CMYC Frostbite (January 25-26, 2003, Houston, TX) 
White Rock Cup (March 29-30, 2003, Dallas, TX) 
AMSC Memorial (March 27, 2003) 
O’Aces Sailout (April 27, Las Vegas NV)
Region 5 Championship Regatta (June 14, 2003 Boulder CO)
Cambridge Spring Fling (June 29, 2003 Cambridge MD)
Region 4 Championships (August 9, 2003 Detroit MI)
Region 2 Championships (August 24, 2003 Cambridge MD)
DMYC Penguin Regatta (October 4 2003 Detroit MI)
Sailmakers Cup (August 31, 2003 Ontario Canada)
National Championship Regatta (October 10-11-12, 2003 San Antonio TX)
AMYC Pumpkin Regatta (October 26, 2003 Ashburn VA

CMYC Frostbite (January 25-26, 2003, Houston, TX) 

Clearpoint’s 2003 “Frostbite” Regatta

A record 19 signed up, but only 15 Competitors from as far away as New Jersey and Oklahoma City braved the frigid weather to attend this year’s 3^rd Annual “Frostbite” Regatta hosted by the Houston-based Clearpoint Model Yacht Club.  The event took place the weekend of January 25^th & 26^th, 2003 at Burke/Crenshaw Park in Pasadena, Texas.  Competitors were greeted with wind chills in the low to mid 30’s and temps no higher than 40 degrees with showers scattered throughout.  Winds started off at 5 to 6 and built throughout the day to 12 to 15 with some heavier gusts making the handling of the Victoria in all conditions crucial.  This year’s premier event once again lived up to its name!

Shifty winds from the North to Northeast caused our excellent Race Director, Micky Peterson and volunteer helper Mr. Roy Cannon to constantly be on their toes and adjust the course as needed.  Typically a windward/leeward course was set with an off setting mark and gate utilized.  However, competitors were very pleased with the variety of options that Micky presented.  Seeing our two fearless rescue boat volunteers, BJ Powers and Micah Fletcher brave the cold and paddle to move marks and rescue boats, brought chills up my spine.  Ms. Nelda Tallman once again was our wonderful scorekeeper and race starter keeping us posted on the progress.  

At noon, all the competitors were only too pleased to see all the Fletcher family and Traci Cooper, bringing the famous hot potato soup and sandwich rings courtesy of the C.M.Y.C.  Mary Fletcher has been providing the potato soup for us each year and everyone really appreciates it.  This has definitely become a landmark meal at this event.

Racing was fierce throughout the event with Mark Cooper taking the first bullet of the day.  However, that was very short lived and John Kuc for the second year in a row showed his dominance and handily left everyone in his wake.  A battle for second place soon evolved with Ray Seta, Chairman of the 2003 Victoria National Championships at Woodlawn Sailing Club in San Antonio, and Eric Meyn  (“Herkman”) from Oklahoma City dueling it out.  Mr. Joe Tidwell with a beautifully built boat “Feng Shui” from Houston was also very much in the mix and sailed consistently and cleanly challenging the front-runners all day.  Twenty-four races were successfully completed for the first day of the event.

On Saturday night the C.M.Y.C. members hosted an evening of Texas Bar-B-Que and some good old-fashioned fellowship.  Competitors and family members talked and got to know each other better and you could over hear rules discussions and situations that some faced during the day.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.  Seeing Ray and JK leave to go to the Rolling Stones Concert that night brought hope to all competitors that they would not be back the next day in good form to continue on.  However, that was not the case.  My understanding is that JK made sure that both were lakeside early the next morning on time and ready to go.  I would have done the same thing if I had been given free tickets to the concert, wouldn’t you? 

Sunday morning saw rain, rain and more rain mixed in with the already cold temps.  Wind had built to 12 to 15 before only 7 brave competitors showed up lakeside.  After an hour of discussion and hoping things would get better, the decision was made by all present to call the event and award the trophies.  For the second year in a row, John Kuc took home the beautiful first place glass trophy.  Ray Seta finished in second and close on his stern was Eric Meyn to take back to Oklahoma the third place trophy.

A very special thanks to all those who participated and made this event possible especially Mr. Thomas Kern from New Jersey and Eric Meyn, Oklahoma City, who traveled so far to participate with us this year.  The Clearpoint Model Yacht Club will continue to strive to make this event the premier Victoria event to start the year.  I hope to see many more join us next time.  For pictures and more detailed results, please log onto Clearpoint’s web site at http://www.clear-point.org/CMYC.htm  

Good Sailing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _/)   Mark Cooper, Clearpoint Model Yacht Club

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White Rock Cup (March 29-30, 2003, Dallas, TX) 

The White Rock Cup was held in Dallas, TX on March 29-30, 2003, on White Rock Lake. This regatta has been held annually since the sanctioning of the Victoria by the AMYA. The White Rock Cup is a charity regatta that benefits the Spina Bifida Association of Dallas. This year’s regatta brought in $340 in registrations and $10 in on-site donations.

