CABB New Year's Day Race
January 1, 2007
Miami, Florida
By John McKnight

The second annual CABB New Year's Day Race was held; you guessed it, on January 1. The tradition which started last year continues. What better way to start your sailing year off right than to go sailing and racing with your friends. We had excellent weather, with temperatures in the low eighties and winds out of the southeast at 7 to 10 knots. What's not to like here?

We had eight teams show up to welcome in the New Year with a race in Biscayne Bay. The course for the day was a 20 mile triangle with an upwind leg, a close reaching leg, and a downwind leg. The start was just south of the Rickenbacker Causeway. The turning marks were at the Cutler Power Plant channel marks and Marker 21 at the west end of Biscayne Channel.

There was no lack of talent on the course. We had three Tornados competing. When was the last time that happened at a CABB race? There were two Hobie 20s, an Inter 20, a Hobie 16, and the big boys, an F-28R. One of the Tornados was sailed by Don Thinschmidt and Drew Wierda who are in town practicing up for the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta (MOCR) later this month. They had recently returned from the Tornado World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They will also be doing the Tornado North Americans after the MOCR. They said they normally do not do distance races since their primary focus is on Olympic style buoy races. That didn't matter; they won our distance race hands down. In a two hour race, they were 6 1/2 minutes ahead of the nearest competition, capturing line honors and first place on corrected time. Congratulations, Don and Drew.

In second place was the always fast, Jay Sonnenklar and Terry Greene, on Jay's Inter 20. These many time Tybee 500 veterans are always near the head of the pack. Third place went to college student, Sarah Newberry, and her mentor uncle, Jamie Livingston, on Jamie's Tornado. They will also be doing the Tornado races later in the month. Fourth place went to rising star, John Esquivel, and Humberto Pieve, on John's Tornado. John will also be doing the MOCR later in January.

I was sailing my Hobie 20 with Rod Lequerica. Rod has recently purchase his own Hobie 20, and he was sailing with me to pick up some pointers before he starts racing his own boat. Rod is very excited about his new boat and plans on being a regular competitor. The other Hobie 20 was sailed by Ken Reid and Max Everett. This was just the second CABB race for Ken on his newly acquired H-20. Ken has done an excellent job of restoring the boat and is ready to race. He is looking forward to competing in this months Tradewinds Regatta in the Florida Keys. Leandro Spina and Timmy Zenderman sailed the Hobie 16 in the race. Leandro normally sails a Tornado or A-Cat. Robert Onsgard had his F-28R out for a spin with some friends. They tagged along with the race and enjoyed a great day on the water.

The weather was great, the competition was keen, and the bay was spectacular. What a way to start off the New Year!

2. The 2007 Tradewinds regatta is this coming weekend, January 13 and 14 in Islamorada. All the details can be found on the catsailor website at http://www.catsailor.com/TradewindsNOR_07.htm
Here is a forum link for late breaking information about parking, registration, beer, launching, motels, and anything else you need to know about the regatta. http://www.catsailor.com/forums/showflat...0&fpart=all
This is the big one, don't miss it. There are already 49 boats pre-registered, and I know of a number of boats that are going to be there that are not on that list. There should be well over 50 boats in attendance. If you want to come down to the Keys and play but you are not racing, I might still be able to get you on a chase boat to watch all the fun and help out. Let me know ASAP.