2007 Fireweed Regatta Rocks

2007 Fireweed Regatta

	SKIPPER
1st	TIM	GOULD
2nd	DAVE	JOHNSON
3rd	BRUCE	LEE
4th	TOM	HARRISON
5th	PAUL	WILLING
5th	CORINNE	SMITH
6th	KEVIN	FRANK
7th	TOM	GOULD
8th	CATHY	WRIGHT
9th	BART	HAWKINS
10th	GEOFF	WRIGHT
11th	PAUL	BUTTON
12th	GREG
BIG BOATS	SKIPPER
1st	KEITH	BARTON
2nd	CHRIS	REMICK
3rd	BRUCE	LELONDE

Friday night brought monsoon like rains that continued throughout the night. The wet weather broke by Saturday morning with some light wind and partly cloudy conditions. Race Marshall Jody Willing rousted the sleepy heads and we got busy with race preparation - inflating marks, launching the committee boat and setting marks.

Race 1 got underway around 11:00 am, after a delay caused by a good Samaritan jet skier who dutifully retrieved Mark 2 for us and brought it back to the dock, anchor and all. After resetting the mark (thanks Tom G.) the start line was a little crowded with eleven boats jockeying for prime positions. Due to simultaneous skipper errors, the cat fleet managed to get tangled bow to bow behind the start line with less than a minute to the start gun. Which is NOT a good way to start a race - Note: No protests were lodged, since us cat folks are an amicable lot and we'd rather just get out there and beat those old tech mono-hulls around the race course!

Bruce Lee seemed to be sailing a different race (or least in different wind!) as he and crew Robin smoked the fleet and pulled a horizon job on us - finishing a full 15 minutes ET ahead of the second place boat!

A protest was filed at Mark 1 when a certain Skipjack skipper was certain a certain Buccaneer skipper touched the mark with his jib. After much debate and playing about with colorful plastic models it was determined that no foul occurred and the protest was cancelled.

Race 2 was a brutal 64 minutes ET, for the fastest boat, with continuous power boat wakes pounding the fleet for the last two legs. But it did set a record for at least the last ten years since this reporter has been recording race times - 13 small boats and 3 big boats raced! That's incredible! It looked like a regular yacht club or something close to it. Tom Harrison took 1st place on CT with steady sailing in his sleek new Lido 14.

For Race 3 we postponed dinner (a huge sacrifice for hungry and thirsty sailors by the way!) and awaited the storied 6 PM August wind. It arrived on schedule and we managed to get started before it faded. Bruce and I beat Tim across the finish line, but not by enough to beat the handicaps.

The Mexican themed potluck dinner was outstanding with some creative dishes and tasty IPA to wash it down with.

The best wind of the day came after dark around the campfire. Now, there's a Challenge Cup idea - go to West Marine and get yourself some of those handy AA battery powered running lights, bring a flashlight and presto - race at marine twilight.

On Sunday morning we held another Challenge Cup race. Previous one this season went undocumented as the fleet cats went out for a little speed testing! Dave Johnson and Elayne Hunter, aboard the Buccaneer, showed us how to sail the last two legs with no wind - at least none you could see or feel.

Thanks to Jody Willing for Race Marshall duties and to Tom Gould for use of his most excellent river/committee boat.

Teamwork plug - For these big events it sure does help when everyone pitches in and spreads the load for race prep, meal set up, clean up and take down - we have no paid employees to do the work, so we rely on your work ethic and readiness to volunteer.

Next stop - Governor's Cup!

Detailed results:

