MIAMI MIDWINTER REGATTA
Miami - Day 2. Warm, Sunny, breezy. Wind was about 20 degrees further right than yesterday (East) and more sunny, but not quite as windy. It was still full on hiking all day. Way better than shoveling snow.
Race one. We had clean start in the middle of the line. The breeze was shifting back and forth about 10 degrees so staying in phase was key. At the first mark Bill Mauk led the way with Dave Peck hot on his heels. We rounded about 5th or 6th but the fleet was very tightly packed. Positions were constantly changing during the race with big gains and losses to be made. On the last beat we didn't pay attention and positioned ourselves poorly out of the breeze to lose 4 boats on the final beat to finish eighth. Dave Peck got by Bill Mauk on the second beat and won by a large margin. Larry MacDonald ended up third. This racing was really tight. Brian Hayes sailed a nice last beat to finish 4th.
Race two saw much the same conditions as race one, but with a little more breeze, maybe 18 or, but puffy and shifty. We had the unfortunate luck of starting just to windward of Jeff Linton who was able to work out on us after about three minutes of sailing. We were able to hang in there until we could tack out on a shift. Jeff was obviously going well as he got to the windward mark in first. Again the racing was very close and a large pack got to the windward mark very close to the same time. Andy Horton was second. Larry, Steve Hayden and we were in that group..
At the leeward gate Jeff, Larry and we went to the right mark and Andy and Steve lead another pack around the left mark. There was a little more wind on the left so we gained. Jeff held the lead but Larry picked off Andy and the four of us extended quite a bit on the rest of the fleet on this leg. Up the last beat, Steve Hayden, Bill
Faude, and Dave Peck all closed the gap a little with Larry and Andy getting by Jeff.
Today was Larry MacDonald's 41st birthday and winning the last race and the Miami regatta was a good birthday treat for him. Larry again sailed with his all-star crew of Jody Swanson and Skip
Dieball, ant they have a real stranglehold on the overall circuit points at the moment. So far they have 14 points in 7 races. Apparently Skip is holding them back a little because Larry and Jody are kicking him off the boat in favor of Ian Jones for St. Pete.
Overall Larry's team won Miami with a large margin of victory. Andy Horton suffered a DSQ in the first race today that dropped him out of second place. There were only 4 points between 2nd and 7th. Our big 11 point drop in the second race yesterday really hurt us in the standings, but we still are pleased that we sailed well.
Most everyone is heading to St. Pete to try to make it to the SPYC bar before it closes.
| Position | Skipper | Boat # | - | Race#1 | Race#2 | Race#3 | Race#4 | Race#5 | - | Total |
| 1 | MAC DONALD, L | 74 | - | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | 12 |
| 2 | FISHER, G | 28 | - | 5 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 11 | - | 35 |
| 3 | LONGARELA | 34 | - | 3 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 9 | - | 35 |
| 4 | PECK, D | 44 | - | 10 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 7 | - | 36 |
