Huntington Lake is known as a great sailing location, and it didn’t disappoint at the annual High Sierra Regatta in 2012.
The water is crystal clear, and at 7,000' elevation, so is the air. What really makes Huntington special is the breeze, which turns on every Summer morning about 10am. You can sail a U20 in a tee shirt and shorts, with just enough pressure and, short-tacking up the South Shore in a fleet of sportboats, just enough drama and excitement. The U20 class was down in terms of numbers this year for our Pacific Coast Championship, but not in the level of competition, drawing boats from Oregon, Nevada, Northern and Southern California. Bob Comstock, the High Sierra Regatta winner in 2010 and 2011 was at work in Singapore, so the battle royal for the Pacific Coast Championship went on without Ultimate Antics.
We also missed the presence of several active boats from the Bay Area. To the folks on Uhoo, UAgain, Too Tuff and Salsa, all I can say is that you missed the Sierras (and the famous Huntington breeze) at its absolute best. We’re looking forward to the whole fleet getting together for the San Francisco NOOD Regatta and the Great Pumpkin. Times are tough, and money is tight for many folks.
Phil and Denise onboard U-Decide sailed really well in all three races. Phil grabbed great starts in each race, and played the role of the “rabbit” to perfection. The team on Layla felt that this was the best sailing ever for U-Decide. Although Layla finally pulled ahead in both Saturday races (forty years experience on Huntington is a lot!) U-Decide managed to sail past Toon Town twice. Michael Eisenberg is an excellent sailor, and the defending Pacific Coast Champion.
Sunday’s race looked like a runaway win for U-Decide, up until the last minute, when Phil got tangled up with a couple of Victory keelboats on the final approach to the finish line. Onboard Layla, this was a case of being lucky, not better. Toon Town continued their rash of equipment problems, with a broken tiller that took the LA team out of Sunday’s race.
Steve and Rachel on Viola continue to improve, with a solid third place finish, and were sporting a new mainsail from Doyle Boston (Layla unrolled a new Glaser main for the first time, now to be put in the garage until the 2013 North Americans in Santa Cruz). Jay Harland and Team Madison made the long trek from Medford. They’ve put a lot of work into improving the boat and its rigging.Tee shirt sailing with perfect breeze, crystal water and high-octane competition; the 2012 High Sierra Regatta had it all!
Pictures:
Team Layla: Michele Logan, Tom Burden, Ann Levine
Team U-Decide: “Aussie” Jeremy, Denise Hammond, Phil Kanegsberg