Our 2026 racing season began with the DF95 Class RD’d by Craig Mackey.

Next up was the IOM Class RD’d by Keith Sternal.

Special thanks to Steve Ross & Pat Nevitt for the fabulous Video & Commentary!
Our 2026 racing season began with the DF95 Class RD’d by Craig Mackey.

Next up was the IOM Class RD’d by Keith Sternal.

Special thanks to Steve Ross & Pat Nevitt for the fabulous Video & Commentary!
Congratulations to our own Vice Commodore Chris Davidson for winning the 2025 Region 8 Travelers Trophy for the DF95 Class! For this achievement he will be ‘Given the Chair‘ at the next event in Long Beach.
The Final 2025 TT Event was raced at Mason Park in Irvine on Saturday August 16th under sunny skies and fluky winds. 19 skippers competed in 14 races over a 2 lap windward-leeward course. Thanks to the Orange County Model Sailing Club! Results (with 2 throwouts) were:

Another great day on the pond guys.
Kicking off the days racing were the IOMs with Commodore Pat Nevitt doing a great job as RD. First race was going to be our standard medium course just to scope things out but that was changed to a long course after some advice was offered to the VC of Sail from the Godfather of IOMs, Mr. Mackey. Not wanting to wake up in the morning with a horses head in my sail bag, I kindly passed this advice on to the RD who willingly obliged. 🙂
Long courses were the order of the day with some superb competition throughout the heats.
Good to have Jason and Dennis back on the starting line with Dennis racking up four bullets and taking out the day, well done.
With the Region 8 Regatta on next week it’s sure to be a great couple of days.

But wait, there’s more!
Next on the pond were the DF 95s, 18 in fact! What a show.
With that many boats on the start line and on the course all at the same time there was bound to be ‘interactions’. Plenty of penalty turns and close avoidance measures being put to the test.
All skippers conducted themselves very well, kudos to you all for sailing as sportsman should, the Corinthian spirit is alive and well. 🙂
BUT…….
Oops, I forgot to mention the RD. Headmaster Mackey was back to keep things in order. Apparently word got out there would be a host of boats in the playground and anarchy was not to prevail.
As most of you that sailed the January points race would know, Craig runs a tight ship and after a general recall or two, you guessed it, the black flag rule was invoked.
Those skippers that weren’t up to speed on what the black flag means, definitely know now! :O
Heats were all medium courses in a very fluctuating breeze that kicked hard to the right at times making any venture out to the left somewhat perilous and not without risk.
Great to see so many boats turning up and providing some very tight racing.
Welcome to John Lisenby who has only just got into sailing the DF 95 and by all accounts is having a ball.
A big thank to everyone who manned their rakes this morning to clear the shoreline of the dreaded slime. Very much appreciated. 🙂
Thanks also to Kerim, Jason and Dave for helping get the boat and buoys away.
See you all next time!
Regards
Chris

By gee by jingo by Crikey! What another great day at the pond with the Soling 50’s and ODOMS fighting it out on the water!
First off was the Soling 50’s with RD Pat Nevitt allocating a mixture of medium and long courses for the six heats sailed.
The breeze flicked a little from left to right which offered plenty of opportunities for the skippers to show their tactical prowess. 🙂
Some very close racing with three different boats taking two wins each and a tie for 1st overall.

Chris Staiger took over from Pat to RD for the ODOM’s and again there was a mix of medium and long courses.
Unfortunately for Steve Ross and Gil Jansky the dreaded gremlins had got onboard both boats and they were not able to compete but instead added
two more seats to the ‘peanut gallery’. What else would one do if you can’t go sailing? 🙂
By now the breeze had moved a little into the right which created panic if you found yourself on the left side of the course. :O
With a little luck and bad luck being shared around, there was no doubt at the end who took advantage of the conditions the best.
Kerim Baran again put in a very consistent performance with only Tom Warren being able to spoil Jess Atkinson’s clean sweep.
Great racing by all skippers over all heats.

The ODOM tuning clinic on the 1st of March is not to be missed.
Thanks to skippers, Race Directors and of course the ‘Peanut Gallery’ for making it another great day at the pond.
See you next week!
The San Diego Argonauts are hosting the AMYA Region 8 IOM Championship Regatta in less than two months. Start making your plans for a fun 3 day event on Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond. Registration is open.
https://www.iomusa.org/upcoming-events
Thanks to EVERYONE who helped make Race Week XV a resounding success!
Now is a perfect time to catch our breath, relax a bit and plan for the remaining few months of 2024. We still have some gaps to fill in our Race Director Calendar. Please review our RD Schedule and pick a date (or two!) We have plenty of seasoned Argonauts who are happy to mentor less experienced members and walk them through the complicated process of running races: 1) Press the Button, 2) Call out the over-early boats, 3) take down finishes. (Yes, it really is that simple…) Remember that Argonauts who volunteer to RD Class Points in a Fleet they also race in will receive their Average Points for that month!

Overcast skies and moderate but shifty westerly winds were the order of the day for DF95 & IOM Points racing. Jess Atkinson set Marks and RD’d both Fleets, selecting combinations of Medium and Long Courses. Results follow:


Next, Jess selected Medium, Long, and Medium-Long-Long Courses for the IOM Fleet. Results below:


Thanks to David Stong who helped Jess with take-down and clean-up at the end of the day. Reminder: RD’s get their Points Averaged for Fleets they RD for…
The Argonauts turned out in force to say Farewell to Commodore Emeritus, Lifetime Member and Procurer of Sandwiches, Mark Hallberg. Mark is departing for the Great White North of Eugene Oregon and will be missed by Argonauts everywhere. Good Luck, Mark!
Following the presentation of a plaque to Mark in recognition of his decades of service to the San Diego Argonauts, Keith Sternal set the marks, called all medium courses and RD’d the Odom Fleet under sunny skies and 9 – 12 knots of westerly winds. Results follow:


Next it was the Soling Fleet’s turn. The winds were still pretty westerly but with a few more shifts and lulls. Like Keith, RD Pat Nevitt ran all medium courses. Results below:





