March 16, 2015

This year’s Spring Dinghy Regatta on March 7-8 at St. Francis Yacht Club did not disappoint. Though racing was postponed on both days, Saturday’s breeze filled in and Sunday served up some seriously exciting conditions. Sunday kicked off with 10 knots prevailing from the west, and, by mid-day, there was an average of 15-16 knots with puffs in the 20s — perfect conditions for dinghies that can’t wait to get on a plane. The conditions allowed for a full six-race regatta, showcasing tight competition in five fleets: Club 420s, Laser Radials, Laser Standards, 5o5s and Wetas.

“A lot of good sailors were out this weekend, with lots of close finishes and crowded mark-roundings,” says regatta chair Kurt Wessels. The upper echelons of the Laser fleet saw particularly tight racing that illustrated how in sailing age matters very little. In the Laser Radial fleet, Laser Master Laird Henkel finished first with 6 points, trailed by Junior Sumner Strumph (StFYC) who finished second with 8 points.

A start in the always-competitive and well-represented Laser fleet. ©2015 Chris Ray/www.printroom.com/pro/crayivp

Similarly, the Laser Standard fleet saw a tie for second between Junior Will Dana (StFYC/SFYC) and Master Andrew Holdsworth (StFYC), both of whom finished with 16 points. In that same fleet, Richard Didham (StFYC/RYC) secured an impressive first with only 5 points; he gave up the bullet once to Alex Moody (SFYC), but threw out that race at the regatta’s end.

In the Club 420 fleet, first and second were closely contested between Will Martens (SFYC) and Lawson Willard (StFYC/SFYC); Martens took the podium with 8 points while Willard had 9.

The Bay-based Weta fleet came out with seven boats. These singlehanded trimarans are almost as much fun to watch as they are to sail, though they can be tricky to keep upright in big wind. Sunday afternoon’s conditions proved a bit much for some of the fleet; more than half of whom were DNC (Did Not Compete) in Race 6.

StFYC’s race manager Lynn Lynch commented that this weekend’s conditions were some of the best in recent memory for the Spring Dinghy Regatta. Laser Master Andrew Holdsworth agreed, expanding to say it was some of the best dinghy racing he had participated in recently.

— Meredith Laitos, StFYC

For complete results, see www.stfyc.com. The club followed up with their Spring One Design Regatta the following weekend.