2007 Dallas Blow Out Muscular Dystrophy Regatta
March 9-11, 2007
Corinthian Sailing Club, Dallas, Texas
By Brig North
One
year after the 2006 Blow Out, which was one of the most fun
regattas ever when the gusts topped 40 on occasion, the 2007 edition
of the Dallas Blow Out Muscular Dystrophy Regatta landed with a bit
of a thud. A lack of wind one day and wind from an unusual direction
the other meant that the 30 sailors who arrived in Dallas, armed
with
C rigs and ready for intense battle with the elements as well as
their fellow sailors, didn't get to use all their weaponry. That
said, a very competitive regatta was had, with excellent competition
throughout the fleet.
Most people arrived Friday the 9th to have their boats weighed. The
IOM class has its own set of calibration weights that travel from
regatta to regatta, so there is no guess work about weight. Most
people flew through, but there were some folks sanding keels to meet
the 2.5 kg limit.
Winds were out of the west that day at the top of A to lower B, so
folks got a chance to test some gear. Toward the end of the session,
the weather mark became difficult to see as it was in the glare of
the setting sun.
Everyone packed their gear and then went to the Norths' house to
have
a few drinks, eat a sandwich, and watch the famous David Eldridge
videos from last year's Blow Out. People whooped it up when some of
the action got a bit rough under C rig conditions. It was hard to
tell if Steve Landeau's (of Orange, CA) face was a bit red because
of
recent sunburn or because of the ribbing he got when the video of
his
inadvertent but messy entanglement with race leader Bob Dunlap (San
Jose, CA) was shown to all! We also sang happy birthday to our two
time defending national champ, Craig Mackey of Mesa, AZ, as March
9th is his, hmm, 39th birthday?!
With good wind on Friday, certainly the wind was going to be great
on
Saturday, right, this being the Blow Out and all? Well, it wasn't
meant to be. Our incredible RD, Herman Van Beek, gave all the
instructions, got the course set, and we waited, and waited, and
waited for wind. As a few zephyrs came through the course, the
seeding races commenced. This regatta was sailed using HMS 2007 and
three fleets, so each seeding race had 10 boats, with fleets of 14
subsequently using six promoted/demoted. The winners of the seeding
races were Steve Landeau, David Eldridge of Dallas, TX, and Jon
Elmaleh of Brooklyn, NY.
Craig Mackey took one on the chin in the light going of the seeding
race and was relegated to the C fleet. He then proceeded to win the
C heat by a leg, the B heat by nearly a leg, and the subsequent A
heat. Quite a performance!
There were dreams that came true and others that were shattered as
the day wore on. Aussie transplant David Eldridge must have been a
good boy this year as he won a seeding race and a B heat race, so he
was walking with a bit of swagger. Conversely, the always
effervescent Fred Rocha of San Diego, CA, led one B heat the entire
time until less than 10 yards from the finish, at which time the
wind
shut off for him and the guys who had gone further inside got a
major
puff with a lift. Fred, using his beautifully accented English,
bemoaned the fact that it just wasn't fair coming in eighth after
dominating the race!
Because of the light air, only nine heats, including the seeding
races, were held on Saturday. After three races, the leader board
consisted of Steve Landeau, Jon Elmaleh, Dennis Rogers of San Diego,
CA, Craig Mackey, and Jeff Weiss of Costa Mesa, CA. These guys were
all within 11 points of each other, and the next five people were
covered by nine points, so racing was close.
That evening we retired to Baker's Ribs, a greasy spoon bar-b-que
joint for good food and to commiserate over the lack of wind. Fred
Rocha told me he would protest the race committee for lack of wind
because he and Dennis Rogers had driven 1,200 miles from San Diego
to
sail in C rigs, not fluky A rig stuff. Kiddingly, he said if he
wanted light and fluky, he could have stayed at home!!
Everyone met the next morning having heard from the IOM weather
guru,
Tony Gonsalves of Hollywood, FL, that it was supposed to blow
decently on Sunday. Well, the wind was from the east southeast,
which is a very bad direction for the sailing location. But there
was wind, so a course was set, and the racing began. There were a
few protests that required reconciliation before a subsequent heat
could proceed, and these were dispatched quickly. The wind clocked
around to a more southerly direction as the day wore on, which made
setting courses easier. There were shifts, but the shifts were much
more tame than the prior day.
The wins in the A heat were passed around among more people on
Sunday, but no win was more popular than Bruce Andersen's win in the
fourth race. Bruce, hailing from Boise, ID, did a number on the
fleet in relatively light air using his beamy TS 2.
As the day wore on, it became evident that Steve Landeau and Craig
Mackey were locked in a battle of epic proportions for the victory.
Steve had sailed an incredibly consistent regatta, and Craig with
his
usual brilliance overcame the seeding race fiasco to apply the
pressure. With three races left, Steve made the strategic decision
to go with the B rig in one race. He was the only person for whom
the change down worked as he won the race. Craig also went B rig,
but he could only manage a 5th. With Steve and Craig in lock step in
the penultimate race, it came down to the finale if Craig was going
to catch Steve. And Craig had to put boats in between the two of
them.
The last race of the day appeared with winds nearing the top of A,
and with everyone being leery of what happened two races before when
the B rigs didn't work out, the fleet opted for A rigs. Jeff Weiss
pulled out a lead with Craig and Brig North of Dallas, TX close
behind when, at the last weather mark, a huge puff came through,
causing Craig's boat to become unable to sail downwind. Brig barely
survived and followed Jeff home. Steve came in third in the race,
securing a well earned victory.
There was not just action in A fleet. There were great battles in
all the fleets as everyone tried their best. Getting around the
course in this group was a challenge, no matter what fleet you were
in! There were a lot of talented, hard sailing folks in each fleet,
so earning a promotion was quite often a victory in itself!
Awards were handed out and the box for the benefit of Muscular
Dystrophy research was passed around again. The incredibly generous
sailors will allow a $400 donation to be made to MD. Way to go
sailors!
This was also a chance to welcome new folks to the IOM class. The
Iowa contingent, John Davis and Charlie Rhinehart, borrowed boats to
sail with us as arranged by Mike Hughes of Dallas, TX. Also, Ray
Mireles of San Antonio, TX got his feet wet in a big fleet under the
watchful eye of Ray Seta, King Pirate of San Antonio's Woodlawn
Sailing Club.
Speaking of Woodlawn, Eric Gregory, who intended to sail but became
ill, did an incredible job of putting up audio interviews on the
Woodlawn site. The web site for the club is
www.woodlawnsailingclub.org. These guys are at the cutting edge
of
rc sailing promotion, so their site is worth a visit!
Thanks to all who came to Dallas. We wouldn't have a regatta without
your efforts to attend, and MD research would be a tad less funded
without your generosity.
Thanks also to our volunteers of Herman Van Beek, Bob Piper, Marvin
Burrows, Charles Suddath and Dan North. We couldn't have done it
without you all!
Final scores of the top 15 of 30 competitors, 11 races sailed with
two discards:
1) Steve Landeau 18 points
9) Ray Dagenais 76 points
2) Craig Mackey 25 points
10) Bruce Andersen 85 points
3) Jeff Weiss 34 points
11) Mike Hughes 87 points
4) Brig North 40 points
12) David Eldridge 88 points
5) Dennis Rogers 44 points
13) John Castelli 89 points
6) Jon Elmaleh 49 points
14) Ray Seta 94 points
7) Tony Gonsalves 56 points
15) Rob Davis 108 points
8) Doc Hoyos 71 points
