ABYC Turkey Day Regatta day 2 wrap-up

by Rich Roberts on 22 Nov 2010 ABYC Turkey Day Regatta - A brisk westerly breeze chased the rain out of town, chilled sailors to the bone and knocked down some of their boats, but it all made Sunday special for those who like their on the extreme side.

'I had a blast,' Jimmy Madigan from Newport Harbor YC exulted after winning the Naples Sabot A championship in the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club's annual Turkey Day Regatta in a two-boat battle with Jack Ryan of San Diego.

Between them, the two 14-year-olds won five of their class's six races and seemed ready for more, while some of their shivering peers suffered disabling breakdowns or chose to check out early, concluding that there are too many nice days to sail in Southern California without punishing yourself for the pleasure.

Altogether there were about 350 sailors of all ages on 228 boats in 19 classes.

The air temperature was 60 degrees F., made mean by the breeze. On the outside courses inside the breakwater the wind from due west registered between 18 and 22 knots through the afternoon.

It was 15 knots inside the surrounding residential protection of Alamitos Bay, but the race committee considered that too heavy a challenge for the less seasoned youngsters in the three C-rated Sabot classes, who were sent back in for the day.

'It was nice having the course to ourselves,' Ryan said. 'I really like it windy.'

Madigan overcame a broken boom vang---the gear that holds his boom down level to keep the sail flat---to complete a string of finishes of three firsts, two seconds and a fourth he discarded.

'I'm not sure if it was windier on the ocean, but it was so much fun,' he said.

Even some grownups agreed.

Dave Morse, won one of the first place turkey prizes sailing an uptech Viper 640 for ABYC with a crew of Ken Reiss and Glenn Selvin, said, 'This time last year we spent half our time upside down. This was our first regatta in [strong] wind when we didn't mess up.'

Kieran Chung of Newport Harbor YC lost a hard-luck battle to Matthew Morris of San Diego YC in Laser Radials, the largest class with 38 boats. Chung led Morris into the sixth and last race by one point with neither having a finish worse than second.

Unfortunately, he drew a foul in the finale that led to a prolonged protest hearing and a disqualification that left him tied with Morris on 7 points. Morris won the tiebreaker by finishing ahead of Chung in the last race that he lost on the protest, even though the DSQ became his discard.

But it wasn't a total loss. Chung also was awarded a turkey.

Class winners
(max. 6 races; one discard)

Alpha course

CAL 20 (12)---Keith Ives/Chuck Stevens, ABYC, (1)-2-1-1-1, 4 points.

A-CAT (5)---Matt Struble, Mission Bay YC, (1)-1-1-1-1, 4.

BUCCANEER 18 (4)---Carole Vaillan/Ryan Schofield, 1-1-1-(5/DNC)-(5/DNC), 8.

FORMULA 18 (8)---Pete Melvin/John Williams, ABYC, (1)-1-1-1, 4.

HOBIE 16 (3)---Jeff Newsome/Michelle Eatough, (1)-1-1-1-1, 4.

INTERNATIONAL MOTH (5)---Zachary Maxam, CMDT, 1-(2)-2-2-1-1, 9.

MERCURY (6)---Chris Messano/Doug Baird, 2-(7)-1-1-1, 5.

PORTSMOUTH (5)---Wayne Brandow (Olson 30), Santa Monica Windjammers, 1-1-1, 3.

Bravo course

29ER (13 boats)---Tyler Macdonald/James Moody, Newport Harbor YC/SFYC/ABYC, 2-(4)-2-1-1-1, 9.

LASER FULL (28) ---Vann Wilson, Alamitos Bay YC, 1-(28)-1-4-1-1, 8 (won tiebreaker vs. Olin Paine, Mission Bay YC).

LASER RADIAL (38)---Matthew Morris, San Diego YC, (2)-1-2-1-2-1, 7 (won tiebreaker vs. Kieran Chung, Newport Harbor YC, 1-(2)-1-2-1-(39/DSQ), 7.

VIPER 640 (5)---Dave Morse/Ken Reiss/Glenn Selvin, Alamitos Bay YC, (2)-1-1-1-1-1, 5.

Bay course

NAPLES SABOT A (9)---Jimmy Madigan, Newport Harbor YC, 1-(4)-1-2-1-2, 7.

SABOT B (13)---Rory Gaudio, ABYC, Bahia Corinthian YC, 1-1-3, 5.

SABOT C-1 (9)---Luke Van Lant, Long Beach YC, 1-1-2, 4.

SABOT C-2 (10)---Joey Simon, Coronado YC, 1-3-1, 5.

SABOT C-3 (18)---Ryan Schack, ABYC, 4-1-2, 7.

LIDO 14-A (14))---Stuart Robertson/Michael Anctil, ABYC/Mission Bay YC, (5)-3.5/RDG-1-1-1-1, 7.5.

LIDO 14-B (12)---Charles Smith/Joanna Warren Smith, South Coast Corinthian YC, 6-1-4-1, 12.

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