When we arrived in Florida, I unloaded my 29er off the trailer and rigged it completely to ensure everything was rigged correctly. After that, I went to eat sushi with the team.
On the second day, we sailed about 30 minutes out to Biscayne Bay to practice. I was struck by how clear and shallow the water was in the bay. When we got out there, I could see hundreds of other boats sailing. We did a lot of up-downs and lineups, then a practice race with the other teams. It was hot and sunny. This was the last of the warm weather for the remainder of the trip.
This past month, my skipper, Anton, and I traveled to Florida to take part in the Open Orange Bowl regatta. It was the first time I was taking part in the event. We flew out Christmas night and rigged our boat the next day. We had one practice day before the regatta started.
Day one of the regatta was met with rain and wind. We had a 2-hour postponement on land before we were sent out. Once on the race course, we had 20-30 knots of wind. Following multiple capsizes within the 29er fleet, racing was called off for the day.
Days 2 and 3 were very similar with medium wind and very shifty. We learned a lot from that regatta and it helped us as we are preparing for the Youth World Qualifier that is coming up in late March in Long Beach.
Thank you to SDYC and HPYS for the support and for helping make the Orange Bowl possible.
The Etchells West Coast Spring Series is back and better than ever for the 2024 season, promising a thrilling series of regattas. San Diego Yacht Club, in collaboration with the local Etchells Fleet 13, cordially invites sailors from near and far to participate in this prestigious sailing event on the challenging Coronado Roads course. The Series comprises four regattas, one of which may be used as a throw-out in the final scoring of the Series.
Long-time SDYC members Jim Pugh and John Reichel not only celebrated the fortieth year of their naval architecture studio here in Point Loma, but did so with purpose by sweeping the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race podium. Reichel/Pugh Design No. 162 66' Canting Ballast Alive, owned by Philip Turner and skippered by Duncan Hine, was awarded the coveted Tattersall Cup, as the overall WINNER of the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race with the best corrected time under IRC—a symbol of supremacy in one of the toughest races in the world. The result seals a terrific performance for Reichel/Pugh in the race, as the top three overall came from their design board, with the Reichel/Pugh 72' URM Group second overall, Reichel/Pugh 69’ Moneypenny taking third place overall, and Reichel/Pugh 40’ Chutzpah 3rd in IRC Div. 2.