Snowbird Tune-Up Regatta

February 26, 2015 Punta Gorda, Florida

A full house of thirty skippers was registered for this regatta, but the forecast of heavy rain and thunderstorms had three skippers think twice about racing. Although the weather was not perfect all day there was some great racing with cheering for those novice regatta skippers who finished well. The breeze for the first race was out of the northwest, right on the edge of A and B sail. During the race the air lightened up and those who chose A sails prevailed. After a few heats the winds dropped off to nothing. During lunch a new front came thru and the light breeze filled in from the west and continued from that direction for the rest of the regatta.

The Gold and Silver fleets were separated by three odd even races. Then each fleet raced two races at a time until the 3pm or so time limit. The Gold completed a total of 8 races including the three seeding races, and the Silver fleet completed 7 races to complete their series. Jim Kaighin,  Marsh Harbor, Bahamas, won four of his eight races to win the regatta by two points over Alan Perkins, TheVillages, FL, who placed second with 18 points. Dave Branning, from Maryland’s Eastern Shore placed third with 23 points, fourth and fifth went to Al Dion and Janice Anderson, both local sailors.

The Silver fleet saw some newcomers racing who all improved during the day. Snowbird Larry Lefczik sailed into first place by just one point over Port Charlotte’s David Horthrop, and two points over third place, local club member Jack Ward. This year’s program of sailing a Gold and Silver fleet for each of the three Snowbird Series Regattas gives the newer, less experienced skipper a chance to sail against some of the best RC Laser skippers in the class, and fine tune their skills. Then after the fleets are separated they put into practice what they learned in the seeding races.

The idea for this regatta started with RC Laser class secretary Nick Mortgu, asking the Sun Coast Commodore Jack Ward if there were any open days on their pond when some Snowbirds from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the Jersey Boys could tune up before the Mid-Winter Championship on Marco Island. With the support of Dave Brawner, who has been Race Director for the past three years, and the super regatta team from Sun Coast Model sailing club this is now part of the “Snowbird Southern Circuit” and has grown to a 30 boat event. Thank you DB and Sun Coast team of, Paul Newfield, Howard Means, Eric Miller, Joe Hitchings, Jeff Hawley, Frank Richards, Paul Brewer, Gib Loesel, and Art Hawes! A special thanks to Beth Lippincott who handles the registration, gifts, and food for the event.

Gold Fleet Race winners: Jim Kaighin 4, Nick Mortgu 2, Alan Perkins 2, Janice Anderson 1, Al Dion 1, Jim Karr 1

Silver Fleet Race winners: Larry Lefczik 2, Jack Ward 2,

Gold Fleet
Place	Sail Number	Skipper	Points
1	75	Jim Kaighin	16
2	14	Alan Perkins	18
3	93	Dave Branning	23
4	30	Al Dion	34
5	68	Janice Anderson	35
6	79	Bill Ewing	36
7	00	Nick Mortgu	40
8	41	Jim Karr	47
9	21	Frank Vella	47
10	91	Frank Steffens	48
11	732	Hank Buchanan	49
12	33	Richard Flach	52
13	01	Doug Hawksworth	60
14	218	Theresa Rae Gay	66

Silver Fleet
Place	Sail Number	Skipper	Points
1	123	Larry Lefczik	30
2	4035	David Horthrop	31
3	148	Jack Ward	32
4	94	William Bentz	32
5	95	Steve Lippincott	38
6	12	David Martens	41
7	43	David Shaw	45
8	112	Jim DeSeno	50
9	80	Len Redon	54
10	02	Joan Lefczik	55
11	28	Ray Szulczewski	56
12	99	Roger Baldwin	58
13	1015	Bill Coppage	59