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| Palm Beach Gardens Valentine's
Regatta Report Saturday morning arrived, Jon was there early, winds were gentle out of the Northwest or there about. He and fellow club members set a course and the races were underway. The Gold Fleet (13 boats) hit the water for their first two races. Joe Walter displayed some magic reaching the windward mark first in both races well ahead of the fleet, scoring a pair of bullets. About that time I overheard one of the Skippers say “two races a regatta does not make” lucky for the others Joe cooled off. The rest of the day the entire fleet was mixing it up but at the end of the day Alan Perkins had worked his way into first place with Al Dion and Jon Luscomb giving chase. Next came the Silver Fleet (11 boats) for their first two races. Brenda Pardee crossed line first in the first race closely followed by her father Jim. There were three first time regatta skippers in the fleet, Earnan Scavella, Chester (the regatta’s former chef) Brewer and Fred Greco; all who managed to cross the line first capturing their first regatta win. Throughout the day all of the Skippers mixed it and when “beer” time came it was Tom Germer, Bud Elder and Brenda Pardee. During the day the winds came up and changed directions several time causing the “now” A.R.D. (Jon) to alter the course with about 25 different marks. Not to worry however in his unique way he had all of the Skippers “chanting” the new course aloud and making them raise their hand if they “had it.” I had survived my first day as R.D. at the Saturday night party it was declared that I was no longer a “virgin.” PBG’s ground crew which was great starting with early morning “goodies,” lunch, scoring and my eyes on the start and finish lines, Karen Luscomb and Al, thanks! Eventually Sunday came and to borrow a line from the poem The Cremation of Sam McGee “The heavens scowled, (in this case) the Skippers howled and THE WIND BEGAN TO BLOW” and blow it did plus it was very cold. The Silver Fleet was up first and prior to the start six skippers decided to stay on the beach. The Gold Fleet skippers when asked if they were going to sail said “we will let you know after we see the Silver Fleet crash.” Silver finished two races with multiple knock downs, jibe broaches and a few broken rigs, but they finished. The top four finishing positions were: Brenda Pardee 1st; Bud Elder 2nd (plus the ancient mariner) Fred Greco 3rd and Jim Pardee 4th. The Gold guys were up next, the only skipper who did not start was Al Dion, he blew a rudder servo in his warm up. They also survived with Fast Freddy Pheil (Mr. Heavy Air Skipper) posting two firsts. The top four finishing positions were: Alan Perkins 1st; Fred Pfeil 2nd; Jon Luscomb 3rd and Jake Leo 4th. Since I was no longer a “virgin” I deemed it to be unsafe sailing conditions and called a halt to the regatta. Respectfully Submitted: Gib Loesel Gold Fleet Results
Silver Fleet Results
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Click here for photos by Karen Luscomb, Bob Greer and company |
