CYC Fall Sport Boat Regatta: Coronado Yacht Club Sept 24/25 2011

Eight teams signed up for the Coronado Yacht Club regatta this past weekend ... and got to enjoy typical south bay conditions with flat water and moderate breezes.  We also got to enjoy a fantastic debrief with Howard Hamlin and Andy Zinn sharing some of their rigging tips and go fast secrets and to take a look at their brand new Rondar.

This was by far the most competitive 505 fleet we've had in San Diego in regattas I have sailed.  A single mistake such as a bad tack or poor rounding would mean several lost places (and unfortunately I know this from experience).  We were in second place several times and either had a bad tack, went the wrong way or had a poor rounding and lost 2-3 boats quickly.

For both days we had lighter breeze which built over the course of the day to where we were consistently having crew out on the wire upwind and big gains/losses were made in the decision to wire run or sit on the tanks.  Slightly more breeze on day 2 with some nice wire running conditions.

Couple highlights:

Race 1:  At the start, the wind had shifted to favor starboard tack ... Howard/Andy and Amie/Ted both went left and the rest of the fleet went right following normal south bay protocol.  When the fleet converged at the top mark Howard and Amie were in 1,2 and statyed there the rest of the race.  At the debrief after, they both pointed out that the wind had shifted to the right and stbd tack was highly favored ... when they got a header near the port tack layline they tacked and it worked like a charm.

Race 2:  Not much to remember in this one.  We seem to be slightly slower upwind and had good speed downwind.  Team Billings joined the fleet for this race then mysteriously dis-appeared for the rest of the regatta.  They seemed to be sailing well until things started falling apart ... hope to see them out soon.

Race 3:  Not sure what happened at the front of the fleet, but thats the one where Sean and I had a bad tack about ten yards from the finish and wound up fouling Mark Folkman while on port tack.  We did our circles and managed to let Mark and Amie/ted sail past to finish fourth.  Apologies to Mark ... I did not realize how long it would take to accelerate after we filled the boat with water.  

We rounded the final weather mark in 5th place and decided to wire run (following Howard/Andy while the rest of the fleet sat on the tanks.  We managed to round the leeward mark in second pace as a result of the wire running.  In the debrief, we discussed lighter breeze wiring technique and realized it can be fast if the crew hikes high and the skipper sits pretty far inboard to allow the boat to keep moving but sail somewhat deep.  another thing I learned was that in marginal wiring conditions it can pay to switch between the modes in the puffs and lulls ... but it is a bad idea to sail to far from the middle of the course.  If you get caught out on the side and the wind drops, sailing on the tanks back to the middle can be painfully slow.)

Race 4: Maybe someone else can fill in the details from this one.  We did try the tip of pulling the board all the way up on the runs (on my boat you have to hold the board up) and it seemed pretty fast ... although somewhat tough to control the boat.

Race 5: Started with relatively light breeze and it was close through the entire race with lots of place changes.  We lost Amie/Ted this day and picked up Jeff/Peter sailing Howard/Andy's old boat.

Race 6:  Maybe someone else can fill in the details.

CYC did a new thing and set course 26A ... with a route to the bar.  Its was a noce change of pace to race back into the club rather than just sail in ... Congrats to Mark for being the only boat to sail the correct course and win the race to the bar.  The rest of us rounded the incorrect green mark.  

Channing

San Diego Invitational 2007

Karl traveled down from the land of breeze to sail the Coronado Fall Dinghy regatta.  Saturday morning started very similar to last year with rain, but it seemed like there was pretty good breeze.  Unlike last year, we decided to sail even if it was going to rain.

We had a great turnout with eight boats on the line and some new faces in the fleet.  There were several private battles in the fleet, with Phlegm and SIB duking it out for the top spot, The Red Boat, us and TGIF for 3^rd place.

Saturday was sailed in 6-10 knots of breeze with plenty of shifts and light spots which made for a lot of passing lanes (or in our case, getting passed lanes).  Sunday was fantastic south bay sailing with 10-14 knots of breeze.  Nice wire running conditions and full trapping conditions upwind.  Much less whining from crews about having to move in and out.

