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Harken Optimist Series
California Yacht Club, Marina del
Rey, March 7-8, 2009
The ramp up to the Optimist National Championships this summer
appears to have started in earnest as over 50 Opti sailors from
throughout the western United States descended on Marina del
Rey for the first of four events billed as the "Harken
Series". 52 boats competed in the two-day event hosted
by California Yacht Club on the weekend of March 7-8. 37 boats
sailed in the Championship Fleet and 15 in the Green Fleet.
Large contingents from both San Francisco and Los Angeles,
and other sailors/teams from Orange County, Santa Barbara,
Morro Bay and even Arizona, came to this event to begin ramping
up for the Nationals to be held at Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club
on July 23-26, 2009. The course was littered with coaches
and the boat park with briefs and debriefs as the importance
of the summer's activities became more apparent to even the
casual observer.
Conditions didn't exactly mimic those expected in July in
Long Beach, but the collection of sailors began to. Saturday's
long tow out to the ocean course was in a very light offshore
breeze. Shortly after noon, however, someone flipped the switch
and a 10-14 knot southerly quickly filled across the course
and held for the first two of four races scheduled for the
day. The notorious MdR chop built as the day went on. After
a short break for lunch, two more races were sailed as the
breeze dropped a bit to perhaps 8 knots. The chop did not.
White fleeter (10 and under) Lucas Pierce seemed to like
the moderating breeze on Saturday as his scoreline from the
first two races (23-26) improved considerably in the afternoon's
lighter winds (14-15) finishing the day 19th overall and positioned
4th in the White Fleet.
Dane and Quinn Wilson were mixing it up at the highly competitive
top-end of the fleet and, despite some relative inconsistency,
kept themselves in the hunt for both fleet and overall podium
finishes-both finishing the day well inside the top ten.
On the Green Fleet course inside the Marina del Rey basin
adjacent to CYC, Matthew Pierce had a strong showing on Saturday
with three bullets out of four races sailed amongst fifteen
entries.
Sunday saw some excellent and very tactical racing despite
the fact that the breeze never really found its legs. Racing
started in about four knots with flat seas and built to eight
as the day progressed. Dane, Quinn and Lucas all sailed better
than they did on Saturday and posted more consistent scores.
Awards were delayed by a couple of protest hearings until
almost six o'clock in the evening. The parents were lamenting
the long drives home, but the kids didn't seem to mind as
they found a football and kept themselves entertained for
quite a while.
After the dust had settled, Dane Wilson finished third overall
and second in Red Fleet (13 & 14 year olds); Quinn Wilson
finished seventh overall and third in Blue Fleet (11 &
12 year olds); and, Lucas Pierce moved up to 16th overall
and 3rd in White Fleet (10 and under).
Matthew Pierce finished strong and took home top honors in
the Green Fleet winning six of the eight races sailed.
Four Santa Barbara sailors, four podium finishes-not bad!
All of the boys received plush embroidered beach towels presented
by Ann Sanguinetti, wife of the late Bob Sanguinetti after
whom the regatta is named.
Championship
Fleet Results
Green
Fleet Results
Pictures
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