2012 Trimaran Nationals

photos by Chuck Johnson 

results and more photos by Liz Clark - FWYC

2012 Pensacola Midwinters at  Key Sailing

Pensacola Beach, March 24 & 25: Taylor Reiss and Michael Rice demonstrated awesome mental toughness by coming back on Sunday with a fiery performance, despite having a C2 tiller cross bar on the Viper 16, to win First in the Formula 16 Class and first in Fleet. Captain Kirk ended up second on his shiny new NACRA 20, and Charlie Trinque won the tie breaker against 'fast' Bert for a podium finish.  Photos by Millie Rice Results

PBYC Frosbite Steeplchase Gallery report available in the next Spreader

Tradewinds Photos day three

Hangover but Hang On Regatta photos by Millie Rice 

F 32 "Jail Break" test sail  update on rigging video

Training Formula 16 high school sailors in the shadow of the F 32 is just another afternoon delight for Mr. Smyth.

preliminary Pensacola Bay Racing Scheduling Calendar Google sign in required

New Farrier 32 SR at FWYC being commissioned by Smyth Photos

2011 Galloway Regatta Photos by Bert

FWYC's Meigs Regatta, 2011 photos by Millie Rice

Saturday Sunday Final Results - all Divisions

Millie's Shutterfly Galleries are now OPEN

Photos from the 2011 JR Olympic Regatta at PYC Results

Photos from the 2011 Round the Island Race - FWYC Results

Welcome to Margaritaville Sailing Millie Rice gallery

Chuck Johnson's Gallery    Chester Ramsey's awesome "Cruise Book"

Leonard and Smyth Claim Margaritaville Crowns

Pensacola Beach - The 2011 US Trimaran Nationals, sponsored by Corsair Marine, the Margaritaville Beach Hotel, and Weta Florida were held May 1 - 5. Jim Leonard, from Birmingham Sailing Club won the first Weta Championship against Chris Kitchen, from New Zealand, and Randy Smyth, from Fort Walton Yacht Club, sailed away with the Ian Farrier Trophy once again.

The Corsair Flying Family welcomed its little cousin, the Weta Trimaran Class to our party so they could celebrate their first major regatta in the USA, on their own circle. The affair was kinda like a battle of bands featuring Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Bob Marley,  and Pink Floyd. JB may have put on a private concert at the hotel for the guests, but nobody talked about it.

Day One - Sunday: Boats began slipping ashore in the sabine behind the Margaritaville hotel while Wayne Jablonowski, Gulf Yachting Association PHRF Multihull Rating Committee Chairman, and his wife, Beth stuffed the regatta bags while I went across the street to watch Cliff and Brian launch Strategery with some kind of tow vehicle like I've never seen and protect the Weta trailer from arrest by the local sheriff. We held a joyous welcome party and the skippers' briefing that night at the "Sailor Friendly" Pensacola Beach Yacht Club.

Day Two - Monday: Breeze was on from the southeast which meant the fleet would be close reaching to Juanas, on Navarre Beach, for lunch. The Wetas were launched first then we extended the Starting Line for the PHRF Start, thirty minutes later. As we were racing the boats down the rhumb line to set up the Finish line, the oil warning buzzer fired off. Oops - so we stopped and filled the upper tank. The Wetas and YO! were flying out of sight. No worries, if we didn't run out of oil again we would barely make it if our angels were with us. They were.

The barbecue was had, and I announced a 1430 Start for the Wetas, and a 1500 Start for the PHRF pilots. By the way folks, it wasn't Randy's idea to cant the rig on YO!, and I'll never tell. The Wetas gave the Race Committee and the PHRF sailors a sailing lesson during the tight kite reach back to Margaritaville. I'll say it again: those little pocket rockets are fast. Leonard and Kitchen beat the RC boat and the PHRF boats to Pensacola Beach. I'll never give them a thirty minute head start downwind anymore, and that's a fact.

That evening a couple dozen guests joined Hunter Riddle for a Schurr Sails Loft Night. He handed out some beer, chips, and some insight on how sailmakers fabricate sails.

Day Three - Tuesday: Randy's Speed Sailing Seminar on the beach drew forty - seven attentive sailors and set the stage for the day's buoy racing. During Race one my son hailed me on the vhf and asked me how to shut that damn buzzer off. Oh my gosh! I had forgotten to tell him the oil pump was out on the Yamaha and he needed to fill the top reservoir. Oil in an engine does make a difference. Thank goodness for modern technology. Kirk Newkirk was monitoring the incoming frontal system from Key Sailing, and Chuck Johnson was doing the same with his cell phone. After Race two we decided that we had about an hour and a half to get the race in and make it back in the sabine before the angry weather would strike. Well friends and neighbors, the wind shift struck the course shortly after we hoisted anchor and were underway to the bunkhouse.

Jason Knoll put on a fine chicken barbecue at PBYC while the protest committee of Charles Harp, Richard Stephens, and Sam Grant were forced to defend the Race Committee against two requests for redress. I lived to see another day, but 'Mark Twain' weather was on its way, and I was gettin' down right petrified that tomorrow could be the sudden end of a short career.

