2012 Lido 14 National Championship Regatta

by Tony Billera on 10 Aug 2012 The Lido 14 2012 National Class Championships were held on Fidalgo Bay, Anacortes, Washington, the week of July 23, 2012. Twenty-eight of the fastest Lido 14 teams participated in this fun and rewarding competition. Teams traveled from California, Oregon, Washington, and as far away as Ohio and Georgia.

This active class regularly attracts 10 to 30 boats at local and District regattas around the country. The National Class Championships are annual penultimate events and this year’s Nationals attracted crews ranging from 13 to 78 years old.

Unsettled weather cleared late on Monday, with Tuesday’s qualification series sailed in typically beautiful northwest sunny skies and moderate winds. Mt. Baker and the Cascade mountain range were spectators to three races, with much excitement enjoyed by the crews of the 28 boat fleet, all jockeying for clear air at the starting line. The father/son team of Steve and Andrew Klotz showed their speed and consistency to win the Gold Flight top spot, edging out teams; Jerry Thompson with Mandi Smith, Steve with Anne Schupak , and Kevin Thomas with Amanda Wayne. Team Billera, new Association members from Fleet 78 in Anacortes, finished as the top seed in the Silver Flight.

Day one of the Championships was another awesome, cloudless, northwest day. Variable winds challenged both the sailors and the race committee. Sailing the Lido 14 fast demands attention to tactics and crew position, the light and shifty winds rewarded those skills. The majority of boats liked the south side of the course, though there were substantial gains to the north where the wind was clear of interference and the incoming current provided some tactical benefit. Mark and Kathy Sandifer, (husband and wife team from Portland Oregon Fleet 25), demonstrated expert boat handling skills that were honed on the shifty wind of the Willamette River. They preferred the middle of the course, while Jerry Thompson and Mandi Smith (Fleet 6) immediately recognized the South side of the course and were found there all day. Team Thompson/Smith ended the first day with a two-point lead over Team Sandifer/Sandifer and four points over Team Schupak/Schupak (Fleet 1) in the Gold Flight. Ron and Nicole Runyan (Fleet 25) finished the day with a formidable lead in the Silver Flight , 10 points ahead of Tony and Catherine Billera who were tied at 17 points with the father-daughter team of Matt and Maggie Nolan (Fleet 80), and closely followed by Butch Michel and Michelle Wong with 19 points.

Heading into the final day of the National Championship the stage was set for close racing by the top three Gold Flight teams, where first and third were only 4 points apart. The Silver Flight looked like an equally close contest for second thru fifth, separated by only 4 points as well! A throw-out would occur if two more races were completed, for a total of six, creating additional uncertainly for all the leading teams.

However, winds proved to be fickle, and the typically consistent summer westerly did not arrive in time. After about 2 1/2 hours of delay, racing was finally abandoned and the scoring from the four races of Wednesday became final. It was the correct call by the RC and time for the long awaited and anticipated feast of local salmon was at hand.

The Anacortes Yacht Club served up a terrific salmon dinner to top off a great week. A variety of perpetual trophies were presented, including Longest Distance Traveled, Oldest Skipper, First Woman skipper in the Senior Championship and Overall awards.

LIDO 14 CLASS CHAMPIONSHIPS SENIOR REGATTA - July 24-26
Final Results

Skipper/Crew Sail Number Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 TOTAL

GOLD FLIGHT:
1 Thompson/Smith 4139 1 6 1 5 13
2 Sandifer/Sandifer 5126 2 3 2 8 15
3 Schupak/Schupak 6262 9 2 5 1 17
4 Johns/Lutz 4870 11 1 6 2 20
5 Thomas/Wayne 3883 4 9 3 7 23
6 Johnson/Munch 2720 5 8 8 3 24
7 Klotz/Klotz 6300 7 5 4 9 25
8 Orsini/Orsini 6310 6 10 10 4 30
9 Potter/Bright 4156 3 7 12 11 33
10 Fuller/Fuller 3696 10 12 9 6 37
11 Carroll/Carroll 4682 14 4 7 13 38
12 Sterner/Sterner 5110 8 13 13 12 46
13 Way/Orsini 5029 13 14 11 10 48
14 Hartman/Muenz 4821 12 11 14 14 51

SILVER FLIGHT:
1 Runyan/Runyan 6131 1 3 1 2 7
2 Billera/Billera 6156 5 2 5 5 17
3 Nolan/Nolan 4543 3 4 6 4 17
4 Michel/Wong 4150 9 6 3 1 19
5 Estvold/Hill 4790 15 1 2 3 21
6 Mackey/Roteman 4284 2 5 9 6 22
7 Ho/Ho 3547 6 7 8 8 29
8 Murphy/King 4078 8 10 4 7 29
9 Skubi/Mays 6138 4 11 7 9 31
10 Erbele/ 158 10 12 11 10 43
11 Estlow/Estlow 4141 12 9 12 12 45
12 Henry/Shogren 4524 11 13 10 11 45
13 Glade/King 6132 7 8 15 15 45
14 Chwalowski/Chwalowski 4919 13 14 13 13 53

For more information about Lido 14s and the class association please call 805-208-7440 or visit http://www.lido14.com

The Lido 14 has a rich history in the racing and boating community. The Lido 14 is a 14-foot dinghy raced by a two-person crew yet capable of day sailing comfortably with four. Built by legendary W.D. Schock Corp. of Newport Beach, CA the first Lido 14 was launched in 1957. Over 6300 boats have been built and the class is going strong with great support from the factory for both Classic version and new 6000 series boats. Tactics are emphasized over athleticism when racing a Lido.