catalina cruise 2006 · We had the best Catalina Cruise this year. Kathy and Bobby Frazier hosted...

sou’wester • august 2006 • page 1

Official Publication ofAlamitos Bay Yacht Club

Volume 79 • Number 8

August 2006

photos by Ron Wood

General Membership Meeting ................August 18Club ABYC ..............................................August 25Labor Day Regatta & Luau ........... September 2 - 3I 14 Worlds ................................. September 5 - 17General Membership Meeting ......... September 22Adopt A Beach ................................. September 23Charity Regatta ............................... September 24Stag Cruise ......................................... October 6-8

s a v e t h e d a t e...continued page 8

c a t a l i n a c r u i s e 2 0 0 6A little Adventure goes a long way!

This years Catalina Cruise was a huge success! Kathy and Bobby Frazier worked very hard to get the programorganized. We had nearly 60 attend and everyone had a great time. We had the main bandstand with tiki bar andfire pit reserved right in the middle of all the action.

Friday night consisted of fabulous BBQ hamburgers and hotdogs with allof the trimmings catered by Harbor Reef. This year I made a “Polish Burger” adelicious hamburger/hot dog combo smothered with Jesus’ salsa and raw onions.I am sure my breath offended all after the big event! We had a short Bon Fire and

then many retired to the Doug’sfor more excitement.

Warmth was not an is-sue! The air temperature wasaround 80 degrees and the wa-ter temp was around 72-74, verytemperate, but it definitely bor-dered on too warm.

At around 1:30 Saturdayafternoon, the progressive cock-tail party kicked off on my boat“Having Fun!” with Joe Jost Spe-cials and Papst Blue Ribbon beer. We served 60 Specials and 45 beersto about 40 people. Just as last year, my boat was packed, and theswim step was riding in the water. Again, not everyone was able to geton and many re-ceived their Spe-

cials and beer “drive-up” style in their dingy. I guess I will have toget a bigger boat soon! A small shark swam by and I took that as anomen of good fortune, but read this article until the end and you bethe judge.

We moved to the Rich and Vicky Vaught’s, boat “Osprey”which is an Offshore 54. This boat is the epitome of modern con-venience. Satellite TV, Full size bedrooms disguised as cabins,intercom, Jacuzzi (just kidding), full size galley (as big as manypeople’s home kitchen), and helicopter pad (still—just kidding) area small sampling of the luxury this boat exudes. The boat is deco-rated very tastefully in a traditional, yet modern format. A lot of topnotch woodworking with study appointments. There is no doubt thatthe Vaughts know how to maintain a boat, because all of the brightwork, fiberglass, and stainless shined without blemish. They serveda “ Beach Chair” Cocktail that was very sneaky. My wife Kellydesigned it while sitting in a beach chair of all things. The Bishops were staying with them and produced much of the

Elaine Wood, Kathy Frazier & Ron Wood

Sue & Bill McDannel

Commodore’s Comments .................................. 2Manager’s Corner ............................................. 2Fleet Captain’s Report ....................................... 3Rear Commodore’s Notes ................................ 4From the Pages of History ................................. 54th of July Regatta Wrap Up.............................. 6Junior Sailing ..................................................... 7Hails from the Fleets ................................... 10-11Slate for Elections ........................................... 12

i n s i d e


c o m m o d o r e ’ s c o m m e n t s

m a n a g e r ’ s c o r n e r

Time goes by too fast! July has already come and gone and so much has happened atABYC. We held the Junior Olympics, the Junior Sailing Program, an SCYA dinner, a wholebunch of us went to the Isthmus for the Annual Catalina Family Cruise and the Multi-hull

Invitational rounded out the month. Summer is too much fun! How do we keep up with these busyschedules?

On another note in July, our Club Manager Theresa Laird decided to leave ABYC. Theresaand her daughters will be moving to Downing, Pennsylvania to be closer to her son Jason.Theresa came to ABYC just about three years ago taking on the management of the club. Shedidn’t know much about sailing before she came to ABYC, but she sure does now! Theresablended easily with the membership and was always very conscientious of our requests. Wewish her and her family a successful move to PA and hope that they enjoy their new surroundings.

Good luck Theresa!We had the best Catalina Cruise this year. Kathy and Bobby Frazier hosted the event and what an event they put

together. Taking the lead of last year’s hosts Merle and Kelly Asper, Kathy and Bobby made it another “no lifting a finger”weekend. Over 55 members showed up at the Isthmus for a relaxing and hot weekend. We all met up on shore Friday nightfor cocktails and dinner. We enjoyed burgers and dogs with all the fixings and some great brownies. On Saturday after-noon, a three boat traveling cocktail party was arranged. We started off on Merle and Kelly’s Tiara 33 “Having Fun”feasting on Joe Josts inspired “Specials” and washing them down with Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. We then journeyed over tothe Vaughts new Offshore 54 “Osprey” to see what room on a boat really means! There we cooled off with “Beach Chairs”and enjoyed the beautiful waters of Cherry Cove. From the Osprey, everyone then ended up on our boat “Resolution”. OurHawaiian vacation carried over to our theme and spam kabobs with mai tais were served to all! After the roving party, weall met up again on shore and had a great BBQ chicken dinner, but we all had to hurry off to beat the storm that was brewingoverhead. It was a great weekend and Bobby and Kathy did a fantastic job hosting it and keeping us busy!

We’ve got more to do in August, so check out the calendar and be ready for more fun! Stay cool and hydrated too,I hear we are in for more hot weather. Fair winds and fast sailing!

Nicole Peoples-Moffett

In my letter to the board I noted that most letters of resignation start with having a heavyheart and great deliberations, etc. in making the decision to leave a job. My emotionswith needing to write that letter to them were every bit as difficult and extremely genuine.

During my time here I have worked for four Commodores and made countless life timerelationships that I will cherish. It truly feels I am leaving behind part of my family.

Being manager here has been a great growth experience for me personally and such apleasure to be associated with ABYC. The junior sailing program with Brad at its helm is one ofthe finest in the country and our regattas are world renown. In many cases clubs boast of thefinest in cuisine or view and ambience. However this club is unique in the world, we may not be

Mum’s but we know how to host a sailor and let them know what racing is all about and how to relax and have a great time.ABYC has the finest members and the most dedicated volunteers and staff that it has been my good fortune to know. I cannot tell you how many times I have had people come into my office and tell me that they have raced all over the world andthis is the club they really look forward to coming to for a race. ABYC members are sailors who love the sport and knowhow to host a truly world class event.

I hope only the best for each and every member and their families in the coming years. If you are ever inPennsylvania please look me up….I would love to see you all again!Fair winds to you all!