8/18/2007	ET	CT	D-PN		Skipper	Pts.
RACE 1
505	38.80	48.50	80.0		BRUCE	0.75
BUCCANEER	54.02	62.09	87.0		DAVE	2.00
SKIPJACK	59.58	64.00	93.1		TIM	3.00
LIDO 14	65.22	65.94	98.9		TOM H.	4.00
HOBIE 16	54.57	71.70	76.1		PAUL W.	5.00
HOBIE 16	54.97	72.23	76.1		TOM G.	6.00
SKIPJACK	90.43	97.14	93.1		CORINNE	7.00
SKIPJACK	94.25	101.24	93.1		KEVIN	8.00
BIG BOATS
ENSENADA 20	48.37	47.19	102.5		CHRIS	0.75
MONTGOMERY 15	65.32	60.37	108.2		BRUCE	2.00
RL 24	60.58	62.65	96.7		KEITH	3.00
8/18/2007	ET	CT	D-PN		Skipper	Pts.
RACE 2
LIDO 14	68.72	69.48	98.9		TOM	0.75
SKIPJACK	66.50	71.43	93.1		TIM	2.00
SKIPJACK	68.98	74.10	93.1		GEOFF	3.00
SKIPJACK	70.23	75.44	93.1		BART	4.00
LASER	70.78	77.70	91.1		CATHY	5.00
BUCCANEER	67.78	77.91	87.0		DAVE	6.00
505	63.60	79.50	80.0		BRUCE	7.00
SKIPJACK	75.35	80.93	93.1		KEVIN	8.00
SKIPJACK	77.22	82.94	93.1		CORINNE	9.00
LASER	77.60	85.18	91.1		PAUL B.	10.00
HOBIE 16	68.12	89.51	76.1		PAUL W.	11.00
HOBIE 16	68.33	89.79	76.1		TOM G.	12.00
SKIPJACK	87.72	94.22	93.1		GREG	13.00
BIG BOATS
RL 24	83.68	86.54	96.7		KEITH	0.75
MONTGOMERY 15	95.63	88.39	108.2		BRUCE	2.00
ENSENADA 20	110.80	108.10	102.5		CHRIS	3.00
8/18/2007	ET	CT	D-PN		Skipper	Pts.
RACE 3
SKIPJACK	39.20	42.11	93.1		TIM	0.75
LASER	40.45	44.40	91.1		CATHY	2.00
BUCCANEER	39.82	45.77	87.0		DAVE	3.00
505	36.67	45.83	80.0		BRUCE	4.00
SKIPJACK	43.73	46.97	93.1		CORINNE	5.00
SKIPJACK	44.30	47.58	93.1		BART	6.00
HOBIE 16	37.82	49.69	76.1		PAUL W.	7.00
SKIPJACK	46.42	49.86	93.1		KEVIN	8.00
LASER	45.80	50.27	91.1		PAUL B.	9.00
LIDO 14	50.60	51.16	98.9		TOM H.	10.00
HOBIE 16	39.20	51.51	76.1		TOM G.	11.00
SKIPJACK	50.60	54.35	93.1		GEOFF	12.00
BIG BOATS
RL 24	56.88	58.82	96.7		KEITH	0.75
ENSENADA 20	61.78	60.28	102.5		CHRIS	2.00
MONTGOMERY 15	67.33	62.23	108.2		BRUCE	3.00

Hot August Nights - Race 3 and Series Results

8/15/2007	ET	CT	D-PN		Skipper	Pts.
RACE 3
LIDO 14	36.72	37.13	98.9		TOM	0.75
SKIPJACK	37.80	40.60	93.1		GEOFF	2.00
HOBIE 16	31.37	41.22	76.1		PAUL	3.00

We left rain drenched Anchorage to find partly sunny skies at club. The Big Lake wind machine turned on promptly at 6:45 pm. Using the shortest starting line ever - end of dock to the Midnight Sun (no scratches Jay) - we were off at 7:20. Geoff nailed the start but was slowed after that by a failed jib sheet. The NW wind held steady at about 6-7 mph throughout the race.

Hot August Nights - Race Series Results

1st	TOM	HARRISON
2nd	PAUL	WILLING
3rd	BRUCE	LEE
4th	TIM	GOULD
4th	JIM	AUMANN
5th	GEOFF	WRIGHT
6th	TROY	AUMANN
7th	BOB	CHIVIIS
8th	KEVIN

D-PN Speed Comparison

	ET	CT	D-PN
LIDO 14	30.00	30.33	98.9
SKIPJACK	28.00	30.08	93.1
LASER	27.00	29.64	91.1
BUCCANEER	26.00	29.89	87.0
TRAC 14	25.00	29.59	84.5
505	24.00	30.00	80.0
HOBIE 16	23.00	30.22	76.1
	ET	CT	D-PN
LIDO 14	60.00	60.67	98.9
SKIPJACK	56.00	60.15	93.1
LASER	54.00	59.28	91.1
BUCCANEER	52.00	59.77	87.0
TRAC 14	51.00	60.36	84.5
505	48.00	60.00	80.0
HOBIE 16	46.00	60.45	76.1

Here's a handy guide for the racing crowd. Using the D-PN handicap system with our mixed fleet, you can see the time difference you need to beat your competitors in a 30 minute race and a 60 minute race, as shown in the two tables above (Times rounded to nearest minute for illustration)

For example - Lido 14 completes the race course in 30 minutes. To beat the Lido, a Skipjack must cross the finish line at least 2 minutes ahead of the Lido, a Laser 3 minutes (and one minute ahead of a Skipjack), etc.