Here is what I remember:

Race 1:  Mainsheet block pulled out at 25 seconds to the start and we started about a minute late after sorting out the mess.  We felt somewhat skiff like with off the boom sheeting.  Fortunately the breeze was pretty light so it wasn’t too tiring.

We managed to almost catch TGIF and The Red Boat, gaining on them downwind and losing a bit upwind.  The A fleet of SIB and Phlegm were pretty far ahead by the time we completed four laps.

Race 2:  With the mainsheet fixed … we got a reasonable start but were somewhat off the pace on the first leg watching SIB and Phlegm sail away.  We were pretty close with TGIF and the Red Boat most of the race and managed a fourth place, ahead of TGIF and behind Tom and super speedy Kevin in third.  They really seemed to have the Red Boat moving well in the light and shifty breeze.

Race 3:  The horror of all horrors, we got caught in a pack next to the committee boat at the start and had a minor collision with the other absolutely beautiful recently restored Lindsay (Animal Crackers visiting from Pasadena).  Fortunately there was no damage to their boat and only minor damage to mine.  We did our circles (which scared SIB a bit) and got on with the racing, with our work cut out for us.  Its much more fun to get a terrible start and feel good about nearly catching people … isn’t it?

We managed to catch TGIF on the final leeward leg and finish directly behind the Red Boat for an overlapped finish.  Again Phlegm and SIB were pretty far ahead.

Race 4: Started in relatively light conditions with the wind filling in from the left.  We rounded the windward mark in third, just ahead of Kitty and just behind the A fleet.  With the breeze lightish and our weight heavyish, we decided to go deep and let the leaders wire reach.  Big mistake … they got to the side of the course with more breeze and took off.  We finally decided to start wire running in fresh breeze and got rolled by Kitty rounding the next mark in 4^th.  With 12-14 knots of breeze for the rest of the day, we had absolutely fantastic sailing conditions.  We finished the race in third, well behind the A fleet.

Race 5:  We finally got a decent start and rounded the windward mark in second place.  Gary passed us on the next downwind leg and we gained upwind, lost downwind and then rounded the final leeward mark 5-10 lengths behind SIB.  Gary and Dan split from us on the final beat.  We were able to tack on two very large headers and pass them to finish second, trying to help Dan and Bill secure enough points to move into the lead. 

SIB and Phlegm each had 8 points and Gary again reigned supreme winning the tie-breaker.  We were a distant third.

The results are posted here:  http://www.coronadoyc.org/racing/documents/2007FallSmallBoatRegattaResults.pdf

PCC's

It was not looking good for me to sail the PCCs this year due to poor planning on Karl’s part (wedding took priority over sailing) and not wanting to sail with new crew in the breezy San Fran conditions.  

As with most great ideas, John Billings, whose crewing situation has changed recently as well, and I decided at the last minute at the bar at MBYC to drive up and sail the PCCs together.  As an added bonus, we also made it to Karls’ wedding in Sonoma.

We enjoyed sunshine, fog, great breeze, swimming and belly dancers with candelabras on their heads, and some carnage all in the same weekend.

It turned out that the San Diego fleet had a pretty good showing with Gary and Dan on SIB, Dan and Bill on Phlegm, and Mike Jue sailing with Joe on ?????

We left San Diego on Friday evening after traffic and made it most of the way to TISC, finishing the drive the next morning after a few hours sleep.  Our first interaction was Mike Holt telling us about the sailing on Friday afternoon “It was too windy to sail blah, blah, blah”.  Not good to hear Mike telling you its too windy to sail …. as he hails from Santa Cruz and is a known heavy air specialist.

Not easily deterred, John and I decided to keep moving ahead and had a wonderful day sailing in 15 or so knot breezes (that’s a san diego 20).  Due to a misunderstanding of the unorthodox starting sequence, we along with a number of other boats were late to the start of the first race by a couple minutes.  We got in some good practice for the remainder of the racing and managed to finish all four races.  Not wanting to bore you with the intimate details, here are a couple high points from the day:

After botching a gybe an rounding up with the kite up … going horizontal, John and I had a cordial conversation sitting on the rail:

John:  “Try bearing away”

Me:  “How about you easing the jib sheet, that may help me get the rudder back in the water”

John “Good idea”

Me:  “Ok thanks, lets keep going.”

And off we went ripping down to the leeward mark.

