1998 Florida Sunfish State Championship
Sept 19-20
With the threat of rain and plenty of wind all weekend, still 29 brave, enthusiastic sailors hit the road and headed for Punta Gorda Florida for the State Sunfish Championships. Weeks before this regatta the anticipation level among Florida Sunfish sailors was quite high. This is attributed to the Punta Gorda crew. They are basically new to the Sunfish Class, and pleaded for this event with such a vengeance and enthusiasm that it became a refreshing idea to the Florida fleet. What could go wrong; a neutral ground in which few have sailed, enthusiastic well-prepared event organizers, and a great location for a vacation?
Well, nothing went wrong. The first day got off to a slow start. Heavy rain postponed the day's events for about an hour or two. When it was time to head out, there was no shortage of helping hands from the Punta Gorda team, in holding boats while sailors jumped in and tried to sail out of a fairly narrow inlet with rocks on both sides and being battered by the chop.
David Van Cleef headed out way before the rest of the fleet, which pretty much set the stage for his preeminent regatta performance. The winds on Saturday fluctuated between 18 and 23 mph and the bay (Charlotte Bay) was quite choppy. Nancy Haberland, Juan Grimaldi (first time sailing a Sunfish), Rod Koch, and Joe Blouin all sailed very skillfully and consistently and in close range of David to round out the top 5 for the first day.
Saturday night is always an interesting event for any regatta. Many hung around at the regatta site close to the keg. There was a lot of conversation, many Clinton/Lewinsky jokes, and most memorable was the Punta Gorda Mosquito Dance led by Cindy Clifton and eventually learned by all.
When Sunday arrived and it was time to head out for the start, it was very apparent who had the most fun on Saturday night (I won't tell but look at the scores). The last race was held on Sunday morning in very light wind (phew!). Nancy won that race, sneaking by David close to the finish. Amazingly, Rod placed third, considering the common phrase after the sequence start was "where is Rod this morning?" After the first and only race on Sunday, the sky turned black and all headed for shore. The top five remained in the top five (see full results below).
So that was the end of a great regatta! A lot of fun and a lot of food (pizza for breakfast, steak for dinner and rain for snack) were enjoyed by all. Hats off to Jay Montero, Rick Pantall, their sponsors and crew for their excellent hospitality and enthusiasm for the Sunfish Class. Look for Punta Gorda on future schedules for Sunfish regattas.
Results
Skipper Sail# R1 R2 R3 R4 Total 1. David Van Cleef 77388 1 1 2 2 6
2. Nancy Haberland 5 2 6 3 1 12
3. Juan Grimaldi 7534 4 4 1 4 13
4. Rod Koch 76035 5 2 4 3 14
5. Joe Blouin 1881 3 3 5 6 17
6. Tony Elliot 2561 8 7 8 12 35
7. Paul Strauley 76685 9 9 9 8 35
8. Dave Kaighin 52021 14 12 7 10 43
9. Rita Steele 75324 11 10 10 15 46
10. Charlie Clifton 59115 6 5 6 30 47
11. Bill Haberland 59935 10 13 13 11 47
12. Pat Hamilton 58316 22 8 12 7 49
13. Mindy Katz 84800 7 18 16 9 50
14. Jeff Kensinger 76668 13 11 14 14 52
15. Stan Woodruff 77020 18 15 18 5 56
16. Mike Kramer 86148 16 14 11 21 62
17. Rick Pantall 76432 12 16 15 19 62
18. Lois Blodgett 2202 17 19 17 17 70
19. Ed Nist 76061 21 23 21 16 79
20. John Montanari 77436 21 23 21 16 81
21. Mark Rother 21 15 17 23 30 85
22. Jay Montero X 30 21 22 13 86
23. Laurie Kaighin 86343 23 20 20 23 86
24. Dave Connolly 86429 19 30 30 20 99
25. Sharon Woodruff 77277 30 30 30 22 112
26. Cindy Clifton 59116 30 30 30 30 120
26. David Dearth 1 30 30 30 30 120
26. Kenneth Lapenotiere 0 30 30 30 30 120
26. Sherrie Mcmillan 77943 30 30 30 30 120