California Dreamin; Series: Dave Hood wins Long Beach Stop, Charlie Welsh wins series

Dave Hood (left with trophy) holds Barney Flam Perpetual Trophy, with LBYC Rear Commodore Charlie Legeman. Hood shares moment with teammates & Vice Commodore Camille Daniels (far right), Co-Chairs Lisa Meier (far left) and Cindy Bambam (next to Daniels) © Rick Roberts

Dave Hood, staff commodore of the Long Beach Yacht Club, won the third and final round of the 2018 World Sailing Grade 3 California Dreamin' Series on Sunday, April 8, hosted by the Long Beach Yacht Club and raced on the Long Beach Sailing Foundation's fleet of Catalina 37s.

"We had an awesome team this weekend," said Hood, "Chris Main on tactics, trimmers Doug McLean and Dan Morris, and Mark Callahan and Ben Lamb on the bow.

"Super thanks to all my teammates for a great weekend. They did a tremendous job. I think we were getting better as the weekend progressed, settling into our roles and communications."

Charlie Welsh, of the Red Star Sailing Team from Newport Harbor Yacht Club, beat out Hood by only five points in winning the three-venue series raced at St. Francis Yacht Club, San Diego Yacht Club and Long Beach Yacht Club. The StFYC stop was a wash-out with little to no breeze over the two-day event. That meant that the skippers had only their performance at SDYC and LBYC to decide their overall series standings.

Welsh finished second in San Diego and fifth in Long Beach, just enough to take the title.

Taking second place at the Long Beach Stop was another flag officer at LBYC, Commodore Will "Bill" Durant. Hood beat Durant by only one point over the double round-robin, two-day format.

It is springtime in Southern California which means that the weather and wind can be, at times, unpredictable. However, the race committee team---led by US Sailing Principal Race Officer Randy Beers---did a very good job of adjusting the course as the wind couldn't always decide how much it wanted to blow, or from which direction with 7-15 knots on Saturday, and 6-14 knots on Sunday.

"Big thanks to the race committee team," said Hood, "the umpires, the organizing authority and LBYC. We enjoyed great weather all weekend completing all 14 races.

"We especially appreciated all of the support and encouragement from LBYC. Special thanks to all the competitors. It was a great weekend of racing.

"We are looking forward to participating in the [World Sailing Grade 2] Ficker Cup next weekend and we hope to see a lot of people out on the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier watching some fantastic racing, having fun in Long Beach and enjoying the journey."

Charlie Welsh (black shirt center) celebrates with his team after winning California Dreamin' Series. Welsh is joined by regatta Co-Chairs Lisa Meier (far right) and Cindy Bambam (far left). - photo © Rick Roberts

Final Results:

2018 California Dreamin' Series-Long Beach Stop

1. Dave Hood, Long Beach YC, 12 wins, 2 losses
2. Will Durant, LBYC, 11, 3
3. Chris Nesbitt, San Diego YC, 9, 5 on tiebreaker
4. Jeffrey Peterson, Balboa YC, 9, 5
5. Charlie Welsh, Newport Harbor YC, 6, 8
6. Liz Hjorth, California YC, 5, 9
7. Wendy Corzine, LBYC, 4, 10
8. Marilyn Cassedy, CYC, 0, 14

California Dreamin' Series Standings

1. Charlie Welsh, Newport Harbor YC, 105 points
2. Dave Hood, Long Beach YC, 100 on tiebreaker
3. Nicole Breault, St. Francis YC, 100
4. Chris Nexbitt, San Diego YC, 95
5. Will Durant, LBYC, 75
6. Bruce Stone, St.FYC, 55
7. Jeffrey Petersen, Balboa YC, 40 on tiebreaker
8. Liz Hjorth, California YC, 40
9. Andrew Meade, Kaneohe YC, 30
10. Wendy Corzine, LBYC, 25 on tiebreaker
11. Marilyn Cassedy, CYC, 25

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