2004 Lido 14 Sr. Class Championship Regatta

Day 2 (Tuesday Aug. 10) Report

Today is the start of the Championship Series.  Racers were separated into Gold and Silver Flights based on their ranking from the Qualifier Series held on Day 1.

R1: Won by Stu Robertson.  Winds light and from the South.

R2: Started and abandoned due to an 80+ degree wind shift that filled in part way up the first weather leg.  The fleet stayed out on the water under postponement until the wind settled down to a more northerly heading and re sailed.  Mark Gaudio led all the way on the restarted race to the finish first.  Stu Robertson, buried in the pack ground his way back up to about 5th and then made a signature move by splitting from the fleet at the last leeward fleet, found magic winds, and passed several boats to climb up to 2nd place.

R3:  Northerly breeze.  Still less than 10 knots.  Race committee selected a windward leeward course (all courses up until then had been windward leewards).  Stu Robertson pretty much led around the whole course with Eric Kownacki and Mark Gaudio shortly behind.

The race committee sent the fleet back to shore until 4:00 to allow the breeze to fill in.

R4: Perhaps as much as 10 knots of breeze.  Triangle windward leeward course.  Mark Gaudio, having finished 3rd in the prior race, was eager to win this race to even the score with Stu Robertson.  He figured out that the left side of the course and the left end of the line were the place to be however the Stevens seemed to have the same idea and schooled Gaudio - popping out to an immediate lead that they never relinquished.  What happened to Gaudio?  He had to duck a lot of transoms at the start, grind his way up the middle of the course, passing the hard sailing Kownacki and Jenkins teams, to finish third behind regatta leader Stu Robertson.

So here we are sitting in the simple and nautical themed main room of EYC typing up the reports.  Mike O'Neill from Fleet 43 (Ventura, CA area) sums it up well by saying "We're really enjoying our first time at the Championships - the whole family gets to be involved."

UNOFFCIAL RESULTS and PENDING PROTESTS

Regatta Documents (NOR, etc.)