th of the month toeditor@southwindsmagazine.com. Send in the name of theevent, date, location, contacts (Web site, e-mail and/orphone), and, if you want a short description. Do not justsend a link to this information.Since race schedules and venues change, contact thesponsoring organization to confirm. For changes to be published,contact the editor. Changes can be put on our Website, if possible.APRILCharleston Ocean Racing Association. www.charlestonoceanracing.org18-20 Charleston Race WeekNeuse Yacht Racing Association www.nyra.org2008 schedule not postedLake Lanier. www.llsc.comSee Web site for local races5 Around Alone. BFSC5-6 Governors Cup LLSC26-7 Rebel Rousers (MC Scows)Pensacola Yacht Club’s fleet captain, Scott Harrell and commodore,Stephen Solice, congratulate Tom Whitehurst upon winningthe International Sunfish Class Masters Regatta and claimingthe perpetual “white robe” trophy for the next year. Julie B.Connerley photo.South Atlantic Yacht Racing Assoc. www.sayra-sailing.com12-13 Melges 17/Sunfish SAYRA Qualifier. Megles 17, Sunfish.LNYC17-20 Charleston Race Week. PHRF, IRC, One Design(24+).CORA19-20 D-12 Championship Series. Lasers. BYSC60 April 2008 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com
BY DAVID ELLISThistle MidwintersMarch 1-7March 1–7 produced mostly light air andwarm sunshine for the Thistles thatmade their annual migration to SPYC.This is the 53rd Thistle Midwinters atthe club and Elmer Richard has attended51 of them.Greg Griffin, Dave DeCamp andKarl Felger of Jacksonville were victoriousin the 53-boat fleet. RobbyBrown, AJ Jacobs and Merrill Varn ofSt. Petersburg were fourth.www.spyc.org.Jy15 MidwintersMarch 7-9Clearwater Community Sailing Center staged the JY15 regattaMarch 7-9. Seventeen boats had a variety of conditions intight racing. http://www.clearwatercommunitysailing.org.Allison Jolly Regatta, March 8-9Laser Radials. Photo by Dave Ellis.The ninth annual girls regatta at SPYC experienced far toomuch wind on Saturday, March 8 for any sailing or RC boatsto venture out. But Sunday produced fine racingThere were 36 girls in the Optimist Dinghy fleet withLauderdale YC sailors taking the Allison Jolly Trophy andthe FSA Perpetual Trophy.The Laser Radials were led by Corey Hall of SPYC. AbbyFeatherstone of Sarasota YSP won the Laser 4.7 rig class.The regatta was named after the 1988 Seoul Olympicsgold medal winner and present coach of the USF sailingteam. www.spyc.org.News & Views for Southern Sailors SOUTHWINDS April 2008 59
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