Theresa Laird

Save the date - August 18 - for a memorable presentation at the ABYC members’ meeting by Peter Damish,retired U.S. Navy Captain and managing director of Bluewater Sailing. Peter just returned from his secondadventure in Antarctica where his group traced the voyage of Sir Ernest Shackleton, visited Elephant and South

Georgia Islands, and experienced wildlife and wild weather. Peter’s presentation will include video and still images alongwith captivating narrative of his 4,000 mile trips in the Southern Ocean.

a u g u s t m e m b e r s h i p m e e t i n g


f l e e t c a p t a i n ’ s r e p o r t

Here are a few things that I was involved with recently:Long beach race week went off without a hitch. We should be proud of our efforts withLBYC in making this a great regatta! Many competitors participated, many more than in

the recent past. It was a lot of fun for all that were involved. Patience looked and acted perfectlyas did our Whalers (Thanks: John Massey, George Caddle, and Vern Peterson). Dave Myers withhelp from others got the equipment together and in perfect order. Our star PRO’s (Principle RaceOfficers) Chris Ericksen, Mark Townsend, and John Weiss added much professionalism to theevent, as did our many other volunteers. We had every condition, from very windy to very light.The last day saw the wind shift tremendously. I personally was involved with the Bravo course andI can say that I had a great time and learned much working with my group. I worked 2 of the 3 dayson the weather mark boat and another day on the committee boat. It was pleasurable. One of the

days that I was on the weather boat with Bill McDannel and Alex Uniak (Waterfront Director for LBYC, also brother and sonto two of our members) was quite eventful. We were setting up for a weather finish and we had set the pin end of the finishline. While we were setting the anchor for the boat to make the other end of the finish line, we noticed the pin was startingto sink! We also noticed that the boats in the flight that we were trying to finish were getting ready to round the leewardmark, which was our deadline to set the line! We made quick work of pulling up our anchor and high tailing over to thediminishing pin. We actually got to the pin with less than 6 inches above the waterline! We then had to take the offendingweight off of the line, that someone (yours truly!) thought they were so clever to use a fishing knot to secure. I should nowstate that fishing knots are never meant to be untied and one should never use them unless they need a permanent knot.We managed to untie the knot, reset the pin and set the anchor for the course boat just in time. I should also mention thatthe anchor on the boat did not have enough scope and it was very difficult to set while giving us problems throughout theordeal. Everybody got finished correctly and nobody was the wiser. All is well that ends well. One thing that is great aboutbeing with fun people while doing this sort of job is that a lot of laughter makes the process much better. There are otheramusing stories to be told, but that can be left for personal conversation…later!

The Fourth of July regatta also went off without a hitch. It was not one of our largest regattas, but it was verypleasant. Mary Ridick and Jim Drury took the helm. As Board Liaison, I did not have to worry about a thing. They had everything planned out to a “T” with plenty of volunteers to make it smooth. Fun, fun, fun! I sailed with Jim Bateman and PaulAnctil on Jim’s Etchells and we had the time of our lives. The races were run perfectly and we could not have asked formore. Thanks Bob Anderson and race committee!

Junior Olympics was another regatta that went well. Mike Segerblom, Stacy Conn and Jim Bateman controlledeverything with aid from a fabulous group of helpers. The kids that sailed were very well mannered and the sailing was ofa very high caliber. Stacy’s food was well prepared, well presented, and tasty! I should also mention that our own CameronSummers won the Laser Radial fleet and we should be proud of him. He will be on to bigger and greater accomplishments.We should also thank and support the junior program for getting our Laser and other programs together so that our friendsare trained to such a level.

In case you did not know, we are looking at hiring a new club manager. Theresa has moved to Pennsylvania andshe will be missed. We have done some preliminary interviews and the prospects look good. Trust us that we will hiresomeone that will take great care of our beloved Club and help us to continue on with our fine traditions. Without boring youwith the details, we are taking great efforts to hire the right person for the job.

Here is something I should now mention: Please thank our staff when you see them, they are great and they makethings happen. None of the things that I have just mentioned would have gone off without their “over the top” effort.Without going through the names, each of them is special and they make things happen, with or without a manager.

Finally, I now need to thank my wife Kelly for her physical and mental help, humor, and support.See you around the Club! Don’t be a stranger.Merle Asper

October 6-8, 2006, Emerald CoveCall Jorge at 562.260.8116

“It’s a must!”

“Stag Cruise? I Can’t Wait!”


r e a r c o m m o d o r e ’ s n o t e s

The kick off meeting of ABYC’s new Women’s Auxillery Group was by all measures a raving success. History tells me that our wonderful club had a group in years back, so I’m glad that we’re finally bringing it back. Theresa and the ABYC staff put out a very nice spread of

wine and all different types of cheeses. Sue McDannel and Stephanie Munn did an awesome job,putting together a very nice, informative powerpoint presentation. The group is now kicking arounddifferent names, and are working towards putting together their thoughts as to the general purpose,or goals that they’d like to tackle. I’m personally very proud of how the kick off went, and am excitedas to the turnout that we had… nearly 30 people! Consider getting involved…

Glenn Selvin

The departure had been delayed for more than two weeks. The original date, June 17th, 2006 was celebrated asthe Bon Voyage date and the party went off as planned. However, in the morning, Seducente was still in Basin 5. Business obligations and some problems with our properties required our attentions be focused on things other

than passage preparation.By July 2nd the end was in sight and the final provisioning was completed and stores were loaded aboard in

addition to the two tenders, surf boards and all the other gear one can try to fit into a 45' boat. I do believe there is aphilosophy that a cruising boat is not allowed to leave on it’s maiden crossing with the water line above water, weattempted to make that so, but alas we fell short with between one and two inches of water line remaining.

At the time of our departure our larder should last as much as 6 weeks at sea, 120 gallons of water, 70 gallons ofDiesel, 10 gallons of outboard fuel and 13 gallons of propane. We also carried a long list of spare parts, sails, linemisc. fittings and fasteners.

The boat is equipped to support our power needs via three solar panels producing 200 watts at 14.4 volts orabout 12 Amps at the peak of the day and a Wind Generator.

Bon Voyages are hard when delayed, as they spawn new parties on a weekly basis. As we were not able to pindown a firm date we move the departure several times since June 17. Each weekend we found ourselves at the Cluband around the docks celebrating another Bon Voyage, it was great and we were able to share fare well wishes withmore folks than we would have otherwise, but, it was clear that neither our hearts nor our livers were going to be ableto keep up that pace for long.

As everything came together on July 2nd the final loading in was progressing late in the day and another BonVoyage party broke out on the dock. We were very sure this was the last one as we new we would be ready to leavein mere hours. As the party broke up, we completed storing the gear and made dinner where we decided that a fewhours of sleep were in order and perhaps wise to a good start before dawn the next day.