Friday

The activities began Friday afternoon with practice time including informal racing. There were six Victorias participating in the practice session. The wind was 15-20 with gusts in excess of 25 mph from the North. It was cold and cloudy.

Saturday

On Saturday morning the weather was cold and windy. We tried sailing in the shelter of the boat storage docks of the Corinthian Sailing Club to get away from the wind and chop. We got away from the chop but not the wind. Then Rob Davis (RD) and Chris Cafiero (White Rock Cup founder) went to the north end of lake to look for a sheltered area. Racing resumed at the North end with somewhat less wind and less chop.

We were able to sail 19 races on Saturday in spite of the slow start. Several Victorias had breakdowns of one sort or another. Possibly the most difficult problem was when Charles Sudduth lost control of his Victoria. He took the rescue boat out to retrieve it and by the time he got there, it was full of water except for an air pocket in the bow. He tried to grab the hull but had to release it because the rescue boat was still in gear. The result was the boat’s bow went down loosing the air pocket. By the time he got back to the boat, it was about 3 inches under the water. He made a quick grab at the hull (rescue boat was out of gear this time) and pulled it into the rescue boat. He thought that the drain plug had come out because there wasn’t a plug in the drain hole. He found out later after getting home that he had forgot to put the drain plug in, it was still in his pocket. 7 of the participants went to The Fox & Hounds for celebrating, dinner and a general Boat Speed session.

Sunday

Sunday the lake looked like a piece of glass. It was quite different from Saturday. The wind was supposed to be from the North at about 9 mph with partly cloudy skies and cold (low 40’s) in the morning and warming up to about 60. The wind was up and down and came anywhere from southwest to northeast. Finally about 11:00 AM the wind filled in from the north and we had some good races for the rest of the regatta. As the temperature went up, we began to shed jackets, etc.

Trophy Presentation

About 12:30 PM we had the trophy presentation, a drawing of door prizes, and pictures taking. All who participated had a good time. The Woodlawn Sailing Club in San Antonio (Venue for the 2003 National Championship Regatta in October) donated Saturday and Sunday’s breakfast (Danish, Sausage, cheese, and egg biscuits, coffee, and orange juice.) Chris Cafiero’s law firm donated lunch (Pizza and sodas) on Saturday. Thanks to these two groups for the good food. Mariner Sails, Inc. of Dallas, TX donated items for the door-prize drawing. We had out-of-towners from New Jersey, Georgia, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Georgetown, TX.

Results

John Kuc of Austin, TX, took the White Rock Cup home. He was very consistent with 7 firsts and only seven finishes were lower than 3rd. The rest were seconds and thirds. His buddy from down the road, Ray Seta, was runner-up who also did very well, notching up 7 first places. Ray had a much better day on Sunday than on Saturday. He needed that because 3rd place finisher, Peter Bell, from Les Lacs Yacht Club Addison, TX, was hot on his heels with 8 firsts and finished the regatta only 1 point after Ray. These were the Chevron winners for the Sixth White Rock Cup.

A Big Thanks

Thanks to all who came to participate in this premier Victoria regatta, especially Tom Kern from New Jersey and Skip Allen from Atlanta. They traveled the farthest. Join us next year around the middle of March, 2004. Fair winds.  

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AMSC Memorial (March 27, 2003) 

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O’Aces Sailout (April 27, Las Vegas NV)

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Region 5 Championship Regatta (June 14, 2003 Boulder CO)

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Cambridge Spring Fling (June 29, 2003 Cambridge MD)

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Region 4 Championships (August 9, 2003 Detroit MI)

The 2003 Victoria Region 4 Championship was hosted by Detroit Model Yacht Club at Joseph Dalia Park in Sterling Heights, Michigan on August 9th.

This marked the first AMYA Victoria Regatta at DMYC since the AMYA Class rules were adopted this spring.  12 boats were present.  Charlie Mann and Judy Preston joined us from Toronto.  18 races were held throughout the day.  Morning wind was very good with a steady 10mph from the North.  Afternoon winds were lighter in the 3 to 10mph range and much flukier providing us with some challenging wind shifts

 Blair Arden and Marty Paulus were race directors for the day and provided us with a challenging "championship" length windward leeward course that left us all with sore feet at the end of the day.  Bruce Zemke and Don Ketai assisted with photography and judging at the windward mark.

Racing was very close and exciting.  Mark rounding tended to be very crowded with a large part of the fleet arriving at the same time.  Every boat had finishes at the front of the fleet.  All in all it was an excellent day of racings.

Thanks to the race directors and volunteers for helping to run the regatta and thanks to our friends in Toronto for showing up.

