2010 Midwinters Report

The 2010 505 Midwinters at Fort DeSoto, FL opened up the season with a bang...and a splash for most! Five Fleet 9 boats and a number more from Region 1 were in attendance, with 27 boats participating in the 505 fleet overall.

Atypical conditions for St. Pete greeted competitors showing up at the beach at Fort DeSoto on Friday, as a coldfront sweeping through northern Florida (and burying DC under 25 inches of snow) brought a brisk 18-20kt southerly. Not to be intimidated as the A-cats packed up their boats and lashed everything to the palm trees, the 505 fleet set out for racing on Tampa Bay. With the front approaching the area, the breeze quickly picked up to the mid-upper 20s (with higher gusts), stirring up a steep 4-6 ft swell and bringing full-metal-jacket conditions for the day's only race. Competitors did their best to keep the pointy end up, with only 12 boats able to make it to the finish! Competitors screamed back to the beach as rain and gale-force winds behind the front approached, and the downwind beach landing in breaking surf challenged competitors almost as much as the day's sailing. Ultimately, Ramsay and Drew showed of their SF moves to take the bullet in the only race, with the Chicago fleet's JB Turney (sailing with Fleet 9 regular Russ Miller) and last year's midwinter champs Augie Diaz/ Luke Lawrence rounding out the top 3. Loic Bluez (sailing Justin's 8753 together with Stephen Long) deserves congratulations as the only Fleet 9er to finish the race!

The Survivors

That night the fleet gathered at the Pass-a-Grille womens club for a hearty meal and excellent de-brief from 2010 Worlds Runner-up Mike Holt, who had jetted over from the West Coast to sail the regatta with Nelson the younger. Competitors swapped stories and discussed Mike's tips on sailing in the "moderate West Coast conditions" the day had brought. We'll put up a separate post to share some of the most relevant thoughts from the evening.

Day two saw the breeze swing through to the Northwest in the wake of the front, but continue to challenge the East Coasters at a brisk and shifty 18-20 to start the day.The direction left a much more manageable sea-state vis a vis the previous day, and the fleet was able to get in two solid races in the building breeze. Ramsay and Drew continued their hot-streak to take the first race, with Augie/ Luke besting the fleet to take race 2. By the time the competitors had limped back to the beach, the breeze was again gusting into the low-mid 30s, making for some spectacular downwind runs in the last race. We had another very helpful debrief with Ethan Bixby, Mike Holt, and the rest of the top talent sharing their thoughts on tuning, boathandling, and generally surviving the big breeze.

The last day of the regatta finally brought the conditions expected for Tampa Bay, with a shifty (and much welcomed!) 8-12 kts. The short oscillations and variations in pressure across the course rewarded smart, tactical sailing for the day's 3 races. Big gains were made by those who were able to stay in phase up the beats and recognize the fine line between wire-running and split-running downhill. Not surprisingly, Augie Diaz (fresh off a win in the Star medal race at Miami OCR) excelled in the day's racing, giving them the leg up over Drew and Ramsay for the overall win, now their second in a row. Congrats go out to Augie/Luke and everyone who was able to survive the the regatta in one piece!

What the heck is that? Ethan and his A-sail hunting down Drew and Ramsay.

A sincere thanks go out to Ethan Bixby, Lin Robson, and Ben Moon for putting on another great event. Fleet 9 is already dreading the return to the NY area snowstorms and looking forward to next year!

Final Results
Photos

Also make sure to check out the following

US Site Write-Up by Mike Renda
Fleet 13 Write-Up

Ethan's learnings on sailing the "650" (aka the 505 with 4 foot bowsprit/ assymetrical!) can be found here