Seducente departed Long Beach on July 3rd, 2006 at 05:30 just as Patriot with Jerry Montgomery and DonReiman landed after returning from an event. It was kind of poetic that the last ABYC folks we saw were Jerry and Donas in 1999 we spent two weeks with the two of them on Stealth Chicken sailing home from Hawaii, which was thelongest distance we’ve ever covered, we were the furthest offshore during, and at sea longer than ever before. All ofthat will no longer be true when we reach the Hiva Oa in Il Marquises.

The trip should take between 18 & 23 days, we’ll see about that in our next installment.Fair winds and calm seas!Kevin Ellis

s e d u c e n t e l o n g b e a c h t o I L m a r q u i s e s

2 0 0 6 a n n u a l c h a r i t y r e g a t t a

Yacht Clubs of Long Beach Charity Regatta is in its 20th year!!!

Sunday, September 24th

Participate!!


f r o m t h e p a g e s o f h i s t o r y

A recurring feature in the SOU’WESTER’s over the years is a regular column from the Commodore. In every copyI’ve seen, it’s been called “Commodore’s Comments.” This month I want to review them from the past.

THIRTY YEARS AGO:Paul Merrill, Jr., was Commodore of ABYC in 1976, and his comments from the August, 1976, SOU’WESTER ran

nearly two pages. Paul commented at length about the Junior Naples Sabot Nationals that were sailed at the very end ofJuly down at Coronado Cays Yacht Club in San Diego, and a crowd of ABYC Juniors were there. “I believe everyone whoattended had a good time,” said Commodore Paul, “and enjoyed some fair racing with local conditions held to a minimum.”Nobody placed in the top ten, he said, but Greg Brown was fifth in the “Commodore’s Flight,” presumably now called theSilver Flight, while Ricky Merrill—yes, a relation—was third in the “Staff Commodore’s Flight,” now called the Bronze Flight.

There were a number of housekeeping issues covered. It was mentioned that the newly-issued gate cards—thegates had only recently been made automatic—were being loaned by members to non-members. “To have a gate card isa privilege of membership,” said the Commodore. “Please do not abuse this privilege!” And some children were allowed inthe main Clubhouse unattended by parents and apparently “smudged up one of the newly painted walls.” Members wererequested to review the club’s House Rules, which then—as now—say that unattended children are not allowed upstairs.

Six ABYC members—all men—were selected as nominees for the Board of Directors; they included Vic Guder,Dick Landes, Jim Morford, Bill Nicolai, Langdon Parrill and Gary Winterrowd. Eventually five of these six men becameCommodores themselves of ABYC, a pretty good record for a very strong slate.

The membership meeting in August featured Jim Kilroy, talking about his then-new maxi, KIALOA III...the NationalMen’s Sailing Championship for the Clifford D. Mallory Cup was to be sailed at ABYC in September; Area 6 of NAYRU,which included Southern California, was represented by an ABYC team of Dave Crockett, Sid Exley and Kurt Nicolai andwas to be sailed in spinnaker-rigged Cal 20’s...a ton of new members joined that summer and were listed in the SOU’WESTER;they included Peter Baine, Cathy Black, Don Brown, Dick Caley, Kurt Nicolai and Steve Shaw...TWENTY YEARS AGO:

The late Tony Fallon was Commodore in 1986, and his Commodore’s Comments in the August, 1986, SOU’WESTERwere short and to the point. Tony characterized this as the “summer lull period...between the Fourth of July Regatta andLabor Day, but things seem busier than ever with dinghy Twilights, bigger boats’ evening races and national championships”happening.

“The Cal 20 National Championships just concluded at ABYC,” he continued, “was a marvelous example of how torun such an event.” It was the twenty-fifth Cal 20 class championship, and Tony commented on how this was a “venerableclass that seems to be getting stronger.” Funny how that is as true today as it was two decades ago.

“Come out and enjoy the Club this summer,” the Commodore concluded. “Get out and sail for fun or for trophies.”Words as true today as then, and in fact for any year.

Speaking of the Cal 20 Nationals, a lot of familiar names appear in the results. The winners were Hank Schofieldand Vahan Skenderian, ahead of Bryan Dair; the venerable Jim Cowie of LAYC and CBYC was fourth. Dave Ellis, then aSlBYC memer, was second in the Consolation Flight, ahead of Nick Emmer. And tied for first in the Junior Championshipswere Todd Skenderian, then an ABYC junior, and Chuck Clay, then a junior at CBYC...ABYC “came within a whisker” ofwinning the Jean Schenk Memorial Team Regatta at NHYC: the team of Charlie and Pam Cummings, Blake Middleton andConnie McKivett and Mike Sentovich with Cathy Black took second in Lehman 12’s...nominees for the Board were DickCaley, Ed L. Feo, Gerry Levy, Allen Nelson, Keith Nottage and Vahan Skenderian...TEN YEARS AGO:

Jerry Montgomery’s photo accompanied the Commodore’s Comments in the August, 1996, SOU’WESTER. Jerrycommented on how the end of his term as Commodore was looming: both the announcement of the slate for the upcomingBoard elections and conversations about the Commodore’s Ball were the signs. “It simply does not seem possible thatthese last nine months could have gone as quickly as they did,” he lamented. “But I still have three more months asCommodore of this great club,” he continued, “and Marilyn and I are going to enjoy them to the fullest.”

Jerry praised the just-finishing Junior Summer Sailing Program. “We have a very large class of beginning sailors,”he said, “which bodes well for the future of junior sailing at ABYC. What also bodes well,” he continued, “for the future of ourjunior sailing program is a year-round coordinator to keep the program alive during the fall and winter seasons and anincredibly committed group of parents.” As with other years, this could be said of the situation that is happening at ABYC tothis day.

Commodore Montgomery also commented on the fact that ten nominees were standing for five seats on the Boardof Directors. “It is very important to the continued vitality and success of ABYC that Board members be involved in theclub’s activities and operations,” he said. “We have a great group of candidates to choose from,” he concluded, “so giveour votes some thought.” Good words.

The aforementioned group of nominees was indeed both large and varied: it included Merle Asper, Scott Atwood,Latham Bell, David Crockett, Gabe Ferramola, Ted Flood, Don Reiman, Glenn Selvin, Alan Smith and Chuck Tripp; threewent on to become Commodore and two are currently standing for election again, ten years later...new members includedSusan and Ron Long and Jeff and Tammy Newsome; this latter family include the bandleader of the “Club ABYC” houseband today...memberships in process included Dennis and Jeanne Casper, Steve Myrter, Willie and Shauneen Bell, Steveand Beth-Holly Smith and Fred and Alice Stevens...

