The Villages 2016 Gator Regatta Report
Perkins wins at home
by John Goldsworthy

The annual Gator Regatta, held at Ashland Pond in The Villages, was a huge success again this year. There were 26 entries representing all of the Florida EC12 fleets plus four entrant from Peachtree City, GA.

Buoy racing started Saturday morning with a skippers meeting at 9:30AM. Winds were quite light from the NE, but clocked to the east and increased in velocity to 10-12 knots with gusts to 15. Most of the sailors took the opportunity to switch to their B rigs. These increased winds resulted in very spirited sailing for both the A and B fleets. Each fleet had 15 sailors with 4 relegating up or down after each race. Though there were several altercations on the racecourse, no skipper suffered any damage to their boats. Race Director, Ricky Gerry, did a great job of running the races, keeping things safe for all and making the regatta fun. Racing continued after a break for lunch plus some time for skippers to tune their rigs. After a full day of sailing, some 16 races, Alan Perkins led the pack with Jack Ward a close second.

Sunday racing started about 10AM, after a short delay as we waited for wind. It started as it had on Saturday with light air from the NE, but quickly filled in from the east. Most of the morning was sailing in 10-12 knots of reasonably steady winds. As on Saturday, many sailors moved from B to A fleet giving them experience competing with the top skippers.

By about 12:30PM we had completed 12 more races before the RD called it a regatta. Most sailors packed their cars, or golf carts, before participating in the awards ceremony. The top five skippers took home some exceptionally fine and creative trophies designed and crafted by Ricky Gerry. All skippers took home a thermal mug as a Gator Regatta memento.

Summary of 2015 Gator Regatta
Dates: October 24,25, 2015
Location: The Villages, FL
Entries: 26
Winds: 2-15 Knots
Scoring: Low Point, 2 throw outs
Race Committee: Ricky Gerry, RD; Tom Engle, Scoring; Linda Pearce, Dodie Devine & Karen Luscomb, Scoring assistants; Ken Morrison, Rules; Joe Devine, Crash Boat; Liz Perkins, Food and Drinks