Category Archives: Photos

JUNE Sail Division UPDATE

It seems fitting that our June report would appear on the summer solstice with the surprising monsoon clouds pouring in from the east. Did someone just flip the summer switch?

I’ve been absent most the month but it appears lots of good vibes are happening on our pond. The following is an update thanks to the numerous contributions of club members.

Cultivating interest in our hobby is something all of us should be excited about. Sailing is challenging, engaging and fun. It also helps build and sustain our hobby and club. Here is an experience Ben Reeve had to share. It puts a smile on my face!

Hey Skippers,
Just a happy little story from today…
Sharing your controller with a visitor at the pond can be a very rewarding and heartfelt experience.  Today, between races, I overheard someone asking some questions of a skipper who had just taken his boat out of the water.  I had just finished a practice race and went over to offer my controller to the Mom, and her two kids.  They had driven by and stopped on their way to the airport to see what we were doing and were getting ready to leave back to Colorado.  
I handed my controller to Delaney who I found out actually had a little sailing knowledge sailing her very own 18’ day sailor on the lake in CO.  She took to the IOM very well, and here’s a photograph of how she felt about it.
As you can see, she’s all smiles and was having a fantastic time.  After a few moments of getting used to the controls she even started a race, with me coaching and did pretty well. Her brother Evan was on a DF95 shortly after this with another skipper handing over the controller.  Both were all smiles in no time.  They didn’t have much time, but after about 30mins we shook hands with Mom and Evan, and I got a little hug from Delaney for making her day.  It’s safe to say she is hooked on RC sailing! 
SO PLEASE – when someone asks questions, take a moment and share our joys and passion of the sport.  Pretty soon these two will be back, and you can bet they will be hard to beat!  
Wishing you all good winds! 
Ben 

SAILING POINTS FOR JUNE

A Note From our Vice Commodore of Sail, Bob Williams:

We have 15 more Pts Races this year and we NEED to fill the following schedule. If you volunteer for a particular date & you cannot make that date it is your responsibility to find a substitute & notify VCS Bob! It is obvious that sailors do not want to get the skiff out to set & pick up marks.If you are not comfortable about doing this , ask for assistance as I am sure others will help you!! If not, I will appoint you some help! Please email me your volunteer RD dates

Thank you, Bob!

July 2 -Sol50,ODOM , S/B

July 23 -DF95, IOM

Aug.6 -ODOM,Sol50,S/B

Aug.13 DF95 Fun Regatta

Aug.20- DF95,IOM

Sept.3 Sol50,ODOM, S/B

Sept.10- DF95,IOM

Oct. 1- ODOM,Sol50, S/B

Oct. 8- IOM Fun Regatta

Oct. 15-DF95,IOM

Nov.5- Sol50,ODOM, S/B

Nov.19-IOM,DF95

Dec.3- ODOM,Sol50,S/B

Dec.10-DF95,IOM

Dec.17-Holiday Lights

2022 Midseason Cumulative Points Update

Thanks to our score keeper, Ken Campbell, posted are cumulative points for active fleets in Sail Division. Club Points Regattas are conducted two Saturdays a month. This year we have skippers sailing DF95, IOM, SOLING 50 and ODOM class RC sailboats on Mission Bay Yacht Model Pond. If you are interested in joining the regatta activity, it’s not too late to get in on the fun.

See You At the Pond, Gil

May 21- IOM & DF95 Points

Cool weather, thick stratus and spring time eddy breezes were the dominant forces at our sailing pond today with IOM and DF 95 skippers navigating the highly variable aquatic landscape!

VC Bob Williams motivated todays enthusiastic team of RD’s and support team. Our group expresses genuine appreciation to Kerim Baran, Ken Wild and Steve Delva for RD duties and course setting. Ken Campbell’s Racing Rules Clinic/Score keeper and  Bill Bridge and numerous other hands assisted with clean up!

We had a respectable showing of eight IOM skippers. Plus a generous showing in the DF 95 fleet, with twenty boats challenging the starting line. Thank you to all that participated!

Sailing Rules Clinic – Starboard vs. Port & Tacking
IOM Races 1 to 6 (#1,2,3,6 from the start/finish line, #3,4,5,6 from drone)
DF 95 Starting Action

After a strenuous day of sailing skippers were treated to another great hotdog bbq at the boat shed. Thank you Bob Williams for another fun day at the pond!

Smooth Sailing!

May 7, 2022-Soling 50 & ODOM Points Racing

May is here! Gray is here! But spring breezes are beginning to frequent our Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond with skippers continually challenged to our tricky sailing conditions. Five Soling and Six ODOM racers greeted the opportunity to test their patience and skills.

