Arizona Birthday Regatta

Written by Nik Vale (USA 277) Monday, 18 January 2010 17:29

USA 275 & USA 277 from Open Sailing spent the weekend racing at Lake Pleasant in Arizona. The rumors about the party atmosphere proved to be very accurate, however, the rumors about the wind were also true.

When we arrived around 4pm on Thursday evening there were whitecaps on the lake as we rigged our boats - even though the masts were up before sunset there wasn't enough time to take advantage of the breeze which continued to blow all night.

There was still some breeze in the morning as we launched our boats and we had a fun couple of hours of practice before it begain to lighten up. The schedule for Friday included a few practice races which helped us get familiar with the lake and learn some of the "dos and do nots". Our host John Riddel had reserved us a slip in the marina for the two boats - a much more appealing alternative to pulling the boats out at the crowded ramp at the end of every day. Our accomodation for the weekend consisted of a glamorous trailer located right at the lake - definitely the best way to go if you're planning on enjoying the party side of the regatta! Late night firepits and coolers of beer to get you into trouble.

Saturday & Sunday was the stage for Arizona Yacht Club's Birthday Regatta. The typical wind pattern on the lake involves breeze in the morning which dies around noon before filling in again (from a different direction of course) later in the afternoon. With a late start on Saturday we had a fun sail out to the race area but the wind had started to drop by our first start.

Racing in the PHRF SPINNAKER class we had our work cut out for us racing against a J80, some J24s amongst a few others - especailly in the non-planing conditions. Having two Open 5.70s made things more interesting - making it more like match racing than fleet racing. Despite a relatively short first race the wind had all but disappeared by the finish and everyone was left drifting patiently waiting for some wind. There were little puffs here and there and the race committee valiantly decided to start a race. Unfortuantely only two boats were able to cross the line before the 5 minute cutoff after the starting gun resulting in the race and the day being abandoned. Gary Jobson headlined the Saturday night celebration of the 50th AYC Birthday Regatta, bringing the crowd to its feet after a flurry of exciting racing stories and video and the heartfelt thanks for the club's support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Followed by copious amounts of drinking ;)

Sunday saw the same wind pattern but with an early 9am start we were able to race in the breeze which made the racing much closer and more exciting for the sportboats. The wind dropped a little but there was more than enough for a second race. When it died at the end of the second race we saw the writing on the wall and headed to the ramp (skipping the last race) to avoid the cluster f*ck at the end of the day. This proved to be the smartest tactical decision of the weekend and we were on the road with the boats by the early afternoon and back home in LA by 10pm.

Results	Photos	Kattack