Thanks to Bob Williams who RD’d the IOM Fleet and Fred Rocha who RD’d the DF95’s! Also, a special Welcome Back to Paul Hart who proves you can’t keep a good Skipper down!




Thanks to Bob Williams who RD’d the IOM Fleet and Fred Rocha who RD’d the DF95’s! Also, a special Welcome Back to Paul Hart who proves you can’t keep a good Skipper down!
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:
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:
A healthy group of DF 95 skippers faired well today with no fowl weather and no fowl language.. Jess Atkinson was the master of ceremony and directed a full day of sailing on Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond. At stake today was winners rights to a booty of fresh fowl for the Thanksgiving table!
Prior to racing skippers gathered around Dennis Rogers for an informative tuning seminar. Dennis shared valuable setup and tuning tricks for the DF95. I think everyone learned something from the class..Dennis is FAST!
Jess got us all thinking about the four boat circle with four DF95 yachts parked bow too stern on the grass . The visualization gave us a good refresher on how to avoid problems when rounding the leeward mark. The stage was set and skippers were eager to bring home the bacon! Tom Warren backed up the class with expert assist at the start and finish. GREAT JOB!
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
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!
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
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.
I trust all Argonauts had a wonderful Thanksgiving.. We certainly have been experiencing exceptional fall weather!
This report comes as a lump sum-up of all activities for November, so lets dive right in. WE have elected new club officers, initiated annual registration with updated forms, called out to ALL Santa Barbara skippers for participation in 2022 sailing schedule and lots of sailing scores.
This looks like a great team for the Argonauts, for 2022, as we anticipate another fun year of pond activities. Our officers are important for our clubs direction and intentions but also need constructive support and input from all club members. Don’t be shy if you have a good idea that builds a stronger organization.
This is also the time of year for recruiting and sustaining membership. If you have friends interested in RC hobbies, related to our unique pond, please reach out to them. If you are already a member now is the time to refresh your dues. Ben Reeve, our new Purser, will be happy to take care of this matter. The updated membership and dues must be mailed or directly provided to Ben pond-side. If you would like to pay via PayPal please send Ben an email purser@sandiegoargonauts.com
Thanks to Bob Williams and Ben Reeve this was a fun event. Ben Reeve was the RD and documented the event with this brief:
Today was exceptionally fun day. Fifteen skippers showed up to race in unforgiving light winds from 3-6mph. Consistency was the name of game as it is most days. We attempted to get 12 races in, but after the 7th race we took a break to hope the wind would come back up. We were able to get another race in and then the skippers voted to call it a day. Which was a good idea as within minutes of that decision the pond went to a glassy smooth finish. Before I get to the finish order a big shout out to Bob Williams for doing a lot of work today to assist me, and another shout out to Kerim Baran for assisting us with the boat clean up and put away.
In some neighborhoods green leaves are turning to amber and pumpkins baked into pies. With the shorter days ahead we look forward to trick and treaters at our doorstep.
I am certain, most will agree we are “lucky puppies” to live in San Diego where we can play outdoors year round. In October offshore breezes are frequent callers to our pond and teeshirts will soon be replaced with sweatshirts. A little light rain we will weather. But snow and ice are only imagined here.. So we sail on with a smile!
Thank You to Ken Campbell for informative rules clinics, diligent monthly scoring and accumulated 2021 scores. Thank You Ben Reeve for many RD duties that make racing on our pond fun. Helpful hands are always appreciated!