Author: William Staiger
Points Day Results – DF95’s & IOM’s (Nov 29th, 2025)
It looks like we are getting into a fall/winter wind pattern here in San Diego. Storms followed by high pressure and off shore flow seem to dominate at this time of the year. Fortunately our pond still provides light onshore wind that keep our yachts moving. (mostly!)
We had a good day of sailing with both classes completing 6 races each. Special thanks to our two ad hoc RD’s, Tom Warren and Kerim Baran. We could not play this game without you! Also thanks to Jess Atkinson, Chris Davidson and Bill Bridge for setting courses and clean-up.
Chris Davidson has returned from Oz.. Check the score card! Welcome back Chris!!
2025 Fun & Fowl Regatta (Nov 22, 2025)
Len Bose and Doc Elliott were trapped in Orange County due to the closure of I-5, so there were 8 competitors for the 2025 Fun & Fowl Regatta. Saturday began drizzly, cold and windless, but a sizeable Peanut Gallery gathered to witness the spectacle.
After a ‘waiting for the wind’ delay, PRO Ben Reeve called the first race; a short course drifter that seemed much longer than it took. After a race or two, a light breeze from the northwest began to fill in a bit and Ben tried some medium courses.
Eventually, the fingery breeze freshened and became almost due west, so Ben ran a Looong course. The temperatures rose and a bit of sunshine peeked through the clouds as the breeze slackened a bit but remained pretty smooth with only minor to moderate shifts.
Tom Warren acted as ‘Head Peanut,’ as well as co-RD and acquired the ‘Fowl’ prizes. Thanks also to Bill Bridge who (as usual) made himself indispensable with the rescue boat and setting marks.
Thank you, Tom Warren, for the photos & Ben Reeve for the amazing black and whites.
Points Day Results – ODOM’s & Soling 50’s (Nov 8, 2025)
Beautiful ‘Sun Diego’ weather with light variable winds met the Odom Class for November Points racing with RD Ben Reeve:
2nd Place was an EXACT tie between Tom Warren and Kerim Baran. They each had the exact same finishes between them!
The Solings were next with RD Steve Ross:
Tight racing on shorter courses as the winds died led to several lead changes despite the small fleet.
DF95 Team Challenge – Round 2
The Second DF95 Team Challenge of 2025 was held at Mason Park in Irvine on Sunday, August 17th, 2025. Seven 2-Boat Teams competed in the Team Management System (TMS) run event. Just as in Round 1, Teams were organized via seeding in an attempt to even the competition. A shortened ‘reverse-hourglass’ course was sailed in shifty, light to moderate winds (with more than a few holes) under sunny skies. The 7-Team Matrix begins with a Round-Robin Stage where the top 3 teams advance directly to the Finals. The remaining 4 teams race a single-elimination ‘Wild Card’ bracket with the winning team joining the top 3 in the Finals which consists of a 4-Team Round-Robin. This racing format keeps every team ‘in-the-hunt’ for the championship until at least the 22nd Race (out of 30 total Races) and guarantees every Team gets to race at least 7 times.
There were a couple minor changes to the rules in the running of Round 2: Proper course between boats on different legs was emphasized and enforced, and ‘Instant Umpiring’ was adopted. Under RRS Appendix D Team Racing, an Umpire’s involvement after waiting for a voluntary single penalty turn requires a 2-Turn penalty. In Round 2, the Umpire called single-turn penalties immediately but reserved the ability to specify more turns if appropriate. This helped competitors know exactly where they stood following an incident and took the guess work out of protests and fouls. Results follow:
Congratulations to Team Red (Jim Sears & Angelo Greco) who sailed a near perfect regatta; losing only a single Race to 2nd Place Team Green (Larry Grant & Richard Diamond)
Thanks to the Orange County Model Sailing Club and Amya President, DF95 National Class Secretary, and all-around ‘good guy’ Len Bose for setting up the event and making it all possible.
Special thanks also to Jim Sears who rigged a YUUUGE ‘boom camera’ to take live aerial video of the event (drones are not allowed at Mason Park). We’re looking forward to more of his color commentary when he (hopefully) posts his videos on Youtube.