Schoonmaker Cup Final

Photo by Marco Oquendo

Coconut Grove

Two races were held today today in 8-10 knots from the east-southeast. We had our ups and downs but basically Danny sailed very fast downwind and we made huge gains on the final runs of both races to finish 9 and 7.  That was enough to move us up to 7th overall which is a good result in this fleet especially for the youngest skipper in the fleet.

Augie Diaz and Arnie Baltins were the class of their own this weekend never finishing worse than 2nd. George Szabo Isao Toyama were second and Canadians Brian Cramer and Matt Johnston finished third.

It has been such a pleasure having Danny race with me in my favorite boat and experience the Star winter Series in Miami. Today the sun was out and the water was smooth on Biscayne Bay. When it is like that, there is no better place to race Stars.

In two weeks we will have the final regatta of the Wimter Series, the Walker Cup.  I will move back in the boat and have 2012 Star Class Olympian, Brian Fatih crewing for me. The Walker will serve as a warm up for the Bacardi Cup starting immediately after. Brian and I will race the Walker, the Bacardi Cup and then the World Championship in April, together.

For complete results on the Schoonmaker go to www.yachtscoring.com.

Paul

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Schoonmaker Cup

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Coxonut Grove

Danny and I are back in the Grove for more Star Racing. This time the Schoonmaker Cup with 20 other teams.

For this event,  I am crewing for Danny. It has been fun to share the Star with him this past year and I hope he enjoys Star sailing for as many years as me and his grandfather have!

It’s been a while since I was in the front of a Star and today we had 3 races in 15 knots from the east. I will sleep well tonight!

Star Winter Series

Star Winter Series photo by Marco Oquendo

We had some great moments and some more challenging moments. At the end of the first day, we are tied for 9th with Arthur Anosov, the winner of the Masters two weeks ago.

Augie Diaz and Arnie Baltins had a great day with a 2, 1, 1. Brian Cramer of Canada is in second and George Szabo third.

Two more races are scheduled for tomorrow and the forecast is 10 knots from the east.  That should be more to our liking.  Team Cayard, at 380lbs all up, likes the lighter winds.

For complete results go to www.yachtscoring.com

Thanks to Marco Oquendo for the photos.

Paul

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Zag Masters

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imageCoconut Grove

Two races were held today in 8-10 knots from the east on Biscayne Bay. This weekend is the “Masters” regatta in the Star Class. Obviously,  the name is indicative of a certain amount of life experience required to race in the “Masters”.  The Masters has become the Zag Masters in honor of Frank Zagarino, one of the class stalwarts and a Bicayne Bay Fleet member.

My son Danny joined me for this event and we got off to a great start winning race 1 by a healthy margin. Unfortunately I went the wrong way on the first leg of race two and we were deep coming into mark 1.  We made a couples of nice choices,  always with good speed, so we moved up to 7th by the finish.

Arthur Anosov and Dave “Julius” Ceasar had a better day than Danny and I with a 3, 2 and are leading after day 1 with 5 points.  Dan and I are second, 2 points back with Seiggert/Fatih in third 2 points behind us.

One race is scheduled for tomorrow and the forecast is calling for big breeze from the northwest following a cold front coming through the area tonight.

For complete results go to www.yachtscoring.com and find Zag Masters.

UPDATE

No racing today. Too much wind.

Arthur and Dave won the Zag Masters. Danny and I are second, Swigert/Fatih third. Danny and I won the Father-Son Team. That’s special!

The next Star event in the Winter Series is the Schoonmaker Troohy in two weeks.

Paul

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