Snowbird Series Part 1/4 - Jeff Penfield Memorial Regatta

30 Boats on the Line!

Team Florida was very smart to organize a Snowbird Series to encourage us Northerners to fly south for the winter.  The Snowbird Series consists of four races (1) Jeff Penfield Memorial Regatta at Sarasota Sailing Squadron (2) Gator Bowl at the Rudder Club of Jacksonville (3) Davis Island Yacht Club and (4) George Washington Birthday Regatta at Lake Eustis Sailing Club.   An entire write-up explaining the series can found in a recent Scots N Water.   It's not easy to say no to sailing in Florida to begin with, but the Florida District Governor sweetened the deal by promising free boat storage for both the boat and tow vehicle in Tampa.  After confirming Allegiant Airlines flies directly out of Bloomington and Indy at affordable rates I was sold!  

Driving to Florida is pretty grueling, even for me, when there is nobody in the passenger seat.  The only downside to the first leg of this trip is that I would have make the long drive to the Jeff Penfield all by myself.   Fueling me was the prospect of warmer weather, friendly faces, and looking forward to racing with Tyler Andrews from Flying Scot Inc.  I feel my sailing has continued to improve over the past couple seasons and I can use all the help I can get if ever hope to compete with the best sailors in our class.   The Florida fleet is hyper competitive so I was excited to see if we could hang with the top dogs.  

Before we get into the racing, let's first appreciate Sarasota.   After picking up Tyler at the Tampa airport, the first non sailing priority was a stop at Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands Circle.  I love me some Cuban food and traditionally order a 1/2 cuban sandwich and 1/2 1905 salad to kick off every Sarasota trip.  That restaurant is one my happy places and is where Steve Hartman and I hung out every day during my first visit to a Midwinters regatta.  There are many happy memories at that place and the food and atmosphere is quite amazing.   St. Armands Circle has a unique vibe and is just a fun place to be.  

On Friday night we were invited to the unofficial welcome party next the RVs.   Earlier that day Jeff Linton and Bill Bruss caught a delicious Pompano fish which they cooked up and shared with the large of group of racers as we hung out and enjoyed nice selection of great food and cold beverages.  The scene reminded me of the Glow Regatta, except there were palm trees everywhere.  It was fun hanging out with the Florida sailors and catching up with people I haven't seen in a while.  

Photo by Amy Linton

30 boats on the line!  The Flying Scot class has so many big fleet regattas in addition to the nationally sanctioned regattas.   We always have another big regatta just around the corner and not too many classes can say that.  It's great to see regattas in different parts of the parts of the country continue to grow in popularity.   This is yet another example.  Sarasota is once again home to the upcoming Midwinter Championship and I absolutely love the venue.  If you are not familiar with the venue, I created a video that might help give you an idea.  I think I can say with confidence that Sarasota may be my favorite place to sail.    

Racing conditions were just about perfect both days with some decent chop.  It didn't show in the standings, but we had the boat moving very fast and pointing very well.  Had to battle back from some bad starts and got to mix it up with the top of the fleet in multiple races.  I met young Greiner Hobbs on the race course on Saturday who felt the need to lee bow me every chance he got in the third race.   He even slam dunked me one time time when I was trying to duck him.  Turns out he's an accomplished college racer who must be accustomed to an aggressive style of sailing that we don't typically see at Flying Scot regattas.  It probably didn't help either of us in the end, but it was an awesome opportunity to improve my point mode sailing.   In the process, with a little coaching from Tyler, I turned a glaring weakness into a freaky-good strength.   No matter how hard he tried, drag race after drag race, he couldn't outpoint our boat and I feel this development could be a game changer for me going forward.   He made it a point to compliment our pointing ability as we returned to the dock and I felt really good about the improvement to my sailing game. 

The final race on Sunday was memorable as we were competing in top 4-5 for most of the the 5-leg race.  The wind had died significantly and we were now sailing in Jeff and Amy Linton's favorite conditions and we happened to be competing with them for the 4th place spot.  We were hanging with them both upwind and downwind and I must say that felt pretty good.  On the last leg of the race, we broke off and went right hoping for to pass some boats and watched helplessly as a big lefty came in.   We ended up a frustrated 9th in the final race, but once again I had the opportunity to test my skills in lighter air with one of the best in the business.   I felt I passed the test and hope to build on the momentum from Sarasota and maybe even generate some more before the winter is over.  

Fellow snowbirds Lynn and Bill Bruss from Chattanooga raced on their new boat FS#6158 Hang on Sloopie for the first time.  It was was like watching kids at Christmas with their new boat.  Super happy for those two!  They didn't have their boat dialed in on Saturday, but they made some adjustments to the rake and had the boat moving great on Sunday.  I have a feeling we'll be crossing paths plenty during the upcoming season and I'm looking forward to it.  

