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REGIONAL RACINGWEST FLORIDAGulf Water TemperatureSt. Petersburg – 62ºNaples – 66ºAverage TemperaturesSt. Petersburg 54º lo – 69º hiNaples 53º lo – 75º hiSee page 76For real time eastern Gulf weather, for windrose legendwinds & marine forecasts, go to http://comps.marine.usf.eduWEST FLORIDA RACE REPORTResults: Spinnaker: 1. Hubbert’s Peak, SR-21, Charlie Clifton, Sarasota;2. Mother Ocean, O’Day 40, Rich Gress, Sarasota; 3. Constellation,Swan 48, Greg Petrat, Sarasota. Non-spinnaker: 1. Flash, Morgan 22,Bob and Cathy Willard, Palmetto; 2. Misty, Ranger 33, Greg Knighton,Bradenton; 3. OHH ZONE, Benneteau 40, Rudy Reineke, Sarasota. TrueCruising: 1. Seahawk, Catalina 35, Sue and Chan Sweetser, Sarasota;2. Morgana, Custom, Chuck Margetta, Sarasota; 3. Ananda, Brewer 44,Peter Van Roekens, Sarasota.Clearwater Community Sailing CenterHosts the 22nd Annual CarlisleClassic, Nov. 12-13By George RegenauerSarasota Yacht Club Invitational,Sarasota, Nov. 12By Morgan StinemetzThis year’s Sarasota Yacht Club Invitational Regatta had theright ingredients from the start, and more than 100 sailors participatedin the fourth annual autumnal race. The boats racedon a 12-mile triangular course in the Gulf of Mexico. Each legwas four miles long, and the triangle was equilateral.The reverse handicap event attracted 39 racing yachts,twice what the regatta attempted last year. Improved organization,better incentives, a greater value ratio and enhancedpublicity turned a so-so 2004 race into a winner in 2005.A reverse-handicap race allows disparate yachts to racelevel by giving the slower yachts an earlier start predicatedon their time allowances.The start was downwind. The first turn put the racerson a port tack fetch for the second mark start. And afterrounding that mark, the fleet had a starboard tack fetch tothe finish. Though the racers were strung out around thecourse, many finished the race in less than 2-1/2 hours.The top boat at the meet was also one of the smallest.Bob Willard’s Morgan 22, Flash, started second and, on thefinal leg, passed Chuck Margetta’s Morgana that had startedprecisely 15 minutes earlier. With wife Cathy as crew,Willard sailed a faultless race. No other boat passed Flash,and that made the green, venerable sloop the first boat tofinish. Willard was racing in the non-spinnaker class. Flashwon the fleet award and, of course, the non-spinnaker class.The wind blew offshore at an average of 10 knots,which was enough to make the bigger boats real contenders.Seas were choppy.Charlie Clifton, a Sarasota Bay veteran who sails an SR21, which this competitive year is being called Hubbert’sPeak, topped the spinnaker class, finishing three minutesahead of Rich Gress in Mother Ocean, an O’Day 40.The large true cruising class, 22 boats, was topped bySue and Chan Sweetser in their Catalina 35, Seahawk.Shortly after the boats turned the first mark, the Sweetsershad picked off a boat that had started ahead of them byabout 10 minutes, and on the final leg they also gotMargetta’s Morgana, the high handicap boat. So well did theSweetsers sail that they were less than a minute behindWillard, the overall winner, and finished second overall.Multihulls race in the Carlisle Classic. Photo by GeorgeRegenauer.Clearwater Community Sailing Center and perfect weatherwere host to the 22nd Annual Carlisle Classic held onNovember 12-13 at its facility on Sand Key. The two- dayevent provided fun and excitement for all classes of racerson Clearwater Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.Each class was scheduled and executed the plannedseven-race program. The large cats navigated their windward-leewardcourse on the Gulf while the Day Sailers,Sunfish, Portsmouth class, Optis and Sailability’s AccessDinghies staged in the bay. The bay course was set up utilizinga smaller triangle within a larger triangle to allowthe smaller boats to compete with the larger ones.Saturday’s winds remained steady ESE at 10-14 knots,requiring minimal course changes, while Sunday’s windswere variable and much lighter, requiring marks to bemoved before each start.Racers came from all parts of Florida to vie for theawards that were presented at the social event followingSunday’s races.The Carlisle Classic was an event in itself, but there werenumerous races within a race between rival groups that carrieda lot of prestige among the participants. The Day Sailersused the Carlisle Classic to encompass their yearly DS championship,and the women’s sailing group (Dinghy Dames)from Davis Island were challenged by the female salts(Bowchasers ) from the Clearwater Yacht Club. The DinghyDames took the final honors at the awards ceremony.First place in the H16 class of cats went to Brad Stephens andJamie Lindsey. Second place went to Tim Wallace and JohnSpear. Third place went to Karl Reneit and Bridget Precise.The N20 cats finished with Alex Safer and Nigel Pitt takingfirst. Second place went to Mark Smith and BubbaBarberi. Frank Murray and Mark Herendren took third.First place finishers for the Open B Portsmouth, OpenHigh Portsmouth and Open Low Portsmouth were Craig62 January 2006 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com