In several races, we had great speed upwind raked back to 4 and managed to round the first mark solidly mixing it up with the B fleet only to have our rusty boat-handling hurt us on the downwind legs.  We decided not to skip the final race and wound up getting to Karl’s wedding just in time for dinner….A great wedding and it was great to see Karl absolutely beaming, even though the wedding and move to North is sending me a on a crew search.  The stories and roast were absolutely great … apparently Karl’s parents taught him to achieve rockstar status as a crew at a young age by letting him sit by the pool while they did his homework.

Day 2

We arrived at the club well rested and well fed with bright sunny skies and gentle see breeze from the West at 9:00 am.  Local knowledge dictated strong breeze and we were not disappointed.  John and I sailed out an hour early in about ten knots of breeze and practiced some tacks and gybes as the breeze built.  Race 1 was sailed in the high teens …. We had a great first leg rounding mid-fleet.  It was pretty cool to be set up below and behind and climb above and pass him on the port tack layline (not typical for me and likely due to having half of team heavy on the wire.)  In the parking lot, we learned that Gary was raked to zero and we were at 5 … weight matters.

We had a pretty good set and were fighting for clear air with Aaron and Phlegm and had a spectacular crash on the gybe … getting tangled in the spin launcher line makes it hard to steer correctly.  We eventually got the boat back up and had to drop out of the race cleaning up some kite problems

In race two, we had another pretty good first leg in the second race with winds in the 20 knot range … it was pretty exciting approaching on the port tack layline as the leaders were bearing away.  We capsized on the hoist after the kite came out of the pole jaws and started gyrating.  We had a pretty quick recovery and were still ahead of a few boats.  Nice clean gibe and rounding for the final upwind leg and then the trouble started.

The rudder tie down line failed and we lost the rudder … the result, a very fast tack and capsize with John still on the wire.  I stood on the board while John tried to put the board back on and we drifted toward the rocks.  After a couple attempts to get the rudder on, we decided to get the boat upright and sail rudderless away from the rocks.  Its pretty much impossible to get the rudder back on in those conditions (especially with a bent pintle) so we dropped the main and started the slow sail in…. luckily finding a tow along the way.

We were pretty bummed about heading in early and missing some epic conditions for the final two races, with the wind continuing to build.  We were in good company as there were about six boats that beat us in with various breakdowns … dan and bill were waterlogged, gary ripped the vang fitting out of the bottom of his mast in spectacular fashion (only a photo would do the description justice), joe struggling with light crewitis came in after much swimming and various other boats with problems.  Most spectacular were broken cb from log and a broken boom.  Its pretty amazing to watch someone fold up their boom and stick it in the back of the car.

Rumor had it that only 7 boats out of twenty boats finished the final race.  

FNT

The 505 fleet showed up enforce for Mission Bay’s Friday night Thing.

I think we had 8 boats:

• Kitty with guest crew Traci (Helen’s friend)
• Fever with Helen at the Helm
• Hob with the Husband Wife team of John and Carol Gallagher
• Blue Ballenger with Gary and Crew
• White Trash with Mike and Tony
• The Red Boat with Kevein Laube and crew
• Keith with the new White and Crew (winners)
• High Maintenance with Nick as crew

I arrived at the club pretty early to put the boat back together after the King of the Bay at TI.  We had overcast skies and typical light MBYC conditions with breeze out of the west.  Since Karl has moved to the land of big breeze, I had to find crew and was fortunate to sail with Nick Kashak, a junior in high school and perfect light air crew, weighing in at less than 150 dripping wet.

 We sailed around a bit before the start and noticed competing breezes from the north and west with many lulls (errr… more like dead spots).  We faced the typical tower start dilemma between starting at the favored windward end of the line or the leeward end where there were hopes of less traffic and more breeze.  We chose to start at the leeward end just to windward of Fever, sporting Mike Holts’ P&B sails.  Immediately after the start we were in a familiar position seeing Mike Holt’s sail numbers pointing higher and sailing faster … just to realize that its Helen and Bill absolutely nailing the start and jumping out to a commanding early lead.  Unfortunately, we followed them into a ginormous light spot and watched the rest of the fleet gain big. 

