by Pam Rudolph Walne,
Rear Commodore for Sail
The “O’ Sadie Hawkins”/ St. Patrick’s Day Race was a huge success! We had a Cruiser Fleet and a Big Boat Fleet at the starting line. During the skipper’s meeting, it was 66° with only 5 knots of wind out of the South with mostly cloudy skies. But by the time the first fleet started, it was up to 69° with steady 8-knot winds and partly cloudy skies. The weather did nothing but improve after that. By mid-afternoon, the skies had cleared, and the winds filled in at 12 knots with gusts of 18-20.
My thanks go out to Sam Fisher for taking on the PRO duties and to Chip Taute for letting us use his Hunter 28.5, Forget Me Knot, as the Race Committee Boat. I also want to thank Eve Fisher and Carol Teat for assisting with the Race Committee duties so I could participate in the race. My special thanks to Rob Henwood and Charlie Teat for handling the Chase Boat responsibilities. The 10.44 nautical mile “I-3” racecourse (windward-leeward, 4 laps) was set-up perfectly with the windward mark at exactly 90° degrees to the starting line. This is not an easy task to accomplish with the swirling wind conditions on Canyon Lake.
In the cruiser fleet were the following ladies and their boats:
- Judy Ayres in her Catalina 25, This Side Up
- Velma Smith skippering her O’Day 23, Very Bazar
- Billie Williams from LCYC in her Tanzer 26, Shamrock
In the big boat fleet there were:
- Mary Beckett skippered her Catalina 30, Tryst
- Elaine Ruiz skippered her Hunter 33.5, Wind Chime
- Marsha Teague skippered her C & C 36, Costaplenty, and
- Pam Rudolph Walne skippered her Hunter 37.5, Sail La Vie.
All these women are winners! The "O’ Sadie Hawkins" Race results are posted under the RACE RESULTS link above.
Jeff and I traveled to Chicago a couple of weeks ago to attend a sail trim course. The two day session covered boat handling, boat speed, and a performance sailboat racing tactics course sponsored by North U. It was packed full of information. I am certain that the more I learn about sailboat racing the less I actually know! The theme of the classes was practice, practice, practice and more practice!
This, of course, leads me into our annual Fiesta Regatta, which will be held on Saturday, April 21
st and Sunday, April 22nd. The skipper’s meeting will be held at 10:00 AM on Saturday with the first fleet starting Race One at 12:00 Noon. Races Two and Three will follow Race One on Saturday. Races four and five will take place on Sunday beginning at 11:00 AM. I am now taking registrations for the Fiesta Regatta and have enclosed the Notice of Race and registration form for your convenience in this issue of the Ship’s Log.Our annual Fiesta Party will be held on Saturday night after the first three races. This is one of our biggest and best parties of the year.
See you at the starting line,
Pam Rudolph Walne