Ryan Craig

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Region 2 Championships (August 24, 2003 Cambridge MD)

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   Sailmakers Cup (August 31, 2003 Ontario Canada)

We had a very successful Regatta with 11 skippers taking part.  The day was great with good winds and plenty of mark roundings.  It was the first Victoria Regatta held in Canada and we were very excited about hosting this regatta.

Charlie Mann the Canadian Victoria Class Secretary asked our club to host the Canadian Nationals next year.  We were so thrilled with this suggestion that I have taken the request to our board to get approval.  Once they agree I will let you all know.

Judy Preston

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DMYC Penguin Regatta (October 4 2003 Detroit MI)

Well, guess what!?!?!?......Yes, Jim Grover DID win the coveted "PENGUIN" for 2003!!!

Congratulations to Jim for winning this most PRESTIGIOUS award. And he did it with two boats!!! Great job. He is amazing....I watched him start near the third row, mill around in the back of the fleet to the first mark and then all of a sudden he's leading the pack to the leeward mark and on to finish first!! Jim, what's your comeback strategy?????

And it was certainly Penguin weather....breeezy, gusty, light air, from many directions (at times)!! COLD with the need for snuggies and gloves...it was November weather. 

We had 16 participants and raced 16 races, with three (3) throw outs. We had someone leave for 5 races and place 5th. and had someone start racing after missing the first 8 races and not finish last!  The final, corrected results and placing for each race are below. Hope everyone had a great time!!!!!

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National Championship Regatta (October 10-11-12, 2003 San Antonio TX)

2003 Victoria Nationals

Woodlawn Sailing Club  -  by : Ray Seta

In the early stages of planning, I once said about the AMYA’s 2003 Victoria US National -  “Promote it, hype it, and build it ,and they will come!”  Well I promoted & hyped for 8 months and the members of the Woodlawn Sailing Club (WSC) built it (venue) to plan and we had us the biggest and best attended Victoria US Nationals in history for the AMYA’s Class. With 38 Skippers from 10 different States signing up in less than 14 days of the opening of pre-registration, we (WSC) knew we had a challenge at hand. I can’t say enough about this group of folks, that not only Radio Control sail but also Sunfish sail on a monthly basis who helped pull this off. These folks help me create a professional scene with the “Look” of the venue, all the way down to the “Staff” shirts worn by all WSC members during the weekend. This show took place on Columbus Day weekend, October 10-12, 2003, in San Antonio, Texas

Friday evening found 36 Skippers at the Host Hotel for a welcome reception for all, and the get Registered and receive their Skippers bag and get their boats Checked-In for measuring and inspection. A real challenge for Ray Laueterbach (Event Class Measurer) and with his staff completed to get 36 boats in less than 2 hours. Not to mention 36 boats in the Lobby of the Best Western Hotel. Even with all that going on we were able to get in a Class meeting by Class Secretary Brian Roberts, and even handed out some awards (Humor). One of the reasons for this events success was for the great work that our (WSC’s) webmaster Eric Gregory did in helping me promote and hype this event. This whole event, including all Pre-Registration was 100% Internet driven for information to and from all the Skippers for 8 months. Also mentioned this evening, was that this event was in honor of our friend Eric Meyn, who was called at the last minute to go back to Iraq and serve his country proudly. We all felt that we were able to be here because they (Our Troops) where over there! God’s Speed on his return and to the next regatta’s starting line.

Saturday morning brought many clouds and light winds that carried over all day with a bit of rain. But the show must go on. Starting on time with the opening remarks and an introduction of our AMYA’s president Mr. Dick Rutlidge, he and wife Nancy welcomed everyone to San Antonio, TX stating that the WSC members having no shortage of Texas hospitality and food for their Skippers. Opening Ceremonies of State Flags and Roll Call of all Skippers and Home Club was first up. After a brief Skippers meeting by Rob Davis (RD), we were off and racing with a new, (to the Class), Heat Management System called the Odd/Even system. As with all systems, it got some taken used to but was easily accepted by the Skippers and really kept the scoring tight for the weekend. With almost 19 boats on the Starting Line each race, you can imagine that the Starts were all so important, especially in the light winds. After full day of racing, eating, dodging rain storms, and more racing, the RD called it a day after 9 heats (4 ½ races). This gave all Skippers ample time to get back to the hotel, clean up, dry-out and get ready for a Mexican Dinner down on the River, the only way San Antonionian’s know how to do it for their guest. CasaRio’s on the River with authentic Mexican Food and Music was enjoyed by all. Results were read out loud for the days standing and Rick Martin was leading the pack with Craig Mackey in 2^nd and AJ Moritz in 3^rd for the night. (Rick would have to withdrawal from racing on Sunday for technical reasons.) Also during the announcements, a special favor was asked by yours truly to all skippers, to try to get as many to show up earlier than usual for a Live News crew, knowing I probably wasn’t going to get many takers at 7:30 AM.  

Sunday early AM brought the Live News9 crew out for a Live report and shots of practicing Skippers. And to my surprise and delight almost all the Skippers showe