Palm Beach Gardens Valentine's
Regatta Report Many of the skippers enjoyed practice at Lake Catherine Friday prior to the informal gathering at Frigate’s, a very pleasant waterfront restaurant in North Palm Beach. We were expecting 30 skippers, but snow and ice all the way to south Georgia kept 3 of our entrants from attending, so 27 skippers were at the lake Saturday morning enjoying hot coffee, fruit, and doughnuts & other goodies brought by Ann & Ed Gelina. The wind was westerly, with an expectation to move clockwise, and the multiple marks had been pre-set to accommodate this. We started P/R Saturday with the "B" fleet as determined by the National Seeding List. Any skipper with a number below 58.88 was in this fleet with an expectation that the top 4 would move into "A" for the next heat. The wind held, and built, as the day went on. We started in 7-10 knots and as the wind clocked it stiffened to 16-20. This provided good up-wind courses with many passing lanes to improve position around the course. The skippers are to be commended on their ability to adjust as we changed the course to provide the best upwind legs possible. The PBG volunteers laid out a great lunch of hot-dogs and SUPER (no bull) CHILI -thanks Jon & Karen, plus lots of sweet things to make it a "Valentine" type regatta. Many thanks to Ann Gelina and Kelli Greer. The skippers sailed hard and fairly, with only 1 protest going to committee. We were happy to have to have National Judge Ken Morrison aboard. I think "3 minute justice" works well; it is much easier to do a turn than risk a DSQ. Saturday was the day to work out the kinks in the "B" rig, and it was obvious many improved as the day went on. But as the wind was from the West, the short axis of our lake, we did not see the "Chinese Jibes" and loss of control seen in previous PBG regattas. Saturday saw 10 races with the following: We enjoyed a very well attended dinner at Duffy's on PGA & US 1. They provided us with a whole 2nd floor and plenty of wait- staff that had our meals to us in a very efficient manner. On Sunday the PBG volunteers laid out another great breakfast with hot coffee, donuts, pastries, fruit and other goodies. We were now enjoying warmer weather with moderate winds from a more northerly direction. May I recommend "Sail-flow", an iPhone app, that was spot on for our whole regatta? It helps to pre-set marks. We had very few mark moves during the regatta. As the day progressed the wind lightened, as it clocked further north, and the skippers are to be commended for keeping up with the course changes. On an interesting note, I want to comment on our growing women's fleet. Brenda Pardee has been sailing for a while-and it shows. I want to especially welcome Liz Perkins and Judith Clark to our group. You are doing splendidly and a joy to have you with us. Liz sailed 22 heats; I think we'll have to change "Bubble Boy" to a more appropriate moniker. Brenda spent most of her time in A, whipping her Dad and others. It was commented this regatta has been "Blown Out" with too much wind in the past. It was notable many skippers had "C" rigs, that were not necessary-but an interesting trend. I would like to thank ALL the people who helped make this a great regatta, from the skippers to the staff. Must really thank my wife, Kelli,Karen and Jon Luscomb, Ann & Ed Gelina, Gail & Carl Ring, Dick Reinke, Chris & Michelle Wright, and all the others who came to help support this regatta. A big "Bravo Zulu" (USN for a GREAT job) to Ricky Gerry for unique trophies. Hope to see you next year-we are working on moving the date a little to try for better prices around town. Final Results
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Click here for photos by Karen Luscomb, Bob Greer and company |