 The fleet starting in San Diego, USA 610 the boat with red edges sailing with different gear...
I moved from Chicago to San Diego in November, 2008 and towed USA 610 out here. A huge factor in that decision was the local fleet’s willingness and enthusiasm to work with the Mission Bay Yacht Club to make room for my boat and get me a permanent slip. John Walton, Steve Brownsea, and Will Blozan (in particular) welcomed me with open arms.
At the time, I’d say the fleet was struggling, as many were at the time, and I wasn’t very active for the first year here either, being busy just getting settled. But I somehow managed to get out a few times and learn what salt water tastes like, not to mention the tricky winds in the bay and the three way cross chop out on the Big Blue. But my Lake Michigan time helped, I’m not shy about chop and can generally get through it.
I found the local fleet well stocked with some very good sailors, John and Steve in particular. Steve Smidt got out of racing after some great success, but is often seen tooling around in a large fishing boat, helping out in general. He was willing to coach me a bit from that vantage point, and I’d say I learned a lot from him. That’s been true of everyone here, all have been willing to hang back, jump on a struggling boat, and help new members and owners catch up, learn and start to compete aggressively.
One of the best things about the San Diego area is the plethora of experienced sailors and willing crew. Matias will be glad to know I linked up with another Argentinean, Jorge (Jordi) Hegulior, who campaigned Solings in early Olympic campaigns for his home country. We met on a Beneteau and his eyes lit up when I mentioned the Soling. He’s been my middleman since and by far the best crew I’ve sailed with. The fleet had gotten a little laid back but the sound of Jordi’s ass thumping the hull on each tack reminded them of the value of droop hiking as we pulled a horizon job on them in one regatta. Needless to say, the hobbles and hiking vests are out of storage again, not that they always need them to beat me anyway.
We started picking up the action and I must’ve helped by being at least moderately competitive, adding a few surprises to the mix of usual suspects of winners. Some great sailors at this predominately one design yacht club started to wonder what those pretty boats were called, especially since we were consistently finishing so close to each other in regattas. So some of them started jumping on board, then borrowing boats, then buying up some of the extras.
We got a good 6 boat fleet out in the San Diego NOODS and I ran some metrics on the point spread of all the fleets racing in the regatta. The racing was so close among the Solings that our point spread at the end of two days of racing had a standard deviation of only 5.7, indicating competitive performance by all the boats in the regatta. The Echells were at 11.6. The Vipers were lower but only raced one day, we won on overall fleet competiveness.
We hosted the Carr regatta not long ago, which is a strange format only possible because of our unique proximity to our bay race course. West Coast YCs are invited to contribute a skipper and crew, and we loan out boats as needed. Taking the one design concept a step further, the crews hit the dock in front of the bar after each finish, and switch boats (and empty cups for full ones, in some cases). So everyone gets equal time in a boat/sail combination, further eliminating the possibility of boat differences. THAT was a competitive regatta.
We all know that the Solings had their short Olympic match racing venue, and it’s a shame it came to an end. The boats are so highly maneuverable that they fit the venue perfectly. Some have been doing it for a while, but John Walton and I started an impromptu match race series recently that I frankly loved. John kicked my ass this time, but I hope to actually learn the rules one day and get better at driving in circles soon. At any rate, we are now getting more and more interest from other one designers, including some of the E_____ types and we hope to continue the two boat dance lessons and add some round robins in the near future.
That’s the news, the weather’s great, especially in the winter. So get us back on the list and in the mix for regattas. We have a few spare boats and we are willing to share them and our weather, if not our women (crewmembers, that is, they’re too talented).
Regards to all,
USA610.
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...very nice...
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Roman Koch
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July 27 of 2010
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...very nice... by Roman Koch click on comment to hide
Thanks for this great article and I hope, the success is going on. Eventually I gonna be one day in San Diego (relatives are living there)and will drop by for some sailing...keep you updated...
Greetz from rainy Germany
Roman, GER 300
Comment by Roman Koch on July 27 of 2010 |
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Ashley Henderson
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July 27 of 2010
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by Ashley Henderson click on comment to hide
San Diego is among one of the few fleets will all their boats registered!!
Comment by Ashley Henderson on July 27 of 2010 |
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Super 610
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Matias Collins
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July 27 of 2010
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Super 610 by Matias Collins click on comment to hide
Thanks Mike for such a nice update about the west fleet, hope you guys send me all the scans from the measurement forms, and plaques of the boats, so the database is updated.
i remember your boat a lot, I am in a picture sailing the one at the NAs in a portrait my wife gave it to me together with my kids pictures and so called the My Loves I am still wondering why?...
How difficult would be to you guys reach San Francisco, as there are about another 10 declared Solings and it would be fantastic if you all join for a west us championship...
Like Roman, at some point I will have to travel to the west coast, I am guessing 2012 before the worlds for some sailing in the Pacific.. who knows...
big hug
Matias
Comment by Matias Collins on July 27 of 2010 |
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