The weekend began as 29 A-Cats and F16’s converged on Gulfport, Florida, from all over the states and the world for The A-cat/F16 Invitational. YES - Gill and Kathleen made the regatta as part of their two week holiday to Florida from their home; Belgium.
We all had a great time this weekend. A little sore and black and blue but that is just proof that we were there.
Boats arriving early Friday for practice were washed out. So much for "it only rains in Florida for 10 minutes a day". Gordon Isco was very gracious and opened his home for us all to party Friday night. Thanks to Gordon we enjoyed drinks and appetizers; and we also met a lot of the F16 sailors and regulars on the Catsailor forum. It was nice to put a face on all the nicknames. In addition to the Florida guys there were two F16’s from Tennessee and two from Maryland, an A-Cat from Rhode Island and lots of other sailors (very sorry for those I missed). Everyone was so nice, it would be cool to see this guys down in Wales, for the F16 Global Challenge!
On Saturday the event officially started with the races starting at 1200. With winds 15 to 20 building to 25 with gusts in low 30's by days end it was HANG ON FOR DEAR LIFE!! The 4 races followed quickly and there were lots of flips and wreckage due to the strong wind
That was the most wind Oley and I had ever been in with our Blade. We flipped once before racing started. First race we were doing great coming up to the line in 4th then Ed/John flipped in front of us. Avoided them and was about to finish 3rd and flipped for the second time. Seth &Stephan flew past us and did a GREAT job of saving a capsize. Finished 9th in that race. Second and third races were blurs. In one of them we came through the gate rounding to port and flipped again. The other, we came across the line right behind Matt/Gina to get a third. The last race of the day we flipped twice. After the second time I told Oley that we should call it a day because I was worn out. Once we got up he said no way there were boats behind us-so we finished 4th.
Gill and I only finished one race because we lost our jib traveller track during race n°2 and we had to retire to the beach. We stayed on the beach and watched the other teams come in. By then the wind had really picked up and gusts of 30 knots were recorded
After the 4th race the RC called it a day and sent whoever was left back to the beach. Some of the carnage included a fractured port hull, at least 2 bent booms, rudders coming off in mid race, sheered off dagger boards (two on one boat), broken jib traveller, and a torn downhaul line.
After everybody had secured their boats, the party started. GYC really does a great job partying. We felt at home and enjoyed lots of drinks and great food. Best thing was spent swapping stories and laughing with all the different people. Turnout was great by the way. There were 14 F16s on the water. One-up and 2-up teams, all men and mixed teams, light and "heavier" teams, everyone had fun. We shared the course with the A-Cats invitational event. They also had a great turn out: 15 boats on the water.
After a night at the bonfire the second day started out totally different. At 9 o'clock it was still foggy, cloudy and almost wind still. The A's started first at 1100 and then the wind shifted - the RC shorted course and moved marks. At 1230 the F16 flag went up. Compared to Saturday; Sunday was a slow but tactical race. Team Olson/Lienti made the strategic and right decision to start the 1st race on port tack and they were soon way ahead of the boats in second and third place. They won this race Matt and Gina McDonald won the other two races of the day.
Saturday was definitely the day for teams with lots of high wind experience and the weight to keep the boat down. Sunday was a great day for the single guys and the lighter teams.
At 4PM we were all off the water and the boats returning their long way home could start de-rigging.
It was wonderful to have that many boats to compare too and thanks again GYC for hosting us all for a great weekend.
Final results for this great event:
F16
1/ Robbie Daniels/Matt - Viper
2/ Matt/Gina McDonald – Blade
3/ Oley/Joanna – Blade
A-Cats
1/Bret Moss
2/Ben Moon
3/Clive Mayo
Written by Joanna Lienti and Kathleen Vandenbulcke