A 60 minute race roughly doubles these time differentials.

Hot August Nights Race 2 Results

8/8/2007	ET	CT	D-PN		Skipper	Pts.
RACE 2
SKIPJACK	56.33	60.51	93.1		TIM	0.75
LIDO 14	65.62	66.35	98.9		TOM	2.00
505	56.75	70.94	80.0		BRUCE	3.00
LASER	65.62	72.03	91.1		TROY	4.00
TRAC 14	63.15	74.73	84.5		BOB	5.00
HOBIE 16	58.82	77.29	76.1		PAUL	6.00
SKIPJACK	74.90	80.45	93.1		KEVIN	7.00
BIG BOATS
VENTURE 224	RACE MARSHAL				T.L.
MONTGOMERY 15	77.63	71.75	108.2		BRUCE	0.75

Hot August Nights Race Series Heats Up

We had an amazing turnout for the 2nd race of this series! Our count was 48 people attending and 9 boats racing. Not bad for a weekday evening event.

Tim Gould took first place in a race with little bit of everything - detailed results to follow later today. At 5:30 PM there was a steady and strong west wind. By 6:00 PM there was zero wind. By 6:30 there was a strong north wind. By start time at 7:30 there was a light south wind.

To save time we kept start mark placement, even though it required a downwind start, and TL graciously volunteered to be a temporary committee boat for a downwind start. Course was to Bird Island and Burston Island and back to the dock and start mark.

The light wind held until the lead pack of boats reached the lee of Burston Island. Then we all virtually stopped, except Commodore Gould who with some voodoo and Skipjack black magic managed to follow the shoreline and find enough breeze to round the island first.

Halfway up the final leg beat, the breeze filled in very nicely. For the last few hundred yards I could fly a hull at will and was having a grand time as I watched Bruce and Tim cross the finish line minutes ahead of me.

At the finish, Tim's main halyard broke and he used his "cat like reflexes" to avoid a head knock by the boom. If only this had happened around Burston Island...

more pirate pics

pirate pics

Pirate's "Race"

Wet and wild! That would be a good descriptor for our weekend! A BIG thanks to Jay & Melissa for planning our fun day and to every one's contributions to the community meal. Also, special thanks to the Willings for the pirate pinata. Congratulations to Chris & crew for being the best cheaters to take first place! Arrgh. Thanks for the fun! Cheryl, Heidi & Rosie

Camp Fire Kids Round 2

On August 2, the second group of 10 kids from Camp Fire joined me for a day of sailing, swimming and minnow catching! I had great fun sharing our club with the kids and I know it will be an experience they remember for a long while. I've had a thought that next year I'd like to add Covenant House teens to our guest list for an event like this. See you all for the Fireweed! Cheryl

Hot August Nights Series Kicks Off

This is actually a good way to spend a Wednesday night! Sun, wind and the neighbors playing some CCR. A pretty good combo! The helicopter from down by the cove flew by, the Tallketnas look green and lush, but no Mt. McKinley - she's hiding tonight.

Pirate Weekend Next!!
AARGHH MATEY - Be afraid, be very afraid.

Race Officals:
Jody and McKenzie

8/1/2007	RACE ET MM.MM	CT	D-PN		Skipper	Pts.
RACE 1
LASER	27.97	30.70	91.1		JIM	0.75
LIDO 14	30.63	30.97	98.9		TOM	2.00
HOBIE 16	26.32	34.58	76.1		PAUL	3.00
505	27.70	34.63	80.0		BRUCE	4.00
RACE NOTES:
EXCELLENT, STEADY NW WIND DURING THIS RACE.
COURSE FROM DOCK TO BURSTON ISLAND, BIRD ISLAND WITH
FINISH AT DOCK.

Free Boating Course

The Alaska Office of Boating Safety will be offering Alaska Water Wise, a boating course designed for Alaskans. The class will be held August 14, 15, 16 2007, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Atwood Building in downtown Anchorage and is free to the public. This eight-hour course is approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA).

Segments include pre-departure preparation, boating operations, boating emergencies, cold-water survival, navigation/rules of the road, and legal requirements. All are invited to attend any one of the three sessions. Students who attend all sessions and pass the written exam and skills will be issued a course completion certificate.

For more information or to register please contact Megan Piersma at 269-6042, or Joe McCullough at 269-8704.