Saturday started out with winds from a southerly direction which resulted in the "event" we all talked about through regatta. On the very first race, the A fleet sailed to the wrong mark when going to the first windward mark of the course. The B fleet faithfully followed them. Only the Smiths (in the A’s) and Faillers/Papadopoulos (in the B’s) managed to sail the proper course on their first attempt, giving them the first place positions. The majority of the other boats managed to catch on, unwind their errors, and sail the course to the finish line. A few boats got so confused they just gave up. So what was the madness that infected most of the teams? It turns out that the Sailing Instructions at MBYC offer the race committee a choice of using either a flag or an orange ball for what are traditionally the first and last marks of a course (marks F and T). The race committee set a flag for "F" mark and an orange ball for the "T" mark. The fleet, having been so used to sailing to an orange ball for the "F" mark, went to the only orange ball in sight (oops!). What’s the saying about teaching old dogs new tricks?

As can bee seen from the A fleet results, there was no one boat that was doing a horizon job, like Stephanie Faillers did to the B’s. That is, UNTIL her faithful crew John Papadopoulos (just in case you know this couple, John normally drives in the A fleet w/ Stephanie crewing) forgot to read the course for the last race (fortunately they had already won the regatta and didn’t need to sail race #5). Stephanie was leading the race at the first windward mark and all the way downwind past mark 6 and was first at mark 7 too. Unfortunately, mark 7 wasn’t a mark of the course. Best of all, when she got to Mark 7, she was all alone (unfortunately, no one followed her to mark 7. Guess the dogs learned the trick), giving her all the room she needed to…hit the mark! Double Ooops!

Oh yes, the carnage award goes to Grant and Barbara Williams who sheeted in at the start of Race #1 and watched their mast fall over (broken shroud?). He never made it across the start line (presumably much to the delight of Grant’s perpetual arch nemesis Roger Patterson).

A special note of thanks to Chris Doolittle and Bill Carey and their respective (unlisted) crews. These teams are from San Diego Yacht Club where a Lido 14 movement is afoot. Thank you for your participation.

Lastly, and most importantly, Pete Jefferson (perpetual Lido guru, twice Lido 14 Class Champion, multiple model yacht racing national champion, "father to the Lido 14 fleet") showed up for dinner on Saturday to regale us with stories of Lido sailing. He also did a bit of show and tell with an experimental knot meter custom made for the Lido 14 that was made from an old aircraft altimeter and some piping that you stick down the centerboard trunk. Pete used it to experiment on how to trim the boat for better speed, etc. Pete, we love you and we thank you for your treasured company and your regatta.

Story filed by John Papadopoulos