RS Aeros at Wurstfest Regatta - Overall report

by Ash Beatty and Hank Saurage on 23 Nov 2016 Great to see 13 RS Aeros out joining the established classes at the Wurstfest Regatta at Canyon Lake, Texas, USA. Unfortunately whilst Texas had all the heat all the wind (and perhaps too much) was in the UK that weekend at the UK’s RS Classes End of Seasons event.

Many new faces are having a good time experiencing the RS Aero in Texas and looking to join the fleet. KO Sailing brought the USA’s 8 RS Aero demo trailer along which was a sellout well before the event.

On Saturday a light east wind dropped to a drifter by race three. The fleet was bunched up from the top of the windward leg and downwind to the finish. The 7's drifted better than the 9's, taking the first three spots after ratings. On Sunday all racing was abandoned due to no wind and increasing thunder and lightning. Four races were completed to produce a no drop results sheet with USA Portsmouth ratings implemented to match the seven and nine rigs used.

Congratulations to Hank for winning the first RS Aero Class at Wurstfest. The competition up and down the fleet was close. Interesting to note that the heavier sailors (220lbs and 290lbs) were still competitive.

From the impetus at this event and the thirst for more breeze one more Texas RS Aero event has now been set up for later this year. As a final fling of the season KO Sailing and Conroe YC are hosting an informal RS Aero regatta at Lake Conroe, north of Houston, on December 10/11th.

The 2017 season will start back at Conroe YC again with the inaugural Texas State RS Aero Champs in April and end again at Wurstfest in November. Additional regattas will be at Rush Creek YC, Seabrook SC and Houston YC. With enough support additional regattas at Lake Canyon YC or maybe Austin YC can be scheduled.

Keep in touch with the increasing North American RS Aero activity via the North American Facebook Group and the Class website’s North American events page.

Results:

Rank	Sail	Skipper	Club	Class	Rating	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	1626	Hank Saurage	Pelican YC	RS Aero 9	87.56	1	1	6	1	9
2	1	Jamie Gilman	LYC	RS Aero 7	90.8	2	4	2	4	12
3	1621	Jeff Jones		RS Aero 9	87.56	3	2	4	3	12
4	1625	Ash Beatty6	MISA	RS Aero 9	87.56	6	3	5	2	16
5	1622	Steve Flunker	Fort Worth BC	RS Aero 7	90.8	4	7	1	9	21
6	6	Joe Sircely	GDI	RS Aero 9	87.56	7	5	9	6	27
7	1766	Mike Lindstrom	Conroe YC	RS Aero 9	87.56	5	11	7	5	28
8	5	Derek McKesson	Texas CC	RS Aero 7	90.8	10	8	3	8	29
9	9	Steve LeMay	HIYC	RS Aero 9	87.56	8	6	8	7	29
10	1623	Mike Mashl	SAYC	RS Aero 9	87.56	9	10	12	11	42
11	45	Larry Sowle	Lake Canyon YC	RS Aero 9	87.56	11	9	11	12	43
12	78	David Gilliland	Rush Creek YC	RS Aero 9	87.56	12	12	10	10	44
13	88	Dion Alaniz	Texas CC	RS Aero 9	87.56	13	13	13	14	53