I think we rounded the first mark in fifth place and hoisted the kite for a close reach to the second mark.  We had to sail high to avoid a wind shadow from one of the PHRF boats and were fortunate to carry a puff down to the next mark, rounding in fourth place.  We had to douse the kite briefly and beat out of the cove.  Once around the point, we hoisted the kite and had a nice wire run down to the next mark (with the skipper sitting to leeward and crew mildly trapping in puffs).  We managed to catch Trash and put some distance on Gary in the Blue Ballanger.  Hoping that wind would fill to the right we sailed that way watching the rest of the fleet stay left.  It turned out to work ok – we crossed tacks with Keith gaining and loosing with each shift and puff.  We rounded the next windward mark just behind Keith and followed him from there to finish second.

We were constantly adjusting sails, rig tension and vang tension to match the fickle breeze to try to keep the boat moving.  I think the key for the evening was keeping our heads out of the boat and getting lucky with some guesses on where the breeze was coming from.  It also helped to have light crew.

 It looked like there were several close battles between Kitty, Trash and the Blue Ballenger with Trash taking third place.

 All in all, it seemed like everyone had a great time and it was great to see some newcomers to the fleet.  Also, I highy recommend Nick for anyone looking for crew.  He had no problem jumping into the boat and picking everything up quickly.  In addition, we had a good time trying to figure out the breeze and tactics.

- Channing

KOB

King of the Bay Summary - Treasure Island.

San Diego NOOD 2007

5oh's at the Hot Rum - again!

Three 5o5's crashed SDYC's Hot Rum Regatta, again!. Check out the writeup.

Thrilla in Cabrilla

San Diego traveled up to the Gulch. Read about it here.

Bay to Bay 2006

Race reports posted.

MBYC Sunday Racing

Below is an account of Sunday's racing prepared by the official winner, Channing Hamlet.  Bill Jenkins and Dan Merino sailed well and would have won, but unfortunately didn't sign up and weren't scored by the race committee. 

It was great fun to have eight 5o5s on the line.  The racing was very close with lots of lead changes, tight mark roundings, etc. It was great to see Whit Bachelor out and doing very well with Channing's old boat, TGIF.  It was also great to see John and Carol Gallegher out sailing (especially with Carol not getting hurt and actually having a fun time for a change.)

The fleet is growing fast.  Jim Picard just purchased Dave Eberhardt's blue Ballenger so that boat should be out on the water in a few weeks.  The red boat project is a bit stalled right now (I need a table saw), but I hope to get it out before too long.  Now if Geoff, Mark, and Chris would just come out, we could easily have 10 to 12 boats on the line on a regular basis.  TNTs this summer should be awesome.

- Gary

The 505 fleet had a great turnout with many boats in the Bay to enjoy some great Mission Bay sailing in warm weather and blue skies.  The conditions were standard Mission Bay with 6-10 knots of breeze with numerous shifts, puffs, and holes to navigate and good leg exercises for the crew in marginal trapping conditions.  I can remember 8 boats, but the RC only scored 6 (and the scores look a little funny) and there may have been more that I can’t remember off the top of my head.

Results are here: http://www.mbyc.org/regatta/2006/aprilbayseries.htm. (editors note: the results are a bit messed up, but the racing was fun! -jb)

Participants included: Gary and son on SIB, Dan and Bill on 8411, me and Karl on 6991, John and Bill on Kitty, Fede and Eben on TNB (the new boat), the Gallaghers in HOB, John and JD in Taz,  Whit Bachelor and brother on 8024 (first time out).

The highlight of the day was hanging out after the racing, enjoying some high quality San Diego sunshine and Al’s famous margaritas courtesy of our esteemed leader and possibly others.  Enjoyed great conversation about the vagaries of fleet building, 505 tuning, what the mast ram actually does, how much beer to bring on the B2B cruise next week, and too many other topics to remember.  Got to watch Fede insert foot into mouth and turn on his Italian charm to remove his foot.  After the bar, a few of the braver souls in the fleet ventured to the Commodore’s yacht to study the chart for the B2B course and ,of course, enjoy some more libations and lies.  All in all, it was a great day of sailing and socializing.

Some of the racing details are a bit fuzzy, but here goes the summary.  It was Karl and my second regatta in our new ride  and Whit’s first time sailing TGIF (it sucks to see your old boat ahead of you).  Its great to see many new faces and boats in the fleet and enjoy good close racing.

