CABB Biscayne Bay Buoy Bash
November 25, 2006
Miami, Florida
by John McKnight

As I was driving across the Rickenbacker Causeway, on my way to the race, I caught my first glimpse of Biscayne Bay. The surface of the bay was sparkling like a million diamonds. The sun was rising and the reflection on the bay was absolutely stunning. It was almost blinding. The air was crisp and cool, and I knew we were in for an incredible day of racing. It was one of those days my wife and I like to call "California days." It was reminiscent of the invigorating days we experienced when we lived in California in the late '70s. These are my favorite days to sail. It was a little on the cool side for we South Floridians with temperatures in the mid 70s. The wind forecast was for 10 to 15 out of the northeast. That meant we would be using the wet suits for the first time this fall. The stage was set for the annual Biscayne Bay Buoy Bash.

Nine boats with sixteen sailors showed up to enjoy the day's events. We had two Nacra 20s, two Hobie 20s, two Hobie 16s, and one each; Tornado, Blade 16, and A-Cat. The two Hobie 16s were sailed by teams of youth sailors from the Miami Yacht Club. Dalia Sabbagh sailed with newcomer Kelbe Jahmke on one 16 and Katlin Yasher sailed with Sierra Manno on the other 16. John Esquivel had recruited rock star, Jamie Livingston, to crew for him. John is trying to elevate his performance to the next level. He has his sites set on competing in the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta in January. Long-time-no-see, Bret Moss, was out with his A-Cat. Bret is the defending Hobie Wave National Champion and will be competing in the Wave Nationals again in December and the A-Cat North Americans in January. Bret was just about untouchable on each weather leg during the races. The Nacra 20s were sailed by two father and son teams, the Sonnenklars and Greenes. Seventeen year old Jared Sonnenklar drives and his dad, Jay, crews. They were hot all day with nothing less than a third place finish. Terry and Evan Greene were sailing the other Nacra 20. Evan was home from FSU (Go Noles) for the Thanksgiving holiday and enjoyed a great day of sailing with his dad. Wilder Robles was out with his Blade 16. Wilder has been working diligently on his sailing and has improved rapidly. His best finish was a second for the day. Go Wilder! Rafael Quesada was out with new crew, Horacio De Felice on their Hobie 20. Oriol and I rounded out the fleet on my Hobie 20.

For the first time in a long time, we had an actual committee boat and race committee. Ivan Loya volunteered to run the races from his monohull while his Tornado is down for repairs. Ivan and his committee did an excellent job. I think this was Ivan's first time as a PRO. He looked like a professional. He set a windward leeward course with a mile between the line and the A mark. We ran races twice around the circuit with a downwind finish for each of four races. We did not have a chase boat, so Oriol and I adjusted the start line between races to square it up. The winds were back and forth about 20 degrees all day. Ivan was very organized. He had even made a class flag with "CABB" on it. He also borrowed marks and a set of race flags from the US Olympic Training Center, where he berths his two boats. They even had a photographer on the committee boat. Barbara Hernandez, a professional, was shooting the races. It was her first time doing a regatta, and she said she really enjoyed the experience and wants to do more. She has posted some of the images she took on her web site at http://www.photographybybmh.com/.

We did have some excitement during the day's races. What would sailboat races be without a little excitement? Wilder had a DNF when he flipped going downwind flying his chute. He pushes that boat to the maximum and occasionally he pushes it too far. He also took a DNS when his main sail halyard hook came loose, and he had to flip the boat to re-hook it. Dalia and Kelbe flipped their H-16 in the third race on the last downwind leg. They appeared to be having some difficulty righting the boat, so several boats sailed over to see if they needed assistance. Something did not look right. When they stood on the bottom hull, it was almost completely submerged. Jared volunteered to jump into the chilly, mullet infested waters and assist in the righting process. The three of them got it up with no problem. We found out later that the drain plug on that hull was not fully seated and the hull was partially full of water. Rafael Quesada got to practice his man overboard drill when Horacio flew off the boat before the first race. Horacio was fine, but they decided to just do some practicing instead of participating in the races.

A good time was had by all. I got several Emails from participants saying what a great day it was. Congratulations to John Esquivel and Jamie Livingston for the first place finish. Second went to Jared and Jay Sonnenklar. Third went to Bret Moss. This third was despite the fact that Bret did not race the fourth race. He would have gotten a second (tied for first) if there had been a throw out race. Oriol and I took fourth. See you in December for the Millennium Cup.

John Esquivel..........Tornado....59.0...3...1...1...3...8
Jamie Livingston

Jared Sonnenklar.......Nacra 20...59.3...2...3...3...1...9
Jay Sonnenklar

Bret Moss..............A-Cat......64.6...1...2...2...10..15

John McKnight..........Hobie 20...65.0...5...4...4....4..17
Oriol Cruzeta

Katlin Yasher..........Hobie 16...76.0...7...6...5....5..23
Sierra Manno

Wilder Robles..........Blade 16...65.2...4...10..10...2..26

Terry Greene...........Nacra 20...59.3...6....5...6...10.27
Evan Greene

Dalia Sabbagh..........Hobie 16...76.0...8....7...10..6..31
Kelbe Jahmke

Rafael Quesada.........Hobie 20...65.0...10..10...10.10..40
Horacio De Felice



2. RC-27 World Championships
Miami, Florida
November 26, 2006

The RC-27, radio controlled sailboat, 2006 World Championships were held the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend here in Miami. The reason I mention this is because most of the RC-27 sailors are also sailors of full size catamaran and trimarans. We normally sail these boats every Sunday of the year at the lake in front of Baptist Hospital in Kendall. The World Championships, and I say that with tongue in cheek, have been held the past four years at the home of Raul and Joanne Lopez in Kendall. The Lopezes live on a lake and open their home each year so we can have our big year-end event there. On behalf of all the race participants, I would like to thank the Lopez family for the gracious hospitality. I would also like to thank Chris Lones who designed the boats and built each one by hand. He fixes anything that needs fixing on the boats. He paid for the championship trophies which were very nice ball cap style hats that were embroidered with finish position and Chris's corporate logo, Blackstar Yachts. I would like to thank John Sherry for arranging for the hats.

Here are the sailors who participated in the Worlds.

Jim Barrows
Chris Lones
Raul & Coqui Lopez
John McKnight
Robert Onsgard
Kenny Pierce
Mike and Isabelle Phillips
Jaime & Jaime Ramon
John and Johanna Schiefer
John Sherry


If you would like to participate in the RC-27 sailing, give me a call. Sailing these boats will make you a better big boat sailor. Each Sunday we probably do 20 races. Sailing radio controlled boats helps you learn tactics, rules, strategies, and wind shifts. You can learn to recognize the favored end of the starting line and the favored side of the course. You can learn how all the adjustments on a boat affect performance. Young Coqui Lopez sails an RC-27, and he has been doing very well in the Opti Green fleet with some first place finishes. I think there is a correlation. The beauty of sailing is there is always something new to learn, and sailing these boats accelerates that learning. If you want, stop by Baptist and check it out some Sunday. Give me a call before you come to make sure we are sailing that particular day. Sometimes we take a Sunday off depending on what real boat sailing is happening that weekend. We usually sail from about 2:30 till dark. We even have our own dock for launching the boats.

John