South Daytona Regatta Report
Walter overcomes his Sunday choke streak, wins!

By Phil Ehlinger
Saturday, December 3rd & Sunday, December 4th

The fleet began to assemble at South Daytona’s ‘temporary’ pond at around 7:30 am, matching the arrival of the club volunteers with coffee, juice and breakfast treats to offset the nippy morning. While the sky was clear with promise of a beautiful day, the pond was glassy. By the time the fleet had assembled, an extremely light breeze from the Northeast had begun.

Sure enough, the light Northeast wind and some swirls around the trees presented some interesting scenarios. There was no favored end of the line, nor spot to be in from race to race.

By the time lunch was ready, all were ready for some nourishment, and the South Daytona cooks were at it with a vengeance, serving cheeseburgers, hot dogs, baked beans & salads….all in all, 55 hungry sailors & crew fed in 25 minutes!

After lunch the wind had freshened a bit and was from the Southeast, creating a challenging windward- leeward course. At this point, the Equal Opportunity System (Promotion/Relegation) was doing its thing with the South Daytona Clothespin Nazi having an active role in keeping the fleets in order. Joe Walter, who ended up the leader at the end of the day was down to the ‘B’ fleet twice, to rally promptly to the top of the ‘A’ fleet. Joe was followed by Bob Dudinsky, Doug Bowe and Harry Strunk.

Sunday brought the same brilliant sunshine and a wonderful breeze from the Southwest. This was EC12 sailing at its best with a long windward leg, a reach, downwind and twice around, with a windward finish that saw multiple position changes within 5 feet of the finish line. The scoring showed Harry Strunk surging to the lead, only to lose to Joe Walter in the final race! Doug Bowe captured third, followed by Baron Bremer in fourth and Bob Dudinsky in fifth.

Great sailing, great friends, great volunteers. It’s what it’s all about.

Results

  Skipper Points  
1 Joe Walter 46  
2 Harry Strunk

48

  
3 Doug Bowe 59  
4 Baron Bremer 63*  
5 Bob Dudinsky 63  
6 John Rowley 72  
7 Bob Greer 99  
8 Jim Pardee 100  
9 Brett Biwer 106  
10 Dave Ford 113  
11 Earl Mills 118  
12 Jack Wubbe 124  
13 Bob Brown

126

  
14 Dave Haggart 129  
15 Ed Gelina 146  
16 Dick Reinke 164  
17 John Egizi 179  
18 John Garver 180  
19 John Bottensek 15+ Only sailed on Sunday
20 Ruben Caceres   Withdrew
      * Tie breaker

We’ve created a slideshow of the regatta, starting from about 7:30 am Saturday through the final awards.

Scroll through the gallery to South Daytona EC12, click on the EC12 and enjoy. The slide show is the best, though you can peruse the individual pictures if desired.