They set a windward/leeward course outside the breakwater and gave us five great races in a two day period. They even threw in a short starting line just to make it more fun.
The winds were moderate so being outside didn't impact us at all. We had four boats competing-Tiburon, Iguana, Nemesis and One Time. I want to thank all of the competitors for coming out. Our turnout was better than in the past and was among the leaders of all fleets this year.
The first day pretty much belonged to Tiburon. They won a hard fought first race, took a third in the second race and then finished off the day with another bullet. Nemesis was fighting for the lead in every race and their competitiveness paid off by taking a first place finish in race number two. One Time and Iguana were put in the position where they weren't getting much love from the elements. Iguana was sailing shorthanded so they had a ready alibi. One Time didn't have that luxury. Still, when the day was over all of the boats were very close in the point standings
The second day saw the wind gain a bit in velocity. If Iguana was shorthanded on Saturday then they were even shorter-handed on Sunday. Dennis went out with just three people. Great for a Cal 20 but not so good for a Cal 25. Tiburon also found themselves short a guy. Unfortunately, it was a big guy but then they're all big on that boat. Not so with One Time who spent some time on the telephone recruiting a few bodies. The racing on Sunday was every bit as competitive as it had been on Saturday which is to say that anyone could have won any race. I lost count of all the lead changes.
In the first race One Time port tacked the fleet at the start and got off to an early lead. It didn't last however as Tiburon was first around the windward mark. Going downwind it was Tiburon in the lead followed closely by Nemesis and One Time. Iguana was struggling with the short crew but making the most out of it. Tiburon and Nemesis elected to round the port gate (yes we did have leeward gates). One Time didn't have room at the port gate so they had to do a last minute bail around the starboard gate. That's when disaster struck. One Time experienced a crew brain-fade and elected to drop the spinnaker without assigning anyone to douse it. Good move. Result-the whole spinnaker shrimped into the ocean. It was classic. Best shrimp job I've ever seen. The boat stopped dead in its tracks and even started going backwards. The race committee was scrambling for a camera so they would have blackmail material for future intimidation. The sail was retrieved and off they went to the weather mark. As luck would have it a major shift in the wind actually propelled One Time to the lead. To everyone's surprise One Time rounded the weather mark in first place and held on for the win. The newest strategy for winning races is to screw up so bad that all your competitors start laughing so hard they forget where they're supposed to go.
Now the whole regatta was tied amongst three boats-One Time, Tiburon and Nemesis. It all came down to the final race. The scenario in the final race was a duplicate replay of the previous four. Everyone was in contention and the lead went back and forth a number of times. In the final analysis Tiburon just didn't have enough weight to hang during the upwind legs and One Time was able to get a controlling position over Nemesis.
One Time won the regatta, Tiburon took second, Nemesis took third and Iguana had fourth. Two days and five races resulted in a one point victory and a one point spread among the top three finishers. Not bad.
Felix and Rick (Tiburon) have won this regatta three straight years. It wasn't in the cards for a four-peat. Nemesis once again showed they have great speed and were competitive in every race. Many thanks to Dennis Diem of Iguana for coming out when he knew he would be shorthanded. Scares me to think how fast he'll go with a full crew.
I want to give special thanks to the race committee of the Long Beach Yacht Club. They gave us two full days of windward/leeward racing complete with numerous mark changes and leeward gates. It was great of them to do that. Everyone liked this changed format. You may want to express your gratitude when next you see them.