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Rollin’s Bowl Final Results

Baxter Bowl Final Results

King of Spain Final Results

Three teams went out tuning on Friday; the Beeks on 7294, the Buchans on 8260, and owner/crew Avery Stewart aboard 7525 with a mystery skipper. Sailing along the city front and out into the 15 knot westerly with big swells coming through the Golden Gate, these teams anticipated a challenging regatta, only to lose 7525 to a broken mast before they could even get on the tally sheet.

Good thing next morning there were three more Stars on the dock, Szabo/Toth on 8320, Steel/? on 8065, and Hagabols/Young aboard 8268 (the only local boat to show) so we had a fleet! We joined Mercurys, Etchells, Wylie Wabbits, International One Designs and Express 27’s in the starting area.  The RC chose to take us out to the middle of the bay just west of Alcatraz to start in the 15 knot westerly that held strong all day. The sailing conditions were top grade San Francisco Bay: wind coming through the gate with the current ebbing so we had fast upwind legs (it was easy to over stand the weather mark) and long surfing runs. There were three races, each a double windward leeward, finishing on the run, with an offset mark and a gate set and plenty of time between the fleets to keep the race course clear. Sadly in the first race Doug Steele twisted his mast and got towed back to the harbor.

Saturday night all the fleets gathered for a competitor’s dinner served in the west ballroom of St. Francis where a slide show of the days racing vied with a spectacular sunset over the Marin headland with wind still whipping the water across the bay and out under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sunday morning we sailed out after an onshore postponement into wind accompanied by a slight drizzle. Racing began with the wind back up to 15 knots, again!  We had a fast weather leg in great conditions but then rain smothered the wind on the way down so for half the leg we drifted. Halfway up the next weather leg the wind came back off the marina shore and we finished the fourth race. By that time it was getting late due to the morning postponement and some false starts. As we waited for the final race Szabo exercised his Gold Star authority, calling off the last race by heading for the hoist. The facilities at St Francis are easy to use so George was packed and waiting to go when the trophy ceremony got underway. He was awarded an embroidered canvas bag for the win.

By Chuck Beek

Results

Alejandro and Erik with a great start.

No time for tea as 19 boats converged on Santa Barbra from San Diego in the south and Seattle to the north. They met this past weekend to compete for the 80 year old Sir Thomas Lipton Cup and the District 5 Championships. Sir Thomas Lipton donated the exquisite trophy to Santa Barbra Yacht Club in the 1920’s and has been annually contested for by the Star Class for the last forty years. The SBYC hosted a superb event coordinating housing and hospitality on and off the water; they even provided drinks and snacks off the Race committee boat each day which were appreciated by all. The wind cooperated both days with just a short delay to start the day but it filled from the south and built to provide great racing. There were four Races on Saturday and three on Sunday.

On Saturday the wind was a bit less than normal ranging from 6 to 8 knots with the standard persistent shift to the right. Reynolds/Haenel led the day finishing ahead of Gould/Sieck by 2 points and Doyle/Ziskind by 9. On Sunday the sun came out quicker and the wind built a bit more to 8 to 10 knots with the right even more favored. In the first race of the day Gould/Sieck picked up 2 points on Reynolds/Haenel but in the next race Reynolds/Haenel took the win to go into the last race with a comfortable lead after discard. Doyle/Ziskind won the last race to finish 3rd overall, Gould/Sieck 2nd and Reynolds/Haenel 1st. Mitchell/Marzhal owned the right all day and powered away to a 1,2,2 despite the fact that Mitchell continued to leak blood from a somewhat minor incident the night before.

Back at the club on Sunday the Club hosed post race drinks and a full pasta bar buffet followed by the Trophy presentation by the Commodore Roger Chrisman. The depth of history and the names engraved on the five foot tall Lipton Cup is quite impressive. Mark and Hal were certainly honored to add their names for the second time to the trophy. Results

Written by:
Mark Reynolds and Hal Haenel

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.

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.

Photo by Christine Mills of ChristineMillsPhotography.com

Sunday had more traditional Newport Beach conditions, westerly winds were puffy in the 7-10 knot range, it was not just standard go right stuff, you had to stay in the pressure to come out on top. The competition was fierce, hard to find friends out there, it was tricky to stay in phase, and every mistake cost you big time! The Madigan’s, a local father/son team had a nice last race, they were trying out a borrowed Star and we hope to see them back soon. Jim and I held on to win the last race, not giving up even after an 8th in the first race! Thanks to everyone for coming, for those of you that did not make it you missed some great racing. Next up is the Lipton Cup on July 10-11th in Santa Barbara, it is also the District 5 Championship.

by Rick Peters

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.

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