RS Aero North American Midwinters at Palm Beach Sailing Club
by Greg Popp 14 Feb 2019 03:38 PST
9-10 February 2019
RS Aero North American Midwinters at Palm Beach Sailing Club © Patrick Sullivan
Ideal sailing conditions greeted the 24 RS Aero Midwinter racers who converged on Palm Beach this past weekend. The fleet raced on the ocean on Saturday in 15-20 knot winds and building seas that ranged from three to six feet, mixed with considerable chop. The challenging conditions added to the competitive racing over the four races run on Saturday.
With a strong contingent of first timers in the RS Aero, the opportunity to sail on the ocean was a bonus. Returning after racing through the Palm Beach Inlet on a strong ebb tide and a swell made for exciting surfing into Lake Worth as well!
Saturday evening a gourmet burger dinner was provided for the competitors by hosts, Palm Beach Sailing Club. Co-hosts, Sailfish Club of Florida, provided an array of appetizers and the always popular rum punch. Smiles and laughs were evident amongst the old and new friends.
Sunday conditions were too rough to attempt offshore racing so the Harry Anderson course was set on Lake Worth with winds inside ranging from 12-18 knots. Four races were run on Sunday with lots of close quarters action at mark roundings, and tactics playing a significant role in how the competitors fared.
A number of newbies in the 24-boat fleet made auspicious entries into the class. Eugene Schmitt from New Orleans looked very strong hiking and won the twelve boat RS Aero 7 class, followed by North American Class President Hank Saurage from Baton Rouge. Bill Dickey, a last-minute charterer from CT turned on the afterburners in Sunday's last two races to finish third, just ahead of Bob Patterson, with another newbie, Lee J. Montes from NY finishing fifth.
Jamie Gilman from RS Aero US Winter Series sponsor KO Sailing wasn't messing around, nabbing straight bullets in the nine boat RS Aero 5 class, including some very impressive port-tack starts. Regatta co-host Sailfish Club had three representatives in the top five, with Paul Gingras in second, Top Junior Nicholas Lorentzen in third and John Brim in fourth. Top Female sailor Melissa Solnick from NY rounded out the top five.
In the RS Aero 9s, Mark Schwegman, originally from South Africa but now living in Ft Lauderdale, placed second. Mark hadn't sailed a dinghy in 20 years but quickly took to the RS Aero, duking it out for the lead on a number of upwind legs with great speed and astute tactical decision making. Add a year of practice and this guy'll be scary fast! Madhavan Thirumalai finished third, and receives the Furthest Travelled award, coming to the regatta from Bangalore India via San Francisco(!).
Palm Beach is one of the few venues that provides the opportunity to sail both offshore on the Atlantic and on the Intracoastal Waterway giving sailors a full range of conditions in which to test their skills.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Skipper | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| RS Aero 5 |
|---|
| 1 | 2119 | Jamie Gilman | Conroe YC
TX | [1] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | 1378 | Paul Gingras | Sailfish Club
FL | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | [3] | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| 3 | 1759 | Nicholas Lorentzen | Sailfish Club
FL | 3 | 3 | [5] | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
| 4 | 1764 | John Brim | Sailfish Club
FL | 6 | 4 | 4 | [DNF] | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 34 |
| 5 | 1 | Melissa Solnick | Fraglia Vela Riva
ITA/NY | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | [7] | 6 | 6 | 37 |
| 6 | 1278 | Jeffrey Leach | Sailfish Club
FL | [DSQ] | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | DNF | DNS | 45 |
| 7 | 2279 | Geoffrey Moehl | Lake Eustis SC | 7 | [DNC] | DNC | DNC | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 51 |
| 8 | 1610 | Gregory Popp | Halifax SA
FL | [DNF] | DNC | DNC | DNC | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 52 |
| 9 | 1761 | Matthew Lorentzen | Sailfish Club
FL | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | [DNC] | DNC | DNC | DNC | 55 |
| RS Aero 7 |
|---|
| 1 | 2122 | Eugene Schmitt | Bay Waveland YC
MS | 1 | 1 | [2] | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 2757 | Hank Saurage | Pontchartrain YC
LA | [DNF] | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 14 |
| 3 | 2276 | William Dickey | RYC | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | [9] | 2 | 3 | 22 |
| 4 | 2404 | Bob Patterson | Melbourne YC
FL | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | [11] | 26 |
| 5 | 2 | Lee Montes | Menantic YC
NY | 4 | 4 | [7] | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 32 |
| 6 | 3 | Josh Morrison | SC Chesapeake
MD | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | [7] | 7 | 5 | 4 | 37 |
| 7 | 2024 | Jeff Dunmall | Toronto
CAN | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | [10] | 10 | 6 | 7 | 52 |
| 8 | 5 | Bill McKenzie | Pam Beach SC
FL | 8 | 8 | 6 | [OCS] | 12 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 57 |
| 9 | 2278 | John Savickas | New Mexico
NM | 9 | [10] | 9 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 57 |
| 10 | 1983 | David Solnick | Fraglia Vela Riva
ITA/NY | 6 | 9 | [10] | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 57 |
| 11 | 1738 | Tony Corkell | Carolina SC
SC | [DNF] | DNC | DNC | DNC | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 80 |
| 12 | 2282 | Chris Schmitz | Concord YC
TN | [DNF] | DNC | DNC | DNC | 8 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 82 |
| RS Aero 9 |
|---|
| 1 | 2210 | Marc Jacobi | Cedar Point YC
CT | 1 | 1 | [2] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | 2209 | Mark Schwegman | Point YC
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | [3] | 2 | 13 |
| 3 | 1982 | Madhavan Thirumalai | Cedar Point YC
CT | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | [DNF] | 20 |
Next up on the US Winter Series is another set of back to back weekends in March at Port Canaveral on 8-10th and then Sarasota on 14-17th, ideal for the long distance travellers looking for good racing and winter sun! Full event details and info on Charter RS Aeros are on the RS Aero North American Events List here and you can keep in touch with Everything Aero via the RS Aero North American Facebook Group.