Day Four - Wednesday: Now that I have introduced Mark Twain, did you know he used to race riverboats on the Mississippi River? That's a true historical fact. He once claimed, "sometimes we would race against islands, and the islands would win." If you ever serve as a principal race officer in sailing paradise, you'll learn what he meant. We wasted the day away at Key Sailing and enjoyed a Subway Sandwich 'Picnic' courtesy of Kirk Newkirk. We did not feel all that inspired to have the fleet saddle up and sail to the old Coast Guard station down the beach toward Pensacola Pass in base winds of twenty - five knots and surf on the beach in the bay. That afternoon David Johnson, David Colt, and Rick Zern hosted a rigging seminar and revealed the secrets of line construction and stretch. New sailors and veteran racers gained from the expertise presented with regard to using the correct line for applications on the boat.

On Wednesday evening the Hemingway Restaurant allowed us in, since we were behaving, for a nice little meal and a slide show of Tuesday's racing provided by Millie and Bert. Once we saw the photographic proof we were convinced that those planes buzzing us during Race one were, in fact, the Blue Angels. Maybe having so many trimarans in close proximity to NAS Pens confused national security, and they felt an alien invasion was actually happening during the Celebration of Naval Aviation.

Oh Boy, Final Day! All we had to do was set up our race track on Alpha Course and get in a couple races, but a USAF picket boat arrived in the starting area just before we went into sequence and announced that within twenty minutes fifty - five aviators in training were going to be dropped from helicopters and would be drifting across our course awaiting sea rescue by air. Otay, so we were forced to go Lima and move to Bravo as the pressure dropped out of the east. Otay, so we set up on Bravo and started both divisions together. Instead of the wind going right and holding pressure, 'Mark Twain' weather wanted to play. The wind began shifting the axis left and ran out of breath. Mark Set One kept up with the shift for a COC for leg two. We watched as several crews found themselves trapped in glass boxes on the right side and the leeward end of the race track. I ordered a 'shorten course' at the top hoping we could still finish all boats and not be forced to abandon. Our angels came through and saved the day.

The award ceremony was scheduled for 1600 at PBYC. I postponed until Jim Leonard came running up in his wetsuit. My son had towed our Viper 16 to the beach from Pensacola Yacht Club so he could spar with Kirk on his shiny new NACRA Formula 20 C. Jim forgot about awards and went for his first sail on a Viper; damn catamarans:-) The overall results are on www.gulfsailing and on the PBYC site under racing/schedule. The Weta final results and PHRF times for all races will be presented when DJ returns from the Melges 24 Worlds; damn monohulls:-)

Our Special Awards include the Wind Craft Amateur Award which was earned by Tom Reese, aboard Flight Simulator. The Corsair Cup was won by Bob Hodges, current A Cat Class (USA) Association President, aboard The Dark Side. The F - 27 Hall of Fame Trophy winner was John Achim, aboard TRI N Catch Me. The Distance Traveled Award was won by Chuck Sears, from Arizona, aboard Monsoon. Who knows how many times Randy has slipped away with the Ian Farrier Trophy?

Now to my favorite chapter in the story: I have the royal privilege of thanking the race management team that has been working together since the mid - eighties when we were hosting the Mistral Nationals on an annual basis. This is pretty much the same team that started the final day of the Nationals,one year (a hundred and fifty or so competitors from seven nations and the US Olympic Boardsailing Team) at 0730 hours due to a dying breeze that was forecast to fade by 1100. I introduce you to Mark Set One Race Officer, Mike Mead and his crew, Bud Schumann and Glenn Purcell. My Pin Set and Leeward Mark set operator, Bert Rice Jr. (finished second in the Windsurfing Olympic Trials in 1987) was assisted by our photographer, BJ's wife, Millie. Our Signal trawler, Cruising Buff was skippered by Lee Hargrove from PYC with assistance from Michelle Sutherland. Chuck and Cindy Johnson, members of PYC now living in Seattle, were awesome and on task the entire regatta. They were always in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. The team from Fort Walton Yacht Club included Purcell, Jerry DeFay who brought his mini trawler, Flag to serve on the Weta course, Lou Richard, their Fleet Captain, and 'Shady' Bill Grady who gave up cooking to crew wherever and whenever to keep us moving both circles forward. I would like to offer special tribute to Mark Smith, aka "M Flag," from the Key Team and PBYC for his relentless pursuit of happiness for the Weta Family by ensuring they raced enough (9) heats to make their regatta worth the trip. Lindy Kirkpatrick, from PYC, served as our Rendezvous/cruising Chair and arranged for the regatta bags from Publix.

Chuck, Lee, and I came up with a slogan for the event. We realized that "winch handles, signal flags, and sail numbers are over - rated." Also, please be reminded that Buddy Ebsen once claimed there were only three types of sailboats - half cats, cats, and cats and a half. Friends and neighbors, that's what the Corsair Flying Family is made of.

Finally: Cliff, is your daughter still grinnin' ear to ear like she was whenever I saw her on the boat or in the club house?

By the way - if you have climbed up the hill and read this, please dream of me and Jimmy and Mark sittin' on the side of some hill, gazin' up at those shiny, twinklin' stars, and sharing a jug of that honey - dew vine water. Good Night. Tremulous trimaran dreams to all.

Bert Rice - bert.rice2010@yahoo.com

See Full Story for recaps from Richard Stephens (Weta) and Marty Mitchell (cruising)

Final Results sans Weta final results and PHRF finish times by race (coming soon)

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