March came in with some vigor (at least for one day) as the FD fleet joined other classes at the Davis Island Yacht Club recently for their Midwinter regatta.
The event actually started as the Fireball Midwinters, but over the years other classes have been invited to join. The regatta is now known as Fireballs and Friends. DIYC is a very active, sailing oriented club that hosts many noted regattas each year.
Our experienced race officers did a good job of managing the diverse group and running as many races as practicable.
The first day of racing dawned with a robust nw breeze, a result of a cold front passing through the day before. Median winds of 15-17 with periods of over 20 were experienced. There was some breakage experienced, but Tim Sayles/Zack Marks and Paul Hemker/Pavel Ruzicka showed the way with top finishes that day.
Saturday dawned with much less breeze, and in this case much shiftier conditions. That made it a more tactical than physical/boat speed event. There was a nice mix of finishes with Paul and Pavel at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the day.
Sunday demonstrated a touch more breeze than anticipated, so we were able to get two more races in before it shut down completely mid day. In the end my crew for this event, Bob Kroetsch and I just nudged a win on a tie breaker over Paul and Pavel, with Tim and Zack third.
Jon and Anna Gorbold flew in to town from Rochester, and borrowed Nick Seraphinoff’s boat to enjoy the warm weather and close racing.
Gary Marshall brought his former Loeb/Fagen Mader out and in spite of some very experienced sails, showed some nice starts and course smarts. Good to see Gary and his crew out there and mixing it up.
This regatta for the FD’s was part of an effort to create a multiple regatta opportunity for class members bringing their boats to Florida for the winter. Discussions are ongoing to see how we might structure next year’s schedule for best effect. Right now the focus is on Nationals, which will be held at Noroton, CT over Memorial Day weekend. Afterward we load the container for Worlds at Lake Garda.
Good sailing,
Lin Robson