Good to see you all once again and thanks to Fred Rocha for being the RD for both classes and Chris Staiger for getting the buoys in and putting away the dinghy.
Apologies to all the IOM skippers whom I led astray in Race 3. 🙂 (Except Tom Warren).
Note: If you’re wondering about the scoring for that race, Tom was the only one that sailed the course.
Points are IAW A5.3 (Changes A5.2) as appropriate for our points racing format.
Thank you, Steve Ross, for filming some of the IOM races. Scroll below to see the videos.
The 2025 ODOM National Championship was hosted this September 6th & 7th at the iconic Spreckels Lake in San Francisco. The weather, venue, hosts, and camaraderie of competitors came together to make it a truly memorable weekend of racing.
Eighteen skippers lined up for a total of 23 races over two days, testing their skill against the famously shifty Spreckels winds. True to form, many found themselves “Spreckeled” more than a few times by the unpredictable shifts—but that’s part of the charm of this storied venue. With the sun out and temperatures hovering at an ideal 70–72 degrees, conditions couldn’t have been better.
The San Diego Argonauts sent four sailors north for the event, and proudly brought home four of the top five spots:
Jess Atkinson – 1st place, with a consistent and commanding performance
George Pedrick – 2nd place
Larry Grant – 3rd place
4th – Chris Davidson
5th – Kerim Baran
This strong showing was aided in part by the outstanding race management of the San Francisco Model Yacht Club. Several of SF’s top ODOM sailors chose to volunteer instead of race, and their professionalism elevated the event.
Each mark rounding had two dedicated judges, as did the start/finish line, in addition to the PRO and race director. The result was a regatta that ran with remarkable efficiency, fairness, and clarity.
The setting at Spreckels Lake was as picturesque as ever, with the historic San Francisco Model Yacht Club Boat House adding a timeless backdrop. Competitors and spectators alike enjoyed not just the high-quality racing, but also the sense of community that makes events like these special.
Congratulations again to all competitors and a big thank-you to our gracious San Francisco hosts – Dick Hunter, Rob Weaver, and team.
Additional photos are included below—including the stunning images captured around the historic Boat House.
Photo credits: Rob Weaver, Ed Gilbert, Chris Davidson, Kerim Baran
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.
