2010 Orange Bowl Regatta, hosted by Coconut Grove Sailing
Club, Coral Reef Yacht Club and Biscayne Bay Yacht Club
in Miami Florida attracts upwards of 500 sailors each year.
It is the biggest youth event in the US, and if you're looking
for warm weather, great wind, and tough competition, it's
the place to be. Stephen and Matt Long, sailing in the Laser
Radial Class, Tucker Atterbury and Jack Jorgenson (ABYC)
sailing in the C420 Class, and Savanna Brown and I, also
in the C420's, made the journey to Florida leaving on Christmas
morning.
The first day of the regatta, Boxing Day, was intended as
a practice day, and a day to prepare yourself and your boat.
However, a huge cold front, paired with a 25+ knot breeze
made most competitors stay ashore, and make use of their
time by polishing hulls, tuning rigs, preparing sails, and
eating french fries. Our coaches, provided by the CISA Foundation,
recommended that we stay on shore to conserve energy, and
confidence for racing. None of us from Santa Barbara made
the choice to go sailing that day, however I was able to
hitch a ride from one of our coaches, and watch some sailors
push speed records as well as witness some epic flips, wipeouts,
and deathrolls out on the Biscayne Bay.
The next day, the first day of racing, was not much different.
The cold front stayed put, and had no trouble blowing a
twenty-to-thirty knot breeze across the bay, as well as
making sure that the temperature did not rise above 50 degrees
for the remainder of its stay. The racing was awesome. Big
breeze is nothing we're not used to here in Santa Barbara,
and everyone seemed to do their best in the heavy air. For
us West Coasters, all wearing bright red pinnies bearing
the CISA insignia it was clear that we much faster than
our East Coast adversaries. For the 420's and Lasers alike,
this meant non stop planing, a soaking cold crew and skipper,
and downwind speeds too fast for photographers to snap any
pictures of us.
In the three more race days following that, the now infamous
cold front had left, and to fill its place were light winds.
The second day or racing yielded three solid races, and
the following two days supported one race each for the 420's.
With the light winds, the focus of racing shifted from the
going fast, staying upright strategy to calling the shifts,
and staying in the wind. (If any.) Often times these conditions
can be the most challenging. But everyone kept their cool,
and stayed on top of their game.
In the end, everyone had raced well. Stephen and Matt Long
placed 14th and 72nd respectively in the 139 boat Radial
Fleet. Savanna Brown, and I placed 42nd in the 104 boat
420 fleet. Tucker Atterbury and Jack Jorgenson placed 16th
in the 420 fleet, after sailing a race under Black Flag,
and being unable to discard the race. In hindsight, Tucker
and Jack concluded through advanced logic and mental subtraction
that if they had been able to throw out their bad race,
they would have placed second in the regatta. All in all,
everyone had a great experience at the orange bowl, and
we're exited to come back next year, and accomplish better
results, and hopefully bring more Santa Barbarians with
us to Miami in 2011.
-Newt Cutcliffe
Matt Long finished 72nd and Stephen Long finished 14th out
of 139 international competitors in Laser Radials at the
prestigious Orange Bowl Regatta in the waters of Key Biscayne,
Florida . The regatta was held at the Coral Reef Yacht Club
in Coconut Grove , Florida . Four days of racing from December
27th- 30th in winds ranging from 0 to 20 + knots. Thanks
to CISA for sending a coach and helping with some of the
costs for some of the southern California sailors. Also
a special thank you goes out to Adam Rossi for all his efforts
in getting boats, lodging, transportation, providing local
knowledge and a support boat for on the water at the event.
Adam was on the water everyday working with the CISA coach
to make sure all of the southern California competitors
had adequate food, water, clothing, spare parts, tools,
and a ride to and from the race course which was about three
miles out from the yacht club docks. Adam's daughter Annie
was the third place girl in the Laser Radial class.
-John Long
Results
Tim
Wilkes (Professional) Event Photos
SBYSF
Participant Photos
