RACING KBYC PBSC SALM SCF SORC STC USSC MAY 4 10 11 17-18 18 24 25 27 JUNE 8 22 28
Key BiscayneYC. www.kbyc.org Palm Beach Sailing Club. www.pbsail.org Shake-A-Leg Miami. www.shakealegmiami.org Sailfish Club. Palm Beach. www.sailfishclub.com Southern Ocean Racing Circuit. www.sorcsailing.org Storm Trysail Club. www.stormtrysail.org US SAILING Center, Miami. www.usscmiami.org Ron Payne Memorial Snipe. LYC Southeast Florida Offshore Series. www.phrfsef.com PHRF Coastal Challenge. www.phrfsef.com PHRF Championships. www.phrfsef.com Hospice by the Sea Regatta. LYC Full Moon Regatta. BBYRA Goombay Regatta. CGSC Castaway Ocean series. CASC Castaway Ocean series. CASC Full Moon Regatta. Regatta Time in Abaco
Florida Keys Race Calendar Key West Community Sailing Center (formerly Key West Sailing Club). Every Saturday – Open house at the Center. 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Friday evenings happy hour open house at 5 p.m. (305) 292-5993. www.keywestsailingsailingcenter.com. Sailboat Lane off Palm Avenue in Key West. Non-members welcome. Small-boat Wednesday night racing during Daylight Savings season. Smallboat Sunday racing year around at 1 p.m. Boat ramp available. Race in the seaplane basin near the mooring field. Dinner and drinks afterward. Upper Keys Sailing Club (UKSC) www.upperkeyssailingclub. com. Go to the Club website for regular club racing open to all. MAY 26-27 JUNE 22
winds backed off to a nice 10-15 knots and nine races were sailed over three days. Those who thought they might have a chance against David Mendelblatt of St. Petersburg and Greg Gust of Dallas were sadly mistaken, however. All nine were won by one of the top two and most of the seconds, too. Mendelblatt bested Gust by only three points in a tight finish right up to the end and took home the Tillman Perpetual Midwinters Trophy. Thirty-two sailors started on March 15 with only one committing an OCS and one over early who cleared. After the first two races, the competitors started seven straight races without a single penalty flag. Most were right on time, and no one committed an on-course side foul. Little more than half-mile windward/leeward legs gave everyone a chance to try to find the current or the puffs and to try out their tactics. The nearest finisher to the top two was Dan Norton of Illinois who scored nearly double Gust’s score. Fifth was a junior sailor from Dallas, Hamrick Morgan, who was steady with thirds and fourths, and fifth was Chad Coberly of Michigan, following with close fourths and fifths. Joe Blouin of Tampa won the tiebreaker for sixth with Ron McHenry of Ohio. First in women’s was US SAILING’s Inshore Director, Lee Parks, who held her own against local favorites Rita Steele of Sarasota and Mindy Strauley of Casselbury, FL. Two younger juniors in their first Sunfish regatta finished well, both 11 years old. Drew Hayward of Tampa was a very respectable 16th, and Lindsay Kaighin of Sarasota was 22nd. Eighty-two-year-old veteran Don Bergman of Michigan was 14th. Winds were shifty but stayed in the southerly quadrant for most of the races. One broken mast and a broken rudder were the only breakdowns for the regatta. This regatta has been held for over 40 years, many times at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron, and the Florida region looks forward to the 2014 Midwinters, which will determine a portion of the Pan Am Country Qualifiers. Next year’s Midwinters will be in Pensacola.
Nest Key Race Greased Watermelon Regatta
Race Reports
U.S. National Sunfish Midwinters, Sarasota Sailing Squadron, March 15 By Cindy Clifton Blustery weather during the week leading up to the U.S. National Sunfish Midwinters led some to believe the winds would be abusive. Instead, for three days the sun shone, the 52 May 2013
SOUTHWINDS
Drew Hayward, from Tampa, an 11 year old junior sailing in the Sunfish Midwinters in Sarasota. Age difference at the regatta was 11 years to 82 years-old. Photo by Cindy Clifton. www.southwindsmagazine.com