| 5 | FASTIGGI, B | 58 | - | 2 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 4 | - | 38 |
| 6 | STARCK, D | 26 | - | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 10 | - | 38 |
| 7 | ALLEN, T | 88 | - | 11 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 12 | - | 39 |
| 8 | HAYES, B | 37 | - | 7 | 6 | 17 | 4 | 8 | - | 42 |
| 9 | HAYDEN, S | 32 | - | 8 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 6 | - | 44 |
| 10 | FAUDE, B | 25 | - | 12 | 1 | 11 | 19 | 5 | - | 48 |
| 11 | GELENITIS, P | 36 | - | 14 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 14 | - | 64 |
| 12 | ELFMAN, J | 39 | - | 6 | 19 | 2 | 16 | 22 | - | 65 |
| 13 | HORTON, A | 19 | - | 4 | 10 | 8 | DSQ | 2 | - | 69 |
| 14 | MAUK, B | 33 | - | 16 | 17 | 14 | 2 | 20 | - | 69 |
| 15 | DELISSER | 77 | - | 15 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 23 | - | 74 |
| 16 | CARSON, J | 20 | - | 29 | 14 | 20 | 8 | 13 | - | 84 |
| 17 | ATKINS, C | 69 | - | 13 | 9 | 13 | 24 | 25 | - | 84 |
| 18 | HNATT | 86 | - | 19 | 15 | 27 | 9 | 21 | - | 91 |
| 19 | WURTZEBACH, P | 45 | - | 18 | 25 | 16 | 21 | 16 | - | 96 |
| 20 | DODGE, J | 22 | - | 20 | 23 | 18 | 23 | 15 | - | 99 |
| 21 | GORMAN, D | 59 | - | 22 | 22 | 25 | 20 | 19 | - | 108 |
| 22 | GROTHEER, P | 17 | - | 23 | 21 | 30 | 18 | 17 | - | 109 |
| 23 | DUFFY, E | 15 | - | 30 | 20 | 28 | 15 | 18 | - | 111 |
| 24 | HENDRY, B | 31 | - | 21 | 18 | 22 | 26 | 26 | - | 113 |
| 25 | HALLAGAM, R | 35 | - | 24 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 27 | - | 123 |
| 26 | CUCCIO, G | 56 | - | 17 | 27 | 21 | 31 | 30 | - | 126 |
| 27 | SPRAGUE, D | 29 | - | 26 | 28 | 26 | 22 | 35 | - | 137 |
| 28 | WENZLER, P | 78 | - | 38 | 26 | 19 | 28 | 29 | - | 140 |
| 29 | LINTON, J | 24 | - | DNF | DNF | DNS | 12 | 3 | - | 150 |
| 30 | COUTURE, M | 21 | - | 25 | 33 | 32 | 29 | 31 | - | 150 |
| 31 | JONES, J | 14 | - | 31 | 32 | 29 | 27 | 32 | - | 151 |
| 32 | SIMPSON | 41 | - | 35 | 31 | 31 | 34 | 24 | - | 155 |
| 33 | DELANO, M | 27 | - | 32 | 30 | 33 | 32 | 33 | - | 160 |
| 34 | BONE | 52 | - | 27 | 29 | 24 | DNF | DNS | - | 170 |
| 35 | SHAPIRO, B | 13 | - | 33 | 34 | 37 | 33 | 36 | - | 173 |
| 36 | GARRISON | 54 | - | 28 | 37 | DNS | 30 | 34 | - | 174 |
| 37 | BIGHAM | 38 | - | 34 | 35 | DNS | DNS | 28 | - | 187 |
| 38 | RAY, J | 18 | - | DNF | 36 | 35 | 35 | 39 | - | 190 |
| 39 | ZACHARY | 42 | - | 36 | 38 | 34 | OCS | 38 | - | 191 |
| 40 | BUKOWSKY | 51 | - | 39 | 39 | 36 | 39 | 41 | - | 194 |
| 41 | EWING, C | 11 | - | 40 | 40 | 38 | 40 | 40 | - | 198 |
| 42 | KURTZ, D | 12 | - | 41 | 41 | 39 | 36 | 43 | - | 200 |
| 43 | BRICKELL, J | 16 | - | 37 | DNF | DNS | 38 | 37 | - | 202 |
| 44 | MILLER, J | 23 | - | DNF | 42 | DNS | 37 | 42 | - | 211 |
While Larry has been teaching us the meaning of the word "respect", the points for the 2nd place for the circuit is very tight after two regattas.
Miami/Savannah combined:
| MacDonald | 2+12 | 14 |
| G. Fisher | 10+36 | 46 |
| Allen Jr. | 10+39 | 49 |
| Hayden | 6+44 | 50 |
| Longarela | 16+35 | 51 |
| Fastiggi | 15+38 | 53 |
| Hayes | 15+42 | 57 |
| Starck | 22+38 | 60 |
| Faude | 15+48 | 63 |
Bill Fastiggi
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