I14 Midwinters at CBYC Feb 18-19, 2023
What do you call a light wind day in Hurricane Gulch? A bike ride!
It was a beautiful weekend in San Pedro for the I-14 Midwinters hosted by Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club. Gotta love those hot Pedro nights!
The infamous breeze of Hurricane Gulch decided to go AWOL this weekend and instead we had a light wind regatta with short courses, tight racing, and a bit of luck on the side of the winners. We had a great turnout with 10 boats on the line and representation from San Francisco to San Diego, and everywhere in between. Thanks to everyone for making the trek!
Saturday:
The first race was scheduled for 12:30pm but with the light winds and glassy water, the AP flag was set and racing was postponed for about an hour and a half. When the wind finally picked up, the race committee sent the fleet on a quick one-lapper around the course. Kate/Garrett shot off the line and roughly 12 minutes later the mighty Colonel Angus claimed its first win in what would be a perfect regatta. Kirk/Matt followed closely in Atomic Punk’s orange splendor, and Channing/Pete in racecar red took third. It was clear that finesse would be the key and that a bad start or any mistakes on the racecourse would prove fatal in the standings.
Race two featured a strong performance by Kate/Garrett once again, but this time hot on their heels was Terry/Jon in the great green Dunder Pit, followed by Mike/Elizabeth, taking full advantage of a private micro-puff down the final leg.
Race three saw the wind continue to trend right and build to a modest ~6 knots, enough for teams to actually use their trapeze harnesses! This would prove to be the windiest race of the series, but clean starts and tight tactics remained crucial for success. Kate/Garrett boringly bested the fleet again, the Dunder Pit snatched another second, and James/Mike pounced on the podium in third.
Sunday:
Going into day 2 it was becoming clear who would win the regatta, but the rest of the podium was still anybody’s game, with Terry/Jon in second, James/Mike tied with Channing/Pete for third just one point behind, and Mike/Elizabeth just one point behind them.
In spite of a more favorable forecast, the AP went up again at 12:30pm and the race committee did a wind dance to scare up some breeze. The first race was another quick one-lapper to warm up the fleet with John/Hoel grabbing 2nd behind Kate/Garrett, and Mike/Elizabeth snagging 3rd.
The final race of the series was competitive as ever as boats placed their bets on which side of the course would pay, and traded positions on each lap. Kate/Garrett secured their well-earned picket fence, followed by Channing/Pete in their best finish of the regatta, securing them 4th overall. James/Mike held off Mike/Elizabeth in the final lap, resulting in a tie for 2nd place in the series.
Congratulations to Kate and Garrett who were the clear winners of this regatta with straight bullets across both days: As always, Colonel Angus did not disappoint! In the end, Mike and Elizabeth sailing Winnie (the Poo Boat) won the tiebreaker with James and Mike in Low and Angry (who, paradoxically, managed to point extremely high and seemed quite happy in doing so). Special shoutout to the female racers for taking first and second in the regatta!
In spite of the light breeze it was a really fun regatta and it was nice to have the fleet back together for such tight racing, with 7 of the 10 boat fleet scoring at least one podium finish and every single boat having moments of brilliance.
Thank you to Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club and their volunteer race committee for hosting another successful regatta. Be sure to check out the fleet’s Facebook page (I14USA) for regatta photos courtesy of Volker Corell.
We’re looking forward to seeing the group at the next event: March 17-19, Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series (HHSWRS, aka “The regatta formerly known as NOOD”) at Coronado Yacht Club.
Link to Register: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eid=15505
2023 Midwinters Results:
Link to results: https://www.regattanetwork.com/event/25586#_newsroom+results
