2008 Emerald Cup Regatta & District VI Championships

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
1^st	John Papadopoulos & Stacie Brandt	Balboa YC	6300	2	3	4	1	1	11
2^nd	Garrett & Tracy Johns	Anacortes YC	4870	1	1	6	2	2	12
3^rd	Jim & Kay Sterner	Scuttlebutt YC	5110	3	4	3	5	3	18
4^th	Jerald & Nathan Skeen	Eugene YC	3979	4	2	1	11	4	22
5^th	Ron & Nicole Runyan	Willamette SC	6131	6	5	5	4	5	25
6^th	James & Sarah Mackey	Lake Sammanich	311	9	7	7	3	9	35
7^th	Fred Jensen	Willamette SC	4522	10	8	2	10	6	36
8^th	Kenn Meneely	Eugene YC	6261	7	9	9	7	11	43
9^th	Mark Schroeder	Eugene YC	1	8	6	8	9	17	48
10^th	Alan & Patti Stults	Eugene YC	5071	5	DNF	DNF	6	7	56
11^th	James Clevenberg	Willamette YC	3720	13	12	11	15	12	63
12^th	David Ispas		3391	14	10	DNF	14	8	65
13^th	Mark Sandifer	Willamette SC	3157	DSQ	11	DSQ	8	10	67
14^th	Michelle Wood	Triton YC	6263	11	15	12	17	14	69
15^th	Ted Walkup	Triton YC	158	17	16	10	12	15	70
16^th	Mark Dennett	Rogue YC	1689	16	13	DNF	13	16	77
17^th	Mark O'Hara		4230	15	DNF	DNF	18	13	84
18^th	Peter Rasco		4115	12	DNF	DNF	16	DNS	85
19^th	Becky Barker	Eugene	2304	18	14	DNF	DNS	DNS	89

Pos

T