Davis Island Yacht Club Thanksgiving Regatta at Davis Island Yacht Club, Davis Island, FLNovember 26 - 27
Story
Davis Island Thanksgiving Regatta

Saturday 6 boats signed up but only 5 raced. Susan and Clay Davidson were persuaded to try out a Windmill by
our Class President Lon Ethington. The weather came as a bit of a surprise though with winds 15-18 kts. under beautiful sunny skies,
temperature around 75* and water around 70*, wetsuits were optional as were bikinis.
I wouldn't expect anyone new to the Windmill to just jump in at that wind speed and make a day of racing out of it. Wisely, Sue and Clay headed
back to shore before any racing started mostly due to the fact that it was a chartered boat and they didn't want to break anything.
Again, our local Rock Stars Ethan/Trudy Bixby showed us how it's done in a borrowed boat. You would think by now we could figure out
how but the I'm convinced that it's just magic. Lon Ethington/ Meg Gimmi are starting to really earn their magic wand
riding their amazing Pig, nipping at Ethan's heels. John Jennings/Julie Valdez on Aeolous, Colin Browning/Nicky Valentini
on My Mojo, and Ralph/Sandy Sponar on Longtail 2 were battling it out trading the lead several times among ourselves. We completed the
day of racing with a total of 4 races in heavy air and were all feeling the day's workout while wrapping up the boats. Out came the beer, wine,
cheese, and crackers to share amongst great friends on the beach as the sun was getting low on the horizon. This was just the prelude to dinner
at Crabby Bill's to finish of the day, I can't think of a finer way to spend time than with our awesome Windmill family.

Sunday started with winds around 9 kts. as we were rigging boats for the long haul out to the middle of the Tampa Bay for a 9:30 first
warning signal. By the time of the horn the wind reached 15 kts. and went up from there. We got in 1 race and as were waiting for the
committee to get things rolling again. After a long delay the winds hit 22 kts. With thoughts of the wind clocking to the south creating
unmanageable waves, and masts getting stuck in Tampa Bay mud it looked like time to call it a day so we took a poll and had no
problem convincing everyone in our fleet to head in. Then the fun began!!!! We reached for 1 mile in 22 kts. of wind on the
most incredible sleigh ride I've ever had. The boat was planing so fast that spray was pressure washing my crew! The best part was
surfing, and carving S's in perfectly spaced wave coming in at the ultimate angle. What a rush! After reaching the basin I had thoughts of
turning around and doing it again but then thoughts of bay mud came back to my mind so I decided to head to the beach for the
next beach fest.

November has been a very busy month for the Florida district Windmill group so for our future out of town guests don't forget that
we have lots of Windmillers down here who would love to have you for a guest at their home, or plan on staying for a long week
and doing 2 regattas on back to back weekends. There are hundreds of hotels on the Gulf beaches. Our best sailing weather happens
between October and April so don't let those boats get too cosy in those garages throughout the winter. We have great camping locally too,
close to the regatta sites and most clubs do allow camping on site. No excuses, it's time to come to Florida for a winter vacation (Ohio).
That's all I got to say about that.

Colin Browning




Result
PosBoatNameTotalRace 1Race 2Race 3Race 4Race 5
14953 (Loaner Boat)Ethan & Trudy Bixby51(1)1(2)1(3)1(4)1 (5)
25070 (Prize Pig)Lon Ethington/Meg Gimmi133(3)2(5)2(7)2(9)4(13)
33803 (Aeolous)John Jennings/Julie Valdez162(2)3(5)5(10)4(14)2 (16)
44481 (My Mojo)Colin Browning/Nicky Valentini184(4)4(8)4(12)3(15)3 (18)
53524 (Longtail 2)Rahph/Sandy Sponar275(5)DNS(12)3(15)5(20)DNS (27)
649 (Charter boat)Sue/Clay Davidson35DNF(7)DNS(14)DNS(21)DNS(28)DNS(35)
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