By Joanne Aspinall
Inspired by the triathletes who swam in the waters that morning and could still be seen running along the shores, 24 boats crewed by sailing athletes took to the waters of TTL on Sunday afternoon, October 22. The weather gods were not kind to either group or their spectators (or race committees), as the temps climbed into the high 90s, well above average for late October. And even though it is slightly cooler on the water, the racing was hot!
The Portsmouth fleet was a family affair with father/daughter combos on the Scheletsky and Danner boats (with Avery fresh off her Ruth Beal’s Cup debut!) and a brother/sister combo from ASU, Evangeline and Sebastian Clarke. Joel/Rachel, and Devon Howe rounded out the fleet, which finished two races.
The Sunfish fleet had ten boats on the line for two races, with Jen Lee and Jeff Bryant sharing bragging rights with one win each. The Lasers finished two very close races – the first one being a photo finish with Rob Gibbs edging out Paul Miachika and the second one seeing Paul leading a group of four boats, all finishing within 20 seconds of each other. The Lasers then stuck around a bit and learned that yelling awakens the wind gods – the wind grew just enough for the fleet to finish two more shortened courses, with Paul and Rob each getting another win.
A warm thank you to the Capri 14.2 fleet on race committee duty – Ron and Lynn on the mark set boat, Dick Krebill, Joanne Aspinall, and Will & Heidi Zornik (another father/daughter combo!).
After racing, gallons of water and other beverages were consumed at nearby Hundred Mile Brewing Company, with cheers for surviving another hot one and prayers to the gods for a cooling trend for next weekend!
View all the great photos taken by Ron and Lynn Simzyk, and Jen Weber.
Feature photo and pics below: Jen Weber