Chris Ericksen, Club Historian


There were over 40 volunteers working on this Regatta Day. They were Bob Anderson, outside PRO, Patience Staff:Sandy Toscan, Judy Mathias, Sharon Pearson, Georgene Honeycutt, Norma Clapp, Adra Kober, Bobbie Hodges,Jennifer Kuritz, Nancy Grubbs; outside whalers: Don Hodges, Jane McNaboe, Chuck Hardin, Jerry Thompson, Dan

Clapp, Brian Brown. Inside PRO was Mike Baumann, with Jinx Ellis, Evie Bleisle, Bobbie Peterson, Betty Mills, JeanneNelson. Plus these 4 ladies did all the registration. They do double duty. Whaler people were John and Sue Brennan, BobWare, and Dianne Gonzales. More inside staffing included Dale Berkhiser, Cliff Mathias, John Ellis, Mack Mills, Lee Berlinger,Don Wilson, Al Nelson, Joe Riddick, Vern Peterson, George Caddle. Dinner people were: Bonnie Ryan, Maxine Berkihiser,Sue McDannel, Lorraine Perone, Joe Riddick; on protests and scoring were Maggie Caddle, Barbara Gabriel, Chuck andRob Fuller, Doug and Sandy McLean, John Perone and Jim Morford. Cathy Black, trophies.

All these people were very much appreciated. Thanks.Mary Riddick, Sabotier Fleet Captain.

4 t h o f j u l y r e g a t t a 2 0 0 6

While sipping on raspberry and strawberry champagne and munching on exotic cheeses, a dedicated group ofABYC women got together on Sunday July 9, to share their ideas and suggestions for forming a group just forwomen. In fact the only man allowed to set foot in this meeting was Jesus who kept the chocolate fountain freely

flowing thus providing the needed brain stimulation for this hardworking group.The results of the group’s enthusiasm were very encouraging. The ladies came up with many suggestions for a

group name, philanthropies, classes and learning opportunities, and social activities. The next step will be to write amission statement (once a mission is decided upon), decide on a structure for the group, and get rolling on some of thesegreat ideas!

Our next meeting will be Sunday, August 27 from 3:00 to 5:00. All adult female members are not only welcome, butalso encouraged to join us! We want this group to serve ALL ABYC WOMEN!

If you would like to receive a list of the brainstorming results from the July 9th meeting, please contact SueMcDannel either by phone (562) 431-9907 or email at [email protected]

a b y c w o m e n ’ s g r o u p f o r m a t i o n m e e t i n g

photos by Rich Roberts


t h e b a y c l o g g e r ( j u n i o r s a i l i n g )

Hello ABYC members! It has been an amazing summer for the ABYC Junior Sailing Program. We hit some records forenrollment with 98 students; 43 of which are part of our junior racing team! We brought in our first out of countryinstructor, Billy Lopez-Segura, from Argentina to work with our laser students, and we officially have a laser racing

team (six competed in the Pacific Coast Champs). We have seen tremendous growth and development among all thestudents with a lot of fun along the way.

Sailors participated in fun days like “Pirate Day” where they dressed as pirates, sailed on a treasure hunt andended the day by seeing “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” as a team. We also had our annual Wild Rivers trip, “Le Tour de Bay”for the beginners, and many other fun sailing adventures. The morning sailors continue to focus on learning the basics ofsailing and racing and we hope to see all of them compete in this Thursday’s Beach to Bay as their first official race (thoughmany of them have already sailed in a regatta).

July is the busiest month of the year for the racing team with 19 regattas. We saw record attendance at regattassuch as the 4 th of July regatta with 24 sailors and Summer Gold Cup where we sent 25 sailors down to Newport in our brightorange team shirts. It was truly amazing to have such an extremely visible and huge team there.

Still, the thing that really has been the most satisfying to see along the way is the personal development in thestudents. We had five 8 year olds compete down at Newport for the Summer Gold Cup, many of whom it was their firstregatta. Having coached on the C3 beginner course, I saw some of the greatest attitudes come out of these sailors. AlexCascell capsized time and time again (three times to be exact) and asked to keep on sailing each time with a smile on hisface. Carl Olson finished all nine of the races in the regatta and simply kept sailing without question or concern even whenhe was extremely overpowered by the wind. Jacob Rosenberg took 4 th place out of 26 in the fleet in his second regatta andat a whopping 56 pounds! Mila Bakker and Sawyer Gibbs also put forth atremendous effort as young sailors and impressed us all.

Many other sailors have surpassed their own limits by moving upfleets or truly clicking in their abilities. Lillian Babcock, Davis Bakker,Palmer Luckey, Riley Gibbs, Zack McDaniels and Rob Rice have madebig strides by moving up fleets and winning regattas along with numerousothers who are continually improving.

One story that is truly amazing is Cameron Summers’ performanceat Junior Olympics. Cameron is a sailor who grew up out of HuntingtonHarbor Yacht Club and recently came to ABYC to sail in the laser program.I remember seeing him on the water in sabots as the only sailor from hisclub and typically without a coach. As he sailed in our off-season pro-gram, an already talented young sailor began to flourish along side of hisfriend and competition Alex Vaught. This summer he crossed a new thresh-old when he won Junior Olympics held at ABYC. This stunned all of South-ern California youth sailing world to see Cameron and ABYC at the verytop of an extremely prestigious list. He triumphed over such talent as ChrisBarnard (last year’s Sabot Nationals champion) and San Diego’s RexCameron. It was truly amazing and just one day later we saw anotherhuge regatta won by an ABYC junior sailor. The annual Sabot 2 NorthSeries (11 and under) was won by Robert Rice (10 years old) and heofficially brought back the trophy to the Long Beach area and ABYC forthe first time in the past 20 years!

There are so many sailors that have done amazing things this summer and unfortunately there is not enough spaceto list it all, but I would like to say congratulations to all of them for their hard work and growth, thanks to all of their parentsand to our members and especially to our coaching staff for putting forth such a huge effort. None of the fun or thedevelopment of the students would occur without help from such a great group of people!

Brad Schaupeter, ABYC Junior Sailing Director

Little pirates Taylor Warnick and Emily Golisonon Pirate Day.

On the hottest day of the year, where is the coolest place in town? At the seashore, picking up trash, of course! Aland Jeanne Nelson, Mary and Joe Riddick, and Yvonee Lindermann and myself all found out that 90 degreesgoes best with a little sea breeze. Our ranks being rather thin, we spread out to collect what we could before it

washed out to sea again.As ABYC is situated on the rocks, it is the lucky recipient of all the flotsam that drifts in or by the LA river. We don’t haveto walk far to come on a treasure trove of litter. Every little Styrofoam we pick up is one less for the ocean.

The new Ladies Auxiliary or “Argonauta” is considering taking the Adopt-A-Beach Project under it’s wing. If youhave any ideas or suggestions for the Committee please e-mail them. Their address is in the roster. Thanks again to theRiddicks, Nelsons, and Yvonne and to you too for being interested. See you on the beaches in September. Adopt-A-Beach Committee: Dan DeLave, Chairman, Cathy and Todd Black-Smith, Carol Reynolds, John and Alaine Weiss, Barbara Gabriel

a d o p t - a - b e a c h


culinary delight that was found to surprise everybody’s taste buds. Peter Bishop found a pet crab on the beach that wasquite interesting. Lots of fun! Many people ended the stay with a group swim in water that was clean and slightly coolerthan the air.

