Consistency is the name of the game
Half way through the 2010 Starlight Series, Alejandro Bugacov and crew Erick Lange is leading by a huge margin with Hal Haenel and Bill Stump in second place and 2009 Starlight Series Champion Mike Hanna and Brian O’Mahony in third place. Consistency is proving to be the right strategy.
Rick Peters started the Starlights Series many years ago and it has not only become more popular each season, the Starlight Series has kept the Santa Monica Bay Star Fleet active while most other fleets in District 5 have almost but disappeared. 10 to 13 Stars meet just out side of the break water in Marina del Rey every Thursday night at 6 PM from May through the end of August. With two to three races and a short course, the Starlight Series is just what the Doctor ordered to breakup a long work week and the tranquility of the Santa Monica Bay. Continue reading →
2010 Baxter Bowl Results
Photo by Christine Mills of ChristineMillsPhotography.com
This years Baxter Bowl hosted by Newport Harbor Yacht Club was Southern California sailing at it’s finest! Eleven Stars participated, Steve Gould and Greg Sieck drove down from San Francisco, while Derek DeCouteau and his crew came all the way down from Seattle. Saturday a strong southerly provided 10-12 knots of solid breeze all day, seas were very sloppy, the boat never seemed to steady, nerve racking for sure! Must not have been much fun on the Jim Webster, thanks to the R/C for running good races all weekend. John O’Donnell with Erik Lidesis crewing won the day with consistent top 3 finishes. Continue reading →
2010 Spring Keelboat Results
Right off the bat we all knew it was not going to be your typical Marina del Rey April weekend. The first race was the only consistent race of the day in which the entire fleet stayed compressed for the most part with Hanna/O’Mahony taking it followed closely by the rest of the pack. The second and third races got much lighter and very shifty (30 degree plus). O’Donnell/Toth showed they had what it took in those conditions and took the next two races going away.
Rain was forecasted on Sunday with more breeze. Fortunately the forecast was only half right. O’Donnell and Toth were leading the regatta winning the tie breaker with Hanna and O’Mahony ahead of the third place team by six points. Race four was a great match race with O’Donnell taking it on the last weather mark rounding and extending on the run. For race 5 Hanna needed to put two points on O’Donnell so the push to the back of the pack was on from the warning signal. Hanna and O’Mahony ended up winning the last race and the regatta.
Great job by the California Yacht Club Race Committee and Joan Chandler, very tough conditions with great courses and management.
| Pos | Sail | Skipper/Crew | Club | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Total Points |
||
| 1 | 8303 | Hanna/O’Mahony | CYC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9.00 | ||
| 2 | 8436 | O’Donnell/Toth | NHYC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 12.00 | ||
| 3 | 7997 | Benedid/Benedid | SCCYC | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 18.00 | ||
| 4 | 7444 | Pelliconi/Nguyen | CYC | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 20.00 | ||
| 5 | 7636 | Symer/Serafin | SCCYC | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 21.00 | ||
| 6 | 7609 | Hulme/Alexaner | CYC | 2 | 5 | 6 | 8/DNS | 8/DNS | 29.00 | ||
| 7 | 8006 | Braddock | CYC | 8/DNS | 8/DNS | 8/DNS | 8/DNS | 8/DNS | 40.00 |
Starboat tuning with George Szabo
On-land & on-water tuning with George Szabo April 3rd at CYC
Join the Santa Monica Bay Star Fleet for an on-land and on-water Starboat tuning clinic lead by 2009 Star Class World Champion George Szabo. George will be sharing his mast, boat and sail trimming secrets learned from years of Starboat racing and sail testing with Quantum Sails.
The clinic will be at:
California Yacht Club
Saturday April 3rd at 10 AM.
4469 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
For additional information, see flyer
Day one in Palma proves to be challenging
Silver medallists from the 2010 Star Worlds leads after two races. Flavio Marazzi and Enrico De maria (SUI) finished second in both races today to lead by five points ahead of Eivind Melleby and Petter Morland Pedersen (NOR). With nine boats scored OCS in race two, including multiple world champions Fredrik Loof (SWE) and Xavier Rohart (FRA) and the 2008 Tornado Olympic gold medallist Fernando EchÁvarri this will be a fleet to watch as this regatta progresses.
Read more at ISAF.org
2010 SCYA Midwinters Results
Whipple and Peters beating to windward in typical Marina del Rey conditions
We had great racing conditions all weekend, the expected rainstorms never materialized, although it was kind of cold. Wind was more than we as used to in the 10-15 knot range with gusts to 20! Big breeze and large ocean swells made for great surfing downwind but also some carnage with two masts and one boom breaking. The fleet did a great job promoting the event then getting boats ready. We were extremely pleased to have the Beeks there carrying on the family tradition of Star sailing with Chuck and his son Chas racing in the trying conditions! Lidecis/Marzhal were in great form pretty much dominating the event until the last race when they missed ducking Whipple/Peters while nearing the first weather mark and rammed them mid ship causing substantial damage to 8246, both boats retired from the race. Last years winner Alejandro Bugacov still maintains that he won the regatta on the water and is having another type of hit arranged for Whipple/Peters, like they have not been through enough already! Thanks to California Yacht Club and PRO Bill Moore for running the races and providing a great shore side venue! All the sailors did a great job as well and I was very happy to see everyone out despite the forecast for inclement weather.
Best,
Rick Peters
