On the weekend of our annual fall regatta, Timme’s Tune-Up, five Northwestern sailors left school for the warmth and sun of Santa Barbara and the Pacific Coast Championships. Nick Campbell flew out first, got a car from his house nearby, and picked up the rest of the team – Tod Reynolds, Geoff Pedrick, Maija Mikkila, and Noah Aldonas – when we got to the airport. From there, we traveled to UCSB where we met up with our host from the UCSB team and instantly proceeded to fall asleep.
Saturday morning we woke up and drove to the sailing site, got our charter boats all sorted out, and rigged while enjoying the plentiful sunshine. One thing I learned that morning: PCCSC kids are very slow (“laid back”) riggers. By the time we had our skippers’ meeting and got on the water, it was already 11am. We sailed out to the race area and practiced boathandling while waiting for the races to start. Since we were sailing FJ’s and we only sail 420’s in the Midwest, this practice time as crucial. Despite apparently blowing 30+ a mile offshore, the wind on the race course was very light and shifty all day. This suited Tod and Maija, who sailed his way to three respectable finishes in A fleet before our lunch break. Geoff and Nick did not do quite as well in B fleet and Lasers, respectively. After our lunch break, Lasers sailed their third race of the day in a quickly dying breeze and the two FJ divisions were sent in when it became apparent that it was not going to build again. In-N-Out was the universally agreed upon dinner choice, giving both Geoff and Maija their first experiences eating there.
Sunday brought another day of warmth and sun, but with the pleasant addition of good breeze. We got racing earlier than on Saturday and fit in eight races by the end of the day for a total of 11. The wind was much more consistent and noticeably stronger than it had been on Saturday, letting Geoff and Noah place regularly in the top five all day, including winning the last race before lunch. Unfortunately Tod struggled in A fleet for a good chunk of the day and Nick was still learning many of the intricacies of Laser sailing as it was his first regatta in the boat.
Ultimately, the team ended up just above mid-fleet against some very good west coast competition and got to enjoy some great sailing and some great weather. This will certainly be a regatta to keep in mind for future years.
-Geoff Pedrick
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