West Florida Sunfish Circuit
Punta Gorda
The fifth regatta of the West Florida Sunfish Circuit 2000-01 was held on Sunday
February 3, 2001. Consistent with our average turnout this season, 15 sailors
participated. As some of us arrived very early for the race, we were layered with
warm clothing----50 degrees and cloudy----the day looked very gloomy. As hours passed, the
sun began to shine, sailors started to show up, and the temperature rose to 70 degrees,
partly sunny and a moderate breeze of 8-15mph.
We headed out to the start line, all anxious to test out this new site for West Florida
sailing. Of course we could not get off without some glitch----3 general recalls,
and go figure, not due to aggressive starts by competitors, but instead the race committee
testing new stopwatches. By the 3rd recall the sailors were very anxious to give up each
of their stopwatches to the race committee----but they promised next start would be for
real, and it was. And off we were, and what a ride it was with lots of shifts upwind and
lots of speed downwind. In A fleet it was a 2-man race overall (due to their
consistency throughout the day) between Paul Strauley and James Liebl, with Paul squeezing
out James for the day-win, although Pat Hamilton and Rick Pantall had their moments of
glory, winning one race each. In B fleet Susan Gastony dominated the day with 2
bullets, winning the day.
Results of the Punta Gorda West Florida Sunfish Circuit Race #5
A Fleet: R1 R2 R3 Total 1. Paul Strauley 2 2 3 7 2. James Liebl 1 3 4 8 3. Mindy Strauley 4 5 2 11 4. Pat Hamilton 7 1 5 13 5. Rick Pantall 6 7 1 14 6. Tony Elliot 3 6 6 15 7. Rita Steele 10 4 7 21 8. Jay Montero 5 9 8 22 9. Eric Erickson 9 8 9 26 10. Lois Blodgett 8 11 10 29 11. Joe Lemmon 11 10 11 32 B Fleet: R1 R2 R3 Total 1. Susan Gastony 1 2 1 4 2. Michael Mierswa 4 1 2 7 3. Donna Steele 2 3 4 9 4. Carol McDowell 3 4 3 10
THE NEXT AND LAST REGATTA FOR THE WEST FLORIDA SUNFISH CIRCUIT WILL BE HELD AT THE
SARASOTA SAILING SQUADRON ON SUNDAY APRIL 29, 2001 (skipper's meetings at noon. 1pm
start).
This year we had 40 sailors participate in at least one of the regattas (more than in the
past several years). We thank you for participating in making this year a success
and would like to strongly encourage you to show up for our season-end race and
presentation of second half and year-end trophies.
Sunfish Racing Schedule Highlights:
Up-Coming Events:
Mount Dora Annual Regatta (Mt. Dora) April 21-22, 2001
Sarasota Sailfest (Sarasota Sailing Squadron) May 5-6, 2001
Bikini Cup Bay Race---females only (Clearwater Sailing Center) May 6, 2001
Women's Florida Sunfish Championship, in association with the Sarasota
Hula Bowl (Sarasota Sailing Squadron) May 12, 2001
Florida Regionals (Boca Ciega Yacht Club) May 19-20, 2001
Around Lido Key Race (Sarasota Sailing Squadron) May 28, 2001
Gulfcoast Regionals (Ft. Walton Yacht Club) June -July 1, 2001
Labor Day Regatta (Sarasota Sailing Squadron) September 1-2, 2001
Florida State Sunfish Championships (Davis Island Yacht Club) October 27-28, 2001
If you need more information about the West Florida Sunfish Circuit or upcoming regattas,
contact Paul or Mindy
at 727-734-4108 or email mskatz@juno.com
Please write your comments or suggestions for next years Circuit. Mail back to
Mindy/Paul Strauley at 625 Frederica Lane Dunedin Florida 34698 or hand to us at the
next circuit race.
Some of the items to consider when compiling your comments:
How much are you willing to pay for each regatta? (when we have 15 participants per race
at $5 per day, we break even, not including the purchase of trophies.) What do you
want to call the circuit? Some outside of Florida still like the "Pixie"
name. How can we increase participation? What do you think about the letters?
And what is the best way to communicate to circuit members? Do you want someone else to
organize and run the circuit? Any other thoughts about anything else?