Palm Beach Gardens Valentine's Regatta Report
Tony Rieck wins his first Regatta

by Jon Luscomb
A very strong cold front swept into South Florida on Friday. A cold drizzle began around noon and continued until early Saturday. Some of the skipper’s made it to the welcoming cocktail gathering at the “Rum Bar”. The Rum Bar is a thatched tiki hut with a leaky roof, sand floor and fire pits. Well, with the strong Northwest breeze and rain, it was not surprising that turnout was light and all turned in early as the temperature fell.

I listened to the wind howl all night. The forecast was for NW 25 to 30 knots and gale warnings. Amazingly, most of the skippers were at the lake by 8:00. The wind was averaging 18kts and gusting to 27! The temperature was in the high 40’s. It was difficult to recognize the skippers because of the arctic wear.

Race committee decided to postpone the start until noon for the wind was to abate as the day went on. An anemometer was bungied to a post and the cups were spinning!  Many skippers packed up and Doc Greer pledged to stay on site and guard all the boats. He was in good company and I hear there was some special cokes circulating to improve circulation…it was cold! Joe Walter fashioned an igloo out of tables and the regatta banner. Two sailors had shorts on…what is up with that?

By noon the breeze did calm making for very nice B-rig conditions at 12-16 knots. The intensity of the blasts had subsided significantly, and it was still cold.

Racing began at 1:00 pm and continued until the sun was low. It was difficult to see one’s yacht for they all looked black…it was time to quit. The leader at halftime was Alan Perkins with Joe Walter, Tony Rieck, Dick Hedderick and John Bottensek hot on his heels.

Dinner that night was great at the Waterway Café. Everyone seemed to have a good time.
Sunday was another very cold start, but the wind was way down and the A-rigs were coming out of the boxes. Winds were NW 8-10 and forecasted to slow to 5-7 and shift to the right. The course was set and off they went. Doc Greer was running the races like a Navy Captain. His voice barked out course changes, “prepare to launch” and retrieval instructions for he was trying to get as many races in before 12:30 as possible. At the end of 12 races Tony Rieck sailed to a solid first to win his first event. Joe Walter was feeling rather generous and opted to throw a bottle of water on Tony rather than toss him into the frigid pond. But, Tony was quick and managed to dodge most of the water, so Baron Bremer amde sure Tony got a good soaking during the trophy ceremony. Congrats to Tony and all of the skippers who sailed.

John Hough a newbie to the class and mending after major foot surgery won a free entry to next year’s event. Jim Pardee won the “Ancient Mariner” award for the top finisher over 70… (I want to see some I.D. …he looks 68 and he sailed well).

Results

   
1 Tony Rieck 82 35  
2 Joe Walter 24 43  
3 Alan Perkins 14 46  
4 John Bottensek 11 50  
5 Baron Bremer 81 59  
6 Dick Hedderick 38 66  
7 Jim Kaighin 52 65  
8 Bob Brown 611 103 tie breaker
9 Jack Ward 01 103  
10 Al Dion 74 105  
11 Tom Germer 62 112  
12 Jim Pardee 72 114  
13 Jim Black 23 135  
14 Fred Pfeil 110 144  
15 Tom Phillips 265 158  
16 Bud Elder 13 168  
17 Ed Gelina 187 172  
18 Gib Loesel 02 179  
19 Al Stall 79 193 tie breaker
20 Dick Reinke 36 193  
21 Martin Gray 83 217  
22 Bill Parker 45 233  
23 Ed Polsky 40 234  
24 Ray Strickland 23 237  
25 Bob Dudinsky 95 252 did not sail on Sunday
26 Brenda Pardee 12 339 did not sail on Saturday
27 John Hough 92 347 did not sail on Saturday

Click here for photos by Bob Greer and company