- Local News for Southern Sailors - November 2001 Next Story
Big fleet, bigger breeze at Bradenton regatta
By Doran Cushing
The Bradenton Yacht Club's annual regatta traditionally marks the opening of the fall racing season around Tampa Bay, and this year's edition kicked off the schedule with gusto. With winds in the mid-teens on Saturday and ranging over 20 knots Sunday, the 78-boat fleet and some 400 sailors had their hands full.
 
Blaise Pierson, who posted three consecutive first-place finishes in Non-spinnaker Division B, couldn't have been happier with his crew's performance, but the sailing conditions tested the sails.
"It was perfect. Any time you get three bullets, how could it be anything else." He added, "Yesterday we blew up two plastic headsails and today we had winds steadily over 20 knots."
Racing in the closely contested Melges 24 fleet, sailmaker Doug Fisher of Sarasota took top honors with a 2-1-1 record and characterized the windy weekend as "lots of fun."
Tied for the class lead going into the final race, Fisher's team rallied from a mid-pack position early in the race to win the race and the three-race series for the one-design fleet of lightweight sportboats.
"We worked for everything we got today," Fisher said. "It's a very competitive class and you find out how good a sailor you are. You get better sailing in this class."
Race chairman Bob Miller's job was made easier by the sailing conditions, which had most of the sailors smiling despite an assortment of damaged sails and at least one collision.
"The event was very, very successful, with major support from Carson Yacht Brokers," Miller said. "We were up about ten percent in entries from last year."
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Matching Pierson's perfect record aboard Midnight Sun were Mark Wesson's Escapade in Non-spinnaker A, Harvey Ford's Wildkat in Spinnaker B, and George Vazquez's Eagle in the True Cruising division. Other division winners included Storyville in Spinnaker A, Mad Cow in Spinnaker C, and tri Southwinds in FOMA multihulls.
The two-day event provided races around buoy or government navigational aids on lower Tampa Bay just south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The regatta was also the opening event for the West Florida PHRF boat of the year series, which continued Oct. 27-28 at the Clearwater Challenge in the Gulf of Mexico, hosted by the Clearwater Yacht Club.
Bradenton Yacht Club Kickoff Regatta on Tampa Bay Sept. 29-30 Spinnaker A 1. Storyville 4; 2. Solar Express 8; 3. Desperado 9; 4. Tripp Tease 16; 5. Fire & Ice 18; 6. Twisted Fate 25; 7. Daring 25; 8. Blaze 26; 9. Hoo-Kini 27; 10. Pocket Rocket 28; 11. Tack Tic 31; 12. Cats Meow 36; 13. Rasta Dog 37; 14. Marisol 41 Spinnaker B 1. Wildkat 3; 2. Instant Karma 9; 3. Nancy's J 12; 4. Nighthawk 13; 5. Semper Fi 16; 6. Isis 20; 7. Salty Pause 22; 8. Mother Ocean 23; 9. Neptune 28; 10. Grrrr 30; 11. Sloop de Ville 32 Spinnaker C 1. Mad Cow 6; 2. Barbara Rush 7; 3. Heart of Gold 8; 4. Changes N' Latitude 11; 5. Pistarkle 16; 6. Bedrbe 17; 7. Eclipse 19; 8. Rocket 25; 9. Squirrel Chaser 28; 10. Latitude 32 Non-Spinnaker A 1. Escapade 3; 2. Wind Caller 6; 3. Grand Illusion 9; 4. Special K 13; 5. Intrepid 16; 6. Bel Esprit 18; 7. Addiction 25; 8. Temptress 28 Non-Spinnaker B 1. Midnight Sun 3; 2. Flash 6; 3. Zephyr 12; 4. Sea Gypsy 13; 5. Shibumi 15; 6. Miller Time 19; 7. Some Fun 21; 8. Gotcha 25 Cruising (2 races) 1. Eagle 2; 2. Silver Lady 4; 3. Kitten 7; 4. Zig Zag 7; 5. Wild Ride 11; 6. Genesis 15; 7. White Zin 15; 8. Angelina 17; 9. Carambula 18 FOMA 1. tri Southwinds 4; ;2. Carin 7; 3. Lightning 8; 4. Windsplitter 13; 5. Firefly 25 17 Melges 24 1. Pollywog 4; 2. Hurricane 9; 3. Gang of Four 10; 4. Red Melges 12; 5. Gone Mad 14; 6. Pucker Factor 16; 7. Warp Speed 21 |
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