It's not too late to make plans for Florida!  

37 Boats at the Lake Norman Fall 48

 Ben and I also went to the Fall 48 in Lake Norman (Charlotte, NC).This year’s event also was the ACCs/Carolina Districts since that event got … errrr …  blown out by Hurricane Florence from its originally scheduled location of Black Beard Sailing Club in New Bern, NC. Apparently the Fall 48 traditionally is more lightly attended than the Great 48 in May. But not this year! Instead of the usual 25 or 30 boats, there were 37. Those 37 boats included some of the top sailors in the class who traveled from as far away as Massachusetts, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Stacey and Ryan Saturday morning

Tight Racing

The other twist in this event is that Ben crewed for Ryan on our boat and I spectated.  I did it for the greater good; we both thought Ben could learn a ton from being on the boat with Ryan and he did.

On Saturday, although the temperatures were very chilly and the wind started white capping (in fact one boat capsized in the first race Saturday), conditions moderated as the day went on, with temperatures rising and wind speeds falling. 

The race committee ran three six-leg windward-leeward courses on Saturday (though one was shortened). Six is a lot of legs and I have rarely seen that many but given the wind direction it was understandable. I find it hard to keep track of that many legs, but the competitors seemed to take it in stride. Because Ben, was crewing for Ryan, in preparation for their teaming up for the Midwinters this coming March (2019), I was in the unusual position of being ground crew and spectator.

Ben as crew! "Get that pole up!!"

 I hitched a ride on the judge boat. Ben lent me his fancy camera with a big zoom lens and I spent most of Saturday trying to find their boat in the crush.

Winds, as usual, were shifty. Everyone complained about them, but Tyler and Carrie Andrews showed everyone how it is done. They not only earned four bullets (Saturday and Sunday combined), but in each race they led almost wire to wire, sometimes stretching out leads of half a leg in length.

Unfortunately for them, the universal joint on their hiking stick broke after the start of the second race on Saturday, forcing them to go to shore for a repair. Because of some boat gymnastics that are not interesting to the reader, that tiller actually happened to be the one from our boat, Catitude. Ryan had offered Tyler and Carrie a spare joint to carry on their boat and Carrie demurred. All the way back to the club she was regretting her decision to put that key piece of equipment in the truck instead of on the boat!

John Kreidler with tactician Joe Brake

I was reminded of the old ditty, “for want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost,” etc, all the way to “a kingdom that was lost” all for want of a nail. Anyway, let that be a lesson to other sailors to carefully consider what replacement parts they might want to carry with them on the water.

While dinner was being cooked (chicken on the BBQ), Sean O’Donnell did a marvelous job MC’ing a great de-brief session, smoothly picking the brains of the top sailors. The entire clubhouse hung on the observations offered. I will mention, and perhaps I am biased, but I find Carrie Andrews one of the best at describing what they were doing and thinking on the water.

Meanwhile, regatta chair Carol Sandke and her team did a marvelous job decorating the club house with Halloween decorations. Many people dressed in costumes. We did not get that memo, and I felt bad about not participating but it did not diminish my enjoyment of the chicken hot off the grill and the brownie sundae for dessert. We went to sleep in our tent with full bellies and a couple borrowed blankets (thank you Bruce and Lynn Kitchen!) to fend off the chilly night.

Other racers filled the void left by the Andrews’ equipment failure, and competition was fierce between the top dozen sailors. In an indication of the challenging conditions, every boat had at least one double digit finish. Mark Swanson, the eventual winner, leapfrogged the competition Sunday with the second-place finishes, making up an 11-point deficit from Saturday’s results. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that kind of second-day recovery.

The wind Sunday was more northerly and the angle was such that the legs were longer, so there were fewer of them. I stayed on shore and the angle was such that I couldn’t see anything, but when all was said and done, Mark Swanson was crowned the winner of the Fall 48 and the ACCs.

Chris and Gabe Herman claimed the title of the Carolina District champions. The Hermans (father and son) have not been sailing all that long, but they are regular participants in both the Great 48 and the Fall 48, traveling from Lake Townsend (Greensboro, NC) in their re-built 1975 Chevy Suburban. They have steadily improved over the years (again, they travel. Coincidence? I think not!) and this year they had a very consistent performance. Congratulations to them!

As the season now winds down for us northerners, I’ll take a moment to remind sailors that there is a Florida circuit they can sail through the winter if they aren’t quite ready yet to put their boat in storage.

Lining up before the start

Ben and Ryan trophied!