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A light wind shot for the final day of the TTL fall series 2018. Photo: Sarah Sheller

And it finished with a mixture of wind and some very close racing.

Here are the results of the final week and the fall series.

Scott Sharples edged out Joel Hurley by one point to win the closely-fought Laser fleet. The Laser fleet was stronger than ever this fall, with some 19 boats registered and perhaps a dozen racing each Sunday, bringing contests up and down the entry list. Paul Miachika finished third.

Dave Haggart continued to dominate the 14.2 fleet, but Mike Ferring finished the series strongly, edging John Mayall by just two points for second place.

Colin Gibbs won the Junior fleet and Cindy Pillote took the Portsmouth fleet.

George Sheller carried some extra crew on the fall series final day: granddaughter Erika Sheller. Photo: Sarah Sheller

There was an excellent turnout of Lasers Sunday (11/25) at Tempe Town Lake, but little wind to move them around. The victory went to the one who could manage to be in the puffs or who could roll tack without, ahem, breaking any rules.

Here are the results.

A drone view of the Laser pack slowly moving to the mark. This could be a rule 18 lesson shot. Photo: Mike Ferring

Reaching and gasping for air downwind. Photo: Mike Ferring

A different point of view. Overhead of Cindy Pillote and Ron Simzyk at the dock. Photo: Mike Ferring

David Newland’s beginning to get the hang of this Laser thing. Photo: Mike Ferring

Scott Sharples eyes the finish line and waits for breeze. Photo: Mike Ferring

Good day to be on race committee. The 14.2 team on a comfortable, sunny day with little wind. Photo: Mike Ferring

One-man band Clay Poulson stretches to set the pole while not letting go of the tiller. Photo: Mike Ferring

Will Zornik in the Laser mix. Photo: Mike Ferring

Almost as big as he is: In 2017, Martin Lorch hefted the Governor’s Cup, flanked by crew James Morphis and Katie Yearly. At right: 2017 Event Organizer Tom Errickson. Photo: Mike Ferring

This one’s for the BIG prize. This one’s for the Governor’s Cup. And, okay, this one’s really mostly for fun.

The Governor’s Cup regatta will be Saturday, December 1, with all boats starting at 9:30 am from a start line at the south end of Lake Pleasant. Finishing times will be adjusted for PHRF handicap and the winning skipper will walk off with that big trophy.

Entries are now closed. Here’s the list of entries.

Here’s the link to the the race documents.

After starting in the south of the lake, boats will round drop marks on the north sides of Horse and Balance Rock Islands, then round another drop mark on the south near Bobcat Island (no rounding of the island this time), and finish outside Jackass Cove.

A post-race raft-up party will happen in Jackass Cove. Bring fenders. AYC will provide some appetizers.

Just to add to the giggles, there’s a handicap adjustment for any boat with a child under 12 onboard, a boat flying an AYC burgee, a boat towing a floaty-something that would hold a person, and a boat with a pet onboard. Just to be clear: The pet must be living. If you have them all, you’ll get a six-second handicap adjustment.

The start of the 2016 Governor’s Cup race. Photo: Michele Korszeniewski

Make it three race weekends in a row of nice temperatures and good wind at Lake Pleasant.

Saturday (11/3) was delightful, with good breeze most of the day; Sunday (11/4) started with white caps and petered out to glass, but only as the final race of the day ended. The battle in the Santana 20 fleet continues to be the contest to watch, with Santana 20 newcomer Joel Hurley taking it to perennial champ Martin Lorch. So far, Joel is coming out ahead, but the scores are close.

The PHRF Spin fleet was the host race committee.

Scores here.

Yes, it’s that close. Left to right: Martin Lorch, Mike Parker, Joel Hurley. Photo: Charles Landis

Mike Hester’s Viper 640 steps out in front. As usual. Photo: Charles Landis

After Mike Ferring tries to port tack the fleet on a start, he tacks to starboard with just enough space to slip between Tony Chapman and the RC boat. Photo: Charles Landis

Cindy Pillote won the 2018 Ruth Beals Cup that included five boats piloted by kids from the Foundation for Blind Children and entered by Tiller & Kites. Here’s a first-person account of the race from the perspective of Mike Ferring, the main-sheet trimmer on Melissa Kay.

The wind turned light as we approached the start line for the 2018 Ruth Beals Cup, on port and with about a minute to go. You’ve been there, right? Creeping to the line, but this time close enough just to keep moving. To our left, Cindy Pillote at the helm of Bob Worrall’s Catalina 22 Spirit.

“We could take her up,” I say to Maryellen, who’s driving our J/70. “No,” she says. Women are nicer than men, she says. And so we tack off the line instead of trying to sail past Cindy. The wind to the left looks better anyway.

