We just had a terrific time! That?s the word from the participants over the weekend at our Hobie Division 16 Points regatta. Everyone that got involved (not just the racers) thought this was one of the best ever, and we?d like to give you a short recap of what happened:
FRIDAY, JUNE 18:
This separate race is called the Witter Cup, named after Greg Witter, one of our sailors and more active racers that passed away in 2001. There were 13 boats that participated in our Bay to Bay Long Distance race and we had fair winds (5-8 k). We left the South Shore Beach Club?s beach at 1150 hours. The trip to Sunset was a broad reach along the shoreline with the fastest boat doing the trip in about an hour. The slowest boat took about an hour and a half. There was a LeMans start and the race itself is run under class rules with a Portsmouth handicap system.
When we arrived at Surfer?s Club at Sunset, we were able to beach our craft easily, and then went in to talk and have some sodas, beer, wings, and pizza. The Fleet picked up the bar tabs, and Surfer?s picked up the Food.
The sail back to South Shore was pretty exciting with most sailors cutting about ten to fifteen minutes off their downwind run's time. The winner for the combined legs was Gregg Kittenger.
We stayed around the South Shore beach club for dinner and watched the sunset as other boats arrived during the evening for the weekend race. There are a few beach bars in the area, so people would wander between them during the evening.
SATURDAY, JUNE 19
A Breakfast Buffet was offered by Gary of South Shore Beach Club for $6 on both Saturday and Sunday; people enjoyed it.
Our race committee did a good job calling the races and keeping things moving. We had moderate winds (maybe reaching 12 k.); and we managed to get four good races in; all were windward-leeward with gates. Forty-eight boats participated from Rochester, Syracuse, and Toronto, and everyone had a fun time. We did lose two daggerboards on Tigers because the severe wind shift during the race caused some racers to gamble and go too close to a point.
After the races, our beach master did a good job of stacking the boats on the beach (this year they kept the trailers on the beach) three deep. We had dinner at the South Shore Beach Club (people picked out their own tables and tabs) and had a great, comfortable evening. At 2100 people stayed to hear the Pfog (our local blues group) play through the night. Again, some people decided to visit other beach bars in the area; no driving is necessary. For accommodations, some people camped for free in the Evans Town Park next door; others parked their RVs in Conner?s lot for $15 per night; and others just went home, and then came back in the morning. A few people stayed at a local motor inn.
SUNDAY, JUNE 20
Skippers? meeting was at 0930 hours, and the racers got off the beach a little slower than we would have liked; they had to delay the start about thirty minutes. Winds were approaching 12 knots and the Open class and Tigers had one long race; The 16s, 17s, and 18s got in two short AC races. The race committee wanted to do another one, but there was a seventy degree wind shift, and while they were resetting marks, the committee boat suffered some damage to their swim platform because of the building swells, so the remaining of the race was aborted and everyone was back on the beach by 1300. Actually, it was a great move because weather came in an hour later.
We had a wonderful, family-style picnic on the beach with our local fleet members doing the cooking of corn, hot dogs, and polish and Italian sausages. Many people brought various salads, watermelon, and desserts, and there was more than enough for all. Despite the gentle rain shower that started after we had all beached our boats, we were all able to eat in comfort under the shelter at the Evans Town Parks shelter on the beach. We also held the awards ceremony there and had a raffle.
During the picnic, a lot of us had time to ask the visitors for feedback. No one had anything negative to say: They all enjoyed the free camping; the party atmosphere; the good racing; and the wonderful beach setting.
For those of you that came: Thank you, we know we'll see most of you at Fleet 295's regatta in Rochester, NY and we're looking forward to competing with you again; I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about at their beer tent.
For those of you that couldn't make it; see if it fits in your schedule next year because it's kind of different being on a public beach in the middle of the summer. It's almost like being at one of the Florida regattas.
Wyatt, Fleet 119
