Emerald Cup Regatta/District VI Champs

June 28 & 29, 2008

Hosted by Triton YC on Fern Ridge Lake, OR

A good mixture of local and travelling sailors came to Eugene, OR for the weekend long Emerald Cup Regatta/District VI (Pacific NW) Championships on Fern Ridge Lake.

For many the fun started mid-day Friday when John Papadopoulos hosted a Lido 14 clinic.  Unfortunately the winds were too strong to permit taking everyone out on the one-on-one coaching sessions that had been planned however everyone came away with demonstrations of boat handling and lots their questions answered over a several hour long chalk talk.  For those that had been eying the blustery conditions Friday, Saturday's weather predictions of very high temperatures and very low wind speeds turned out to be spot on.  Of course those that enjoy a touch too much wind found the lack of it a bit frustrating too - more on that later.

It was very obvious early on who would be challenging for the top spot - Garrett Johns, Jim Sterner, John Papadopoulos, and Gerald Skeen - as all of them were consistently in the front of the fleet in the early stages of each race.  With very long single lap windward leeward courses (about a 3/4 mile first windward leg, a 1/2 mile downwind leg, and a 1/4 mile upwind leg to the finish), those out in front early generally finished that way - with one or two very critical exceptions.  So it was a bit unnerving to see how quickly and easily Garret and Tracy Johns seemed to be able to pull out in front and lead the way.  Until they finally slipped in Race 3, the last race on Saturday, and finished 6th.

I must add that in fine Lido 14 tradition, when the wind went away between races, out came the high powered water guns and bailers - leading to some very entertaining (and refreshing) water battles.  It is especially heart warming to see junior Lido 14 racers Kay Sterner and Sarah Mackey daring to take on their elders so valiantly.  Keep up the good work but a few words of advice - Payback At The Class Championships!

Sunday racing was scheduled to start 10:00 A.M. so that racing for the day could wrap up early to give people a good chance to get home that evening.  With winds still very light, John Papadopoulos and Stacie Brandt, who came up from Newport Beach, CA to race, showed that they could adapt to the tough local conditions to take a bullet in an agonizingly light wind race.  It was in Race 4 that Gerald Skeen and Jim Sterner felt a bit of the luck vanish as they finished 11th and 5th respectively - thus scrambling the scores a bit and making it more of a two boat contest between Garrett Johns and John Papadopoulos.  In the 5th, and what would turn out to be last, race of the regatta Garrett tucked up under John at the start and offered a modest luff - which ended up putting both boats over early.  Ooops!  Meanwhile Jim Sterner had a clean start and was, by the time the over early starts were corrected, simply gone.  Or so he probably thought.  But he also went too far to the right side of the course when the left was showing more consistent pressure and better wind angle.  By virtue of good tactics and speed both Garrett and John caught up with Jim.  John drew the next lucky card and missed a header near the top mark - giving him added buffer to sail the rest of the wind with a bit of comfort - finishing first to take the total points lead away from Garrett.

Garrett & Tracy Johns, being the first team from District VI, repeated as District Champs.

Pos

Skipper & Crew

Club

Sail #

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

T

1st

John Papadopoulos & Stacie Brandt

Balboa YC

6300

2

3

4

1

1

11

2nd

Garrett & Tracy Johns

Anacortes YC

4870

1

1

6

2

2

12

3rd

Jim & Kay Sterner

Scuttlebutt YC

5110

3

4

3

5

3

18

4th

Jerald & Nathan Skeen

Eugene YC

3979

4

2

1

11

4

22

5th

Ron & Nicole Runyan

Willamette SC

6131

6

5

5

4

5

25

6th

James & Sarah Mackey

Lake Sammanich

311

9

7

7

3

9

35

7th

Fred Jensen

Willamette SC

4522

10

8

2

10

6

36

8th

Kenn Meneely

Eugene YC

6261

7

9

9

7

11

43

9th

Mark Schroeder

Eugene YC

1

8

6

8

9

17

48

10th

Alan & Patti Stults

Eugene YC

5071

5

DNF

DNF

6

7

56

11th

James Clevenberg

Willamette YC

3720

13

12

11

15

12

63

12th

David Ispas

 

3391

14

10

DNF

14

8

65

13th

Mark Sandifer

Willamette SC

3157

DSQ

11

DSQ

8

10

67

14th

Michelle Wood

Triton YC

6263

11

15

12

17

14

69

15th

Ted Walkup

Triton YC

158

17

16

10

12

15

70

16th

Mark Dennett

Rogue YC

1689

16

13

DNF

13

16

77

17th

Mark O'Hara

 

4230

15

DNF

DNF

18

13

84

18th

Peter Rasco

 

4115

12

DNF

DNF

16

DNS

85

19th

Becky Barker

Eugene

2304

18

14

DNF

DNS

DNS

89