Local Loesel Wins SE Florida Winter RC Laser Regatta
February 22, 2015 Coconut Creek, Florida
Scott Loesel from the local Sabal Pines Model YC Fleet bested a field of twenty one RC Laser sailors that was made up of Floridians and Snowbirds seeking the warm Florida weather. Scott won 4 out of the 11 races that made up the series, with a total of 23 points beating out Mark Schwegman from Ft. Lauderdale by 8 points and third place, Nick Mortgu from Riverton, NJ by 13 points. Race winners were, Scott Leosel 4, Mark Schwegman 3, Hank Buchanan 3, Bill Ewing 2, Jake Leo 2.
Snowbird Tony Corkell, from Cary, NC won the Silver Fleet with 32 points, just two points over second place Jim DeSeno of Coral Springs, FL and 10 over third place Hal Steward or Lighthouse Pt. FL. The competition was close with only seven points between third place and sixth place. Race winners were, Tony Corkell 3, Jim DeSeno 1, Hal Steward 1, Steve Hopkins 1.
The beautiful weather and the southwest breeze steady at 8-12 mph with some puffs registering at 14-16 made for a perfect day. Regatta Chairman Barr Batzel couldn’t have picked a more perfect day for the regatta. After the skippers meeting three seeding races were held to separate the Gold and Silver fleets. Then the fleets sailed two races at a time to provide more consistent sailing and give the other fleet a chance to rest and tune or repair their boats.
Barr continues to host one of the best RC Laser events. This year he rolled out the red carpet for us. Well maybe not red, but they used a very large indoor outdoor carpet ten feet into the lake to make the launching of boats easier. His committee of Lynn Springer, Myles Loesel, Pete Valdez, Clem Grosvenor and Lulu Hopkins are the perfect team. Everything was first class with this event, from the skippers gift to the two sets of beautiful awards.
The two fleet system is being used in all of this year’s Snowbird events. The plan is working well with over 80 registrants for the three series regattas, up from 56 registrations last year.
| Gold Fleet | |||
| Place | Sail Number | Skipper | Points |
| 1 | 44 | Scott Loesel | 23 |
| 2 | 11 | Mark Schwegman | 31 |
| 3 | 00 | Nick Mortgu | 36 |
| 4 | 732 | Hank Buchanan | 39 |
| 5 | 79 | Bill Ewing | 45 |
| 6 | 50 | Jake Leo | 47 |
| 7 | 94 | Bill Bentz | 54 |
| 8 | 82 | John Antweller | 55 |
| 9 | 76 | Charlie Sumner | 60 |
| 10 | 148 | Jack Ward | 63 |
| 11 | 49 | Henry DeWolf | 85 |
| Silver Fleet | |||
| Place | Sail Number | Skipper | Points |
| 1 | 65 | Tony Corkell | 32 |
| 2 | 112 | Jim DeSeno | 34 |
| 3 | 179 | Hal Steward | 42 |
| 4 | 88 | Steve Hopkins | 43 |
| 5 | 53 | Colin Schwegman | 46 |
| 6 | 28 | Ray Sczulczewski | 49 |
| 7 | 22 | Al Newport | 55 |
| 8 | 127 | William Biersach | 57 |
| 9 | 08 | Alex Hepburn | 58 |
| 10 | 708 | Henry Springer | 70 |
Video shot by Justice Bentz with Pigeon Vision. Enjoy…
Laser Finals from Pigeon Vision on Vimeo.