This past February we sailed at the 29er Mid Winters East in Miami Florida. This regatta was important to us because it was an opportunity to race against some of our toughest competitors in the United States in conditions different than what we see in San Diego. It was a good challenge and learning opportunity.
In February I competed in the 2023 ILCA Midwinters East, in Clearwater, FL. I woke up before the sun even came up and left to the airport. I Had a flight first to Dallas, TX, then a connecting flight to Tampa Bay, FL. Then I lastly took a 40-minute uber to my hotel in Clearwater. I arrived late at night, so I went to sleep right when I got there. The next morning, I woke up to the bright sun bleeding through the blinds and when I walked outside onto the balcony, I saw the bright blue water. To get used to the time being 3 hours ahead, my mom and I took an uber to the beach and walked to a lunch spot in the area. We ate lunch but then I remembered that there was a mini golf place on the way back, so we played mini golf and walked back to the hotel across a big bridge. While I was walking across the bridge I saw multiple lasers, IQ foils and a Nacra 15.
SDYC member Terri Nelson has an amazing story—she uses a wheelchair and Reichel/Pugh have spent the past couple of years designing and building a custom, adaptive 45' trimaran with superyacht-quality interiors. Sea trials ended in New Zealand over the holidays and the boat just delivered to San Diego this past week. SDYC members may get a glimpse of her at the guest dock during outings.
Reichel/Pugh Design No. 288, 45' Performance Cruising Trimaran Trinity, is a custom trimaran completely designed in-house, constructed at New Zealand Yachting Developments, with an interior plan by R/P and styling and furniture detailing by superyacht masters Design Unlimited. A thoughtful adaptive design filled with beautifully integrated accessibility features to enable single-handed cruising and racing. A hydraulic mainsheet, furling main and jib and powered winches provide safe and barrier-free sail handling. She launched December 2022, was trialed by the owner Terri Nelson in Waitemata Harbour, Auckland at Christmastime and is scheduled to deliver home to Southern California February 2023.
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.
The team from New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is heading out of the sun and back to the chilly Northeast with a well-deserved title in the books: 2023 Women’s Winter Invitational Champions! Skipper Marly Isler and crew Hope Wilson, Sarah Williams, and Marlena Fauer were first-time competitors in the Women’s Winter Invitational. Teams from 24 yacht clubs competed over two days in 66 races to award the winner of the San Diego Yacht Club’s fifth annual Women’s Winter Invitational Regatta (WWIR), February 4 and 5, 2023.
Isler attributes her win to the team working together. “Each race posed unique challenges - but my crew tirelessly kept our boat rumbling,” she said. “Hope is likely icing her biceps today from her detail-oriented jib trimming. Marlena was an animal calling tactics downwind. She made sure we didn't lose sight of the breeze oscillations even when packs of boats got too close for comfort. And Sarah was constantly adjusting our heel and controls.”
Over this past winter break, my family and I got the opportunity to travel to Miami, Florida for my first Orange Bowl Regatta. We arrived on December 18th for a pre-racing clinic, where I was able to get a feel for the conditions and become familiar with the area. I learned what the general conditions were for each wind direction and how to handle them.
Two days after Christmas, the regatta finally started. The first day was tricky. After being postponed for many hours we only got one race off. The conditions were shifty with around 5 to 8 knots. The pin was favored but it paid off to start at the committee boat and tack immediately onto port. The current was pushing you behind the line and towards the pin so there was a lot of line sag, which was a major aspect throughout the entire regatta.