Race 1:  Karl and I decided to start mid-line and much of the fleet started to leeward.  We went right on the first beat and watched most of the fleet go left.  We found ourselves in second behind Gary (who I think was OCS in this race) at the first mark with Dan and Bill close on our heels.  I think the fleet maintained roughly these positions for the next two legs.  Karl and I had a snafu at the final windward mark letting many boats by then had a poor  leeward rounding and sailed the final 100 yard windward leg with the board half way down to let TNB squeeze by us.  (The RC set an unusual course with the final mark set up for a Barca finish rather than a Tower finish as described on the course chart – that’s my excuse)  Gary was first but OCS, Dan and Bill were second follow by Kitty, TNB, Karl and I then 8024.  It was great to see Whit have TGIF moving so well on his first outing.

Race 2:  More of the same with good close racing and lots of shifts.  My only recollection from this race is rounding #6 slightly ahead of a number of boats and then watching them get a private Mission Bay lift at the mark and sail away from us.  Mission Bay can be frustrating at times and you can really look smart at other times.  Good close racing with Dan and Bill and Gary at the top of the fleet (not sure who won)

Race 3:  We got a poor start and were forced to tack several times before finding a lane to the windward mark.  I think we ended in second behind Dan and Bill with Kitty close on our heels. 

We enjoyed some wire running in the bay before coming in.  Looking forward to the Bay 2 Bay sail next week.

Channing, 6991

SDNOOD's

Entrants to the 2006 San Diego NOOD regatta were again treated to fabulous conditions, terrific racing, and super trophies, giveaways and parties. We had three straight days of full on trapezing and wire-running conditions, with sunny skies most of the time. There were several capsizes, one lost mast, a couple of torn sails, but everyone had a great time in the fabulous conditions and truly great South Bay racing venue.

Seven races were completed. Team Old Age and Treachery (Gary Lee and Dan Downing) took the hotly contested first spot with a record of
2-1-1-3-4-1-3 for 15 points. Green Boat (Charlie Jenkins and Dan
Merino) were a very close second with a record of 1-2-3-2-6-2-1 for
17 points. Third place was also hotly contested with Mark Dowdy sailing Floyd to a record of 5-3-4-4-3-3-2 for 24 points and The New Team of Eben Russel and Fede Lauro just one point behind with a record of 3-6-2-1-5-4-4 for 25 points. Complete results may be found at here.
The I-14 fleet used this event as their PCCs and attracted 20 boats from as far away as Canada. The winner was declared the overall winner of the SD NOOD event and won a trip to the Virgin Islands to compete in the 2006 NOOD Championship Regatta sponsored by Sailing World. Several of the 505 sailors noted that the SD NOOD regatta and South Bay offer such great sailing and racing conditions, that we should do something similar next year maybe doubling up the 2007 SD NOODs as the 505 PCCs or Midwinters West. There's a good chance that our fleet could then capture the overall regatta prize.

Turkey Day Regatta

Read about the first 505 fleet protest that anyone could remember in Fleet 3.  A couple pictures and the story here.

Fall One Design Regatta

Gary "the Sultan of South Bay" Lee cleans up at Coronado.  Read about the carnage and his account here.

2005 Fleet Championship Series.

The fleet championship series is over for 2005 with Channing and Karl in TGIF victorious and White Trash cleaning up in the classic division.  Read about the final race here. 

Take a look at the scores here.

Fleet Champ Race # 4

The 505 Fleet headed out to the ocean for some good racing.  Hear about the action here.

2005 Bay to Bay

The seventh running of the bay to bay race brought light winds and close racing.  The first to finish was a little over 5 hours and all finishers within 25 minutes.

Read about all the excitement here.

Thanks for the Lee family for some great photos.

Fleet Championship # 3 -- SCRA May Madness

Great conditions and good racing with SCRA.  Short Courses and tight Competition.  Read FC #3 winner Geoff Nelson's account of the excitement here.

2005 NOOD Regatta.

Great breeze once again and no rain. Read dramatic accounts from John B and Bill J here. You will also find scores and links to photos!

