Division=Sabot A

Division=Sabot B

Division=Sabot C

The 2011 Labor Day Regatta cam with a wide variety of weather conditions, exciting skipper racing, new boats for the fleet, additions to the novice and C Fleets, and of course fun filled adult cup racing. Of special note was Sophie Thompson's shiny new red Sabot (8400).  

The Saturday weather report called for full sun and light winds but at the boat ramp by 11:00 AM the for horn was still blowing and so was the wind which kept building through out the day giving us close to Lopez wind levels.

Regardless of the wind, 28 boats sailed out including 6 from A Fleet, 8 in B, 10 C Fleeters and 4 novices with the Young brothers sharing a boat. The safety boats were ready with bilge pumps at hand and there were of course some spectacular capsizes and pitch polls with no reported injuries to skippers of boats. 

There was barely a fleet ready to sail for the Women's Bell cup but sail they must. Sheila Davies, Cindy Satterberg, Catherine Gloster and Cheryl Muir raced to the bell buoy with sail ripping wind and towering waves... Ok it wasn't exactly like that but it sounds good doesn't it? And it was pretty windy.  At the finish Catherine Gloster took the cup.

Day two of the regatta looked completely different at the beach. Lots of sun, light to moderate winds (which changed directions at will) and plenty of contenders for the Men's Lemp Cup race. 

There were only 24 total boats sailing on Sunday 5 A, 8 B, 7 C and 4 Novices. Kenddal Egan joined the novices for the first time in 2129 and at the end of the day Kyla Murphy, Loren Young and Ryan Satterberg had joined the C Fleet. Kyla even had the chance to sail the last race of the regatta in C Fleet taking 3rd in that race. 

The Lemp Cup race began with 13 competitors sailing with diminished winds and little  incidence to contend with other than the wake of both Little Toot and the Land Shark as well as the armada of kayakers surrounding the bell buoy.  All safely rounded the Z mark, hoping the 700 lb king of all sea lions was happy in his perch, then headed for shore.  At the finish line Paul Castleberg went home with the bell.  

To see the complete racing results Read More below

Lake Lopez this year was an overall great time for everyone. We had a great turnout with 14 families, most showing up Friday night. Despite the forecast for extreme heat and a chance of thunderstorms, the weather was perfect. Warm and sunny. The turkeys were still there and the water slides had small lines so everyone got in as many rides as they could.  The Saturday night BBQ was a hit as usual with plenty of food to go around, followed by skits and the infamous flashlight tag.

The lake was at 90% capacity so the water came all the way to the boat ramp this year, leaving an actual cove at Mallard Cove instead of the sandy beach area where we parked last year.  As expected, there was wind and plenty of it, which left a few skippers on the beach for the weekend. There were no major mishaps this year, probably due to the lack of an adult race. No boat repair for me this year. But I do have to thank the Curtis family for the loan of the mast not used by Will due to the wind. Note to self... You need to bring the boom too. Not just the mast! 

On race day the A fleet had 6 competitors and B had 5 but with the wind sending a few C fleeters to the beach there were only 2 skippers starting for C. So we opted to allow a field upgrade for Stephanie and Declan for the weekend. They turned out to be quite competitive. The Sea Shells were represented by the Kayda family, but alas the wind proved to be a little too much as well. One outstanding note however was what I understand to be an historical event in which Kyla Murphy sailed her first solo at Lake Lopez and continued the next day.  With the strong wind we of course had a good number of dunkings. There were 33 in total with Katelon taking the lead at 11 capsizes. We also had a couple lost bailers and one lost rudder which was retrieved for Yannick by Maggie. Great sportsmanship. To compensate for the wind, we also saw a little bit of new ingenuity with Paul Gloster's reefing idea. It kept a few skippers going and in fact allowed Declan to sail all day without a single capsize.  

At the end of it all, Caroline Gay finished 1st in A fleet. Ryan Eastwood took the top spot in B as well as the high points trophy with a total of 39 points.  Congratulations Caroline and Ryan. 

After the sailing was done we packed the boats back on to the trailer, left Lake Lopez behind and headed back to Santa Barbara, with a stop for ice cream on the way. 

For complete results READ More below.

This year at Mission Bay we had a great turnout with 18 Boats total including 4 A Fleet, 5 B, 6 C Fleeters, 2 Novices and our name sake was represented this year with the Hellman's Sea Shell. Although the wind proved to be a little too brisk for the Sea Shell. Thanks for rigging it to show our colors Erik. Some of us started out Friday evening with a stop at Luigi's for Pizza and then few rides at Belmont Park. 

The weather Saturday wasn't fabulous but we had good wind and it was warm. Both days the wind not only blew hard but straight down the bay giving us a spectacular race course for the regatta. Saturday was a long day starting with breakfast at the MBYC and then boat unloading before the 10:30 Mast meeting. Five big races with a short break for lunch. Each race lasting over 30 minutes except for Patch who was finishing the course in 23 including his "just in case" 720s before the finish.  After racing a BBQ at the Club finished off the day and it was back to the hotel to get ready for day two...

Sunday, who could have asked for a better day. Sunny warm and plenty of wind. A shorter race day but plenty of action. Alyse Birken scored her 10th Solo and joined the C Fleet and Ryan Satterberg made an impressive effort to get in a few solos too but the wind proved to be just a little too much for him. New courses on Sunday took the skippers across the bay for an excursion that tested everyone.  At the end of the day the leaders were Patch Curtis in A Fleet, Frankie Doyle in B and Will Curtis in C, with Frankie taking the overall High Points trophy.  The adult series saw Jim Muir taking both races after an initial lead by Parker returning to give the parents a dusting. Well maybe next time.

At the end of the day we all packed up the boats on the trailers and headed back to SB or off to other vacation's as the summer winds down.  Next stop Lake Lopez. See you all there.

Read More for race results below...

Early at the ramp, it looked like we might not have much of a turn out for the final day of Summer Series 2. But the weather was perfect and people started showing up to rig their boats for another great Sunday at Sea Shell beach. It was warm and sunny around 75.  The wind started out light early building throughout the afternoon.

The A fleet with was noticeably small with only 3 in attendance especially with the departure of Kyra Oakes who is departing for Germany. Last week was her last day of Sea Shells.  

The B fleet was also slightly underpowered missing Frankie Doyle  and Yannick Gloster, which allowed a few others get in some lower points. Ryan Eastwood ruled the day.  Frankie and Brianna were of course off to welcome Hawaii to our Commodore Frank and Duncan Shea on Prevail as they cross the finish line. As of this posting they were still 150 miles out.   

Cameron Scheiblauer sailed her first race in C fleet as she completed her 10th solo last Sunday and Sara Muir scored her first first. She was promptly dunked!  There were no capsizes (by the skippers) during the races although I noticed one at the beach proceeded by a spectacular dismount. 

There was a good turnout of Novices as well with a few more solos getting ticked off by Allyse Birken, Christopher Kayda, our youngest sea sheller Ryan Satterberg and the Young brothers Ian and Loren. We had also had a first solo from Svenya Leonard who is apparently getting ready for wet Wednesdays with her dad!

In the Adult race it was a battle all around the course with the win going to Jim Muir as he followed in the foot steps of his daughter Sara who had two first place finishes today. A dunker award goes to Cindy Satterberg for her attempt.

All in all a great ending to Sea Shell summer. See you all at Mission Bay. 

Read More for detailed race scores.

Division=Sabot A

Division=Sabot B

Division=Sabot C