We’re feeling a little goofy this morning,
after an intense deadline putting together the year’s biggest
issue of Latitude
38, to be distributed Tuesday. So it seemed fitting to
feature the Don Duck Regatta as our ‘Photos of the Day’ story.
Tiburon Yacht Club Commodore Walt Bilofsky
reports: “It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, with
good wind and flat water, as twenty pre-teen crew members aboard
four boats started the first Don Duck Regatta. The Don Duck went
off as a third start of the Don Wan, an annual early-spring club
race. Rules for the division: After crossing the starting line,
no grownup touches a wheel or a line. So each boat’s crew consisted
of four to six kids.
“Eleven boats were out there before
the first division start – not counting the incoming Larkspur
ferry, which wandered through between the first and second division
starts, but narrowly missed the line and was disqualified.
Golden Gate Transit’s entry was scored ‘DSQ’.
“Following the race, all crews and
skippers returned to the clubhouse for the traditional post-TYC
race recreation – soda pop, running around, hula hoops, and awards.
The crew of the winning boat, Pearl, were awarded rubber
ducks, and all the young racers received duck key chains. Thanks
to Tom Neukranz for organizing this event.”
First place Pearl
Unstoppable motion
Unusual ‘pickle dishes’
Photos Walt Bilofsky/Tiburon
YC
Olympic Classes Regatta
March 25 – Long Beach
Mo Hart and Meg Gaillard reinforced their
top rankings in the singlehanded Finn and Europe classes, respectively,
with runaway victories in the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club’s 43rd
Olympic Classes Regatta held March 21-23 in Long Beach.
Europe winner Meg Gaillard Photo Courtesy US Sailing
“I learned a long time ago not to
say a word because everything changes at the Trials,” Gaillard,
from Jamestown, RI, said after winning the last three races and
8 of 10 overall. Hart, of Santa Cruz, agreed. “Only one
thing matters, and that’s the Trials,” he said.
Gaillard’s strongest threat in the Europe
class is Alameda’s Krysia Pohl, 27, her frequent training partner,
who was a distant second this time. “Krysia is sailing well,”
said Gaillard, who was second to Courtenay Dey in the 2000 qualifiers,
“and everybody sails their best at the Trials.”
Pohl, a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard,
resigned her commission to pursue her Olympic ambition. “I
really ramped up my program in 2001 and started campaigning full-time,”
she said. “I’m still fine-tuning my equipment and techniques.
I’m getting better.”
Pohl admitted that sailing wasn’t the only
thing on her mind over the weekend. “If I was still in [the
Coast Guard] I’d probably be doing security inspections to make
sure that what’s coming in is legal. Everyone’s duties are double
now. I support everyone who’s [in Iraq]. That’s the most I can
do. I pray for them that they’ll come home safely.”
After winning 5 of 9 Finn races, Mo Hart
dropped out of the last race after a pre-start collision with
the veteran Henry Sprague of Long Beach. Final results were delayed
until their two-way protest was resolved by the race jury in
Hart’s favor.
Only one boat in each class qualifies for
the Olympics. While Hart, 27, and
Gaillard, 29, remain favorites in their groups, competition in
the 49er skiffs took another hitch in pressure when Dalton Bergan
and crew Zack Maxam of Coronado won the last three races in light
to moderate breeze to overhaul frontrunners David Fagen, St.
Petersburg, FL, and crew Bora Gulari, Detroit, at 28 points each.
They almost had to flip a coin to determine
the winner. After 15 races over three days, each team had the
same number of first, second, third and fourth places, so the
tiebreaker was Bergan’s fifth place in Race 3, which he actually
discarded as one of his two throwouts.
Andy Mack of White Salmon, WA, and crew
Adam Lowry, San Francisco, were five
points back. They are ranked No. 2 behind Tim Wadlow and Peter
Spaulding,
who remained on the East Coast this weekend. Bergan/Maxam are
third and
Fagen/Gulari fourth.
Fourth place finishers in the 49ers, Pat Whitmarsh and Paul Allen
on USA 37 battle Canadians Andrew Walther and Mark Lutz Photo Charlie McElfresh
Winds Sunday were 6 to 10 knots southwest
and shifty. Those who played the
shifts best were most successful.
