Perfect sailing conditions greeted the twelve competitors for the inaugural Tri-Dragon Team Challenge; the first of its kind in Travelers Trophy history. Six teams fought hand-to-hand in tightly sailed matches all afternoon. Many heats were decided by lead changes just before the finish. The Championship was determined by the Final Race of the day between Team Red and Team Green. Congratulations to the winners and all the participants! (Special thanks to Len Bose who gave up his racing spot to a fellow competitor to help Umpire the Event!)
Excellent Video and Commentary courtesy of Dr. Jim Sears!
First to kick off yesterday’s racing was the IOM’s.
Gerry Wold signed up as RD for both classes and he certainly had a challenge ahead of him. The breeze was coming from the direction every Argonaut holds with much disdain, across the pond!
Fortunately there was a bit of West in it ( At times?) and Gerry was able to set courses that stretched the length of the pond. This was going to be ‘one of those days’, the wind swirled, there were plenty of holes and mother nature just kept everyone guessing the whole day.
After winning the day, I have to say that it wasn’t due to me being the fastest, perhaps just the luckiest. :O
Add another seven boats and we saw the DF’s hit the water. Same challenges but now with the increased number of boats, everyone’s chances of getting ‘lucky’ were a whole lot less.
“Go left young man” seemed to be the strategy but that was sometimes easier said than done.
Even with quite a biased line at the North shore end, the fleet fought for the pin end and if you got away cleanly you were in good stead. (Not so easy to achieve). BUT, even then the top mark was like a roulette wheel, enter the zone and cross your fingers. :O
Apologies for setting it there but more so for not moving it after the IOM’s. Sailing two boats sometimes causes some time management issues. :(.
All in all the racing was extremely ’sporting’, penalties were taken appropriately and there was a high level of consideration amongst the competitors for the challenging conditions.
Congrats to the podium placegetters and congratulations to all all competitors for turning up and making it a great day at the pond.
If you havent already entered the TT teams event next weekend, get your entry in it’s going to be great fun and ’something different’.
Or even just drop down and bolster the numbers in the peanut gallery. 🙂
Thank you Kerim, Gerry and Jon for collecting the marks and putting the boat Etc. away.
The San Diego Argonauts hosted the AMYA 2025 Dragonflite95 Region 8 Championship Regatta May 17th-18th. 21 Skippers from 4 different states including 2 past DF95 National Champions competed.
Friday afternoon began with check-in and practice-racing. Technical Committee Chairman Steve Ross and PRO Chris Staiger performed check-in and measurement and distributed logo hats, while Commodore Pat Nevitt took customized sandwich pre-orders for Sunday’s lunch. (Special thanks also to Pat for his tireless efforts in having the city dredge the reef and make our ENTIRE pond useable once more!)
Saturday morning saw the remaining skippers and boats checked-in under drizzly cold conditions (improved somewhat by hot coffee and donuts provided by Purser Gil Jansky.) PRO Chris Staiger set 6 marks: an inside leeward Gate, a Start/Finish Line, and two windward marks. The standard long course, which was used for every race in the regatta, consisted of: Start, two windward marks, inside leeward Gate, two windward marks, inside leeward Gate, Finish. Depending on the winds, the windward marks were rounded either to Port or Starboard. The HMS with 2 Fleets and 4-Boat Promotion/Relegation was utilized, resulting in 12/13 Boat Heats throughout the event. Finishes and Scoring were recorded by Steve Delva. Following the Skippers Meeting, competitors were faced with shifty south to south-westerly winds which required constant relocation of the windward marks and shifting of the Start/Finish Line. Even so, most races on Saturday consisted of long port tacks up the pond with only occasional short starboard hitches. Saturday’s successful skippers managed to dodge the biggest holes and take advantage of the fingery puffs to keep their sails full and their boats moving. Skippers were treated to Bob Williams’ famous grilled hotdogs for lunch. Bob also provided beverages and ice throughout the weekend.
By the end of the day with 8 races completed, past Champion Mark Golison, led with 11 points, followed by Gary Boell (15), Chris Davidson (17), Jim Sears (20), Kerim Baran (24), with Jon and Dennis Rogers rounding out the Top 7. Following the racing, skippers were treated to a pond-side Café-Med style barbecue prepared by Chris and Pam Staiger. Opa!
Sunday morning began with more promising conditions: Coffee, donuts, warmer temperatures and 5 – 8 knot winds a bit more westerly than the day before. Marks were adjusted and after a few heats, the breezes filled in and trended more westerly allowing starboard roundings at the windward end to resume. Jan Nevitt provided custom-ordered sandwiches for lunch as the sailing conditions improved. The sun emerged and racing was completed in classic San Diego conditions: 8 – 10 knots of wind straight down the pond under sunny skies and warm temperatures. By the time the dust settled, Mark Golison had held solidly onto 1st, while Jim Sears leapfrogged into 2nd and Chris Davidson fought past Gary Boell to take 3rd by a mere tenth of a point. The Rogers Brothers (who have a habit of finishing adjacent to each other) took 5th (Jon) and 6th (Dennis).
Skippers were given secret ballots to vote for the one competitor who best exemplified sportsmanship both on and off the racecourse: They chose Jon Rogers to receive the Corinthian Spirit Award.
Thanks to Chairman Gil Jansky, Bob Williams, Jack, and Keith Sturgess who handled site setup and takedown and Tom Warren who manned the rescue boat. Special Thanks to all the Argonauts who worked so hard clearing weeds, algae and debris to restore full use of our Pond!
It certainly was a mixed up day at the races and Hughie was not discriminating. Im sure everyone was at his mercy at one time or another. If it wasn’t Hughie, it was the dreaded slime. 🙁
Certainly need another slime busting work dat in the coming weeks. The RD’s did a great job choosing the courses and thanks to Kerim and Chris S for adjusting the marks as needed.
IOM’s
As you can see by the scores, the racing was still very tight.
Congratulations to Len Bose on scoring a bullet in the final race of the IOM’s, he was chased and chased but held his nerve to the finish. Worth the drive hey Len. 🙂
