Thank you to the Challenge Committee and Competition Fund Committee for supporting our team at the Women’s Winter Invitational Feb 4-5, 2023. In an unfortunate turn of events, Kris Zillmann was unable to race, so we had to find a replacement crew. Luckily new member, Christina Lewis, joined the crew as skipper, with Julie Mitchell on main and tactics, and Erika Barth on jib and bow.
Saturday’s racing was delayed waiting for the wind to fill in around noon. The wind held nicely until the last few races, and fortunately the race committee stopped at 42 races, instead of trying to get 3 more in, as the winds were very light and squirrelly. Team SDYC started very strong with 4 firsts. Things went a little downhill in the next 2 races when we had to take penalty turns for hitting the start mark and tacking too close.
Sunday started with a wind delay, and built to a variable 6-12 knots, making tactics quite challenging. Our last race of the round robin was crucial. We got a good start and headed right first, which paid, we lead from the weather mark to the finish, with NYYC and CalYC on our heels. Team SDYC finished the round robin in fourth place. Good enough to make the top 6 finals. After 3 tight races of consistent placing, we moved up one place finishing in third. NYYC skippered by Marly Isler took first place followed by Samantha Treadwell from Coronado YC in second.
Thank you again for making sailing more available to a diverse faction of SDYC members.