Ken- Pre Race Tuning
Micro knots and magnifying glasses for this task!
Ken Campbell- Rules Clinic
RACE DIRECTOR- Tom Warren

A Special Thank You to our volunteers! Without you our day on the pond would not be the same!

Tom Warren-Race Director

Steve Ross- Assistant Scoring

Ben Reeve- Purser

Ken Campbell- Racing Rules Clinic & Scoring

Kerim Baran- Drone and Clean Up

Bob Williams- VC Sail and Hot Dog Man

SPECIAL NOTE:

NEXT SATURDAY, MAY 14th IS THE SOLING 50 FUN DAY REGATTA.

SEE YOU AT THE POND!

ODOM and Soling 50- April Points

Grey overcast. Temperature hovering around 60 degrees. Light 3-7 SW winds early. Shifting right slightly as the day progressed. These are the conditions our pond sailors experienced this Saturday. Not exactly ice fishing weather, but a warming hut may have been welcomed by a few crew members.

Ben Reeve, our volunteer RD for the ODOM Class, set a standard mark/course arrangement. Bens row boat etiquette is definitely improving! Steve Ross was scoring the slow motion action while Pat Nevitt monitored mark rounding’s. Ben passed the RD baton to Karim Baran, who managed the Soling 50 races. Thank You to all helpers.

Before the skippers meeting Ken Campbell reviewed barging at the starting line and ways to avoid getting trapped between the pin and other boats. Kerim Baran documented the seminar for the benefit of all.

BARGING and Thinking Ahead

We had six ODOMs and four Soling 50’s each making 6 appearances at the starting gate. Here are the results:

Videos from today’s Soling 50 races:

(All 6 races are captured in one video. The first 3 were shot from the sidelines, the last 3 from the drone.)

The peanut gallery is alive and well!

Don’t forget to order your hats and t-shirts! Bob Williams is eager to take your order.

A Closing note from Ben Reeve:

“In 2022 we’re all quite aware of basically everyone having a camera in there phone and I see many people taking pictures and would really love to see some of those photos shared with the membership.  Here I am providing some of the vintage photos I have taken recently.  Vintage in that I have used several cameras that are 40 to 100 years old recently at the pond.  These are unedited negatives scans straight from the camera. Enjoy and don’t forget to share your photos.” All contributions are welcome and appreciated!

Sooth Sailing, Gil

MAR19 IOM & DF95 Points

March was an active month on our pond with three consecutive weekends of sailing events! Thank You, to all that participated!

The month wraps up with IOM and DF95 fleets, with a competitive day of sailing. Winds were  favorable all day and each fleet easy completed a series of six races.

Prior to racing and our skippers meeting Ken Campbell conducted a 10 minute discussion with the topics When do the Rules Apply and Proper Hailing. Hailing is a subject all skippers are aware of, but challenged to initiate, while engaged on the water. There were numerous questions and clarifications during this seminar. The challenge to all is taking the knowledge to the race course. Kerim documented the class:

When do the Rules Apply
Proper Hailing

Before the races, Commodore Mark Hallberg recognized volunteers by handing out cash awards to those who routinely contribute to club activities. This was a huge incentive to get involved with our club. Don’t spend your dividends all in one place!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

IOM’s were on the course at noon, greeted by southwest winds in the 6-8mph range. Medium courses were the norm. As the day progressed and the IOM’s had a few races under their belt, winds shifted right for a little variation. Nice conditions!

The fleet of twelve DF95 started their series of six races with slightly freshening wind conditions and competitive racing. Chris Stager is back on the Argonauts sailing circuit with years of RC racing experience. It’s great to see the level of competition continue to grow!

At the end of the day Bob Williams, on his 80th Birthday, fired up the grill and served delicious hot dogs. Happy Birthday Bob.. Thank you for all you do!

IOM’s Video 1 of 16:  (Automatically continues to the next video, or click next arrow)

VOLUNTEERS MAKE THESE EVENTS POSSIBLE-SMOOTH-AND FUN!

THANK YOU TO ALL THAT CONTRIBUTED TODAY:

Bill Bridge – Skiff and Mark Prep

Ken Campbell – Rules Seminars & Points Scoring

Ben Reeve – Registration & Collections

Kerim Baran – IOM RD and Drone Video Documentarian

Gil Jansky – Course Marks / RD DF95 series

Commodore, Mark Hallberg – Assistant RD and Scoring

VC Sail, Bob Williams – Grill Master

Keith Sternal – Skiff Clean-Up

Smooth Sailing, Gil

FIRST ANNUAL ODOM BURNT HOT DOG FUN RACE

BBQ Chef, Bob & the prize!

The First Annual ODOM Burnt Hot Dog Fun Race was attended by 7 eager skippers with intentions of capturing the illusive perpetual award. Kim Robbins set an excellent course. Ben Reeve our RD extraordinaire managed a total of 12 races with 2 throw-outs, in fairly consistent winds. An active and festive “peanut gallery” had a great time watching and commenting on the races.  Was that Irish music I heard playing pond side?? Everyone seemed to be having a really good time!

