Category Archives: Sail

January 18, 2025 Points Races- DF95 & IOM

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Fellow sailors,

Last week the ODOM’s & Soling 50’s opened their season with a bang but this week the bar was definitely raised by the DF 95’s & IOM’s! 21 DF 95’s and 11 IOM’s!

Craig Mackey certainly had his hands full as RD for the DF 95’s but he managed extremely well. Medium courses were the call for the day with the last heat being a long course finishing at the windward mark.

With 21 boats on the line, things did get a little congested at times and in general everyone played rather nicely together. BUT, with so many boats, the fight to not get buried in the second row saw several general recalls. Apparently there’s a lot of hair triggers fitted to numerous transmitters! :O

The RD was heard commenting that some skippers were just like naughty 4th graders! 🙂 Principal Mackey sure did make it clear that there would be none of that! No cane but out came the ‘Black Flag Rule’ with a total of 4 boats getting sent to the naughty corner between two races. I believe that may be an Argonauts record!

It was obvious that Jess Atkinson’s tuning clinic a couple of weeks ago has lifted the performance of the fleet in general with some extremely close racing.

It was great to see a few new faces and also to welcome some sailors back.

Enter the IOM’s with Kerim Baran doing a great job looking after RD duties for this quality fleet who didn’t seem to have the ’naughty kids’ in the mix? Competition in this fleet was super tight with some very interesting first mark rounding’s, with plenty of ducking and weaving. This didn’t change much around the entire race track with plenty of entertainment for the ‘peanut gallery’.

Congrats. to the place getters and to everyone who came out to the pond to ‘do what we do’. If the first two weekends of racing are a sign of what’s to come ahead in the season it’s going to be one Krakka of a year!

Thanks also to Bill Bridge, David Stong and Chris Staiger for pulling the buoys and packing away the dinghy.

Next week is practice day so ‘bring what ya got!’

See you at the pond! 🙂

Regards, Chris

Sending Fair Winds & Calm Seas to Kim Robbins.

We all send best wishes for a speedy and healthy recovery to Kim. We miss you on the pond!

January 2025- ODOM & Soling 50 Points

Sail, ,

The season points opener did not disappoint!

The ODOM’s were first to kick off, with Chris Staiger sending 12 boats off on the standard medium course.  Jess Atkinson bolted from the blue in the first heat, but after turning the leeward mark with the finish in sight his winch servo decided it was not to be, thus ending Jess’s day. Not to let a chance go by, Pat Nevitt said thank you very much and opened his day up with a bullet.

The heats were very tightly contested and is was great to see Paul Hart lead the fleet on a couple of occasions showing that he’s certainly up for the fight. 🙂

As they say.. The cream floats to the top and both Gerry Wold & Kerim Baran were on their game with both skippers taking two wins and in the end finishing 1st & 2nd respectively.

Second cab off the rank was the Soling 50’s with Gil Jansky and Jason Brooks sharing RD duties and again setting the boats off on the standard medium course. Hughie (wind for us in SD) was indeed kind to us and provided a good breeze for the entire day, albeit a little shifty at times. 🙂

8 Soling’s competed and it was obvious right from the get go who was the one to beat. Chris Staiger in his green machine clocked up an impressive 5 bullets with Gerry Wold taking the last heat.

Again competition was very close and lead changes repetitive throughout the heats; with at times ‘the pond’ deciding who was going to fill which position at the end. Great to have such a good turn out and hopefully we’ll see the same in the coming months.

Thanks very much to Gil, Jason and Chris for helping get the marks in and boat put away.

This season we’re asking that one or two skippers from the last class racing on the day help out with this activity. A couple of extra hands sure do make light work of things... When you volunteer you show you care about your club!

Also, this season we will be applying one drop to the class heats and the scoring of DNF, DNS, Etc. will align with the current RRS using the Low Point System Appendix A5.3 as modified by our Sailing Instructions. Yes, you read correctly, Sailing Instructions.

