Earl Elms Memorial Regatta – Final

Mission Bay, April 9-10, 2016, Final results after 8 races (1 discard)

(Photo courtesy of Judy Tillson)

1. Doug Hart & Diana Waterbury, 11

2. Randy Lake & Mandy/Mattie, 18

3. David Tillson & Lizzy Russell, 21

4. Aimee Heim & Eric Heim, 24

5. Chris Wright & Megan Lansdale, 27

Report by Seth Siegler

Under the threat of uncharacteristically nasty weather, the San Diego Snipe fleet arrived early to Mission Bay Yacht Club on Saturday morning to gear up for the second annual Earl Elms Memorial Regatta.

The regatta’s legendary namesake, Earl Elms, was a two time Snipe world champion, and six-time US national champion. The San Diego native passed away just two years ago and the fleet pays homage to his legacy with this regatta, now in its second year, featuring the boats he loved most: the Sabot and the Snipe.

…

 

After two previous days of rain, it seemed possible that Earl himself may have made a deal with mother nature to get us a window of opportunity to race over the weekend. From the water, you could see dark clouds surrounding the bay, delivering much needed water to other parts of San Diego, but they remained clear of our area during both days of racing. Though the forecast likely scared off some of the expected participants, those who called it’s bluff, were rewarded with excellent breeze in the mid to low teens both days.

With the younger, beginner sabot sailors racing right off of the yacht club, the older jr sabot sailors handled their 8 foot boats alongside the snipes on the same race course. Great RC work kept interactions between the fleets to a minimum and likely made for some great photo ops!

Day-one of racing was a full one with the RC sqeezing in 5 races for the 12-boat snipe fleet. The unusual wind direction suited the geography well, allowing for longer than normal legs and big splits for those willing to roll the dice on the incredible shifty and puffy breeze.

Doug Hart, who was sailing with Diana Waterbury, reveled in the conditions, posting all 1’s and 2’s to the scoreboard to take a strong lead on a day where consistency was extremely difficult to find. Also getting bullets on Saturday were David Tillson with Lizzy Russell and Chris Wright with Megan Lansdale. Randy Lake with Mandy Sackett and Aimee and Eric Heim threatened all day as well and made their homes regularly in the top 3.

Sunday’s forecast looked much worse than Saturday so when the fleet arrived on Sunday morning, expectations were tempered. But again, nature delivered and not only was it not raining, but it was also windier than the day before!

The fleet left the beach and blasted downwind to arrive at the starting line in about five minutes flat. (I know because I left the beach about 6 minutes before the first start of the day because of a last second crew crisis!)

With big shifts coming down from both sides of the course, one might think that the fleet would be spread out but somehow racing was incredibly tight and spirited. Hart and Waterbury stayed on form and posted a 4-2-2 on the day but were challenged by Lake (with Sunday crew, Maddy McGrath) who posted a couple of 1sts and a 2nd and Eric and Aimee Heim who took one bullet and a 3-5.
Doug and Diana won the event by seven points (Doug also won the inaugural event last year). Lake came home second after a strong Sunday and Tillson and Russell rode a consistent scoreline to third place. Team Heim were three points back in fourth and Wright and Lansdale rounded out the top five.

Awards were handed out by Earl’s wife, Susan Elms and another great regatta on Mission Bay is in the books.

 

SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Total	Nett
29941	MBYC	Doug Hart	Diana Waterbury	2.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	(4.0)	2.0	2.0	15.0	11.0
28854	SDYC	Randy Lake	Mandy/Mattie	4.0	2.0	4.0	(5.0)	4.0	2.0	1.0	1.0	23.0	18.0
30109	MBYC	David Tillson	Lizzy Russell	(5.0)	4.0	3.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	5.0	3.0	26.0	21.0
29646	SDYC	Aimee Heim	Eric Heim	3.0	6.0	2.0	4.0	(7.0)	1.0	3.0	5.0	31.0	24.0
29013	MBYC	Chris Wright	Megan Lansdale	1.0	3.0	(7.0)	3.0	6.0	6.0	4.0	4.0	34.0	27.0
31114	MBYC	Seth Siegler	Anna Schonbrunner	7.0	(8.0)	6.0	6.0	3.0	5.0	6.0	6.0	47.0	39.0
29248	MBYC	Aine Fretwell	Claire Lester	6.0	7.0	5.0	7.0	5.0	7.0	7.0	(8.0)	52.0	44.0
29811	MBYC	Scott Dalin	Meghan Dalin	9.0	5.0	(10.0)	9.0	9.0	9.0	8.0	7.0	66.0	56.0
29166	MBYC	Cassandra Shand	Marianna Shand	8.0	9.0	8.0	8.0	(10.0)	10.0	10.0	10.0	73.0	63.0
31256	MBYC	Ed Machado	John Robertson	(10.0)	10.0	9.0	10.0	8.0	8.0	9.0	9.0	73.0	63.0
30359	MBYC	Mark Majernik	John Capeta	12.0	11.0	12.0	11.0	12.0	11.0	(13.0 DNF)	13.0 DNC	95.0	82.0
26114	MBYC	Dale Bull	Jason Brooks	11.0	12.0	11.0	12.0	11.0	(13.0 DNC)	13.0 DNC	13.0 DNC	96.0	83.0