Colorado Fleet 4 - the official thread

[Mark Allen]

I hope all of you are doing well and have started to think about pulling the covers off your boats and knocking the dust off the sails. The sailing season is rapidly approching and the warm weather has made me think about getting back on the water. With the mild winter (watch me jinx it) we have an opportunity to really get a jump on the season. The first regatta is the Pueblo Spring Regatta April 16, 17. Attached are the SI's and registration. Talking to the commodore there are plenty of camping options for this regatta as well as local hotels.
 

Soon after the Pueblo regatta starts the most grueling part of our schedule and possibly the most fun. We have 4 regatta's planned in 6 weeks. I know that means a lot of traveling but this group has never been afraid of hitting the road. Kicking off this stretch will be the Chatfield Leukemia Cup at Chatfield reservoir May 14th and 15th. Registration here ; http://rmt.regatta.llsevent.org/  . This race is a short drive from our mostly home waters of Cherry Creek and an easy regatta  to attend. Again plenty of camping available and slips for the boats.

I hope you would choose one or both of these regatta's as a tune up for Rocky Mountain Shootout! the following weekend at Cherry Creek reservoir May 21,22.  The Shootout is special this year as it will also serve as the Area F qualifier for the Mallory Cup. The Mallory Cup is the US Sailing Men's Championship trophy. The Finals will be held at Lake Norman in North Carolina this fall Oct 6-9th. The winner of the Shootout/Mallory qualifier will be eligible to sail in the following rounds culminating in the finals in October. Great exposure for DSA and the Ultimate 20. I will have more on this event later.

Two weeks after the shootout will be the Carter Open June 4th, 5th at Carter Lake and two weeks after that the ever popular Wyoming Governors Cup on June 18th, 19th.

I have listed all the events on the U20 class website; http://www.u20class.org/  under;  racing/regatta schedules with links to all the events websites.

We have a full schedule for the next 3 months. I hope you all can make as many events as possible and we can continue to promote the U20 and grow our fleet.

Cheers!

Mark Allen
Colorado Fleet 4 Captain.

[Mark Allen]

If last weekends weather is any indication of what we have in store then sailing must be on your mind. I hope all of you are considering attending the first stop on our traveling regatta circut the Pueblo Finally Spring Regatta. I spoke to David Joyal and he will run windward leeward courses. We need to kick off our season on the right foot. We only need 4 boats to fleet. Who's in?
 

[Mark Allen]

The next regatta up on the Colorado schedule will be the Leukemia Cup regatta at Chatfield res. 5/14,15. The NOR is attached. The is no late fee for this regatta so if the sun is shining bring your boat down and have some fun and support a great cause! I have replies from the following;

#26 JUNTA
#126 Underdog
#19 Juiced

anyone else?

[Mark Allen]

The deadline for late fees for the Rocky Mountain Shootout and Area F qualifier for the Mallory Cup is May 6. All the details to register for the event is here; www.denversailing.org.

If you are competing for the Mallory Cup you and your entire crew MUST be members of the host club AND US Sailing. Please read the NOR and conditions for eligibility.

[Mark Allen]

Looks like we will have 4 boats for the Leukemia Cup. We could get 70 degrees we could get snow. Gotta love CO in the spring! We have:

#26 JUNTA
#126 Underdog
#19 Juiced
#63 Redbeard

results to follow

[Mark Allen]

We had 3 boats that decided to brave the elements and support a good cause at the Leukemia cup at Chatfield reservoir. Saturday saw very light conditions as we started the day under postponement. We waited for the wind to fill in along with the cold. The first race was a very short up and down and the second race was a frustrating game of connect the small puffs while getting rained on. Quarter mile leads were gained and vanished without much rhyme or reason. I was able to win the first race and Jim Ulatowski won the second. The second day we expected to be shoveling snow off our boats however the moisture stayed away and we were able to get 3 races in 5-7 knots. All three boats traded the lead during the day with Brad Lawson on Redbeard showing good speed. I was able to pull out a win in the first two races of the day and Team Juiced took the final race. In spite of the 41 degree temperatures it was a fun regatta and great to see friends and get out on the water. Next up is the Rocky Mountain shootout and Area F qualifier for the Mallory Cup.

Boat
                      R1  R2  R3  R4  R5  Total
Junta #26         1    2    1   1    2     7
Jiuced #19        2    1    2   2    1     8
Redbeard #63    3    3    3   3    3     15

Mark Allen

[Mark Allen]

We are now half way through our schedule and about to enter the road trip portion. Just to catch everyone up we had the Rocky mountain shootout with 5 boats competing. It was a hard fought regatta between Underdog and Junta battling it out neck and neck with the scores all tied going into the last race. Junta was able to hold off the hard charging Underdog in a dying breeze to win the regatta and advance on in the Mallory Cup. Next up was the Carter Open June 4,5 with 4 boats. We had 2 great days of sailing with some interesting courses (the RC was never able to set a square line and the finsh pin kept floating away) and were able to get in 7 races. Junta with guest crew Marty May on board was able to sweep the regatta. 2 week later at the Wyoming Gov cup, lucky charm Marty May was guest crew on Juiced and once again was able to sweep the regatta for a first.

Next up is fleet favorite regatta the Aspen Open. A Huntingtonesque venue with a great banquet and party always makes for a fun regatta, we are expecting 7 boats. 2 weeks later will be the Dillon Open and 2 weeks after that will be the NA's in Holland. 3 Colorado boats are registered to attend.
Attached are the fleet scores YTD using the Chips's high point system.

[Mark Allen]

7 boats attended the 42nd Aspen Open. Once again the Aspen Yacht Club put on a great event. Where else can everyone camp for free right next to the club and no ones cell phone works. All that was missing was the Goombay Smash's. We had to make due with plenty of rum and beer. Needless to say much fun was had by all. Saturday brought light to moderate winds that were very puffy and shifty. This lake will punish anyone that is out of phase or out of the pressure. The RC started us with 8 J22's so we had a crowded start line of 15 boats. Good practice for the NA's. My crew kept us in phase all day and we were tied in first with team Juiced at the end of the day with Team Redline 2 points back after 4 races. After a wild Saturday night my team was not performing at its peak and promptly sailed out of phase all day. The first race Saturday saw Team Jiuced grab an excellent pin end start and lead the fleet around the course the whole way showing excellent upwind speed. We were passed by Team Redline right at the finish to set up a winner take all final race. We sailed the longest race of the weekend in dying breeze, but with no time limit the teams had to stay focused. Team Redline and Team Jiuced were way out in front playing the right when the wind shut off completely. My team and Underdog took the left side of the course and sailed from last to second in the only breeze. Team Reline was able to get around the bottom mark and sailed away for the win. Team Juiced finally made the leward mark dead last but was able to claw their way back to 5th and second overall for the regatta. After fouling another boat at the last leward mark we finished the race 4th and third overall.

I hope Aspen is on everyones list for next year as it provides some great tactical sailing in one of the most beautiful venues around.
Congrats to Marty and Jim.