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The 2013 Contender Midwinters Report
From February 8-10, 2013, while the Eastern seaboard got
snowbliterated, several contender sailors from all over North America
demonstrated a rare flash of above average intelligence by trekking down to the
Gulfport Yacht Club in Florida for the 2013 Contender Midwinters. At this
charming no frills club located on Boca Ciega Bay, the sailors enjoyed
temperatures in the low to high 20s and breezes ranging from 3-22 knots over
the three days of the regatta. With the
bay enclosed by expensive looking condos, the racing happened on relatively
flat water, with the usual Floridian obstacles of moored boats and crab pots.
Several sailors made it into GYC on Thursday morning and
went out for a quick sail in about 15 knots to discover what they had rigged
wrong and/or left at home. Some realized
they should have brought kick up rudders as the beach launch into a shallow bay
was met with mixed success and some newly sand and oyster polished foils.
The first day of racing on Friday started with 8 knots which
built throughout the day to about 13 for race 5. What was noteworthy was that several
of the Contenders busted their gate start cherries at this event. Fortunately
for most, no one on the RC boat was packing a pesky recording device, because
the starts on the first day were so bad that you could hear the dolphins
laughing. Ethan Bixby scored straight bullets to be the hero of the day, which
probably did absolutely nothing to help his case at home, as he had agreed to
billet 80% of the visiting Contenders.
I would like to say that the fleet had mastered the gate
starts for day 2 of racing, which was in 10 knots dying to 5, but that would be
a colossal lie. Once again, Ethan was untouchable in the flukey conditions, but
three-time Canadian Champion Roger Martin had found his groove, except in the
third race when a monster shift caught most of the fleet with their pants down
and their tighty whities not being very white at all. Being non-windy, the fat
boys, and Gil Woolley with the experimental fathead sail, were punished for
their gluttony, but their fortunes changed on day 3.
On Sunday, with two
races to be held, the day opened with a solid 15 knots gusting to 20. Roger
decided to get his reaching dump out of the way before racing began, but
snapped his aluminum tiller in the process. Fortunately, he had a spare.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have electrical tape and wanted to secure the joint.
Enter yours truly. I sailed up to his boat and tossed him the tape, but in a
moment of distraction, Roger’s boom got caught in my shrouds, and he wound up
dumping to windward. At some point during the capsize, Roger’s rudder tore out
of the carbon case, meaning his day was done. Again, in the super puffy breeze,
Ethan did what Ethan does best and swept the podium. Peter Hale, in his plastic
Bonezzi was second, and Roger managed to hang onto third, despite two DNSs.
A big thanks goes out to the volunteers at GYC who got the
races going with no delays, and especially to Dave Ellis, our PRO. We’re all
looking forward to next year’s regatta!
Photo Here
Result Here
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