All posts by William Staiger

About William Staiger

After careers in Engineering and Law, William ("Chris") Staiger is now on his 3rd career: Retirement. Chris has been designing, building and racing model yachts for over 45 years, but now enjoys doing so full-time. While being a recent transplant to San Diego he has been racing in Argonauts' events since 1980. Chris' wife, Dr. Pam Staiger (also recently-retired) is working on her 2nd careers as favorite aunt to a host of neices and nephews, and a clarinetist with several local symphony orchestras. Together, they enjoy cycling, swimming, classical concerts, and activities with their church.

June 8th Points…

Clouds and Southerly winds greeted the DF95 Fleet as Point races began. Lots of shifts, holes and lead-changes were the order of the day as RD Jason Brooks chose courses to fit the conditions.

The winds picked up a bit, filled in and moved more westerly by the time the IOM‘s took to the pond. Racing was extremely tight as the fleet remained bunched throughout most of the heats. There were many lead changes; many occurring on the final leg!

June 1st Points: Odom & Soling 50

The ‘May Grey‘ is gone! But a bit of ‘June Gloom‘ lingered early in the day as the Odom Fleet began their monthly Points Races in strong yet shifty westerly winds. Thanks to RD David Stong who took charge of both Fleets, set the marks, called the courses and took the results:

For the Soling 50‘s, the winds slackened a bit but the sun cut through for a classic golden-blue San Diego spring afternoon!

Fun! Sun! Hot Dogs! WAR!!!!

Perfect weather for the DF95 Fun Regatta! Plenty of sun and 10 knot westerly (mostly) winds! For the first time in (recorded) history, the Argonauts engaged in Team Racing. Team Captains Kerim Baran and Dennis Rogers chose their respective squads from the skippers present and each was given a Red or Blue pennant to display at their masthead. Standard Racing Rules were used with the following changes: 1) 2-Boatlength Circles, 2) No ‘Proper Course’ restrictions after passing marks, and 3) No penalty for fouling Teammates. Since scores were aggregated for each Team, individual finishes were not as important as helping Teammates who were trying to hold off competitors. This resulted in numerous examples of Teammates intentionally slowing down or maneuvering to ‘gang-up’ on vulnerable opponents! Lots of dicey crosses, slam dunks, and luffing! Special thanks to our beloved ‘Dog-Meister’ Bob Williams who grilled all the Hot Dogs we could eat (and then some…), and Ben Reeve for scoring the Regatta! Results below:

April 27 Points: DF95 & IOM

Beautiful, sunny weather with wonky winds! The Dragonflite95 Fleet began in moderate but shifty Southwest winds. Due to the direction, Starboard rounding courses were selected by RD Tom Warren. Though the winds filled a bit over time and veered slightly more westerly, there were some big holes and massive shifts. There were many lead changes, but lawyers took the top two spots with Scotty Harris carrying the day by winning half the races:

Next it was the IOM’s turn and strengthening westerly winds allowed a return to our traditional Port Roundings. RD Chris Staiger ran a combination of Medium and Long courses. Dennis Rogers dominated the fleet of eleven IOM’s; missing a perfect score of “6”‘ by a single point. Results follow:

DF95 R-8 Final Results:

CONGRATULATIONS to Mark Golison, the 2024 Region 8 Dragonflite95 Champion! Racing was extremely close with 2 of the top 5 positions being decided via tie-breaks. Thanks to our Race Committee Members who worked so hard to host this regatta and congratulations to our Corinthian Award Winner, Henry Johnson!

Video courtesy of Steve Ross & Kerim Baran:

April 6th Points

CARNAGE! Both on the Water and Off! Between damaged/malfunctioning boats and damaged infrastructure, we lost a number of ODOMs as well as a downed skipper (due to the collapsed concrete culvert in the control area: Get healed up, Paul!) Despite this, the conditions were beautiful with sunny skies, mild temperatures and good westerly winds. Chris Staiger RD’d the ODOM Fleet with Results below:

Following the ODOMs, the winds moved a bit southerly and became a little more shifty but didn’t slacken much. Gil Jansky RD’d the Soling 50 Fleet where racing was tight and lead changes were common. Overall, great day for Racing (and Gremlins…)

REMINDER: The Dragonflite95 Region 8 Championships are only TWO WEEKS AWAY!!! Get your Entries in! (see below)

March 16th Points

Light southerly winds greeted the IOM fleet as Point racing began today. RD Ben Reeve utilized several course options from Medium to Long to mix things up until the winds filled and moved more westerly.

Thanks to Kerim Baran for the Drone Footage!

DF95’s were next. Winds filled to over 7 knots and moved near true West by the time the DF95’s turn came. Again, RD Ben Reeve called Medium, Long and ‘Reverse Short’ (Yes: downwind start to a leeward gate…) courses resulting in tight racing with many lead changes.