A weekend for winners at 2016 SCYA Midwinter Regatta

The 2016 Southern California Yachting Association’s (SCYA) Midwinter Regatta was held by participating clubs over the weekends of Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21. The new two-weekend format for the 87th winter sailing tradition enabled host yacht clubs to select the best fit for racers wishing to participate in the regattas.

The Feb. 13-14 weekend of race results are provided below. To find out more about the 2016 Midwinter Regatta, visit midwinters.scyaweb.org or contact Jo Ann Sedgwick at service@scya.org.

Del Rey Yacht Club had more than 70 boats signed up to race the first weekend of the regatta, which greeted racers with highs in the 70s and reasonable winds on day one. In the Opti Green Class the 33 boat fleet were dominated by four members from California Yacht Club.

Lucca Farrell won the class with 39 points in eight races. Matthew Commons was second, with Lucas Knight and Harry Bryan coming in third and fourth.

In the 44 Boat Champs Fleet 1 point was the difference between first and second place with Ryan Satterberg of Santa Barbara Yacht Club taking line honors over Jake Maol of Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club.

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club had seven classes represented in the regatta. In the Cal 20 Class with 10 competitors and with six races, only 4 points separated first and third place. The line honors went to Freddie Stevens of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club; Chuck Clay in second place and John Merchant in third place followed him. Both were also from Alamitos Bay YC.

In the A Class Cats, Mission Bay Yacht Club won with Matt Struble at the helm. In the F18 fleet Daniel Delave of Alamitos Bay YC took first place. In the I14 class, eight competitors fought for the first place trophy. San Diego Yacht Club represented by Brad Ruetenik and Rielly Gibbs took first place.

The Laser Masters Fleet of 10 boats recorded a victory for Alamitos Bay YC with Chris Raab taking first place away from second place finisher Dave Leuck from Mission Bay YC.

The 11 boat Lido A fleet Mark “the Shark” Ryan with crew Amanda Huggingkiss won with 12 points in nine races for Leeway SC. Alamitos Bay YC took the next two places with Bruce Golison in second place and Kevin Thomas taking third place. William Mueller won the Lido B Fleet with crew Stephen Mueller.

Dana West Yacht Club hosted two PHRF non-spinnaker classes. The sailors were put to the test with an array of weather conditions on Feb. 13. The wind varied from nothing to 15 knots with mild seas. Temperatures inland were setting records yet on the water things remained brisk.

Five boats competed for honors in the A Class with Masquerade, an Olson 30, taking first place with three bullets in three races. Grey Goose another Olson 30 took second place in the competition.

In the B Fleet, Tekeela, a J22, beat out much larger boats to take first place in all three races. They were followed by Out of the Blue with 3 seconds.

Newport Harbor Yacht Club had near perfect conditions with clear skies and temperatures in the 70s for the 59 sailors that took part in this year’s Midwinter Regatta on Feb. 13. Sunday’s conditions could have been more favorable with a little more wind and a little less fog.

In the Sabot A Class Balboa Yacht Club’s Pearce Mendoza took first place with 7 points in seven races.

In the 12 Boat B Fleet San Diego YC’s Calvin Schmidt took home the hardware.

In the C1 fleet of 14 sailors, Dylan Wood of Balboa YC, took home the first place award with Mackenzie Harris of Sand Diego YC following in second place.

In the C2 Division, Marleigh Henehan of Mission Bay YC took first place in the 13-boat fleet after winning the tie competition over Thomas Nilsen of Bahia Corinthian YC.

In the C3 class Dylan Sih of Alamitos Bay YC took first place.

San Diego Yacht Club hosted the SCYA Midwinters on Feb. 13-14 in the Coronado Roads off of Point Loma. Over the two days, J/70s, J/80s, J/120s and Beneteau 36.7s participated in five races. The weather was ideal- sunny and mid-70s with above average speeds of 14-15 knots at the start of the first race on Saturday. After that, the winds remained steady at around 8-10 knots on Saturday late afternoon and early Sunday afternoon. On Sunday late afternoon, the winds died down tremendously at the end of the second race causing the race committee to shorten the course.

There were 24 boats in total from 11 different yacht clubs competing throughout the weekend. J Almighty, skippered by Mike Hatch from San Diego YC, won the J/120 class. Skipper Curt Johnson from California Yacht Club led Avet to a first place finish in the J/80 division. The Beneteau 36.7 winner was Adventure skippered by Ted Butterfield from Southwestern Yacht Club. Finally, Minor Threat won the J/70 division skippered by Jeff Janov from Cal YC.

Silver Gate Yacht Club in San Diego is hosting multiple regattas for the Midwinters with the V32 remote control fleet having completed their races under sunny and clear skies with temperatures in the low 80s on Feb.13. The day featured 10 races with 18 boats competing. Only 3 points separated first and third place in a hotly contested contest.

First place went to Dennis Sharp, Lake Gregory Yacht Club; 2nd: Joe Plymesser, Silver Gate YC; 3rd: Bill Herrerra of Helmsmen Model Yacht Club in Long Beach and 4th: Steve Roeber, Silver Gate YC.

Hollywood Yacht Club once again hosted the Predicted Log competition. The results were as follows: 1st: Bill McCormick, Inamorata, Huntington Harbor Yacht Club; 2nd: John Walker, Prime Time, Hollywood Yacht Club; 3rd:  Rick Sherwood, Carisma, Hollywood YC;4th: Bruce Clinkenbeard and Older Budweiser, Shoreline Yacht Club; 5th :Kirby Holte, Sea Era, Hollywood YC.

Radio Controlled Sailboats are becoming more and more popular in the SCYA Midwinter Regatta. Eight VO 70 RC boats were entered for the 87th SCYA Midwinter Regatta that raced at Newport Dunes. The sailors all gathered for the noon start at Newport Dune and 11 races were conducted. The winds were wonderful and the competition was intense as the skippers all tuned their boats between races to maximize their chances of winning an SCYA trophy.

First place was awarded to Steve Beck; Second place went to Larry Grant, who acted as the event coordinator. Third and fourth places went to Mike Schachter and Mike McCarthy, respectively. SCYA Vice Commodore Simon Dekker was present to award trophies and watch the action. Steve Ford is the builder of the boats and allowed people to try their luck at sailing extra boats he brought along so that future sailors could see what it was like to sail a radio controlled VO 70.