Clouds and Southerly winds greeted the DF95 Fleet as Point races began. Lots of shifts, holes and lead-changes were the order of the day as RD Jason Brooks chose courses to fit the conditions.
The winds picked up a bit, filled in and moved more westerly by the time the IOM‘s took to the pond. Racing was extremely tight as the fleet remained bunched throughout most of the heats. There were many lead changes; many occurring on the final leg!
Perfect weather for the DF95 Fun Regatta! Plenty of sun and 10 knot westerly (mostly) winds! For the first time in (recorded) history, the Argonauts engaged in Team Racing. Team Captains Kerim Baran and Dennis Rogers chose their respective squads from the skippers present and each was given a Red or Blue pennant to display at their masthead. Standard Racing Rules were used with the following changes: 1) 2-Boatlength Circles, 2) No ‘Proper Course’ restrictions after passing marks, and 3) No penalty for fouling Teammates. Since scores were aggregated for each Team, individual finishes were not as important as helping Teammates who were trying to hold off competitors. This resulted in numerous examples of Teammates intentionally slowing down or maneuvering to ‘gang-up’ on vulnerable opponents! Lots of dicey crosses, slam dunks, and luffing! Special thanks to our beloved ‘Dog-Meister’ Bob Williams who grilled all the Hot Dogs we could eat (and then some…), and Ben Reeve for scoring the Regatta! Results below:
And now for something completely different…. All you dragonflite95 Skippers bring your boat (and your appetite) to the Model Yacht Pond this Saturday! There will be plenty of Fun, Excitement, Prizes and HOT DOGS!!! The Event starts at Noon, so don’t be late!
Thanks to Bob Williams who RD’d the IOM Fleet and Fred Rocha who RD’d the DF95’s! Also, a special Welcome Back to Paul Hart who proves you can’t keep a good Skipper down!
Beautiful, sunny weather with wonky winds! The Dragonflite95 Fleet began in moderate but shifty Southwest winds. Due to the direction, Starboard rounding courses were selected by RD Tom Warren. Though the winds filled a bit over time and veered slightly more westerly, there were some big holes and massive shifts. There were many lead changes, but lawyers took the top two spots with Scotty Harris carrying the day by winning half the races:
Next it was the IOM’s turn and strengthening westerly winds allowed a return to our traditional Port Roundings. RD Chris Staiger ran a combination of Medium and Long courses. Dennis Rogers dominated the fleet of eleven IOM’s; missing a perfect score of “6”‘ by a single point. Results follow:
CONGRATULATIONS to Mark Golison, the 2024 Region 8 Dragonflite95 Champion! Racing was extremely close with 2 of the top 5 positions being decided via tie-breaks. Thanks to our Race Committee Members who worked so hard to host this regatta and congratulations to our Corinthian Award Winner, Henry Johnson!
Video courtesy of Steve Ross & Kerim Baran:
A healthy group of DF 95 skippers faired well today with no fowl weather and no fowl language.. Jess Atkinson was the master of ceremony and directed a full day of sailing on Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond. At stake today was winners rights to a booty of fresh fowl for the Thanksgiving table!
Prior to racing skippers gathered around Dennis Rogers for an informative tuning seminar. Dennis shared valuable setup and tuning tricks for the DF95. I think everyone learned something from the class..Dennis is FAST!
Jess got us all thinking about the four boat circle with four DF95 yachts parked bow too stern on the grass . The visualization gave us a good refresher on how to avoid problems when rounding the leeward mark. The stage was set and skippers were eager to bring home the bacon! Tom Warren backed up the class with expert assist at the start and finish. GREAT JOB!
