Regatta Write-Up
SWYC Luff-in Regatta Details
On the weekend of February 9th and 10th the SDAYC Luff-In Series was held at Southwestern Yacht Club. Team MBYC was out in full force, with several seasoned sailors back out around the buoys for the nth time, as well as those getting out on the course for the first few times. The Luff-In Series has always been a 1 day event, and in that spirit the results from Saturday and Sunday are scored separately, as 2 different events.
On Saturday the sailors saw incredible shifts inside La Playa cove, with a very hard shift to pattern to draw from, often times extremely frustrating. To make things even trickier the starting line was a challenge to make it across easily.
In Sabot “A”s Max Brill earned 3 bullets in 6 races to place 2nd overall with 18 points. Ian Brill found consistency somehow in the varying conditions and placed 3rd with 22 points. Sam Merson had good starts and placed 4th with 28 points.
In the Sabot “B” fleet Cary Perket had a nice bullet in the 2nd race, placing 5th overall with 25 points. Willem Perry improved throughout the day, tying for 5th, and placing 6th with 25 points. In the Sabot “C1” fleet Jeremy McCulloch also had a nice bullet in the 2nd race, and with 20 points placed 3rd overall. Ava Dorvillier had consistent scores and placed 6th with 29 points.
Team MBYC crushed the Sabot “C3” fleet. Cameron Woodall started and ended the day with bullets, and took the gold with 14 points. Diego Escobar was right behind, and in the 11 boat fleet took 2nd with just 19 points.
Sailing on the outside course, in the greater San Diego Bay, MBYC was also represented by sailors in the Laser Radial fleet. Intense current across the entire course made for extremely challenging conditions, with the top 3 positions up for grabs all the way to the finish of the final race. Cole Baker started and ended the day with a pair of bullets, and took the gold with 15 points. Steven Leuck totaled 3 bullets throughout the day, and placed 3rd with just 19 points. With extremely consistent scores, as well as having to take off early for a school dance was Carter Lynn, who placed 6th in the 10 boat fleet. Congratulations to Charlie Merson for having a great regatta, finishing every race, placing 9th with 56 points.
Sunday was a slight change in conditions, with the breeze building quickly earlier in the day, and easing out later in the afternoon. The initial pressure helped the wind stabilize sooner, but there were still a fair share of unstable shifts to be had Sunday as well.
Max Brill took the gold in the Sabot “A” fleet, just a single 4th place finish shy of a “picket fence” of straight bullets. Ian Brill had success later in the day, placing 5th overall with 30 points. Sam Merson had consistent finishes, and tying for 6th with 40 points, placed 7th overall. In the Sabot “B” fleet, Max Karmel used good starts to launch himself ahead, placing 4th overall with 29 points. Cary Perket had consistent finishes, placing 5th with just 33 points. Willem Perry sailed fast and placed 7th with 39 points.
Representing the Sabot “C1” fleet, Ava Dorvillier sailed fast and placed 4th overall, just 1 point shy of 3rd. Jeremy McCulloch found good spots on the starting line and placed 6th with 33 points. Moving up to Sabot “C2” fleet was Cameron Woodall, who found a much more challenging starting conditions, placing 7th overall with 45 points. Diego Escobar represented Team MBYC in the Sabot “C3” fleet, and with a sweet bullet in the 4th race placed 5th overall with 31 points.
Outside on the Laser course, the early breeze helped alleviate the tidal currents effect on the course, and the more settled wind direction allowed for a MUCH longer course that the previous day. Intense starting line action and aerobic upwind beats made for exciting racing.
Steven Leuck went into “beast mode” on Sunday, and with crushing upwind boatspeed took the gold, with 2 bullets and a total of 14 points. Cole Baker used good downwind tactics to get ahead, and placed 3rd overall with 19 points. Nice effort put in as well by Charlie Merson for braving the puffy conditions and making it all the way around the course to better assess the conditions.