Midwinters
by Birgit Gillman JY Class secretary
for
upcoming
events
Day 1- The group gathered at the Sailing Center to assemble the 13 charter boats driven (thanks Adam and Ron) down to Florida. The weather was sunny with temperatures in the low 80’s and winds in the mid to upper teens. The first of three races started at 1PM, with strong winds (gusts to the mid-20s) and choppy waters. Everyone was in survival mode, trying to stay in the boat and hoping their boats would not suffer any breakdowns. At one point it seemed that more people were in the water than on the water! We all got plenty of practice righting our boats (Don and Jean Bergman were amazingly fast at getting their boat back on its feet). Some repairs needed to be made at the end of the day- the most serious being a broken mast.
The day was concluded with a fantastic lasagna dinner at the Sailing Center. After dinner and drinks, most of the fleet went to soak their beat-up bodies in the Marriott’s hot tub.
Day 2- The day started with more of the intense winds we experienced on Friday. The fleet voted to take a weather delay until 2PM, when the winds were expected to die down a little. This gave everyone an opportunity to check out beautiful Clearwater beach, the Marriott pool and Tiki Bar. At 2PM, we tried something a little different for this regatta- time trials. We raced from the beach, over a sandbar, and around a little island in the Bay. We quickly learned where the shallow spots were, as everyone's center boards and rudders were “wet-sanded”. Joe Pelosi and his son, Jimmy, were the fastest in the fleet for this event.
Two more races were held following the time trials, a triangle course and an Olympic course were sailed. Winds were steady in the 12-17 knot range and a good day was had by all. We finished off this day with a BBQ chicken dinner at the Sailing Center.
Day 3- The last day was foggy with winds at 10-15 knots. We were able to get in another two races, windward-leewards. Jay Vann/Tori Gimple and John Potter/Lacy Sproul duked it out for first place- with Jay ultimately winning the tie breaker.
Following the races and boat dismantling for transport back to Connecticut, the Sailing Center put on a great BBQ lunch for the group. This was followed by the awards ceremony and a surprise birthday celebration for Bill Nightingale, who celebrated his 40th birthday. Everyone enjoyed this event and is already looking forward to coming back next year. Nothing beats getting away from a cold winter like spending a weekend sailing with great people in Clearwater!
On behalf of all of the JY sailors, we extend a warm thank you to Barb, Dan, and the rest of the crew at the Clearwater Community Sailing Center for not only a great job with race committee, but for your hospitality as well! We look forward to seeing you again next year.