The final boat was the Commodore Nicole and Staff Commodore Steve Moffat’s immaculate Beneteau 423 “Reso-lution”. If you did not make it to the party, sneak on down below sometime and check it out (just kidding! If they are there,I am sure they will invite you down!). Nice wood appointments and modern conveniences like icemaker and plasma

televisions indicate that these people do not rough it very often. The hada Hawaiian theme going to celebrate their recent trip to Hawaii whichended Steve’s Pacific Cup adventure aboard “Free Range Chicken”. Freshfruit and SPAM kabobs (a delicacy in many cultures including my own, butespecially the Hawaiian one!) delighted the attendees. Very creativepresentation and the Hawaiian music added a special touch. It was great!

Saturday evening was Happy Hour made happier by a rum punchthat Kathy and Bobby made along with traditional rum drinks, beer andwine. There was tasty BBQ chicken provided by the Catalina Islandpeople. We had Smores for desert, which is a childhood favorite for all ofus.

Now is when the realadventure began! I probably willnot do this justice, but here arethe events as I saw them. Aswe were finishing our Smores,the lightning started to strike. Atfirst from over the east end ofthe island but then they were

striking from all around. At times the flashes and pitchforks were striking downon the water and it made me glad my feet were on terra firma. The storm seemedto be moving in at a different angle than the wind, which was disconcerting tosay the least. The lightning appeared to be hitting the island, but we could nottell for sure. Later we saw a glow from behind the hill and a fire truck going upand over. Afterward we found out that 7 fires were started and at the point of this writing (7/24/06, 11:42 pm) the fireswere only 75% contained, which means they have been burning at this point for more than 52 hours. The rain never camedown very hard, but we witnessed strange meteorological phenomenon. We had 180-degree shifts, 20 knots from theSouth switching to 20 knots from the North in a matter of seconds. I was glad there was not a waterspout, but thatseemed to be a probability at one point. Almost certainly one of the strangest things was the temperature going from 75degrees to 110 degrees in the matter of 20 seconds. I guess there was some sort of wind sheer created by the fire (orthe heat from the desert that came across the ocean) and was somehow forced down upon us. That was one of thestrangest sensations I have ever had. Talk about fair turning to foul! When we got the normal sea breeze, I was veryrelieved! During the excitement, many ran for their boats, but our personal group chose to stay ashore and witness thebedlam, knowing our craft were relatively secure. Island employees were running helter-skelter trying to make everythingsafe. We ultimately put out the bon fire due to the embers shooting every direction and our close proximity to a thatchedroof Palapa that in turn was close to a very large gas tank. There wasa giant tent that broke down (heavy gauge poles bent and loose fabricflapping in the wind) and was threatening to beat us, so we moved.Finally all calmed down and we went back to our boat. . I was sure toprep for quick escape, if need be.We then had a mellow “end of the world” party and early bedtime.

In the morning we could hear the turbines from the hovercraftthat came over with more Fire Department personnel from the main-land. I also heard they landed Marines to fight the fire as well. Beforeleaving, we drove my boat out in front of Rippers cove (2 miles to theWest of Isthmus) and we witnessed first hand the Los Angeles CountyFire Department helicopters doing water drops on the fire.

August 4th, 2006 has been reserved for the same location. Allthe people I talked to are planning on coming next year; you are in-vited! Put it on your calendar and start making your plans. If it is yourwish, now would be a good time to make reservations for the Banninghouse, it fills up early! It looks like member Wayne Noecker and familywill be chairing the event next year. You can count on it being anotheryear to remember.

Thanks again to Bobby and Kathy Frazier for taking the timeout of their busy schedule to make all of the onshore fun happen anddo much of the organizing of the rest. Ron Wood also participated inthe process. Elaine wood took great pictures. Thanks also to Rich and Vicky Vaught, Steve and Nicole Peoples-Moffat,and Kelly Asper for providing food, cocktails, and fun along the party trail.Remember: Life is about having fun. Don’t sell yourself short. See you next year!

Merle Willis Asper III, Catalina Cruise Official

c a t a l i n a c r u i s e ( c o n t )


i n t e r n a t i o n a l 1 4 w o r l d s

The planning is almost done. The boats are on their way. The flag is about to go up. In just afew weeks, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club will see the hottest double-handed monohull sloops in theworld arrive in Long Beach as the 2006International 14 Class World Team Racing Championship and World Championship Regatta

comes to town from September 5-17.We’re expecting nearly 100 boats, not only those from the United States, Canada and

elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere but also boats from Australia, New Zealand and Japan, andGreat Britain and Germany. Container loads of boats are already on their way.

The regatta runs an impressive thirteen days, ten of which will see on-the-water activities. The World Team RacingChampionship will run two days, September 7 and 8, with racing taking place inside the Breakwater. After a day with apractice race, the seven-day World Championship Regatta will take place, with one race a day outside the breakwaterrunning from September 10 through September 16.

But all the action won’t be on the water. The regatta organizers have gotten sponsors for beer on nearly everynight. There’ll be two opening ceremonies, complete with traditional skits organized by the national teams that are sure toshock and awe us all. Two major dinner events are scheduled for the regatta, an ABYC Burger Bash for nearly 350 sailors,guests and volunteers, and a Naples Rib Company night for the same number. Other nights will see the bar open for allcomers, but participants and guests will get a chance to sample the delights of Naples, Belmont Shore, Seal Beach and thesurrounding area on other nights. The regatta will end with a gala Awards Ceremony and Dinner aboard the Queen Mary.

And there is plenty of room for ABYC members to be part of the fun. We need volunteers, and lots of them. Withten days on the water, we’ll need whaler staff and RC boat personnel (there’ll be three RC boats). We’ll need folks toassist the Chief Measurer. We’ll need registration personnel. We’ll need folks to sell regatta merchandise. And we’ll needsome OD’s.

What will you get for your efforts? Lunch every day, for a start, plus the opportunity to attend the openingceremonies, the awards dinner, the burger bash and rib night. There’ll be great regatta merchandise, including jackets,hats, vests, T-shirts, polo shirts and all, so that you can have a memento of your participation. And you’ll have thesatisfaction of having worked the latest ABYC world-championship regatta in a string that goes back more than forty years,to the 1974 Finn Gold Cup, the first-ever worlds at ABYC, and including the 1979 I-14 Worlds that was held here.

Join the dozens of ABYC members who have already volunteered to help out. Racing starts late most days, soeven you working folks can spend the morning on the job before coming down to run the races. If you can be there oneday or three days or thirteen days, we’ll have a job for you to do. No reasonable offer will be turned down.

