| Reunite Regatta Recap |
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      43 total entries from far and wide. Sailors of note came from Arizona, No. & So. California, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Nevada and Texas. Matt Bounds (HCA Race Director) and Bridget Quatrone (HCA Event Coordinator) came and performed double duty as PRO/Race Committee and site visit for the HAVAMEGA. Two members of the Lake Havasu Yacht Club hosted Matt and Bridget in their fine homes and gave them the well deserved VIP treatment. Rick and Barbara Buchanan arrived to take care of scoring duties and other RC help. Ted and Sue Lindlay set up at the Crazy Horse Campground north beach to take on beach captain duties and also help review the venue next November's big bash. The Lake Havasu Yacht Club members showed up with several pontoon boats for RC and support and Larry Austin, our esteemed HAVAMEGA webmaster, brought his 17' Boston Whaler as the main mark/chase boat. His boat is now proving to be a veteran at our events. A surprise visit by Jonesey with his ski boat rounded out the RC support team. Special mention should be made for Jim Sohn, whose flatbed trailer stacked high with cardboard crates containing Hobie 16 hulls provided a very useful place for the 'Official Notice Board". He also took a couple crates off to build 16's for use by travelling racers. Weather report for Saturday, February 7, 2009 - 60% chance of rain, low 60's, possible thunderstorms, winds 8-?. Still, in the morning, it looked like partly cloudy and that the bad weather might move north of our venue. Skippers meeting went off as planned and the planned first signal at 11AM ended up closer to noon. The wind out of the South was firm at over 10 and the water off the beach was flat. The course was set out about two miles from the beach with built wind waves about 1-2'. 3 starts - first the 20's, second - the 17 and 18's, and the final start for 16N, 16C and 16A's. The wind was strong off the start in double trapezing conditions. After the 16's went off and proceeded about half way through the beat to the A mark, a sharp shift to a W/SW breeze came on. Places on the course changed dramatically as everyone tried to get their bearing. Most 16's were on a reach to the A mark now, and if you were on the right, it was golden. The RC flew a shorten course finish at the gate and after rounding A mark, all fleets were on a long screaming reach to finish there. The conditions were changing rapidly during this period with rain coming in and somewhat hazy conditions, making it hard to see the gate from A mark. After all fleets finished, there were a number of boats ashore after capsize or hardware breakage. Temperature was dropping, windspeeds were rapidly building, and the chop was getting very intense. A new course was set with an A mark set out toward the California side of the lake. The 20's were sent off on the first start and shortly into the 18 start, a squal hit and a checkered flag went up, signaling all boats to go ashore. All the pontoon boats except the RC boat had left the lake, being swamped and concerned about shipwreck. Jonesey's ski boat was taking on water fast and near sinking. Jonesey is a dedicated Hobie enthusiast and deserves a big Thanks! Winds were clocked at about 35. All these developments meant: Call it a day, go in, get dry, fix the boats and besides that, go out on the town. But all was not over because A mark was still out on the course and several miles out. Larry Austin was given the order to take his whaler and retrieve a gate mark (left behind by RC). With a lot of respect for his boat and some heroics besides, Larry braved a serious squall and a lot of hail stones to save some valuable RC equipment. Thanks Larry! Saturday night had spaghetti at the yacht club where Matt, Bridget and Gordo worked with many others discussing logistics for the HAVAMEGA. A visit was made to our main host hotel and party center for that event, The Nautical Inn. Several sailors were already there enjoying the very nice 'Naked Turtle Bar'. Later that night, a small group was rumored to be up at 'BJ's Cabana Bar', partying with a mystery Karaoke singer. Obviously, it is hard to match Saturday's story, but suffice to say that Sunday settled down into a good tactical racing day, with a nice south wind from 5-12. The RC pulled off 3 races for the fleets and everyone who fell out of the race on Saturday had a chance to make up. After a DNF on Saturday, two time No. American Champions Paul and Mary Anne Hess had 2 bullits and a second to win the Hobie 16A Fleet, followed closely by the 2008 1st Ranked H16 team of Pat and Darcy Porter. Hobie 17 winner was Stephen Acquart. Hobie 18 winners Stephen Cooley and his lovely daughter Sabrina, with a close second by Alan Monson and Barb(WOO-HOO)Perlmutter. Hobie 20's were humbled by Tim Parsons and Jane Stewart, with Mikey Hauser and Faye in second. A new youth team, Albert and Tereza Chylek, showed up on the scene and won the 16 Novice race. Their H16, hull vintage number in the 5000 range was a site to see, bringing to some memories of bygone days when Havasu was the big regatta venue of the 70's. Mike Silic and his son Jason, another youth Hobie sailor, won 16C. In all we had 7 youth sailors on the water. A special mention to Ken and Carol Hilk for being the furthest travelled to race, all the way from the east coast. Ken had young Megan Wooldridge for crew and Carol crewed for Dave Dixon. Thanks for coming so far! A Big thanks to Marcy Finnas, who came all the way from Norway and joined the RC team. Thanks to all who sailed, worked and hosted this fabulous preview event. Many thanks to the Lake Havasu Yacht Club for being very welcoming, enthusiastic and gracious hosts to the Hobie crowd. Next year, the 'London Bridge Regatta' is back! |