The Kona Midwinters
North American Championship
After
an almost 6 hour journey I arrived at the Bellville Motel
and apartments, $75 and they upgraded me to an apartment with
a full kitchen!
From the Belleville its about a very pleasant drive to the
Clearwater Sailing center. The gulf side of Clearwater beach
is populated with mansions and ever increasing high rise condominiums.
The clearwater sailing club consists of a very nice clubhouse
with a wide variety of equipment that can be rented or used
when one wants. Steve and Marty Gottlieb were there with Kona
one design boards for charter; registration was fast and easy.
Day
One Friday,
The races started around 11:00am and three races with a double
upwind leg were held in winds from 15 to over 20 and gusty.
It was all I could do to hold on to the 7.8 bin the downwind
legs.
After three races we came in and had a delicious lunch.
The afternoon races started at around 2:00pm, and the winds
had dropped significantly, but you could still hook in. We
got in two more races and headed back for a wonderful dinner
and and a keg of beer.
Day Two:
The races started around 10:30am and we got two races in
before lunch. The first wind had light air but after complaints
that we were not at the wind minimum for KONA we waited a
bit for the second race, fortunately the winds blew the rest
of the day from 5 to 15 and gusty.
After lunch we got two more races in with the second ending
inshore, thank you!
A keg of beer was provided and dinner was at 5:30pm with
a salad, chicken and pasta primavera.
Day Three:
Three races were scheduled but only two were held Sunday
morning as the wind was very strong and the entire fleet was
getting worn out. We were on the water by noon. Lunch was
served but I left about two to head home so I missed out on
the awards ceremony.
Please note that the of the top12 finishers, 5 were women
with first place won by a woman. Your commodore came in 11th
place and completed every race.
Chris Grave
2016 SPSC Commodore
Click on Image for Larger
View (Race Results) |
 |
|