Write-Up
Seattle Frostbite #4 - USA, Sunday January 6th by Mark Ross / Kurt Hoehne
Another great day of frostbite sailing made for an excellent beginning of the 2019 sailing season and warm-up for Frigid Digit Regatta.
About 20 RS Aeros, 6 Lasers and a Vanguard enjoyed being tested by waves and 18mph winds (gusting over 20) for the first 5 races of the day. The wind settled down to about 8mph for the next 2 races and shifted from south to southwest.
Race Committee Dave Watt and Jay Leon, along with the help of Audrey Jacobs and Laura Smit, managed to run races while simultaneously assisting a few boats. Thank you RC, well done!! Kudos to the sailors for organising a rabbit start to get an 8th race going while the race committee towed a boat into the dock.
As usual, there were a mix of winners in the RS Aero fleet. With the likes of Carl Buchan, Jonathan McKee, Jay Renehan, Dalton Bergan and Dan Falk, the pointy end of the fleet remained pretty crowded.
The Vanguard, sailed by 3 competitive high school sailors were on the starting line with the Lasers and lead them to the finish in all but one race. We were pleased that some of the regular sailors used good judgement in sitting out the day, knowing that the strong wind, cold water and chilly temperatures might be a bit much. Always appreciate safety first.
Thanks to Carl Buchan for providing food for all as we re-energized from the days task.
[Ed- Carl, who races an RS Aero out of Seattle, crewed the USA's Flying Dutchman to Gold at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, where our RS Aero designer Jo Richards scored the Bronze]
The next RS Aero event in the Pacific Northwest is the 46th annual Frigid Digit Regatta from CYC Seattle on January 26/27. Seattle Frostbite #5 is on Sunday, February 24. Info on Seattle RS Aero & Laser frostbiting is
HERE.
Results