If you want to volunteer for the 2006 I-14 Worlds, make a call or drop an e-mail to the members of the organizingcommittee: Chris Ericksen (562-522-8678, or [email protected]), Yvonne Galvez (949-362-2819, [email protected]) or Paul Galvez (949-362-2819, or [email protected]).

Help ABYC show a great time to our visitors from all over the world. Volunteer for the 2006 I-14 Worlds.

We all know how busy ABYC’s racing program has been over the last month, but what you may not be aware of isthe number of ABYC boats that have been competing in events outside the Long Beach area.

Over the Memorial Day weekend Wendy Siegal’s WILLOWWIND and Jerry Montgomery’s PATRIOT raced fromCabrillo Beach to Dana Point. Each got second in their class. PATRIOT then went north and competed in the ChannelIslands to Marina del Rey race. The following weekend PATRIOT raced Marina del Rey to San Diego. Don Reiman andJerry Montgomery delivered PATRIOT home and arrived in Basin 5 at 5:00 a.m. just in time to see Kevin Ellis and BrianHolmes depart on their world cruise.

Last weekend PATRIOT, Dave Johnson’s PLAN B, George Kornhoff’s SPRAY, Steve Shock’s QUITCHERBITCHIN,Jeremy Davidson’s ROSINANTE, Dave Rustigan’s CARDINAL SIN and David Bassett-Parkin’s EMIRAGE raced in theSeal Beach to Dana Point Race. PATRIOT, and QUITCHERBITCHIN won their classes with PLAN B coming fifth andROSINANTE second.

Traveling even farther away were Steve Washburn and Paul Bishop who trailored their boats to the Bay Area andraced the Ditch Run from Richmond to Stockton. Steve won his class in T-REX and Paul came in third in his class with MR.VENGENANCE.

The furthest traveler was Sydney Bolger who traveled to Milwaukee to compete for the Ida Lewis Trophy at the USJunior Women’s’ Double handed Championships in 420’s. Sydney finished 14th out of 42 boats, which was a greatshowing.

Jerry Montgomery

a w a y g a m e s


KEEL BOAT FLEET ON WATCH

h a i l s f r o m t h e f l e e t s

Chuck Hardin

Latest report, as we go to press is‘ Seducente’ with Kevin and Brian approximately at 8 degrees north

and 131 degrees west which is about two thirds of theway to the Marquessas. No major problems so far.

September’s meeting of the Keel Boat Fleet hasbeen cancelled because of the confliction of dates withthe I 14 Worlds Regatta and several key chairmen beingout of town. October’s Sou’wester will include the newslate of chairmen for the 2006/2007 term. The next meet-ing, November 10, will be a great one as the fleet willmeet the new chairmen and the Christmas party planswill on the agenda! Sure hope everyone turns out to sup-port the new chairs.

Speaking of support for an event don’t forget theOctober 15 Pineblock Regatta. Jeanne Reid and BobChubb always put on a great regatta that includes theprizes, picnic and the model boat races. Bob will be send-ing out a card with all the particulars as time grows near.

George C.

Because we have Al Nelson, Barbara, Izzy, John McNaughton and Joe, we con-

tinue to have good sailing, so we do thank them.June Twilights: 15 sailors plus 5 more who sailed

1 or 2 times, plus 3 B’s make a total of 23 boats. Excel-lent. The winner is Fred Stevens, Sr. 30 pts.; Mary R., 31pts.; Tom Newton, 34 pts.; Lee Berlinger, 36 pts.; BobWare, 39 pts. This is with 1 throw out evening.

In the May twilights, we had 16 boats, excellentfor May. Last year we only had 5 boats the 1st time.

The 200 Sabotier Fleet Champion is Bob Ware,for the 5th year in a row, with 22 pts,. With one monththrown out. Dianne Gonzales, 2nd with 34; Mary Riddick,3rd with 38; John Ellis, 4th with 48; Wendy Siegal, with 58;and Mack Mills with 68. There were 15 total boats. Bobgets the perpetual again plus his usual Trader Joes Choco-late Bar.

Thank you to the 40 plus people who worked onthe 1st of July Regatta. It was much appreciated.

On Father’s Day, June 18, the Ellis clan was inSanta Cruz for Sarah’s graduation and Izzy was in Eu-rope again. We still had 9 sailors with Al Nelson, BarbaraGabriel, Carol Reynolds and Joe Riddick for R.C. We hada good time. Mack Mills had about a dozen family there.The chicken mole dinner was excellent and there wereother folks in attendance: Robert Durnin, his sister Janet,and his son, and Bob Anderson and Georgene.1st Pl Mary R., 2nd Pl Dianne G., 3rd Pl Bob W.

On July 7, Nancy Grubbs pulled a trailer to NHYC,where Nancy, Dianne Gonzales, Wendy Siegal, Mary R.and John Ellis sailed in the SCWSA. Only Wendy trophiedbut I think we all had our moments. It’s a challenging placeto sail, and Dianne said it was ‘like sailing on anotherplanet.’

Please make sure Ladies’ Day is on your calen-dar and let’s plan to sail and have a Big Turnout. Oct. 8,Sunday Ladies, whatever your skill level, come on outand give it a whirl. There’s still time to practice.

For the July 9 Fleet Race, that’s what it was: a(one) race. Winds were 15 to 20. We had a tip over, aswamp, an almost swamp, and a gear failure. After the 1st

race, we had lunch amid much discussion and persistentmonitorings of the wind velocity. It was finally decided topack it in. Of course, then the wind went to 10 to 15 IdealConditions, a great summer sailing day. Jane McNaboewon, Mary R. was 2nd, Bob Ware was 3rd, and BrianBrown, 4th.

The next Fleet Race Day is Sunday, Aug 13. Hopeto see you there. Our Fleet is always open to any adultwanting to sail sabots. And anyone who wants to havedinner with us afterwards is welcome. Any questions,please call me.

Mary Riddick, Fleet Captain

4th of July Regatta

It was obvious the Laser Radial Worlds were on thehorizon as twenty one Laser Radial racers showed upfor the ABYC 4 th of July Regatta this year. Sailors from

Southern California, Arizona and Canada raced on a per-fect Long Beach sailboat racing day.

Cameron Summers was the top finisher fromABYC scoring an impressive third place overall. OtherABYC racers in the top ten were your author finishingsixth and Alex Vaught in eighth.

Seven Laser full rigs came out to enjoy the dayas the P.R.O., Bob Anderson said, “the wind just settledin at 230° and stayed there”. Vann Wilson, following abrief hiatus from Lasers won the regatta with anotherABYC racer, Bob Falk finishing second.Laser Radial Worlds

Watch for results of the Laser Radial Worldshosted by Cal YC. A number of ABYC Laser Radial rac-ers are entered and looking to do well in this importantregatta the first week of August.Bob Falk Retains First Place in the ABYC Laser FleetChamp Standings

Counting two more qualifying races, Bob Falk isstill points leader for the 2006 ABYC Laser Fleet Champi-onship. Following Bob, in the top five, in order, are:Willem EmmerJorge SuarezChris RaabJim Kirk

Steven Smith, ABYC Laser Fleet Captain


h a i l s f r o m t h e f l e e t s

Sou’Wester DEADLINEFriday, August 18, 2006 is the deadline

for the August Sou’Wester.

