What a fantastic regatta down in Punta Gorda. Art Hawes and company did a wonderful job of running the event and giving us some really great courses despite having to chase the wind a little. We had to move from one side of the lake after lunch on Saturday when the wind went North. Sunday the wind was stronger out of the North which gave us plenty of great racing on a much cooler and cloudier day. There was some really fun sailing with plenty of position changes and very little protesting. Not that is was all clean. Dick Hedderick stayed out of B-fleet to run away with the win. While Alan Perkins and I were duking it out for 2nd spot, we did not notice Jack Ward steadily moving up on us. Unfortunately for Jack he hit another boat and took out the forestay and retired from that race and redress went to the crashee. That stopped Jack's charge and kept me safe in second. Alan might have held onto 3rd if not for my own error in judgement that spun him around just at the start of one of the last heats. I did my turn as well as restarted for being OCS while Alan scrambled to make up ground. He stayed out of a trip to B-fleet but finished well back. Sorry Alan.
Other great performances came from Bill Brown, Mike Rodeheaver, Steve Pfeil, Jake Leo, and Al Dion who made a huge charge on Sunday with a number of bullets. Not sure if they kept track of it, but John Steacy had to have been the "bubble boy" for the weekend. He had a bunch of trips to B-fleet but never stayed there more than one race at a time.
1. Dick Hedderick (37)
2. Joe Water (58)
3. Jack Ward (64)
4. Alan Perking (67)
5. Steve Pfeil (74)
6. Bob Greer (76)
7. Fred Pfeil (79)
8. Jake Leo (89)
9. Al Dion (91)
10. John Steacy (107)
11. Bill Brown (152)
12. Dick Reinke (152)
13. Martin Gray (169)
14. Tom Phillips (174)
15. George Balachak)
16. John Stantoro (188)
17. Bud Elder (208)
18. Brian Engle (212)
19. Liz Perkins (213)
20. Mike Rodeheaver (223)
21. Tom Germer (236)
22. Brenda Pardee (239)
23. Don Thompson (252)
24. Jim Merello (264)
25. Jim Pardee
26. Larry Barnnon (310)
Again, thanks to Art, Jack, Mike and the rest of your Punta Gorda crew. Sorry it took me so long to get back down to sail with you guys. I was missing out on a lot of fun and I will be back next year for sure.
I want to wish Don Thompson a "Get Well Quick". He slipped on the dock and went head first into the lake with transmitter, phone and hearing aide. Not sure, but I think all three electronics are toast now. He did manage to dry off and get a back up radio to keep sailing. Later in the day he complained of chest pains and Doc Greer insisted he go to the hospital up the road to get checked out. Good new was his heart was fine, bad news was a cracked rib. Take care Don, you are a fighter.
Oh and congratulations to Dick Hedderick on his Region 7 Championship win. Stay out of the weeds next time.