FINN (11)
1. Mo Hart, Santa Cruz, (2)-1-2-1-1-1-1-3-2-DNF, 14.
2. Geoff Ewenson, Annapolis, MD, 1-(3)-1-2-3-3-2-(4-1-1, 17.
3. Henry Sprague, Long Beach, 3-2-(4)-3-2-2-3-2-3-1-5-DNC, 25.
49ER (13)
1. Dalton Bergan/Zack Maxam, Coronado
3-1-(5)-2-2-1-8-3-4-1-4-4-1-1-1, 28.
2. David Fagen, St. Petersburg, FL/Bora Gulari, Detroit,
2-3-1-1-4-(8)-1-1-(10)-2-1-1-3-4-4, 28.
3. Andy Mack, White Salmon, WA/Adam Lowry, San Francisco,
1-2-2-(6)-1-4-3-2-(6)-3-2-2-2-6-3, 33.
LASER RADIAL (28)
1. Parker Shinn, San Diego, 1-1-4-2-(5)-5-2-3-3-1, 22.
2. Doug Hart, San Diego, (9)-4-3-3-2-1-4-1-5-5, 28.
3. Bob Falk, Long Beach, (8)-2-1-8-4-6-3-2-2-3, 31.
STAR (10)
1. Mike Dorgan/Eric Weintraub, San Diego, 1-1-1-(9)-2-1-6, 12.
2. Jeremy Davidson/Jessica Costa, Long Beach, 3-2-3-3-(4)-4-4,
19.
3. Eric Lidecis, Newport Beach, 2-3-2-2-3-(5)-5, 17.
SNIPE (9)
1. Rick Arneson/Gus Wirth, San Diego, 1-1-1-2-(5)-2-4, 11.
2. David Tillson/John Fretwell, San Diego, 2-2-3-4-(6)-1-3, 15.
3. Ken Redler/Barbara Tillson, Marina del Rey, 3-4-1-6-3-(8)-1,
18.
The same three days Star Class sailors
were competing in Long Beach, the top Olympic contenders were
on the opposite end of the continent, duking it out in the Pre-Trials
hosted by Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami. Sweden’s Fredrik Loof
and Anders Ekstrom topped the fleet, five points ahead of Marinite
Paul Cayard and his crew, Phil Trinter, in second. Californians
also packed the bottom part of the top 10, with George Szabo
and Darin Jensen in sixth, Rick Merriman/Bill Bennett seventh,
Howie Shiebler/Rick Peters eighth, and Mark Reynolds/Magnus Liljedahl
ninth. For complete results, see www.ussailing.org/Olympics/2004Trials/StarPreTresults.htm.
PFDs and Harnesses After Dark a Must
March 25 – Portsmouth, RI
Perhaps prompted by recent high profile
incidents including some fatalities, US Sailing’s Safety at Sea
Committee has added or modified US Prescriptions to three of
the Special Regulations Governing Offshore and Oceanic Racing,
the most notable of which involves the use of PFDs and harnesses:
“PFD’s and Harnesses – 5.02.5 ‘US
SAILING prescribes that harnesses and
PFD’s shall be worn by all crew members in Category 0 and 1 races
from
sunset to sunrise while on deck.’ While nearly all of the responses
to the
advertised ‘request for comments’ on this proposal were supportive,
they
were evenly divided on the question of whether to require such
equipment or
to leave it up to each sailor or skipper. The majority of organizers
of
Category 1 and 0 races who responded favored adopting the prescription
as a
requirement.”
The other two items modified involve liferafts
and storm trysails on yachts with in-mast main furling. To find
out more, and to read TransPac Commodore Brad Avery’s comments
on the PFD/harness issue, see http://www.sailrater.com/newsarchive/03192003.htm.
YOTREPS
March 25 – The Pacific Ocean and Cyberspace
Who is out making passages in the Pacific
and what kind of weather are they having? The YOTREPS daily yacht
tracking page has moved to www.bitwrangler.com/psn.
Looking for current as well as recent wind
and sea readings from 17 buoys and stations between Pt. Arena
and the Mexican border? Here’s the place – which has further
links to weather buoys and stations all over the U.S.: www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/Southwest.shtml.
Pacific Winds and Pressure
The University of Hawaii Dept. of Meteorology
page posts a daily
map of the NE Pacific Ocean barometric pressure and winds.
