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Letter to the editor

Optimist juniors not out of luck in local regatta

By DAVE ELLIS, Times Correspondent
Published August 22, 2007

Traditionally the SPYC Bruce Watters regatta, named after the local jeweler who has long supported junior sailing, is the first racing event for new Optimist dinghy sailors. The first Optimist regatta in the Tampa Bay area for all Optimist dinghies has been the Bruce Neubauer Regatta hosted by Treasure Island Tennis and Yacht Club.

But this year Treasure Island YC will be in the midst of demolishing its old building. Since the area will be cordoned off for safety, the regatta is canceled for this year only.

To take up the slack, St. Petersburg Yacht Club has changed the date of the Bruce Watters event to Sept. 15-16 and will include not just the Green Fleet, but all ages of Optimist dinghy sailors. For complete information, go online to spyc.org.

LASER NATIONALS: The National Laser Championship was held on Lake Champlain in Vermont. Tampa Bay sailors were well represented among the 150 boats. Cameron Hall of St. Petersburg Yacht Club won the 4.7 division with Teal Strammer of Nokomis, also representing SPYC, placing third.

The Radial has a slightly larger sail and is the Olympic boat for one-woman dinghy. Not surprisingly Clearwater Yacht Club's Paige Railey, 2006 World Sailor of the Year, won. Her boat speed and experience showed, with a string of firsts for the first six races.

St. Petersburg Yacht Club team sailor Mateo Vargas showed that coming up through organized Optimist racing hones sailing skills, as he came on strong with firsts in Races 7 and 8 to take second overall in the Radial Fleet. SPYC sailor John Wallace also sailed consistently to place third.

Fred Strammer of Nokomis was the top local sailor in the full-rig Laser, taking eighth in that 83-boat fleet. Zack Marks was 14th.

PARALYMPIC SAILING: The U.S. Independence Cup/North American Challenge Cup was staged by Chicago YC Aug. 2-6. JP Creignou of St. Petersburg crewed for Karen Mitchell of Deerfield Beach to win the class for the fifth straight year. The team's goal is to represent the United States at the Beijing Olympics in the SKUD 18 class.

The three-person Sonar is a Paralympic boat that also will be sailed in China. Roger Cleworth of Lithia, along with Corky Aucerman of California crewed for Paul Callahan of Cape Coral. They were a close second to a Canadian boat. Jennifer French of St. Petersburg and crew placed fifth.

MATCH RACING: St. Petersburg's Mark Mendelblatt took a close second at St. Moritz, Switzerland. England's Ian Williams, the match racing world leader, used his vast match racing experience to place a penalty on Mendelblatt's boat in the last few feet of the final race.

JOIN THE BOAT PARADE: Saturday, a celebration to open the new Treasure Island C.W. "Bill" Young Bridge will include a community boat parade. The bridge is closed to vehicle traffic during the celebration.

Treasure Island dock master Les Lathrop is the organizer. Starting at 11 a.m. the boats will travel though the new bridge from north to south and will take about 45 minutes, depending on the number of boats. For complete information go to www.mytreasureisland.org.

[Last modified August 21, 2007, 21:10:19]