San Diego Argonauts launched into August points races with full summer conditions. Our pond, located right on the edge of the marine layer shield and sunshine, benefits with prevailing NW sea breezes. Today, our warm small waters event provided 3-13mph conditions. (gusto) FUN!
The topic of Ken Campbell’s racing rules clinic focused on leeward gate rounding. Thank you Ken for another informative discussion.
Five ODOM skippers were on the clock at noon, under the direction of Dennis Rogers. Generously heeling ODOMS began their six race series with all medium courses. Great sailing guys!
Eight Soling 50’s were on the course next to what Chris Staiger described as “one of craziest wind conditions he ever experienced with his Soling.” Boats heeled from a dramatic punch from the right, then appeared headed with little or no wind at all on the bow. I must say, Chris handled it well!
Commodore Mark Hallberg was on site, taking notes and joined the “peanut gallery” for some great camaraderie. VC Bob Williams held the group together with his untethered support and good old fashioned hot dogs after the day of sailing. Thank you all that participated!
It looks like we have definitely overcome the May gray and June gloom syndromes as sailors were greeted by picture perfect summer weather, excellent winds and delightful pond conditions. Also a huge surprise, traffic and parking were quite tolerable for a holiday weekend!
A special thank you for the crew that helped make these races possible. “R” white striped referee RD Ken Campbell, Gil Jansky for left biased and drifty mark setting, Kim Robbins for mark retrieval and skiff clean-up and Bob Williams for post racing hot dog rewards.
The first three ODOM races Gerry Wold was inadvertently affected by a rubber band handicap. During lunch break, Gerry discovered a rubber band wrapped around his keel bulb! Finger printing and DNA sampling are being conducted to determine if it was sabotage or a naturally occurring pond phenomenon? Non the less Gerry is still FAST!
It seems fitting that our June report would appear on the summer solstice with the surprising monsoon clouds pouring in from the east. Did someone just flip the summer switch?
I’ve been absent most the month but it appears lots of good vibes are happening on our pond. The following is an update thanks to the numerous contributions of club members.
Cultivating interest in our hobby is something all of us should be excited about. Sailing is challenging, engaging and fun. It also helps build and sustain our hobby and club. Here is an experience Ben Reeve had to share. It puts a smile on my face!
July 2 -Sol50,ODOM , S/B
July 23 -DF95, IOM
Aug.6 -ODOM,Sol50,S/B
Aug.13 DF95 Fun Regatta
Aug.20- DF95,IOM
Sept.3 Sol50,ODOM, S/B
Sept.10- DF95,IOM
Oct. 1- ODOM,Sol50, S/B
Oct. 8- IOM Fun Regatta
Oct. 15-DF95,IOM
Nov.5- Sol50,ODOM, S/B
Nov.19-IOM,DF95
Dec.3- ODOM,Sol50,S/B
Dec.10-DF95,IOM
Dec.17-Holiday Lights
Partly cloudy and cool temperature day at the Pond. Winds mostly W & NW. Shifty and gusty day. With gusts reaching low teens, we had nine DF95s and five IOMs competing this Saturday.
Thank you Tom Warren and Jon Rogers for RD’ing the DF95s and IOMs and setting and clearing the course. And, thank you Bob Williams for running the BBQ and hot dogs post race! Thank you to everyone else who contributed in making this another beautiful day at the pond.
Before the races, we had a brief Racing Rules Clinic with Ken Campbell explaining the “Port vs. Starboard rules at the Windward Mark”.
The results and some select scenes for the DF95 and IOM races can be seen below.