The ABYC Etchells continued their 2006 Fleet Championship Series with a fleet race on Sunday, July 8, just one week after the ABYC Fourth of July Regatta. A half-dozen boats

turned out for what turned out to be a pretty windy day, with thrills and spills.The first race seemed to go pretty well, although two teams did not finish. The hot team in USA126—

Jim Barber, Doug Jorgensen and Bob Newsome—won that one, as they did all four. John Chapmantook Tim Carter and Dave Myers out sailing, and they got second in the first race but got overpoweredin Race Two and called it a day.

Tom Corkett made his return to our waters and got pretty well “worked” in the wind: he carded three third-placefinishes and only one second-place finish. He was introduced to the team led by Rich Vaught, who beat them in all but oneof the races in which they met; only failure to finish Race One kept Vaught and Company from taking second place in theregatta. Jeff Powell and Gordon Dudley made the start to all four races but finished only three; in fact, only two boatsfinished all four races.

The Fleet Championship Series has completed three of the four regattas, and the results are pretty clear:the leader has not only sailed every single race but also has dominated the series.

The last race of the 2006 Fleet Championship Series is set for Sunday, August 27, the Sunday before the LaborDay weekend. It’ll be the same format: a one-day fleet race. Tune in to see how that comes out, but it’ll be October beforethe SOU’WESTER has it.

There was an ABYC event in July, too, and ABYC’s Etchells took part: the one-day Fourth of July Regatta. It wasa busy day, considering there was only one day of racing: about 120 boats took part in all, divided about evenly betweenBay and harbor courses. Bob Anderson served as PRO on the harbor course.

It was a goodly-sized fleet of Etchells—seven entered—but what it lacked in size it made up for in punch: penaltyturns and close calls were the order of the day. Three races were sailed in moderate conditions, a short first race, a reallylong second race and a nice third race. There was lots of close crossing and hard-fought marks and gates. But one racein particular affected the outcome of the regatta in an interesting way.

Jim Bateman had Paul Anctil as guest helmsman aboard along with Merle Asper. They were fast-fast-fast: exceptfor the first race, they were pretty unbeatable. Tim Carter and Chris Ericksen picked up Dan De Lave, who has spent thesummer racing on Thursday nights; they were pretty quick, especially downwind, but not as fast as Bateman and Company.

Andrew Whittome is an Aussie living in the South Bay who sails an Etchells on San Francisco Bay; he has been theguest helmsman aboard USA531 the last two regattas with Gordon Dudley while Jeff Gordon was away. He is a hot hand,and gave the Carter/Ericksen team serious fits all day.

Reese Lane was on hand, too. He sailed only two races before withdrawing for the day—but one of those raceswas the race of the day.

The action was at the leeward gate in Race One. USA143 and USA531, helmed respectively by Anctil andWhittome, rounded overlapped; however, off the gate, USA143 could not keep clear of the luffing USA531 and didpenalty turns. Meantime, USA491, coming into the gate third, made a clean rounding, stayed out of the scrum andmanaged to finish ahead of USA531. USA143 won the other two races while USA491 got second in both, and bothteams figured that USA143 had won the regatta on a tie-breaker.

But what neither remembered was that Reese Lane in USA662 was the spoiler: he also got past USA143 asshe did her turns and finished third to the other boat’s fourth. So, in the end, Carter/Ericksen won the regatta for thesecond consecutive year—and were as surprised at the outcome as Bateman and Company were disappointed.

Three other boats rounded out the fleet. An old Etchells from up at Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club that we’ve seenaround, USA390, was helmed by owner Valentijn Aguilera; not an experienced racer, he raced two races and packed itin. Doug Jorgensen entered USA126 but did not complete a single race, and Pat Kelly with friend Jane was entered andsailed around but did not finish.

The summer of weeknight racing for the Etchells fleet also continues: with hardly a break, Etchells have sailedevery single week of the Seal Beach Yacht Club Pop Top Regatta. We’ve seen as many as seven boats and as few astwo, and everything from gear-busting winds to drifting finishes. We also saw some brilliant sailing and some failures tocorrectly read the course chart. A long-time absentee from the fleet-racing wars, Larry Harvey, has been a regular onthe Thursday-night circuit; we’ve enjoyed seeing him, and hope this is a harbinger of his return to the fold.

Chris Ericksen


Commodore Nicole Peoples-MoffettVice Commodore Jim BatemanRear Commodore Glenn SelvinJr. Staff Commodore Ron WoodFleet Captain Merle AsperSecretary Grant HillDirectorsJunior Program John MasseyMembership Bill McDannelVolunteers Dan DeLave

Treasurer George KornhoffJunior Rear Commodore Sydney BolgerFleet Surgeon Dr. Jeff CohenJudge Advocate Tom RamseyPort Captain Dave Myers/Jeff IvesSou’wester Editor/Layout Sharon PearsonABYC Phone (562) 434-9955

Fax (562) 434-2267Homepage www.abyc.orgEmail [email protected]

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club7201 East Ocean BoulevardLong Beach, California 90803

PRSRT STDU. S. Postage

PAIDLong Beach, CAPermit No. 685

2006OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

The Annual Meeting and election of Directors and Trustees of the 20/20 Fund will be on Friday, September 22,2006. There are four positions open on the Board and two Trustee positions on the 20/20 Fund. Candidates forthe Board are:

Bob Anderson Merle AsperMike Baumann Dave KofahlDoug McLean Jeff MerrillKen Reiff Glen Selvin

Candidates for the 20/20 Fund are:Sandy Toscan Mark Townsend

The polls will be open for voting from noon until 8:00 p.m. on September 22nd and at various times on dayspreceding the Annual Meeting. Because some of the election days will fall during the I14 Worlds Championship Regatta,we will try to choose dates that will be the least impacted by the regatta.

The Nominating Committee

a n n u a l m e e t i n g a n d e l e c t i o n

August 6th — The Windmill Big Band

August 20TH — The JD Hall Band

All concerts are held from 5:30- 7:30 pm at the 72ndPlace Park (next to ABYC)

s u m m e r c o n c e r t s c h e d u l e

Headed to another party at the Catalina Cruise

Chuck Hardin photo

2 0 0 6 l i d o c l a s s c h a m p i o n s h i pSame old Stu wins protest and Lido 14 title

Stuart Robertson has long been known around West Coast sailing venues on two counts: year in and year out he’s thebest Lido 14 sailor there is—and also the orneriest.

