2006 Ullman B Regatta and Clinic

Saturday October 28, 2006

Balboa Yacht Club

In 1971, Dave Ullman created the Ullman B regatta to help promote B level sailors up to the A level.  Over the years, the regatta transitioned more to a clinic/regatta format and this year the emphasis was mostly on the clinic with races added for fun and to test out new found ideas.

This year the weather was very nice - for sunning on beach that is.  The wind ranged averaged about 1 mph with gusts up to 3.5 mph.  And the tide was moving at a quarter mile per hour.  Suffice to say, getting a boat to move (in the desired direction) was a challenge but plenty of practice drills were still held and two races (extremely short) were completed so that the Ullman B perpetual trophy could be properly awarded.

The morning was spent on shore going over racing strategy, tactics, starting methods, how to handle a wide range tactical situations, etc.  After the lunch break, the group set sail for drills and racing.

With extreme conditions, every effort had to be made to keep boats moving AND to get them through the many starting drills.

I the first race, three out of four boats got bunched up at the leeward end of of the start line.  Kelly Cantley, late but moving, sailed on port tack and took a strong lead, only to be nipped at the weather mark by Colin Kincaid who made a fabulous recovery from their bad start.  Kelly was patient and figured out quickly that putting a lot of weight forward in terribly light conditions really helps the boat go - and that's what she did - she zoomed right past Colin to take first place in race 1.

After race 1, there was a debrief of what was learned in the race, a Q&A session, and a demonstration of the elements of roll tacking.

In race 2, the current was sweeping everyone towards the weather mark so pre-start everyone was actually sailing up-current trying (i.e. sailing the wrong direction) just to keep from being swept over the start line early.  Mark & Sean were able to more consistently keep their boat moving and were rewarded with a bullet.  Kelly needed to finish second to win the regatta and she had made up for a bad start and had pulled into second but lost all momentum.  Tom & Karmen, who had a really tough time getting to the weather mark figured out the right mix going downwind and steamrolled Kelly who hadn't figured out how to get the boat going (remember, the wind is probably about 1 mph).

Tom and Karmen Estlow finished in second which put the first two teams in a tie.  The tie break went to Mark & Sean Hunter.

After racing, the group settled into a well deserved round at the bar.

Mark Hunter, sailing with his son Sean, (of the Newport Beach fleet) were awarded the Ullman B perpetual while Tom & Karmen Estlow were awarded an Ullman Sails back pack for having traveled the farthest to attend the clinic.

Report by John Papadopoulos

Notice of Race