NorCal Fleet in the Open 5.70 NAs

July 3, 2011

Marc Finot reports from Long Beach Race Week, held June 24-26.

The American fleet of Open 5.70s had its first ever North American Championship during the Long Beach Race Week. Nine teams from the Northern California fleet joined the regatta for a total of 21 Open 5.70s, the largest fleet this year.

On Friday, the wind was below 10 knots for the first two races, and most of the NorCal team had some challenges, for these light conditions are not very common on the San Francisco Bay. Saturday, the Long Beach summer breezes showed up and provided great conditions for the fleet to perform for the three races of the day. Unfortunately, the wind softened on Sunday for the last two races.

A gathering of the whole fleet at Alamitos YC. ©2011 Marc Finot

All the 21 boats stayed at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club for the weekend. Friday evening, after the yacht club party, our fleet pirate, Steve Gonzales, extended the party for the Open 5.70 fleet with his treasure: some excellent cheese, sausage and salami.

The Sequoia YC and Redwood City fleet were well represented, with six boats: Joe Wells on the Rooster, Marc Finot on Frolic, Cathy Moyer & Kathy Conte on Boudicca, Andrew Rist on Bigair, Steve Gonzalez on Delta-V, and Frank Ross on Destiny. In addition, Barry Demak from Encinal YC, Tom Baffico from Menlo Park, and Paul Dorsey from San Francisco came down from San Francisco Bay.

Marc Finot's Frolic, which finished 11th. ©2011 Nik Vale

The association provided a Kattack tracker for a live feed of the position of the boats online during the races. The tracks are saved and can be replayed for those who wish to relive the race.

In black and white: Jerome Sammarcelli's Semi-Aquatic (left) catching the youngest team on Il Havic. ©2011 Nik Vale

Rooster (left) chasing Tracey Kenney's Hat Trick. ©2011 Nik Vale

The Open 5.70 association created a special trophy for this first national championship, a full size replica of the Open 5.70 keel without the full weight of the bulb!

A diverse podium, with Jerome Sammarcelli, first, Tracey Kenney, second, and Il Havic's Tony Festa and Greg Dair in third, and their crew, surrounding the trophy. ©2011 Nik Vale

The spirit of the race was great and everybody is really looking forward to the next fleet meeting in Huntington Lake for the High Sierra Regatta July 16-17.

Tom Baffico's The Maker came fnished the series fourth. ©2011 Nik Vale

The full results of the race are posted on the Long Beach Race Week site.
Nik Vale compiled a great video for the race. See www.youtube.com/embed/C11kFJ0-4HE. Also see the photo gallery on Picasa.

- Marc Finot, Open 5.70 Northern California Fleet Captain