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Five Oh! A 505 report from anarchist Erik Boothe. Thanks to Beachmaster Photography for the shot. Enjoy.
This year's Midwinters in St. Petersburg, FL saw an increased turnout of 18 boats, even despite the wreckage of 2 transmissions! Boats started arriving as soon as Wednesday to practice at the site and get their share of the warmer temperatures. A lingering high pressure system kept the conditions moderate on Wednesday through the first racing day of Friday. Waking up Friday it was a bit chilly but expected to warm significantly with light winds. With the weather forecast our leaders (Lin Robson and Ethan Bixby) made the call to take the short sail into the Gulf of Mexico. This proved to be an excellent call because the sailing venue was directly off the beaches. Sailing under the St. Pete Beach draw bridge on the way to the Gulf is always exciting. Fortunately no one lost wind pennants or rubbed the concrete pilings. Usually it entails one boat edging another on to be the first one under to see if they make it. Race 1 proved very challenging and bit like gambling as the wind had not yet settled into its predicted direction. A few 40 degree shifts later Macy Nelson with Dustin Romey bested the fleet to take the bullet. Races 2-4 were completed in a light to moderate South East wind with small oscillations. Congratulations to Ben Moon and Nick Nelson for winning a race also, despite a hasty duct tape patch in their spinnaker after the first race. In fact, all weekend the Nelson family was battling it out for bragging rights. Friday night we had a delicious catered dinner at the yacht club. Afterwards it was great to try and convince the bouncer at our local pub that Nick Nelson was truly 21 without ID and Henry Amthor was his father that could vouch for him (no luck: relax Pops Nelson). Saturday everyone awoke to a cool morning with a cold front expected early in the afternoon. With the forecast in mind, the decision was made to sail inside the bay and not risk getting stuck in the Gulf with bad weather. A fast building breeze made racing interesting for the fleet. By the third race gusts were in the mid twenties with some great wire running. The gusts were so quick to hit the water that quite a lot of boats capsized downwind. Personally, I think the speed of those downwinds rivals any other downwind experience I have had on a 505. Two boats broke masts due to breakdowns (a swage failure in a shroud and an obsolete topping lift exit were the causes) and the most amazing new 505 technique was introduced: Sterge Papadakis and Mike Renda somehow developed a perfectly circular hole about 5 inches in diameter in the forward bulkhead (FYI: don't forget the inspection ports… they ARE necessary). Sailing from behind, I saw two sailors waist deep in water with only a mast above the water sailing upwind. Once I caught my breath from laughing I cheered them on to make it to the beach (check the pictures of the weekend to see evidence). The annual barbeque brought from Colorado is second to none. However two transmissions decided to quit on the way to sunny Florida. The first was Mike Breton and the second was our barbeque master extraordinaire, the king of sauces, a really great guy to know, ladies and gentlemen the one and only Mark Angliss. Being a determined man with 84 pounds of frozen meat, sauce, salmon and beans in his 505, he pushed his truck all the way to Florida just in time to feed the fleet Saturday night. Thanks Mark, it wouldn't be the same without you. Rolling into Sunday the weather did not cooperate. Cold temperatures (Florida gets colder than 40 degrees?) and gusts to the mid thirties convinced everyone it was better to get on the road. Overall, Ethan Bixby with Erik Boothe won the event. The brothers' combo of Amthor and Amthor (Henry and Doug) took second. Third were Ben Moon and Nick Nelson (beating out the senior Nelson boat by six points). Furthest traveled were a pair of Aussies from Brisbane, Earl Alexander and Ian Gregg. Thanks for coming, we hope you enjoyed yourselves. Thanks to the boys at Ronstan, Ben and Pete for all the donations and great laughs. Again thanks to Mark for the BBQ. Muchas gracias to Mama Bixby for your patience with a bunch of sailors: thanks Trudy. As always Dave Ellis ran a great regatta with the help of the Beardsley's power boat. Last but no means least, thanks Ethan and Lin for everything you do for the class and for running another fabulous event. Cheers, Erik Boothe 02/21/06 |
