LAKE MISSION VIEJO YACHT CLUB
The Main Sheet
The 86th Annual SCYA Midwinter Regatta
Lake Mission Viejo Venue
by Rod Simenz
LMVYC was one of the 24 venues that in combination hosted over 100 classes. Here at the lake we had Portsmouth A and B and Naples Sabot A and B classes. There were sixteen entries. So what kind of day was it? One of the best. My relationship with SCYA Midwinter Regattas began when I raced my Cal 25 in 1968 at Long Beach and then continued to participate either sailing my own boat or crewing on other boats for the next 30 years. After that I was involved on Midwinter Regatta race committees for 14 years. What I learned from all those years is that the weather is seldom good. February is the rainiest month of the year so you know that many of the regattas were sailed on rainy, even stormy days. Other times they have sailed in heat waves and no wind or heat waves and Santana winds. But here at the lake on Saturday February 21, conditions were near ideal. There was a strong breeze, with occasional gusts to about 14 mph and fewer shifts than normal.
The entries were such that to balance classes, two Capri 14.2 boats raced in Portsmouth A. Capri 14.2s have always raced Portsmouth B so that was a first. Not good news for the Portsmouth A regulars, as Frank Roberts won all three races in his Capri 14.2. But not by much, Frank edged Horst Weiler by 7 seconds in race two and by 3 seconds in race three. Mark Glackin sailing his Thistle was in the mix too. He finished in second place in the first race, 13 seconds ahead of Horst.
In Portsmouth B, Tony Musolino caught four CFJ skippers asleep at the first start and went on to take first place by a comfortable margin. Bill Yount and crew Karl Ponti won the second race, James Talay with sister Jaden as crew won the third race. Bill Yount placed second in that race just 5 seconds ahead of Molly Glackin and her sister Micaela. Bill ended the day first over all.
Seven of our juniors sailed Sabots in the regatta, that’s the largest number I can recall. Wind was on the strong side for the eight foot Sabots, but they all handled it well and enjoyed some speedy racing. In Sabot A class, Aidan Cornforth won first place with a score of 5 points, followed by Nicole Sighiartau with 6 points. Aidan, Nicole and Cheyenne Stegall each won one of the races. Eric Lara in Sabot B scored two firsts, including a finish just two seconds ahead of Lisa Ponti who placed second overall. Midwinter Regatta trophies are always presented by a representative from SCYA. This year the trophies were awarded at our club by SCYA Junior Staff Commodore and LMVYC Staff Commodore Morrie Willkie.
Arnold Christensen has developed a new scoring system that is easier to use than the Sail Wave program we used previously. He brought his lap top computer aboard the race committee boat for a trial run to record finish times as they occur. The plan is to have a computer aboard in future races so data can be entered during the races and thus speed up availability of final race results.
After the race more than forty participants and guests were treated to chicken tortilla soup and vegetable beef soup prepared by Audrey Simenz and a tasty colorful salad by Daniella Sighiartau.