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Final Report -
By Brig North
On March
16, 17 and 18, Dallas' Corinthian Sailing Club played host to the tenth
annual White Rock Cup benefiting Spina Bifida of North Texas. A total
of 25 sailors arrived from Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, TX;
Detroit, MI; Wichita, KS; Toledo, OH; Mesa, AZ; and Toronto, Ontario to
compete in the longest running annual regatta in Victoria history.
We were
fortunate to have six of the top ten ranked Victoria skippers in
attendance at our regatta, including no. 1 Peter Siek, no. 2 Craig
Mackey, no. 4 Ray Dagenais, no. 6 Charlie Mann, no. 7 Charles Sudduth,
and no. 10 Mark Cooper. Many of the usual suspects also attended,
including several Pirates and other supporters of the class. We had
several new folks making their first start in Victoria racing. As will
be discussed later in this report, one might have chosen a different
weekend to jump into a boat for the first time!!
Friday
afternoon a course was set and about 15 skippers arrived for practice
races which took place in the 10-12 mph wind. Pleasant conditions
allowed for good practice and the renewal of friendships. Several
sailors got together for dinner after practice, and there are
unsubstantiated rumors that one attending sailor had a bit too much grog
and bunked on the deck of a pirate ship Friday night!
The next
morning racing was scheduled to begin early, but the sailors were met
with little to no wind. As last minute details were straightened out, a
bit of wind appeared on the water. Our RD for the event, David Eldridge
of Australia by way of Dallas and an IOM regular, provided the
instructions and announced that Head Pirate Ray Seta would be
called over early for the first race regardless of where he was on the
course!! We were divided into two fleets as modified HMS with six
promoted/relegated was being used to conduct the regatta. At this point
the wind filled in, David called out the skippers for the seeding race
and started the clock.
The wind
for the seeding races wasn't too bad -- about 12 from the southeast with
building chop. As the class' no. 1 ranked skipper, Peter Siek noted
about the venue he affectionately named "the Mudhole", when the wind is
out of the south, there is a long fetch that allows the chop to build.
By the time the second race rolled around, the wind had piped up to
15-20 with more in the puffs, which combined with the building chop,
created survival conditions for everyone except the hands-down master of
heavy air, Craig Mackey, who reveled in the chop and high wind. Craig
laid down the gauntlet early that there would be no competition for
first place -- that was his private domain. The rest of the sailors did
their best to control their boats downwind, praying they could survive
the run to go back upwind as one could regain some semblance of control.
The rescue
boat got one heck of a work out! As racing progressed, attrition took
its toll. After the fifth race in the brutal conditions, five boats had
retired, so RD Eldridge called for the fleet to start as one. Twenty
boats on the line was quite a sight, particularly in light of the wind
and waves. While the wind subsided a bit over time, attrition
continued. The Assistant RD, Leah Gregory, wife of Victoria regular and
Woodlawn Pirate Eric Gregory, had the line of the day when she announced
"Anyone who has a working boat, you're in the next race!!" It was that
kind of day as boats succumbed to electrical and mechanical problems,
continuing to decimate the fleet. By the end of day one, only 15 of the
25 boats that started the day were sailing. Having a water resistant
hull, good protection for electronics and a sound rig were all key to
surviving the day.
Saturday's
racing concluded with a total of 20 races having been run, with Craig
Mackey completely dominating the event, followed by Ray Dagenais, Brig
North and Peter Siek. The sailors then went to Baker's Ribs, a greasy
spoon bar-b-que joint, to rest their weary bones and share war stories.
With Saturday also being St. Patrick's Day, the stragglers from the
afternoon Greenville Avenue Parade were also in the place, making it a
bit more festive.
Sunday
dawned with a scary forecast of a lot of wind. Fortunately, the wind
came up only after we had finished the regatta. As it was, the
conditions were great for Victorias with southerly winds of about 7 to
12 and small rolling chop. Ten additional races were completed, to
bring the event to a total of 30 races! This was in no doubt due to the
efforts of David and Leah, who kept things moving.
Craig
loosened his vise grip on winning every race and allowed a few others to
experience a first place finish, but he was pretty stingy in doling
those out as he won 25 of 30 races. He was far and away the class of
the field with complete and total command of his boat, dominating boat
speed, an ability to be on the right side of just about every shift, and
an ability to get great starts. What more could your winner possess?
Prior to
the presentation of the awards, a raffle was held and Joanne Cafiero,
Grand Dame of the regatta, thanked the sailors for their contributions
to Spina Bifida. To a hearty round of applause she announced that
$1,055 had been raised!
Craig
Mackey's crushing victory was his fourth on the trot, and his fifth in
his six attempts. Besides his boat, he also built the boats, including
the rigs and sails, of the second, third and sixth place finishers.
Wow. Methinks Mr. Mackey has this heavy air stuff down!
Thanks to
Corinthian Sailing Club for providing a fantastic facility to race model
boats. Also, thanks to David Eldridge as RD, Leah Gregory as Assistant
RD, Chuck LeMahieu, who when he wasn't racing, helped a lot, Ralph
Kelley for helping get the course set, and the sailors for their
generous contributions to Spina Bifida. Thanks also to the following
folks for donating items for the very successful raffle: Aris Tsamis of
Mariner Sails, Inc., for a Victoria kit and a Hi Tech sail winch, and
Charlie Mann of Toronto, Ontario for a very-much-in-demand bottle of
rum. It should also be noted that Charles Sudduth, the heart and soul
of the Victoria fleet in Dallas and organizer for the WRC, did a
marvelous job of event planning. Thanks Charles!
Scores of
the top ten of 25 sailors after 30 races and 4 discards:
1)
Craig Mackey
27
2)
Ray Dagenais 76
3)
Brig North
81.5
4)
Peter Siek
83
5)
Chris Macaluso 120
6)
Bruce Zemke
147
7)
Ray Seta
185
8)
Armando Rivera
218
9)
Chuck Porth
242
10)
Mark Cooper
254.3
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