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| Windmill Southerns at Boca Ciega Yacht Club | November 12 - 13 |
| Story |
| Windmill Southerns was held at a different venue from where we usually have it, this year it was Boca Ciega Yacht Club in Gulfport, Florida. When organizing regattas I didn’t realize until now that if you call the Chamber of Commerce before the regatta that they could actually pre-arrange for the weather and water conditions to be absolutely perfect but that’s exactly what happened. Thank you Gulfport Chamber of Commerce.
The Windmills sailed with mixed fleets, Sunfish, Day Sailors, and Capri 16.5. This makes keeping the course square to the wind and getting a fair start difficult, but BCYC went about their business conducting the race on this beautiful day knowing only that they were there to make our day the most perfect day possible. On Saturday with 12 boats on the line we got in 5 races in winds around 7 to 10 kts. Winds were very shifty making it a real challenge to pick the proper side of the course. With only one course chosen by race committee, modified Olympic, this left no option to change mid racing. The Bixby’s in a borrowed boat consistently showed how it is done along with John Jennings in Aeolus, and Lon Ethington in Pig Headed right there along with them. The rest of the fleet stayed close in a group apart from the rock stars. Roy Sherman, despite having a crew that he had never sailed with, and lots of boat snafus (in a boat he visits every 6 months), had a couple of bumps along the way. He and his crew Miel sailed very well as Roy took pictures while driving. Quit the amazing feat when we all know it’s not easy to sail a Windmill with one hand. After the race on Saturday we all went over to Peg’s Cantina for an outstanding dinner. I sat at the end of the table and looked down it at 23 other people and saw lots of happy faces enjoying the camaraderie, excellent food, wine, and craft beers from their micro brewery. Needless to say the proprietor, Peg, was also very happy to have the Windmill fleet at her awesome restaurant. How many other regatta venues can you sit outside under the stars, laughing, drinking and eating with friends, in the middle of November and not freeze. Sunday brought lighter winds, around 12 kts at launch but by the time the race started it was down to around 7 and with a persistent shift from NE to SE and lots of oscillations gradually tapering down to near nothing in our last race. We sailed 3 races with our last race on a mini Opti course in fading air. The current at the finish overpowered the air making crossing the line a real challenge, eventually making paddles a necessity to get back to the beach. Daiquiris were the prize for everyone after the racing, along with burgers and chicken. This is what racing is all about. Great people coming together having fun and enjoying a good time. During the award ceremony, and after a series of daiquiris, Lisa Fath on Bonfire took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place according to her. Every time the PRO said what place someone came in she shouted LISA FATH! We all busted a gut laughing! This regatta went down in Windmill history as one of our most fun regattas. Roy Sherman was presented with the Silver Screw award. This award is for the person who had the most mishaps or was just screwed during the regatta. Roy’s mishaps included coming down to Florida with no crew for Saturday, he acquired a crew before racing on Saturday but lost her to a sinus infection before actually racing. He acquired another crew for Saturday. Roy only sails his Florida boat every six months or so and doesn’t get to maintain it regular basis so on Saturday morning it was crunch time to get all the repairs done. While racing he had 2 crashes and who knows how many times he was fouled, along with his dagger board delaminating. These things made him the absolute winner of the Silver Screw Award. This is a perpetual trophy, so he has to come back to the next Windmill Southerns to pass it on. Thanks to all of our out of town guests, Allen Chauvenet with Sara Steward (from WV),Roy Sherman (from NY) with Miel Ilies and Roy’s nephew Geoff, Eric Francios and daughter Emily (also part of the NY contingent). The Florida fleet brought it all together, without them it wouldn’t have happened. A special thanks to Karen Browning, my better half for doing a professional job with registrations and we most of all thanks to the PRO Mark Rother, the staff of the race committee, mark boat and kitchen. Midwinter’s is next, it’s going to be tough to top the fun we had at BCYC but I can guarantee that Clearwater Community Sailing Center is up for the challenge. |
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