San Diego generally has perfect sailing conditions with nice westerly breezes one can count on (almost always). Thus the east-west orientation of the Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond is ideal for the usual San Diego wind conditions. When skippers showed up Friday afternoon for boat measurement and practice, the weather was perfect and the wind was out of the west as advertized. Little did we know as we all headed to the San Diego Yacht Club for the Friday evening festivities that Saturday and Sunday would be a different story.
After the skippers meeting a light breeze filled in and a seeding race was conducted, which did not count in the scoring but established initial boat placement in the three (red, white and blue) heats. The Heat Management System (HMS) was used for all races after the seeding race. We were able to complete 14 races over the two days with two throw outs. The race committee did an outstanding job in adapting to the strange wind conditions and providing computerized real –time scoring throughout the weekend.
Saturday evening at SDYC gave everyone a chance to relax and get to know each other better. We were thrilled to have so many out of town guests, including 11 entrants and several spouses. All seemed to be having a good time, which is the main objective as far as we are concerned. Everyone received a door prize and outgoing Class Secretary Dick Martin was honored for his years of dedicated leadership.
Sunday was a day of very light wind, shifting frequently to the south. For a few races, Saturday’s leeward end of the course became Sunday’s windward end. As in Marblehead last year, the last race on Sunday determined the national championship. Congratulations to Brian Jobson who came from behind to edge out defending National Champion Dave Ramos by winning the last four races.
2009 CR 914 Award Winners:
Open Division
1st Brian Jobson, Wolcott, CT
2nd Dave Ramos, Arnold, MD
3rd George Szabo: San Diego, CA
4th David Ryan, San Diego, CA
5th Gregg Morton, San Diego, CA
6th Skip Malthaner, Honolulu, HI
7th Dan Aeling, San Diego, CA
8th Rick Martin, Westport, WI
Masters Division
1st Dick Martin, Columbia MO
2nd Jean Malthaner, San Diego, CA
3rd Phil Adams, Cambria, CA
The 2009 CR 914 National Championship Regatta was the third hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club Model Yacht Fleet. We began the planning process prior to the 2008 Marblehead Nationals by settling on the venue and dates for the 2009 NCR and building a “sales pitch” CD which was presented in Marblehead and then posted it on the SDYC website. A year of planning, staffing, fund raising, etc, followed, culminating in what we hope was a national championship regatta that met or exceeded expectations. The 2009 Nationals demonstrated once again that the key to success is having people willing and able to perform the myriad tasks involved. Thanks for a job well done to all of our volunteers! We are looking forward next year’s Nationals in Annapolis.
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