Several photographers graced the fleet with their presence on the Course.  The fabulous Renee Speak was nice enough to give us several pictures for the site (below).  For more from Renee or to purchase go to photos (password for photos is "NOOD").

Da-Woody also took some great shots of Day 1 racing, here

2005 MBYC February Regatta.

Just finding the racecourse would prove to be a challenge in this cleverly named regatta. Read our beloved leader Channing's account.

2005 MBYC Winter Series #1.

You'd think the New Year's day hangover was still in effect. Personifying the term "dubious", Geoff Nelson and Mark Kurzava, of all people, demonstrate true class by starting and finishing every race, securing victory for the day. Read Geoff's account.

2004 SDYC Hot Rum.

The wind howled, the rain came down in buckets, icicles hung from the rigging. Ideal conditions for the manly men of some other fleet. Find out what really happened here.

Boat Rigging Party.

Is this a great fleet or what? Lured by nothing more than an endless supply of beer and hamburgers, a few stalwart Fleet 3ers descended on Mike Pollard's garage to help put the finishing touches on Road Kill's resurrection following the infamous Paddlewheeler Incident. Read the description here.

MBYC Trophy Dinner.

Great food (if you like pasta) and a chance to reward the achievements, high and low, of the last twelve months. Read the illustrated(!) story here.

SCRA Turkey Regatta.

The forecast for rain and light wind scared off all but the most dedicated 505ers. Here is the story from one of the brave few. It turns out that Team TGIF beat the pants off Team Fiddlers G in race two. Read more.

2004 MBYC Fall Triangles Regatta

Six teams made it out for this one-day regatta. Not a bad turnout for an unscheduled event. Several stories were submitted following some unorthodox arm twisting. Will have to remember that for next time. Here are a few photos as well.

MBYC 505 Invitational

Lots of local boats, lots of local sailors, some good friends from up north, and a fabulous BBQ made this year's Invitational a big success. Read the story (which contains links to some awesome regatta photography), study the scores, and check out the final Fleet Championship Series Standings.

3rd Fleet Championship Regatta

Intense competition, some new faces, and a big upset. Here's the write-up from the victor, and the Series Standings.

2004 Invitational

Notice of Regatta.

2004 North Americans and Worlds

Lots of local participation this year! Stories, photos, and results here.

2004 edition of the Bay to Bay

Plenty of competition, plenty of wind, and an awesome party! Read the stories.

PCCs in Santa Cruz

Big wind, big fleet, free dinner! Read the reports.

Big Breeze for the MBYC June Ocean Series

Read about it here.

505s racing in the TNTs at MBYC

Reports posted about the Thursday night action.

2004 Fleet Championship Series

The second regatta of the series was well attended and lots of fun. A new face has taken over the Classic competition. Dan and Bill give the details. Series Standing here.

Santa Cruz Summer Open

Crazy conditions and some flying plywood at this months visit to Santa Cruz. Geoff and Bill file Reports.

Kings of the Bay Regatta

Geoff and Ben made the trip for this SF Bay Area classic. Check out Geoff's Report.

SCYC May One Design Regatta

Dan and Bill fight off sleep deprivation and upsidownitis in this windy regatta. Report.

Thrilla in Cabrilla

Awesome conditions made this one of the most fun regattas of the year so far. Weasel Dan and Kitty John send in reports.

SCYC Spring Dinghy Regatta

Hot new driver Geoff Nelson gives us the skinny on this high profile regatta. Read the report.

2004 San Diego NOOD Regatta

The sailing was unmatched. A few more boats would have been nice. Read the report.

2004 Fleet Championship Series Opener

Seven boats competed in the challenging winter conditions of Mission Bay for the coveted early points in this high point series. Read the reports and check the scores.

Midwinter Regatta

Four SD boats travel to Long Beach this year! This is an amazing thing! Read Bill's account, since no one else has checked in with a story yet. It's not bad, actually.

Mission Bay Yacht Club FEBRUARY REGATTA

Team Tortuga grabs first regatta victory! Driver Geoff explains the finer points. John II offers a manly concession.

Annual MBYC Trophy Dinner

Fleet 3 filled up two tables at the dinner this year. Fun times, with lots of awards and trophies. Click here to read the report.

ABYC Turkey Regatta

An unusually large San Diego contingent made it to Long Beach this year. Click here to read the report.

