IOM and DF95 skippers finished the 2021 sailing season with a perfect fall day on our Mission Bay Model Yacht Pond. It looked like a good group of sailors considering the many commitments we navigate this close to the holidays. Thank You to all participants and volunteers that made this event possible.
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.
As premonitions of ghosting conditions for the Argonauts ODOM Halloween Regatta haunted anxious pond skippers, the sorcerers of wind cast a gloomy spell and weird circumstances of breathless conditions.. None the less, seven courageous skippers challenged the odds with radio, craft and wireless determination in an effort to outwit the demons of the pond!
WOW.. where did that come from?
Indeed, we were all challenged with extraordinary sailing conditions.
Thanks to Ken Campbell, who shared critical ODOM measurements and tuning advice, our skippers gathered greater insight to our boat rigging and tuning. Our support team: Ben Reeve, Pat Nevitt and Steve Ross. These guys made it happen! Open the shed, launch our trusty committee boat, set the marks, RC the racing, score the races, present trophies, pull the marks, clean the boat and hardware, lock her up! A huge round of appreciation for their efforts and service!
Our optimistic team had hoped for a twelve race regatta. Wind started out in the hopeful category and we actually managed to complete two long races in 6-8mph. Wind deteriorated as the day progressed and the medium course became the norm. By early afternoon we were sailing short and modified short (shorter weather leg) courses in wind speeds of 0-5mph. A drifter!
Despite the difficult sailing our top notch skippers managed to thrive and drive in the light winds. Congratulations to First Place winner Gerry Wold. Second Place Kerim Baran and Third Place Kim Robbins.
Ben Reeve has a clean green ODOM ready for racing action. He made the first start, but unfortunately due to electronic failure had to drop out. Our fleet looks forward to his future participation. Thank Ben for contributing the photos on the post.
Fellow tyrants. .. Don’t be silent.. Man your brooms and costumes. This Saturday is the ODOM HALLOWEEN REGATTA! The perfect seasonal opportunity that will either trick or treat your fellow pond pirates. Be prepared for abundant fun, without the bottle of rum!!
11:00AM- Ken Campbell will share his secrets about boat setup, tell tails, sail trim and other spooky strategy. South wind and fog could keep things creepy and interesting.
12:00AM- 5 MINUTE WARNING
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!
IOM and DF95 skippers enjoyed good breezes for our waning summer month of September. Lucky we are to have year round sailing on our pond! A special thank you to all participants and volunteers that contribute to the Argonauts success.
There was a slight calendar discrepancy between the combined Argonauts Pond Events and Sail Division calendar for July.
Here are the remaining events, for July, as they appear on the Sail Division calendar:
July 24th
11:30 Skippers Meeting
12:00 SOLING 50 SUMMER REGATTA
July 31st
11:00 Sail Clinic
12:00-16:00 OPEN WATER
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Soling 50 skippers.. The Soling 50 Summer Regatta is a great opportunity to tune up for Race-Week. Bring a lunch. Freddie is presenting trophies to the top three sailors.
REGISTRATION FOR RACE WEEK HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTL SUNDAY, JULY 25th.
There is still time to get signed up for a fun week of sailing competition. Registration is easy and fast on the AMYA website:
See You There, Gil
Just to the east of our little pond, by the wind graph above, you can see we had a typical summer day on Mission Bay. Then add resorts, pine trees, parking lots and other obstructions to the equation.. You get the idea.. This is a pretty challenging place to sail!
A HUGE Thank You and extended hand of appreciation to our Argonaut leadership. This would not be possible without them! Fred Rocha, Rob Wood, Bill Bridge, Sean O’Connor and our new interim secretary Al Waters. These are all volunteers pouring a tremendous amount of positive energy into OUR organization!
Argonaut CORINTHIAN SPIRT:
“It is such a pleasure to see a fleet of racers that are doing their best to enjoy these little boats and the racing. It is so cool that the few disagreements we have (mostly caused by the distance between us and our boats) are discussed and resolved with very little frustration. You all have a very special thing going. I would venture to say that it’s a bit unique.” Bueno, J. Rogers
Thank you to all the Argonauts that participated in todays races. It looks like, from the scores, we have some consistently talented sailors in our fleet that can really read the wind! Check out the cool drone video’s provided by Kerim Baran.
July 17th
SCALE DIVISION FULL DAY – Scale Age of Steam
July 24th
11:30 Skippers Meeting
12:00 SOLING 50 SUMMER REGATTA
July 31st
11:00 Sail Clinic 12:00 – 16:00 Open Water
Happy Fourth of July fellow Argonauts.
On this holiday I feel it is an ideal time to express my appreciation to ALL members that make our hobby and recreation possible at “Our Pond”. This includes every member.. You all count. A huge THANK YOU for you participation!
For those who are still in dry dock, now is the time to dust off the rigs and start becoming active again. Our Santa Barbara fleet is looking for more boats and invite all inactive sailors back. ODOM’s and Soling 50’s are also always looking for more competitive fleets. It’s time to join in on the fun!
It is said that “It Takes a Village”. Now is a good time to get involved. Just for the love of our hobby and camaraderie. It’s not just about winning a race. It’s about success as a group. It’s time to pull together and make Race-Week a huge success! For those whose have not registered for their perspective fleet, time is running short.
REGISTER & ONLINE PAYMENT AT AMYA website: https://www.theamya.org/regatta/thisYear/race_st.php#CA
Thank You Ken Campbell for another informative Racing Rules Clinic. These seminars can provide useful information and help us all become better sailors. One of the topics of discussions was calling for room with port/starboard boat situations and obstructions. I think he has a crystal ball..
Fred Rocha once again set a fun course with predominant southwest to west winds averaging 8-9mph. Fred also served as RD extraordinaire!! Our hats are off for VC of Sail!
Soling 50’s sailed a 6 race series with just a small handful of on the water fouls. Two discrepancies were heard by protest committee Rogers 3 & Rogers 2+1. I think it is always easier and kinder to the scoresheet to clear infractions on the water.
2 S/B’s and ODOM’s with a delayed start, shared the course for a six race series. Nice Sailing.
Thank You Kim Robbins and Jeff Fletcher for assisting Fred Rocha with equipment cleanup and storage.. The lock was checked twice!
“I had the pleasure of being the RD today for the first day back to points racing in some time. It was good to be back in racing spirit today.
First on today’s agenda was spending some time training some new volunteers to do some RD work in the future. Pat Nevitt and Steve Delvin were my assistants today, and both did a fantastic job in helping to sort out the marks, set them, call the start line, call the contacts to weather, and of course score the races.”
The ODOMs were next, and they two had 6 races and the clock was moved back to 2 mins. Again there was some good racing here, unfortunately Kim had to drop out before wetting the hull due to a break. A couple of races were close, but if an odom got out in the lead at the weather it was usually in the top two for sure.
A lot of port starts or immediate tack to port after starting was the theme of the day. The wind was heavily port favoring and I believe we had one boat, having been called over and last to start, played the port favoring perfectly to round the Windward marks clear ahead of the fleet. The usual holes of wind flustered a few skippers, and hence the wind from Mars comment, as it seems the water was moving but the boat wasn’t. :o)
In all it was a good day back. And good corinthian sailing was done by all. And it was good to get some volunteers into the rotation soon. Oh, you are probably wondering about scores. Well that’s a secret. Nah, Mr Points Campbell is working on them and will announce the results soon.
NEXT POINTS RACING SATURDAY, MAY 15.
DF95 AND IOM