Sunfish start a race at TTL on Sunday, February 27th. Photo by Clay Poulson.
By Clay Poulson, Portsmouth Fleet Captain
Everyone in the club needs to give a big round of applause to Dale Zobel and Mike Parker. These two stepped up, showed up, and made TTL racing happen this last Sunday.
What almost showed some real promise turned into another day of crafty light wind sailing.
The Lasers arrived with a smaller than normal fleet as several were away representing the AYC elsewhere. The biggest adjustment might be that a few guys moved up in the standings. Rob Gibbs took advantage, winning two tight races. Mike Bernard scored a bullet and second place finish, and Chuck Norris had the other duce. Then, amazingly, the Lasers called it a day after just 3 races! Conditions had lightened by that time.
Next up was the colorful Sunfish fleet. What fun racing this group is having and they seemed to have had a great day on the water. Doug Sycamore won the first race, and Jen Lee took the second race. The last leg of the third race turned very light for the final run to the finish line, with Jen Lee, Tim Mitchell, and Randy Aldophs neck-and-neck, all leaning hard in a light tailwind. Committee was working hard somewhere for a second, and when we looked back, one of them was upside down!!! Barely moving, working it hard, you lose your balance for a second, and PLOP! Randy went for a swim! … and Jen claimed the final race.
Four C-14s showed up to do battle on this mighty Sunday. The Red boat of Dick Krebill was the fastest on this particular race day, winning the first context. George Tingom rebounded to claim top honors in the second race, with Dick right behind him in second place. Then the Red boat was the only one able to keep moving enough to finish the 3rd light wind affair.
Finally, the absolute best battles of the day were in the Junior class. The big kids – Colin Gibbs and Myles Danner – match raced all day on their Radials. The first race literally had three of four lead changes in the last 100 yards with Danner getting on top in the last few seconds, winning by a quarter boat length. Gibbs came back and won the second race. Another interesting battle played out on the Optis. Very impressive sailing by Avery Danner gave her two wins, with Charlie Carter fighting hard from behind.
Overall, it was a nice Sunday on TTL … even if it was a bit light.
Other photos of the day (credit: Clay Poulson):