So wouldn’t you know that he couldn’t walk away from his fourth Lido 14 Class Championship over 31 years—the lastthree in a row—without leaving a bit of turmoil in his wake?

The Huntington Beach veteran, sailing with rookie crew SteveMendenhall, had the class’s 49th title in the bag Wednesday whilerunning with the leaders with a seven-point lead when he insisted onpoking his bow between Jeff McLaren of Dana Point, Calif. and thefirst leeward mark of the next-to-last race of the three-day event atthis Western Sierra alpine resort.

Robertson’s bow tapped the port corner of McLaren’stransom. McLaren thought Robertson did it on purpose, and bothparties protested.

Robertson went on to win the race and finish second in the short finale. But for the next hour and a half the title hungin the balance with father-and-son runners-up Freddie and Fred Stevens of Long Beach positioned to inherit the title. With nothrowouts in the scoring, a disqualification would have dropped Robertson down to fifth place.

“It wouldn’t be the best way to win it,” Fred Stevens said at the time.Protest hearings are sometimes down and dirty, but this one really was, conducted as it was in the shade of a group

of pines, with both parties drawing their cases on the ground.Ultimately, McLaren was ruled guilty and drew a DSQ, winding up 11th overall.“It looked like there was contact, and Jeff didn’t give enough room,” fellow

competitor and volunteer chief judge Steve Schupak said.But the question remained, why would Robertson take such a chance on blowing it

all?The answer: he’s Stu Robertson.

“I don’t want to change,” he said afterward with a wicked smile. “I’m more comfortablethis way. We sailed this championship the way we sail every regatta. We areaggressive.”

Otherwise, the race was as entertaining a Lido 14 contest as one might eversee. The 46 competitors—22 in Gold and 21 in Silver still remaining from originalrosters of 23 each—were met under a cloudless sky by whitecaps and 12-knot breezebuilding to 15 when they came out for the final day of action. Principal race officerMike Baumann of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club immediately sent them on their longestcourse yet: 7.4 miles with three upwind and twodownwind legs.

Kurt Wiese of Newport Beach, who would lose his mast at the last mark of the lastrace, led at the first windward mark, with McLaren a close second and the Stevens andRobertson right behind. Then Robertson, working his downwind magic, passed the Stevenshalfway down the leg and Wiese three-quarters of the way, then fought for an angle to getinside of McLaren coming in from the right.

Amid much yelling, Robertson got around inside of McLaren, with Wiese lifting up towindward and protesting both boats after witnessing the contact, but not assigning blame.That would be sorted out ashore, with Robertson the winner.

Meantime, the Stevens played the north shore away from the leaders and cameback to beat Robertson around the second windward mark, but Robertson turned on hisdownwind afterburners again to lead by 45 seconds at the last mark and win going away.

Tom Jenkins of Morro Bay wound up third overall by winning the short fifth and final race, with Robertson second tocomplete a string of 2-1-1-1-2 finishes.

Freddie Stevens, the skipper, said, “Stu deserves it all the way. I tip my hat to him. When I started sailing he was myidol. He showed me how to roll-tack.”

As for Robertson, “It was great fun, as much fun as the first one.”Stephen Mueller and crew George Shelton of Newport Beach scored 1-2 in the last two races to win the Silver fleet by

one point over Ronald and Nicole Runyan of Willamette, Wash.This was the seventh Lido 14 Class Championship at Huntington Lake. Others have been sailed as far north as

Sequim Bay, Wash., as far south as Club de la Pena, Mexico, and as far east as Buckeye Lake, Ohio.Complete results and photos: www.abyc.org

Rich Roberts

photos by Rich Roberts

Contact! Stu Robertson taps Jeff JcLaren’s transon but won theprotest - and thus the championship.

Tom Jenkins and Christina Campolmi’sintensity won them 3rd overall.

Wiese leads McLaren off the rocks.

j u n i o r o l y m p i c f e s t i v a l photos by Rich Roberts

Wind gods call an end to Jr. Olympics sailing

Peter Wenner was one of the few young frustrated sailors who didn’t cheer when Southern California’s version of USSailing’s Junior Olympics Sailing Festival gasped its last breath out of a wind-killing heat wave Sunday.

“I was going for third place overall, and I had the [second-place] guy beat,” said Wenner, a Laser Radial sailor fromCalifornia Yacht Club. “But it was an interesting day.”

Interesting may be the best comment about a day when 117 competitors on 88boats in four classes waited nearly three hours for any kind of wind to arrive in a venuenoted for its fresh summer sea breeze. Then, pressed by the 2:30 p.m. deadline forstarting races on the final day, one course near the Federal breakwater launched theLasers and Laser Radials in only 2 knots of wind, while the course off Belmont Piermanaged to get the 420 dinghies started, but not the CFJs.

The outer course also started races 1 1/2 hours earlier but called the bobbingboats back after only four minutes.

The 420s managed to finish, but only because the race committee shortenedthe course while the agonizingly slow-motion race was under way.

Tyler Sinks and crew BenjaminTodter of San Diego YC squeezed out theirsixth win in eight races over three days,and Willy Peterson and Ryann Hall of Cal YC finished fifth for second placedoverall—both teams thus qualifying for the Chubb U.S. Junior Singlehanded andDouble handed championships for US Sailing’s F. Gregg Bemis and D. VernerSmythe trophies, respectively, at Texas Corinthian Yacht Club in Kemah, Tex.Aug. 8-13.

The Lasers and Laser Radials weren’t even that lucky. Struggling mightilyfor any forward motion, their response to three horn blasts from the Alamitos BayYC committee boat—appropriately named Patience—signaling the cancellationof racing was a cheer of relief sweepingthe still waters.

That non-result punched tickets to Houston for Charlie Buckingham of NewportHarbor YC and Caleb Paine of San Diego’s Southwestern YC for their 1-2 finishesin the Laser class. Buckingham, in fact, had enough of a lead going into the final daythat he didn’t bother to hang around in what seemed a futile wait for wind. Paine did,but Wenner passed him moments before the horn sounded.

Other class winners were Cameron Summers, ABYC, who was leading theRadial race, and Julian Busch and crew Mallory Schluter, San Diego, whose three-point lead in CFJs went unchallenged.

The event, one of 25 Junior Olympics in the nation this year, was open to allsailors who will not turn age 19 before the end of the year. The youngest competitorwas 11.

It was also a featured activity of the City of Long Beach’s two-month-longInternational Sea Festival that celebrates the city’s heritage with sailing and other marine-related activities.

Complete results: www.ussclb.org/mywebReports and photos: www.abyc.orgRich Roberts

Tiffany Dube paddles her Radial back to the harbor.

Peter Wenner stalks Caleb Paine beforetaking the lead in Laser class.

Cameron Summers led Radials when thewind gave up.

catalina cruise 2006 · We had the best Catalina Cruise this year. Kathy and Bobby Frazier hosted...

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