February 18, 2007
Fleet Captain’s Notes:
Awards Dinner.
Fleet V’s Annual Awards
dinner took place on February 16, 2007 at Long Beach Yacht Club. The turnout was overwhelming, perhaps the
biggest turnout we’ve ever had at this event.
LBYC staff had to bring in another table to accommodate the overflow
crowd. Virtually every boat owner was present along with crew and family. To my knowledge no other fleet in Southern
California has a yearly event of this type.
Invited guests consisted of Don and Janet Warner (Race Management
Chairman and Fleet Championship PRO), and Mary Beth Ives (Race Committee). Unfortunately Waterfront Director Alex Uniak
couldn’t make it because of illness.
All present were treated to a first class dinner put on by the excellent
staff of LBYC. They outdid themselves
this year with the fare consisting of salad, three entrees and dessert. If you missed it then you have only yourself
to blame.
The awards given out
consisted of the following:
Midwinter Regatta:
1st Place Dennis Riggs “Rascal”
2nd Place Art/Scott
Melendres “One Time”
National Championship: 1st Place Steve/ Jane Horst “Jane’s Addition”
3rd Place Art/Scott
Melendres “One Time”
Wet Wednesday Champion: 1st Place Art/Scott Melendres “One Time”
(Judy Johnson Perpetual
Trophy) 2nd Place Steve/Jane Horst “Jane’s Addiction”
3rd Place Brad
Willingham “Discovery”
Fleet Championship Trophy: 1st Place Art/Scott Melendres “One Time”
(Dennis Riggs Perpetual
Trophy) 2nd Place Steve/Jane Horst “ Jane’s Addiction”
3rd Place Brad
Willingham “Discovery”
Long Beach Race Week 1st Place Art/Scott Melendres “One Time”
(Carl Kendrich Perpetual
Trophy) 2nd Place Steve/Jane Horst “Jane’s Addiction”
3rd Place Brad
Willingham ”Discovery”
Catalina Cup:
Windward:
1st
Place Art/Scott Melendres “One Time”
2nd Place Mike
Newey ”Quiet Woman”
3rd Place Dennis
Diem “Manana-Iguana
Leeward
1st
Place Art /Scott Melendres “One Time”
2nd Place Dennis
Diem “Manana-Iguana
3rd Place Mike
Newey “Quiet Woman”
High Point Championship 1st Place Art/Scott Melendres “One Time”
(Kelly Ward Perpetual
Trophy) 2nd Place Steve/Jane Horst “Jane’s Addiction”
3rd Place Brad
Willingham “Discovery”
Special Awards were given
out to Mike Newey (Quiet Woman) for Newcomer of the Year and to Dennis Diem for
Loyalty and Dedication to the Fleet.
Stan Lintner received an award for his longstanding loyalty and
dedication to the Fleet. Stan retired
this year from actively racing his boat.
Good luck Stan and “Thanks for the Memories”.
A special presentation was
given to Judy Johnson by way of a brand new perpetual trophy bearing her name
and recognizing the Wet Wednesday champion.
The final special
presentation took place honoring much-loved Fleet V member Dennis Riggs who
left us recently due to a fatal traffic accident. We’ll all miss him. However, he will remain in our memory due to
the Fleet Championship Trophy being named in his honor.
Midwinter Regatta.
The morning following the
Awards Dinner saw four racers prepping their boats and crew so as to compete in
the annual MidWinters Regatta-the biggest Regatta in the United States. The competing boats consisted of One Time,
Quiet Woman, Manana Iguana and the newly restored and absolutely beautiful
Tiburon. Tiburon bears Hull #2 and it
looks like it just rolled off the assembly line yesterday. (We’ll be doing a special presentation on
this restoration project in a few months.)
Saturday’s two races saw the competitors starting off in strong winds
flowing off shore. Everything was
backwards from the norm. Normal upwind
legs became spinnaker runs whereas normal spinnaker runs were now upwind legs. I had a headache. The winds stayed reasonably brisk for most of the day and then
did a complete 180-degree turn just prior to day’s end. Bigger headache. At days end One Time had two bullets, followed closely by Quiet
Woman, Manana Iguana and Tiburon.
Sunday’s single race was
entirely different. The winds were now
directly out of the South, in the 20 knot range and cold. Seal Beach Yacht Club sent us on a lengthy
two-lap course. One Time got a lousy
start but managed to beat everyone to the weather mark. Quiet Woman, Manana and Tiburon were engaged
in a close duel. The second lap was a
bit anti-climactic as only One Time went through the start-finish line as
required by the rules. Tiburon made up
for not going through the start-finish line by going through the Finish Line
three different times at the end. They
finally got the hint to leave the course when the race committee pointed the
finishing gun at them. The Tiburon crew
took it in good humor and now has a great story to tell. All in all it was a great regatta. For the most part it was racing in tee
shirts and shorts. Who else can say
that but us Southern Californians?
Manana Iguana on a run down the break water
Fleet V relaxing after the last race at Seal Beach Yacht Club
Three dates to remember:
March 11th Spring Invitational Race –LBYC
April 25th Rules Seminar at LBYC
May 2nd, Wet Wednesdays start