Windmill Class Association
Windmill Sailing _/) Just Plane Fun
| Home | Events | Dues | Roster | Crew List | Messages | For Sale | Advertisers | The Jouster | Articles | Rigging & Tuning | Photos |
| Home | Events | Dues | Roster | Crew List | Messages | For Sale | Advertisers | The Jouster | Articles | Rigging & Tuning | Photos |
| Dingy Delta Ditch Run at Lake Washington, Sacramento, Ca | August 9 |
| Story |
| 2014 Dinghy Delta Ditch: The Dingy Delta Ditch is a race from Rio Vista to West Sacramento CA in the San Joaquin River Delta. Most of the 30 mile race is in the man made Sacramento River Deep Water Ship Channel. The race uses a pursuit start. Boats ranged in speed from a Fatty Knees to a 5O5. The Dinghy Delta Ditch is now in it's 10th year and this year it did not disappoint. A consistent 10 knot breeze and a strong flood current pushed the fleet to LWSC in good time and kept the handicaps fair. All but 5 boats finished in a 21 minute window between 6:15 PM and 6:36 PM showing just how competitive this 30 mile race can be. Not only that but the participants were treated to a live band and a great BBQ after the race and with the good winds there was plenty of daylight left to enjoy the festivities. We had 4 Windmills participating, a McLaughlin, an Advance, Lathrop woody, and an old timer with wooden mast, no rigging. Light to 12 at the start, quarter mile upwind leg, with incoming current. Within 20 minutes, Michael and Dave were 1/2 mile ahead of Darrell. The next 28 miles featured Michael and Olivia (total crew weight of 190) and their barebones provisions and nice stiff Proctor vintage mast ooching away from Dave's 300 lbs plus a cooler full of provisions and gallons of water. Sadly there isn't much you can do, as each burst of speed multiplied by 28 miles results in a big gap. No power planning, just a nice but not overly exciting pace. Four tacks, and two jibes during the race, kinda of says it all. Michael & Olivia Johnson were 1st place in the Windmills & near the overall lead at the finish. Next was Dave Neilsen with Audrey McNamara as crew, then Darrell Sorensen & MaryLou Brinich. Elizabeth Dietz & Gracy Jineuez were lagging back & we were glad to see them come across the finish line. Time from start to finish was about 4 1/2 hours, not bad for sailing 30 miles. We all had a great time. There were large fleets of Thistles & Lasers, with a Thistle taking the overall win. (Compiled from contributions by Dave Neilsen, Darrell Sorensen, and LWSC website) |
| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| GPS Tracks |
| [ Upload a GPS Track ] |
| Regatta Message Board |