A turkey for Germany, a double helping for Glasers

by Rich Roberts on 24 Nov 2008 Michael Zittlau of Germany had never sailed in the USA but probably never celebrated Thanksgiving in his homeland, either, so he's glad he sailed in Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's annual Turkey Day Regatta, anyway.

But when his peers back home asked what kind of trophy he collected, they may be puzzled when he tells them: 'A turkey.'

Zittlau, 20, of Ueberlingen, outsailed 29 other Laser full-rigs in conditions far less than ideal, with dense fog Saturday and winds so light Sunday that photography looked more like oil paintings.

'I like strong winds,' Zittlau, 20, said after suffering with his peers.

Nevertheless, he figured out that the key to success when the zephyrs dip to two-three knots and swing left and right by up to 60 degrees that 'the most important thing is to keep the boat moving. When the wind is so light and shifting like that you have to look ahead to where the water is stirring to know where to go.'

Zittlau came over to visit a cousin in San Diego and hooked up with Andrew Campbell, the U.S. Olympic Laser coach who arranged for him to borrow a boat from the San Diego Yacht Club. He has been sailing a Laser five years and won the Europe Cup for the class earlier this year, lifting his hopes for representing Germany in the Olympics in England in 2012.

'I'm trying to get there,' he said. 'I'm in a youth group in Germany and am sailing as much as I can.'

Zittlau was one of three foreign competitors in a turnout of 319 boats in 19 classes, which is believed to be a record for the event launched in 1948.

Other winners were the husband-wife team of Jay and Pease (pee-zee) Glaser, who probably wouldn't trade their Olympic silver medals for the turkeys they won for winning the A-Cat and Formula 18 classes, respectively.

So who will do the cooking?

'Pease will,' Jay offered.

The little wind that did come through Sunday died to a 0.0-knot reading in mid-afternoon and prevented all of the ocean class boats on two outside courses to sail only two to five of their scheduled six races. The Lido 14s and Naples Sabots managed to do all six after putting an extra fourth race in the bank on Saturday.

Class leaders

Alpha course

29ER (8 boats)---Max Fraser/David Lienberg, San Francisco, 1-1, 2 points.

A-CAT (9)---Jay Glaser, ABYC, 1-2-1, 3.

FORMULA 18 (5)---Pease Glaser/Damon LaCasella, ABYC, 1-1-2, 4.

HOBIE 16 (8)---John Hauser/Linda Hauser, Huntington Beach, 3-1, 4.

INTERNATIONAL 14 (11)---Paul Galvez/Guillermo Leon de la Barra, ABYC, 1-1, 2.

OLSON 30 (7)---Allan Rosenberg, ABYC, 2-1, 3.

Bravo course

Cal 20 (11)---Patty Nash, ABYC, 2-2-6, 10.

LASER FULL (30)---Michael Zittlau, Germany, 4-2-7-2, 15.

LASER RADIAL (65)---Chris Barnard, NHYC, 1-1, 2.

MERCURY 18 (13)---Chris Raab/Kenny Dair, ABYC/NHYC, (3)-1-1-2-1, 5.

CORONADO 15 (4)---Vincent Paternoster/Pat Soria, Marina Sailing, 2-1, 3.

FINN (12)---Conrad Brown, California YC, 2-(3)-1-2-1, 6.

Bay course

NAPLES SABOT A (25)---Connor Kelter, NHYC, 3-3-(6)-1-2-3, 12.

SABOT B (25)---Steven Hopkins, ABYC, (5)-2-1-1-3-2, 9.

SABOT C-1 (16)---Richard Bell, ABYC, 3-1-(4)-1-2-2, 9.

SABOT C-2 (17)---Ryan Ratliffe, Mission Bay YC, 7-(12)-1-2-1-7, 18.

SABOT C-3 (23)---Max Brill, Mission Bay YC, 3-2-4-1-1-(10), 11.

LIDO 14-A (12)---Whit Batchelor/Erin Robertson, San Diego YC, 2-1-8-1-(11)-1, 13.

LIDO 14-B (16)---Dave Smith/Jeanne Smith, ABYC, 2-2-
(7)-2-5-1, 12.

Full results at http://www.abyc.org/