This year's White Elephant Party

Principal Party Officer Dan Merino submits his report for your perusal, approval, and applause: Click here

MBYC Turkey Regatta

505 participation was a bit scattershot, and the reports are just a tad confusing, but our fleet managed a fairly competitive regatta and did capture an edible bird for the holidays. Click here to read the reports.

White Elephant Party Notice of Party

Read the Notice of Party to get all the details on this year's White Elephant Party hosted once again by Dan and Denise Merino. This is traditionally a fabulous party and a great opportunity to get rid of some of the excess clutter you've gathered during the year. Click here to read the accounts of previous year's events.

November SCRA regatta

Tight action and great conditions. Read the two reports.

October SCRA regatta

Match racing style action at the SCRA regatta. The Kitty reports.

The 2003 Fleet Championship Series is OVER!

Surprises and  nail biters marked the finale of this year's Series. In the regular division, with only half a point to go to secure their title, Team TGIF declined to race and gave the trophy to Dan Merino and Bill Jenkins for the 4th year in a row. In the Classic division, Roger Lovett and Mike Barry aboard FreeBee tied it up to share the gold with Geoff Nelson and friends on White Trash. Read Bill's account! Peruse the regatta results and series standings.

TNT Wrap-up

This year's TNT season has come and, sadly, gone. Dan Merino submitted a couple of stories describing the final days of action.

Fleet 3 High Point Series

Four down, one regatta to go. See the new high point standings and read about it from the Kitty's viewpoint.

TNT report

TGIF and the Kitty slug it out. Read the report from Team Kitty.

TNT report

Dont' Pinch files a report.

MBYC Firecracker Triangle Series.

Sometimes nice guys do finish first. Team Free Bee shows that winning regattas sometimes really does come down to just showing up. Read Mike Barry's strategic recounting of this amazing come-from-behind victory.

TNT report

Kaos reigns at the TNT, and Mike gets a couple something extras later that night.

Fleet 3 High Point Series

We're now 3 regattas into the series.  See the new high point standings. Read the exciting reports.

June B regatta

Dan Merino and Bill Jenkins represented Fleet 3 at Cabrillo Beach YC. Read the report.

Fleet 3 High Point Series

Regatta #2 in the series was the PCCs.  See the new high point standings.

2003 Pacific Coast Championships

Fleet 3 hosted the PCCs this year as the MBYC Invitational. Results. Reports.

Bay to Bay

The sailing was slow, but the party was great.  Results and stories.

2003 High Point Series

Regatta #1 is behind us.  Check out the story and see the high point standings.

Fleet 3 Training Day

Andy Zinn came all the way down from Long Beach to teach us a thing or two about sailing.  Ben Wood's Notes are posted on the racing page.

2003 San Diego NOOD

Bill Jenkins' and Geoff Nelsons'' writeups of the NOOD are posted here

MBYC February Series 2003

February Series Writeup by Steve Schnelker of team TGIF

MBYC Winter Series 2003

Writeup of the MBYC Winter Series by Mike Barry of team Free-Bee

Turkey Regatta at MBYC

A Turkey for the upcoming White Elephant Party?  Wrap-up report by Bill Jenkins.

5oh's at the Hot Rum - again!

Three 5o5's crashed SDYC's Hot Rum Regatta, again!. Check out the writeup.

Small Boat Regatta Report - South Bay

Great racing in South Bay hosted by CYC.  Check out Mike Jue's Small Boat Regatta wrap-up report.

MBYC Invitational 2002

The 2002 MBYC Invitational is behind us. This was a very successful regatta with 18 boats entered. Check out the Invitational Results Page for results and a link to some great photos!

2002 High Point Series

The current standings of the High Point Series are updated to reflect the latest event - the 2002 August Triangles.  Read all about it in Team TGIF's enthralling regatta report.

Bay to Bay 2002

Check here for results and race reports as they come in

Opening day 2002 at MBYC

Road Report from Team Weasel's Santa Cruz Adventures

2002 San Diego NOOD Regatta

Midwinters Report

SCRA Reports

5oh's at the Hot Rum?

Planing Boat Regatta a success with 5 entries

Weasel Worlds

2001 High Point Series

August Triangles

2001 Bay to Bay

2001 Invitational