By the time we get to Horse Island, our first rounding mark, we have a half mile lead on the fleet. You can guess what happens next. Our wind stops. The wind line from the south brings everybody to us, led by Morgan Marquis with Victor Felice on an Andrews 26. Victor’s Tiller & Kites has entered five boats in the Ruth Beals Cup, sponsored by the Foundation for Blind Children and carrying visually impaired kids they’ve been working with to learn to sail.

The wind sputters and pops as we round Horse and then Balance Rock. We’re barely moving. We’d sailed upwind to the islands from the south part of the lake and now the wind was shifting and we’d be sailing upwind to Bobcat. Our spinnaker stays in the bag while most of the boats behind us entered as non-spin and gained a PHRF bump because of it.

Finally staring at Bobcat, we see nothing but hazard buoys all the way to shore. Time to get brave. We pick out two likely suspects and sail through them. Nothing crunches. Aboard the Olson 25 Stargazer, Brianna Voron and Sean Brown and maybe others later decide not to risk it and retire.

We ease past Bobcat and finally raise the spin, still barely turning 3-4 knots as the wind offers a last gasp for the day. It’s enough to begin to open the gap with Morgan and the Andrews and put us over the finish first. Line honors. Maryellen has sailed well and she’s delighted.

We pop some beers and lean back to relax after just under three hours of racing. Here comes Morgan. Then Cindy. The C22 is rated at 270 and the J/70 at 114. She’s been sailing nicely and wasn’t that far behind us rounding Balance Rock. Some 44 minutes after our finish Cindy and Bob cross the line. And correct over us for first place. We’re second. Morgan is third and Jessica Rawlings fourth. We’re still pleased with our day and happy for Cindy. I email Scorekeeper Dave Christensen, who did the scoring from Dallas. How much did she get us by? Less than three minutes, he says.

Now to the Scorpion Bay restaurant for the post-race lies.

Cindy Pillote approaches the start of the Ruth Beals Cup 2018 with Bob Worrall peeking around the headsail. Photo: Mike Ferring

The wind returned for our third weekend of the Lake Pleasant fall race series. Excellent conditions for the sailors, but challenging for the race committee. It was warm and windy but very shifty, especially on Sunday when the race course kept moving and kept the committee and PRO Bob Worrall busy trying to anticipate the shifts.

The scores for week 3 of racing at Lake Pleasant are posted on the results page, or by clicking here.

One of the most entertaining contests puts seven-time club champion Martin Lorch up against Joel Hurley in the Santana 20 fleet. Both are excellent sailors and after the weekend, Martin was ahead in the series 32-34 before throw-outs. Joel and crew Grant Younger are new to the boat and are still figuring it out: witness the Saturday calamity, “skying” the main halyard when the knot didn’t hold.

Laser champion Joel Hurley joined the Santana 20 fleet this fall, giving perennial winner Martin Lorch some tight competition. Here Martin stays just ahead of Joel downwind. This photo by David Newland was taken on weekend two.

Look familiar? This photo by David Newland was taken on weekend three.

Scott Sharples upwind. Photo: Mike Ferring

The rain stopped, the sky cleared, the air turned crisp. Nice day on Tempe Town Lake.

The Laser turnout this fall has been spectacular, with lots of new racers joining the fleet, many in adopt-a-boats. As a result, there’s the experienced bunch at the head of the group and the less experience group fighting their own entertaining race farther back. Fun.

Sunday (10/14) was that kind of day, with the C14 fleet on race committee, with the Juniors sailing a shorter course, and the Opti classes adding to the entertainment of sails on Tempe Town Lake.

Here are the day’s results.

Here are some shots from me, Mike Ferring:

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Amazing lighting on Tempe Town Lake. Photo: Mike Ferring

The all-woman Ruth Beals Cup Regatta will return to Lake Pleasant on Saturday, October 27, with the starting gun at 9:30 am. It’s for women at the helm in run-what-you-brung boats rated by PHRF handicap.

Race documents here. Registration is closed.

The race is named for the founder of AYC, Ruth Beals, and offers a chance for the women of the club to compete against other women. Men are allowed to crew, but not to get too close to the tiller.

There will be a single long-distance race, following the familiar course from a start/finish in the south portion of the lake, around Horse and Balance Rock and No-Name island (also called Bobcat), back to a finish line in mid-lake. It’s more or less the same course we’ve used for the Governor’s Cup and the Tall Cactus Regatta.

After the racing, there will be a gathering at Scorpion Bay’s restaurant deck with AYC-offered nibbles and cash bar.

Ellen Wesley is the defending champion, teaming up with Victor Felice in a J/24 to win in light air one year ago. Maryellen Ferring finished second in her J/80 and Ryane Griffis was third in an Etchells.

This year, Victor has entered five (yup, five) boats that will include crew from the Foundation for Blind Children.

Ellen Wesley won the Ruth Beals Cup despite the two characters flanking her.