Congratulations Ken Campbell- Nice Sailing!

After a fun day on the water Bob Williams fired up the grill as skippers enjoyed hot dogs and great camaraderie!

Various segments from Races 7 through 12 captured in a series of 15 videos from Kerim

We thank all our volunteers that consistently lend a hand to the various activities that support our club. Your dedication is appreciated!

DF95 & IOM-February Points

Twelve DF95 and five IOM Skippers closed out February points racing with delightful sailing conditions. Newbie RD Gil and seasoned score keeper Bill Bridge were the days event managers. 

The 95 fleet was on the course just after noon with a nice WNW breeze in the 6-8 mph range. As the afternoon progressed the wind range increased at the same time predictability decreased. Shifty and gusty! 95 skippers made the best of it with 6 fun races.

Our fleet of five IOM’s had their turn on the pond with winds continuing to pulse. Skippers experienced gusts and occasional speedy bow down conditions to light and variable drifty areas of water. Some refer to it as a  “crap shoot”! Observing the best skippers consistently score high in these conditions it appears there is more than just luck! Keep working.

After a fun day of sailing VC Bob Williams fired up our new grill that was generously donated by Steve Delva. Bob experimented with a new blackened hot dog recipe, that was not fully approved by Julia Child; but turned out to be wildly acknowledged by all attendees! Bob also presented beautiful hand made trophies to Bill Bridge, Ben Reeve and Gil Jansky for their recent volunteer efforts. Thank you Bob!

A fun day indeed.. Bring on March!

2022 IOM Midwinters Regatta- Final Day

Sunday morning on the Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond found skippers is quiet contemplation and focused trimming and tuning for the final day of the IOM Midwinters Regatta in San Diego. The pond waters were still as skippers shared ideas and tuning techniques among their friends and competitors. This class has a truly a collaborative group of skippers, which continues to raise and inspire a higher level of sailing.

Sea breezes begin to freshen as Fred Rocha calls a 10:30 am Skippers Meeting. “C” fleet is on the course for a 10:45 am start and another perfect day of pond sailing!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS!

Congratulation! Mark Gollison- 1st Place
Jess Atkinson- 2nd Place
Gary Boell- 3rd Place
George Pedrick- 4th Place
Christian Plaza- 5th Place
Gene Harris- FAIR PLAYER AWARD
Various segments from Races 15A, 16C, 16B, 18A

Special appreciation go to our dedicated IOM sailors that attended this years annual Midwinters Regatta in San Diego. Without your passionate interest and participation in this unique sport and hobby, our pond culture would not be the same. Good Luck in future regattas and see you next year!

This event was made possible by unconditional support from club volunteers: Kim Robbins, Bill Bridge, Ben Reeve, Commodore, Mark Hallberg, Dennis Rogers and Kerim Baran. Each one added a special contribution to make this a great event. VC of Sail, Bob Williams, has been a driving force to our club success.. NICE JOB!

Last but not least.. The man with all the energy and enthusiasm for our sailing addiction, Fred Rocha!! We could not do this without your genuine drive and passion! YOU ARE AMAZING.. Thank You!

SMOOTH SAILING, Gil

2022 IOM Midwinters Regatta-San Diego, Day 2

Our pond was greeted by a beautiful sunny morning, relaxing offshore flow and early prevailing NW breeze. Not to be argued with in the middle of February! Good sailing was abundant throughout the day with C fleet hitting the water at 11AM and A fleet ending the day while the sky was turning sunset orange. Thank you Fred Rocha for the tight rounds!

DAY 2 IOM MIDWINTERS-SCORES
ALL CLEAR

Special Thanks to Kerim Baran for spectacular drone footage.

segments from Races 7C, 7B, 7A, 8C. Captured in a series of 8 videos

2022 IOM Midwinters Regatta-San Diego, Day 1

The San Diego Argonauts launched their three day IOM Midwinters Regatta with twenty six eager skippers and perfect perfect summer-like weather on Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond. Water level was a bit skinny due to recent maintenance and shoreline work, so our fleet was divided into 3 heats in order to avoid traffic issues. Sea breezes freshened by mid day with increasingly challenging shifts as the day progressed. Fred Rocha, master organizer and RD extraordinaire directed a full day of sailing for all!

3-2-1 LAUNCH
OFF ON THE FIRST WEATHER LEG
FRED!
DOWN WIND LEG
JESS ATKINSON-NICE FIRST DAY.. GOOD LUCK TOMORROW!
FEBRUARY 18, 19 and 20

Conditions are looking favorable for another great day of sailing tomorrow! Smooth Sailing..