September 7, 2025
by Earl Thomas #5121
Commodore & Fleet 62 Captain
Commodore & Fleet 62 Captain
Ahoy end of year sailors,
We had the Lone Wolf Foamfish, the Dynamic Duo Sunfishes, the Terrific Trio of El Toros, and the Fearsome Foursome of Lidos participate in the last races of the year. And it was some of the best racing all year. Close competitive racing in each class. We have gotten better as sailors this year with all the practice. And the rules compliance has become more automatic.
There was Richard in his Foamfish, Roy and Russ in Sunfish, Steven, Paul and Tony in El Toros. Stephen and Morgan, Ann and Ralf, Harold and Maria and family, and myself and Suli in Lidos. Ten boats total on the line today.
We got in 4 races using courses 1, 2, 3, 2. We enjoyed the great weather, not too hot and mild winds. So it was a perfect last day of the year's racing. We even had extra trailer parking space on Sunday as that older 420 sailboat had been removed. And we didn’t even have any mishaps involving unexpected (rinsing) of the cockpits of our boats. Salt water rinsing is good for teeth and gums but not for racing boats.
Jim Lechner handled the RC well today, thank you! His previous RC and sailing experience paid dividends as everything went well today. If only the megaphone had cooperated with consistent power. “Just hit it again and try it.” was my advise to him and I have found that to be the solution to most things electronic. Jim commented afterwards that there were many very close finishes today. I know I shot the line once to squeak out a finish in front of Ann. But I was the recipient of a second place finish by someone just sneaking by me at the line.
We set up the start/finish line more in the middle of the lake which I think worked better with more and better racing from the leeward mark to the finish line. No muggle traffic to speak of in the starting area but we all had to dodge a few lumbering derelicts, drifting about aimlessly.
A new guy Joe Vargas showed up today and was interested in getting an El Toro and potentially joining us. We will follow up with him. Mark Alguard and his wife, returned from the last races and they rented paddle boards to watch the races and see what we do. We have had several people interested in sailing, that have come by this year, that we need to follow up with.
There was some tight quarter sailing with the Lidos today as Stephen, Harold and myself found ourselves all at the leeward mark a couple of times. We knew the rules and turned the mark well but Stephen seemed to always leave the mark in first place. I touched the windward mark once and did my turns and Stephen, I think, touched the starting pin once. I found out again the age old truth of “a great start equals a great finish”. I think even Harold did some turns out there as well. It was good Lido competition with everyone trying their best. I brought a second Lido today and Vern was good enough to pick it up and drive it to and from the lake. Thank you Vern!!! Ann and Ralf skippered and crewed it switching off. They did well and were in the mix all day.
Tony and Paul were in close competition in the first 2 races. And after some tutelage from Tony, Steven started to improve significantly. Then the three of them began to finish within 20 yards of each other. So it was getting to be much closer competition toward the end.
The Lidos and Russ were battling it out all day, which is when Russ usually beats us. But today the Lidos were competitive and often beat him to the finish line. I have found that my older sails felt better today than my new set of sails. I guess I need to break in the new ones a little bit more over the winter to be ready for next year.
Thanks to all for the help launching and recovering the RC boat and equipment! There were great year end snacks provided by Suli, Tony and Roy. Tony brought the Guinness’ record world’s largest watermelon and shared as much as we could take. Thank you to you three for stepping up again, we needed it!
The Lidos are off to the Stockton Sailing Club for the Lido 14 District II Championships next weekend. It should be fun and close competition.
Stayed tuned for the fall cruise dates and times.
We had the Lone Wolf Foamfish, the Dynamic Duo Sunfishes, the Terrific Trio of El Toros, and the Fearsome Foursome of Lidos participate in the last races of the year. And it was some of the best racing all year. Close competitive racing in each class. We have gotten better as sailors this year with all the practice. And the rules compliance has become more automatic.
There was Richard in his Foamfish, Roy and Russ in Sunfish, Steven, Paul and Tony in El Toros. Stephen and Morgan, Ann and Ralf, Harold and Maria and family, and myself and Suli in Lidos. Ten boats total on the line today.
We got in 4 races using courses 1, 2, 3, 2. We enjoyed the great weather, not too hot and mild winds. So it was a perfect last day of the year's racing. We even had extra trailer parking space on Sunday as that older 420 sailboat had been removed. And we didn’t even have any mishaps involving unexpected (rinsing) of the cockpits of our boats. Salt water rinsing is good for teeth and gums but not for racing boats.
Jim Lechner handled the RC well today, thank you! His previous RC and sailing experience paid dividends as everything went well today. If only the megaphone had cooperated with consistent power. “Just hit it again and try it.” was my advise to him and I have found that to be the solution to most things electronic. Jim commented afterwards that there were many very close finishes today. I know I shot the line once to squeak out a finish in front of Ann. But I was the recipient of a second place finish by someone just sneaking by me at the line.
We set up the start/finish line more in the middle of the lake which I think worked better with more and better racing from the leeward mark to the finish line. No muggle traffic to speak of in the starting area but we all had to dodge a few lumbering derelicts, drifting about aimlessly.
A new guy Joe Vargas showed up today and was interested in getting an El Toro and potentially joining us. We will follow up with him. Mark Alguard and his wife, returned from the last races and they rented paddle boards to watch the races and see what we do. We have had several people interested in sailing, that have come by this year, that we need to follow up with.
There was some tight quarter sailing with the Lidos today as Stephen, Harold and myself found ourselves all at the leeward mark a couple of times. We knew the rules and turned the mark well but Stephen seemed to always leave the mark in first place. I touched the windward mark once and did my turns and Stephen, I think, touched the starting pin once. I found out again the age old truth of “a great start equals a great finish”. I think even Harold did some turns out there as well. It was good Lido competition with everyone trying their best. I brought a second Lido today and Vern was good enough to pick it up and drive it to and from the lake. Thank you Vern!!! Ann and Ralf skippered and crewed it switching off. They did well and were in the mix all day.
Tony and Paul were in close competition in the first 2 races. And after some tutelage from Tony, Steven started to improve significantly. Then the three of them began to finish within 20 yards of each other. So it was getting to be much closer competition toward the end.
The Lidos and Russ were battling it out all day, which is when Russ usually beats us. But today the Lidos were competitive and often beat him to the finish line. I have found that my older sails felt better today than my new set of sails. I guess I need to break in the new ones a little bit more over the winter to be ready for next year.
Thanks to all for the help launching and recovering the RC boat and equipment! There were great year end snacks provided by Suli, Tony and Roy. Tony brought the Guinness’ record world’s largest watermelon and shared as much as we could take. Thank you to you three for stepping up again, we needed it!
The Lidos are off to the Stockton Sailing Club for the Lido 14 District II Championships next weekend. It should be fun and close competition.
Stayed tuned for the fall cruise dates and times.