48 Optimist sailors and their families from throughout Southern
California descended on Santa Barbara for the 3rd annual
Goblin Optimist Regatta. The two-day event was hosted by
Santa Barbara Yacht Club and the Santa Barbara Youth Sailing
Foundation on the weekend of October 23-24.
28 sailors ranging in age from 9-13 participated in the
Championship Fleet on the ocean waters just south of the
entrance to the Santa Barbara Harbor. Saturday's conditions
were relatively mild ranging from 6-10 knots most of the
day. Quinn Wilson (SBYC) found the conditions much to his
liking leading the Fleet wire-to-wire with finishes of 2-1-1-1.
Cooper Weitz of CalYC, despite being a good 25 lbs. heavier,
used good starts, conservative tactics and exceptional downwind
speed to keep himself in contention for the overall title
with finishes of 1-2-2-2.
Sunday's conditions weren't quite as benign as racing started
on time in 12 knots with puffs into the upper teens. As
the breeze continued to build, there was a role reversal
at the top of the leader board with Cooper Weitz taking
control of the day. Despite finishes of 2-1-1 on the day,
Cooper fell just short of passing Quinn Wilson for the regatta
lead and finished second on a tie-breaker. Quinn worked
hard in the big breeze and held off his fast-charging nemesis
with a 1-3-3 on the day.
While the leaders battled it out at the front of the pack,
the younger, smaller and less experienced sailors had their
hands full in the building breeze. With winds for the third
race now at 20 knots sustained and puffs to 25, capsizes
and retirements were the order of the day. Only 12 of the
28 entered boats finished the final race of the regatta.
Race organizers had the latitude to start another race,
but safety had become paramount and the principal race officer
wisely called racing for the day.
While more focused on participation and learning than results,
Frankie Doyle of Santa Barbara the Green (novice) fleet
had an excellent event with all top-5 finishes and three
"bullets" over seven races. The Green Fleet had
the opportunity to experience both open ocean and protected
waters as the race committee smartly moved the course to
accommodate conditions and logistics.
At prize giving, all Green Fleet sailors received small
pumpkins as participation awards and top finishers received
larger pumpkins to take home and enjoy. Appropriately goblin-esque
prizes were awarded to the top finishers in the Championship
Fleet as well.
Overall:
1. Quinn Wilson (SBYC)
2. Cooper Weitz (CalYC)
3. Frank Dair (CalYC)
Top Girl:
1. Jessica McJones (CBYC)
Red Fleet (ages 13-14):
1. Quinn Wilson (SBYC)
2. Cooper Weitz (CalYC)
3. Christophe Killian (Balboa YC)
Blue Fleet (ages 11-12):
1. Frank Dair (CalYC)
2. Lucas Pierce (SBYC)
3. William Line (CalYC)
White Fleet (ages 9-10):
1. Cameron Feves (CBYC)
2. Gavin McJones (CBYC)
3. Patch Curtis (SBYC)
Results
