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It all
started out as San Antonio, being deluged in rain all week long and
everyone wondering if this coming Saturday was going to be the right
choice for a club regatta and cook out. By Thursday the rain
continued and the forecast was for now 70% chance of rain on Regatta
day. OK I’m having second thoughts on this myself and start
weighing my options of holding to my Pirate sword and keep the date or
postpone for another weekend. By Friday I’m starting to get phones calls
every hour from members asking if we were still on. My reply was we
never cancel due to speculated weather till the day of the
event….remember this is Texas and the forecast was down to 60% rain for
Saturday anyway, so I felt better….yeah right! Then came
Friday night and the biggest lightning and thunder show of the year and
San Antonio is now under a Flood Warning. Still getting phone
calls from my less experienced and naive Pirate members. I said I
wasn’t convinced yet to cancel, even if we were in a Flood Warning all
night. At 2 AM Saturday morning in the middle of the night I am
watching the Weather Channel and watching the blobs of red and purple
storms pass through SA. I just kept trying to convince myself I
was still right by not canceling. Then at 8AM I awake to blue
skies and a forecast of 30% chance of rain and winds 10 -20 from the
North, “This was going to be a great day for a regatta”! Did I
mention that this is Texas and if you don’t like the weather, then just
wait, it will change! …Trust your leader!
Regatta Time: 11 OD’s show up and I’m glad to say that everyone
that RSVP’ed had shown up with the exception of Randy Rimmer who had to
go up to Medina Lake and save his docks from rising waters. He was
bummed because he so much wanted to defend his “Special Finisher” trophy
from last year. Larry Ludwig, of Ludwig Manufacturing once again
volunteer for Race Director (RD) and did an outstanding job dealing with
less than perfect winds. Especially since they never panned out to
the 10 -20 from the North, but only about 0 – 10 instead.
After a quick Skippers Meeting and a brief discussion about keeping the
racing clean and for everyone do their circles it was time to race with
4 races back-to-back before lunch. With Tony Seta handling the
cooking and Mama Seta & Christina, handling the interior set-up, it was
nice break to some rather stressful racing. On the stressful
note….I can safely say that it’s always good that when “good”
competitive friends get together and start yelling rules and fouls, it
only takes some smart-ass to yell out “ah feel the love!” and all will
break into laughter! Even the pirates of Woodlawn can laugh at
each other. As the day went on and the we came down to the last
few dying breeze races, I think all would agree that this had been one
of the most competitive OD Classic to date with everyone here being
veterans in this Class. One interesting note that at one point
when the RD called the only General Recall of the day. All the
moans , growns, and complaints that could be heard about his call were
basically from everyone that have never served as an RD before.
Try it guys, it’s not easy! But Larry stood his ground and we thank him
for that!!!!
Then came trophy time and of course the usual Pirate suspects were
topping the list. See results below! But of course
let’s not forget the coveted “Special Finisher” award that doesn’t allow
you to park in Special Olympian parking spots, but rather is given to
the skipper with the highest number of points and must have had finished
every race. This years “Special Finisher” award goes to no
other than Ray Mireles. And with this trophy being the same size as the
1st place trophy, it wasn’t long before we found Ray trying
to buy JK’s 1st Place trophy plate from him and sticking on
his trophy.
Let me thank all who came and helped me set-up this morning, JO,
Dave Finnel, Ray Mireles, Tony Seta, Budman, Carl Seta, and Christina.
All set up and ready by 11AM, and again let me say not a cloud in the
sky on a day that San Antonio was being flooded the night and week
before. Special thanks for JK and girlfriend Terri, Vicki
and husband Ben for driving down from Austin to sail.
Results Posted Below by Eric Gregory.
Submitted by: Capt Jack Seta – organizer of all 11 OD-39 Regattas in San
Antonio!
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