Today skippers were greeted to 5-8 mph breezes and warm sunny skies. A nice respite from the many days of rain and cool weather we have been experiencing.
Sean O’Connor, our IOM RD, has mastered the skiff, oars and and mark setting. We truly appreciate each volunteer and are eager to train others. Bob Williams stepped up and managed the DF95 races. Thank You Bob!
Thank You Kerim Baran for todays drone footage..
Thank You Pat Nevitt for prompt score cards! I hope that rudder servo is ready for action next week!
ATTENTION IOM & DF95 SKIPPERS
Saturday, March 25 is a make up race for our February rain out.
It seems as though a commonly used word at the pond this winter has been the word “COLD”! I believe most of us are pretty much done with it and ready for some warm spring weather. Light southwest winds and thick marine layer is how we started March 4 Points sailing. Luckily some sunshine provided subtle warming as the afternoon progressed.
VC Sail, Steve Ross cracked open the shed, greeted todays skippers and introduced our Race Director, Dennis Rogers. A non eventful skippers meeting was held and a fleet of 10 Soling 50 were on the clock, promptly at noon. Our medium courses was pretty much the norm. Larry Grant, a national Soling 50 champ showed us all how to navigate the race course. Nice sailing to all!
Special thanks to Pat Nevitt for expedited and accurate score cards. We all appreciate our updated scores!
Our ODOM fleet seems to be shrinking! Calling all ODOMS!! It is a long season and a big starting line . There is plenty of time to join in on the fun!
Special thanks to our volunteers Dennis Rogers, RD and Jason Brooks for assisting with marks, scoring and cleanup.. We could not do this without your help and commitment! Thank You!
MARCH EVENTS
March 11 – Soling Fun Day
March 18 – Points for IOM and DF95
March 25 – Make-up for DF95 and IOM (Feb. rain day make up)
A big thank you goes to Kim, Tom, Steve for assisting in volunteering as RD’s & helping out with the RD. duties. And thank you Ken for the racing results!
VCS, Bob!
Thank You Kerim Baran for documenting Ken Campbell’s Racing Rules Clinic:
The San Diego Argonauts also held an IOM Fun Regatta on October 8. I understand the event was a lot of fun, but lightly attended. I will post results and other information when they become available.
We had a nice turnout for both fleets. Eddy winds, everyones favorite (just kidding), was the theme for this Saturday’s DF95 & IOM points racing. Wind pulses, lulls and holes presented a veritable obstacle course that enabled all skippers opportunities and disappointments during their 6 race series. Thanks to all that participated!
DF95 Race Director- Greg Williams
IOM Race Director- Scott Harris
Prior to our racing schedule Ken Campbell offered up some useful tips on Windward Leeward Rights at the starting line and Proper Course at the weather mark, during his Racing Rules Seminar. Several followup questions on finish line right of way issues were also discussed. Thank you Ken.
Footage from this past weekend’s IOM Point Races captured in a series of 5 videos. Races 1,2, 4, 5, 6 were recorded. Race 4 was recorded partially (second upwind leg and beyond). Race 5 had some technical difficulties at the end. Thank You Karim for the extraordinary drone perspective!
The day ended with a fine Hot Dog BBQ prepared by, VC of Sail / Chef, Bob Williams. We all thank Bob for his ongoing support and enthusiasm for our passion of RC Sailing!
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!
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 TuningMicro knots and magnifying glasses for this task!
Ken Campbell- Rules ClinicRACE 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.
Partly cloudy and cool temperature day at the Pond. Winds mostly W & NW. Shifty and gusty day. With gusts reaching low teens, we had nine DF95s and five IOMs competing this Saturday.
Thank you Tom Warren and Jon Rogers for RD’ing the DF95s and IOMs and setting and clearing the course. And, thank you Bob Williams for running the BBQ and hot dogs post race! Thank you to everyone else who contributed in making this another beautiful day at the pond.
Before the races, we had a brief Racing Rules Clinic with Ken Campbell explaining the “Port vs. Starboard rules at the Windward Mark”.
The results and some select scenes for the DF95 and IOM races can be seen below.
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.
“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!
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
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 videosfrom Kerim
We thank all our volunteers that consistently lend a hand to the various activities that support our club. Your dedication is appreciated!
