5 U20 skippers attended at Huntington Lake in the beautiful Sierra Mountains above Fresno. Initially treated to some monsoonal rain conditions on the day of arrival, we had beautiful conditions the rest of the weekend with primarily medium breeze. Unfortunately, Chris was unable to join to do an emergent family issue. Bob was on week two of High Sierra Regatta Chairman duty and it caught up to him on Saturday as he had to perform some RC duties. That left Peabody (Donna), Wasabi (Ben), Madison (Jay) and 222 (Travis) to battle it out after day one. It was very competitive sailing among the remaining four boats. Frequent lead changes and different boats winning each race.
The final race of the series decided the winner. 222 was out by 3 points due to a poor showing in the first race Sunday. We needed a win and someone to squeeze in between us and Peabody. Running down the final leg, 222 was in the lead with Peabody half a boat length behind. Madison and Wasabi were in the hunt. An overly aggressive roll tack initiated by yours truly through 222 into a broach. Peabody’s crew grabbed the inside overlap advantage. As we rounded the final mark, 222 finally got a clean rounding. Peabody had spinnaker trouble. Once cleared, it was 222, Peabody, Madison and Wasabi. The final upwind leg was a short one with little chance to pass. 222 covered Peabody and Madison went left searching for more pressure. As we tacked back onto Starboard, Peabody discovered a fowled Jib sheet and had to recover. 222 crossed the line in first and for at time it looked like Peabody had the regatta in the bag. Somehow Madison gained enough on the left to finish a ¼ of a boat length in front of Peabody. Final scores left 222 and Peabody tied with the win going to the last race. What a competitive regatta! Right down to the wire!!!!
Ultimately Team Peabody sailed a superior High Sierra Regatta with consistent wins landing them a 1st Place for the High Sierra Regatta. 222 Lucked out with a 1st Place for the PCC’s thanks to a miracle in the last race and a good showing on day one (We raced Friday outside of the High Sierra Regatta).
A tremendous venue and as usual it was a blast hanging out with other U20 owners. Bob through a great BBQ on Friday night and hooked up all of the campers with access to a hot shower facility for the weekend. Thanks Bob for your great work organizing the regatta!
Wish more of you could have joined and I’ll bet you are reading this wishing you had of joined too! See you next year!
