Herb Shear Invitational

Mission Bay, May 21-22, 2016. Results after 7 races (1 discard)

1. Doug Hart & Ryan Hopps, 9

2. Randy Lake & Maddy McGrath, 16

3. Seth Siegler & Jon Rogers, 21

4. Alex Comet & Erika Dale, 23

5. Don Bedford & Treat Bedfors, 23

Report by Seth Siegler

The 2016 edition of the Herb Shear Invitational took place at Mission Bay Yacht Club this past weekend. Fleet veteran, Don Bedford kicked things off by recounting, a bit, about the life of the regatta’s namesake, who (along with Earl Elms) was essentially, the father of the modern snipe as we know it. Taking to the water with a fleet full of the latest evolutions (Jibe Techs, Perssons and a DB-R1) of the snipe that Shear and Elms dreamt up (Chubasco) in the epicenter of it all (San Diego) was a pretty cool feeling.

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As the racing kicked off on Saturday morning, we were treated to an ultra-shifty and patchy breeze that had eased off just before the first start. It was clear from the beginning that consistency would be key. Alex Comet and Erika Dale drew first blood with a solid win in the first race followed by Randy Lake and Maddy McGrath and Don and Treat Bedford in third.

Three races would follow, featuring a number of different teams making appearances in the top five including Doug Hart with Ryan Hopps, Seth Siegler (hey that’s me!) with Jon Rogers, Packy Davis / Julie Calvert, Bob Bowden / Gus Wirth and Chris Wright with Diana Waterbury. At the end of the day, Hart and Hopps rode three bullets to the top, followed by Lake and McGrath and Jon and I in third. Scores were extremely tight through sixth place though.

Sunday brought a little more breeze than Saturday but the shifts and holes seemed to be even bigger. My old college coach used to tell us to “stay in the cheese” on days like this (imagining the course to be a slice of swiss cheese where we needed to avoid the holes) and it was everybody’s game plan. It was a day of going between hiking and crouched into the boat, and thinking you’re crossing by a mile and then suddenly having to decide between a duck and a lee-bow. Scores were too close to focus on just one opponent so staying fast, lifted and heading to the next puff was the name of the game.

Three races were ticked off though and at the end of the day, Hart and Hopps added two more wins to take home perpetual trophy for the second year in a row. Lake and McGrath followed in second and Jon and I claimed third place but it came down to the last part of the final beat in the final race. Comet and Dale ended up fourth with Don and Treat Bedford rounding out the top five.