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.

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

Read more at ISAF.org

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