Please note:

In a move to provide better transparency and information related to the organization and management of our sailing events to members and visitors , we have been working on a set of Sailing Instructions that will be made available to all in the coming weeks.

Next Week – DF 95 & IOM points races.

SEE YOU at THE POND, Chris

DF95 Tuning & Race Performance Clinic

Events, Photos, Sail,

Saturday Jan. 4 the San Diego Argonauts were honored to have Jess Atkinson conduct the 2025 DF95 Tuning & Race Performance Clinic. This is the first in a series of seminars designed to help with tuning and racing practice. In short, an effort to raise the bar of sailing in our pond..

Photo Courtesy, Ben Reeve

Jess started the clinic with a step-by-step setup procedure for the DF95, sharing race proven setting that will put your boat in perfect balance for speed on the race course. Skippers asked numerous detailed questions and it was apparent this was valuable information for even the seasoned R/C sailor. The group also included a new R/C Sailing member.. Welcome John!

After the tuning portion 16 eager skippers, with well tuned rigs, headed to the water for starting drill practice. The challenge.. a 30 second start clock. A tight starting line. A very short weather leg. Up and back as fast as you can. With NO touching other boats! You touch..two boats out.. A great drill! Now do that 25 times..

Jess also discussed numerous strategies to get the most out of your boat on the water, course positioning while racing, how to avoid getting in the tough spots and how to get out.. One of the final water practices was the 360 drill. Fast tacks and jibes to stay in the race even if you foul. A Fantastic Day! Thank You Jess!

Photo Courtesy, Ben Reeve
Special thanks to others that helped make this Tune Up Day happen:

Chris Davidson

Dennis Rodgers

Keith Sternal

Jason Brooks 

Chris Staiger

Jon Rogers

There’s an IOM Tuning and Race Performance Clinic on the calendar for Saturday, February 1.

Don’t miss this opportunity to tune up for the 2025 AMYA Region 8 Championship Regatta!

Smooth Sailing, Gil

December 14th Points: DF95 & IOM

Events, Sail, , , , ,

Zero to Ten… but mostly Zero from WNW. Those were the winds for the Argonauts’ final day of racing in 2024. While the day was sunny and pleasantly warm, sailing conditions were once again… fluky. The DF95’s went first with RD Ty Beach selecting mostly medium courses.

Next, it was the IOMs’ turn. RD Craig Mackey called medium courses, but ended with a short course to get the sailboats off the pond in time for the Scaler’s Christmas Parade of Lights.

November 16th Points… IOM & DF95

Events, Sail, , , , ,

Fall is here in San Diego! Temperatures in the mid-60’s, plenty of sun, but WEIRD winds. Plenty of breeze from (mostly) the west, but monster shifts and a few cavernous holes made for VERY tough sailing conditions. Gerry Wold was our Race Director Du Jour for both the IOM’s and the DF95’s. Gerry chose a combination of standard Medium and Long courses for both classes. Tacks and downwind lines were chosen at great peril. Often, skippers found themselves becalmed as boats sailed past them on both sides within a mere few feet!

2024 Argonaut Elections & November 2nd Points

Events, Sail, ,

CONGRATULATIONS to our new slate of Argonaut Officers for 2025!!! Commodore: Pat Nevitt VC Sail: Chris Davidson VC Scale: Kurt Sellen VC Power: Bill Bridge Purser: Gil Jansky Secretary: Kerim Baran

Welcome, Gentlemen!

Following the Voting, Jason Brooks RD’d the Soling Class for November Points in sunny, beautiful conditions… with paltry, southerly breezes. Severe shifts and massive holes were the order of the day as Jason selected a combination of medium and short courses:

After the break, Ty Beach took over to RD the Odom Fleet. The winds had increased somewhat and moved more westerly, but there were still some big shifts and holes to contend with. There were many lead changes and close finishes to delight the Peanut Gallery!